Sermon
Title: How to Maintain Your Faith
Review:
1. Believe
God... Hebrews 11: 6
2. Recognize
trials…1 Peter 1: 7
3. Pray
the … 1 Thessalonians 5: 17
4. Pressure
test… Psalms 50: 15
5. People
test … Jeremiah 17: 7
6. Read
the…Romans 10: 17
7. Heed
the … James 1: 22 - 24
8. Test
the… Malachi 3: 9 - 11
9. Eliminate …John
1: 9
10.
Check your …2 Timothy 1: 7
1: Wait on God – Gen
21:5 - 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
2: Continue no matter What –
The Journey (Abraham Visits 17 Locations)
The land of Canaan would be the inheritance
of Abraham's descendants but Abraham would only be a pilgrim there. On his
journey to Canaan there were seventeen places that Abraham visited recorded in
the Old Testament. Each of these places are important in the history of Israel
and there is evidence of their existence in ancient times through archaeology.
1. Ur of the Chaldees was the original home of Abraham.
It was one of the greatest cities of the ancient world, and Ur was the capital
of the ancient Chaldean Empire in ancient Mesopotamia. Sometime around 1900 BC
the Lord told Abraham to leave his home and country and go to a land that He
would show him. He obeyed and departed from Ur with his father Terah and his
nephew Lot. (Gen. 11:31; Acts 7:2-4).
2. Haran in Mesopotamia was the first stopping place
recorded inn the Bible. They dwelt here until after the death of his father
Terah, and in Haran the Lord called Abraham again (Gen. 12:1-4; Acts 7:4).
Nahor, Abraham's brother, had probably settled in Haran before they departed.
3. Damascus was a great city in the ancient world and it
was located in ancient Aram (Syria). Abraham and his nephew Lot had departed
Haran and followed the leading of the Lord. They moved southward and passed by
the city of Damascus along the way and it might have been at this time that
Abraham secured his servant Eliezer (Gen. 15:2).
4. Shechem or Sichem was the first place where Abraham
came to in Canaan. The Lord appeared to Abraham again and confirmed his
promises, and It was here at Shechem that Abraham built the first altar to the
Lord (Gen. 12:6, 7). There is much
history in this place (Joshua 24:1, Judges 9:6, 1 Kings 12:1).
5. Bethel. Abraham continued his journey southward and
came to a mountain near Bethel, where he built a second altar (Genesis 12:8).
6. Egypt. Abraham and his family journeyed southward
through the land of Canaan and a major famine hit they migrated to Egypt. In
Egypt Abraham deceived the King in order to save his own life and was expelled
from the land of Egypt (Gen. 12:9-20). The king of Egypt feared Abraham because
of a dream and allowed him to leave with all of his possessions.
7. Bethel. Abraham and his nephew Lot returned to their
former home at Bethel, but on account of strife between their herdsmen they
parted each others company as friends. (Gen. 13:1-9).
8. Hebron. Lot chose the warm climate and lush plains of
the Jordan Valley and pitched his tent toward Sodom, and Abraham left the
desirable Sodom and Gomorrah and sojourned at Hebron in Mamre where he heard
again from the Lord and built an altar (Gen. 13:10-18). An interesting note is
that Hebron was one of the oldest cities in ancient Canaan and Numbers 13:22
says that "it was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt."
9. Dan. Four kings of the east came to Canaan who were
united under Chedorlaomer of Elam (the territory of ancient Ur) and made war
against the five kings of Canaan. In their conquest of the Jordan Valley they
captured Lot as a prisoner of war, and when Abraham heard of it he pursued the
four kings and overtook them at Dan and defeated them with the help of the Lord
(Gen. 14:1-14), Abraham had assembled an army of 318 men. The city of Dan was
located in the north between Hazor and Damascus.
10. Hobah. Abraham and his army of servants smote the
army of the 4 kings of Chedorlaomer and chased them to Hobah, which was located
near Damascus. Lot and all the people with them were rescued including their
belongings (Gen. 14:15, 16).
11. Salem. On his return Abraham passed through Salem
(Jerusalem) and was met by a man named Melchizedek whose name means "king
of righteousness". Melchizedek was a mysterious man regarded in the Bible
as the priest and king of Salem. This was the first mention of the word
"priest" in the Bible and he gave to Abraham bread and wine. The
Bible also mentions that Abraham paid him 1/10th of all his spoils from the war
as a "tithe". Hebrews 7:3 gives an interesting description of
Melchizedek and therefore his identity remains a mystery. The king of Sodom also
came out to meet Abraham at the same place (Gen. 14:17-21).
12. Hebron. When Abraham finally returned to Hebron God
reminded him of his covenant with him and changed his name from Abram to
Abraham (Gen. 15:1-21; 17:1-27). During his stay at this place Ishmael was born
(Gen. 16: 1-16) and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed (Gen. 18:1
- 19:38)
13. Gerar. Abraham left Hebron and for a time sojourned
among the Philistines in Gerar which was in southern Canaan west of Beersheba.
It was in Gerar that Abraham deceived King Abimelech (Gen. 20:1-18).
14. Beersheba. Abraham remained at Beersheba for some
time. During this time he made a covenant with king Abimelech. Later he gave
birth to a natural son of him and Sarah in his old age, he named him Isaac
which means "laughter". When Isaac was born Ishmael was expelled and
his mother Hagar fled and was met by "the Angel of the Lord" which
was the Lord Himself (Gen. 21:1-34).
15. Moriah. It was in Beersheba that Abraham received the
command from the Lord to take his only son Isaac to Mount Moriah, a mountain of
Salem, to offer Isaac as a burnt offering (Gen. 22:1-18).
16. Beersheba. Abraham returned to Beersheba and dwelt
there for some time.
17. Hebron. Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah as the
family sepulcher and buried his wife Sarah there (Gen. 23: 1-20). At the age of
175 Abraham died, and was also buried in the cave at Machpelah.
3:
Listen Intently – Gen. 22:2 - 2
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the
region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will
show you.”
4. Respond
Immediately – Gen. 22:3 - 3 Early the
next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his
servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering,
he set out for the place God had told him about.
5: Go it Alone – Gen.
22:5 - 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the
boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6: Sacrifice Everything – Gen. 22:9-10 - 9 When they reached the place
God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on
it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10
Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the
angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I
am,” he replied.
7: Believe that He will Provide – Gen. 22:13 Abraham looked up and there in a
thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and
sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Life
Application
