Will You Trust Me?
From Eden to Egypt (Genesis) • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Open your Bibles with me to Genesis 15.
We’ve traversed from the Garden of Eden and are on our way towards Egypt. We’ve followed several families so far that all extend out of one family, the first family — Adam and Eve. Genesis has presented God as all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, and totally just. Genesis has also presented man as fickle, fearful, wicked. We’ve seen some of the highest moments of man and some of the lowest of man. And yet, God has stayed the same. While man continually changes, God never changes.
And our passage today presents us with a question. A question that everyone must answer throughout their life, throughout their day, and at multiple moments of the day. Here’s the question… Will you trust God? Will you trust me? — God asks.
*trust fall illustration.
Let’s notice three different answers to our opening question that our text presents:
Let’s begin reading in Genesis 15:1-6
1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Will you trust me? Abram’s first answer is a resounding YES!
YES
YES
In those verses that were just read, God makes a promise to Abram.
What’s the promise that God made to Abram?
BELIEF
BELIEF
A mark of those who trust God is belief.
Abram believed God’s word before its fulfillment.
Hebrews 11:1 calls this the assurance of things not seen.
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Abram believed that God was going to give him a son before it had actually happened.
But the Lord does something with Abram’s belief… The Lord credits Abram as righteous. The righteousness the Lord grants to Abram comes not as a wage but as a gift. Which means it comes from the outside, not the inside.
Abram is not righteous because of all the good things he’s done — which should be obvious from what we’ve already covered in Abram’s life. Abram is righteous because the Lord has graciously declared him so on account of his faith.
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Does this sound familiar? Does this sound like one of the doctrines we’ve recently covered on Sunday mornings? — Justification
But another mark of those who trust God is their knowledge.
KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE
How do you think knowledge affects trust?
Here’s a real example… Think about your best friend. You know them. You’ve spent time with them. You’ve seen them demonstrate that they care for you. And so that enables you to trust them. You stay up late at night telling them about everything, etc…
Here’s one of my hopes and prayers… It’s my desire that you know Amanda and I love and care for each of you. But not only that… But because you know we love and care for you, then you trust us. You trust me when I teach. You trust us enough to admit your struggles. You trust us by inviting us into your lives.
What we know about God influences our trust in God.
Notice that Abram asks a question concerning God’s promise.
8 And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
There’s two points I’d like to highlight under this heading…
First, notice what Abram calls God in Genesis 15:2 and Genesis 15:8 — Lord God. Other translations render the Hebrew words Adonai Yahweh as the Sovereign Lord.
What does this tell you about what Abram believes about God?
If you know God to be the sovereign and all-powerful ruler of everything, then it should feel natural to answer the question posed above with a resounding YES!
But God goes on to give a sign to Abram that he can know God will keep his promises…
*explain verses 9-17. / show a CHATGPT image
Notice Genesis 15:12-13
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. 13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
Several thousand years ago, when two parties made a covenant, they would engage in a covenant-binding ceremony… like what we read in Genesis 15. In doing this, they would be saying to each other and to everyone else, “If I fail to keep the terms of this covenant, then let what’s happening to these animals happen to me.”
Application: Think about it this way… If you take out a loan to buy a car, you’re entering into a contract or covenant with someone else. If you fail to pay the allotted amount each month, then your car will be taken back from you. And yet, if you make the payment each month, you will reap the benefits of driving said car.
Now apply this to God. Will God ever fail to keep his promises? No, never. And we’ll see more of this in a moment.
On our good days, like I said, we believe this. We really do. But what do we do when the bad days come, when the smoke and fire of the Lord’s presence is gone and all that surrounds us are foggy circumstances and fading promises?
Sometimes we fall into the second answer to this all-important question… to this we turn to Genesis 16.
NO
NO
When you don’t trust in God, you end up trusting in something or someone else.
Read with me Genesis 16:1-2
1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Let me ask a couple of questions.
What was Abram promised by God and was waiting for? (seed)
Who did Abram listen to in the verses we just read? (Sarai)
HEARKEN
HEARKEN
Abram demonstrated that he did not trust God because he hearkened to the voice of his wife which was contrary to the Lord.
How do we know that what Sarai was telling Abram was contrary to the Lord? (that I may obtain a child by her… not by God)
When you don’t trust in God, you end up trusting in something or someone else.
Application: What are some things that we trust in other than God?
Some look to money for protection.
Some look to sports or video games for joy.
Some look to their parents or relationships for security and protection.
Some look to their appearance for acceptance and belonging.
If you trust in any one of these things or something else other than God, you will continually experience fear and worry. I mean even notice what’s happening in our text. Abram and Sarai doubt God and worry about if they’ll ever have a son (seed). Their doubt has caused them anxiety.
And I know around the room from myself and the other adults, to each and every teen… We all experience worry and anxiety because we don’t trust God.
When you trust something other than God, you are looking to that person or thing to provide what only God can.
Abram and Sari pursue unrighteousness with fervor and all the while wonder whether the Lord is unrighteous. Through the lens of sin and doubt, God may seem untrustworthy.
“Unbelief… limits the Holy One of Israel.” — Stephen Charnock
When we deem God as untrustworthy… there are consequences. There is hurt.
HURT
HURT
“Distrust of God is the mother of all sinful contrivances.” — John Flavel
When we stop trusting God, we start taking control in sinful or unwise ways.
*summarize Genesis 16:3-16.
Application: The ultimate consequence of a lack of trust in God is an eternity in hell. *Gospel application.
A lack of trust in God produces anxiety and worry because we trust ourselves or something else.
A lack of trust in God produces sin and disobedience.
A lack of trust in God produces emptiness because we’re trying to fill our souls with something that could only be filled by God.
But their lack of trust in God affected others — namely Hagar. Hagar is Egyptian who had — other than her interactions with Abram and Sarai — no understanding of Jehovah. Sarai ends up abusing and despising Hagar because of what Sarai had forced Hagar to do.
What a tremendous opportunity that Abram and Sarai had to welcome this handmaid, introduce her to Yahweh, and help her come to love and worship their God.
How you live your life always affects others. Parents, siblings, teammates, etc… How you’re living your life is affecting others, and especially they’re view of God.
After she flees, an angel of the Lord appears to her and introduces her to God. God blesses her and Ishmael (her son). And she leaves remarking that God sees me! How powerful!
13 And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?
Even in our lack of trust, even in our hurt, even in our questions, anxiety, and worry, God is there and he sees us.
But there’s one final answer that we see from Abram in our passage…
MAYBE
MAYBE
Maybe you’re hear, you’ve grown up in church, you’ve read the Bible, you have parents that are godly, and yet you’re still deciding what you think about God. That’s ok. Do you trust him? Your parents seem to trust him. Those at church seem to trust him. But you’re not really sure if you trust him.
God has some words for you in our last chapter in Genesis 17.
CONVINCES
CONVINCES
Take your Bibles out because I want you to see some of the words in our last chapter.
Notice first… Genesis 17:1
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
God beckons Abram and us today to trust him because he is the Almighty God. That’s reason #1.
We can trust God because of who he is.
We can trust God because of what he says.
God makes several “I will” statements in this chapter.
(vs.2) God promises to establish his covenant.
(vs.2,6) God promises extraordinary multiplication.
(vs.6) God promises Abraham will become many nations.
(vs.6) God promises kings will come from Abraham.
(vs.7) God promises an everlasting covenant.
(vs.7) God promises a personal relationship.
(vs.8) God promises the land of Canaan.
(vs.16) God promises to bless Sarai.
(vs.16) God promises Abraham a son through Sarai.
And there’s several other promises that we won’t cover…
We can trust God’s promises because we can trust God’s character.
If you believe that God is the Almighty God, then trusting he’s able to protect you, provide for you, lead you, fill in the blank, should come easy.
But Abraham is still figuring out if he trusts God or not… He chuckles at God’s promise of a son.
CHUCKLES
CHUCKLES
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
To a heart that doesn’t yet fully trust God, his extraordinary promises sound absurd.
I want people to look at me like I’m crazy because I have a strong faith and trust in God and his promises. I don’t want to be one who looks at God and his promises like he’s crazy.
Application: And this how the world views believers. The world laughs at Christians because of their belief in God. And unfortunately, some believers look at one another as crazy for “trusting in God too much.”
But there’s hope. Abraham obeys the commands of the Lord to circumcise the men of his house.
OBEYS
OBEYS
The heart that trusts in God obeys the commands of God.
Remember: Obedience to God’s Word brings life. Disobedience to God’s Word brings death.
23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house; and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him.
Why did God command Abraham to circumcise his house?
God’s covenant people are distinct from those around them. This was a very physical expression of our spiritual reality. Demonstrating trust in God always results in action.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
Remember last week’s sermon title? The relatable life of a follower of God… I identify with Abraham. Sometimes I trust God without hesitation. Other times, unfortunately I doubt God. And more often than not, I’m stuck at a maybe.
But here’s the truth… that’s not God’s fault. That shows our inadequacies as followers of God.
Notice Genesis 17:1
1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
God can be trusted. He is the almighty God.
So every day as you wake up, as you get bills in the mail, as you’re laughed at for being a Christ follower, as you’re deciding what to do with your life, you must make the decision to trust God.
Hear me… EVERY DAY.
Make the decision every day to trust in God.
Here are several practical points where we can demonstrate trust in God every day.
Bring your real thoughts to God through prayer.
Choose to obey God’s Word over everything else.
Fight anxiety with truth about God and his promises.
Stay consistent in reading and studying God’s Word.
Make every decision with God in mind.
Will you trust God?
