Sermon Notes – Do You Trust In the Lord’s Promises (27 Jan 2008)

Do you Trust in the Lord's Promises?

Gen 15:1-6
这事以後，耶和华在异象中有话对亚伯兰说：「亚伯兰，你不要惧怕！我是你的盾牌，必大大的赏赐你。」(2) 亚伯兰说：「主耶和华啊，我既无子，你还赐我什麽呢？并且要承受我家业的是大马色人以利以谢。」 (3) 亚伯兰又说：「你没有给我儿子；那生在我家中的人就是我的後嗣。」(4) 耶和华又有话对他说：「这人必不成为你的後嗣；你本身所生的才成为你的後嗣。」
(5) 於是领他走到外边，说：「你向天观看，数算众星，能数得过来吗？」又对他说：「你的後裔将要如此。」 (6) 亚伯兰信耶和华，耶和华就以此为他的义。

Gen 15:1-6 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." (2) But Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" (3) And Abram said, "Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir." (4) And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: "This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir." (5) And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." (6) And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

God said he is Abram's shield. A shield blocks the enemies' attacks in the battlefield. Abram's just returned victorious over 4 kings (Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar) with just 318 strongmen. What is the 4 kings retaliated? God assured Abram's of his protection and that he had nothing to fear. The 4 kings didn't attack Abram.

When Abram was asked what he wanted, he reminded God that he still didn't have an heir. He suggested Eliezer (which means God of help) to be the heir. God said Abram would have his own child. God let Abram to see the stars. Abram was 85. He probably could not see the stars clearly. But he looked at the stars not by sight but by faith. Abram believed God. In the original text, the word 'amen' (אתו) was used.

Doubt equals unrighteousness. It means depending on our own actions. Faith is righteousness. God delights in faith. God doesn't see how much we do but how much we believed.

We tend to forget God's promises and how he fulfilled his promises.

Some of his promises to Abram:

1. Canaan land
   
2. Heir like the stars
   
3. Abram (high father) -> Abraham (father of multitude) to replace Adam (took forbidden fruit) and Noah (got drunk)
   
4. Sarai (princess) -> Sarah (mother of many nations) to replace Eve and Noah's wife
   
5. Circumcision
   

God delighted in Abram because of his faith not because of what he had done.

Gen 16:1-3
亚伯兰的妻子撒莱不给他生儿女。撒莱有一个使女，名叫夏甲，是埃及人。(2) 撒莱对亚伯兰说：「耶和华使我不能生育。求你和我的使女同房，或者我可以因他得孩子（得孩子：原文作被建立）。」亚伯兰听从了撒莱的话。 (3) 於是亚伯兰的妻子撒莱将使女埃及人夏甲给了丈夫为妾；那时亚伯兰在迦南已经住了十年。

Gen 16:1-3 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. (2) And Sarai said to Abram, "Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. (3) So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

Here, Abram's disobedience paralleled Adam's fall in that he listened to the wife's suggestion which contradict God's command. They were in Canaan for 10 years. But that doesn't mean God was not doing anything. The fulfillment of God's promises is according to his time.

If Abram didn't follow Sarai's suggestion, would he have to wait 15 years to get a child? Perhaps God would see his faith and gave him a child earlier.

Sometime we kept our faith right until the last minute and gave up.

Gen 16:16-17:1
夏甲给亚伯兰生以实玛利的时候，亚伯兰年八十六岁。 (17:1) 亚伯兰年九十九岁的时候，耶和华向他显现，对他说：「我是全能的神。你当在我面前作完全人，

Gen 16:16-17:1 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (17:1) When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,

There was no division of chapters in the original Bible. There was no record of anything between the 13 years. Abram didn't know he did something wrong. Ishmael, the child of Abram and Hagar became the ancestor of the Arab nations. The Jews are still waiting for their Messiah (μεσσιαν). The Muslims are also awaiting their version of the Messiah.

When man bypassed God's commands and does according to his own will brings dire consequences. Adam's disobedience caused the fall of man. Abram's disobedience caused the fall of the chosen people. They now have a sworn enemy in another ethnic group. (Ps 83:5)

Human effort is not required to fulfill God's promises. God doesn't need our help to fulfill his promises. We are to follow God's timing.

We cannot use unscrupulous ways to reach a good goal. We are to trust and obey God. In Acts 5:9, Ananias and Sapphira gave the proceeds of the sale of their properties but they had dishonest intend. They died on the spot. It may look good but God knows.

We are to trust in God's wisdom.

Gen 17:1-2
亚伯兰年九十九岁的时候，耶和华向他显现，对他说：「我是全能的神。你当在我面前作完全人，(2) 我就与你立约，使你的後裔极其繁多。」

Gen 17:1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, (2) that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly."

Almighty God, El Shaddai (אל שׁדי) denotes a God that can provide.

Gen 17:17-19
亚伯拉罕就俯伏在地喜笑，心里说：「一百岁的人还能得孩子吗？撒拉已经九十岁了，还能生养吗？」 (18) 亚伯拉罕对神说：「但愿以实玛利活在你面前。」 (19) 神说：「不然，你妻子撒拉要给你生一个儿子，你要给他起名叫以撒。我要与他坚定所立的约，作他後裔永远的约。

Gen 17:17-19 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, "Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?" (18) And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" (19) God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.

In Gen 18, God's promise is clearer. In Gen 15, God promised Abram's descendents would be like the starts it the sky. In Gen 18, God revealed Abram would have a child called Isaac (יצחק) which means laughters (Gen 21:6).

We need to forget (stop depending on) what we can do and what we have to trust God.