The Demand of Faith
Utawala Baptist Church04-02-07
The Demand of Faith
Scripture Reading Acts 7:2-3
Definitions:
Grace getting what you do not deserve.
Mercy not getting what you do deserve.
Faith According to the simplest conception of it, faith is a personal confidence in God.[1]
Abraham is the great example of divine, sovereign predestination.
Isaac becomes the great example of divine calling.
Jacob, the great example of divine justification.
Joseph, the great example of glorification.
Abraham the Faithful
The patriarch, Abraham, father of the nation of Israel, and the friend of God, is the great example of the walk of faith in Scripture. He is mentioned over and over again by the writers of the Bible as an example of the growth and victory of real faith.
Compare Acts 7:2-3 and Genesis 12:1-2
God Finds the Sinner
Notice first of all where God found Abram. It was in Ur of the Chaldees, far, far from the Promised Land.
“Ur” means flame.
“Chaldee” means destruction.
God found Abram in the place of the flame and in the land of destruction. We call attention to this because the story of Abram is the example of salvation first of all by faith. Abram is first of all an example of the sinner saved by the grace of God. In the place of the flame, in the place of judgment, in the land of destruction is exactly where God finds every sinner whom He saves.
Joshua 24:2 Contrast the God of Glory with the gods of the Chaldeans.
Look at the words of Stephen in Acts 7:2-3
1 Divine Title
Only one other place is this title used Psalm 29:3
Very appropriate when we consider the other gods.
2. God appeared
First appearance of God that we are old of since Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden.
God did not choose to appear to Able or Noah.
What a privilege!
3. God Communicated
Abraham was living in Ur of the Chaldees.
Modern Iraq.
Look at Genesis 11 and the Tower of Babel
Romans 1:20-25
God deals in judgment in Chapter 11
Followed by Grace in Chapter 12.
This is true of all God’s dealings.
Judgment followed by grace.
Tribulation followed by Millennium!
After scattering the people at Babel God chose to have a people of His own.
ABRAHAM was CALLED!
Calling or Election is always through GRACE.
Romans 11:5
Isaiah 51:1-3 a faithful few in Israel felt alone but God reminds them where they came from.
If we also a few remain faithful much can be accomplished for God’s kingdom in Utawala.
Incomplete Obedience
Abram believed God and set out. But then a strange thing happened. He started for the promised land of Canaan, and had gone about one half the distance; When God suddenly stopped him short.
Genesis 11:31
Notice, their goal was Canaan, the promised land of victory; but they came to Haran instead, only about one half the distance to their destination.
Abraham’s call demanded absolute obedience and confidence in the Words of Jehovah!
Abraham was commanded to do three things.
1. Leave his own country
2. Separate from his family
3. Go into a land Jehovah would show him.
Requirement number one Abraham obeyed.
2 & 3 He failed!
He took his family with him.
Instead of going into Canaan he stopped in Haran.
Abraham’s response was partial!
How very similar is our response!!
Isaiah 51:2 (one!)
Haran means dry, parched and fruitless Canaan meant Fruitful!
Abraham chose to waste 6 years in fruitless Haran.
There is no record of any revelation or encouragement from God.
No appearances of the Lord
No victory
No progress
No growth.
Old Man Must Go
Now the reason for Abram’s wasted years and for God’s halting him at Haran is given to us clearly in Genesis 12.
He is out of the city of the flame, and he is away from the land of destruction. But Abram had not fully obeyed God’s word and therefore he must now learn an important lesson in the adventure of faith. He was out of Ur, but Ur was not yet out of him.
Notice carefully, “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out”
Abram had failed to do this.
He took with him his father, Terah, and his nephew, Lot.
God had distinctly told Abram to leave his kindred and friends;
Two things, the world and the flesh.
The country represents the world about him;
His father and Lot were types of the flesh.
Both must be left behind.
God interrupted His child.
To teach him the lesson of separation.
Salvation is by faith and faith alone, but if there is to be progress and growth, blessing and victory, there must be separation from the world and from the flesh.
Thousands of Christians are at a dead standstill (like Abram in Haran), groping in doubt and fear and uncertainty, having made no progress because of the fleshly habits and sins in their lives.
The Old Must Die
Now see how God deals with the problem of the flesh in the life of Abram. Abram had trusted God and had gone out of Ur, but in disobedience to God’s clear instructions had taken his father and Lot along.
. Terah, Abram’s father, represents the old man of the flesh. “Terah” means delay. “Haran” means fruitless. Six years Abram lived with Terah in Haran, delayed in a fruitless land; six years of no progress, no growth, no joy or victory.
Genesis 11:32
Abram had believed God and gone out of Ur of the Chaldees. So far everything is good. He is out of the city of the flame, and he is away from the land of destruction. But Abram had not fully obeyed God’s word and therefore he must now learn an important lesson in the adventure of faith. He was out of Ur, but Ur was not yet out of him. All this is made clear in
Genesis 12:1
Notice carefully, “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out” But from the verses in Genesis 11, we learn that Abram had failed to do this. Instead he took with him his father, Terah, and his nephew, Lot. God had distinctly told Abram to leave his kindred and friends; two things, the world and the flesh.
The country represents the world about him; his father and Lot were types of the flesh. Both must be left behind.
While Abram left his country, he nevertheless took the flesh along. For this reason God interrupts His child, to teach him the lesson of separation. Salvation is by faith and faith alone, but if there is to be progress and growth, blessing and victory, there must be separation from the world and from the flesh. That is the next step after conversion.
The greatest need of the church and of Christians today is to learn the lesson of separation from the world and from the flesh. Thousands of Christians are at a dead standstill (like Abram in Haran), groping in doubt and fear and uncertainty, having made no progress because of the fleshly habits and sins in their lives.
The Old Must Die
Now see how God deals with the problem of the flesh in the life of Abram. Abram had trusted God and had gone out of Ur, but in disobedience to God’s clear instructions had taken his father and Lot along.
Abram’s father represents the old man of the flesh. “Terah” means delay. “Haran” means fruitless. Six years Abram lived with Terah in Haran, delayed in a fruitless land; six years of no progress, no growth, no joy or victory.
Genesis 11:32
Terah died in Haran. Thank Abram must sever the tender ties of the flesh before he can proceed to the place of victory and promise.
Once before they had started for Canaan, the land of victory, but only went as far as Haran. The old man must first be buried there, and then, significantly, they came into the land of Canaan. Stephen also, in the book of Acts, when speaking of Abraham, says this:
Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell (Acts 7:4).
Mortify the Flesh
Here is a great lesson in the adventure of faith. When we have received Christ we are not any more of this world, but the flesh is still with us and must be dealt with. This was not the only lesson in separation in Abram’s life, to be sure. Later on he must separate himself from Lot, then he must sacrifice his own son, Isaac, and finally even Sarah must be buried. Sanctification is not one single spiritual experience, but a series of burials, a succession of funerals, of judgments upon the flesh, or, as Paul puts it, of daily deaths, daily mortifications of the old man and of the flesh and of the world.
In closing this chapter I would apply this lesson personally to you who are believers. You, too, are saved, but let me ask you, are you making any progress? Do you enjoy your salvation? Is God answering your prayers? Does His Word become more precious to you as you go along? Or, are you unhappy, doubting, fruitless, cold and carnal? Then listen my friend, you need funeral in your life. There is something that must go something to be buried before you can go on. Abraham was stopped at Haran until Terah died. He had to dig a grave first.
What is it in your own life, Christian, which hinders you and keeps you from the joy of the Christian life?
From what do you need to be separated? You know what it is. Is it some secret sin, some habit, some lust, some fleshly thing you are pampering and condoning and excusing?
Is it some worldly practice, pride, dishonesty, gossip, an unforgiving spirit, bitterness, a sharp tongue, an uncontrolled and unyielded temper, stubbornness or hatred?
Remember, before you can go on, it must go. Terah, the old man, must be buried.
Remember as well in Hebrews 11 the great “Faith Chapter” no mention is made of Abraham’s sin and failures!
His OBEDIENCE and FAITH is singled out his disobedience blotted out. The sin of taking his relatives with him along with ALL HIS SINS AND FAILURES BLOTTED OUT. By a loving and merciful God!
Why not stop now, confess your sin to the Lord Jesus, and trust Him to give you the victory, and go on to the place of joy and fruit bearing?
Be honest and put your sin away, turn your life over to Him once for all and experience the new joy of His presence and fellowship.
Dig that grave in Haran now, and go on to the life of victory in Canaan.
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[1]Chafer, Lewis Sperry: Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, MI : Kregel Publications, 1993, S. 7:146