WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.000 Amen. 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Thank you, Colin. 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:10.560 So our text, of course, is what we've just read from Genesis 23 and from Genesis 25. 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:13.359 Now we're halfway through the first book of the Bible. 00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:16.839 There's 50 chapters in Genesis and we're in the 25th chapter. 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:23.280 And out of those 25 chapters, half of that has been about one man, Abraham. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:29.140 So for the last six weeks or so, we have been studying the life of Abraham and he's a massively 00:00:29.140 --> 00:00:30.679 important figure in the Bible. 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:35.480 And I hope in the last weeks you've been able to see a little bit of why. 00:00:35.480 --> 00:00:38.520 Abraham was larger than life. 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:40.799 Now as you can tell, I'm not from here. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:46.439 So I'm not as familiar with Scotland's larger than life figures as you might be. 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:51.439 But names like Mary Stewart or Sir Walter Scott might come to mind to me. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:55.480 But in the States, we think of people like Abraham Lincoln. 00:00:55.479 --> 00:01:00.319 And Abraham Lincoln just walks tall across the history pages and then kind of the cultural 00:01:00.319 --> 00:01:03.039 imagination of Americans. 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:11.920 He's this tall, quasi-mythical, top hat wearing poetry, pearl of wisdom, espousing legend. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.599 He is this massively larger than life figure. 00:01:14.599 --> 00:01:18.959 And Abraham is something like that, but more. 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:22.099 Abraham, life didn't happen to him. 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:25.359 He happened to life, in a sense. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:27.239 He kind of grabbed life by the reins. 00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:28.640 He's a massive figure. 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:30.680 It's kind of the stuff of legend. 00:01:30.680 --> 00:01:34.920 If you think about it, you know, the beginning of his story, you meet this man who's off 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:39.640 in Ur of the Caldees and he's kind of a nobody in the story of the Bible. 00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:45.599 You don't know really anything about him other than his family line a little bit. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:50.840 And this strange God who he doesn't know calls him to leave everything, to set aside all of 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:56.719 this social privilege and status and leave his family and everything familiar to him 00:01:56.719 --> 00:01:58.719 and go to this new land. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:03.320 Now this new land is an occupied land, but it doesn't bother Abraham. 00:02:03.320 --> 00:02:08.840 Abraham is just convinced at the promise of this God that he's actually going to own 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:11.120 all of this land. 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:15.560 You know, when you think of the story like that, you kind of get that sense of larger 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:17.060 than life-ness. 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:19.759 He had a son when he was a hundred years old. 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:20.759 He was a warrior. 00:02:20.759 --> 00:02:25.439 If you look at the story of how he rescued his nephew Lot, he was a warrior, kind of 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:27.840 chieftain of people. 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:34.639 He grew wealthy, he grew powerful, he was respected, and he died at a very ripe old age. 00:02:34.639 --> 00:02:37.079 It's really quite a story. 00:02:37.079 --> 00:02:43.479 And you know, the ancient Hebrew way of telling stories is a lot different from our modern 00:02:43.479 --> 00:02:45.319 way of telling stories. 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:49.639 So the stories in our Old Testament, they're famously sparse. 00:02:49.639 --> 00:02:52.439 They lack a lot of detail. 00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:57.679 So for instance, we don't know what Abraham looked like, what he tended to wear, what 00:02:57.679 --> 00:03:01.839 his favorite color was, what he named his favorite camel and who his closest friend 00:03:01.839 --> 00:03:02.839 was. 00:03:02.839 --> 00:03:09.239 It doesn't give the sort of detail that modern novels or history books or any kind of literature 00:03:09.239 --> 00:03:11.319 tend to give. 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:20.639 So when the Old Testament does give a lot of detail, that's kind of our clue to listen 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.959 up because what's coming is really important. 00:03:23.959 --> 00:03:28.439 And Hebrew storytelling gives you just the right amount of information that you need 00:03:28.439 --> 00:03:29.799 to know. 00:03:29.799 --> 00:03:36.400 So if we're going to increase in our enjoyment of reading the Old Testament, because you 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:40.519 can enjoy reading the Old Testament, if you're going to increase in the enjoyment, we have 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:43.360 to think about its limitations. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:49.400 So what I mean by that is every form of art that we enjoy has certain limitations put 00:03:49.400 --> 00:03:52.879 around it, certain boundaries. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:57.920 I was talking with a friend recently who said, we were talking about film, and he said, think 00:03:57.920 --> 00:04:03.240 about what a movie can do to you in 90 minutes. 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:09.000 Within the limitation of time, just having about 90 minutes or so, a film can take you 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:13.960 on a remarkable kind of emotional or mental roller coaster ride. 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:19.600 So as you begin to notice that about movies, you can begin to appreciate how movies are 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:24.279 paced and how the story is told in those limits. 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:29.160 If you're a poetry aficionado, you're familiar with the haiku. 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:34.759 The haiku is a very old style of poetry that is limited to just three lines with a set 00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:36.480 number of syllables in each line. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:38.120 It's very short. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:43.319 And the pleasure of enjoying a haiku comes from saying something really profound in a 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:46.360 really small space. 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:50.480 The Old Testament's limitation is detail. 00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:53.920 So it gives you just what you need. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:05:00.360 When we come to a story like this in Genesis 23 and also in Genesis 25, the two bits that 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:06.399 Colin read for us earlier, when you come to a story like that that zooms in on some really 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:11.239 seemingly disconnected details, that's our clue as good readers of the Bible to stop 00:05:11.239 --> 00:05:15.679 and think and ponder what's going on here because this is where the storytelling actually, 00:05:15.679 --> 00:05:19.439 in a lot of ways, gets good. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:25.120 So I mention all this about detail and limitations because understanding the limitations of a 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:29.439 form of art helps you to enjoy that form of art. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:32.919 And like I said, you really can enjoy reading the Old Testament. 00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:38.439 And maybe you do now, but we can all kind of take that next step in growing to appreciate 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:42.960 the book that God has given us to know him through. 00:05:42.960 --> 00:05:48.879 So the Old Testament is for our enjoyment, but it's also for our instruction. 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:54.960 And I don't mean the sort of instruction of what to do next or what not to do primarily. 00:05:54.960 --> 00:05:59.040 What I mean is that the Bible is for our instruction in the sense of three main things. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:04.520 One, who is God? and two, who are you? who are we? 00:06:04.520 --> 00:06:08.680 And three, who is God for us? 00:06:08.680 --> 00:06:13.160 And that's actually the point of this text, that's the point of every text in the Bible. 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:19.879 And so that's the point of the sermon as well, is who is God for us? 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:22.320 And how do we learn that out of this story? 00:06:22.320 --> 00:06:26.340 And then what difference does that make to us today? 00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:28.759 So to get there, four points. 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:33.959 So the first point is this, faith is active. 00:06:33.959 --> 00:06:39.679 So Abraham's life is marked by two great promises from God. 00:06:39.679 --> 00:06:45.359 Not just two promises, Abraham receives several promises from God, but the end of his life 00:06:45.359 --> 00:06:49.559 in this story deals with primarily two. 00:06:49.559 --> 00:06:55.719 So the first promise from God to Abraham is that God would give him and his descendants 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.400 this vast land, the land of Canaan. 00:06:58.400 --> 00:07:03.520 He would give it all to them as an everlasting possession. 00:07:03.520 --> 00:07:07.240 The second promise that the text deals with here is that God promised Abraham that his 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:13.360 offspring, the child of promise that he had with Sarah, would, as the apostle Paul says 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:19.200 in Romans, he says, inherit the world. 00:07:19.200 --> 00:07:24.800 So this child, Isaac, would partake of God's eternal covenant and would have God's special 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:26.720 blessing. 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:29.079 So those are the two promises. 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:34.520 Now Genesis 23 deals with the first promise of possessing the land of Canaan. 00:07:34.520 --> 00:07:37.319 It's in conversation with that promise. 00:07:37.319 --> 00:07:43.199 So here, near the end of Abraham's life, he's still a sojourner and an alien. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.600 He says that to the Hittites in our text. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:47.960 He says, I'm just a stranger here. 00:07:47.960 --> 00:07:51.199 I'm just kind of passing through in a sense. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:57.120 He doesn't own one meter of land that God had promised him. 00:07:57.120 --> 00:08:02.479 Now Genesis 25, the first bit that Colin read for us, deals with the second promise that 00:08:02.479 --> 00:08:06.599 Isaac would inherit the world and have God's blessing. 00:08:06.599 --> 00:08:11.079 So in the midst of all these other children that we find out Abraham had, how can he be 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:16.639 sure that God would give his special blessing to Isaac? 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:24.039 But in both cases, we see Abraham putting his faith into action. 00:08:24.039 --> 00:08:27.360 Both of these promises are anchored in Genesis 17. 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.479 They're alluded to a lot, but they come together beautifully in Genesis 17. 00:08:31.479 --> 00:08:35.720 So let's read verses seven and eight now. 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:41.559 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout 00:08:41.559 --> 00:08:46.200 their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and to your offspring after 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:47.440 you. 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:51.720 And I will give to you until your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all 00:08:51.720 --> 00:09:01.080 the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:07.140 So in Genesis 23, Abraham remembers God's promise about the land. 00:09:07.140 --> 00:09:13.080 And he goes and when his wife Sarah dies, he buys a piece of that land. 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:15.960 Now this is the first installment of God's promise. 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:22.400 We should actually, as careful readers, we should stop here and go, whoa, this is monumental. 00:09:22.400 --> 00:09:29.320 Abraham finally owns just a piece of the land that God promised he would one day give him. 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:31.040 It's huge. 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:38.160 So the text goes into a lot of detail about negotiations over this piece of land. 00:09:38.160 --> 00:09:42.320 And it's actually really important and I find it really fascinating as to why the text does 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:43.320 that. 00:09:43.320 --> 00:09:47.320 We're just going to look at that real quick if you turn in your Bibles to Genesis 23. 00:09:47.320 --> 00:09:50.560 It might help you follow along. 00:09:50.560 --> 00:09:56.400 So you can break it up into three kind of movements of negotiations. 00:09:56.400 --> 00:10:00.600 So Abraham goes, he rises up from before his dead and he goes to the Hittites kind of sitting 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:06.640 in the gate, which is where legal proceedings would happen in any ancient city. 00:10:06.640 --> 00:10:09.560 And he goes there and he says, you know, I want to bury my dead. 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:15.399 And they say, sure, here, have this temporary tomb, no problem. 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:17.399 But Abraham says, no, no, that won't do. 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:19.559 I don't want a temporary tomb. 00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:23.199 I want a burial ground that's mine. 00:10:23.199 --> 00:10:24.199 That's the first movement. 00:10:24.199 --> 00:10:29.279 The second movement, he says, you know, Abraham says, I want Ephron's cave. 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:32.000 And the, well, he doesn't say the field, but he wants Ephron's cave. 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.559 And so Ephron comes. 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:37.919 So in the second movement, Ephron says, yeah, sure, I'll give you, I'll give you this piece 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:41.439 of land, you can have it for free. 00:10:41.439 --> 00:10:43.639 But Abraham says, no, that won't do. 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:48.399 Because he's savvy and Abraham knows that as soon as he dies, that land would be contested 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:52.120 again and would go right back to Ephron's estate. 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:53.679 So that won't do either. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:59.279 So in the third movement of negotiations, Abraham finally convinces Ephron to sell it 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:01.079 to him. 00:11:01.079 --> 00:11:03.839 He buys the land in front of witnesses. 00:11:03.839 --> 00:11:06.199 It's a legal transaction. 00:11:06.199 --> 00:11:07.199 Why? 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:12.200 Because Abraham believed God. 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:15.560 When God said, I'm going to give you this land, he didn't say for a minute, he said, 00:11:15.560 --> 00:11:21.600 for an everlasting possession, forever, in perpetuity. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:27.440 So Abraham needed to purchase the land in such a way that he knew his descendants would 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:28.440 have it. 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:33.520 And sure enough, actually, pretty much all the forefathers of our faith were buried in 00:11:33.520 --> 00:11:35.080 this cave. 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:42.920 In Joseph, this is at the end of Genesis, when Joseph, the great-grandchild of Abraham, 00:11:42.920 --> 00:11:47.800 when they're in Egypt and Jacob dies, they bring Jacob back and bury him right here 00:11:47.800 --> 00:11:49.200 in this cave. 00:11:49.200 --> 00:11:52.120 It's a very significant place. 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:57.040 So Abraham actually put his faith in God into action in the very way that he bought this 00:11:57.040 --> 00:11:59.800 piece of land. 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:09.399 He literally staked the claim on God and his faithfulness, on the promises of God. 00:12:09.399 --> 00:12:15.679 The promised land actually plays a significant role in the rest of the Bible. 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:20.279 And let me just go briefly over how that concept develops. 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:26.240 So from this point, you might think, so Abraham bought the land and maybe bought more land 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:30.480 and they multiplied and were fruitful and then they possessed the land. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:33.039 But that's not how the story goes. 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:38.320 Actually within just a couple generations, all of Abraham's descendants move, all of 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:42.639 them move to Egypt out of the promised land. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.879 And they go there on good terms and they're well provided for and they're happy, but 00:12:46.879 --> 00:12:50.320 within the next 400 years, they're slaves and they're stuck there. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:54.320 They've grown into this great nation, but they're enslaved in Egypt away from the 00:12:54.320 --> 00:12:56.879 promised land. 00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:00.360 So of course, this is the book of Exodus that you read this. 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:05.800 Then the Exodus is God's great act of freeing his people from slavery and taking them from 00:13:05.800 --> 00:13:09.240 Egypt back to the promised land. 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:11.120 The promised land is the destination. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:16.260 It's the two next to Egypt's from, if that makes sense. 00:13:16.260 --> 00:13:21.680 So once they get to the promised land, this is Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, once they're 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:24.879 in the promised land, they find it occupied. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:30.319 And now in the books of Joshua and Judges, especially, you find they have to conquer 00:13:30.319 --> 00:13:31.519 the land. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:37.439 They have to go in and rid it of its enemy inhabitants and settle there. 00:13:37.439 --> 00:13:42.679 But instead of conquering, they compromise and they begin to look more like the pagans 00:13:42.679 --> 00:13:47.839 who are living there than like the special family of God. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:53.200 And over many centuries, God waits and God is patient and God leads and God sends a king, 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.000 God sends David, God sends other good kings, only a couple. 00:13:57.000 --> 00:14:01.519 He sends prophets to warn them and they don't listen and they get worse and worse and they 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:06.080 abuse and take advantage of God and the promised land that they're living in. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:11.519 And God says enough and he sends them into exile. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:14.120 You can read about that and especially the prophets. 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:20.639 Ezekiel warned a lot about that, Jeremiah, the exile they're removed from the promised 00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:21.639 land. 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:25.560 I hope you can see what a major character in a sense, the promised land is in the entire 00:14:25.560 --> 00:14:27.919 story of the Bible. 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:31.399 They went from Egypt under the hard, harsh labor and toil. 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:33.360 They went to find rest. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:38.360 That's what they were promised was of rest and they didn't find it because of their sin. 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:39.840 God removed them in exile. 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:46.480 Now 70 years later, God brought them back, but not all the way, not all of them. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:53.800 Just some of them came back and they wept because it wasn't like it used to be and they didn't 00:14:53.800 --> 00:14:56.840 find their rest. 00:14:56.840 --> 00:15:00.519 Now fast forward several more centuries to the New Testament. 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:07.160 You meet Jesus and the promised land is a Roman occupied territory and the people of 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:12.360 God are basically just renters on this land at this point. 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:16.799 Now the book of Hebrews great contribution or one of its wonderful contributions to our 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:25.159 Bible is that it follows this thread all the way through and it shows us that Jesus is 00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:28.519 the rest that we've been looking for. 00:15:28.519 --> 00:15:35.679 And if we want the promised land, what we actually want is Jesus himself. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.959 The final rest, our eternal rest is in Christ. 00:15:38.959 --> 00:15:44.399 Again the book of Hebrews is a great place to go if you want to read more about that. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.519 Okay, that's the promised land. 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:53.039 Now Genesis 25 deals with the promise of blessing for Isaac. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.199 So why does Genesis 25? 00:15:55.199 --> 00:15:59.319 Remember it starts by saying now Abraham had another wife whose name was Ketara and then 00:15:59.319 --> 00:16:03.959 it lists out all of their sons and their grandchildren. 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:06.600 Why all of that detail now? 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:07.920 Why there? 00:16:07.920 --> 00:16:12.879 Why is that important for us to know? 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:21.440 He goes into all this detail to focus our attention in on chapter 25 verse 5 which says Abraham 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:27.680 gave all he had to Isaac. 00:16:27.680 --> 00:16:32.960 Abraham demonstrates faith in the promise of God regarding his son by, you know, in the 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:37.600 face of all the other sons that could have had a claim to his inheritance. 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:43.040 Remember back in Genesis 16 I think Abraham said to God, oh that Ishmael might live before 00:16:43.040 --> 00:16:44.280 you. 00:16:44.280 --> 00:16:50.320 You know, oh that my son that I had in my way with Hagar instead of waiting on the Lord 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:51.519 to have a son with Sarah. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:55.639 Oh that he might be the one of your special blessing. 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:57.600 Abraham doesn't do that now. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:04.319 He's faithful, he puts his faith into action and gives his inheritance to Isaac and God 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:09.680 blesses that and God blesses Isaac in this chapter. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:16.039 So Abraham is staking his future line, he's staking everything on God's promise and you 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:21.759 know from the story about his death we have a lot to learn about how to live as people 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:24.079 of faith. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:34.079 So Abraham looked at the promise of God and he lived like God was real. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:35.919 That's what faith is. 00:17:35.919 --> 00:17:40.559 Faith is living like God is real. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:46.759 Now you know it wasn't easy for Abraham, it's easy to read this text and say, you know, 00:17:46.759 --> 00:17:51.079 it's a bit mundane and it kind of makes sense like someone dies, you want to bury them, 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:53.119 you got to give an inheritance to somebody. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:18:00.039 But remember, so when Abraham was given the land of promise, when he was promised this 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:07.599 land, the first thing he did was famine struck and he ran off to Egypt. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:11.439 He didn't stay in the land, he didn't go where God said, that's where I want you. 00:18:11.439 --> 00:18:15.679 He went to Egypt and said, I'll be provided for over there. 00:18:15.679 --> 00:18:20.079 He followed his fear, he put fear into action, not faith. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:24.720 And when God promised the sun through Sarah, Sarah and Abraham schemed for him to sleep 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:30.879 with Hagar, Sarah's servant, and try to get an offspring and heir through their own way 00:18:30.879 --> 00:18:32.439 instead of God's way. 00:18:32.439 --> 00:18:39.720 He put fear and doubt into action, not faith. 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:46.480 So his gut reaction is fear, not faith to the promises of God. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:52.400 So at the end of his life, when he purchases the land instead of not, instead of just saying, 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.319 well, God must have forgotten about that promise. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:19:02.079 When he stakes a claim on the promise of God, we see that his faith has matured. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:07.240 And when he gives everything to Isaac, we see that Abraham's faith has grown. 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:13.559 God was very patient with Abraham and God is very patient with us. 00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:17.599 Our faith will grow and be tested and tried. 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:19.519 And God will be patient. 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:25.399 Look how, if you read the letter to the Romans that Paul wrote in the New Testament, he talks 00:19:25.399 --> 00:19:32.279 about Abraham and he said, Abraham never wavered in his faith. 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:35.279 That's how patient God is with us. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:43.440 That's how much even small faith is strong because of the steadiness of its object. 00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:50.519 So God is patient with us, but it's important for us to put our faith into action and not 00:19:50.519 --> 00:19:55.000 our fear into action. 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.480 Now faith always has an object. 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:00.920 It's like, it's a verb that needs an object in a sense. 00:20:00.920 --> 00:20:07.680 And on this side of the cross, we understand that the object of Abraham's faith was Jesus. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:13.200 Of course, Abraham didn't know Jesus' name and he didn't know all of the details. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:17.200 But what he did know, he put all of his weight down on and he leaned on it. 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:23.200 So when Abraham believed in the promised land, he was looking forward ultimately to the rest 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:26.640 that we have in Jesus. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:31.000 And when Abraham believed God's promise about his son, he was looking forward ultimately 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:37.680 to the Son of God, the Savior of the world, who would bless the world and deal with the 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:42.680 sin that caused all this mess in the first place. 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:48.759 All of the promises of God find their yes in Jesus. 00:20:48.759 --> 00:20:53.240 So Abraham's faith was ultimately in Christ. 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:57.560 And when we look back at the cross, you know, he's looking forward to what God will do in 00:20:57.560 --> 00:20:58.560 the future. 00:20:58.560 --> 00:21:05.120 We have the advantage of looking back to what God has done in history, time and space, with 00:21:05.120 --> 00:21:08.960 his feet in the dusty Middle Eastern soil. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:12.960 Jesus lived and died for you. 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:14.960 That's something that you can put your feet down on. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:21.079 We don't have just the shadow, we have the reality, we have the substance in Christ. 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:27.720 So by looking at Jesus, the certainty we have of his death and resurrection, we can actually 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:29.240 put our faith into action. 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:33.799 In fact, I'll say that the other way around, you cannot put your faith into action without 00:21:33.799 --> 00:21:38.360 looking to Jesus. 00:21:38.359 --> 00:21:39.719 So that's the first point. 00:21:39.719 --> 00:21:42.240 It's the longest point, don't worry. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:50.199 Point number two, faith is living like Jesus is real, even when it feels like he's not. 00:21:50.199 --> 00:21:53.759 So let's think back to our chapters for a moment. 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:59.599 In Genesis 23, you might have noticed that God is not mentioned. 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:01.159 He's not in the story. 00:22:01.159 --> 00:22:04.000 He's not really a character that we're aware of. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:06.000 It's kind of like the book of Esther. 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:09.559 That seems absent, and that's weird because in the story of Abraham, God keeps showing 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:11.519 up very literally. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:15.480 He shows up at Abraham's tent one day with a couple of angels and he sits down and has 00:22:15.480 --> 00:22:16.779 a meal. 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:19.319 He shows up in dreams and visions. 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:20.759 He's talking to Abraham. 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:22.599 He's revealing things to Abraham. 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:28.200 God is all over this story, but here, at the end, he's absent. 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:30.839 Now notice something else. 00:22:30.839 --> 00:22:34.880 Again, it's easy when this is about something that happened thousands of years ago, but 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:38.160 Abraham's wife just died. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:44.280 Now it's never easy to bury someone you love, and I imagine it's particularly difficult 00:22:44.280 --> 00:22:52.400 to bury a spouse, let alone how do you move on with your life after you bury the person 00:22:52.400 --> 00:22:56.200 you love who you've been married to for a hundred years? 00:22:56.200 --> 00:23:04.600 This must have been a really dark time, a really difficult time for Abraham. 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:10.919 Right now, honestly, it might feel like your world is falling apart in that way. 00:23:10.919 --> 00:23:16.240 Maybe you're losing loved ones or have lost loved ones, or just everything being turned 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:22.199 upside down and inside out is making you feel kind of just defeated and alone and isolated, 00:23:22.199 --> 00:23:27.079 and maybe God just doesn't feel like he's there. 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:31.159 Well, maybe not. 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:38.160 If you haven't had that experience, you probably will. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:47.400 Faith is living like Jesus is real, even when it seems like he doesn't. 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:49.160 How? 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:51.600 How do you do that? 00:23:51.600 --> 00:23:59.720 An old hymn, I love this line, it says, when darkness veils thy lovely face, I rest on 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:03.640 thy unchanging grace. 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:05.400 That's how. 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:09.039 So that's our third point. 00:24:09.039 --> 00:24:11.960 Faith is rational. 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:13.640 Let me explain. 00:24:13.640 --> 00:24:17.920 Hebrews 11 talks a lot about faith and a lot about Abraham. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:24.960 It gives the largest portion of Hebrews 11 is dealt in talking about Abraham, and it says 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:25.960 something really important. 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:29.600 It says Abraham considered. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:32.240 It's a really deeply rational word. 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:38.199 Abraham sat down and thought about it, and he connected the dots, and maybe he made a 00:24:38.199 --> 00:24:41.759 prose and consulist with two columns. 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:48.599 Abraham's faith was a considering, thinking, rational faith. 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:54.719 For instance, Isaac in chapter 22, God says, sacrifice your son. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:25:00.440 Abraham says to the servants, they go up to the mountain where the sacrifice is supposed 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:04.360 to take place, and he says, you wait here, the boy and I will come back. 00:25:04.360 --> 00:25:05.559 He doesn't just say, I'll come back alone. 00:25:05.559 --> 00:25:07.960 He says, the boy and I will come back. 00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:15.920 Hebrews 11 explains and says, Abraham reckoned he rationalized and said, well, God will bring 00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:19.120 him back from the dead. 00:25:19.120 --> 00:25:21.559 Faith is actually deeply rational. 00:25:21.559 --> 00:25:23.400 It's not unthinking. 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:25.040 It's not blind. 00:25:25.040 --> 00:25:27.240 I don't like the word blind faith. 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:28.680 That's not how we move about this world. 00:25:28.680 --> 00:25:31.280 That's not the faith that Christ gives us. 00:25:31.280 --> 00:25:37.320 But of course, our tendency when life gets really hard is actually to feel our way through 00:25:37.320 --> 00:25:40.519 life, to let our emotions take the lead. 00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:43.759 We say, I'll put my faith into action when I feel it, when it can kind of come from the 00:25:43.759 --> 00:25:45.920 heart. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:47.080 We all do this. 00:25:47.080 --> 00:25:50.080 I do this a lot. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:56.599 But the Bible actually confronts us gently telling us, actually, your brain should take 00:25:56.599 --> 00:25:57.599 the lead. 00:25:57.599 --> 00:26:00.000 Is that surprising? 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:07.079 So when we are wearied and our faith is worn down by anxieties, what does Jesus say? 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:10.000 Think about lilies. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:12.039 Consider the birds. 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:16.159 Think about how God takes care of them. 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:20.200 How much more are you valued by God than they are? 00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:26.840 Jesus wants us to use our brains in relation to our faith. 00:26:26.840 --> 00:26:33.759 The psalms often say, in Psalms of lament, when times are hard and they're under great 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:38.759 distress, there's usually a turn in the lament psalm. 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:43.360 There's a moment when something pivots and changes and they look to God. 00:26:43.359 --> 00:26:50.479 It says something like, but consider the mighty works of God from of old. 00:26:50.479 --> 00:26:54.959 And sometimes the psalmist just loses sight of his worries because of the glorious sight 00:26:54.959 --> 00:26:58.399 he's seen of God. 00:26:58.399 --> 00:27:04.159 So if our faith is to be a living faith, an active faith, then it has to be a thinking 00:27:04.159 --> 00:27:06.959 faith. 00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:16.120 I know a dad who was playing with his two-year-old son and dropped him on his head and he's 00:27:16.120 --> 00:27:18.440 fine. 00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:19.440 But he got a concussion. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:25.200 And what do you think happened to that boy after his dad dropped him? 00:27:25.200 --> 00:27:28.960 He became afraid of heights for a couple years. 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:29.960 Kind of makes sense. 00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:33.920 You know, he had good reason to be because you're supposed to be able to totally trust 00:27:33.920 --> 00:27:34.920 your dad. 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:37.519 And when you're playing with your dad as a little kid, he's the one who's supposed 00:27:37.519 --> 00:27:39.560 to be keeping you safe. 00:27:39.560 --> 00:27:43.240 And his dad dropped him. 00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:49.240 Our father has never dropped us, not once. 00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:56.519 So when we're afraid of the tall staircase or of climbing the tree or of the class elevator, 00:27:56.519 --> 00:27:59.720 we need to think back on what our father is like. 00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:04.080 And remember, we have never been let down by him. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:06.639 That's what I mean by a rational faith. 00:28:06.639 --> 00:28:11.720 We think back to what we know of God and who God is for us. 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:16.240 And that gives us comfort and that actually turns our anxieties into worship, which is 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:17.839 a wonderful place to be. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.919 And that's how faith can be fearless. 00:28:19.919 --> 00:28:25.799 It's how to put your faith into action, not your fear into action. 00:28:25.799 --> 00:28:31.119 So my last point, number four, stop looking at your faith. 00:28:31.119 --> 00:28:36.359 Now what I mean by that is you can only have a living faith like that if you take your 00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:41.719 eyes off of yourself and look to Jesus. 00:28:41.719 --> 00:28:47.959 You have to take your eyes off of your circumstances, off of your feelings, all of that, off of 00:28:47.959 --> 00:28:54.159 your actions, off of the size of your faith and look to the object of your faith. 00:28:54.159 --> 00:28:59.519 I don't know who, but someone once said, and I loved it, that faith is like a windshield. 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:03.440 If you're driving along and you look at your windshield, you will crash. 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:08.639 But if you look through your windshield, that's what it's for. 00:29:08.639 --> 00:29:15.400 So if you want a vibrant faith like Abraham's, the answer isn't try really hard or do better 00:29:15.400 --> 00:29:16.400 next time. 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:19.759 The answer isn't to pay more attention to yourself and your actions. 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:23.319 It's to pay more attention to Jesus. 00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:26.240 He is the object of your faith. 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:32.079 And faith is only as steady and strong as its object is. 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:35.920 So this is not a shape up and do better sermon. 00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:39.120 It's a look at Jesus sermon. 00:29:39.120 --> 00:29:43.720 God willing, all of our sermons here are look at Jesus sermons. 00:29:43.720 --> 00:29:49.960 And you know, our faith is actually strengthened when we look at Jesus and our faith is weakened 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:51.720 when we look away from Jesus. 00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:58.799 Think about the story of Peter, the apostle Peter walking on the water toward Jesus and 00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:01.640 his eyes are locked onto him. 00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:06.640 And when Peter looks down at the waves, he starts to sink. 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:12.000 The same is true of us. 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:14.720 In Lord of the Rings, I have to bring it in. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:17.120 It's been too long since I've had a good Lord of the Rings quote. 00:30:17.120 --> 00:30:18.200 I think it's in the books. 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:21.240 I think it's in the third book, Return of the King. 00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:27.480 Sam Gamgee has seen Gandalf die, his dear friend, his guide. 00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:33.440 And Gandalf is restored back to life and he comes and Sam sees him and says, but I thought 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:35.039 you were dead. 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:39.559 Are all the sad things coming untrue? 00:30:39.559 --> 00:30:42.480 We look at Jesus back from the dead. 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:47.480 And yeah, all the sad things are coming untrue. 00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:53.559 His death and resurrection, it's the anchor of our faith. 00:30:53.559 --> 00:31:02.240 And more than that, it gives us hope and joy and power for the Christian life. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:09.400 So it's one thing to know that Abraham trusted God, but it's another thing to put your trust 00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:10.400 in God. 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:14.400 And it's one thing to know who God was for Abraham, but it's another thing to know who 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:16.360 is God for you? 00:31:16.359 --> 00:31:19.039 Who is God for me? 00:31:19.039 --> 00:31:25.839 And when you want to know who God is for you, you look at the cross. 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:34.719 Jesus, the Son of God, endured agony for you joyfully. 00:31:34.719 --> 00:31:40.879 Jesus was so committed to blessing you, so committed to doing good to you that he took 00:31:40.879 --> 00:31:45.599 the curse for you and gave you his blessing. 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:49.919 Jesus didn't just make it possible to have a good life or to obey really well or maybe 00:31:49.919 --> 00:31:54.119 one day obtain the blessing of God, he purchased it for you. 00:31:54.119 --> 00:31:56.359 He secured it for you. 00:31:56.359 --> 00:32:00.359 He secured God's smile for you. 00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:06.599 So if you believe on Jesus, you have in him the substance, the very thing that was promised 00:32:06.599 --> 00:32:08.679 to Abraham in full. 00:32:08.679 --> 00:32:11.559 You have God himself. 00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:13.639 You have Jesus. 00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:21.759 So the story of Abraham from start to finish, it's a story of God's commitment to bless 00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:31.720 you and do good to you through Jesus, the better Abraham, the King of eternal rest, the 00:32:31.720 --> 00:32:36.480 Savior of the world, the suffering Son. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:40.360 So let's just take the next step of faith with him. 00:32:40.360 --> 00:32:41.360 Why not? 00:32:41.360 --> 00:32:42.360 Amen. 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:45.119 Let's pray. 00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:56.439 Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, what a sure and steady place we have to put our feet on. 00:32:56.439 --> 00:33:03.199 And we admit we are fragile and tossed about by life. 00:33:03.200 --> 00:33:13.080 We are often self-occupied and we're not often enough occupied with you, but we thank you 00:33:13.080 --> 00:33:18.279 for times like this that turn our hearts to you, that help us to cry out to you. 00:33:18.279 --> 00:33:23.400 We thank you for speaking to us and revealing who you are through your word, that our hearts 00:33:23.400 --> 00:33:28.960 may warm to you and begin to just crack open a little bit more. 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:35.600 Bless us and be near to us, Lord, and help us to just keep our eyes fixed on you in all 00:33:35.600 --> 00:33:36.600 of your glory. 00:33:36.600 --> 00:33:37.600 Amen. 00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:59.079 Amen.