Without faith, it is impossible to please God!

Without faith it is impossible to please God!

“Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe that He exists and rewards those who seek Him.” Heb 11:6 (HCSB)
There is something about a wood fire…
In my life many memories can be rekindled, by the smell of wood smoke. Memories around campfires with people that I love, memories from the past…a charcoal fire, I can remember sitting around them over 40 years ago…times change and my body changes, but the smell of the fire remains the same…
Scripture teaches that without faith, it is impossible to please God! We say we have faith…but do we?
Do we have faith in what we believe, or do we have faith that Jesus is who He says He is? It is easy to boast about our faith, boast about being a Christian or boast about being a part of a church! It is easy to say that we love Jesus more than anything, we can write it on our Facebook page, blog about our love and faith…but I want you to consider today that when it comes down to it, our faith is all that we have!
I have often said, you have to stand for something or you will fall for everything! What are you standing for? Are you standing for Jesus? I love the Apostle Peter! He is one of my favorite Characters from the Word of God! I believe that there is a little Simon Peter in all of us! Impetuous, Zealous, fervent! He was a hard charger, a man of action, someone who loved God. I am going to ask you a question, so I want you to be ready to answer…think about the question that I am going to ask! It is not a trick question, I want you to think and answer! Can we agree that Simon Peter was a believer? Can we agree that Simon Peter loved Jesus? What did our Lord say about him? He said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas”, (Which means Rock) (John 1:42) He said, “…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 16:18) Jesus knew Peter, Peter knew Jesus! I want to remind you that without faith, it is impossible to please God! Is your life pleasing God? Are the things that you are currently involved in bringing honor to God?
READ ALL JOHN 21!
There is something about a charcoal fire, a wood burning fire, and the smell of the smoke…Let us set the stage and see what was taking place here in scripture. John 21 is an epilogue, a final statement from John the beloved. John is writing these things from a first hand experience. He knew Jesus and Peter; he was there when these things took place. First of all, when did this take place? I believe that it was about 2 weeks after Jesus was crucified. Is this important? You better believe that it is because Peter must have been carrying this agonizing sense of guilt and shame! We go back to the night that Jesus was betrayed! Jesus said, “Tonight all of you will run away because of Me…” Peter told Jesus “Even if everyone runs away because of You, I will never run away!” Peter goes on to say, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny you! Peter being arrogant and prideful told Jesus “I am ready to go to prison with you and death!” Then in the Garden, it is Peter who pulls his sword and cuts off the ear of the High Priest servant…Jesus is arrested, and all of the disciples scatter…Peter hangs close, following the mob that is taking Jesus to the High Priest…We now find Peter, standing by a fire in the High Priest Courtyard. He is warming himself by a wood fire; the smell of charcoal is in the courtyard. This is the place where Peter denied our Lord three times. Scripture teaches that on the Last time, he cursed and swore that he did not Know Jesus. Then the rooster crows…
Scripture teaches that Peter wept bitterly…he realized that he had denied Jesus. He realized that his prideful zealousness had caused him to do the very thing he said was impossible. Peter, who loved Jesus…Peter who knew Jesus…Peter who claimed to have rock solid faith, denied Jesus. Without faith, it is impossible to please God! So here we are standing on the seashore late in the afternoon! Pacing, impatiently waiting. We see seven fishermen waiting on the resurrected Lord. They have been waiting for sometime, Peter probably pacing up and down, weighed down in guilt, a broken man. His impatience comes to a head, he makes the statement I am going fishing…the others tired of waiting says we’ll go also. They get into the boat, and fish…impatience turns into frustration…they fish all night, these professional fishermen and catch nothing. The sun comes up; they are about 100 yards from shore. This time of the year there is probably a mist rising in the warming morning air off the cool water. They smell the smoke of the wood fire. And someone calls from shore, “Men…you don’t have any fish do you?” Their answer is short, probably muffled in anger and frustration. “No!” Without faith, it is impossible to please God! I believe there will be a time when we stand before God, I hope that He never makes that statement to us; we are called to be fishers of men. “No we don’t!” “We have been fishing all night long and we have nothing to show for it!” “Cast the net on the right side of the boat…” Scripture teaches that a great catch was made. At this point John tells Peter…”it is the Lord!” Peter has been here before, he remembers the all night fishing trips with Jesus were the nets were filled with so many fish, and they tore. He had been here before, on that stormy night when Jesus walked out to them across the raging seas, remember, he took the steps toward Jesus, and did all right until he looked at the storm and not the Maker of the storm! Peter, ridden with guilt from his denial, grabs his coat and jumps in to swim…He had to get to Jesus. He was not going to wait for the boat. Arriving on the beach Peter notices the fire; he notices the fish and the bread. The boat now arriving, Jesus tells Peter to bring some more fish…Peter hauls in the net and scripture teaches there were 153 large fish…without faith; it is impossible to please God. I want you to realize that God all ways meets our needs! He does to the excess! Jesus, who tells us all to preach the Gospel to the entire world, first invites us to breakfast. Then Jesus serves the men! He now reverts back to Simon, not Peter…we know these are the same people, but Jesus calls him by his given name, before he became the “Rock Man”. “Simon, son of John…do you love (agape) me more than these?” (Speaking of the other disciples) Peter responds, “Yes Lord, you know I love (phileo) you!” “Feed my lambs” Jesus told him. “Simon, son of John…do you Love (agape) me?” Peter responds “Yes Lord; I (phileo) love you.” “Shepherd my sheep.” Jesus ask a third time “Simon, son of John…do you love (phileo) me?” Scripture teaches that Peter was grieved, which literally means pained, he was hurt, cut to the quick, his pent up guilt and pride would surface no more. He was broken before a holy God! Peter responds, “Lord, You know everything! You know that I love you!” Peter understood at this point, that Jesus did know everything! He knew that his faith before had been in self, now his faith was totally dependant on God! What kind of faith do you have? Without faith, it is impossible to please God. We are standing before a Holy God this day, and I want to remind you that He knows everything! So the question is not do you have faith in God but what does God know of your faith? Peter said that he was willing to go to prison, that he was willing to die for his faith, but we know what happened there! I said at first there is a little Simon Peter in all of us, can I tell you that it is easy to say we believe and walk through life under our own power. Lordship comes from giving everything up for God. Oswald Chambers said of God “All He wants from me is total surrender”. He understood that we must abandon self, and take a hold of Christ! Where are you this day?

There is something about a wood fire…