Believe God

The Good Life  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Believing God means to take him at his word, trust what he said will become a reality, and then living accordingly. God is always impressed by faith. WATCH HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUYfcyItzfU

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We are in a message series about having the good life. How are we going to have “the good life”? We are going to fear God. We are going to deal properly with temptation. We are going to seek God. Today, we are going to talk about believing God.
Let’s read our theme verse together.
Psalm 34:12–14 CSB
12 Who is someone who desires life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. 14 Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it.
Most of you are probably familiar to some degree with the biblical character of Abraham. Before God changed his name to Abraham, his name was Abram. God had called Abram to leave his homeland when he was 75 years old.
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He came into the land of Canaan from the north and he first settled in Bethel, which is on the very northern tip of what is modern Israel today. Abram had been in the land for a little while now and he knew what God had promised him. God had promised to give him offspring and up to this point Abram and Sarai had no children.
Abram had been in the land for a little while now and he knew what God had promised him. God had promised to give him offspring because up to this point Abram and Sarai had no children.
This was a major problem because if he had no heir, all of his estate would go to his household steward, who was his slave, Eliezer. All of the promises of God to Abram were contingent on Abram having an heir. If there was no heir, God could not be trusted. God’s reputation was riding on his ability to do what he said he would do.
God appeared to Abram in a vision in . Open your Bibles to .
Genesis 15:1–5 CSB
1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great. 2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.” 4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
Genesis 15:1-5
Genesis 15:1 CSB
1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.
God appeared to Abram in a vision to reassure him of the veracity of his promises. I am thankful God is sensitive to our inadequacies. He knew Abram was struggling with his situation and he wanted Abram to trust him. Likewise, God sees you and knows your struggles. He wants you to trust him. He gave us the Bible so that we could be confident that we serve the God who is faithful and true.
God appeared to Abram in a vision to reassure him of the veracity of his promises. I am thankful God is sensitive to our inadequacies. He knew Abram was struggling with his situation and he wanted Abram to trust him. Likewise, God sees you and knows your struggles. He wants you to trust him. He gave us the Bible so that we could be confident that we serve the God who is faithful and true.
I realize there are some of you who are struggling this morning with one thing or another. We are talking about having the good life, but your life doesn’t feel good right now. You know the promises of God. You are reading and studying the Scriptures. You are in prayer, but for whatever reason, you just don’t feel the answers to your prayers are coming. I think Abram was there too. He had been waiting and waiting for God to move on his behalf. He wasn’t getting any younger and Sarai wasn’t getting any younger either. Yet, God had not yet done what he said he would do.
Look at what Abram said in verse two.
Genesis 15:2 CSB
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
Genesis 15:2–3 CSB
2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.”
He didn’t understand. What good were the blessings if he had no heir? What good would it be to be blessed, but all the blessings are given to someone outside of his family? I am sure Eliezer was a good man, but Abram wanted all he had accumulated to stay in his family.
He didn’t understand. What good were the blessings if he had no heir. What good would it be to be blessed, but all the blessing is given to someone outside of his family. I am sure Eliezer was a good man, but he wanted all he had accumulated to go to stay in his family.
He didn’t understand. What good were the blessings if he had no heir. What good would it be to be blessed, but all the blessing is given to someone outside of his family. I am sure Eliezer was a good man, but he wanted all he had accumulated to go to stay in his family.
I think we have all been there or we will all be there because our lives are a mixed bag. Your finances are blessed, but you health is failing. Your marriage is good, but your kids are not doing what is right. Your job is good, but you are struggling with the location. Abram was blessed in so many ways, yet he was struggling with not having children. He needed God’s reassurance in his life.
Genesis 15:4–5 CSB
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
Genesis 15:4–5 CSB
4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.”
Genesis 15:3–4 CSB
3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.” 4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.”
Genesis 15:4-5
God restated his promise to give Abram a biological heir. We have talked about this before, but it is worth saying again. Know the promises of God. God has made numerous promises in his Word. Know them. Memorize them.
God restated his promise to give Abram a biological heir. We have talked about this before, but it is worth saying again. Know the promises of God. God has made numerous promises in his Word. Know them. Memorize them.
God restated his promise to give Abram a biological heir. We have talked about this before, but it is worth saying again. Know the promises of God. God has made numerous promises in his Word. Know them. Memorize them.
Here is the thing. At this point, Abram had a choice. Will he believe and take God at his word or will he reject the promise of God to pursue his own security in his own way? You have to make the same decision. Will you trust in God’s promises to you or will you reject the promises of God to pursue your own ways?
Look at what Abram did.
Genesis 15:6 CSB
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Abram believed the LORD. Notice, he didn’t believe in the Lord. He believed God. There is a major difference. You can believe in God, meaning you believe he exists, but not believe God, meaning you take God at his Word. He could have rejected God. He could have gone his own way, but he didn’t. He could have served another god. He could have looked for other ways to prosperity, but he didn’t. Abram believed the LORD. He believed God and took him at his word by faith.
What does it mean to believe?

believe (אמן) - to prove to be firm; wearing; confirm; support

The Hebrew word “believe” is transliterated as “AMEN”. When you say “amen”, you are saying you believe what has been said is truth. Abram, without seeing any of the results of the promise, took God at his word. “Abram regarded the God who made this promise as reliable and fully capable of making it a reality.”
Do you regard the God who has made you promises as reliable and fully capable of making it a reality? Do you believe what God has said about your future? Do you believe what God has said about his abiding presence? Do you believe he is preparing a place for you in his eternal home? Do you believe in Christ saving work on the cross.
I want you to hear this and mediate on it. This is the foundation for everything.

Believing God means to take him at his word, trust what he said will become a reality, and then living accordingly.

To take him at his word, you must know what he has said. This is why I emphasize so heavily the reading and studying of God’s Word. God has made promises to you. He is reliable. He has always kept his word and he will always keep his word. He is capable of doing what he says. He has all power, all presence, and all knowledge. If God has promises it, you can be sure he will do it.
Look at again.
Genesis 15:6 CSB
6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
This verse is repeated three times in the New Testament in , , and . I think it is a foundational verse. God saw Abram’s belief. God knows the thoughts and intents of our heart. He knew Abram believed and he credited him as righteous.

Credit (חָשַׁב) - accounting; keeping accounting records

God regarded Abram as righteous because of his belief. This is the first time the Bible records a man being “right” with God since the fall. Other people spoke with God and walked with God, but Abram is different. Abram is right with God. Abram faith rested on the promise of God to provide him with an heir. Abram was entering into a covenant with God. The covenant would not make Abram righteous. His faith in the God of the covenant was credited as righteousness. Get this. Likewise, our faith rests on God’s promise through Jesus Christ the Son of God.

God is always impressed by faith.

George Muller said, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends.”

Do you want to impress God? Do you want the good life? Have faith. Believe him. It is not our time and efforts which impress God and please him. It is our faith.
“It is our faith that is most capable of impressing him [God]. I am not talking about the faith for salvation, though certainly that is a good place to start. I am talking about the faith that God is who he says he is - faith in his attributes, faith that he can and will do what he says he will do, faith that he cares, faith that he is sovereign, faith that he is good. Stake your life on it.”
Hebrews 11:6 CSB
6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Before you think that believing God is somehow unique to our human experience, I want you to consider this idea. God asks for no more faith than what we are capable of in everyday life. Faith is part of everyday living. Think about it. When you are sick, you go to a doctor whose name you can’t pronounce. The doctor gives you a prescription you cannot read. You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen. The pharmacist gives you medication you do not understand --- and yet, in faith, you take it, trusting it is going to make you better.
e.g. When you are ill,
“It is our faith that is most capable of impressing him [God]. I am not talking about the faith for salvation, though certainly that is a good place to start. I am talking about the faith that God is who he says he is - faith in his attributes, faith that he can and will do what he says he will do, faith that he cares, faith that he is sovereign, faith that he is good. Stake your life on it.”
you go to a doctor whose name you can’t pronounce.

Martin Luther said: "Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible. Then, it accepts the impossible, does without the indispensable and bears the intolerable."

Faith, belief, is the only way to please God. Believing God means to take him at his word, trust what he said will become a reality, and then living accordingly. Belief without obedience is a foreign concept to the Scripture.
He gives you a prescription you cannot read.
Faith is part of everyday living. Think about it. When you are sick, you go to a doctor whose name you can’t pronounce. The doctor gives you a prescription you cannot read. You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen. The pharmacist gives you medication you do not understand --- and yet, in faith, you take it, trusting it is going to make you better.
James 2:18–26 CSB
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder. 20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen.
James 2:18-
If you take God at his word, then you live accordingly. Abram believed God and his belief in God and the veracity of God’s word had real life implications. Belief in God came with real life risks. Abram would be called by God to offer his son of promise, Isaac, as a sacrifice. What a terrible thought and yet he did it because he took God at his word.
He gives you medication you do not understand --- and yet, you take it.
Hebrews 11:19 CSB
19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.
Hebrews
His belief in God was so strong he believed if he followed through with the sacrifice of Isaac, that God would raise him from the dead. Do you take God at his word? Do you trust that what God has said will become a reality? Are you living what you say you believe?

The good life is a life lived by faith in God.

Look at this verse from Romans.
Romans 4:17–19 CSB
17 As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations. He is our father in God’s sight, in whom Abraham believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist. 18 He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
Romans
Abram believed God, hoping against hope. These verses point out that Abram believed against hope - in other words, when it didn't seem reasonable to believe. Perhaps we are living in a reasonable places. Perhaps we have believed in God, but believing God seems unreasonable to us. God has become insubstantial. Abram was not what we would call a unreasonable man. Today, we have so much belief invested in science and what we can touch and see - that we are back in that place that puts us believing IN God; but not believing God.
What if we could look at this giant of the faith and acknowledge that even Abram had to look at his situation and CHOOSE to believe God. What if we simply made the choice to take God at his word. God gives us the ability to CHOOSE to believe Him.
If I believe Him, then I believe He is capable of guiding my steps, directing my life, and protecting me in the hard places in life. When I believe God, in hope against all hope, I take him at his word. So now I have to know His Word - and what he says about how I am to live.
Perhaps you are here this morning at you have never taken the first step. You realize the path you are on isn’t working, but you don’t know what else to do. You don’t know where to turn. Let me urge you this morning to turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look to Jesus and live. Put your faith in Jesus’ ability to forgive you and save you from your sins.
Acts 16:31 CSB
31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Believe. You must believe. What must you believe?
e.g. When you are ill,
1
1 Corinthians 15:3–5 CSB
3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
you go to a doctor whose name you can’t pronounce.
We all have a major problem. We are sinners. Sins are things that we have done wrong; things which are against God’s commands. Everyone has sinned. No one has done everything perfectly according to God’s law. However, God loved us so much that he sent Jesus into the world. Jesus, the Son of God, took on flesh and came to earth. He lived a sinless life and then Jesus, who was without sin became sin for us. He took all of our sins onto himself.
He gives you a prescription you cannot read.
Without ever sinning, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice by dying on the cross for our sins and our offenses. He died in our place for the forgiveness of sins. On the third day, when the stone was rolled away, Jesus was not there. The tomb was empty. Jesus had risen from the dead, so that anyone, that includes you, who calls on the name of Jesus would be saved and forgiven.
You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen.
Please bow your heads and close your eyes. How many of you will say, “Pastor, I believe. I believe in Jesus. I have already made the decision to trust in Jesus by faith.” Put your hands up.
He gives you medication you do not understand --- and yet, you take it.
(If this is true:) Say: I noticed that there were some hands that did not go up. I appreciate your honesty, because you couldn’t say with integrity that you are trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Now, that is living by Faith!
(Alternative ending) Many hands went up in the air. I know many of you are trusting in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Maybe there is still someone here who is wrestling with doubt.
You aren’t quite sure what you believe. Maybe you feel the tug on your heart and you know you need to talk to someone today who can help you. Don’t let this moment pass. Don’t continue with your doubts. Come to Jesus, believe and live. I’ll be standing down front in just a moment. Come and talk with me. Let us guide you to the good life, a life of peace and hope that is only found through faith in Jesus.
Don’t let this moment pass. Don’t continue with your doubts. Come to Jesus, believe and live. I’ll be standing down front in just a moment
Close in Prayer.
Our deacons will be coming forward to pray with you and for you. If you prayed to receive Jesus, please come and let us pray with you and celebrate your new life in Christ. If God is dealing in your heart and life right now, don’t let this moment pass.
As you stand and we sing together.
<after closing the time of invitation>
Perhaps you didn’t come forward for one reason or another, but you really do want to talk with us about what is going on in your life. Perhaps you need help, prayer, or you just want to know more about being a follower of Jesus. I would encourage you to do one of two things. After we are dismissed, just stay where you are. One of our deacons will come and talk with you and pray with you. The other thing you can do is check one of the boxes on the Connection Card. Put it in the offering plate as it passes. We will get in touch with you this week. You see, this church exists to minister to one another. We are here to support you in your walk with God.
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