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Sunday Worship 16 October 2022 : “Without faith it is impossible to please Him”

Text: Hebrews 11
16 October 2022

INTRODUCTION

1. The problem of a lack of Faith noted in the Gospels

a) Little faith   (Matthew 6:30)
b) No faith   (Mark 4:40)
c) Faithlessness   (Luke 9:41)
d) Unbelief   (Matthew 17:20)

2. The Challenge to develop Faith

a) By the Lord Jesus
b) By the Apostles

WITHOUT FAITH

10 “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

John 1:10-13

1. There are those who are ignorant of God

2. There are others who reject God

3. There are those who will believe and receive the Lord Jesus as Saviour

4. Faith is the beginning of our relationship with God

5. The Challenge is to cultivate this Faith and to have one that would please God

WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM

1. The Focus here is not about Salvation

2. The Focus here is what pleases God

3. The example of Cain, the brother of Abel   (Hebrews 11:4)

11 “For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.”
1 John 3:11-12
a) He was of the wicked one
b) He murdered his brother
c) His works were evil
d) In contrast to the works of faith of Abel

4. The lack of Faith

a) It puts us in danger
b) We may be drawn to evil thoughts and deeds

THE FAITH OF ENOCH

1. A commentary on Enoch

“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”   Hebrews 11:5
a) Enoch was taken away
b) He did not see death (in the normal sense of the word)
c) God took him away
d) This was his testimony:
“He pleased God”
i) His Faith pleased God
ii) His life of Faith was well-pleasing

2. The original word about Enoch

21 “Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah.
22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters.
23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”
Genesis 5:21-24
a) He came to faith much later
b) He was then a father and had a family
c) He walked with God faithfully
i) A walk with God is not to be taken for granted
ii) It brings joy and pleasure to God
iii) It is a challenge to cultivate a walk with God
d) The LORD took him home
i) Something special
ii) Something extraordinary
iii) To indicate how pleased God was with him

CONCLUSION

1. A study in contrast

a) Cain and Abel
b) The Challenge is to cultivate a Faith that is pleasing to God as Abel did

2. The Faith of Enoch

a) What stood out in his life was his walk with God
b) He maintained his walk with God amidst looking after his family

3. Our Challenge

a) To treasure our Faith
b) To have a Faith that would please God