Now let’s continue with the preacher’s examples of faith.
7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of thatcountry from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
What a spread, from Noah to Isaac. And each one was in right standing with God only because of faith. Let us take them in order. Noah was the grandson of Enoch, so he had a prime example of faith to live up to. Notice that the faith of Noah produced obedience in a matter that made the man seem insane to his fellows. According to the book of Genesis, it had never rained on the Earth before Noah was ordered by God to build a floating zoo to save the animals. No one could conceive of water falling from the sky in torrents, and a flood was out of the question. But Noah believed God, not merely believed in Him, but believed in the veracity of what God told him. So Noah built a big box, an ark, and rounded up pairs of animals. For years, he was the laughing stock of his city; until the day it started to rain.
Abraham, formerly known as Abram, was told by God to pack up his household and leave the big, comfortable city on the river, and wander into a different country where he knew no one. The neighbors all thought he slipped a cog or something. No one in their right mind gives up a good life in town to wander around the countryside. But Abraham did, and it proved to be the right mind in the end, because Israel exists today, and Jesus came two thousand years ago, because Abraham put his faith into practice and did what God told him to do. Genesis records many of Abraham’s faults. He was a sinner. But the Bible also says Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him as righteousness.
Isaac and Jacob never saw the conversion of the Promised Land into the homeland of their descendants. Isaac tried to bless the wrong son, but God had Jacob live up to (or down to) his name (Jacob means Cheater in Hebrew) and trick his dad into giving him the heir’s blessing. And Jacob died in Egypt, away from the Land promised to him by God. But Jacob’s faith in God’s promise was so strong, he made his sons swear to bury him in the Land when, not if, God brings them there.
All four of these men took God’s promise of a homeland seriously, and bet their lives and the lives of their offspring on it. They didn’t have a mere mental ascent to the existence of God, they didn’t merely believe in God, they believed God, and acted on that belief with their deeds.
Do you believe in God, or believe God? Do you just give a nod to God’s existence, or do you do what God has told you needs to be done in your life? If your answers are the former in both questions, you need to re-asses your priorities. God’s word is true. When He says something, take it to mean what it says. God won’t wait forever, time is running out. The signs all point to an immanent return of the Messiah. And you don’t want to be left behind, as the popular books all depict.
Ol’ Fuzzy is not employable and was denied for disability benefits. The only thing I have is the blogs. But I don’t qualify for ads on the blogs until there is enough traffic on the blogs to interest advertisers (20,000 hits per month). If you like the scribbles I post, please help me keep it going. You can leave me a gratuity by dropping a buck or two in Ol' Fuzzy's Tip Jar. This is a PayPal account I opened on Wednesday, April 5, 2017.
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