Faith That Sustains

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. It is good to be with you this morning and trust that God will bless us further as we look to Him and allow Him to direct our lives. I was impressed with the thought that came through numerous times already about the faithfulness of God. [00:00:36] And it's good we get to the place where we can rely on God and we know that He is faithful. And I think St. Timothy makes mention of the fact that some people will not believe, but that does not change God's faithfulness. And we can be glad for that this morning. In fact, I would like to think this morning with you about learning how to live by faith. Maybe you know all about it. [00:01:10] And if so, I want to talk with you later and be reading from Hebrews 11 a little bit. But toward the end of chapter 10 of Hebrews, he comes off with a phrase where he says, Now the just shall live by faith. And I don't think I'd be stretching the scriptures if I just say that Christians are to live by faith. [00:01:43] Do we know what it is? Do we know how to operate in faith? I have already made the statement that the thing of it is we pray about something, we have faith that God will do it, and if it doesn't happen, we just go and buy it ourselves. We've just taken our own hands. In that way, I say that our affluent living is not a friend to a walk of faith. [00:02:15] But I believe that God is pleased when we exercise faith in following him to various degrees and thinking this is going to take a little bit of a piece out of Abraham's life and look at that and discover how he experienced this and what applications we can make for it. In the 6th verse of chapter 11 then, it says, But without faith it is impossible to please Him. In verse 5 it mentions the testimony that Enoch had. [00:02:54] He said, walk with God, and he said he had this testimony that he pleased God. Then the writer says, but without faith it is impossible to please God. So, perhaps we, living by reason, living by circumstances and various things that control our life, perhaps there are things about this that does not please God. If we do not learn how to live by faith. [00:03:25] I'm going to read several verses following verse 8. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God. [00:04:01] Now I'd like to turn to the book of Romans and read several verses out of chapter 4, also concerning Abraham. It's in a different phase of his life. But verse 18 and following, he said, But who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. [00:04:32] and being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead which was about a hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb he staggered not at the promise of God of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that he that had promised was able also to perform and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. [00:05:05] That's as far as we'll read here. Note just a few things here. In verse 18 he said, Who against hope believed in hope. That's almost a contradiction statement there. But I believe he, I think he was saying that beyond reason, beyond human reasoning, he believed in hope. [00:05:41] And this hope is not just a wishful thinking. He believed, I think he had a hope. Then in verse 19 he says, and not being weak in faith. He considered, you know, there's things he considered there about the birth of his son. But verse 20 is particularly why I picked out this selection here where he says, He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. [00:06:15] As I look at Abraham's life in general, I see, well, I've said this way, I feel that often when we start talking about a character in the Bible, we take Paul or Moses or David, somehow we kind of place a halo on them because they are the holy people that are mentioned in the Bible. But we need to remember that they also were human. And they had tendencies. They had ways in which God worked with them in different ways. [00:06:48] So, I believe that Abram had a vision. I believe that he worked to this end. But to say that he staggered not, I suppose I would have had a harder time to give that endorsement to him than what Paul did here in Romans 4. And I feel it was the heart of Abraham that kept on even though he may have wavered at times. [00:07:22] We'll leave that part of it. And then it also mentions that he was strong in faith. And then in verse 21, he says, And being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Talking about the faithfulness of God. And we can mark it down. If God promised something, that he's able to do it. And that sometimes is more difficult to follow than others. [00:07:57] Now I'd like to go back to the 12th chapter of Genesis. Familiar passage there, I believe, but I'd like to see what we can learn from this, of his walking with faith. This was the beginning of his walk with the Lord. In Genesis 12, where it's recorded about the call that he got, I'd like to read the first three verses. Now the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, and to a land that I will show you. [00:08:34] I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and I will make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. I'd like to note here that he got a call. He was promised a blessing, and he was given a promise of a blessing reaching down to our generation through his faithfulness. [00:09:12] So we look at this, we say that this was the introduction of faith in that phrase where he says, And he said, get thee out of thy country and whatever else it entails and go to a country that I will show thee. I don't think very many of us have experienced that capacity of faith that he needed here. I think I can partially identify with it. [00:09:45] We, in some moving around we did, that there was some uncertainty sometimes that I remember telling my wife that it doesn't bother me so much that we're not sure what is happening as it does when people ask, well, where are you going? And we say, well, I'm not sure. And, you know, you get expressions that wonder, well, are you all right? That was harder for me to accept than that they didn't have an answer. I can imagine that Abraham might have had similar experiences because he says, [00:10:22] you leave the country and I'm going to show you where you shall go. Some people feel that he didn't know where he was headed. Various reasons to believe that he didn't. But we find here that after faith was introduced, the family situation, family living, Which they were, I feel it was also interrupted when we read in chapter 11, verse 32, 31, it says, [00:10:55] Terah, Abram's father, took Abram, and it mentions all the rest that went with him, and they went. You know, sometimes there's things that happen in life. God had given a specific call and Abram adjusted himself to the customs. They all lived together. Abram said, I'm leaving, and Tyria said, well, let's go. So they traveled as a company of people. [00:11:27] I don't know how many people there were, with all the servants and everything, but it must have been quite a company of people that left Ur. Now, what was Ur? Where was it? Checking your maps, you'll find that it's down close to the Persian Gulf. And history would tell us that at one time it was the Gulf. It was a port city, a wealthy city. It was a very educated people there. [00:11:58] There were a lot of them. Trade was good. They were well set. And by all means of the way things were handled, Abram being the oldest son, he would have been in line for the next one. Pretty comfortable place to live, wouldn't it be? Everything was set. And then he got the call. According to the way it's written here, it doesn't quite sound that way. [00:12:32] They almost sound like he got this call while he was living in Haran. They moved to Haran. This group of people moved to Haran. And it mentions that in verse 31 and in verse 32 it says that after Terah had lived for 205 years, he died. That's all it mentions. And as we look at that, I think we could very rightly say that we find faith in remission as they went and they settled down and they lived there. [00:13:05] It doesn't say what they did. It gives no details. It just said they were there and he was 205 years old. Tira died. But then if we go down to verse 4 of chapter 12, I think we can find where faith was, well, no, in verse 4, I'd like to pick up here, where he says, the last part of verse 4, it says, [00:13:35] And Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. Well, we don't know how long they were in Haran. But let's say he was 40 years old when he got that call. We could look at this, and now he's 75. We could say, well, there was a gap there, about 35 years. And I want you to be applying this to your own life. of God working in your life, of how many delays we find. [00:14:13] We would say this was a delay in faith working because he had gotten a call. I don't know how vividly he interpreted this for himself and how personally he took it, but he responded with a large group. But then it says in verse 5, Abram took his wife and Lot, his brother, and then in the middle of the verse there it says, [00:14:45] And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came. Not only do we see where faith had been in remission there for a period of time, We see it returning, or we should probably say it's responding. Once, I think when Father died, Abraham said, Now, I need to go ahead and follow what God had told me earlier. [00:15:19] And so he took Lot, his wife, his servants, and so forth. Still quite a company there. He took and they went down into the area here, into Canaan, and in verse 7 it talked about, it said, The Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto him, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And there built he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him. Getting some reassurance here that you're on the right track. [00:15:54] He said, this is the land that I want to give to you. And he built an altar there. Verse 8, it mentions another location where he also built an altar and where he had, it says he called upon the name of the Lord. I'd like to take note of the fact that it mentions Bethel in connection with this. And we remember Jacob being at Bethel. [00:16:27] There's a noteworthy location to note that he was there. So we see that God gave him some assurance. He says, you're on the right track. This is the land that I want to give you. But we don't read far until we see another course of action here. In verse 9 and 10, he said, and Abram journeyed going still toward the south, and then in verse 10, it says, and there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt. [00:17:08] God didn't mention anything about moving out of the country if things get tough. He said, this is the land I want to give you. And I look at this as a time when faith was receding. Abram was a good provider and Abram did good planning. And when they ran out of grazing for their big herds, he found out they would have plenty of it in Egypt, so go to Egypt. [00:17:42] and that I'm not pointing fingers at that but it's the fact that let's say that he moved according to human reasoning at this point I'm not saying we don't make decisions sometimes because of circumstances around us but it should be more than just the circumstances that set our goals There should be other things that guide us other than just this is a good place to go. [00:18:16] And we're not going to talk a lot about this. It does mention in verse 16, it talked about Abram had a good amount of wealth there. See more about that later. But the thing that I particularly notice in verse 20 of chapter 12, it says, and Pharaoh commanded his man concerning him and sent him away and his wife and all that he had. It's kind of interesting that God used a pagan king to set Abram back on course. [00:18:52] He sent him away because he had disappointed, he had ruined his testimony in various ways. The fact that he lied and the number of things that took place there. But I particularly want to point out on this that he says he sent him away and he says take your things and get out of the country. We can't afford to risk your presence here. Then we go to chapter 13 and I like to think of this as faith returning in the fact that in the first verse of chapter 13 [00:19:24] and he says Abram went up out of Egypt, he took his wife and all that he had and lot with him to the south and Abram was very rich in cattle and in silver and in gold and he went on his journey from the south even to Bethel and to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai I. Unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first, and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. [00:19:59] Remember where he had built that altar? That's toward the north end of Palestine. He had been down in Egypt, on beyond. He left Egypt, but God kept probing and directing him until he got up to the place where he had built that altar in the beginning and God said, this is the place I want for you. He takes him back to that location and we see that he's getting back on course, that faith is returning here and that God is able to minister to him. [00:20:37] And he said he called upon the name of the Lord. But it mentions here that, it mentions twice here, he said he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel and to the place where a tent at the beginning between Bethel and Ai. He went there where, let's put it this way, he took him back where he left off. And I think sometimes that is an important move, that we recognize where we stumbled and God can take us back to that place and make things work out. [00:21:19] After this, we see another area of Abram's life that I find interesting. It talked about verse 6. It mentions Lot, which had traveled with him, also had a lot of cattle and a lot of sheep, a lot of servants. And verse 6 says, And the land was not able to bear them. That sound familiar to Abram? Do you think he experienced something like this before when the famine had struck? [00:21:55] So here he was. Some decisions had to be made. What are we going to do? Egypt is not an option anymore. And maybe we would say he was re-evaluating the call. He was looking at this. He remembered that when he had first set up an altar there that God said, this is the land for your children, because he didn't have any, but he told him that. [00:22:26] And Abram had to make a decision here. The thing he saw there, he said there was strife between the herdsmen. Shepherds were not, they were looking for the best part, you know. And I noticed also that it says not only were Lot and Abram here, but it says the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also in the country and maybe they had to contend with them, you know, and what was left for them, where they could take. And different ones thought, well, this should be mine, we should get this. [00:23:00] And Abram made a statement there, it's very noteworthy, where he said that that's not good, That we have strife here. It says, after all, we're brothers. I think sometimes that's something that could be used in a church, especially some in Kansas that I know of, that it would be a good idea to use that expression. You know, let's be careful how we relate to each other. We're brothers. And Abram saw the necessity of the fact that we need to do something about this. [00:23:33] In this case, he said, we'd better just part company. We're too big a crowd to try to keep us in grass here. And in a very unselfish way, he told Lot, says, you choose, I'll take what's left. And that could be another story there of Lot's choice there. But we see that he was re-evaluating as he made that decision of what God was really wanting him to do. So, maybe he also, at this point, re-evaluated the call when God appeared to him and he says, [00:24:11] Get you out of your country, from your father's house, from your kindred. Who was Lot? Orphaned nephew. Abram felt that he was doing the right thing by taking care of him. But I wonder if this was God's way of telling him, you know, that I really was not intending for Lot to go with you either. I say this on the basis of what we will find in verse 14 and following, which I will read. [00:24:42] And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, take note of that, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, southward, eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. [00:25:14] Arise, walk through the land, the length of it, and the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. And Abram removed from his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. I have not made a close study of the life of Abraham, but as I recall, there were various times in the various steps of faith as Abraham moved along [00:25:45] that the Lord again appeared unto him, reconfirming the thing that he had said earlier. And this is the case here. After Lot had left him, God again came to him and he said, But look around you, all directions. It says this is your land. This is what I'm going to give you and your descendants. It's yours to have. And not only did he say this, but he says walk around, go and discover the land. [00:26:21] But the truth of the matter is, Abraham never owned any land there except what he bought to bury his wife and where he was buried. That's all he ever owned. But God said, this is yours. I'm giving it to you. But he lived in tents. We read back in Hebrews with Isaac and Jacob. Yes, I understand according to what I can find age-wise that Jacob was born before Abram died. [00:26:52] But they lived in tents, very temporary. And the Hebrew writer said that he had a focus on something bigger and greater and more stable than what he was experiencing on this earth. He had his focus on a city that wouldn't decay, wouldn't have enemies and so forth. He got the reassurance, he says, I will be with thy seed. I will make you innumerable. I will make you a big host. [00:27:23] Anabaptist, and I already mentioned the fact that he was invited to walk through. Go back to the book of Joshua when they came from Egypt to overtake the Canaan. Joshua was promised, he says, wherever the sole of your foot shall walk, that I will give thee. I think it was similar, I'll repeat a little bit what he was saying here. And we wonder, I wonder what went through Abram's mind as he looked at this. [00:28:01] And I don't know just what he saw, but the fact that God says, I'm going to give this land to you. Well, we may ask the question, how does that apply to us? Yes, we don't live in Palestine. We're not led into a place like that in a literal way. But I'm thinking back of some of Jesus' words while he was ministering on this earth. [00:28:32] In Matthew, the 10th chapter, in verse 37, he said, He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and follows after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it. And he that loses his life for my sake shall find it. I just state this way that we are, we're all on the pilgrimage. [00:29:07] We're all walking through life. I trust that we are all experiencing faith in various degrees. We see here that Abraham had stumbled in various ways. We see how he was led to go to Egypt. We find some delays. We find some detours. [00:29:43] And then we find he got to a place where he had to make a decision. Like for us just to bow our heads and close our eyes. We think about these various things that Abraham experienced in life. We get the invitation that Jesus put before us and he says that we have to evaluate of how much we think of family ties, which are dear to us. He also told us to look at this and the like. He says, hey, that if there's things there that I love, you love more than the Lord. [00:30:18] He said we're not worthy of him. And as we look at the various experiences that Abraham had, his ups and downs, and the various ways that God led him and took him. And some of his decisions brought some disastrous results, such as his idea of bringing a maid back from Egypt, which became the mother of Ishmael. And yet we see that Paul looked at his testimony and when he talked about it, he said he staggered not [00:30:52] at the promises of God through unbelief. And furthermore, we find that Abram went on record as being the father of faith. I'll just ask the question to you. How are you progressing in your journey? How are you responding to God's call and God's ways of working in your life? And we go down with the testimony that we believe God and we were strong in faith. [00:31:25] and that God is pleased with our walk in this way. Lord, we thank you for your faithfulness even when we're not faithful. For your faithfulness to us even when things look impossible. For your faithfulness to us in the things you promised us that we like Abraham can realize that you are well able to fulfill these promises We pray that you would help us in our walk with you to be a testimony for you in ways that would honor you and that you could be glorified and that saints could be strengthened and our testimony would go out to you and to others in ways that would verify the fact that we believe in a God that is faithful to trust. [00:32:22] Thank you for the privilege of being here this morning and I ask that you would bless the congregation here, bless its leaders, direct them in ways that would bring honor and glory to you. Through Christ Jesus, Amen.