Series: The Pay-off of Perseverance
Message #3: Faith That Doesn’t Give Up No Matter What – September 16, 2007
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what was promised…my righteous one will live by faith…we are not of those who shrink back… Hebrews 10:36-39
The Big Idea: By following the model of perseverance and faith seen in Abraham, we will see God accomplish his plans and fulfill his promises for our church and our lives.
1. Abraham exhibited faith by walking in God’s direction.
The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you…” So Abram left as the Lord had told him…By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land… Genesis 12:1, 4; Hebrews 11:8-9
Sometimes God asks us to go somewhere he wants us to be, even though we may not have all the answers to our questions or provisions for our needs. However, faith does not require having all the answers to our questions or provisions for our needs before we do what God asks us to do because we trust that where he guides he provides.
Walking in God’s direction can be a difficult step of faith
because he requires leaving the comfort of where we are to fulfill his calling on our lives.
When we go in God’s direction we may not see immediate results.
2. Abraham exhibited faith by weathering the storms.
…so they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there…Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe…By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents… Genesis 12:10; Hebrews 11:9
A famine is a lack of what is needed over a long period of time. In the time between what we do not have to meet our needs and God’s supply of our needs, our faith is tested by our attitude toward God and developed by intimacy with and dependency upon God.
Doing what God asks us to do does not mean there will be no famine or storms to weather.
A person of faith does not become discontent when difficulties come, but is content and trusts God.
People who are content in difficult circumstances, as were Sarah and Abraham, have learned God is their source of contentment, happiness, and satisfaction and have the bigger picture in mind by seeing beyond where they are to what God is doing and what is going to be.
People who live by faith do not show discontentment by complaining when it gets hard but remain faithful to God and trust in the faithfulness of God to work things out and meet their needs
People who are discontent complain, rather than trust God has everything under his control and will work out everything according to his plan. They tend to be negative, pessimistic, and imagine the worst. People who are content do not complain but are positive and optimistic, which comes from trusting in the promises and plan of God.
Which “tent” do I normally live in, discontent or content?
3. Abraham exhibited faith by waiting on God’s timing.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you…”…Now Sarai was barren; she had no children…He took him outside and said, “Look at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.” Then he said, “So shall your offspring be.”…Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children…When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “…I am God-Almighty…I…will greatly increase your numbers.” …God said to him, “You will be the father of many nations. No longer will your name be called Abram; your name will be called Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.”…God said, “…your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will call him Isaac...” Sarah was passed the age of child-bearing… “Is anything too hard for the Lord …at the appointed time next year…Sarah will have a son.” …Sarah became pregnant…bore a son…at the very time God promised. Genesis 12:2; 11:30; 15:5; 16:1; 17:1-3, 19; 18:11, 14; 21:2
God has an appointed time for his will to be accomplished.
During the time between God’s will being in process and eventually accomplished, God brings about change. Change is a normal part of the process to making progress in fulfilling God’s will. We must be willing to accept change for God’s will to be accomplished.
4. Abraham exhibited unwavering faith in God’s promise.
“…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”…By faith Abraham, even though he was passed age – and Sarah herself was barren – was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as stars in the sky and as countless as the sands on the seashore. Genesis 12:3; Hebrews 11:11-12
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations…Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old…Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith…being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he promised. Romans 4:18-21
People with unwavering faith strongly believe God will fulfill his promises and accomplish his plan for their lives and church in his time. They believe God can take what seems impossible and make it happen. Their faith activates God’s power in their church and lives, accomplishes his plans for their church and lives, and accepts God’s promises as fact before they are ever fulfilled.
“…a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ…I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”…Consider Abraham, “He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” …those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatians 3:16-21; 3:6-9
The blessing God promised to Abraham also included, as revealed in Galatians, the blessing of grace to the human race to bring salvation. God would bless, or save the human race through grace that came through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, salvation would come by grace through faith in Jesus and not through the law. Jesus was a direct descendant of Abraham and the one through who grace flows to everyone who will receive him by faith. Those who receive God’s grace by placing their faith in Jesus are saved and become the spiritual descendants of Abraham and make up the stars in the sky and sands on the seashore too numerous to count, just as God promised to Abraham in the book of Genesis.
5. Abraham exhibited faith by not withholding his son from God.
By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promise was about to sacrifice his one and only son… “...Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son from me …” … Abraham saw a ram…and sacrificed it as a burnt offering…so Abraham called the place The Lord Will Provide… “…because you…have not withheld your son…I will surely bless you…because you have obeyed me.” Hebrews 11:17; Genesis 22:12-18
Abraham’s attitude toward God was revealed by not withholding from God,
but giving to God what God asked him to give.
Offer your bodies as living sacrifices…this is your spiritual act of worship…then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will…Christ gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 5:2
They are a fragrant offering , an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:18-19
…see that you excel in the grace of giving…I want to test the sincerity of your love…This service you perform is…supplying the needs of God’s people…because of this service by which you have proved yourselves…the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ… 2 Corinthians 8:7-8; 9:13
God asks us not to withhold our bodies and money from him but to give them to him. Our attitude toward God is revealed by our willingness to give to God or withholding from God.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also…You cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:21, 24
