The Journey Of Faith

Introduction

Please be turning your Bibles with me tonight to Romans, the fourth chapter. If you would go ahead and mark your Bibles there. Romans chapter 4. It is a blessing to be with you tonight, to have the opportunity to worship the Lord to gather together. David wrote, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And to have the opportunity to join with you tonight in the study of the Word of God and to sing praises and even offer prayers, which the scriptures say are a sweet incense, is a refreshing blessing from the hand of the Lord. There are certain figures, I think, or characters in the Scripture that seem to be almost these very intimidating examples. While we gain so much power and truth from them, there is always this thought that I could never have that kind of character.

Or I could never exert that kind of faith. Now, I don’t believe the Bible presents these characters in that way, but it is kind of a natural inclination we have because they are held up in such esteem, and rightly so by the Holy Spirit. Part of the problem, though, is I don’t know, and I’m including myself here, I don’t know that we always look at the whole context of the stories of the lives of these individuals. The only person I know of that was sinlessly perfect according to Scripture was Jesus Christ. And we’ve been talking about the journey of faith, and especially tonight will we be talking about the journey of faith. And I hope this lesson will be encouraging to you. It is meant with that motive in mind.

As you can imagine, we’re going to talk somewhat about Abraham tonight. And just saying the name Abraham, what comes to mind when you think of Abraham. If I said to you can have the kind of faith that Abraham had. Do you kind of want to push back a little bit and say, surely not? And yet, when we read Scripture, the Scripture holds Abraham up as a very powerful, tremendous example of a man who exercised great faith, but that faith was meant to be emulated. Perhaps not in all of the possible miraculous circumstances or the details that we see in the life of Abraham, but in the character of his faith. And it’s not just one place in Scripture that does this. On multiple occasions, brothers and sisters in Christ are being encouraged to follow in the footsteps of the father of their faith.

But when we think of Abraham, often we just see certain things about Abraham. It’s kind of like getting a movie and kind of getting it to that spot at the end, you know, that one scene you really like and ignoring everything else. But if you don’t know what happened before, it’s going to be challenging for you to appreciate that particular ending. And often we read a lot about the ending of Abraham’s life, or only the positive things about Abraham’s life. But his negative experiences molded him and made him the man that he would become.

We come to Romans the fourth chapter, and there is some language there that we want to pick up on, and in the context, of course, we don’t have time tonight to look at all of this context, but in the context, in the book of Romans, Paul is showing that Jews and Gentile believers are to be one in Christ. And I believe this church at Rome had some challenges in front of it. That’s obvious, even as you go to the end of the book. When you come into Romans chapter 14, he talks about those Jewish believers who had certain dietary restrictions in their conscience and this kind of thing, circumcision, we know was an issue, a background controversy in the New Testament times. And really, it wasn’t just about the circumcision issue.

It had to do with those who were saying you had to be circumcised to be saved. Of course, you have this alienation between Jewish believers and Gentile believers. And it’s very important for the promotion of the gospel and the well-being of this congregation and brethren in general that they learn that a man doesn’t have to be circumcised to be saved. That faith in Jesus Christ and justification by an obedient faith is this great unifying principle of the gospel. No matter what race the man is or what his background was or culture was or whatever you want to talk about. And so in that context, Abraham, of course, is going to come up, isn’t he? And the Jewish believers would have been hanging on to Abraham as their spiritual father, you might say.

1. He Did Not Stagger at the Promise of God

And yet he’s going to make a very intriguing argument here, which should bring Jewish believers and Gentile believers together. Let’s read it together. He begins Romans chapter 4 by talking about the fact that when you talk about Abraham’s justification, Abraham was saved by grace through faith. Now it was an obedient faith to be sure, but that’s how Abraham was saved. When we move on through it, he deals with forgiveness and grace and faith and that kind of thing. I want to pick up in verse 9, because he points something out that they may have been overlooking, especially the Jewish believers. He says, if this blessing then, and I believe he’s talking about the forgiveness of sins of being in Christ, is this blessing then on the circumcised or on the uncircumcised also?

For we say faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it credited? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised. Well, you need to know a little bit of history here. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 8 holds up Abraham initially showing faith by doing what? Leaving the Chaldees. Now that happened about at the end of Genesis 11, right as you come into Genesis 12. So you have that event. You can read about Abraham’s faith occasionally, even in Genesis chapters 13 and 14. Genesis chapter 15, which both James 2 and Romans 4 reference. We see again him trusting in the Lord’s promise. In Genesis chapter 17, I believe he was circumcised. And so what Paul is saying is if your idea is that we’re going to rule out someone being saved who’s uncircumcised, you would even have to eliminate Father Abraham, which you’re holding on to.

So in that context, let’s keep reading. Verse 10. He emphasizes, now while circumcised or uncircumcised. He says, No, not while circumcised was Abraham initially justified, but when uncircumcised. Now, of course, God’s going to command him to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant, and he obeyed out of faith and doing so. He says in verse 11, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised. So that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them. And the father of circumcision to those who are not, who not only are of the circumcision, but who also, listen to this, follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham, which he had while uncircumcised.

He said, so he can be a father of faith to the circumcised or to the uncircumcised, to the Jew or to the Gentile. You see that? And so this is unifying God. But let’s keep reading. He says, For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law. They wanted to emphasize the law. This was through the Abrahamic promise. The Mosaical law hadn’t even been given yet. He goes on to say, but through the righteousness of faith, that’s how he was justified. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and promises nullified. For the law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.

For this reason, it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Now, really hone in with me. Don’t tune out yet. It’s too early for that kind of thing. Hone in here. Because this is the part we really want to take home with. In verse 17, after he says, Abraham is the father of us all, Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, as it is written, a father of many nations have I made you. In the presence of him whom believed, whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

And hope against hope. He believes so that he might become a father of many nations. According to that which have been spoken, so shall your descendants be. Without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, he was able also to perform. Therefore, now here’s the connection to us. Therefore, it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now, not for his sake only was it written, and it was that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him who raised Jesus the Lord from the dead.

He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification. When we read Romans 4, it’s true. We’re in awe to some degree of Abraham. And we’ve just read Romans 4, and Paul is holding him up and he’s saying, look how strong his faith was. And there’s a statement here that I want you to notice that says that he did not stagger. The old King James says stagger in some other translations. But what does it mean that he did not stagger at the promise of God? What does that mean? Well, the word stagger is the idea of hesitate. That’s what it actually means. In this context, he’s dealing with hesitation. And we think, I don’t know. Sometimes I hesitate. I don’t know if I can be like Abraham.

2. Abraham Had Not Always Been in That Place

Hang on to that part. In this case, and what this is holding up in Romans 4 is dealing with some events in Abraham’s life as he had matured and journeyed into this faith, it says that he did not hesitate to be fully persuaded of the promise of God. But here’s what I want us to understand tonight. Abraham had not always been in that place. You know, sometimes the way you hear it, you would think that Abraham always had been where Romans 4 is presenting him. That he had never stumbled, that he never hesitated, that he was never someone who showed cowardice or lack of character. In fact, sometimes we just saying that about Abraham. Some people I could, sometimes they get a little upset just to hear that there might have been a time in Abraham’s life when he wasn’t where he is, as depicted in Romans 4.

So let’s think about this. Surely we realize that Abraham’s journey of faith into being this great example that’s held up in Scripture by men inspired of the Holy Spirit was a journey.

In fact, it almost as if to describe Abraham early on, at least in certain events in his life, doesn’t seem to match up with the overall picture that often we have of Abraham. And we’re going to come back to that thought in a little while. But he grew into this faith. He matured into this faith. He developed this through life experiences and through continuing to trust in God and continuing to get back up. Let’s turn back to Genesis chapter 12. Let’s just hit some spots that I think will be beneficial to us to explain where we’re going with this. Turn to Genesis chapter 12. Now, amidst this record, you will see that Abraham is trusting God.

He trusted God, and he’s described as hearing this promise and believing in God. But that doesn’t mean there was no battle for Abraham in his own mind.

After that well known text there in Genesis 12, verses 1 through 3, where God is assuring him of this blessing. In the text at least, you’ll notice Genesis 12 and verse 13. And actually, prior to this, we’ll go back up to verse 10, we find out there was a famine. And in verse 11, it came about that when he came near to Egypt. That he said to Sarai his wife, see now, I know that you’re a beautiful woman. And when the Egyptians see you, they will say, This is his wife, and they will kill me. But they won’t let you live. Please pray, or please say rather, that you are my sister. That’s one of those half truths, by the way.

Can you tell a half truth and be deceiving? So he says, here’s what I want to do. You tell them that you’re my sister. Now, ladies, I want you to really get your mind wrapped around this for a minute, okay? Here you are. Here you are with your husband. And you’re thinking he’s a great guy, and he really loves you. And he’s a man of character and integrity. And he says, you know, you’re an attractive lady. And now you start feeling pretty good about yourself, don’t you? So what we’re going to do is you’re going to tell these folks, who I’m afraid are going to kill me, that you’re my sister, and you’re going to go with them, and I’m going to be in good shape.

Now, how would you feel about that man? How would you feel? Are we going to take him to Dr. Phil and ask him to evaluate this guy and why he doesn’t have any more character and integrity? This is Abraham. He’s scared. And you know, if that had happened one time, that would have been bad enough. This happened twice. The other time, here it happens with Pharaoh. Later on, it’s going to happen with Abimelech, and in both cases, God made it clear to those folks. I love, well, I don’t really love that’s a that’s the wrong word, but it’s interesting as you read the rest of this. The Lord, verse 17, struck Pharaoh in his house with these plagues. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What have you done?

Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? He didn’t know that. And then he goes further and he says, Why did you say she is my sister so that I took her for my wife? Now then he says, you know, basically, take this woman and get out of here. Take your wife and go. And Abimelech, remember, Abimelech said, as the Lord made this clear to him, he said, I did this in the integrity of my heart. I wasn’t trying to do anything that would violate you.

So, do you see what I’m saying? Abraham had some issues early on. Abraham made some mistakes, to be sure. He sinned seriously here. But let’s go to Genesis 15 now. And we’re trying to get the entire record. Genesis chapter 15, as you turn your Bibles there. We see him sinning seriously. We also see him being impatient. In Genesis chapter 15, picking up there in verse 1. After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not fear Abram. I am a shield to you. Your reward shall be very great. This is where you’re supposed to say, thank you, Lord. But that’s not, you see some impatience. You see some anxiety here. It seems like he wants to trust God, but he’s dealing with some issues in his own heart.

And so Abram says, Oh Lord God, what will you give me since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? Now, as you go on and read this, Abram and Sarah is involved in this too. They’re always trying to improvise to help God along. We tend to kind of like to help God, which is always a bad idea. And so there’s this promise, and they want the promise to be fulfilled. And so we have a couple of examples where he’s trying to say, well, this person, when really this person can’t fulfill that promise from God. Because this promise is fulfilled by the Lord’s hand. You’re not going to improvise and fix this. There is a reason, there’s a purpose that God has for doing things the way he did them.

I mean, why did he wait so long? He had a purpose. He was going to make it emphatically clear, not only to Abraham and Sarah, but to all who would read this story, that this was not of them, this was of him. That this seed promise, which has serious messianic implications, was going to be accomplished by God’s sovereign grace and power, not theirs. But nonetheless, you see, do you see what I’m talking about there in Genesis 15 and about verse 2? Where he’s going, we can do this, we can do that. We see times in which he was willing to compromise. Look at Genesis chapter 16. And verse 2. So Sarah says to Abram, Now behold, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please go into my maid, and perhaps I will obtain children through her.

Do you see them improvising? And Abram listened to the voice of Sarah, kind of like somebody else we know. Adam who gave in to Eve.

And by the way, Adam is not receiving any scriptural compliment when the Bible says that Eve was deceived rather than him. She was deceived. He was not the spiritual leader he should have been. And he knew full well what he was doing. And so here we have Abram. This powerful example of faith later on. But do you see? Do you see what’s going on here? Now it’s interesting later on when Sarah reflects back, she doesn’t say, Boy, I had a horrible idea that I gave you, and you kind of went along. Do you remember what Sarah does? He says, This is your fault. No, it was my idea, but this is your fault. But that context, those are the kinds of choices that there are occasions that we have the record of this.

In Genesis chapter 17 and in verse 18. Dealing with Ishmael. And you have to remember, because he does share relationship with Hagar, which was again trying to improvise for God. And they have Ishmael, but Ishmael is not going to be Isaac. And so you see him saying before God, he cries out to God about Ishmael in Genesis chapter 17 and verse 18. Oh that Ishmael might live before you. Now God goes on to say, look, there’s going to be a nation that comes from Ishmael. I’m going to in my own way take care of Ishmael, but Ishmael’s not Isaac. You may want him to be, but that’s not how this is going to work. And so you see this inclination, this willingness to compromise. And so from time to time, you’ll see faith in Abraham, but from time to time you’ll see these things, and it kind of makes you scratch your head.

But Abraham, whether we realize it or not, step by step, even in the bad decisions, was growing. God knew the man that Abraham could become. Abraham was going to become. He had faith, but that faith was going to blossom and flourish and grow. And you know, sometimes we look at our lives and we see bad decisions. And we wonder, could I ever be the person of faith that God wants me to be? And the answer is yes. But Abraham is going to have a serious turning point, I think. Where he stops wavering so much. He grows up in his faith. I think Romans 4 is pointing us back there, of course, to Genesis 21 and 22. In Genesis 18 and verse 10, you’ll recall that.

3. Why Was Abraham Struggling?

And behold, Sarah, your wife will have a son. And Sarah was listening at the door which was behind them. She laughed at this. And so it wasn’t just Abraham. It was also Sarah. But Abraham’s going to grow up. There’s a reason he’s mentioned in Scripture the way that he’s mentioned. But let’s deal a little bit with what had to change for him to have that turning point. Because these are the same things that have to change in us. We’ve seen some of the choices, but why was Abraham? Now think with me on this. Why was Abraham making some of the bad choices he was? You know, sometimes we just deal with the symptoms of the problem. We say, well, this person made a bad choice. That’s true.

They made a bad choice. Why did they make the choice? In your life, you may feel like you’re in a cycle of bad decisions.

Why? Why are you doing this? Well, as we look at Abraham, and we see there was going to be a turning point. But why was he struggling? Well, in Genesis 12 and 20, he was afraid. He was fearful. You ever been afraid? Have you ever been faced with a choice, and it was either faith or fear, and you allowed fear to rule you? We all have fear, but our faith must discipline us, and God’s grace must discipline us. He was afraid. In Genesis 15, he was anxious. Have you ever been anxious? Here’s God’s promise, and we really want it right now. I mean, and we live in a very, you know, drive-through kind of society. Life’s not that way. God really did make us to function that way, especially emotionally, psychologically, spiritually.

He was anxious in Genesis chapter 50. He’s still trying to trust God. In Genesis chapter 16 and verse 2, you could argue he was trying to please men and trying to please Sarah. That’ll cause you to make some bad choices and keep you from growing in your faith. He was on occasion led by emotion. He was, and certainly emotions are part of our service to God, but emotionalism is different than having emotions be involved in your faith. What we have here is somewhat driven by emotion. How many times do we get in a situation and our emotions are driving us? It’s not rational, it’s not logical, it’s not spiritually discernible. And so you even see that in Abraham. He was plagued by the consequences of his past mistakes.

Go to Genesis chapter 21. Genesis chapter 21. And there in that section, verse 9. Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham mocking, and therefore she said to Abraham, Drive out this maid and her son, for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac. And the matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. But God said to Abraham, do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid. Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her. For through Isaac your descendant shall be named. And the son of the maid, I will make a nation also, because he is your descendant. So Abraham went ahead and followed the instruction of the Lord. But do you see how the consequences?

4. He Grew and He Had to Be Tested

Here we have a bad choice back here, and now he’s still, he’s still dealing with the consequences of that. And that was a struggle. That was a challenge to his faith. He was surrounded on occasion by people, especially with his wife, who didn’t trust God and believe in God, and he continued to give into that environment. And sometimes we fall into that same category. But he doesn’t stay here, and we don’t need to stay here. But Abraham was there for a little while. Abraham, go to Genesis 22, was strong or became strong. You think, how did he go from what we’ve just described to what we see in Romans 4? He grew. He journeyed into that point in his faith. But how would he know that he had grown with some of these choices?

He had to be tested. And so when we come to Genesis chapter 22, God comes to him in this well-known section. And in Genesis, the 22nd chapter. He says to Abraham, I want you to take Isaac. Now remember that, you know, they’ve been dealing with wanting this child of promise. They finally get the child of promise. And God says, I want you to take him up on Mount Moriah, and I want you to offer. Before he had anxiety and fear and all of those things, but this time, Abraham obeys. Do you see a? Do you see a difference in Genesis 22 and some of those other sections that we’ve read? He’s grown in his faith. So he takes his son. And the scripture would tell us that Abraham believed that even if Isaac died, God would still be true to his promise and would raise him from the dead.

Interestingly, great type and antidepressant foreshadow of Christ dying for our sins and being raised. But nonetheless, here we are in Genesis chapter 22. And as you know, they get into the section of this context at least reveals to us that when they get to Mount Moriah, and it’s time for him to go do this and offer his only son. He ends up not having to go through with the act, but it’s a great test by God. And let’s pick up the reading here. Verse 10 says, Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. And so he’s doing all of these things. And when his son asked him, you know, what’s this about? He says, The Lord is going to provide. In verse 11, but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, and he said, Here I am.

He said, Do not stretch out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him. For now I know that you fear God. Since you have not withheld your son, listen to this language, your only son from me. Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide. Do you see how far he’s come? Do you see how he has he’s grown beyond his fear and his anxiousness and his wanting to please men and being driven by emotion and being plagued by consequences from the past?

Hebrews 11 17 through 19 shows us how settled and grounded and strong and powerful his faith had become. And God even says, now I know you’ve demonstrated this. Let’s go to Romans chapter 4. In Romans chapter 4, this is what Paul is talking about. Had Abraham always been in this place? No. But he was now, and he was demonstrating this faith. He says, against hope, notice Romans 4.18, against hope, he believed in God. And I understand the miraculous nature of this, but what he’s saying is there are times when things we can’t figure out. How is this going to work out? There is a time to trust the Lord, despite what objections we may have in our mind. To follow his word. And we always should have that spirit.

Now I’m not of the mind that says we need to define faith as a blind leap without any scriptural evidence whatsoever or any evidence at all. But I am here to tell you that as a servant of God, Abraham had grown, and now he’s trusting the Lord. And he’s obeying God. And it says, against hope, he believed in hope. Romans 4 19, speaking of his own body. Notice what he says there in Romans chapter 4 and verse 19, without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body. Now as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Yet with respect to the promise of God, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver. He did not hesitate in unbelief, but grew strong.

5. Don't Let Your Snapshots Become the Whole Picture

Notice what it says. He did what? He grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. And so now you have Abraham against hope. He believes in hope. He considers not his own weakness, sees God’s strength and difficulty. He’s giving glory to God. Now, notice Romans chapter 4 here, and we’ve set all of that up. I know you wish I’d gotten there, Faster. No, you’re not like that, are you? We’ve set all of that up to make this point. You see there in Romans 4, which we read earlier, where it says this was written not only for and about Abraham, but for us as well. Turn your Bibles to James 2. Turn your Bibles to James 2. Yeah. These moments, that you see these weaknesses, are snapshots.

Those are snapshots of Abraham’s life. It’s not the whole picture. You have some snapshots. You have some snapshots that if I took, and I have some snapshots, and we all have some snapshots, that if we were to show that as the totality of our life, would be very humiliating and embarrassing, and would represent nothing but sin and ungodliness. And there are some people that take snapshots and they make that the whole picture. And people that do that lose their souls. But even, and don’t be deceived, all of us in here have some snapshots. Abraham, the father of faith, had some snapshots in Genesis 12, in Genesis 20 of ungodly lack of character. But that wasn’t the man that Abraham became. And you know, we’re so quick to see snapshots in somebody else.

But we don’t see ours. You would think we didn’t have any, but we do. But on the other side of that coin, and this is vital for us, don’t let your snapshots become the whole picture. Abraham didn’t. Abraham grew in faith, great faith, became a wonderful example to us because he refused, and Peter did the same thing, and David did the same thing. He refused to allow the ugly snapshots to become the whole picture. Because the whole picture in Abraham’s life is one of faith and conviction, trust and obedience to God. And that’s why Paul talks about them and James talks about them, and the New Testament presents him the way it does. Now, James 2. In a context that deals with us having a working faith and a saving faith, he brings up Abraham.

6. That's How Faith Works

And in James 2, he says in verse 21, was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Okay, Bible study time.

I’m not done preaching yet, I’m sorry. But I want us, I want us to get this. Okay. Can y’all see me sweating up there by the way? I thought you could. Here we are. Okay. James 2. Let’s work through this. Verse 21. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? What chapter in Genesis that we just read is that? Genesis chapter 22. Okay? You with me? So James says, Genesis 20, what you see in Genesis 22. That’s the kind of faith that works. That’s working faith. Right. That’s saving faith. Verse 22, he says, you see that faith was working with his works. And as a result of the works, faith was perfected or completed. Okay. That’s kind of the climax.

He had to climb the mountain, though. He didn’t just wake up on top of the mountain. He had to climb the mountain. Now then. Verse 23. And the scripture was fulfilled. Now he’s talking about Genesis 22. And the scripture was fulfilled, which says, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. Now, what chapter in Genesis is that?

You get like bonus points tonight if you get that. Genesis 15. Genesis 15. Does nobody have a cross-reference Bible in here? Got all those neat verses on the front? It’s Genesis 15, okay? Now, here’s what here’s what I want you to see. It’s easy just to read over this and not get it. In verse 21, he says, this Abraham, the example of Abraham, Genesis 22. That’s Mount Mariah and his son Isaac. That’s where we really see his faith reaching its apex, where you see him carrying out faith in God. But then in verse 23 he says, and the scripture was fulfilled, which says Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. That’s Genesis 15. So what God said to him in Genesis chapter 15, we see it come to full fruition and fulfillment in Genesis 22.

You with me on that? So God says it’s through faith, but that faith wasn’t just something where God gives it to a man and he has strong faith, and there’s no challenges and there’s no weaknesses, there’s no issues for him to deal with. No. God says to him, this is what faith is. And Abraham trusted the Lord, and he believed in the Lord, and he overcame these challenges. And James says in Genesis or in James 2, regarding Genesis 22, what you see in Genesis 22 is the fruition. It is the fulfillment of his journey of faith that we can even go back to see the Lord’s statement in Genesis 15. That’s how faith works. That’s how faith works. And what faith does, it takes me through my anxiety, it takes me through my cowardice, it takes me through my weakness, it takes me through my fear, and I keep trusting the Lord and serving him and obeying him.

Conclusion

And I’m growing the entire time. And then eternity comes. And so tonight, you’re somewhere, and I’m somewhere in that journey of faith. Will you have the faith of Abraham? You say, Oh, Bruce, but I’ve I’ve sinned. You’ve got some bad snapshots. You have sinned. But that does not have to be the defining principle of your life that you’ll come to Christ, because Christ will free you from that sin. And you can leave here and begin your journey. And it’s a sweet, beautiful journey to your Mount Moriah and to your victory in Jesus. Will you do that tonight? Will you obey the gospel? Follow in the footsteps of our Father Abraham. Come now in full surrender to Jesus Christ. Together we stand in with faith.