FAITH

I) IMPORTANCE

NECESSARY IF WE ARE TO PLEASE GOD:

READ (HEBREWS 11.6)

II) MEANING OF FAITH

POINTS TO CONSIDER:

READ (HEBREWS 11.1)

III) HOW MUCH REQUIRED?

Most people can relate to the above statements concerning Faith, but its definition is not usually the basic issue. The real question we struggle with is: Do I have enough FAITH for God to respond?

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

If this is a matter of concern for you, the Bible has fascinating ways of answering questions like these. On the surface, the subject of FAITH seems to be so subjective that there would be no way to determine whether we have enough, but in this case we have an illustration that can give us the answer.

That illustration comes in the person of a man by the name of Abram whose name was later changed to Abraham.

READ (GENESIS 11.27-22.19)

Abram was born in the city of Ur of the Chaldees, a very large city in ancient times. He was ten generations removed from Noah and the great flood. During those many centuries, mankind had again drifted away from God into all kinds of different religions and belief systems. Although there is no record concerning Abram's specific belief, he almost certainly would have been a pagan, ignorant of the God of the Bible.

Apparently while Abram was still living in Ur, God had spoken to him concerning some promises that would be his (Genesis 12.1-3).

"Get out of your country, from your kindred and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you."

"I will make you a great nation."

"I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you."

"And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Based on these extraordinary promises, Abram departed on a journey that was eventually to take him to the land of Canaan, today called the Land of Israel. He was already 75 years old when he departed the city of Haran, midway between Ur and Canaan. He had with him his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot and his wife, their workers, and all of their livestock and other possessions.

After reaching the land of Canaan, he continued on to the South down along a mountain range that runs through its central portion (Genesis 12.4-9). However, when a famine broke out, Abram took everyone down to Egypt where he soon ran into trouble with the reigning Pharaoh (Genesis 12.10-20). Sarai was such a beautiful woman that Abram feared the Egyptians would kill him for her, so both conspired to tell the Egyptians that she was only his sister and not his wife (Actually this was half true since she was his half-sister). The Pharaoh took her as one of his concubines, but after God began to punish the Egyptians with plagues, he discovered Abram's pretense. After Abram was given a sound tongue- lashing because of the deception, Pharaoh summarily told them to get out of his sight, forcing them to leave Egypt and return to Canaan.

Sarai was 66 years old when they entered the Land but she was childless. As the years passed by, the couple wondered when and how God would fulfill His promise of a great nation, since that certainly would require children. During those years, Lot and his family had moved down into the Jordan valley then South to a town called Sodom, so Abram no longer was able to have fellowship with his relatives (Genesis 13.1-17). Then some kings to the East made war with Sodom and other cities in that region. In the subsequent conflict, Lot and his family were captured, forcing Abram to muster up a force of his own men to pursue them and free his nephew (Genesis 14.1-17).

It was clear that God was still with him for Melchizedek, king of a city in the hill country called Salem, blessed him on his return from the defeat of those kings (Genesis 14.18-20). Later God again spoke with Abram reiterating His promise that He would make Abram's descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens. God even previewed the future of his people, telling Abram that they would be afflicted in a foreign land but would afterward return to the Land originally promised to him and his seed (Genesis 15.12-16).

Nevertheless, when Sarai became 76 years old, she reasoned that she was too old to have children. It was a hard decision, but Sarai suggested to Abram that he follow the tradition of that time by having Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, act as her "proxy" to bring forth a child that God could bless. Abram agreed and nine months later Ishmael was born (Genesis 16.1-16).

Many more years passed by until Abram was 99 years old and Sarai was 90. Ishmael was a young lad of 13, and Abram loved him very much. It appeared that his seed would be Ishmael, but suddenly without warning God spoke again, declaring,

"I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." (Genesis 17.1-2)

With that assertion, God therewith changed Abram's name to "Abraham" (From father exhalted to father of a multitude), changed Sarai's name to "Sarah" (From one who persists to princess), gave Abraham circumcision as a sign of the Covenant he was receiving, then promised him that Sarah would herself have a son who would be the child of the promise. Abraham stubbornly persisted with the notion that he and Sarah were too old for children, pleading with God that Ishmael could live blamelessly and receive the promise, but it was to no avail; God had made up His mind (Genesis 17.3-22). Therefore Sarah conceived, and nine months later gave birth to Isaac.

Nevertheless, problems continued for both Abraham's immediate and extended family. A crisis was developing for Lot's hometown, Sodom, because of its depravity. Even though Lot was apparently on the city council, the place had become so wicked that God was about to destroy it with all its inhabitants. When the Lord appeared with two angels at the house of Abraham, informing him of its imminent destruction, Abraham found himself negotiating with God, partly in the hope of saving Lot and his family. Although the negotiations did not save Sodom, the two angels did lead Lot and his two daughters to safety as it was destroyed (Genesis 18-19).

Then another problem arose. Discord had arisen years earlier between Sarah and Hagar when Abraham had caused the handmaid to conceive. Now, Sarah's jealousy erupted anew as she saw Ishmael scoffing when her son Isaac was weaned (Genesis 21.8-9). This was the last straw, and she demanded that Abraham send both of them away. It was a sad moment for him because he must send away his flesh and blood, possibly never to see Ishmael again. These were troubling times for Abraham but the worst was yet to come.

When Isaac had become a young man, God tested Abraham with a command that seemed totally in conflict with everything that He had promised up till that time (Genesis 22.1-2). The Lord told Abraham to take Isaac to a place He would show him, and there sacrifice him on an altar as a "burnt offering." What an apparently unreasonable command in view of the fact that Isaac was the very child who had been given miraculously to him and Sarah as the fulfillment of the promise. Yet without question, Abraham did as he was told, taking his son to the mountains of Moriah, intending to kill him. Of course, most of us know the ending of this; an angel appeared to Abraham staying him from that act and providing a ram as a substitute offering.

Abraham and Sarah lived out the remainder of their years in the city of Hebron located in the Southern part of Canaan. Sarah died at the age of 127 and was buried in that place. Abraham lived on to see the marriage of Isaac, and later the birth of his two grandsons, Jacob and Esau, finally dying at the age of 175.

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

READ (MATTHEW 1.1)

POINTS TO CONSIDER:

RE-READ (GENESIS 22.5)

READ (HEBREWS 11.8-12)

READ (HEBREWS 11.17-19)

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

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IV) AN APPLICATION

Just as God gave promises to Abraham, He has also given promises to us who He wants to bless. The Bible is full of such promises, but remember they can come only to those who are willing to act in obedience of God toward their fulfillment. In order to see that Abraham is a model of FAITH for all of us today,

READ (ROMANS 4.1-25)

POINTS TO CONSIDER:

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

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READ (JOHN 3.16-17)

POINTS TO CONSIDER:

 

V) PERSONAL CONCLUSIONS

A number of years ago, a high-wire artist was permitted to string a cable across a portion of Niagara Falls. As the crowd assembled, he calmly filled a wheelbarrow with about 150 pounds of bricks, then confidently proceeded to wheel the entire load across the raging maelstrom below. When he had reached the other side, he unhesitatingly began the return trip. Upon reaching the original side without a single bobble, the stunned audience gasped in amazement, then began to cheer wildly at his incredible display of skill and courage. When the outburst began to subside, he posed a thought-provoking question. "Do you think I could wheel a person across these Falls just as I have done with the bricks?" Almost unanimously, the people "believed" that he could surely accomplish such a feat. "Well then", he said, "who will be the first to get a free ride to the other side?"

MUSTARD SEED


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