The Journey of Faith

“The Journey of Faith”

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What is faith, and what does faith look like in a person’s life. Some people believe faith is just a crutch for weak people. One little boy said that “faith is believing something even though you know it’s not true”, that is not faith!

I have had people say to me, all that matters is that you have faith; but that is not all that matters. What matters is what you put your faith in!

I’ve also been told “all that counts is that you are sincere” but that is not all that counts, because it is possible to be sincerely wrong!

· The answer to the question what is faith?

Faith is trusting and obeying God inspite of your feelings, circumstances, or consequences.

· What does a person of faith look?

Abraham is the example of a person of faith given to us by God. gives us the life story of Abraham one of the greatest men to walk across the stage of human history. Abraham is the most respected man in the history of the Jewish people;

He is the father of the Jewish nation. Every true Jew regards themselves a son or daughter of Abraham.

The N.T. teaches us that Abraham is the spiritual father of all who have faith.

-“Know you therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

If you are a believer you a spiritual child of Abraham by faith in the Lord Jesus! Abraham is used over and over in the N.T. as an example of what faith is all about. He is called by name 74 times in the N.T. he is called the father of the faithful. He is the most important man in the bible outside of JESUS. He is called “Faithful Abraham” in .He is called “A friend of God” in . If there is anyone who can teach us what faith is all about it is Abraham! We all want to be faithful to God, and to be a friend of God!

God holds Abraham up as an example of faith to teach us what faith looks like; and how we can be a person of Faith.

The Journey of Faith involves:

1. Hearing God’s Call.

V:1-“The Lord had said to Abram…

We learn right at the beginning of the life of faith there is a call from God; God takes the initiative.

Abram was not searching for God; God spoke to Abram.

God’s call to Abram was:

a. A Call to depart.

V:1- “get out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house”

Now the first question is where was Abram called to depart from; what was Abram to turn his back on? What was Abram’s background, what was his country, who was his family, what kind of relationship with God did Abram have? We learn he was from Ur of the Chaldees’; which is in modern day Iraq, between Bagdad and Kuwait. This was his Geographical location; this is where he had lived for the first 75 years of his life. He was to leave this place; it was a place of wealth, culture and beauty and great comfort. Leonard Woolley’s excavation of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur in the 1920s and early 1930s was a media event. Woolley’s discovery of the royal cemetery of Ur with its large cash of gold objects and evidence of human sacrifice attracted travelers from around the world, including mystery writer Agatha Christie. From that trip she wrote her 1936 mystery -Murder in Mesopotamia. The excavations in Ur of the Chaldees reveal in-door plumbing, a library and great wealth. The exhibit “Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur” is incredible.

Don’t get the idea that Abram was a caveman living in some cave in Ur of the Chaldees.

Culturally and materially he was living on top of the world.

We learn about his family in . We are told about his father-Terah, and his three brothers, we are told one of the brothers Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees. We learn that Haran had a son named Lot, Abram’s nephew; he will show up later in Genesis. Abram was loyal to his wife and family, he had strong family ties. It took the death of his father in the City of Haran to get him to move on toward Canaan.

What do we know about Abram’s religious background? Abram’s religious background is different than you might expect, because we know him as the father of the faith, the friend of God we might assume his dad was a pastor, deacon, or a Sunday school teacher. That he came from a strong Christian family that read the bible and prayed to God every day. But it might surprise you to know that Abram came from a heathen family, a family of pagan moon worshippers. We think that God picked him up and used him because of his great Christian heritage, not so!!

He was raised in a home of idolatry; his father worshipped the moon god Nanna; Abram was not raised worshipping the God of Creation; he was raised worshipping the moon.

-“Your fathers even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: served other gods.

Abram was 75 years old; he was a moon worshipper just like everybody else in his family. It was this man God called for His purpose, it was a call of grace, there is nothing in Abram that drew God’s attention; God chose Abram! That is Abram’s background; yet God called him to leave that place, turn his back on the false gods he was raised worshipping.

Today if you are lost in your sin God calls you to leave your sin, turn your back on your old life and come to Jesus! Today God is calling you through the music, message, by His spirit to repent of your sin and come to Jesus! Salvation comes because God calls in grace and sinners respond by faith! You may be here today and you are 75 years old, and you say I am too old to walk down the aisle and give my life to Jesus; no you are not!! Abram did not let his age become an excuse for not responding to the call of God.

Please don’t let your age become an excuse for not responding to the call of God!

Do you think Abram knew when he met God? Do you think it was a BIG deal for him? YES, it turned his whole life around!! What was Abram’s call of salvation like? We are not giving the detail, but it must have been something big to transform Abram not just geographically, but spiritually.

-“The God of glory appeared unto our father, Abraham" How God appeared to Abraham, we are not told; but it was the first of seven communications to Abraham recorded in Genesis. The revelation of God's glory showed Abraham the emptiness and foolishness of the idol worship in Ur. Who wants to worship a dead idol when he has met the living God!

There was a time and place when the Lord of glory showed up in Abram’s darkness and made Himself known to Abram! And this encounter with God changed his life.

You say, good for him; but that is not what happened to me; well you’ve never met the God of glory!!

, says if any man be in Christ he is a new creator, old things are passed away, all things are become new!

Has the Lord of Glory ever appeared to you? God is a God of glory, radiance, you can’t miss Him!! And you won’t be the same when you met Him!!

When you met God and are saved, your life will be changed forever! Everybody who met the Lord of glory was changed forever:

· Moses-burning bush.

· Isaiah-temple.

· Zacchaeus-tree

· Saul- road to Damascus.

· Eddie-Jax, Fl.

-“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

There is a big difference between sayings, I believe in God and the light of the glory of God in Jesus shining into your dark, lost heart and bring you salvation! Abram was to leave, turn his back on his sin and idol worship and trust God! Graham Scroggy said “The callings of God never leave a man where they find him”

When you hear and respond you are changed!!

The call was first of all a call to depart.

b. Call to discover.

V:1b-3.

Abram would discover what God had for him was far better than what he was leaving behind, and that is always the way it is!!

He discovers that God has big plans for him; God makes several promises to him in these verses.

He tells him; I will make you, I will bless you, I will make your name great, I will bless those who bless you.

· The promise of a Land.

· The promise to make a great nation from him.

· The promise to make him a blessing.

Abram was to discover that God had a place for him-Canaan Land, God would give him a son, and from that son a great nation, and from that nation, a messiah that would bless the whole world!

The things that God promised Abram didn’t happen in his life time, but they happen! The land of Israel belongs to the Jews, the nation of Israel is great, the whole world has a savior-JESUS, and his name is great, we are talking about him in Springfield Mo in 2015.

God’s promise’s ALWAYS come to pass!!

God call’s today; to salvation, to Holy living, to a life of ministry. Hear God’s call today!

The Journey of faith involves:

2. Obeying God’s Word!

V:4-“So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him”

God said, V:1- get out…

Abram, V:4-and Abram departed…

No delay, no excuse, he obeyed the Word of God!

The promises of God were contingent on Abram’s obedience. Obedience would bring God’s blessing into his life, and the life of his family.

If we are a person of faith we will obey the Word of God, and experience the blessings that come ONLY through obedience!

God said to Abram get going, and he got going!

Let me ask you a question, do you want to be blessed, and do you want to be a blessing?

You say yes, obedience to the Word of God is the path to being blessed and being a blessing.

God had a place for Abram to be, and a purpose for him to fulfill, and it he got in the place, God would fulfill the purpose!

There is no lasting blessing in our lives without obedience to God’s word!

Someone is sitting there thinking; but you don’t know my background, I could never be a blessing, I could never fulfill a purpose for God.

You are so wrong, let me tell you want is strong than background, education, money, obedience to God!!

God is not hindered by your background; God made a great nation, and brought the savior through the family of an ex-moon worshipper, and he can use you!

Would you just decide today that you are going to obey God; sell out to God?

You will never know what influence you have on others as you obey God and serve God in the place He puts you. God’s work is not quick, what we do for God may not show up until we are dead, but there is always fruit when you obey God!

· Sunday school teacher.

· Awana worker.

· Choir member.

· Servant of God.

What you are doing for God is making a difference;

Obeying God is the mark of a person of faith.

Abram’s obedience to God is absolute obedience, God told him to leave his country, but He did not tell Abram where he was going.

-“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Abraham reminds me of Christopher Columbus; Christopher Columbus didn’t know where he was going, didn’t know where he was when he got there, and didn’t know where he had been when he got back, and did it all on someone else’s money, he was a Politian for sure.

Abram didn’t know where he was going, but he knew who was going with him!

To be blessed by God and to be a blessing you must be a person of obedience to God!!

No questions, no arguing, no excuses, just obey God’s word!!

God has a place for you, a purpose for you and there is no peace, no joy, and no thrill like doing what God has for you to do!

Do you want to be a blessing to God and others? Wouldn’t it be great to be a blessing, to refresh and bless God and other? You can’t make yourself a blessing, you can make yourself a nuisance, a pain-in-the-neck, but only God can make you blessing and He does that as we obey Him!

Be a blessing to God today, by trusting Him and obeying Him!

We are always wanting to be blessed; God bless me, bless me and bless me some more, isn’t it time you said, God make me a blessing!

Will you obey God; will you step on the promises of God’s Word and trust God that is what Abram did; he trusted God with everything he had. God is asking me and you will we trust Him:

· With our future.

· With our relationships.

· With our children.

· With our parents.

· With our money.

God wants us to put our lives in His hands because we trust Him.

We often ask our children, do you trust me? Then do as I tell you. That is want God is asking you today, do you trust me? Then do as I say!! Obey me!!! The Journey of faith involves:

3. Proclaiming God’s Name!

V:6-“And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

When Abram arrived in the land of Canaan he is met by idol worship and heathens; his background had prepared him for this.

Abram’s was a stranger and pilgrim in the land of Canaan; the life of faith demands that we remember that we are pilgrims in this world. But while we are here we have the responsibility to proclaim the name of the true and living God in a culture that does not know who He is, or does not want to know who He is!

Abram’s clear vision of God’s call and the future detached him from the world, just as it will always detach God’s people from grounding their lives too deeply in the present. Friends this is not our home!

V:6-7-“ Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him”

Shechem, in the geographical center of the Promised Land; Abram goes to the very center of the land and builds an altar!

A life of faith must be lived out in the middle of a pagan world, a world of misunderstanding and temptation and even persecution.

There was a great tress in Moreh, it was a place where the Canaanites came to hear the soothsayers give them prophesies that they received from the rustling of the leaves in the great tree.

What does Abram do; he built an altar to Jehovah God and offers a sacrifice and worships and proclaims the name of God!!

And God shows up, V:7-“and the Lord appeared unto Abram…

You want God to show up in a big way in your life, worship Him and proclaim His name!!

V:8-“He builds and altar near Bethel; Bethel, like Shechem, was home to an important Canaanite sanctuary to the god El, head of their pantheon. But, as in Shechem, Abram ignored this and built an altar to Jehovah “V:8-“and called upon the name of the Lord.”

Abram publicly called, proclaimed the name of the Lord, Martin Luther translated “called”- “preached” to convey the idea here. This was a very public event; the locals knew what was happening. Proclaiming God’s name would include speaking about his great attributes and mighty works. Preach it, Abram!

Never think that it you are doing the will of God in the place God puts you there will never be problems or challenges; that is not true. There is only one place where everything is great, heaven! There were enemies, Canaanites in the Land, and we will face enemies, but we are to proclaim the name of the Lord in the middle of them all.

There are two phases I want to point out to you before we close, these are important to the life of faith; we are told:

· Abram pitched his tent, V:8.

· But he built an altar, V:7,8.

The tent said, I am a pilgrim passing through. Don't drive your stakes down too deep in this old world.

The altar said what is permeated in my life is my relationship with God!

Abram worshiped wherever he went, and proclaimed the name of the Lord everywhere he went.

The Journey of faith involves:

1. Hearing God’s call.

2. Obeying God’s Word.

3. Proclaiming God’s name.

Are you on the journey of faith? Will you start the journey of faith today? The first step is to hear the call of God and respond! Respond to God’s call today!! Step out today, come to Jesus and start the journey of faith!