Believe The Promise
Abraham’s Lessons in Faith
Pastor Fred Calkins
Midland SDA Church
March 6, 2021
Abraham is the main character of Genesis!
He is introduced in chapter 11
And passes away in chapter 25
15 of 50 chapters
His grandson, Jacob/Israel, with his sons gets as much.
When God says “Go” – I am on my way.
“Jump” – No need to ask how high.
Faith acts – Galatians 3:6-9
Slow obedience is disobedience.
There is never a need to ask “Why” when God calls.
Lesson: Trust His wisdom!
Such a call always includes sacrifice!
With Abraham, his father, Terah, answered the call.
Abraham’s worship seems to have been pure;
His father & brother’s, not so much.
Thus, God called Abraham away even from his brother.
Lot, Haran’s son, chose to attend Abraham.
A good choice, but, it got messy.
Abraham was able to rescue him from his first crisis
4 Kings took 5 Kings captive – Genesis 14:9
Notice Abraham’s response to his win. . .
To the victor belong the spoils.
But, Abraham refused them – except!
Tithe and offerings! Genesis 14:18-24
Tithing and gifting his allies, acknowledged ownership.
Refusing more proves generosity and trust in God.
Lesson: Trust God to supply your need.
Be generous with your possessions.
For Lot’s second crisis: – it took angels.
Although Abraham tried to intercede. Gen 18:20-33
Then Lot’s daughters revealed how much
the sins of Sodom had infected them.
Lesson: it is not safe even to observe sin – it pollutes!
Lot’s descendants had a synchronous worship.
Abraham, God’s friend, made several mistakes,
Most notably; calling Sarah his sister!
But he seems to keep falling forward
That is, he tries to help God out
Note: He does not turn from God.
Even in the sin with Hagar
(we will look at that more in Sarah’s story)
the story line indicates he is trying to solve
an (humanly) impossible situation.
With 20-20 hindsight, we see he did not trust God fully;
but, from human perspective,
it looked like it would help.
Lesson: take God at His word.
Wait for Him to resolve apparent difficulties.
“With God, all things are possible.” Lu 2:37; Jer. 32:17
When Isaac was a teenager,
Abraham needed to demonstrate his trust in God.
Hebrews 11:nb 19
This was his hardest test.
A much harder test than Adam’s
Simply, take God at His word!
1. Isaac is the progenitor of Offspring.
2. You are to sacrifice him on Mount Moriah
We will deal with that from Isaac’s perspective.
But, remember – Abraham acted in faith.
See Genesis 22:5-8 Jesus is the Lamb!
This lesson impacts both humans and angels,
Proving the love of God for sinners.
After Sarah died, Abraham recognized
his responsibility to provide a wife for Isaac at 40
(more of Isaac’s story).
Here we again see Abraham putting trust in God fully.
Even Keturah’s children
were cared for in a way to
preserve the promised bloodline. Genesis 25:6
Summary Lesson:
Abraham’s travels were marked with
Altars where God was worshiped.
He left behind people who served God.
Abraham went forth not only to preserve faithfulness
but to promote and spread it among the heathen.
God always needs missionaries.
Each of us is called to mission!
Each Christian is a soul-winner.