Walking in Faith - Clover Sites



Walking By FaithRomans 4:18-25 (Abraham’s Faith)IntroPutting faith in God can seem like a risky business. It is placing one’s trust in someone that one has not seen with physical eyes. It is not a simple task at times.From the time when we find out that Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy are made up characters and from the time that we find that theory is not fact; believing is difficult. In many cases we have our faith challenged by those who would have us learn to depend on facts rather than hearsay.Faith is a journeyFaith is a journey. It is a trust that the God who has laid down his life for you is there and walking with you. It is our willingness to stand and see the Lord in our lives, not somewhere up in heaven far off, but living in and through our lives.Faith is trusting. Ultimately we have to surrender what we do know in order to know what we don’t. All scientists, all academics, all teachers, all believers have to do that; anyone who wishes to learn anything must believe without seeing. That’s faith!What is Faith? According to Webster’s Dictionary faith is “an unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence.” Though Webster’s Dictionary says we don’t need evidence to have faith, as Christians we do have evidence for our faith. We have the Bible. It has 66 books, 40 authors, written in 3 languages, written over 1,600 year span, history, prophecy, and moral and spiritual teachings.We also have the evidence of the historicity of Jesus Christ; his life death and resurrection; and his teachings.The nearest definition we have in the Bible of what faith is, is found right in Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." But how does faith affect our lives? You get in the car and drive on faith. You don’ know if you’re going to make it to your destination alive or not, but you go. You have faith that the food you buy that is grown by strangers is not harmful, so you eat it. You have faith that the doctors you see are competent. So you put yourself in their hands. If you did not have faith, if you did not trust others you wouldn’t be able to drive, eat, or get help in times of sickness. Your life would be very difficult. You do not have all the knowledge, all the facts and details of everything in life so to some degree you have to exercise faith and trust. That is the reality of life.Faith is an important word in the Bible. Faith is where the Promises and Work of God are made real to believers. We are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)We live by faith (Romans 1:17)We receive righteousness by faith (Romans 4:13We are justified in Christ by faith (Romans 5:1)We have access to God’s grace by faith (Romans 5:2) We stand firm in our belief by faith (2 Corinthians 1:24) We receive the promise of the Spirit by faith (Galatians 3:14) We do God’s work by faith (1 Timothy 1:4) We wait for the return of Christ by faith (Galatians 5:5) Walk by FaithThe word walk in the Bible often symbolizes the way we live, the way we act, and the way we conduct ourselves in a certain way. And it has reference to the fact that life is a journey, life is a pilgrimage and that the Christian is a person who is traveling to another country.And so to walk by faith is to live in the confident expectation of things that are to come. The people of this world are influenced by the things that are seen. They live for wealth, power, and possessions; for material things which this world can give. But the Christian looks beyond this world with a conviction that believes there is a better place. And so to walk by faith requires that we become familiar with the promises that God has given to us. The Bible is filled with promises for believers. Nothing is more encouraging or nurturing to our faith than reading the promises of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the word of God (Romans 10:17).Misunderstanding FaithBelieve me when I tell you that many believers have misunderstood what faith is. To them faith is some kind of power or force. They think if they have enough faith, God will do whatever they ask Him. So when a crisis comes up, they try to move God into action with their faith. When an emergency comes up, or when disaster comes, they try to use faith like a button they push to nudge God into action.And when God does not respond, they become disappointed with God. And they feel like God let them down. And so some believers drift away and stop praying. Some stop reading the Bible. And some even stop going to church. But what some believers do not realize is that you got to have a promise from God to hang your faith on. Faith is confidence that God will do whatever He has promised according to his purpose.Faith of AbrahamIn the Bible Abraham is frequently called “the friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20, Isaiah 41, and James 2). That's a marvelous designation and a divine complement. In fact, several times in the Scripture God is called “the God of Abraham,” as if being the God of Abraham was being something special. More than 12 chapters in Genesis are devoted to the life of this man.In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul talks about Abraham. The writer of Hebrews talks about him. And James talks about him. And all of them use him as an illustration of salvation by grace through faith.Abraham’s BackgroundNow Abraham lived in a city called Ur. Present day Iraq. It was a busy huge city. At best, archaeologists can identify that the city probably had about 300,000 inhabitants. It was a commercial city, a very important city located in Mesopotamia, located in the area of two great rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates.Archaeologists, in dealing with this ancient site, have determined that the people, for the most part, were highly educated, very proficient in math, in astronomy, adept at weaving, and engraving. Also they were advanced in literature - that is they had reduced their language to writing even in the time of Abraham by the twelfth chapter of Genesis. They wrote on clay tablets.They worshiped many gods. They were what we call "Polytheistic," They had many gods, the foremost of which was a god by the name of Nanna, who was the moon god. Now Abraham's father's name was Terah and he was an idolatrous man. So, Abraham was raised in a pagan environment where his family worshiped idols.God came to Abraham in the midst of his pagan environment and he called to him to follow a new path. He said to him, “Abraham, I want you to leave everything. Get out of your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house to a land that I will show you and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless you and curse them that curse you and through you shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).Now what was Abraham’s response? He Just packed up and left ... instantaneous obedience. He responded to the sovereign call of God. By the way, he was about 60 years of age. He made a complete break from his lifestyle, his career – whatever that might have been. He left his possessions, relatives, friends, and his religion.Romans 4:11-25This man then becomes the model of faith. He believes what he can't see. And he dies believing what he's never seen. And you want to know something? That's how it is for a believer. We believe in one whom we have never seen, right? And we believe we're going to a place whose builder and maker is God and to the very moment when we breathe our last breath, we are hoping for eternity that we'll see that place which we have never seen. We believe in a Saviour which we cannot see with our physical eyes, a heaven which we cannot see, and an eternal blessedness which we cannot see. And so, in that sense, we are the children of Abraham. That is, we carry a faith that is like the faith of Abraham. With all of our human imperfections as with his ... we are saved by God through faith. That's Paul's message.Now, just as a way of summarizing what we've said relative to the faith of Abraham, let me boil it down to about 2 things.1/ Abraham put faith in God for a new country. He left the city of Ur and journeyed to Canaan.?2/ Secondly, he put faith in God for a child, even when he and Sarah were barren and old. Let's go to Romans chapter 4 and we are going to read verses 18 to 21. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19?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—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20?Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21?being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Wow! (Exposition on this passage).The object of Abraham’s faith was God, and in particular His promise, that, he, Abraham might be the father of many nations, according to what was spoken by God.Abraham believed in God without becoming weak in faith. To become weak in faith is to allow doubt to cloud and undermine trust, which is trust in God and his promise.Abraham did not waver in unbelief. He did not vacillate between faith and doubt as many believers frequently do. When from the human viewpoint things are going well, it is easy to trust God. But when things seem impossible, it is even easier to distrust Him. ConclusionFaith means you trust God – even when it is difficult sometimes. It means that every day you continue to trust Him and that you continue to walk by faith. Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Faith connects you to God; it is your admission that you are dependent upon Him; that your hope is in Him. It pleases Him, because it is Him you are trusting and no one and nothing else. Faith is vitally important in the life of the Christian. It is by faith that you are saved; you are justified; cleansed, and look forward to the return of Jesus. Faith is where you please God, admit your dependence upon Him, and continually seek to rely upon Him and His grace.Faith Refuses to QuitIn order to walk by faith, you must refuse to quit. You must refuse to quit despite storms, you must refuse to quit despite sorrows, and you must refuse to quit despite adverse situations. Refuse to quit just like Abraham.IllustrationFred and Ina Orr missionaries from Ireland set out to Brazil in 1954…In 2 Cor. 4:8-9, the Apostle Paul say’s, “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” Don’t give up, keep walking by faith! ................
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