8 August 2010
West Fort Hood Community Chapel
U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris
Fort Hood Texas
BIG IDEA: Believers should avoid relying on their own wits – and understanding – by Trusting and Believing God to keep his promises.
REFERENCES: Genesis 14:22-24 NIV (But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share”); Gen 12:1-3 NIV ( The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you"); Genesis 22:17 NIV (But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai.); Galatians 3:6 NIV (Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."); Rom 4:3 (NIV); James 2:22 (NIV); Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23 (NIV); Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 (NIV); Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see; Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.; Matthew 8:5-13 (The centurion’s faith);
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: Genesis 15:1-6 (NIV)
II. READ THE PERICOPE: Genesis 15:1-6 (NIV)
III. READ THE TEXT: Genesis 15:6 NIV (Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness).
IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to Trustfully Believe in God and get “Set-Right with God”.
V. SERMONIC THEME: “Set-Right with God”
VI. INTRODUCTION:
The Hebrews writer says in Hebrews 10:38 (NIV) … my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." In other words, my brothers and sisters - … the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul (says the Lord) shall have no pleasure in him
The lyrics in a Song written by Samuel T. Scott & Robert L. Sande dubbed, “Prayer is the Key” says Prayer is the key but FAITH unlocks the door.
Throughout history, men and women have done the impossible through faith.
Who can ever forget the “Story of the Centurion in Matthew 8:5-13” where Jesus merely spoke a Miraculous Word and the Roman Officer’s Servant was healed?
*The Good Book says in Hebrews 11:1 (KJV): “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen;
In the (NIV) it says: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Then verses 2-3 of Hebrews 11 reads: For by it (meaning FAITH) the elders obtained a good report.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 1: Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
a. True biblical faith is not an emotional kind of wishful thinking;
b. It is an inner conviction based on the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).
c. In Hebrews 11:1, the word substance means “assurance” and evidence means “proof.”
d. So, when the Holy Spirit gives us faith through the Word, the very presence of that faith in our hearts is all the assurance and evidence we need!
e. Dr. J. Oswald Sanders, the founder of the Overseas Missionary Fellowship said once: “Faith enables the believing soul to treat the future as present and the invisible as seen.”
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 2: Through faith, we can see what others cannot see.
a. When there is true faith in the heart, God bears witness to that heart by His Spirit.
b. By faith, Noah saw coming judgment, Joseph saw the Exodus from Egypt, Moses saw God, and Abraham saw a future city.
c. Faith accomplishes things because there is power in the Word of God, as illustrated by the Creation in v. 3.
d. God spoke, and it was done!
e. God still speaks to us. When we Believe & Trust what He says, the power of the Word accomplishes things in our lives.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 4: I have often wondered “how one might gain credit – from God - for living righteously when tons of mistakes have been made.
a. How does one get “Set-Right with God”?
b. I can’t speak for you, but after hearing Scriptural Verses from the Bible over and over again (Romans 10:17 (KJV): faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God).
c. I have a tendency to put our Biblical brothers and sisters on a pedestal and view them through rose-tinted glasses.
d. In truth, I have been guilty of momentarily forgetting that, while they were “FAITH GIANTS” in many ways, they were also human.
e. In fact, before we examine the “faith of a man like Abraham, I think it’s imperative that we also realize that Abraham was, like many of us – in here today - far from being perfect.
f. He had “Failures” and Shortcomings too! He wasn’t always “all that and a bag of chips”!
******* TAKE 5 BEATS *******
MOVE 5: For don’t you remember, in Genesis 12, Abram had been called by God to go to a land which the Lord Himself chose.
a. So, Abram had obeyed in part, because he went where the Lord told him to go.
b. He was obedience in an act that required real faith.
c. But, once he got in the land, his faith was shaken by the economy because times were hard. There was a food shortage and it was difficult to find a job.
d. In stead of trusting God - or waiting on God - for further directions, Abram left the place that God had sent him to; and went to Egypt where the economy was better.
e. And it was there, in Egypt, he continued to show a lack of trust by getting Sara to tell a lie (or a half-truth) about their relationship, and by denying that she was really his wife.
f. The Good Book tells us that in spite of what God had promised Abram, Abram was afraid that if the truth was known –about Sara being his sister - he might be killed.
******* TAKE 5 BEATS ******
MOVE 6: Therefore, I submit to you today that Abram’s FEAR outweighed his commitment to both God and his wife.
a. Even when Sara had been taken in Pharaoh’s household, Abram did not reveal their relationship.
b. Instead he profited- in silence - from the favor extended to a made-up brother!
c. Like many of us, today, Abraham had a tendency to rely on his own intellect (and understanding) rather than on God.
d. In our text, today in Genesis 15, the Good Book tells us that Abraham had just defeated the kings in chapter 14 and had just overcome a great temptation from the King of Sodom.
e. Now, God was stepping in to encourage him.
f. Likewise, Christ comes to us when we need Him!
****** TAKE 5 BEATS ********
MOVE 7: For God is our protection (shield) and provision (reward).
a. We don’t need to ever FEAR.
b. Abraham did not need the protection of the King of Sodom or the treasures he offered.
c. He had all he needed in God.
d. The Good Book tells us that Abraham did not want a reward – he wanted an heir.
e. He was now 85 years old, and for 10 years he had been waiting for his promised son to be born.
f. If he had no son, all of his inheritance would fall to Eliezer, his steward.
g. God had promised him in Genesis 12:2, “that he would make him a great nation”.
h. So, when Abraham asked God, “why was He not fulfilling His promise, God answered Abraham’s prayers …
i. … by lifting his eyes away from himself - and his steward - to look toward the heavens in Verse 5.
****** TAKE 5 BEATS ******
MOVE 8: Likewise, when God has made us a promise – when we get down or discouraged – He often lifts our eyes away from ourselves - and our circumstance - to look towards heaven from which cometh our help.
a. Because our help comes for the Lord.
b. Then in verse 6, the Good Book says that Abraham said what amounts to AMEN to the Lord.”
c. Therefore, it was attributed to his righteousness. ”.
d. In other words, Abraham was “Set-Right with God”.
e. Some one here, today, might ask, “How was Abraham saved?
f. And I submit to you that Abraham was saved, but not by keeping the law, for the law had not yet been given.
g. Neither was he saved by circumcision, because that was not established until Abraham was ninety-nine years old.
h. Abraham was saved by faith in God’s Word.
i. Abraham was “Set-Right with God”.
j. In other words, Abram’s faith allowed him to be sure of what he hoped for and certain of what he could not see.
CELEBRATION:
I’m about to take my seat, but in the Book of John 20:29,
On the First Day of the Week (Sunday) Jesus appeared
to Doubting Thomas and afterwards says:
“… Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
In other words, the Lord was saying blessed are those that have been
“Set-Right with God”.
