By Steve A. Hamilton

Introduction:  Pleasing God ought to be our primary desire in this earth life.  Our faith in God ought to help us live life in obedience to Him.  After all, our eternal salvation is at stack if we don’t live by faith.  The apostle Paul expressed it this way (2 Cor. 4:13-5:9). 

          “We make it our aim,… to be well pleasing to Him.”  Because we aim to please God, we are a peculiar people (Titus 2:14).  Our faith dictates that we walk a certain way in life that is pleasing to God. 

          In this lesson, we will examine a few ways that we live by faith, that makes us peculiar, while we aim to please God. 

I.  By faith we give to the Lord.

          A.  Unlike the world which hoards the money they earn, we give a portion of it back to God (2 Cor. 9:7).  How much do we give back to God?  We give back a portion of our earnings to God by faith!

                   1.  No where in the New Testament is the amount of our offering dictated.  Rather, we give as we purpose in our hearts.  To one person, that is as little as he can get away with giving.  To another, it is giving as much as he can do without.  Yet, only one of these people gave by faith.

                   2.  Cain and Abel are the perfect example.  They were both instructed to give back to the Lord in the form of a sacrifice (Gen. 4:3-5).  Please notice, that both men gave a portion back to God.  Therefore, do we assume God was pleased with both offerings since they both met the requirement to give? 

                        a.  Abel, unlike Cain, gave by faith (Heb. 11:4).

                        b.  Cain lacked faith which was evident in his giving (Gen. 4:6-7).

          B.  Notice God’s advice to Cain in regards to giving.  “If you do well, will you not be accepted?”  If you give by faith, will God not be pleased?  But if you don’t give by faith, “sin lies at the door!”  I’m suggesting to us all, if we hoard our money that God has given us; if we aren‘t cheerful givers each Lord‘s day, “sin lies at the door.”   

          C.  Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6).  Even in our giving. 

II.  By faith we spank our children.

          A.  Solomon gives this advice (Prov. 13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15). 

          B.  Yet, society tells us spanking is bad for children and constitutes abuse.  I’ve learned that in Missouri, is against the law to spank a foster child. 

          C.  By faith we spank our children because we believe, despite what our worldly experts might say, that God knows best (Heb. 12:5-11).

          D.  I had a social worker tell me that the best way to correct a child from throwing a temper tantrum was to give the child 5 seconds to straighten up.  If they did, no punishment was given.  She would do this every time the child through a fit.  I responded by telling her each of my children have only thrown one temper tantrum in their life because I spanked them (Prov. 10:13).  

III.  By faith our wives are homemakers.

          A.  Please don’t get me confused, I’m not saying a women can not work for income.  However, Paul gave instructions for the wife to be “keepers at home” (Titus 2:4-5).  A wife’s primary occupation is homemaking. 

          B.  Listen as I read about a virtuous wife (Prov. 31:10-31).  That is the kind of women we should raise our daughters to become. 

          C.  Unfortunately, our society thinks keeping the home is a waste of time.  Many families fear they won’t be able to afford the things they want if both spouses don’t work for a living.  Despite what the scriptures say about the love of money being the cause of all kinds of evil (1 Tim. 6:10), people still don’t have the faith that God will take care of them (Matt. 6:33).   

IV.  By faith we assemble at every service.

          A.  We are commanded not to miss services (Heb. 10:24-25). Notice the passage says the “assembling of ourselves together,” not the “assembly.”  Every time this congregations decides to assemble, we are commanded not to forsake it.

          B.  If we attend all the “assemblies of ourselves together,” does that mean we have done all we need to do?  No, it means we have only done what was expected of any Christian to do (Luke 17:5-10).

          C.  If we don’t attend all the “assemblies of ourselves together,” we certainly can’t say we miss the assemblies by faith?  Jesus said to increase your faith you must do what was commanded and then you are still an unprofitable servant at that.  We only fulfilled what our duty required.

Conclusion:  There are many other things we do by faith.  These are but a few of them. 

          If we are going to be well pleasing to God, we must live by faith.  Obedient faith even in the face of criticism.  Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.  Have you been living by faith?  If not, why not come… 

Last modified: 05/02/08