This may explain why many Christians are not growing in the Lord, and why their lives are void when it comes to the blessings of God. We cannot read about a single individual in the Bible, and not see how his/her faith affected him/her in a positive way, or how the lack of faith affected him/her in a negative way. Something we all should be seeking God to do for us, is to strengthen our faith. I believe if Jesus was alive physically today, He would do just as He did so many years ago - Mark 6:6 - "And he marvelled because of their unbelief..." We need to recognize how our unbelief has robbed us of God's blessings that we so desperately need. Our attitude should be like that of the father who came to the Lord, who said, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." This is one of the great needs of the hour, in every church and in every home. Faith cometh by hearing, so let's hear what God's Word says to us:
I. THE REALITY OF GOD
Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is..."
Most folks do not know it, but there are two kinds of atheists.
A. THE SPOKEN ATHEIST
Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God."
Notice that this same verse tells us why the foolish state such a thing - "They are corrupt, they have done abominable works..." It is not a rare thing any more to hear a man say, "I do not believe there is such a thing as a God." The Bible tells us a man like this is trying to "fool" himself because he is CORRUPT, and has done ABOMINABLE WORKS. Sinners do not want to meet God with all their evil deeds. They will not repent of their evil, so they say, "I do not believe in a God." I remind you, God says these are only trying to fool themselves. There is no such thing as a true atheist. For a person to be a true atheist he would have to know everything there was to know about everything, and no one knows that. So, since no one can truthfully state he knows everything there is to know, then no one can be a true atheist. There are many foolish people on this earth, but the one who ranks as being most foolish is the man, or the woman, who states, "I do not believe there is a God," when all the while he is surrounded by evidence of a loving God.
Illus: This reminds me of a professor at a very large university who made no secret of the fact that he claimed to be an atheist. He would tell his students, "If you don't throw aside your faith in God, and act in your own knowledge and strength, you'll never get very far in this world." One day, during a class, the matter of "rain-making" came up for discussion. The professor quickly stated, hypothetically: "What help was faith in God during the recent drought? A lot of farmers got down on their knees and asked God for rain. What did they get in answer to their prayers? No rain! Do you know what they should have done? They should have sought help from science. Send a man up in a plane, drop some chemicals on a cloud, and you get rain. No need of God. Any questions?" "Yes, I have a question," one of the students said, "Who furnishes the clouds, if there is no God?"
Illus: Children voice more intelligence than a Ph.D. who says there is not a God. A Ph.D. said to a little boy one day, "I'll give you an orange if you can tell me one place where God is." The little boy said, "I'll give you a basket full of oranges if you can tell me where God is not."
We repeat, there is no such thing as a true atheist, only ungodly men and women who are trying to fool themselves because they are CORRUPT and have done ABOMINABLE WORKS.
The atheist displeases God with his unbelief - Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,.."
B. THE UNSPOKEN ATHEIST
Illus: This second kind of atheist reminds me of the preacher who went to a new church, and the church began to grow by leaps and bounds. In the church were two wealthy brothers who had always had their way, and, needless to say, held the church back. Soon after the new preacher arrived, one of the brothers died. The day before his funeral, the living brother came to the new preacher and said, "You know that new building that you want built for the church. Here is a check for the full amount. All you have to do is say tomorrow, at the funeral, that my brother is a saint." The next day, at the funeral, the preacher stood over the corpse and said, "Before us today is one of the meanest men that ever lived. He was a wife-beater. He cheated on his wife. He lied. He gossiped. He was one of the rottenest sinners that lived in this town, but compared to his brother, he was a SAINT!"
The spoken atheist makes the unspoken atheist look like a saint, but the fact is, the man who doubts the existence of God, whether it be spoken, or unspoken, displeases the Lord. The unspoken atheists do not make mockery of the existence of God. They may even attend church and read the Bible occasionally. The fact is however, they still deny the existence of God. They are filled with doubt and unbelief. Have you noticed that bad things usually happen to those who are filled with doubt? If you listen to people talk, you can hear them express doubt in many ways.
Illus: Helen Hayes, many years ago, cooked her first turkey for Thanksgiving. Before she served it to her husband and son, she announced, "I know this is the first turkey I've ever cooked, and if it isn't right, I don't want anybody to say a word. We'll just get up from the table, without a comment, and go down to the hotel for dinner." When she came into the dining room with the large cooked turkey ready to serve, she found her husband and son at the table with their coats and hats on ready to leave. They did not want to eat a turkey that she had doubts about to start with.
We have many people today who cannot serve the Lord effectively, because they are filled with doubts. This is the most basic thing in your Christian life, something you have to settle once and for all. You will never be able to reap the blessings God would give you, if you doubt God's promises - "...for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Why? God cannot answer prayer that is prayed in unbelief, because such prayers cannot bring glory to God. (I believe in divine healing, not divine healers.) Just suppose I have a desperate physical need and I pray something like this, "God, I am not sure that You exist, and if You do exist, I am not sure You love me enough to help me, but if You do exist, and You do love me, will You touch my body?" Just suppose I do get well, can I really give God thanks? No, How could I give Him the praise when I am not even SURE HE EXISTS. I could easily rationalize that it was not God, but the medication I took, that was responsible for my being better. This is what the unspoken atheist does. He is not convinced that God really exists, so he can not thank Him or give Him the credit due Him. Even people who claim to be Christians find themselves in this predicament sometimes. We please the devil when we doubt God. Satan knows God cannot use us or bless us as long as we live in doubt. The only difference between the spoken atheist and the unspoken atheist, is that one comes right out and denies the existence of God, while the other one would not come out and do that, but you will find that God cannot work in either of these, they have tied His hands.
Illus: In Matthew 13, Jesus had gone back to Nazareth with a desire to do a great work among those people that He knew as He was growing up, but verse 58 states, "And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."
Unbelief ties the hands of God. All across this land you have the spoken and the unspoken atheists restricting God from working in their cities "...because of their unbelief."
II. THE REWARDS OF GOD
Hebrews 11:6b, "...and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
A. THOSE WHO WERE REWARDED
Look at verse 13, we read, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
This chapter is God's Hall of Fame of great men and women of faith, whose belief in God's existence could not be shaken. Not only did they believe He existed, but, "...that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Just look at this great review of those who trusted God.
Look at verse 4, we read, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh."
God accepted both animal and grain offerings. It was not the offering, but the difference in the character of the two. The Bible says Abel offered "By faith...." Notice it says, "...he being dead yet speaketh." The sacrifice of faith that Abel offered up thousands of years ago, still speaks to us even though he is dead.
Look at verse 5, we read, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."
Notice how the Bible says, "Enoch...pleased God." How do we please God? By faith. Because Enoch pleased God with his faith, he never experienced death, he was translated, "...and was not found..."
Look at verse 7, we read, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith."
God asked Noah to do things never ever done before. Up to this point no rain had ever fallen. Noah believed so strongly in the existence of God, and in His promises, that by faith, he began building an ark that God commanded him to build. Well, the flood did come, as God said it would, and things happened just as God said they would. Many had laughed at Noah when he tried to warn them, but no one was laughing when the flood waters rose.
Look at verses 8-10, we read, "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
Look at verses 11-12, we read, "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore spraing there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable."
God promised Abraham an heir. All her life, Sarah had been barren, now, at ninety years of age, she laughed when she heard that she was to have a child. She knew this was not possible. Nevertheless, Abraham was a man of faith. Soon someone said to Mrs. Abraham, "You are putting on some weight aren't you?" And soon she knew, and everyone else knew, that she was going to have a baby. The whole Jewish nation, and our Messiah Himself, are products of Abraham's faith.
These, along with Isaac in verse 20, Jacob in verse 21, Joseph in verse 22, Moses in verse 23, Joshua in verse 30, Rahab in verse 31, Gedeon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, and Samuel, were great men and women of faith. They would not be listed in this chapter if they had not BELIEVED IN THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, and also BELIEVED THAT HE IS A REWARDER OF THEM THAT DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.
The author shows us even more about these, and others like them, in verses 33-40, "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, wazed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."
These were richly rewarded by God because of their great faith.
B. THOSE WHO WILL BE REWARDED
The great men and women listed in Hebrews 11 have come and gone. Faith in God is what made the difference in their lives.
The same thing will make a difference in our lives. We also must not only believe He exists, but recognize He is a rewarder of those who "diligently seek him."
Conclusion:
I. THE REALITY OF GOD (HEB. 11:6)
A. THE SPOKEN ATHEIST
B. THE UNSPOKEN ATHEIST
II. THE REWARDS OF GOD (HEB. 11:6)
A. THOSE WHO WERE REWARDED
B. THOSE WHO WILL BE REWARDED
