FAITH THAT WAITS: ABRAHAM

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FAITH THAT WAITS: ABRAHAM
HEBREWS 11: 8 - 22

JESUS CHRIST said, "Before Abraham was I AM..." (John 8:58). He
spoke of His own eternal nature in using the term "I AM." He
also confirmed the faith of Abraham and thus commended that type
of faith to us. What kind of faith was it? It was:
I.A PROGRESSIVE FAITH
We can live one of two ways. We can live by sight, the
empirical way or we can live by faith.
Stephen, in commending the faith walk, began by showing how
Abraham had obeyed God because of his faith. Because of his
faith, he put his trust in God and left his comfortable homeland
and accepted God's promises of blessings as though they were
fulfilled (Acts 7: 2 - 5).
Paul, in asserting his thesis of justification by faith, used
Abraham as a peerless example (Romans 4). Seventy-four (74)
times the N.T. refers to this man of faith.
God did not call Abraham because he had great faith. His call
was an occasion for expressing faith. He was a pagan worshiping
heathen gods when called.
In the Greek "when he was called" is a present participle which
literally means "when he was being called." Thus, while God was
calling, before He finished calling, He started obediently
packing. Why? Because he believed God. That is the only
reason any person is obedient. When he was called, He
immediately enrolled in the school of faith.
"Faith comes by hearing..." (Romans 10:17). In Genesis 1225,
the expression "and the word of the Lord came to Abraham" is
often repeated
In the New Testament we learn that Abraham was the first person
called a man of faith. He is our role model of faith.
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