We Need Faith to Walk in The Promises of God
God wants every believer in Christ to walk in the fullness of the promises contained in His Word. The writers of Hebrews and James warn us however, that if we do not have faith, we will not receive the things that He has promised.
“For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it” .
(Hebrews 4:2)
“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double–minded man, unstable in all his ways”.
(James 1:6–8)
The writer of Hebrews cautions us that like the Israelites who wandered in the desert and who did not enter into the Promised Land; If we fail to believe, neither will we enter into the promises of God.
“So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief”.
(Hebrews 3:19)
In contrast to the Israelite’s unbelief, the Apostle Paul described those who through faith, obtained the promises of God.
“And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked 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”.
(Hebrews 11:32–34)
- Faith is essential to walking in the promises of God.
- It is out of our weakness that we are made strong.
Moses as a ‘Type’ of Christ
God used Moses to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Moses was a ‘type’ or a picture of Christ. Like Christ, through the power and leading of God, Moses led the Israelites out of a place of bondage, represented by Egypt; taking them through the Red Sea, representative of Christ’s death on the Cross; to a place of freedom, represented by the Promised Land. On this journey God went before the Israelites in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Through Moses, God parted the red sea, so that all the Israelites walking on dry land, passed through to the other side. This is why the Scripture says that the Israelites were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea”.
(1 Corinthians 10:1 & 2)
Just like the Israelites who crossed the red sea, every Christian believer who repents and receives Christ, passes through from death to life. This is why when believers in Christ are baptized, they are baptized into the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Provision is Complete
God provided the Israelites with everything they needed for their journey. Each day in the desert they received food in the form of manna from Heaven, and a miraculous supply of water when Moses struck the rock. Though this was years before Christ was born, when speaking of the Israelites in the wilderness the Apostle Paul said:
“They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual Rock that accompanied them, and that Rock was Christ”.
(1 Corinthians 10:3 & 4, NIV)
The rock that accompanied the Israelites was Jesus Christ. And like His provision for the Israelites, God gives every Christian believer today through their relationship with Christ, everything they need to live a Godly life.
“His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”.
(2 Peter 1:3 & 4)
Though Christ provided all of their needs, God was not pleased with most of them.
Out of that whole generation of Israelites that God led out of Egypt – only Joshua and Caleb entered into the Promised Land! Moses himself only saw it from a distance.
“But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness”.
(1 Corinthians 10:5)
“Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in” (Numbers 14:30).
(1 Corinthians 10:5)
Like the Israelites who did not enter into the promised land, not every Christian believer enters into the fullness of the freedom Christ has given them.
Paul tells us that the Israelites did not enter in for four main reasons. These things occurred as examples to us, so that we would not make the same mistakes.
“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”.
(1 Corinthians 10:11 & 12)
Flee from Idolatry
Paul warns us:
“These things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them”.
(1 Corinthians 10:6 & 7)
“Flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men”.
(1 Corinthians 10:14 & 15)
Idolatry is the worship of idols or other gods and is wholly offensive to God.
Worship is the expression of reverence, love, devotion or adoration appropriate to a deity. An idol is an image or a representation of a god, used as an act of worship. Mankind can make a god out of any created thing; including the accumulation of wealth, beauty, position, power, and even the admiration of men. But God tells us clearly we are to have no other gods before Him.
“You shall have no other gods before (in the presence of) Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God”.
(Exodus 20:3–5)
Creator or Created
Everything has been created both by God and for Him. Speaking of Christ, the Bible says:
“For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence”.
(Colossians 1:16–18)
Mankind was created by God, for God! He created us because He chose to create us and He chose to give us life. When Adam and Eve sinned and disobeyed God, He further chose to redeem us by the blood of His Son, in order to reconcile us to God. This is why it is such an offence for us to worship any part of His creation, or to seek to obtain the worship of men.
The Apostle Paul describes the foolishness of idolatry.
“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man–and birds and four–footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonour their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen”.
(Romans 1:22–25)
God Gives Grace to the Humble
Lucifer (the devil) was thrown out of heaven because he desired to sit enthroned and to make himself like the Most High God. What Lucifer greatly desired was to be worshipped like God. The devil is so desperate to be worshipped, that if he cannot get us to blatantly worship him, he will entice us away to worship other things.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High”.
(Isaiah 14:12–14)
What Satan offers us as an object of worship is always a counterfeit, or an exchange for the promises of God.
When faced with temptation God is faithful. He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, but will provide us with the way of escape.
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make The way of escape, that you may be able to bear it”.
(1 Corinthians 10:13)
Paul tells us to rely on the power of God’s grace. When we humble ourselves and acknowledge we need the Lord’s help we are submitting our hearts to God. Having submitted to God first, we can then resist the devil and he will flee!
“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double–minded”.
(James 4:6–8)
Flee Sexual Immorality
Paul also warns:
“Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty three thousand fell”.
(1 Corinthians 10:8)
Our sexuality was God’s idea, designed by God as a gift to both men and women, not just for the purpose of procreation (producing offspring) but for the mutual enjoyment and bringing together of husband and wife. God designed the sexual relationship to be exclusive; protected within the context of a lifetime commitment to marriage between one husband and one wife.
Sexual immorality is when a sexual relationship functions outside of the context of marriage. The Bible defines sexual immorality as ‘porneia’; meaning ‘harlotry, idolatry and fornication’(Strong’s Concordance).
Its Biblical usage includes adultery (sexual intercourse with someone that is married to someone else), fornication (sexual intercourse outside of marriage), homosexuality and lesbianism (Sexual intercourse with another person of the same sex), beastiality (sexual intercourse with animals) and incest (sexual intercourse with close relatives).
Jesus raised the standard even higher by telling His disciples:
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”.
(Matthew 5:27 & 28)
- Sexual immorality is something that takes place first in the heart.
- Sexual immorality includes not just someone’s actions, but their thought life as well.
“Flee sexual immorality!”.
(1 Corinthians 6:18)
Glorify God in Your Body
The Apostle Paul sets sexual immorality apart from all other sins because it causes a person to sin against their own body.
“Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body”.
(1 Corinthians 6:18)
When we have sexual intercourse, we become one with someone else.
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”.
(Genesis 2:24)
Mankind is made up of a spirit, a soul (mind, will and emotions) and a body. When we are joined to the Lord by receiving Christ, we become one spirit with Him. Our bodies become God’s temple and the Holy Spirit lives within us.
We are to glorify God with both our spirit and our body. Neither our spirit or our body are our own, but both belong to God.
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”.
(1 Corinthians 6:15–20)
We Become One with what We Worship
The Bible tells us that the marriage bed (sexual intercourse within marriage) is pure and undefiled.
“Marriage is honourable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge”.
(Hebrews 13:4)
When someone has sex with another outside of the sanctity of marriage, they enmesh themselves or make themselves one in a way that was never a part of God’s plan.
The Old Testament prophets described the Israelites as prostitutes, harlots and adulterers because of their spiritual unfaithfulness towards the Lord. In the same way that physical adultery makes mankind one with the person they have sex with, spiritual adultery makes mankind one with the demon (or false god) that they worship. Both idolatry and sexual immorality involve mankind becoming one with what they join themselves to.
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. Observe Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?”.
(1 Corinthians 10:16–22)
- We become one with what we worship!
- We can ‘drink the cup’ of demons, or we can ‘drink the cup’ of the Lord, but we cannot partake of both.
Prayer of Repentance:
“Lord, I come to You today with the understanding of why idolatry and sexual immorality both grieve Your heart. When mankind does these things he is joining himself with something that is not of You. I now repent and turn away from all sexual sin and of placing any other gods before you. Please forgive me for grieving Your heart. When I am tempted I will not rely on my own strength but I will submit myself first to You. I will then resist the devil and he will flee! I acknowledge You today as both my Lord and as the protector of my heart. Amen.”
