1 Corinthians 1:10-25
their knees to idols, false gods. That had to be difficult! Why?Because it is worship with other believers who hold to the truth of God’s Word that helps to sustain us. As the Bible says, “We do not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt.4:4). It’s calling upon the name of the Lord who has saved us in Christ Jesus that lifts us and helps us carry on with our work week after week, month after month, year after year. If I didn’t have fellow believers with whom to join in worshipping my Savior and hearing His goodness for us, I would find it very difficult to continue. It’s comforting and encouraging to know that God keeps us safe in this faith together. That’s a great blessing that we receive, for when we get together to worship, the Bible says we spur one another on and encourage each other, especially since we know that the Last Day is fast approaching (Hb.10:24). We receive God’s blessing in this Christian fellowship. Abram didn’t have that.Yet, what do we find? He didn’t despair. Considering the promises and the blessings God gave him, the difficult became possible as he was strengthened to worship the true God in the midst of unbelievers. He got together his little band, built an altar in the sight of everyone, and called on God’s name. He proclaimed God’s grace so that the heathen, who would perish in sin without Him, might hear and learn of their need for Christ and the forgiveness that comes only through Him who died for our sin and rose again for our hope of life. Abram became a missionary. Receiving God’s blessings, he became a blessing to others.“Receive my blessings, and be a blessing.” In Christ it is that way for us, too. Christians are blessed to be a blessing, not only because they make life in a community more livable as they strive to walk in God’s ways…they are a blessing not only because they teach good citizenship in obeying the government and its representatives whom God has given…they are a blessing not only because they try to have good morals…, but they are a blessing most of all as they proclaim the name of God who saved us in Christ. They are the salt and the light of the world, preserving and pointing the way to the Lord Jesus wherever they go. When you worship the Lord and speak of the cross, you receive blessings to be a blessing, showing others the way to heaven by faith in the Savior.In all these things God Trains Us to Trust Him, and the Difficult Becomes Possible. Leave, believe, and receive in faith. God grant it to us for Jesus’ sake. Amen.The Second Sunday in Lent - Reminiscere March 8, 2020Text: Genesis 12:1-8 3 Year Series C 20:2179Theme: Trained to Trust God, And the Difficult Becomes PossibleI. Leave. I will go with you.“Leave it all behind you.” How hard to do is that? Sometimes God asks His people to do most difficult things. It was not easy for Abram to leave his home, his friends, and those close to him. He had no idea where he was going. Only God knew. What would you do if God told you to walk away and leave it all behind? It would be like saying, “Leave the people and the things you know and love most. Leave your house, your land, and all for which you worked so hard. Leave the past and your memories behind and go to a future you don’t know. I will show you after you get there.” That would be most difficult. When you leave and go somewhere else, everybody there is a stranger. They talk differently; they dress differently; they do things differently; they eat different foods. It’s different from the things that were familiar to you. The result can be a longing to return home, to the place and ways you knew and loved. We call that homesick. But often it’s not easy or even possible to return.Abram grew up in Ur of the Chaldees, modern-day Iraq, near Kuwait. Then he moved 700 miles northward to a place called Haran. There his father died. At God’s command, Abram moved his family another 500 miles southward to Canaan, over 1200 miles on foot. That’s like walking to California. It was life changing, going to a place of God’s making, not his. But, when God told Abram to do the difficult, God didn’t leave Abram on his own. God made it possible saying: “Go to the land that I will show you.” If God is “showing him the land” that is like saying I am going with you. How encouraging and comforting is that? Doesn’t that remind you of Jesus’ promise to those who believe in Him: “I am with you always, to the end of the world” (Mt.28:20).There are times you may have to leave your home and establish a new one. There are times when God indicates in your life that you must do a difficult thing, one with which you are not familiar. There are times when He simply indicates leave, for whatever purpose He has in mind for you. If it should happen to you, realize that He is training you to trust Him. And the difficult becomes possible when He says, I will go with you. Indeed, He must go with you for He promises His people: “‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So, we (can) say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid’” (Heb.13:6)How did this affect Abram? The Bible says, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go to a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance, and he left without knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as a stranger in the Promised Land, as if it did not belong to him, dwelling in tents along with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb.11:8-10).When God asked him to do this difficult thing, Abram had more in mind than moving to a new spot on earth. He followed wherever God took him because Abram looked forward to an even better home than could be found here - heaven. Any place he went on earth was just temporary. Someday, for Jesus’ sake, God would take him to his eternal home above, to be at rest with the Lord. It seems impossible, to live forever in God’s perfect dwelling when we are anything but perfect. But God has made the impossible possible through Jesus and our trust in Him as Savior.But for now, He shows us the way to go here just one step at a time. For this is the way that God deals with all His children as He trains us to trust Him. And the difficult becomes possible when He says, “Leave, but I will go with you.” II. Believe. I promise you.The key is trust or what we call faith; just as it was with Abram. Such faith is not dependent upon you; it’s dependent upon the thing you trust. For example, when I leave Zion to get to Peace, I trust that my car and God will get me there safely. Such faith is not dependent upon me but upon the things in which I trust. It was similar with Abram. His faith was dependent not on himself but upon God’s promises. There were 7 of them. God said:I will make you into a great nation;I will bless you;I will make your name great;You will be a blessing;I will bless those who bless you;I will curse those who curse you; andAll peoples on earth will be blessed through you.All of these came true. Abram did well in life. Abram had many descendants. Abram is famous, people are named after him. Around him people prospered. If people turned on him, they had difficult times, for God protected him. And the greatest promise of all, from Abram’s line came Jesus, the Savior. God promised to uphold him. But you know, during all the years that Abram and Sarai lived, God had to train them to trust Him. At the beginning there was little evidence that the promises would come true. They never owned any land except their cemetery plot. They had trouble with all kinds of people. They didn’t have a son, and that was the most critical thing of all. How could there be a Savior if they had no children to carry on the promise? Although there was reason for doubt, Abram believed God because God is faithful; He cannot lie.“Believe me.” God tells us too. “I promise you.” Sometimes it’s difficult. So often we don’t see the promises fulfilled immediately, just like Abram didn’t. It took 25 years before his son, Isaac, was born. Twenty-five years! That’s a long time to wait. Sometimes we must wait a long time, too, for God trains us to trust in Him and His promises, not ourselves. But God promises and delivers without any help from us because He is merciful, kind, good, faithful, and love moves Him to act in our best interests. It’s not a matter of reward, but of grace through faith. Like Paul wrote in the Epistle Lesson today: “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? ....‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’”(Ro.4:1f). God makes the difficult possible for He is gracious. It is grace that trains us to trust Him. “Believe.” He says. “I promise you.” III. Receive my blessings, and be a blessing.So, what happened? Abram left Haran. He took his little band with him. They arrived in Canaan, traveling through the length of the land towards the south to a place called Shechem. There God appeared to him and said: “I will give this land to your descendants.” From there they went further south and east where they settled, built an altar, and worshipped God.Do you know what’s different about that? When I go somewhere, I can almost always find one of our churches and fellow believers with whom I can worship, even in China! When Abram traveled through the land of Canaan, he didn’t find fellow believers. There were only Canaanites in the land, and they bent ................
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