"Help My Unbelief!" • 2.18.10 • Thursday Night Bible Study
Intro
- Abram is a man who has responded to God's call, following Him out into an unknown location. He has rejected the riches of the world in order to gain the Lord.
- We who have received Christ as Lord have made the same commitment. We are continually rejecting the riches of the world, for the riches that are in Christ.
- That being the case, even for the most robust in faith, there are days when we need affirmation. We believe, but our emotions lag behind our belief. That is where we find Abram.
- He's responded to the Lord, stayed in the land of promise despite a great famine, has let Lot choose the best portion of the land, and has refused great reward from the King of Sodom.
- After all these things, God reaches out to affirm His presence with Abram.
Text
• Genesis 15:1-3 : "After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.' But Abram said, 'Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?' Then Abram said, 'Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!'" : Abram has traveled 600 miles round trip. He is tired and feeling alone and vulnerable.
- We noted last week that God has come to remind Abram that He was His protection and His provision. God would stand guard and protect Abram from possible retribution.
- And for the reward that Abram turned down? It was nothing compared to what He gained in the person of God! God was His and is indeed our exceedingly great reward.
- To this, Abram honestly and openly asks the Lord about his future. He has followed God. He has trusted Him. He had taken in the promise of countless descendants.
- But facts remained: He is getting older and nothing has changed. He is still childless.
- God has just told him that He was Abram's reward. There is nothing that God can give to us that is greater than Himself.
- Abram however is stuck on the descendant! He wants that fulfilled more than anything.
- As we read this, we lie if we do not feel a kinship with Abram. His tone with the Lord is not what we might think. It sounds a bit like a demand. It is not.
- Abram, with a sigh in his heart, speaks out his frustration with what he sees as stagnancy.
- "Nothing has changed! And when I die, all this stuff is going to one of my servants!" According to the Babylonian custom, Eliezer would legally be the heir
- By the end of verse 3, Abram reaches a fever pitch: You have given me no offspring!
- This is not a particularly happy moment that we catch Abram in and faith does not always necessitate that that be the case.
- We need to be careful here. Abram is not whining. He is not losing faith. He is saying, "How long until this comes to pass!?"
- We need to be careful. There is a difference between "Lord I believe, help my unbelief" and "I'll believe if you show me."
- Abram has walked with the Lord, shown his trust. Like all of us, he needs affirmation from the Lord. To a person in that condition, God indeed condescends!
• Genesis 15:4-6 : "And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.' Then He brought him outside and said, 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.' And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." : I can imagine God looking down upon this man. He does not resent the question. He welcomes this dialogue. It's a part of relationship.
- Often people believe that faith in God is only open to people who are willing to check their brains at the door. Walking with God does not necessitate that we blindly walk.
- There are times for questions. For Abram, this was an appropriate time. We know that it's true simply because God answers.
- Eliezer is one of those people that was born in Abram's company. He is a trusted servant.
- God will not have a slave become an heir. He makes it clear that the heir that he intends will come from his own body. It's a son, not a slave, that God intends.
- I remind you that Sarai is barren. She has been barren for years now. God is telling Abram that He was going to bring about the promise and it would be supernatural when it happened!
- God is inviting him to understand that what was going to happen could only be affected by God Himself!
- God wanted to give Abram an illustration and takes him to see the stars. This is out in the middle of nowhere. No streetlights or city lights exist.
- Abram looks up into the sky. The Milky Way galaxy, according to one site I read, contains an estimated 200 billion stars. So you know I had to ask, "How long would it take to count that!?"
- Let's say you counted to 200 in a minute. In 5 minutes you'd get to a thousand. To get to a million, it would take you 83 hours! 83 hours, 3 days and change? Alright, that's a worthy invesment.
- To get to a billion, just one billion out of two hundred billion...let's just skip to the end: It would take you 9.5 THOUSAND years to count to 200 billion! God is showing him an overwhelming picture.
- The stars would represent to Abram, both God's power to bring this promise to pass, as well as the scope of God's intention.
- This is the second picture that God has given to Abram. Back in chapter 13, God said that his descendants would be as the dust of the earth.
- At that time, there was no recorded response. Here, it's recorded that Abram believed in the Lord. The word "believed" could also figuratively be seen as a support.
- To say that Abram believed in the Lord, meant then, that he was leaning entirely upon the Lord to support his proverbial weight.
- This is the first time that the phrase "believed in" is used in the Bible. It's ironic that in this moment Abram became the Father of all those that would believe!
- For Abram, the promise made was a settled issue. It was done now except for the doing.
- Notice that Moses does not record how this took place. Did Abram confess with his lips?
- God revealed to Moses that He discovered belief in the heart of Abram. That response moved God to a reciprocal action.
- God accounted that belief to be the equivalent weight of righteousness with Him.
- What does this mean, except that Abram did not have righteousness within himself. God had to put it into his account and He did when Abram believed.
- When I was in Spain, I made several attempts at learning the Spanish language. One of those attempts included a language tutor. My plan was to ask him to help me read scripture.
- I happened to be teaching this very passage and asked him to help me read it. When he got to this verse, he was puzzled, immediately recognizing the implications.
- I explained the gospel and he like everyone else I witnessed to, did NOT get saved.
- I found it fascinating that it caught his attention like it did. I'm not sure that it's importance can be understated.
- How pivotal is this passage? The New Testament quotes it no less than 4 times. Each time it provides an illustration that dealt directly with the issues at hand.
- Turn over to Romans 4. Paul says that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, apart from works of the law.
• Romans 4:1-4 : "What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt." : Paul uses the word "justified" to describe what we have read. The word means "to declare righteous." This judgment is rendered by God once belief is established.
- Belief is the basis for salvation. It is the root system. For Paul's readers, their belief and trust rested in what they could do for God.
- Their works of righteousness, their ability to keep the law, led them to believe that they were righteous with God.
- Today, people believe that their righteousness comes from their church attendance or their charity. Many believe that they are righteous because of their heritage.
- Sadly, many will be surprised to discover that they wasted their life doing things that God never noticed and certainly would not owe people for.
- Look down a few verses. Paul asserts that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, apart from nationality or ritual.
• Romans 4:9-12 : "Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised." : We'll discover that circumcision is an external ritual given to the Jewish people to demonstrate internal fidelity.
- Over the centuries, the logic became twisted. Circumcision, in the mind of the Jewish person, became the rite of salvific passage.
- Since this was given to the Jewish nation particularly, the pride came on both fronts: I'm circumcised AND I'm Jewish!
- Today, there are people who were baptized as children and whose grandmothers are paradigms of faith. That is nothing to trust in!
- It's been rightly said that God has no grandchildren. You are either a child of God or not!
- Turn over to Galatians 3. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and cannot be added to.
• Galatians 3:2-6 : "This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? - just as Abraham 'believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham." : For the Galatian church, they had begun well. They had trusted in God, but soon fell prey to certain people who had told them that their salvation could not be complete.
- Paul tells us that this salvation is full and complete from the beginning. There is no need to add anything. It is finished. You do not need to join a church or find some pet law to keep.
- Finally, turn over to James 2. James, the first Pastor of the first church in Jerusalem, tells us that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone and is proven by good works.
• James 2:19-24 : "You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." : In the mind of many, there is the usual progression. I am saved by grace through faith alone. So why do I need to change my life!?
- Why should I do anything different than before I was saved? I will tell you that it has nothing to do with you. When you come to Christ and believe in the Lord, His Spirit changes your appetites!
- For Abram, actions that he never would have considered, became a deep part of his story. In the same way, if God does the saving, He'll do the changing!
- What James is saying is simply this: "Belief is the root, but works are the fruit!" Notice those telling words : "The scripture was fulfilled."
- God's decree of righteousness is fulfilled in my life when I have lived righteously! When He has lived His life through me, the proof is in the pudding!
• Genesis 15:7,8 : "Then He said to him, 'I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.' And he said, 'Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it?'" : You'll notice that Abram has just believed in the Lord. He has completely trusted Him and God has declared Him righteous because of it.
- God has seen his belief and reminded him of their history to the present. God has brought Abram out. It was His idea. Now, He will give the land of Canaan to him.
- Abram asks, "How shall I know?" Abram does not have a deed to the land. He does not have a contract. He wants to know that he knows.
- God is willing to give us answers when the question of our belief in Him is settled.
• Genesis 15:9-11 : "So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.' Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away." : Abram has asked for a contract and God agrees. These five animals will later be animals used in the levitical sacrifices that the people of God would readily know about.
- Abram knew what to do with these animals. He killed them and then separated the pieces so that there was a bloody aisle to walk down.
- Like all covenants that God makes, blood is involved. In this case, the covenant stipulated that if you walked down the center aisle, you were essentially saying, "If I do not hold up my end, make me like one of these animals."
- Abram knew that this was the severity of the covenant and he stands waiting for God to walk down with him, but a good deal of time elapsed.
- So much time elapses that vultures began to come down to pick at the rotting flesh. Abram drove them away. He was going to make this covenant with God.
• Genesis 15:12-16 : "Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. Then He said to Abram: 'Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.'" : A whole day has passed and Abram has been waiting. Finally, he fell fast asleep to a terrifying nightmare.
- God gives Abram a preview of what was to befall his descendants. He foretells of their misery, but also speaks of their eventual victory.
- What a thing to hear and read for those first generation Hebrews. God knew all along and He knew what He would do.
- God did judge Pharoah and the land of Egypt and the people of God did come out with great possessions.
- As for Abram, he is told that he will live in the land and die before any of this takes place. He will never live to see God's promise fulfilled, at least not in the full capacity of it.
- What is holding it back? The iniquity of the Amorites. It was not yet complete. The word can be translated "full" meaning the "full and just measurement."
- What was their sin? According to archaelogical evidence, there was rampant sexual perversion, as well as child sacrifice involved in the worship of their false gods.
˚ "...funerary jars have been found containing the remains of young children distorted by suffocation as they struggled for life, after having been buried alive as a sacrifice to Canaanite gods. Such children have been found in the foundations of Canaanite houses...These Amorites were to be judged by their own standard of the expendability of human life, even of their own children.[i]"
- You might ask, "Why didn't God stop them before they became so wicked?" The same reason that governs life today: Choice.
- He will not make me or you or anyone change their course, even though He has done everything to leave the door open for them.
- God saw that the Amorites would one day fill up the bowl of wrath and God would pour it out upon them. Do I like saying that? It grieves me, but it comforts me as well.
- It grieves me that men choose their fate. It comforts me that God is patient and just!
- We never have to fear and wonder if God gave time for repentance.
• Genesis 15:17-20 : "And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.'" Abram is just waking up from this dream. It's dark. The animal pieces are there and he can see them because a smoking oven and a burning torch are passing between them alone.
- A smoking oven and a burning torch. The word for "oven" might also be translated "furnace." The torch could also be thought of as a lamp.
- Smoke and fire. If you were an Israelite, what two symbols would most speak of God's presence to you? The cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
- When they heard these words, they were amazed. Their God had made a covenant based solely on Himself. He would not allow Abram to pass.
- On this same day, God made a unilateral covenant with Abram: This is your land!
Conclusion
- Today, we have the ability to believe in the Lord, to trust thoroughly in Him for our righteousness.
- He calls us to enter in, but reminds us that it's all based on Him. His faithfulness is what allows this covenant to continue.
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