Abraham – Father of Faith

1. Abraham – Father of Faith Part 4 – God Makes a Covenant With Abraham

2. Abram Believes God Genesis 15:1-6 MKJVAfter these things the Word of Jehovah came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. (2) And Abram said, Lord God, what will You give me, since I am going childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? (3) And Abram said, Behold, You have given no seed to me. And behold, one born in my house is my heir. (4) And behold, the Word of Jehovah came to him saying, This one shall not be your heir. But he that shall come forth out of your own body shall be your heir. (5) And He brought him outside and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And He said to him, So shall your seed be. (6) And he believed in Jehovah. And He counted it to him for righteousness.

3. Abram’s Problem • Abram had just fought a major battle and possibly felt vulnerable and unrewarded. • Abram had no natural heir to his large estate. • Asks God “What will You give me?”

4. God’s Solution • God promised Abram a child from his own body, a natural heir. • God gave Abram a visual picture of what the solution would look like – the stars • God gave Abram a clear promise of a great future.

5. Abram’s Faith • Abram believed God for an “impossible” outcome. • Abram thought it was “more impossible” that God would lie. • Abram believed that God is always truthful

6. Unwavering Faith Romans 4:16-22 MKJV …but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (17) (as it has been written, "I have made you a father of many nations") --before God, whom he believed, who makes the dead live, and calls the things which do not exist as though they do exist. (18) For he who beyond hope believed on hope for him to become the father of many nations (according to that which was spoken, "So your seed shall be"). (19) And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead (being about a hundred years old) or the deadening of Sarah's womb. (20) He did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, (21) and being fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was also able to perform. (22) And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

7. Solution-Focused Faith • God shows us a positive and blessed solution to our problem • God asks us to focus on His solution, not on our problem • This solution often appears to be “impossible” • When we trust God for this solution God is happy with us and blesses us.

8. Examples of SF-Faith • Joshua and the walls of Jericho • The feeding of the five thousand • Moses at the Red Sea • The raising of Lazarus • Jesus & Peter walking on water • Jesus turning water into wine

9. Our Part • To trust God • To maintain focus on the solution (not on the problem) • To put away anxiety • To put away doubt • To wait in hope • To be positive solution-focused believers

10. The Two Reasons Why It Works • Focusing on the faith-solution connects us to God (who is light and love and always positive) and allows His mighty power to work in us and through us. • Focusing on the faith-solution pleases God and causes Him to bless us and to answer our prayers.

11. God Power Not Mind Power • Your mind has no power in and of itself alone. • Your mind is only able to help you connect to and focus on various spiritual sources e.g. God, the Devil, spirits, the world, your own lusts etc. • Each of these spiritual sources has some power to bless you or to destroy you. • Romans 8:5-6 ISV For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. (6) To set our minds on the flesh leads to death, but to set our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace.

12. You Are NOT God! • You are NOT God, and you, on your own, cannot achieve the impossible. • But you can connect to God, who created the Heavens and the Earth. • Faith enables you to connect to the power of God and to achieve the impossible. • It is not your power, but God’s power working in you, through you, and on your behalf. • Mark 9:23 HCSB Then Jesus said to him, "'If You can?' Everything is possible to the one who believes."

13. Faith & Calling • Faith allows you to accomplish the impossible things that God has called you to accomplish for His glory. • God sets us challenges for our faith to rise to. • He is very pleased when we meet these challenges • He is very disappointed when we fail to believe in Him. • God works with us to increase our faith.

14. The Covenant of Pieces Genesis 15:7-12 MKJVAnd He said to him, I am Jehovah that brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it. (8) And he said, Lord God, by what shall I know that I shall inherit it? (9) And He said to him, Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. (10) And he took all these to himself, and divided them in the middle, and laid each piece against one another; but he did not divide the birds. (11) And when the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. (12) And it happened as the sun was setting, and a deep sleep fell upon Abram. And, behold, a horror of great darkness fell upon him!

15. Transcendence • God is not tame, but He is good! • God comes to Abram in a blood-soaked covenant and a “horror of great darkness” • There is a mystical side to faith • God made a long-term relationship of spiritual blessing with Abram. • God is totally in control • God always takes the initiative

16. The Prophecy Genesis 15:13-17 MKJVAnd He said to Abram, You must surely know that your seed shall be a stranger in a land not theirs, and shall serve them. And they shall afflict them four hundred years. (14) And also I will judge that nation whom they shall serve. And afterward they shall come out with great substance. (15) And you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried in a good old age. (16) But in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (17) And it happened, the sun went down, and it was dark and behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp passed between those pieces.

17. The Future • The only guarantee we have of the future is God’s Word • No one except God can control or promise the future with any certainty • Abram was told the future of himself and his family for hundreds of years • Abram had zero control over this - it was God’s decision and God’s promise • God’s promised future was not ‘all roses” but contained a promise of a good ending.

18. The Land Genesis 15:18-21 MKJVIn the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, (19) the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, (20) and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the giants, (21) and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

19. The Promised Land

20. The Promise & The Problem • This land is now under the control of Abram’s descendants – mainly via Ishmael! • The battle is between the line of descent under Isaac and the line of descent under Ishmael • Israel’s unbelief has lead to the promise being (temporarily) usurped • Unbelief creates BIG problems.