Even Our Faith: Part 7-Abraham
July 2, 2023
This is episode 7 of our series “EVEN OUR FAITH” working to discover exactly what it means to live an LIFE of OVERCOMING VICTORY… by living a life full of faith.
We’ve studied that this FAITH comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of [GOD].… so let’s all READ together and HEAR together…and let our faith GROW together…
1 John 5:4-5 (NIV) :: 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. ::
As we study this “victory that has overcome the world…our faith“ we’ve been looking at lots of evidence scripture of
…of HOW faith is the victory that overcomes the world…
…of how FAITH is God’s SUPERNATURAL power that is activated by our BELIEF
…of how we’re supposed to live at the intersection faith & belief…
And then how Hebrews 10 exhorts us that 39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Now we’re in the middle of this Hall of Faith LIST of people who don’t shrink back in Heb 11…learning how we can take FAITH LESSONS from these men & women
Last week we studied Abel, Enoch & Noah… and
…for me, from Abel & Enoch we learned how to GIVE from an attitude of true worship & how to LIVE in faith that pleases God… LIVING in that “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.“ Heb 11:1 …believing in a reward we can’t see…but as Hebrews 11:6 says…we must “believe that [GOD] is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
Then from Noah, I’m TRULY encouraged because there’s noone in scripture that represents thePPT “wrong guy, wrong timing, wrong building plan & wrong building materials” than Noah… but BECAUSE he had “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.“ Genesis 6:22 says “according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.“
Now today… I want you to keep that scripture in mind as we move on to Abraham…
Hebrews 11:8-10 :: 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
So here we have the “Cliff’s Notes” version of Abraham’s life… saying very clearly that it was “BY FAITH”... it was because of the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.“ that Abraham left his home & went out to a new land that God called him to.
One of the things we’ve been talking about as we go through these men & women of faith from Hebrews 11 is that for them to be listed here there must be something we can learn from them, specifically about faith, and very importantly regarding what it means to be part of “those who do not shrink back”.
I believe that every person listed here in Hebrews 11, and every word that’s recorded about them is intentionally written to show us what it means to live in faith… what it means to live in “victory that overcomes the world”...what it means to live even in the 21st century as “those who do not shrink back.”
So if we take it phrase by phrase, word by word…
[“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.“]
“By faith Abraham,” … because Abraham had “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.“ … “when he was called,” …he received a specific calling from God … and even though he didn’t completely know the full plan of where he was going, he knew that it was his inheritance… it says when he was called, he “obeyed”.
So this short version in Hebrews of Abraham’s life comes from Genesis 11 so let’s turn there and get a more full picture…
Genesis 12:1-5 :: 1 Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.
So we’ve got the record of what God said to Abram (this is before God changed his name to Abraham…) and then we have the SUMMARY of his life: vs 4, he “went forth as the Lord had spoken to him…” and then in vs 5, “they came to the land of Canaan.”
Just like Hebrews 11 said, God called, Abram obeyed… left his hometown and arrived in Canaan. And honestly… for US… that seems like a good lesson for us when we HEAR a call from the Lord… “God calls, we obey…we go do what God said and we ARRIVE to inherit all that God promised!” (bada-bing bada-boom…I obey, right away)
But that really seems a bit reductionist to what actually occurs in our lives… In my own life, there are so many times I feel like I heard from God but then between the HEARING and the ARRIVING…there are 100k questions and detours and frustrations along the way… that I don’t see in this simple narrative of Abraham’s life. Vs 1, 2, 3… “Now the Lord said” go where I tell you, I’ll make you a great nation… Vs 4 “So Abram went”... Vs 5 “thus they came to the land” and if we reduce the story to this much information, all of a sudden, I see less of a lesson for me in it because I can no longer see my own story in it.
If Abram’s / Abraham’s story is just a few verses long, (“Now the Lord said”…“So Abram went ”…“thus they came to the land”), my story sounds more like Vs 1 “Now the Lord said”...vs 2 we had to tell grandma that we were taking the grandbabies 1000 miles away and Grandma said, “why would you take my grandkids so far away?!? …vs 3 “and all our friends and coworkers in the established, comfortable career said “why would you leave all this to go where you don’t know anybody … what if we gave you a bonus, would you stay?...vs 4 “You know, if you go, you can never come back here. You’re done in this town/state…” vs 21 me arguing with God, “but God, don’t you know I have a wife & kids to take care of? I have mouths to feed!” …vs 35 let me tell you another excuse I’m not sure I can do it…vs 57 can’t I be just as effective here where people love us & we’re properly taken care of? …vs 99 “Can’t you just give me a few hints about where we’re going? I don’t need a full Waze, real time analysis of the traffic and how to avoid the potholes…how about an old school Mapquest printout that gets us in the general area but hasn’t been updated since 2009… vs 126 “So Chad reluctantly set off …
The crazy thing about all that is… THAT story sounds more like Abrahams’ DAD
Genesis 11:31 Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; (That sounds like Abram’s calling!) leave your homeland and go to Canaan… and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.
The deal is, it’s possible that Terah received the same calling to go to Canaan but he asked the 100k questions & he STOPPED part-way… maybe they had a new, clean Starbucks… or Maybe the town of Haran already had a descent school system or the houses were $250k less with a bigger yard… and the neighbors already knew about God so it wouldn’t be as hard to fit in… but the truth is… He DIDN’T finish the journey, he stopped.
With Abraham story, we don’t hear all the 100k questions between the end of the calling and the “So Abram went ” in vs beginning of vs 4. … It’s not that there weren’t questions that Abraham asked… its just that he had seen his dad answer the calling & then STOP… so when Abram received the calling, it’s not that he didn’t have questions…
FIRST…It’s that Abraham’s FAITH spoke louder than his questions…
it’s that he had “assurance of [a great nation / family] hoped for, the conviction of [a promised land] not yet seen.” ” He is part of the list of “those who do not shrink back”
SECOND… because he had FAITH that didn’t SETTLE.
Abraham wasn’t looking for something that was already easy… he wasn’t looking for something that ‘stayed in the family’ or was ‘safe in the camp’... he wasn’t looking for a land that was comfortable & secure… Hebrews 11:10 says “10 for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.“
There’s something different about looking for what’s easy, comfortable & secure … vs looking for something “which has foundations” … there’s something different about SETTLING like Terah did & “going out” like Abraham did.
When I was doing my research on this portion of Hebrews where it says that “Abraham, …obeyed by going out … and he went out, not knowing where he was going.” this word “going OUT” or “he went OUT” is different than just GOING… or the fact that he WENT… because this word in the Greek/Aramaic means that you could GO without going OUT… it has this indication that recalls “going OUT OF THE CAMP” to take the remains of the sacrifice… like Abraham is not just going to the edge of town, he’s going OUT of town…
I know this sounds like it’s just semantics but this word is referenced again in Hebrews 13:12-13 :: 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
Do you SEE the double reference here… the “GOING OUTSIDE the camp” AND the idea of “seeking a city which is to come.”... this is a DIRECT REFERENCE in Hebrews 13 to Abraham’s story just a few chapters earlier in Hebrews 11.
We cannot SETTLE just inside the Gate
…because it’s comfortable because here, it’s not “a lasting city” … but just like Abraham who “was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” here WE are in Hebrews 13 “seeking the city which is to come.”
Abraham’s story in the Hall of Faith tells us that when WE receive a call from God to act, even if we can’t see the promised land God has called us to yet, that this “Victory that overcomes the world…faith” is about not SETTLING for comfort or easy or what’s known… but when God calls, we obey, right away
ILLUSTRATION :: A few years ago my family were visiting my sister in Mississippi & she introduced us to a family from their church that, from all practical, human standpoints, is not anybody particularly special… not a celebrity… Paul & Dawn Gilmore are in their 80’s now… 64 years of marriage, several daughters… and they live in a relatively obscure house in Clinton, MS… But Paul began telling several stories from their life & the ministry that God had allowed them to do … Paul’s dad was not a Pastor necessarily, not a seminary graduate but God led him to start a ministry printing bible courses for overseas missions work… in middle school & high school, Paul learned to run the printing press for his father & right after highschool Paul & Dawn got married… and they were called to move to Jamaica to do photography & printing ministry there and to work logistics for medical missions teams… after that, God allowed them come back to the states to use their photo & printing skills for aircraft manufacturers… and that led to him answering a newspaper add for a NASA photographer … where he photographed & cataloged all the moon rocks that came back from the Apollo missions… and that led to a subsequent photography job that lasted over 20 years. All of this, other than the moon rocks, sounds pretty unremarkable until you hear that the entire time his “day job” was photography, he was continuing to do missions work in Jamaica, India, Korea, Thailand, literally circling the globe more than once… they did medical missions, printing ministries, publishing & film evangelism, and more… And as we were sitting there in his living room hearing him tell stories, Paul would tell how “God called us to move to Puerto Rico…” or “God led us to start a ministry to this group of people in Cambodia…” he would always say, “God called us…” or “God led us…”and he would begin to tear up and say… “AND SO WE DID.” …He & his family have moved 31x in 64yrs of marriage… but every time, they’d say, “God called…So we did.” … even now in their 80’s they’ve expanded his dad’s printing ministries into over 100 languages in places like India, Cambodia, Nepal, the Philippines… they have started ministries that are helping refugee food & relief programs in Ukraine… “God called… so we did.”
I mentioned at the beginning of the message that this is the way that Genesis describes Noah… and It’s obviously the way that Abraham lived… by faith… “God called…so he did…”
This is the kind of faith *I* want to live… the kind of “overcoming the world” kind of faith that says, “Whatever you call me to do God…so I will.”
I know we’re a relatively young church… and it’s possible that some of you here feel like this message is maybe out of reach… like “I’m not sure if God is calling me to anything.”... but the truth is, we don’t believe that we can be the kind of church that only has people that attend… it’s GOOD for us to attend & grow for our selves… grow for our families… but the truth is, that’s not all we can do… we’re the kind of church that believes that God CAN & WILL call each of you to do SOMETHING for the kingdom… and when He does, my prayer is that with the kind of faith of Abraham… the same kind of “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.“ … world overcoming faith… you’d be able to say,
“God called… so we did.”