“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
Not with the ears, but with the attitude of heart. Not with the eyes, skimming across the page, the mind wandering to other places, but with a desire to seek the face of God for His glory.
A few minutes on Sunday morning and then an entire week allowing the Word of God to sit in its place on the shelf will not increase your faith, nor establish it in your heart, the mind cannot serve the Almighty if one does not understand through faith how one is to serve, and the heart can find no place of rest or true peace if His Word is not hid there.
Perhaps it is only my personal experiences, but I have found that many who attend church speak little of their faith, even of the Lord Jesus Christ, outside of the walls of that place, the world and self seems to be the centralized focus of their conversations, before and after the sermon and songs, as well as the week they walk through towards that next Sunday.
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” (Matt. 5:13)
Correcting, reproving and rebuking are as far from their minds as simply offering the truths of the Scriptures to a stranger they meet on the street, and so one must contemplate, if they will not speak of Him whom they profess to love, have they honestly hid His Word in their heart, have they actually heard and received faith?
The moral constructs of the world, what it says is right and what is wrong, what is acceptable and what is not, seems to have taken the place of what the Word of God says, and for those this short letter references, any mention of the Scriptures might be seen as judgmental, they carry within them an attitude of not wanting to shove Jesus down the throat of anyone they meet.
“But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 10:33)
A desire to serve without any true faith that is willing to stand, a heart that does not want to offend their fellow man but has no fear of offending the Almighty by not speaking of Him to them. Claiming to be servants but offering no honor to Him they say they serve, leaving the Lord out of every conversation they have with others.
“Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)
These my friends have a form of godliness, every Sunday morning, at every Bible study, yet, though they will deny it vehemently when the subject is broached, they seek the praise of men. Their faith will never grow, no matter how much of the Scriptures they hear, for it was never established in them to begin with, these do not have the Holy Spirit residing in them but have a heart instead that has been deceived.
The fruits of the Spirit are manufactured within themselves by themselves, not for the glory of God, not even perhaps at times for the praise of men, but because it is morally correct, it is what Christians do. Yet they will not speak openly about the One they say they serve, even to those they love, for fear of losing their love, their friendship, for fear of losing that which they love the most, but will never admit, even to themselves, the love of the world.
It is almost impossible for me anymore to fathom one who says they love the Lord, who professes to be saved, but who will not speak of Him in general conversations, who feels too embarrassed to even mention His name to others they meet, who will sit in the pew, week after week, but not once during the week mention His name to anyone.
Faith comes by hearing, but if that supposed faith is not voiced during the week to others, it is not true faith, but only the construct of a deceived heart.
