One source of irritation in my life (besides house dust since I have an allergy) is when Christians look incredulously at the men and women of scripture and say, "How could they do that? Where is their faith?" I have witnessed people basically mock the failures of people in the Bible. God did not give us their examples for us to mock them or boost our pride but to learn from them. In every failure we can see our own foolishness. Should Peter be made a laughing stock because he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink into stormy Sea of Galilee? Should Gideon be chastised for not having the "faith" to meet the Midianites in battle without putting a fleece before the LORD not once but twice? It is wise for us to shake our heads over Moses striking the rock and robbing God of glory, or scorn David for not only committing adultery with Bathsheba, and later ordering the death of her husband Uriah the Hittite? We are not to condone these acts, but have not we all done things we do not condone ourselves? Have we sinned any less than these men of God?
As children of Abraham through faith in Christ, we ought lead lives of obedience and faith in God alone. Abraham had his faults to be sure, but there has not been an Abraham since. Now there is a man that God called and he obeyed God. That does not mean he was perfect. God told Abraham to leave Haran and his father's house and go "unto a land that I will show you" (Gen. 12:1). Abraham left his home, but he allowed his nephew Lot to travel with him (Gen. 12:4). God knew that Abraham wasn't perfect. God was seeking obedience and trust, not perfection. God has the perfection bit covered, and we can receive of His righteousness through faith in Christ.
Abraham later instructed his wife Sarah to lie about being his wife to the Egyptians "that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee" (Gen. 12:11-13). We are gracious to Abraham for this first lie, but bristle at the thought that he later fibbed again with Abimelech, telling him that Sarah was his sister but not his wife! (Gen. 20:2) God does not apologize for Abraham's behavior when He came to Abimelech in a dream and said this in Genesis 20:6-7: "...I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. [7] Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."
Did you catch that? Who would Abimelech have sinned against if he had touched Sarah? Against God. And who was the prophet that God had called out of Haran? Abraham, the father of faith, one who was at times afraid (like us!), and sometimes unsure of what to do or say (like us!), and had the guts to do whatever God told him to do (usually unlike us!), even if it meant leaving home or slaughtering his only son as an offering to God. God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, whom he loved dearly, climb a mountain God would reveal, and offer his son as a burnt offering to God (Gen. 22:2). Put yourself in Abraham's shoes, an unenviable spot. The Father assumed this same role in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son Jesus, but that's another sermon! Can you believe that God had to stop Abraham from actually doing it? Genesis 22:9-10 reads, "Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. [10] And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son." Abraham had made up his mind to obey God: in his mind, the deed was already done. There was no "if" when he picked up the knife. He picked it up to kill his son and planned on burning him to ash. And it took the command of God to keep Abraham from following through.
Oh, to have such faith, to have such utter abandon of self and complete trust in God! Before we judge the men and women of faith in the Bible harshly, know we only invite God to judge us with the same harshness! Abraham would not be deterred from obeying God even if it meant separation, difficulty, pain, loss, or sorrow. Romans 4:3 says, "For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Jesus says in Luke 18:7-8: "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? [8] I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" Don't be too quick to answer in the affirmative. Never ASSUME you have faith. If there is faith on the earth, Christ will find it. The point of Christ's rhetorical question is so people would ask themselves, "Do I have faith?"
I am constantly battling the great advice of well-meaning people concerning my move and ministry in Australia: who I should call, what I should do, where I should go. The trouble is, a lot of what is being suggested by men has never been commanded by God. It's very easy for us to point fingers and shake our heads and shrug shoulders over the Israelites unbelief in the wilderness, or the foibles of David and Peter. But I ask you: how much of what you do every day is strictly because God told you to do it? A good portion of Abraham's life was Abraham doing what God told Him, like Moses, the prophets, and Jesus Himself. Abraham was not called the father of faith because of his multitude of counselors, but because He obeyed the commands of the One True God.
Malachi 3:16 teaches us, "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name." We have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life when we trust in Christ as Savior, and God also has a book of remembrance. Your name must be in the first book to grace the pages of the second. If your life was to end today, what would be written in the second book? Would it be written that you had faith in God, or you lived according to how others thought you should? Instead of following the dictates of our flesh or the advice of those who seem to live other's lives so easily, let us follow Jesus Christ. We may not be perfect, but we must be obedient to our LORD.
As children of Abraham through faith in Christ, we ought lead lives of obedience and faith in God alone. Abraham had his faults to be sure, but there has not been an Abraham since. Now there is a man that God called and he obeyed God. That does not mean he was perfect. God told Abraham to leave Haran and his father's house and go "unto a land that I will show you" (Gen. 12:1). Abraham left his home, but he allowed his nephew Lot to travel with him (Gen. 12:4). God knew that Abraham wasn't perfect. God was seeking obedience and trust, not perfection. God has the perfection bit covered, and we can receive of His righteousness through faith in Christ.
Abraham later instructed his wife Sarah to lie about being his wife to the Egyptians "that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee" (Gen. 12:11-13). We are gracious to Abraham for this first lie, but bristle at the thought that he later fibbed again with Abimelech, telling him that Sarah was his sister but not his wife! (Gen. 20:2) God does not apologize for Abraham's behavior when He came to Abimelech in a dream and said this in Genesis 20:6-7: "...I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. [7] Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."
Did you catch that? Who would Abimelech have sinned against if he had touched Sarah? Against God. And who was the prophet that God had called out of Haran? Abraham, the father of faith, one who was at times afraid (like us!), and sometimes unsure of what to do or say (like us!), and had the guts to do whatever God told him to do (usually unlike us!), even if it meant leaving home or slaughtering his only son as an offering to God. God told Abraham to take his son Isaac, whom he loved dearly, climb a mountain God would reveal, and offer his son as a burnt offering to God (Gen. 22:2). Put yourself in Abraham's shoes, an unenviable spot. The Father assumed this same role in the sacrifice of His only begotten Son Jesus, but that's another sermon! Can you believe that God had to stop Abraham from actually doing it? Genesis 22:9-10 reads, "Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. [10] And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son." Abraham had made up his mind to obey God: in his mind, the deed was already done. There was no "if" when he picked up the knife. He picked it up to kill his son and planned on burning him to ash. And it took the command of God to keep Abraham from following through.
Oh, to have such faith, to have such utter abandon of self and complete trust in God! Before we judge the men and women of faith in the Bible harshly, know we only invite God to judge us with the same harshness! Abraham would not be deterred from obeying God even if it meant separation, difficulty, pain, loss, or sorrow. Romans 4:3 says, "For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Jesus says in Luke 18:7-8: "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? [8] I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" Don't be too quick to answer in the affirmative. Never ASSUME you have faith. If there is faith on the earth, Christ will find it. The point of Christ's rhetorical question is so people would ask themselves, "Do I have faith?"
I am constantly battling the great advice of well-meaning people concerning my move and ministry in Australia: who I should call, what I should do, where I should go. The trouble is, a lot of what is being suggested by men has never been commanded by God. It's very easy for us to point fingers and shake our heads and shrug shoulders over the Israelites unbelief in the wilderness, or the foibles of David and Peter. But I ask you: how much of what you do every day is strictly because God told you to do it? A good portion of Abraham's life was Abraham doing what God told Him, like Moses, the prophets, and Jesus Himself. Abraham was not called the father of faith because of his multitude of counselors, but because He obeyed the commands of the One True God.
Malachi 3:16 teaches us, "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name." We have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life when we trust in Christ as Savior, and God also has a book of remembrance. Your name must be in the first book to grace the pages of the second. If your life was to end today, what would be written in the second book? Would it be written that you had faith in God, or you lived according to how others thought you should? Instead of following the dictates of our flesh or the advice of those who seem to live other's lives so easily, let us follow Jesus Christ. We may not be perfect, but we must be obedient to our LORD.
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