When everything is reviewed at the end of time, the viewpoint then concerning the activities of man will be a great deal different than it is at the present time. Very little of what even good, sincere Christian people are doing in their brief life span is worthy of the effort, the energies, and the time expended. Many of their projects are really not worthwhile at all. It is a blessing when a man can labor and achieve his goal in life; but after he has given his all to achieve that goal, what a tragedy it is if he looks back and realizes that it was not worth the effort. The goal was too small; the project was too insignificant for the expenditure of that much time and energy.
There are many things that a man can live for and labor for, but his efforts often bring a bitter disillusionment. It can be seen on faces everywhere. Often you see a worn, tired look on a woman’s face. All her energy and time have been wrapped around raising the children; and now that they are off living their own lives, she has nothing more. Sometimes the children take everything but her life’s blood, and then leave without even a word of kindness or appreciation. That exhausted, tired look on her face reveals that she labored for something that gave her nothing in return. Many people have that experience. You see them going to work in the morning, facing another day—a day without meaning or purpose. When your life is finished, all that really counts of all you have accomplished is what God has wrought because you believed.
What can we do that we might work the works of God? Just believe on Him! Some of what we do is fine and good. For example, time that is spent playing with a little child or trying to teach the young is not wasted, for then you are reaching out. However, much that people do is absolutely pointless. Often they spend their lives without attempting the things with faith that God wants to do through them.
God’s end-time remnant is expanding and facing great challenges. The needs for finances, for health, for labor, for worship, for teaching, and for ministry will constantly expand and increase. It is good to be linked with God in what He wants you to do. Have you already been challenged to do things you are not qualified to do? When you need an answer, do you believe and reach into God to find it?
Sometimes people can have an image of their shepherd that is not true at all. They always expect him to have a word for them. He needs to have faith to do more of that. He must move out beyond all his limitations. It is in our thoughts that we put up walls as to what we can do and what we can achieve. We are the ones who circumscribe our horizons and determine how vast they will be. Let us dynamite and blast them down. Let unlimited horizons be our goal!
We must believe God. God requires nothing more of us than that. On the other hand, there is nothing we can do on this earth that will please Him if we do not believe Him. …Without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him. Hebrews 11:6. You cannot please God any other way. What about repenting; doesn’t that please Him? Yes, but you cannot repent without faith. Godly sorrow for sins is not repentance, though it works repentance (II Corinthians 7:10). Repentance is an act of faith. It is a turning away and a deep grieving over sin, but a believing for righteousness. There is nothing you can do that will please God except to believe Him. Do you have promises from God? Are there some things that God has laid before you to do and to walk in? Do you draw back and say, “I cannot believe”? Slowly but surely you must determine that you believe, that you will not waver.
Everything you do will be tested and contested by the enemy. Why would God allow that? Why does He tell you to do something and then let it be hindered? Because He is more concerned about the way you give yourself to it and the quality of your faith in every action than He is about the act itself. He could easily eliminate many of your problems, but He does not do so because He wants you to have faith to overcome. For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that hath overcome the world, even our faith. I John 5:4. Paul sums it up: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love. Galatians 5:6. That is the only thing that counts: faith working by love. Have the love of God in your heart and enough faith to believe and go on and do the thing God called you to do.
Let us look at the circumstances behind the story related in John 6. On the previous day, Jesus had fed the five thousand. Afterward, as the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, a storm came up. Jesus walked on the water to the disciples and told them not to be afraid. Immediately the boat was at the other side of the sea. The multitude came around to the other side to find Jesus. They wanted some more of that fish and bread of the previous day’s miracle. The Lord told them, “You do not need to labor for the meat that perishes. Labor for the food which abides unto eternal life, for something good that God has for you.”
That brought up the question, “What shall we do that we might work the works of God? If we are not supposed to be laboring for the meat that perishes, but only to please God, then tell us how to do it.” The Jews were always trying to pin the Lord down to explain just what He meant. He said, in effect, “If you want to labor and strive for something, do not labor after bread. Rather, let the primary work and the agonizing of your life be to believe God, to believe on Him whom He has sent, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart. That is the greatest work you can do.”
What will actually come out of that? In a Roman prison, we see an old salty man, bruised and battered, scarred from head to foot, dictating a letter to his son in the faith. He writes, “I have fought a good fight; I have kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7). There is nothing greater in this life than believing in the Lord with all your heart; and then, every day, in everything you do, expressing that faith.
God puts durable stuff in His people when they have faith. Believe God. Do not live like other people live. Do not die like they die. Do not dream their dreams or cry at their fears. Sometimes you may think that you cannot endure any more testing or problems, but you can and you will! If your faith has not been tested, you will not be worth anything to God.
How does God test a man’s faith? In many churches, people feel that if they give their money or teach a Sunday School class, they are doing what is required of them. But that is not enough. You have not even started when you give your money and all your spare time. What takes place then is really interesting: spiritual warfare, battles, testing. Why do we have to have that? Because we have to please God in this. What is the bread that God eats? What is His dessert? Didn’t He say, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you” (Psalm 50:12). Everything is His anyway and He is not requiring anything of us. But He does feast upon our praise and our worship, which comes up as a sweet fragrance. He calls it a sacrifice well-pleasing unto Him.
You may be squirming under so many tests and trials that you do not know which way to go next, but you are still worshiping God, knowing that He has His hand on you. God enjoys seeing that. I mean that in a very beautiful sense. God received pleasure watching Daniel walk back and forth among the lions. He was pleased when He was walking with His children in the fiery furnace. It is a defiance of Satan and of every rebellious angel when God’s people, so limited in their perception and understanding, have a simple blind faith that says, “I love You, Lord. Even though I cannot see You in the circumstances, I know that You have given me a word and I believe You.” Through such faith God will bring up a people who believe, and He will crush the forces of hell.
God has something marvelous in mind. From His view point, His dealings with His people are beautiful. We look at it differently. What is our reaction when we see how the saints died? “Oh, what a shame that Paul had to die. What a shame that Peter had to be crucified upside down.” No, that is something precious. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15. He watches them live with faith, and He watches them die with faith. The only thing that counts is the fact that they truly believe.
II Chronicles 20 tells of a time when several nations invaded the southern tribe of Judah under the rule of Jehoshaphat. The people began to fast and pray, and then came the word from the Lord through the prophet: …Fear not ye, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of Jehovah with you, O Judah and Jerusalem; fear not, nor be dismayed: tomorrow go out against them; for Jehovah is with you. II Chronicles 20:15, 17. Do you think that is easy to do? In the midst of spiritual battle can you say, “Lord, this is not my battle; it is Yours.”
Verses 20, 21: …Believe in Jehovah your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto Jehovah, and give praise in holy array, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto Jehovah; for his lovingkindness endureth for ever. When they began to sing and praise the Lord, the armies of the enemy turned against each other. Do you like that story of victory?
When the army of Judah arrived on the scene, the enemies were all dead; they had killed each other. It took three days to gather up the spoil. These nations had destroyed each other right in Judah’s backyard where they could easily get all the plunder! There was victory all the way. This was one of the greatest manifestations of faith in the history of the world. A group of singers went out, singing and praising the Lord, because God had said, “The battle is not yours; it is Mine!” They believed it so much that they went out singing as if there were nothing waiting for them but a big picnic. And it turned out to be just that way.
God is with us to believe. Try to apply that word to yourself. Put it into action. In the present battle, are you believing? Are you having faith? Are you standing right there and saying, “Lord, I’m a believer”? or are you running chicken? You have to decide! The greatest thing with which we have to cope is our unbelief. The Scriptures say that Christ constantly marveled at people’s unbelief. The disciples saw such mighty works, and yet unbelief was deeply ingrained in them. Even though we are trying to recondition ourselves to faith, yet we must face the fact that we are still greatly conditioned by the unbelief and skepticism of the age round about us. We find ourselves going back to that, not wholly trusting God, not truly believing that He will take care of us. We still have the ambition, born of fear, which says, “If I don’t lay up for myself, nobody will. If I don’t take care of myself, no one will.”
The Lord says, “Do not be anxious for tomorrow. These are the things which the Gentiles seek: where they are going to live, what they are going to eat, what they are going to wear. Your Father knows that you have need of all these things. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and these other things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:31–34).
We are not coming to church only for a little inspiration now and then; we are coming to hear a word from God by which we are going to live and work and war. We hear words and truths which we will either have to believe or not believe. We are confronted with the challenge that all things are possible. We have many needs. We see many areas where there is a problem. It is God’s problem! All we have to believe is that everything necessary for us to do His will—those resources in heaven, that provision of divine grace—is ample for us. It is God’s business.
Let Him worry about being God, and we will worry about being His believers. Let Him take care of Himself. He is God. He has been doing fine all this time fulfilling His word, holding everything in place. He has more things going for Him than we can even comprehend. How many worlds do you suppose He has? How many people does He hold in the palm of His hand? How many millions of people does He know, even to the number of hairs on their heads? These are things we do not have to be concerned with. That is His problem. He is very capable of being God. He has been God for so long that one could never find His beginning. That is even a problem—to understand how there could never be a beginning to God. Of course, you cannot understand it. Just believe it. He always was. There was never a time when He was not!
It is most amazing how God can take nothing and come up with something. By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God (just like that! by a word from God), so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. Hebrews 11:3.
How can the scientists say, “We do not believe in creation. God did not create a thing. It all came through a big explosion.” Who made the explosion? Who made anything to explode? Where did matter come from in the first place? Is it easier to believe that matter has always existed than to believe there always was a God who created everything that exists out of nothing? There has to be some first cause, and I believe that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. There are many things that I do not understand, but I stopped worrying about them long ago. It is the things that I do understand that bother me. What God has said and what He has set before me—those are the things I will worry about and work with.
What must I do to work the works of God? We find that question answered with another illustration in the experience of the children of Israel. After they had left Egypt, Pharaoh said, …They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. Exodus 14:3. That is what the devil is trying to do to us: entangle us in the land and shut us up in a wilderness so that we will become disheartened and discouraged; then he can take us captive. God shows us a way that we can avoid being entangled in the land or shut up in a wilderness. We believe God.
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:13, 14. God will do the fighting. It is not how much we can do that counts, or the odds that are against our prevailing. The fact remains that what we are trying to do in this end-time walk, and the way we are going about it, is a million-to-one shot if God is not in it. This is a dog-eat-dog world. How can we expect to prevail without using brass knuckles? By the world’s standards, we are playing the game all wrong. But when we look at God’s promises, the odds change. …If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:31, 32. According to that promise, the odds are a million to nothing in your favor. It is all yours, except for one stipulation: will you believe it? Will you truly believe it?
Do you believe that your life can be linked with God’s omnipotence, with His riches, with His grace, with His omniscience? Do you believe that He is your partner? that you are linked with all the wisdom that made the heavens and the earth? with all the power that created them and sustains them? You are linked with the Almighty, but not in a vague way that causes you to bow your head in church on Sunday and say, “O God, whoever You are, wherever You are—please help me a little bit.” It is more than that. There is a reaching out, as you say, “I am one with You, Lord. I believe. I am a believer.” What must we do to work the works of God? This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.