Even Our Faith: Part 9—Death of a Dream
July 16, 2023
Here we are in Episode 9 of our series “EVEN OUR FAITH”, we’re working to discover exactly what it means to live an LIFE of OVERCOMING VICTORY… by living a life full of faith.
Since we’ve repeated our key passage so often in this series, I thought tonight we would bring it into the 21st century…
(Why is faith represented by a shield?!? Because says Ephesians 6:16 says take up the SHIELD of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. .
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’re studying this VICTORY that is our FAITH, we’ve been looking at the lives of many of the patriarchs listed in Hebrews 11, called the HALL OF FAITH, because each of these, we’re told that it was “BY FAITH” that each of them accomplished what they did.
We focused on ABRAHAM a few weeks ago
And last week got REALLY spicy because we were talking about Abraham’s wife SARAH… because at first glance Sarah’s reaction to the promise of having a son of her own when she’s 90 seems more like DOUBT than the FAITH that’s described in Hebrews 11.
And we wrestled with whether or not we can “live by faith” and still have doubt. Because for many of us, growing up, doubting God or His Word was pretty much seen as SIN in our house… but we talked about the fact that that’s not what scripture actually teaches.
Jesus taught his disciples that “if you have faith & DOUBT NOT”... you can have power to curse the fig tree (Jared’s favorite scripture) or move mountains…
Now JESUS doesn’t say what happens if you have Faith AND still doubt but JAMES says, James 1 :: …When you ask [something of God], you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
And Jude tells us Jude 1: 22 :: Be merciful to those who doubt.
From all this I think we can conclude that … it’s POSSIBLE to have faith & still doubt.. But that faith will be missing the POWER that it should have.
So FINALLY… we were able to determine that, just as Hebrews 11:12 says, somewhere between LAUGHING from the human perspective at the idea of having a child in her old age… and SENSING THE BUTTERFLIES & KICKS from her child common to all new moms… that Sarah considered him faithful who had made the promise … …instead of considering how implausible the odds were from a human standpoint… she considered HIM… who makes the implausible, plausible!
That’s where her faith came from…
TONIGHT we’re going to take that DOUBT of the DREAM a little further & look at FOUR people in a row… Abraham (again) Isaac, Jacob & Joseph… to see what happens when it’s not just the DOUBT of a dream… but what happens when we face the DEATH of a DREAM…
And how we can STILL have this “victory that overcomes the world” kind of faith…
Let’s jump in.
Hebrews 11:17-22 :: 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel, and gave orders concerning his bones.
If we look at each of the lives of these four patriarchs, each of them were dealing with the DEATH OF A DREAM… but still lived “BY FAITH”... and right off the bat… that’s the question I want to keep in the forefront of our minds tonight… how do we deal with, not only the DOUBT of a dream, but the DEATH of a dream that God has given us.
Very quickly, let’s look at the “Cliff’s Notes” versions of the original story of each of these & see what the writer of Hebrews is really talking about…
Genesis 22:1-2 :: 1 Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”
Now… if we’re honest… there’s several things that Abraham is dealing with here… that could have caused him to DOUBT like we talked about last week… but we’re not just talking about a little doubt here, we’re talking about the DEATH of the Son that God had promised.
Didn’t you promise me I would be the father of many nations?
Didn’t I trust you, eventually, when I was too old? Well, idk if you’ve noticed but I’m even OLDER NOW… you are making this REALLY tough on an old guy!
Didn’t you call me to be separate from these pagan tribes, to come OUT OF the Cannanites that sacrifice their children… how’s this going to look now?!?
And to top it all off, WHY ARE WE BACK to this whole, “Go to the place i’ll show you…” thing… *sarcastic*”just start walking & I’ll show you…”* I thought we already got past that test! … end of drive way, which way… end of the neighborhood, which way… we already did that! Now you want me to just start walking toward the mountains again…
AND YOU WANT ME TO KILL MY SON!!??!?!?
Abraham is LITERALLY looking at the death of the dream that God gave him… and yet…
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.…(remember…Abraham lived a “God said, so he did” life)
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. ::
So God provided for Abraham during the test to make sure that Isaac didn’t die… the DREAM didn’t DIE.
But what happens if the dream really DOES die… or if the one who dreams it really doesn’t see it through in their lifetime.
Isaac, yes, the very same Isaac who we just talked about… goes on to live his life … when he gets ready to have kids, his wife Rebekkah is pregnant with twins… and in the course of this troubled pregnancy, God promises Rebekkah that “the elder will serve the younger.” (Genesis 25: 23 The Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”) it’s part of a symbol that God is building where God chooses the weaker things to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27 :: He chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.)
And when Isaac is old, his sons Jacob & Esau are awaiting the patriarchal blessing before Dad passes on… the problem is that this ‘elder servign the younger’ thing hasn’t happened yet… and Rebekkah gets impatient & convinces Jacob to pull a dirty trick on Isaac… they TRICK Isaac into giving Jacob the patriarchal blessing while Esau is out hunting … and this is the blessing Isaac gives to Jacob..
Genesis 27 28 Now may God give you of the dew of heaven, And of the fatness of the earth, And an abundance of grain and new wine. 29 May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be master of your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.” ::
And what’s crazy about this blessing is that… well, it’s a LOT of foreshadowing, not of Jacob’s life BUT HIS SON JOSEPH!... (nations bow down to you…master of your brothers…may your mother’s sons bow down to you.. Cursed be those who curse you, And blessed be those who bless you.”)
See if we jump forward into Joseph’s life… JOSEPH is the one who has the dreams of his brothers & everyone bowing down to him… that gets him sold to Egypt & then God miraculously puts him in charge of ALL of Egypts saving & storing during years of plenty… and then the distribution of all that wealth during the next season of famine. … all the things that ISAAC prays for Jacob… happen EXACTLY AS DESCRIBED to Joseph, Jacob’s son! And then look at the final blessing of Isaac for Jacob… even after the dirty trick is found out… Genesis 28:3-4 3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. 4 May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” ::
So again… Isaac blesses Jacob… about things that HE has been promised through his father Abraham… but he hasn’t seen come to pass yet… and then Isaac DIES… literally DIES… with the dream still unfilfilled…
Then, quickly, Hebrews 11 talked about Jacob leaning on the top of his staff. when HE was getting old & preparing to die… and that he blessed each of the sons of Joseph … HIS son…
Genesis 48: 3 Then Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’
(the problem was, now, because of the famine & all the things that had happened in Jacob & Joseph’s life… they’re living in EGYPT… and Jacob isn’t going to live to see the day when they get back to Canan…)
15 He blessed Joseph, and said,“The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day. 16 The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” ::
Again… believing in the fullness of the promise made to Abraham… even if he wasn’t going to live long enough to see it…
Ok. we’ve seen Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…And finally here we are at Joseph…Genesis 50:24-25 24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.” 25 Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”
… So just like Hebrews 11 records it… all 4 of these patriarchs DIED without seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise. “You’ll be a great nation… and live in the land I promise you.”
This leads me to a few conclusions that I think we can learn from in our own lives & with the dreams that God gives us…
If we feel like we’re experiencing the death of a dream…
All four of these saw PARTIAL victory… but not COMPLETE FULFILLMENT… and they didn’t settle, even in death.
If the dream isn’t complete…and it seems like death of the dream is imminent, don’t CHANGE THE DREAM to match the reality… keep BELIEVING FOR THE COMPLETE DREAM.
Galatians 6:9 NIV Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.::
EASE & SAFETY do not always signify FULFILLMENT
Abraham received PART of the promise when Isaac was born… could have felt ‘ease & safety’ … the Israelites received PART of the promise when, even during famine, God had put Joseph in Pharaoh's house so they they got to come to the ‘good land’ of Egypt & wait out the famine… they felt the ‘ease & safety’ of Goshen but right around the corner was ‘bondage & distress’.
We can be tempted to STOP believing in the fullness of the promise if we receive part of it & the result is ease & safety… KEEP BELIEVING past COMFORT into COMPLETION.
Genesis 50:25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.”
Not even death can frustrate God's purposes!
I’ve said it before but whether or not I get to SEE the fulfillment of all the dreams & visions God has given Annette & I for a multi-site, community-driven, Spirit-filled church in & around the City of Denver… I am confident that God will accomplish his purposes for Dwell Life whether in my lifetime or in my legacy!
The season of Covid felt like the death of the dream for Dwell Life in many ways… yet here we are, by the power of Jesus, not our effort, stronger than ever & moving forward toward these dreams that God has promised. COVID can’t frustrate God’s purpose! Not even death can frustrate the purposes of God! [quote]
[quote] 1 Corinthians 15::55-58 - 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. ::
DEATH CANNOT FRUSTRATE THE POWER OF THE PROMISE OF GOD!
My question for you is: Are you praying for a dream that God will give you that you can believe Him for, whether “lifetime or legacy”
BY FAITH…
Hebrews 11: 13 All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
