6-17-07 #Disciple Bible Study Titled: "The Return of the Heroes, Abraham - Great Dad"

[Disciple]

“THE RETURN OF THE HEROES”
“Abraham- Great Dad” (Father’s Day)
Hebrews 11:8-12, 17-19

Intro

A. Today is designated as “Father’s Day”-
1. This is the one time during the year when dad is the designated honoree
2. I found some interesting statistics about Father’s Day:
a. Father’s Day is the 4th most important retail gift holiday-follows Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Valentines Day
1. 55% of Americans celebrate this day by giving dad a gift-
2. according to the Unity Marketing research the typical gift-giver spends $80 on Father’s Day- (how many of you here are ‘typical’ gift-givers?)
b. there are an estimated 66.3 million fathers in the U.S.
1. there are 25.8 million fathers in married-couple families with their own children under 18
2. there are 2,000,000 single fathers-up from 393,000 in 1970
c. 105,000 ‘stay-at-home’ dads care fro 189,000 children
d. 60% of children under age 6 living with married parents eat dinner on a daily bases with their fathers- 24% eat breakfast on a daily basis with dad
e. 88% of children under age 6 are praised by their fathers at least once a day
3. Today we are looking at Abraham
a. Abraham was a hero of faith-and he was a father- we can learn some lessons from Abraham
1. it has been suggested Abraham stands head and shoulders above every other individual in the O.T.
2. After Jesus and Moses, Abraham is perhaps the most important man in all the Bible.
b. Abraham is so associated with faith that when we cannot think of him without thinking of faith- we cannot think of faith without having Abraham come to mind
1. indeed, Abraham is an example of faith to the rest of us
c. Rom. 4:11-12- tells us that Abraham is the father of all who believe and walk in faith.
4. We want to look at some illustrations from Hebrews that talk about the faith of Abraham and see why he is an example for all dads today.

I. Abraham Obeyed God’s Calling
A. The first illustration is seen in Heb. 11:8 that talks about God’s calling Abraham to leave his homeland and go to a land God would show him
1. We can read this account in Gen. 12-
A. Gen. 12:1,4- The Lord had said to Abram, Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you… So Abram left, as the Lord had told him…
2. We can note a sense of immediate obedience from Abraham-
a. the Lord told him to leave and he did- there doesn’t seem to be any delay in his obeying what God called him to do
b. the literal reading of Heb. 11:8 would be ‘By faith, being called, Abraham obeyed…’
c. the writer is saying ‘while being called’, not ‘after he was called’
1. the present participle here indicates Abraham’s immediate obedience to God’s calling in his life
3. What is especially of note here about Abraham’s immediate obedience to God is that at this point Abraham did not know where he was going-
a. he didn’t know how far it was to the new land-
b. he didn’t even know the direction for his destination-
c. all he knew was that the Lord had called him to leave and he did-
d. do you think Abraham might have been confused?

Ill-did you hear about the fellow who had a bad fall and hit his head-it knocked him unconscious and his family assumed that he had died-he woke up lying in a casket and he thought, ’If I’m in a casket, I must be dead, but if I’m dead, why do I have to go the bathroom so bad?’-he was in confusion
4. I’m sure that Abraham must have had some confusion about what God wanted to do in his life and how God was going to bring it all to pass, but Abraham obeyed God in spite of his confusion

Ill- Thomas A. Kempis said, “Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from grace.”

I like what Oswald Chambers said- “One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it”-

5. God is looking for men who will be obedient to His calling in their life

II. Abraham Believed God’s Promises
A. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that a son coming from his own body would be his heir
1. This is an interesting promise that God has made because Abraham’s wife Sarah was barren and unable to bear children
2. In fact, note the words that the Hebrews writer uses to describe both Abraham and Sarah-
a. Heb 11:11 – Abraham was ‘past age’ – Sarah was ‘barren’
1. past age is another way of saying that he was barren and unable to have children
2. v. 12 uses the phrase about Abraham – ‘he as good as dead’
a. the literal reading is ‘having died’ – it refers to the effect of Abraham’s old age in rendering him useless as far as begetting children
b. and something else to consider is that Abraham’s ability to have a son is dependent on Sarah’s fertility and she was barren
c. the physical evidence says that his promise that God made to Abraham for a son is thwarted because of their old age and infertility
3. But we have to look at the Scriptures – we have to reckon for Abraham’s faith-
a. Heb. 11:11- By faith Abraham, even though he was past age- and Sarah herself was barren- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.
b. By faith Abraham became a father-
c. ‘faith’ for Abraham in this situation was trusting that God was faithful to do what he promised when all the evidence pointed the other way.
d. What ‘could not’ happen ‘did’ happen because Abraham and Sarah considered God to be faithful and would do what he had promised
4. Eph. 3:20- Now to him who is able to do immeasurable more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us
5. Do you believe God’s promise to you?
a. what about his promise that he will not remember your sin anymore
b. what about his promise that his grace is sufficient for you
c. what about his promise that he will meet all your needs according to his own glorious riches
6. Faith is believing when all physical evidence and cir***stances that you are looking at say ‘we can’t do that’-
a. but we must remember that God is faithful and he will keep his promise to us.
7. Consider what the Scriptures say to us about God being faithful-
a. Ps. 33:4- For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
b. 1 Thess. 5:24- The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
c. Heb. 10:23- Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
8. Many times we limit what we will even attempt to do in our life because we cannot see how we can do it
a. but we need to remember the encouragement of the Scriptures that remind us that we walk by faith, not by sight
9. When the evidence says you can’t do it, remember God’s promises that he will make a way for it to be done.
III. Abraham Passed The Test
A. In their old age Abraham and Sarah were enabled to bear a son and Isaac was born
1. God had promised that through Isaac, the blessings promised to Abraham would be fulfilled
a. it must have been a joyful time for Abraham and Sarah- they had seen the miraculous power of God working in their lives- they had seen the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises that Abraham would become the father of many nations.
2. But then one day God talks with Abraham-
a. Gen 22:2- Then God said, Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.
b. God now tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac as a burnt offering.
3. You talk about a ‘mixed message’-
a. God has been promising Abraham a son for 25 years and that through this son, Abraham would have many heirs-
b. Now God tells Abraham to sacrifice this very son-
4. Here’s the dilemma- if Isaac is the son through whom the promises are going to be fulfilled, how can these promises be kept if Isaac is sacrificed to God?
5. How do you deal with difficult decisions when you can’t see how it can possibly be worked out?
6. Heb. 11:9- Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead…
a. perhaps Abraham’s ‘reasoning’ went something like this-
1. the boy must die
2. but the boy must have children in the future
3. God is going to raise him for the dead to keep His promise
b. Abraham ‘reasoned’ that God could raise the dead-
1. don’t think that faith is always about a blind leap into something we don’t or can’t know and understand
2. Abraham used his thought processes and he come to the conclusion that God must be going to raise Isaac from death
7. Because Abraham believed God was faithful to His promises and would do what had been spoken, Abraham was willing to give up his son, Isaac
8. Why would God test Abraham this way?
a. can we understand that it is easy to SAY you believe something – it is a different matter to PROVE you believe it
b. Gen 22 tells the story of Abraham taking Isaac to the place to be sacrificed – there is an interesting verse I want you to consider.
1. Gen 22:5-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.
c. did you catch it?- Abraham says ‘we will come back to you’-
1. no wonder Abraham was willing and ready to sacrifice Isaac- he was convinced that God could not lie and that God would raise Isaac from the dead so the promises made would be kept
9. When your faith is put to the test, will you pass?
a. Someone has said that ‘crisis moments do not cause you to lose faith’
1. crisis moments reveal what kind of faith you have or do not have
b. Abraham passed the test and it revealed that his first loyalty was to God- he did not withhold even his son from God


Conc.
Dads can learn some important lessons from Abraham today:
1. they learn that we need to obey God’s calling in our lives
2. they learn that God is faithful and can be trusted to do what He says
3. they learn that they will be tested in what we deem to be of value and importance in our lives and the establishing of priorities

You will recognize the name Roger Staubach- he was quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys and he led them to The Super Bowl Championship in 1971- he admitted that being a quarterback who didn’t call his own plays was a source of trial for him- the coach, Tom Landry, sent in every play- he told Roger when to pass, when to run, and only in an emergency situation could he change the play and he had better be right!- even though Roger considered Coach Landry to be a ‘genius’ when it came to football strategy, his pride told him that he was the quarterback and he should be able to call his own plays- later Staubach said, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey, there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.”

Men the same thing is true for us today – unless and until we face up to the issue of obedience to God, we will never find harmony, fulfillment, and victory in our lives- have you settled the issue of obedience in your life today?