“LEAVE! BY FAITH…”
Hebrews 11:8-10
8It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. 9And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in a tent. And so did Isaac and Jacob, to whom God gave the same promise. 10Abraham did this because he was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
LEAVE
Leave Home
It was “by faith” that Abraham left home. We have several high school seniors who, very soon, are going to be leaving home. At one time or another most of us have left home, left jobs, left cities we enjoyed, left friends and family, left the comfortable, familiar surroundings that we had grown accustomed to. But leaving is necessary if we’re going to get somewhere! And faith in God is necessary if our leaving is to be successful.
Leaving a way of life:
· We left a way of life when we went from a life of sin to a life striving for holiness…by faith in Jesus Christ.
· We left our wills behind, hopefully, when we surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives…by faith in Him.
· We left the “world’s way of dependence on man and exchanged it for dependence on God…by faith.
By Faith
Most of this leaving came about because we believed that we were supposed to leave. We believed that this would be the best thing for our lives. We believed that God wanted us to do it this way; as Abraham did, by faith.
In order to take that “step of faith” and leave our familiar surroundings, we must first talk to God and LISTEN for what He wants in our lives.
A. LISTEN
Illustration:
Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain and gathering them around him, he taught them saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which suffer, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Then Simon Peter said, “Do we have to write this down?”
And Andrew said, “Are we going to have a test on this?”
Philip mumbled, “I don’t have any paper.”
Bartholomew asked, “Do we have to turn this in?”
John whined, “The other disciples didn’t have to learn this.”
And Matthew asked, “Can I go to the bathroom?”
Judas complained, “What does this have to do with anything?”
And James said, “I don’t get it.”
Then one of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus’ lesson plan and inquired of him, “Where are your theological imperatives and long-term objectives in the cognitive domain?”
And Jesus wept.
That sounds like it could have happened today, doesn’t it? Thankfully the disciples who heard Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount were good listeners. They not only listened well, but they took his message seriously and acted on it.
Do you listen well to God? Do you spend time in his Word? Do you let his instruction change the way you live every day? That’s what it means to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ. And it’s also a PRIMARY INGREDIENT for finding out what God wants us to do in this life; where He wants us to go; when He wants us to act.
1. Listen To God
Abraham listened to God, believed God (had FAITH) and acted upon it.
He was obedient to what he heard. (11:8)
2. Listen To Others
It’s also important to listen to others. Not just any “others,” but Godly others, people who trust the Lord. Proverbs 1:5 tells us,
“A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel”
“Without good direction, people lose their way;
the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances. (Proverbs 11:14)
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
But a wise man is he who listens to counsel. (Proverbs 12:15)
Through insolence comes nothing but strife,
But wisdom is with those who receive counsel. (Proverbs 13:10)
Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many counselors bring success. (Proverbs 15:22)
Proverbs 19:20-21
Listen to counsel and accept discipline,
That you may be wise the rest of your days.
Many plans are in a man’s heart,
But the counsel of the LORD will stand.
We are admonished to seek other people’s Godly advice.
An aside to you younger ones; keep in mind the commandment to “honor your parents” doesn’t say stop when you leave home!
3. We’re also to Listen to our ELDERS
“5You younger men, accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility…” 1 Peter 5:5
And, the elder women are supposed to guide the younger women. At every stage in my life there have been elderly people to whom I could go for advice.
We’re to take advice from godly people, friends and elders but
ABOVE ALL…Listen to the counsel of the Lord!
One of the ways God has chosen to speak to us and to share His counsel or advice is through His Word.
B. We must LOOK At His Word and Listen to His Voice, in order to
Look Like Him (2 Cor 3:18b)
2 Corinthians 3:18b
And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
He wants us to “look like Him.” After all He created us in His image.
HE SAYS “IMITATE ME”
1Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2and walk in love, just as Christ also loved £you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2
To imitate Him and reflect Him we must know who He is: His characteristics, His behavior, His thinking…for that we go to His Word. We’ll just look at a couple of them:
5Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had
OTHERS FIRST…
3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Your parents sacrificed time, money, etc. for your growth
Your teachers sacrificed more lucrative careers for you
Life is all about sacrifice – giving up something so we can give more to others…Quite the opposite of the World System.
IT’S NOT ABOUT ME – new book by Max Lucado, actually I found it a little superficial, but the title is GREAT!
15but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
Set apart from the world and it’s value system…
Set apart to God.
When we LISTEN to Him and start to realize what we need to do in order to LOOK like Him, we then need to apply those things.
C. We need to LEARN
Now you say, “I thought that was what listening and looking like Him was!”
In a way, yes. The Chinese have a proverb that clarifies what I mean by “Learn.”
Tell me; I'll forget. Show me; I may remember. But involve me and I'll understand.
Chinese proverb.
Involve me and I’ll get it. Let me participate and I’ll learn it. The business community has been incorporating this in leadership and management skills for some time. They realize that by involving people in the process they learn it better, produce more, and take ownership in the end result.
Look at how we’ve been involving the
But I would caution you: don’t wait for someone else to involve you OR ask you to do something. Get involved yourself. Take the initiative. Take what you hear from God and see in His Word and apply it to your life. Look for and you will find opportunities to help others.
In the end, you won’t be remembered for how smart you were, how rich you were….but how you related to other people. It takes involvement in people’s lives to have a relationship. Knowledge of the scriptures is not enough, they must be applied.
I had a friend who was incredibly well versed in the scriptures…knew them inside out…but he couldn’t translate that into his relationships with people…it was just a head knowledge. There was no ability or perhaps attempt, to apply that knowledge.
Jesus didn’t just talk about loving people, he did it.
As humans, we tend to be selfish. The Bible puts it,
“21For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.” (Phil 2:21)
But when we “seek God first” in our lives and are open to His leading… he works that miracle in us that causes us to love others. Not the romantic love, but the love that says I truly care about you and what’s happening in your life. God’s kind of love!
LEARNING involves making CHOICES.
The choices we make each day are essentially putting into action what we have seen and heard from the Lord. It isn’t always clear which way we are to go. There isn’t a verse in the Bible that says, “You should move to Cochise and go to Wynne Chapel” or that says, “You should move to
Sometimes we simply need to start walking through what appears to be an open door, an opportunity that is in line with God’s word. If God doesn’t want us there, he’ll close the door and open another one.
Illustration:
There was a man who lived very close to a river. One day the river flooded and came right up to his door. He prayed that God would save him from the flood.
The river kept rising and soon he had to climb up on the roof of his house. He prayed again for God to save him from the flood. Pretty soon a helicopter came by and asked if he would like a lift. Again the man replied, “Thank you, no, I’m praying that God will save me.”
The river continued to rise and the man was swept away in the current and drowned. The next thing he knows he’s in heaven. He gets an audience with God and demands to know why God didn’t save him. God’s replied to him,
“What did you want? I sent you a boat and a helicopter!
Too often we plod along with our heads down until we’re in “over our heads” into some habit, or we’re just waiting for God to write something on the wall of our house or up in the sky! Instead we need to look at the available opportunities, test them against God’s Word and trust Him to guide our steps.
Abraham went “without knowing where he was going” (by faith) but he applied what God told him, looked for signs from God, open doors, opportunities and he adapted to a strange country!
Why? Because He had the right attitude!
He had FAITH in God, he was listening to God, and he was looking forward to God’s promise…Just as we should…
We must…
4. LONG for HIS RETURN
Hebrews 13:14
14For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our city in heaven, which is yet to come.
We are Citizens of Heaven
We LEAVE, by faith, to go on to the next stage of growth, of life.
We LISTEN to God in prayer and His Word so that
We will LOOK like Him someday,
LEARNING by experience and
LONGING for His return, by faith!
Hymn #468 “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus”