TOPIC:“Faith at Its Finest”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Hebrews 11:8, 9, 11, 17
“By faith Abraham” (v. 8); “By faith he made his home” (v. 9);
“By faith Abraham” (v. 11); “By faith Abraham” (v. 17).
Of the greatness of Abraham there is no doubt. He is held today in profound respect and reverence by three major religions of the world. He stands out in human history as one of the greatest men who ever lived. The Apostle James reminds us that “he was called God's friend” (James 2:23). But what I want to get across to you is that Abraham was first and foremost a man of faith. He was a hero of faith.
And the faith describing Abraham's life was not some occasional or spasmodic thing. It was constant and steady. It was a life-long attitude of complete and confident reliance on God to keep His Word. To put it simply: Abraham believed God! Notice how the author of Hebrews describes Him. In verse 8: "By faith Abraham." In verse 9: "By faith he made his home." In verse 17: "By faith Abraham." Faith characterized every aspect of Abraham's life.
Would to God that we had more believers to possess the kind of faith that Abraham exhibited throughout his life. From the time God called him in Genesis chapter 12 until the end of his life he put his total faith in the God of Israel. He is the outstanding example in the Bible of those who lived by faith. As a matter of fact, Paul speaks of Abraham as "the father of all who believe" (Romans 4:11). Vernon Grounds, in his article entitled, Unfaltering Faith, was right when he wrote: “Pray for an unfaltering faith that stands strong under life's greatest pressures.” I say to you that a strong and steadfast faith is the greatest need of the hour.
Now just a word about faith. If we see something with our eyes or hear something with our ears we can discover whether something is true or not. The same is true of faith. Faith is the certainty that things we have not seen are nevertheless true. It is the confidence that God is going to bring to pass all those things that He has promised in His Word. Note those two words: certainty and confidence. That is faith! The certainty that God is who He says He is. The confidence that God will do what He says He will do. Now with this as our background, I want us to look at the record of Abraham's faith. Four things stand out in the chapter before us.
I.
Consider, first of all, the OBEYING of faith. Look at verse 8: “By faith Abraham, when called . . .