FAITH REWARDED

WHAT IS FAITH?

Faith according to the book of Hebrews, the book that talks more about faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.  Apostle Paul goes further to elaborate that without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to Him must believe that He is , and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:1-2,6). To Paul faith was an attitude in which we acknowledge our insufficiency for spiritual ends and rely utterly on the sufficiency of God. It is the cessation of self-reliant efforts to attain righteousness, allowing the divine initiative to assert itself in us. Such a faith is something to be contrasted with the acquisition of merit by complying with God’s law.

HOW DO WE SEE WITH FAITH?

There is a vital difference between knowledge and faith:  Knowledge is based on experience; faith on the other hand is based on testimony. Faith is a very common commodity exercised daily in everyday affairs. A check is accepted, for example because of the issuer of the check says he has money in the bank and the one who accepts the check trusts in his veracity. Gospel faith rises above this everyday type of faith in one major essential; belief in the divine testimony. We have never seen God, heaven, angels or the crown of victory. The divine Word however, testifies to their existence. Faith takes this divine testimony and acts upon it. Faith appropriates all the promises of God and proceeds on the basis of those promises. Faith gives substance to things that are not yet seen. By faith there is an apprehension of the invisible that gives assurance of its reality. The heroes of faith took the promises relating to a future state of affairs and acted as if they were present. The believer of today must do the same. Prophet Isaiah wrote in is epistle, “I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them” (Isa. 42:16). Beloved, this indeed cannot happen in the natural but only in the divine existence for them that see with faith.

HOW IS OUR FAITH REWARDED THEN?

Brilliant characters flash across the pages of history. At times these arise from the most unexpected places. So it was with Ebed-Melech. He was merely a servant in the court of God’s people. He was also an alien and a stranger. Yet he exemplified faith which should have marked all of God’s people during those trying times. He believed the divine word of prophecy given by the Lord through Jeremiah. There were to be rewards for that faith. First, he would see take place what he had believed. The prophesied disaster on Jerusalem and its inhabitants would take place. But the crowning reward of his faith would be that he would be spared. Ebed- Melech was to experience the power and grace of God in the deliverance of his life. Faith may not always get such an immediate reward but it always will be rewarded. Let’s see from the word how Ebed- Melech was rewarded because of his faith while prophet Jeremiah preciously spared as well and delivered from the disaster that did happen according to the words of his prophecy; who the king and the princes of Judah, the priests and false prophets despised and never believed that such prophecies will one day come to pass, and to their amazement it did really happen before their eyes as the entire city was besieged, burned with fire while the people taken as captives to Babylon and judgment to the king and his nobles who tried to escape: “So it was when Zedekiah the king of Judah and all the men of war saw them, that they fled and went out of the city by night, by way of the king’s garden, by the gate between two walls. And he went out by way of the plain. But the Chaldean army pursued them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho. And when they had captured him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced judgment on him. Then the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah; the king of Babylon also killed all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, and bound him with bronze fetters to carry him off to Babylon. And the Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people with fire, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem.”( V. 10) “But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah the poor people, who had nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.” The most effective part, “Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard saying, “Take him and look after him, and do him no harm; but do to him just as he says to you.” (V. 14) then they sent someone to take Jeremiah from the court of the prison, and committed him to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, that he should take him home. So he dwelt among the people.”

Verse 15 continues, “Meanwhile the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying, “Go and speak to Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold I will bring My words upon this city for adversity and not for good, and they shall be performed in that day before you. But I will deliver you in that day,” says the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely deliver you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but your life shall be as a prize to you, because you have put your trust in Me,” says the Lord” (Jer. 39:4-18). Beloved brethren, may we receive the grace to trust in the Lord and never waver in our faith.  And remember our sacrifices to God, does not go unnoticed or in vain.  And kindly, do allow me to carry on just a little bit from chapter forty; “And now look, I free you this day from the chains that were on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come and I will look after you. But if it seems wrong for you to come with me to Babylon, remain here. See, all the land is before you; wherever it seems good and convenient for you to go, go there.” Now while Jeremiah had not yet gone back, Nebuzaradan said, “Go back to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwelt with him among the people. Or go wherever it seems convenient for you to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him rations and a gift and let him go. Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people who were left in the land” (Jer. 40:4-6). Oh my goodness; this is the Prophet Jeremiah, who was despised, had a very rough and difficult time preaching to empty debes, who would not listen to his warnings concerning the wrath of God that was to befell on His people, instead, they struck him, beat him, put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord, throw him in the dungeon and locked him in prison.  Beloved I repeat this again, “Faith may not always get such an immediate reward, but it always will be rewarded; it may be immediate or might tarry but brethren wait for it, it sure will come to pass. Peter the Apostle wrote, “Receiving the end of your faith- the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet.1:9).

ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD

Paul the Apostle in his epistle to the Romans he wrote thus, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Things at time brethren may seem to be tough or out of order or out of control; but the truth is that God is always in control. God uses circumstances, and He also uses persons to achieve His ends and work in the lives of His people. We must remain faithful that God controls all things despite how they may look from our present vantage point. God remains faithful to those who are faithful and at the same time rewards our faithfulness, “So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him in the City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and his entire household” (2 Sam. 6:10-11). This is another man whom God blessed and his entire house because of his trust to God to kept the tabernacle in his house when fear fell upon David the king and would not take it with him in his city when God struck Uzzah for his error; and he died there by the ark of God” (2 Kng. 6:6-8).

THE FRUIT OF FAITH

In the parable of the sheep and the goats reveals to us the fruit of faith, and is concerned how God’s grace is seen in redeemed human lives; “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and gave You drink? When did we see You stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You? And the king will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matt.25:31-40). The final judgment will be according to the evidence- not according to what was professed but what was practiced, not according to what was said but what was done (Matt. 7:21). The works in view are not such as ever could earn salvation; they are works of love which reflects a life redeemed by the saving work of Christ through the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:6). Although the benevolences rendered throughout life may have consisted of the most elementary works of kindness and mercy, they nonetheless are evidence of genuine faith, because they represent what the believer has sincerely been able to do for Christ’s sake (Matt. 10:42).

Isaiah the prophet admonishes us that, “If we are willing and obedient, we shall eat the good of the land” (Isa. 1:19). Willingness of heart and the obedience to God’s word guarantees a reward of the professed faith.

“Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”