Intro: math-example problems, give you a good idea of the real problems on a test. The Bible does the exact same thing; all the stories in the Bible are examples for every believer. Today, we will look at four bible characters to see what examples they set for us
Examples
I Corinthians 10:11
· You won’t necessarily face the exact same tests, but if you will trust God you can get the same results.
· You will need to operate in the same faith they operated in to gain victories in your life.
· There are good and bad example throughout scripture, they are all a good warning to us, because if we follow the right example, we will produce a good harvest, if we follow wrong examples, we will get a bad harvest
I. Noah- Example of Obedience --Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord
a. He did what God asked Him to do, even though he didn’t know why he
was doing what he was doing. He was building an ark for a flood,
when he had never seen it rain. Obedience isn’t understanding, it is
submission, we must obey because He has spoken it to us.
b. He had to endure ridicule for his obedience. When God speaks to us, it
won’t always make sense to the unbeliever, sometimes even other
believers, and many times you will have to persevere to obtain the
prize.
c. He built to the exact specifications the Lord gave Him. This is the
perfect will of God. He could have said, I will build an ark, but I will
build it my way, and he would have surely failed.
Reward of this Obedience--- his family was spared, and also mankind. If
Noah would have rebelled in any way against God’s demand, humanity
Would have been lost.
II. Abraham—example of faith—Hebrews 11:8 he went out not knowing where he was going. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Abraham couldn’t see the results, so he simply trusted God, and the results came, even though they were far off.
· God blessed and prospered Abraham, as he walked with God. He didn’t immediately make him a great nation, but as he continued to walk with God, he became so mighty, that his servants were mighty even to go fight a war.
· God’s revelations went through Abraham, the angels said, since God is making Abraham so great, we must tell him what we are about to do concerning Sodom and Gomorrah.
· Generational Blessing—God didn’t just bless Abraham, but his seed, we have through Abraham, Isaac, Israel, and Jesus. The nations of the world, every generation of this earth, are all blessed in father Abraham.
The amazing part of this blessing, is that this man that was to blessed the entire world, God found in the desert dwelling in a tent. It doesn’t matter where God finds you, it only matters where He can bring you.
III. Elisha—the man who wanted more—2 Kings 2:9 Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. Elisha became one of the greatest prophets in the history of Israel, and he teaches us to always want more.
· Not satisfied with what we have or what we have seen before—Elisha wanted more of God in his life. This is a great example to follow, if you want more of God, then you will have to go after God with everything that is in you.
· Never took his eyes off the prize—Elisha had to see Elijah when he was taken up to God, so he was never distracted from that goal. So many people start out strong, but end up weak, Elisha is the example of someone who started out strong, and ended up stronger
Ill) boy who wanted to find God, old man who can help you find God. Old
Man thrusts boy into water, holds him there, three times, drags him to
Shore, when you want God, as much as you wanted air, you will find
God.
· He asked hard things—call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things that you knoweth not. God likes to be challenged and proven. Elisha was blessed because he believed God was greater than all he could ask or think.
IV. David—example of anointing—I Samuel 16:12:-13
This is a great story in the Bible, Samuel anointing David to be king as a
Young boy. We find out some valuable lessons on anointing by
Studying David’s life. Today we will look at just a few.
a. God doesn’t look at the outside, but the heart in placing his anointing on lives. V.7 God looketh on the heart. Jesse felt confident that one of his elder sons would be the one to carry God’s anointing, but he learned a lesson we all must learn, God anointed David because he had a heart after God.
b. The anointing is greater than giants, lions and bears. When David stood before Saul and explained he would defeat Goliath, he told how when the anointing came upon him mightily, he slew a lion, and slew a bear, and with that anointing, this philistine was coming down.
c. The anointing is more important than Saul’s armor. Saul’s armor represents human ability, anointing represents God’s ability. David explained, these have not been proven, but the anointing has been proven.
Close: today we have four examples to follow: the obedience of Noah, the faith of Abraham, the man who wanted more in Elisha, and the anointing of David. They are all in scripture so that we might learn.
A popular song of years past gives the thought of following an example. It is one of the saddest songs ever written, the cats in the cradle—it is all about a boy who’s Dad is to busy for him, every time he wants to do something with his Dad, his dad is too busy, the boy always says, that’s okay, and says I want to grow up and be like you Dad. Later on in life, the boy has grown up and his dad has slowed down and wants to spend time with his son, but the son says, what I’m feeling like Dad is to borrow the cars keys, see you later can I have them please
The last part of the story is the saddest: it says, I’ve long since retired, my sons moved away, called him up just the other day, I said, I’d like to see you, if you don’t mind, he said, I’d love to dad if I could find the time,
The news jobs a hassle and the kids got the flew, but it’s sure nice talking to you, it’s been sure nice talking to you,
And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, my boy was just like me, he’s grown up to be like me.
Today, we have examples we can follow so our families will be blessed. So generations that follow us will be blessed.
