Finding The Faith Of Our Heroes - Part 4: Abraham And Sarah Series

Finding the Faith of Our Heroes

Part 4: Abraham and Sarah

Hebrews 11:8-16; James 2:23; Genesis 17:4-8;

Genesis 17:15-22; Genesis 18:9-15

Sermon by Rick Crandall

(Prepared September 9, 2023)

MESSAGE:

*James Merritt once said, "Everybody has faith in something. An atheist drinks water out of a faucet, believing it is safe. He drives his car in highway traffic, believing the brakes work. He submits to the surgeon's knife, believing the doctor knows what he is doing.

*But there is a big difference between that kind of faith and biblical faith. The value of faith depends on the object we are trusting. You see, the water might actually be poison. The brakes could fail. And the surgeon can make a mistake. But as Christians, we put our faith in the one true God who cannot lie, cannot fail, and never makes a mistake." (1)

*In Mark 11:22 Jesus tells us to "Have faith in God," and of course we should have more and more faith in God. But why is faith necessary? Why do we need faith in God?

1. FIRST: FAITH MOTIVATES US TO MOVE FOR GOD.

*Abraham was motivated to move for God, and vs. 8-9 show us how:

8. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would afterward receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;

*By faith Abraham was motivated to move for God, and that's the way faith works. God calls. We listen. God leads. We follow. Why? -- Because we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we trust in the Lord God, because He is worthy of our trust! All good relationships are built on a foundation of trust. And nobody is more worthy of our trust than the Lord!

*In Revelation 5:9-12 John saw a vision of the multitudes in Heaven singing about Jesus:

9. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

10. and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.''

11. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,

12. saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!''

*Jesus Christ is worthy of our trust for a million reasons and more. But above all, Jesus is worthy of our trust, because He was slain on the cross for our sins. Our crucified and Risen Savior is worthy of our trust, and faith in Him motivates us to move for God.

*Real faith always takes us to new places in life. It motivates us to take that first step of faith to open our hearts and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Faith motivates us to leave the old ways behind, and start walking in the ways of the Lord. Faith motivates us to walk with the Lord in a close, personal relationship. Faith even motivates us friends with the Lord, and that's what happened to Abraham. James 2:23 tells us that "'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And he was called the friend of God."

*Here is an amazing truth: The God of the whole universe wants us to be His friends! Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords, wants us to be His friends! -- But the only way we can be God's friends is by faith.

*Rick Warren went on a mission trip to Communist China back in 2000. Their team got to meet with some of the professors at Peking University. Every Communist leader in China is educated there.

*After the meeting they took the number two leader of the university out to lunch. Rick called him "Joe." He had been a math professor there for 50 years. They began to talk, and Rick discovered that Joe was dying of a brain tumor. At that time, Rick's dad was also dying of cancer, so he said, "Professor Joe, my dad is dying of cancer, but he's not afraid to die, because he's made his peace with God. He knows where he's going when he dies."

*Then Rick began to tell him a story about a man who took his son and his son's 3 best friends to the carnival. Dad bought a roll of tickets, and at each ride, he would give a free ticket to his son and his son's 3 best friends. But after a few rides, he looked down and saw a new hand reaching out for tickets.