The Fruit of Faith

INTRO:

Do you ever have doubts about your salvation?

Have you ever wondered whether or not your really saved?

How can a person be confident they’re going to go to heaven when they die?

These are common questions that many believers struggle with. In fact, the Bible encourages us to to “test ourselves” to be sure we’re really walking in the faith.

At one level, the answer to that question is really simple. Because Christian salvation isn’t something that you earn or deserve.

Salvation is God’s gift that we receive by grace through faith.

But how does a person know they’ve REALLY received it?

What IS faith and how does a person know they really possess it.

That’s what I want us to look at this morning in Genesis 12 through the life of Abram.

True Faith & It’s Counterfeit

Abram was a man of faith. In fact, he’s the founding Father of Faith in the Old Testament.

All of the great men and women of God have looked back to the story of Abraham to see what genuine faith looks like.

It’s important we be able to separate true faith from it’s counterfeit.

If we get faith wrong we get Christianity wrong. If we have a counterfeit faith then we have a counterfeit salvation.

On the other hand, if we have a genuine faith then all of the blessings that come along with faith are granted to us as well.

Real faith brings about real hope. Real salvation. Real deliverance.

So today is about testing our faith to ensure it’s real. To separate the genuine from the counterfeit. Sincere or sham? Weak or strong?

REQUIRE, RELEASE, RESULT

Our passage picks up in Genesis 12.

As God often does, when a culture breaks down - a remnant community is called out and formed to “counter” the culture and advance God’s plan.

Abram was the man who received that divine call after God had judged the world for the Tower of Babel.

Abram and those who joined him became a resistance movement against the idolatry and wickedness of his day.

But to follow God into that future he had to embrace a life of faith. And we saw last week that genuine faith almost always requires some kind of sacrifice to release God’s promise and reward.

Faith Requires

Real faith demands something from us. It requires a personal sacrifice.

In the case of Abram, God required him to leave behind the idolatry of his past and the comforts of his present.

Genesis 12:1 (CSB)

1 The Lord said to Abram:

Go from your land,

your relatives,

and your father’s house

to the land that I will show you.

To leave your “Father’s House” was a tremendous sacrifice.

It meant leaving the source of your economic security and the basis of your family identity. It was a ludicrous notion and a tremendous sacrifice!

For Abram, walking by faith required a cost. But he wasn’t just walking away from something. He was walking towards something even greater.

Faith Releases

Which is the second thing we saw last week. Genuine faith releases something for us. It releases a reward.

In the case of Abram, God offered a series of life-changing promises.

We see them listed in Genesis 12:2-3

Genesis 12:2–3 (CSB)

2 I will make you into a great nation,

I will bless you,

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt,

and all the peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.

We took a look at these last week and noticed how the word blessing is used five different times to counteract the five times the word curse in used in Gen 1-11.

These promises are God’s way of saying, “Through your life of faith I’m going to reverse the curse. I’m going to take you back to the Eden that was lost.”

Land, Lineage, Lord

I’m going to summarize Abram’s reward of faith under three headings.

There’s a promised land. (Canaan)

There’s a promised child or lineage. (Issac)

There’s a promised blessing of salvation. (Jesus)

Really, the rest of the book of Genesis zooms in on each respective promise.

Land in chapters 12-15/16.

Child in chapters 16-18.

Blessing in chapter 19 and beyond.

So genuine faith requires something from us. It releases something for us.

Faith Results

This morning I want to look at a third characteristic of genuine faith and that is what faith produces.

Genuine faith produces something in us. It results in a particular kind of fruit.

A genuine life of faith always produces fruit. There is a particular fruit of faith that helps us and other people separate the genuine from the counterfeit.

This morning I want us to look at that fruit in the life of Abram because it paints a portrait of what true faith looks like.

Without this fruit there is probably no faith.

With that in mind let’s read the entirety of our passage. Genesis 12:4-9

Genesis 12:4–9 (CSB)

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.

I see from this passage a minimum of three things that genuine faith produces.

The fruit of

unquestioned obedience

unashamed proclamation

unwavering worship

UNQUESTIONED OBEDIENCE: I WILL GO

The first attribute of saving faith is unquestioned obedience. True faith says to God, “I will go.”

Genesis 12:4 (CSB)

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

What we see in this passage is Abram’s unquestioned obedience to the Lord.

If there was wrestling with God and bargaining and all the things we typically do - we’re not let in on that in this passage.

Remember - Abram is 75 years old when he leaves Haran. He is taking with him his wife and his nephew Lot. (some say that was in disobedience to what God was asking him to do. We don’t know that for sure.)

Without argument or questioning he immediately obeys what the Lord was calling him to do.

He was leaving behind the idolatry of his past. But he was also leaving behind the economic security of his future. He was leaving his Father and likely many other relatives. He was making a hard call!

Grudging Obedience

I don’t know about you, but my obedience to God doesn’t always look like that.

Often times my obedience to the Lord is preceded by, “are you sure, Lord?” Or “Really, God!? Now? This? Surely not.”

We have this tendency to question God. It’s inherent to human nature.

And questioning isn’t bad per say. It’s actually a good thing to think things through and look at every angle.

Moreover, sometimes God leads us or impresses us with certain ideas and we’re not sure whether its the Lord or the burrito we had the night before.

But this is not that. This is a clear, direct summons from God followed by an immediate, total act of obedience.

Real faith expresses itself through immediate obedience. Real faith says to God, “I will Go.” God says, “Go.” And Abram says, “I will.”

Application

The God who spoke to Abram still speaks to us today. He still speaks with clarity and force through this thing called “God’s Word.”

He speaks through Sunday morning sermons. He speaks through Mid-week small group Bible studies. He speaks through your personal devotional times in God’s Word.

When you hear God speak to you through his Word with clarity and directness what is your response?

When the Holy Spirit of God pricks your conscience and says, “this is out of alignment with my will for your life. This has to go.” What do you then say?

Are you quick to say, “This is good and I wish so and so were here to hear it.” Or do you rather say, “Lord I repent for how I’ve neglected you in this arena.”

Or are you prone to gloss over conviction from the Holy Spirit? Prone to harden your heart, stiffen your neck, and keep charting your own course?

Or do you soften your heart and submit yourself to the Word of God and say “Father not MY will but YOURS be done in my life as it is in heaven.”

If it’s anything other than immediate obedience then your faith isn’t what you think it is. It isn’t what you SAY it is.

Faith isn’t a feeling. Faith isn’t knowledge of certain facts. Faith is evidenced by obedience to God’s Word.

JOYFUL PROCLAMATION: I WILL TELL

But that’s not the only expression of genuine faith. Genuine faith is also expressed by unashamed proclamation.

Notice in verse 5 how many people Abram is bringing with him. Genesis 12:5

Genesis 12:5 (CSB)

5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

Sarai and Lot we might expect to go with Abram. But who are all of these “people they had acquired?”

Most every commentator I read this week suggest these are converts that Abram made to the God who was calling him.

Remember God’s call came to him in Ur of the Chaldeans and they left for Canaan from there. They got detoured in Haran and settled there instead of pressing on to their final destination.

This was in defiance to the Lord but the time was not wasted.

I think Abram believed in and followed after God while living in Haran and he was sharing what he heard with anybody who would listen. First Sarai then Lot, then the people who were members of that community.

Imagine It: Light Shine

Imagine it. Everywhere he goes he sees the worship of this moon god, Nanar (Sin).

And as they’re sitting there engaged in that idolatrous worship Abram is bolding proclaiming his OWN faith in an even GREATER God.

The true God who calls out men and women from this brokenness and idolatry and into something better, something real.

I think Abram was a little evangelist. I think he was bold and courageous.

He’s also proactive. We never see God command Abram to go and share his faith. He just does it. And if you’re truly saved then you will too. You won’t be able to help yourself.

Abram had his entourage of faith. The question is do you have yours?

Application

One of the things God convicted me of during the sabbatical was how little I share the Gospel with people outside of my preaching and teaching ministry.

It’s not just that I don’t share the Gospel as often as I should. It’s that I don’t even put myself in environments TO share the Gospel even if I wanted to.

I spend the vast majority of my waking hours at the house or in my office. There’s two lost people in my home but neither one are quite ready to make that kind of decision.

What an indictment on my faith.

Genuine faith expresses itself in joyful proclamation. If you’re light is lit then you better let it shine!

Gardening and Harvesting

One of the books I read during the sabbatical was “Street Smarts” by Greg Kokul.

It’s a great book of how to practically share your faith in our post-christian culture.

But one of the reasons I liked the book is because of his distinction between Harvesting Evangelism and Gardening Evangelism.

When Jesus told the parable of the soils he made clear that the only kind of soil in which the Gospel Word bore fruit was the “good soil.”

So much of evangelism in our day and age is gardening evangelism that tills up the rocks and waters down the dry parched earth that keeps the Gospel from getting an honest shake.

So many Christian fail to evangelize because they think unless they’re as gifted as Billy Graham they have no business engaging in the enterprise.

EVERY CHRISTIAN ought to be ever ready to give an answer to anybody who asks them for the hope that is within them. To do so with gentleness and respect. With wisdom and gracious speech. (1 Pet 3:15; Col 4:6)

Stagnant and Silent

True faith isn’t stagnant. It acts immediately on the clear direction of the Holy Spirit.

True faith isn’t silent. It speaks with courage and conviction about the salvation in Jesus name.

God has given every single person in the room a WORD and a STORY. We have a word to keep and a story to celebrate.

Faith that is stagnant or silent doesn’t belong in a life that’s been saved.

Our lives should be characterized by purpose and joy, clarity and conviction. Life is hard for everybody but as Christians we’ve been given great wisdom and a living hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We’ve been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. If you’re in Christ today I challenge you to get vocal about sharing your hope with others.

If God called you to a big act of faith would you go and who would you be taking with YOU?

UNWAVERING WORSHIP

The last thing we see is that faith is expressed through unwavering worship. True faith says, “I will serve.”

On the tail end of verse 5 it says, “When they came to the land of Canaan...”

Genesis 12:6–9 (CSB)

6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He built an altar to the Lord there, and he called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram journeyed by stages to the Negev.

What you see Abram doing in these verses is taking a tour through the Promised Land that God was giving to him.

The land was occupied by Canaanites but Abram was going from place to place nonetheless. He was building altars and giving thanks to the Lord for the promise of having this land for himself.

These acts of worship were expressions of Abram’s faith. True faith expresses itself through a life of worship.

Through these expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving and sacrifice Abram is visibly demonstrating his commitment to the Lord.

Remember, at each of these locations Abram is building an altar and making sacrifices to God. With each sacrifice Abram is essentially saying to God, “You deserve it all. I surrender.”

Worship is marked by absolute surrender to God.

In the OT it was the sacrifice of an animal but in the NT Paul says we offer our “bodies as a living sacrifice” holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable act of worship.

So worship isn’t just about singing and preaching. It’s about submission and total surrender to the will and presence of God.

Locations & Altars

Notice also that these acts of worship are done at several points in the journey. It’s not a one and done. There was regularity and rhythm.

It’s easy for us to read the names of these locations and just gloss over them but they’re actually pretty important. (CHART)

Shechem (Decision):

This is the geographical center of the promised land. If you know your OT you know it will later come to be known as “the place of decision.” It’s a place between two mountains: Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal.

This is the place where Joshua will challenge God’s people to “Choose today who you will serve...”

Worship is about sacrificial service. Serving God instead of anyone or anything else (c.f. Rom 12:1-2)

Worship is laying your life down to serve the Lord.

Oak of Moreh (Seer)

The Oak of Moreh is also culturally significant. IN ANE pagan religions a “Morai” was a teacher or oracle giver.

This is where the Canaanites assembled to hear the oracles that the soothsayers received from the rustling of the leaves.

In other words, Abram is not just building his own little church off in the corner to keep to himself.

He’s going into ENEMY TERRITORY - to the HEART of PAGAN WORSHIP and he’s kicking over their altar and building one to the true God, Yahweh.

Abram is saying, “Get your God out of the way and make room for the covenant God of promise.”

That’s why verse 6 makes explicit “the Canaanites were in the land.”

Moses & Wilderness Generation

This is not insignificant. Remember who is writing the book of Genesis? It’s Moses. What are the Israelites about to do? Enter the promise land inhabited by the Canaanites

He’s reminding them that true worship requires real resolve. You’re going to bump up against hard times and significant obstacles. You will face opposition.

It was the fear of that opposition that kept the wilderness generation from wanting to go in and take the promise land and claim God’ promise for themselves. (giants to grasshoppers.)

So the Lord is encouraging them by reminding them he’s the God who breaks down walls and parts the raging see and is worthy of our worship and our total surrender.

That’s what Abram’s altar represents. You are worthy of it all! You own this land. You own our lives. You are over every false God of this world.

Hill Country (East of Bethel)

The next placed mentioned by Moses is the Hill Country East of Bethel. Bethel is also geographically significant.

It’s at Bethel that Abram “calls on the name of the Lord.” (Gen 12:8)

This is the same phrase we saw in Genesis 4:26 when Enosh was born to Seth (godly son of Adam) and “people then begin to call on the name of the Lord.”

Moses is tying it all together. A scarlet thread that unifies the people of God throughout every generation. Abram and his entourage are worshipping the true God.

The God that created the world and walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

The God who called and commissioned Noah to build the ark and see God’s salvation.

The God with whom Moses spoke face to face and prayed “Show me your glory.” (Exo 33:18)

The God who right after that revealed and called upon his own name saying,

Exodus 34:6–7 (CSB)

6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:

The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, 7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

True worship is marked by grateful adoration and thanksgiving.

That is the kind of worship Abram and his entourage were engaging in. True worship. Calling on the name of the Lord.

True worship always declares and magnifies the attributes of God. Even in the face of hardship. Even in the face of difficulties and obstacles.

All of these things are flowing from the reality of Abram’s faith. Genuine faith expresses itself in unwavering worship, unashamed proclamation and unquestioned obedience.

Faith has its fruit. If the fruit isn’t present then our faith might not be real.

FAITH REACHES BEYOND

As we bring today’s message to a close I want to finish with these words by the author of Hebrews.

In Hebrews 11:8-10 he summarizes the fruit of Abram’s faith but he also gives us a little insight on what drives genuine faith as opposed to it’s counterfeit.

Hebrews 11:8–10 (CSB)

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

True faith demands something from us. It releases something for us. It produces something in us.

Finally, genuine faith reaches for something beyond us. True faith says, “I will wait.”

Genuine faith isn’t about the here and the now. It’s not about what we can get in “this life.”

Genuine faith is driven by the eternal. It’s looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Abram knew that this promise of God was something that extended beyond himself.

That’s why he was willing to count the cost and obey the word of God.

It’s why he didn’t keep the news to himself but cast a wide net and brought others in with him.

And it’s why he continued to give himself fully to God in the face of incredible opposition because he knew the God he worshipped was greater than any enemy he might face.

God’s promise to Abram went way beyond some real estate in the middle east. It had world wide and eternal implications. Rom 4:13

Our Church & The Altar

And that’s the same faith that drives us today. Because the promise didn’t stop with Abraham. It’s given to each of us (even Gentiles) through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Back then Abram set up little altars as an outpost of true worship in the midst of a pagan land. Today we have a different kind of outpost. It’s called the local church.

Will our faith be marked by the real fruit or the counterfeit?

Will out motivation be the temporal or the eternal.

It is from local churches, like Broadview Baptist Church, that we live out our genuine faith together for the glory of God and the salvation of the nations.

It is here that we gather together to engage in unwavering worship, joyful proclamation and immediate obedience to what our Lord Jesus tells us to do.

The Christian life isn’t complicated. It’s simple. Just get back to the fundamentals.

Our obedience and proclamation and worship isn’t aimed at some temporary pleasure or earthly inheritance. It’s about something far greater. The reward that motivated Abraham is what motivates us today.

It’s the city that is to come. It’s communion and fellowship with the builder of that city, the Lord our God.

This is the reward of faith. It’s worth whatever cost it requires to obtain it. What would keep you from exercising true repentance and faith to receive it?