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-- in humility receive the
word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
Faith That Waits On God Preface Heb.
11:1-6 “1 Now faith is the assurance of things
hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
I’m
sure most of us have heard that the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews
is referred to as God’s “Hall of Fame”. --- And I suppose that’s as true
of a description as one could imagine; --- Such
For this lesson, I would like to take a stroll down God’s “Hall of Fame” and talk about one particular man of faith; --- That being the faith of Abraham, and as you might notice from the title, Abraham had the kind of Faith That Waits On God!! --- You see, faith has power, and the ancient Archimedes said as he was studying physics; --- “If you give me a fulcrum (balancing point), and give me a lever, and give me a place to stand; --- I can move the world!” --- And dear friends; --- The “fulcrum” is the word of God; --- The “lever” is faith; --- And with it, we can not only move the world, we can move heaven also!! --- Jesus speaking in (Mt. 21:21-22) says to His apostles; --- “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. --- And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” And so, I would like for us to study the faith of our forefather Abraham, and learn some things about his faith that will help us to increase our faith. --- I would like to suggest three things about Abraham; --- Two of which are not so good, but one of them is marvelous. --- But I want you to see that these two things about Abraham that are not so good, can be a source of encouragement and help for us all. --- (Heb. 11: 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.” ---And this is the first of three things the Bible says about Abraham’s faith; --- First of all let us notice: ---
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1. The Failure Of an IMPERFECT MAN: --- Sometimes as we look at some of the New Testament saints and the Old Testament prophets and patriarchs, we tend to visualise them as perfect men; --- But as you look at Abraham, you’re looking at a man who was marked by imperfection, and was marked by failure!! --- Now, when we read about him in (Heb. 11:), there’s not so much as a hint of failure. --- A person reading (Heb. 11:) would get the idea that this great man of God never, ever even made one mistake. --- But, AHA! Let’s go back and look at the record Moses left us in (Gen. 12:1); --- “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;” --- Now, God had specifically said to Abram; --(And his name was Abram back then, but due to a certain incident later on, God changed his name to Abraham.) --- And here, the Lord said; ---“Abram, now you get out of this land where you grew up, and just come on and get out; ---And get away from all your kin folks and go where I will show you!” --- Well, had he done that? --- Hardly! --- When he departed from Haran, he didn’t leave his kin folks, but took along his wife Sari and his nephew Lot and most likely Lot’s wife and all their possessions, as well as all the persons they had accuired in Haran. (Vs. 5) Now, isn’t that a lot like most of us? --- God tells us to do something and we just kind of half way do it! --- But here, we see Abram’s incomplete obedience. --- Are you guilty of incomplete obedience to God? But not only was Abram guilty of incomplete obedience to God; --- But also, he was guilty of incomplete dependance upon God! --- Look in (Gen. 12:10); --- “Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.” --- Well, who told Abram to go down to Egypt? --- No one; --- he just made up his mind, it apparently made good sense to him! --- So he took it upon himself to go down to Egypt when the going got rough. --- Now Abram is acting according to reason, and not according to revelation! --- The famine was obviously a test! --- God brought him down to this land and God would have taken care of him, had he stayed in Canaan! The Bible says in Isa. 31:1); --- “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help --- But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the LORD!” --- Egypt represents in Bible symbolism, the world and things of the world! --- And Abram, at this point is walking according to good ole human logic and reason!! Now, friend, you’re either going to walk by faith and revelation; --- Or you are walking by sight and reason!! --- You see; --- faith and reason are like two sides of an hour glass. We’ve all seen an hour glass, right? --- When one side is full of sand, the other side is empty. And you turn it over and visa-versa! --- So, this is our hour glass; --- One side is reason and the other, inspired revelation; --- One side is sight while the other is faith! --- And you and I have got to walk by one or the other. But here, we have Abram in the land of Canaan; --- A famine comes up, and he says; --- “Well, I’ll just use my head; --- I’ll go right on over to Egypt and I’ll get some food there!” --- That’s strange, isn’t it? --- He trusted God to get him all the way from Ur of the Chaldeans, but he couldn’t trust God to take care of hin, once he got to Canaan!! --- Some of us trust God to save us, but not to feed us. --- We trust Him with our souls, but not our money; --- We trust Him for eternity, but not for this week!! --- Just like Abram’s incomplete dependance on God!! Now,
we’re still focusing on Abraham’s failures; --- Incomplete obedience, incomplete
dependance and now let’s notice his incomplete honesty!! --- Pick up with
me if you will in (Gen 12:11-13); ---
After a while, Pharaoh found out who Sari really was; --- and notice over in (Vs. 17-19); --- “But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. --- Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, ‘What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? --- Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go.” --- In other words; --- “Get out of my sight, you liar!” --- Abram was exiled by a pagan King, because he was dishonest!! --- Isn’t that a real shame? --- A believer in God who was a coward and dishonest!! --- Well, as I look at Abraham then, I can’t see why he was such a wonderful person! --- At least he doesn’t seem to be so far. Alright now, let’s notice another aspect of Abraham’s life; --- Not only the “failures of an imperfect man“, but also; --- ****************************************** 2. The Follies of an IMPATIENT MAN: --- For now, something else happens. --- It seems as though Abram has finally got to where he’s trusting in God more; --- And so we read in (Gen. 15:) about another episode that presents itself in(Gen. 15:3-6); --- “And Abram said (Speaking to God), ‘Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.’ --- Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.’ --- And He took him outside and said, ‘Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them’ ‘And He said to him,’ ‘So shall your descendants be.’ --- ‘Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” --- Well, so far, so good; But please notice with me; --- God says, “I’m going to give you a son!” --- Well, the first year passes; No son; --- The second, third, forth year, still no heir. --- So, after ten years had passed Abram shows his impatience! (at least for the moment) --- Sari got somewhat embarrassed, thus they desided to take things into their own hands. Turn
on over to (Gen. 16:1-2); --- “Now Sarai, Abram's
wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name
was Hagar. --- So Sarai said to Abram, ‘Now behold, the LORD has prevented
me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain
children through her.’ And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.”---
In other words, they desided to have a child by proxy! --- (Vs. 3-4) continues;
--- “After Abram
had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar
the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.
--- He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had
conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.” --- And
on and on it goes; --- But let me explain what happened; --- Abram had
an illicit affair with his wife’s handmaid, Hagar, and a son was born,
and his name was Ishmael! --- And Ishmael was not the son of promise; ---
This was not God’s plan; --- And the Savior would not come through Ishmael!!
--- One cannot help but wonder how much heartache, turmoil and tragedy
that is in the world today as a result of such loose behavior!! --- God
promised Abram a son, but he just could not wait. --- And dear friends,
this is a lesson you and I need to learn; ---When God says He’s going to
do something, He’s going to do it!! --- Peter said, “The
Lord is not slow about His promise,” (2 Pet. 3:9)
Turn for a moment back to the book of Hebrews, and lets notice a lesson that Abram should learn, and did learn as time will tell. --- (Heb. 6:12); --- “so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” --- What was that? --- “those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” --- OH! The folly of an impatient man. --- Friend, it’s just as dangerous to try to run ahead of God, as it is to drag behind Him! --- This lady was in the hospital, and when the doctor made his rounds; --- she asked, “How long must I be here?” --- The doctor replied; --- “One day at a time, just one day at a time, that’s all!!” --- Have you learned to live just one day at a time? Abram didn’t ; --- Not at first, but of course as (Vs. 13-15) points out, he finally did learn that vital lesson. --- “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, --- saying, ‘I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU.’ --- And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.” --- Learn to trust in the Lord!! ***************************************** 3. But now I am
so pleased to show you the third and most important thing about Abraham;
--- Because the first two were not at all good. We looked at his IMPERFECTIONS,
his IMPATIENCE;
There’s probably not another man with the exception of Jesus Himself and possibly Moses who has made a greater impression on mankind, than father Abraham. In (Rom. 4:) the apostle Paul refers to Abraham as “the father of all who believe” (Vs. 11), and “the father of many nations” (Vs. 17); --- And there’s a very real sense in which we are to be like “father Abraham”! And so, let’s go back to (Heb. 11:) and notice three things specifically that Abraham’s faith did for him. starting with (Vs. 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.” --- This, we’ll call; ---“The SEPARATION OF FAITH”!! --- In (Vs. 9-10), the second time it mentions his faith; ---“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; --- for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” --- This is what we can refer to as “The SATISFACTION OF HIS FAITH”!! --- And thirdly, down in (Vs.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;” --- This being “The SACRIFICE OF HIS FAITH”!! --- And so you can see, Abraham’s faith is marked in three ways; --- by SEPARATION, by SATISFACTION and by SACRIFICE!!! --- And we’ll examine these a little bit and that will be our lesson. First
of all, let’s talk about the SEPARATION: --- (Heb. 11:8) again; ---“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.” --- God says, Go! --- And Abraham says;
--- “Alright Lord, I’m going, where do you want me to go?” --- God says
in so many words; --- “I’m not going to tell you, just pick ‘em up and
put ‘em down, I’ll tell you when you get there!”
And that’s the way Abraham went, not knowing where he was going. --- Can you imagine? --- Here was a man with lavish possessions, lovely home, treasures and a beautiful wife; --- And he had to be separated from all his worldly possessions, and away he goes! --- This is precisely what Jesus was talking about in (Mk. 10:29-30), when He said; --- “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, --- but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” Now, a lot of people I’m sure, would have branded Abraham as some sort of religious nut, or a fanatic! --- Where are you going, Abe? --- But he didn’t have to know where; --- He just had to know Whom; --- And so he stepped out on Omnipotence!! --- Let me illustrate this with a little story I heard; --- There was this little girl who was walking in the hallway of her home, --- and she came to a place where they had a cellar door in the floor of the hallway. --- It was one of those where you removed the cover and then climbed down a ladder; --- And when she came there, there was just the hole in the floor and there was no light on in the basement; --- And she kind of leaned over and said, “Who’s down there?” (In her high piched little girl voice) --- “Who’s down there? --- And her daddy said, “It’s me, your daddy!” --- And she called back, “I want to come down there where you are, daddy!”--- Her daddy says, “I’ve taken away the ladder, but if you jump, I’ll catch you!” Well,
she couldn’t see him down there in the darkness, so she says; --- “But
daddy, I can’t see you!”
Now, the daddy says, “If you know I’m here, --- And you are confident I can catch you and that I love you, --- You know I’ve never lied to you, --- THEN JUMP!” --- And she said, “Okay, daddy, here I come!” --- And she leaped off into that black hole; --- And of course, her daddy caught her, gave her a hug, and gently set her down by his side!! --- And she was so overjoyed!! And
you see, friends, that’s exactly how faith works! --- The apostle Peter
said in (1 Pet. 1:8-9); ---
But
then, the next thing I would like you to consider; --- Is the SATISFACTION
of his faith! ---
Now, the final thing; --- Let’s notice not only Abraham’s SEPARATION and SATISFACTION of his faith; --- But also, the SACRIFICE of his faith. --- In (Heb. 11:17) we read; --- “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; --- And he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son.” --- What does that remind you of? --- (Jno. 3:16) --- “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, -- “ --- And right here, Abraham becomes an Old Testament picture or “type” of God the Father. --- And Isaac becomes an O.T. “type” of our Lord, Jesus Christ!! --- For example; --- Both of them were promised sons, or sons of prophecy. --- Both of them were born of a miracle. --- Do you know at what age old impatient Abraham was when he finally got his son? --- One hundred years old! --- Can’t you just imagine him coming out of his tent, clicking his heels and announcing; --- “It’s a boy!” --- Not to mention, Sari was ninety years old and her womb was all dried up, dead!! --- Jesus was born of a virgin! --- Both were sons of a miraculous birth; --- And both were sons of their father’s love!! --- Notice also, both Jesus and Isaac were persecuted by their own brethren, --- And both sons were obedient unto death!! You don’t read anywhere about Isaac struggling against Abraham. --- Just as Jesus willingly laid down His life; --- Back in (Gen. 22:), we can see Isaac as he was going up on the mountain; --- the wood for the sacrifice was laid on his back; --- Just as the wooden cross was laid upon the back of Jesus as He was led to the slaughter. --- Did you ever realize that, as you read through the book of Genesis; --- that after Isaac was offered up, that he seems to just disappear from the scene, at least for awhile. --- And did you know the next time you see him, he’s receiving a bride? (Gen. 24:) --- And do you know that after Jesus was offered up on the cross, raised from the tomb and later lifted up into heaven; --- And the next time this world will see Jesus is when He comes in all His glory to receive His bride, the church?? No wonder the apostle Paul declared in (Gal. 3:8); --- “The gospel had been preached beforehand to Abraham!” --- Yes, it was. --- Let’s go back to (Gen. 22:) and look at what happened, and I think you’ll get a blessing out of this, as I did. --- And perhaps you will better understand why Abraham was called the “father of the faithful”! --- You’ll better understand what a tremendous sacrifice he was willing to make concerning his only begotton son, Isaac! Remember, God said to Abram; --- “Now, Abraham, it will be through Isaac, that all the nations of the world will be blessed.” --- All the promises of God were wrapped up in that baby boy! --- But notice in (Gen. 22:1-5); --- “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ --- 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.’ --- So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him (Jesus was crucified between two thieves) 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. --- On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.” (You see, Jesus was in the grave three days, and in the heart of Abraham, Isaac was as good as dead, when he cut that firewood), --- Here’s a wonderful picture of the death, burial and resurrection!! And please look at (Vs. 5); --- “Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” --- “We are both going up there to worship God, and we’re both coming down!” --- Did you see that? --- Abraham didn’t understand it all, but the Hebrew letter tells us, that Abraham made up his mind that he was going to obey God from now on; --- He’s not going to walk by feelings and rationalization any more; --- but rather by revelation and faith! --- So Abraham says; --- “Now God, if you tell me to put my son to death, then it’s in your hands; --- You’re just going to have to raise him up again!” --- And so we read over in (Heb. 11:19); --- “Abraham considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type.” --- i.e. Abraham received Isaac back from the dead! --- He really did, in a figure! --- Get the picture now; --- There’s Isaac strapped down on that pile of wood, that altar; --- And there’s Abraham with that sacrificial knife raised high into the air, and about to plundge in into the heaving bosom of his dearly beloved son, when (Vs. 11-12) says; --- “But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am‘--- 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.”--- (Vs. 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.” --- Still another beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. --- God’s perfect sacrifice, and there He was!! --- And God says, “Now Abraham, learn the lesson of substitution; --- You take this helpless ram and you offer him in the place of Isaac!” --- Do you know what Abraham called the name of that place after that? --- Look in (Vs. 14); --- “Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ‘In the mount of the LORD it will be provided.” --- Abraham learned a vital lesson that we need to learn today; --- That being, you obey God, and God will see to it!! --- Have you dear friend, learned that? --- Have you really?? --- Faith; --- mighty faith, the promise sees, and looks to God alone; --- And laughs at the seemingly impossible, and cries; “It shall be done!!” Do you know what’s wrong with most people today? --- Most people are thinking about everything but God and the things of God! --- Oh, dear soul, God wants you to have your hearts and minds set on the things above; --- The heavenly things. --- He wants you to THINK!! Someone
once said; --- “Children are too frivolous to think; --- Young adults are
too busy to think;
Think on this, in (Heb. 11:13-16); --- “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. --- For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. --- And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. --- But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.” I fear
that too many Christians are homesick for the world, and therefore put
God to shame!! --- What we all need to do, is get homesick for heaven!!
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