The Lord will Provide

March 4, 2018 Background Scripture: Genesis 22 Lesson Passage: Genesis 22:1 – 3, 6 – 14 There is a long journey of faith that separates Ur of the Chaldeans from the land of Moriah. The length of the journey is not measured in miles or kilometers but rather spiritual growth. Abram must have had some inkling of God’s provision that led him to leave his homeland as God requested. But his initial steps of obedience were a far cry from the situation depicted in today’s text. Abram left Ur as God commanded him, but he did not leave in total compliance to God’s instructions. He was told to leave the land and his family. He left Ur but he left along with his father, Terah, and nephew, Lot. The journey included the death of his father, relationship friction with Lot’s servants and his servants leading to their separation, sorrow for the separation from his first son, Ishmael, partial obedience to God, deception out of fear for his life, and an ever-growing closeness to God. God was with Abraham through all that he went through, and God delivered him. God gave Abraham favor with the people he encountered and caused them to show Abraham great respect. God multiplied the material wealth of Abraham and gave him promises that exceeded anything he would probably have asked for. God promised that all nationalities of the earth would be blessed through Abraham. When one considers the whole covenant as stated, it is difficult to think of anything that would be depressing or even stressful in Abraham’s life. That, however, changed in the text of this lesson. With everything seemingly at its highest point, God commanded Abraham to offer his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to Him. There are at least two things that would have been disturbing about this command of God. First, God’s first commandment for him to leave his homeland, removed him from an environment of spiritual abominations such as human sacrifice. Secondly, God told Abraham to listen to Sarah and put his first son, Ishmael, out of his house so that he was no longer in contact with him. At that time, Isaac was the only son that Abraham had a relationship with; Isaac would inherit his estate according to God’s promise. Abraham knew that he would not live in this world forever and therefore wanted an offspring to inherit his wealth and carry on his name. His first son, Ishmael, was born to him by Sarah’s servant, Hagar, at Sarah’s request. Thirteen years later, Isaac was born to him by his wife Sarah when Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety years old. Abraham had waited a long time to have an offspring. But Abraham’s faith journey had taught him a lot about God. Abraham was going to do what God commanded him and offer Isaac as a burnt offering. This was not an act of desperation or a surrender of his aspirations and dreams. Abraham was going to offer Isaac because he knew that God would have to raise Isaac from the ashes of that altar. That’s right. There was no recorded resurrection of the dead before this time, but Abraham knew God would have to do it because all of the promises God made to Abraham depended on Isaac being his heir. Isaac would have to be alive at the time of Abraham’s death or the promises of God would have been false. All of the promises of God are yes and amen; therefore, the conclusion of the matter is: The Lord would have to provide a burnt offering for Himself. Abraham’s faith journey was complete. Robert C. Hudson February 21, 2017

The Good Fight of Faith

February 25, 2018 Background Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:11 – 21 Lesson Passage: 1 Timothy 6:11 – 21 The pretext of this lesson presents an interesting backdrop for Paul’s instructions to Timothy about the good fight of faith. Paul warns Timothy to avoid becoming entangled in worldly greed. He mentions that some who have attempted to use godliness for worldly gain had found themselves in ruin and destruction because of their harmful desires. Paul reiterated one of his principles; and that is the principle concerning the power of contentment. It is only through contentment that Paul equates godliness to great gain. The love of money is a dangerous behavior and can lead saints away from the faith. Paul’s warning is the beginning of the lesson today. Paul warned Timothy to run away from the love of worldly gain and to pursue after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Note that these things must be pursued because they are not a part of the natural order of this world. These things are characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. In other words, these characteristics give evidence of the indwelling Spirit of Christ being allowed to rule in the life of the believer. The focus should be on the eternal life that the believer has received in Christ and not on the things of this world that are all temporary—seeing that this world is under condemnation and will be totally destroyed by God. The focus on eternal life is absolutely necessary if the believer is going to fight the good fight of faith. Secondly, the good fight of faith requires persistence. It is not enough to have a few really good days every now and then. The good fight of faith requires persistence day in and day out. With this pursuit in mind, then Timothy was to warn those who were rich to not depend on their riches which are not always certain but depend on God who is the true supplier of all good things that we may enjoy. The rich should strive to be generous to others and to engage in good works. This behavior in the rich will provide eternal wealth for them. Finally, Timothy must treat divine knowledge and doctrine as peculiar treasures which he should be careful to guard. Sometimes it can be tempting to believe that others may have something that is worth more than the divine knowledge God has given us, and this attitude should be avoided. Not appreciating what one has and chasing something that is believed to be superior can lead one to stray away from the faith. Like Timothy, all Christians can be encouraged to fight the good fight of faith by heeding the same advice that Paul gave Timothy. God has not changed, Satan has not changed, but the world is ever changing, and Satan takes advantage of it to lure unsuspecting Christians into his trap of entanglement. We must fight to overcome our worldly desires, remember our confession of faith, and protect that which God has entrusted to us. Robert C. Hudson January 22, 2017