Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
It’s very important, in these days in which we are now living, that we know the difference between faith and presumption, because the two modes of thought and action often resemble each other very closely. Many professed Christians mistake the one for the other, and in doing so, some persons have placed themselves in a compromised position.
By mistaking faith for presumption some folks have brought unexpected harm to themselves and others who in turn have stumbled on the very concept of faith and in some families sharp a divide has opened up as to what constitutes faith or presumption. The current pandemic is a practical example in the here and now, of what we are speaking about.
Some claim that their faith in God will protect them from the pandemic, yet the Delta version has taken a toll where least expected. Others believe that our faith should never lead us to take unnecessary risks, and as a result, the current scientific discoveries are to be incorporated in our practice as being a God-send, since faith without works is dead.
Now, it is true that God at times will work through human agencies to bring relief to suffering humans and even though some may not know it, God is The One who, in some instances is working behind the scenes to bring about His good purposes for us all.
Thus, the question arises very often in the current environment: Is it God’s will that faith in Him alone should sustain us at this time, or should Christians incorporate current science in collaboration with their faith to make the package complete?
We do not propose to have all the answers to these haunting, questions, however, we must make clear from the study of God’s word what is faith and what is presumption. Faith in God always leads a person to obey God to the best of their knowledge, and to the best of their ability.
Faith claims the promises of God, but it complies with the conditions laid down for the fulfillment of those promises. Presumption also claims promises, but it refuses to abide by the Biblical stipulations on which fulfillment is promised.
There are many whose expectations will be severely shaken when it is discovered that God would not be intervening as they expected, and there are others who will defy all odds, and demonstrate in real time that God can certainly be depended upon, to fulfill His word, in unconventional ways and means.
In the book of Hebrews, we find the faith of those in days gone by being exemplified through obedience, such as in the case of Noah, who believed the word of God that a flood was coming. Noah’s faith did not stop at a mere profession; he obeyed, by going to the nearest Home Depot, and buying up all gopher wood he could find.
Thus, when it came time for his faith and reality to converge, his entire household was saved because he believed and acted upon his belief, in accordance with what God had commanded. Thus, obedience is and integral element in anything called faith, which is why the Bible says faith without works is dead.
The works there being referred to is not what man may stipulate in all instances; the works are to be in harmony with what God has commanded, or given us the clearance to do. Abraham also believed God, but his faith took him to the nearest U-Haul outlet, so that he could comply with God’s command that he must leave his native country.
In fact, we would discover in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, that after mentioning those shining examples of faith, the Bible goes on to mention the obedience to God’s word which followed very close on the heels of the exercise of faith. Let’s read:
Hebrews 11:7 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.
Genesis 6: 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
5 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Very specific measurements were given to Noah for the building of the ark, and not one of those details could be left out or disregarded, for then, Noah’s expectation of protection from the flood would be dashed in pieces. Three hundred cubits means three cubits and three stories means three stories, and nothing else.
Thus, Noah’s faith in the promises of God converge with his obedience to what God had told him, and the rest is history. As he sat within the ark with his entire family, he could be confident that God would fulfill His part, for he did everything God told him to do, all his ducks were in a neat row, and therefore, he would be sheltered when the storm comes.
In our day, many persons may claim the promises of God, and may look forward with an anticipation and expectation for deliverance, that is not tethered to obedience and because of this, serious difficulties make manifest that they may not have built upon The Rock, but upon the sand.
This is not always the case when troubles arise, but it is a fact that contemporary Christianity may often claim promises in the Bible without complying with the conditions laid down, and for this reason, many instances of dashed hopes do occur.
Some have deliberately presumed to build an ark of their own choosing, utilizing measurements and building materials which God neither recognizes or endorses, and for this reason, the hopes of many will meet with signal disappointment, when faith is tested as it were by fire.
Therefore, in all of the back and forth concerning faith and presumption, and whatsoever one’s ideas may be on these issues, there is one passage in the Bible pertaining to Noah that we must never forget because it puts the icing on the cake, as it were. Let’s read:
Genesis 6:22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Again, we have the shining example of Abraham, who is often referred to as the father of the faithful. When it was his turn to lead us by example, he also incorporated obedience with God’s promises and commands, and it was based on the fusion of the two that faith and reality converged. Let’s read:
Hebrews 11:8 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.
Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee.
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
In both instances with Noah and then Abraham, we find these critically important words: “And God said unto Noah”. “And God said unto Abraham”
It is worthy of note that God did not say anything to Noah’s wife, nor to Sarah, for it was left up to them to believe and to participate in their husband’s faith and obedience. In order for both these spouses to benefit from the blessings and promises, they must believe God had indeed spoken to their god-fearing husbands.
And if the spouses had difficulty believing that God gave their husbands such outlandish directives, they could have taken the matter to God in prayer, and He would confirm, wherever He sees fit. As we get closer to the final conflict of the ages, husbands and wives should try to be on the same page, so as not to tear their family apart when crunch time comes.
In addition, we observe that in Abraham’s case, he took Lot, his brother’s son and all the souls they had gotten in Haran, everyone who was free to believe and obey, or to disbelieve and remain.
God had not spoken to any of them directly, but if they knew and believed that the head of the home was a God-fearing man, then they are free to make their own choices. They could obey by faith, and thereby be beneficiaries of the promises fulfilled, or they refuse to obey, and thus forfeit the promise of collateral blessings.
The true faith in God that the Bible recognizes will never lead persons to deliberately disobey God, for this causes a short-circuit of God’s promises. This is clearly exemplified in the case of Eli to whom many great promises were made, on the same conditions of obedience, but when Eli deliberately chose not to comply his professed faith was turned to fake news. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 2:27 And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
28 And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?
29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering which I have commanded in my habitation?
30 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said Indeed, that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed forever.
These examples bring us to a very important aspect of faith, which has to do with the confidence factor. How does one, against all odds, and against all logic and conventional wisdom have confidence to take a certain course of action, even though it may seem quite perilous and even nonsensical to do so?
What makes Noah and Abraham confident, and is such an attitude built upon mere figments of their imagination, or is it built upon concrete evidences? In order to act upon God’s commands and promises folks must be sure of what they are doing, so how does the certainty factor figure into the equation?
And as we move forward into unchartered territory, with many diseases, pandemics, droughts, storms, hurricanes, water shortages, and crimes of all sorts on the horizon, what must be a Christian’s basis for confidence and certainty in an increasingly troubled world?
For the answers to these questions, we now turn to the Bible, for it instructs us on how confidence and certainty become a living reality in those who walk by faith. David was as the Bible describes a stripling, meaning that he was probable just out of his teens, and had known nothing else but tending to sheep.
He was cute at that age, and after he learned from his brothers of the existential threat posed to the nation because of Goliath, David made King Saul an offer that would make any battle-hardened general recoil with unbelief. David confidently stated that he would be willing to fight the giant singlehandedly and that he was certain that he would win.
Again, we ask the question: “What makes David so confident, and that against all odds?” He has to be making that offer based upon something he knows for sure, and if so, then it is not presumption as king Saul suggested, but faith in real time.
We could almost guarantee, that if it was someone like Mike Tyson who made the offer King Saul would not think twice; but for this cute youth, who had no battle scars or tattoos on his face, to offer to fight the giant seemed to be an absolute, and a foolish mismatch. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 17:2 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
33 And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
In the above passages we will observe two distinct attitudes and perspectives being manifested, one savors of certainty and confidence, while the other savors of fear, and unbelief. Therefore, before we get into the minds of David and Saul, we must see what the dictionary says presumption is:
Presumption: a belief that something is true even though it has not been proven.
Thus, based upon the above definition, we must get into the mind of king Saul, and observe why he is so fearful. Given the circumstances of his life in times past, he has all right to be fearful. Because of Saul’s many refusals to obey the clear instructions of God in times past, he is now void of any assurances that God will be with him in the present emergency.
His fear is justified, for he has no reasonable ground to believe that God would defeat the giant through him, for he is disposed to disobedience, and for this reason, if he dares to face Goliath, believing that he would be protected by God, he would be believing something that isn’t true, and that would constitute an act of presumption.
God never blesses deliberate disobedience. There are times, when a person is in genuine ignorance God may wink, but the Bible clearly states that if I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear me. Which means that if one knows something is wrong, and chooses to continue doing so, then it becomes vanity to quote promises confidently. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 15:10 Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying,
11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.
17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?
18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Faith on the other hand is quite different for it has confidence and substantive elements, which drive away all fear. Therefore, true faith in God will be a concrete foundation under the feet of those who are disposed to walking in obedience to all that God says, according to the light shed on their pathway.
Fear has torment and uncertainty, while faith has solid foundations of factual evidences, manifested in a person’s experiences with God, and upon which one’s decisions are made with confidence.
Thus, the positive assurance David is manifesting is based upon two things: [1] He obeys God’s voice, and [2] He has many literal experiences with God which he can point to as undeniable evidence of God’s presence with him. Let’s read:
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
It’s worthy of note that if anyone else had dared to make such an offer, such a decision could be placed in the “presumption” column, if they did not have substance and evidence to back up such an offer. If a person claims the promises of God with apparent confidence, he/she had better have substance and evidence to make such claims, or their consequent actions can be presumption.
In fact, when we study the narrative closely, we’ll observe that Saul was cowering in fear, and we are not to criticize him for his feelings, because they are the natural outworking of deliberate disobedience, and a seared conscience.
Thus, we have a dire situation where an existential threat is facing the nation, and some are rightfully afraid and running for cover, while at the same time David is confident about taking on Goliath, for in his mind, he does not view the situation as being risky, but rather as being an opportunity to magnify The name of God.
Thus, we are pressed to ask the haunting question again: What makes David so confident in an obviously dangerous situation? Look closely at the two completely different attitudes in the face of a great risk to the nation. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 17:23 And as he (David) talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words: and David heard them.
24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
1st Samuel 17: 48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
It has to do with the song of his experience, for his confidence is based upon literal experiences that he had gone through previously with God, and that is why we see him speaking as he did.
His offer is not a boastful, presumptuous proposal, but rather a fact- based one that is the fruit of faith and obedience to all God has commanded, to the best of his ability and knowledge. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 17:34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock.
35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
At this juncture, we should pause for a moment of silence ae we read with humble hearts and minds, a passage from the scriptures, which deals directly with faith in God, and the confidence factor. Let’s read:
Revelation 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Hear the word of The Lord now. It is high time that we begin singing a new song. For too many years a great many Christians may have been walking in the presumption lane claiming the promises of God and expecting deliverance only to be disappointed over and over again.
Some have prayed in apparent earnestness, and in sincerity, yet for all the effort made, it may seem as if faith has suffered defeat. Presumption claims the same promises that faith claims, but it walks in the opposite direction to what God has commanded in His word.
Therefore, as we search our souls, it is imperative to see if there’s any command, or any instruction God gave us, that we know of, yet might have, like king Saul, knowingly chosen to differ on the matter. We are in crunch time mode and if we want confidence at such a time as this, we will need to begin singing a new song.
In every age, and before every cataclysmic event, God has sent His servants to prepare His people for what is to come. Very grave occurrences would be transpiring across the entire globe, with increasing frequency and intensity, and we will need a living faith in God, not presumption to see us through.
We should often recall to mind those many literal deliverances and experiences God has brought us through. These instances should then be used as stepping stones for greater trust and obedience, through which our confidence and certainty in troublous times will be as firm as The Rock upon Whom it is built.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which should encourage us to trust and obey, for there’s no other way to escape the many snares, delusions, presumptions, and difficulties that will be engulfing our planet, as we move forward into unchartered waters. Let’s read:
Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
God Bless!