Evidential Faith

let's turn our bibles today i appreciate my good friend brother river our families go back a long ways it it doesn't seem like a long ways brother river but when you think about it it's over 30 years it's probably 32 33 years it seemed like but we love the river family amen romans 11 8 through 19 i'm sorry not romans hebrews 11 8 through 19 is very familiar by faith abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance he obeyed and went out not knowing whether he went by faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling in tabernacles with isaac and jacob and heirs with him the heirs with him of the same promise for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is god through faith also sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised therefore sprang there even of one and him as good as dead so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable these all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth for they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country and truly if they had been mindful of that country from which they came out they might have had opportunity to have returned but now they desire a better country that is a heavenly wherefore god is not ashamed to be called their god for he hath prepared for them a city by faith abraham when he was tried offered up isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that in isaac thy seed shall be called accounting that god was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received in him a figure romans 4 18-21 speaking again of abraham who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be and being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a hundred years old neither the deadness of sarah's womb he staggered not at the promise of god through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to god and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform

praise god two of the most powerful faith passages in all of scripture i want to preach to you today on this subject evidential faith evidential faith lord jesus i praise you i thank you lord i pray that you'll touch us today god let the gift of faith operate in this congregation today god let faith be transferred god let faith be imparted today god in the name of jesus god we thank you lord we praise you jesus praise god you may be seated

it's impossible to overstate the importance of abraham in the biblical narrative in as much as the bible is history it is the history of abraham's descendants that promise that abraham would be a blessing to all families is fulfilled in jesus christ paul makes a big deal about whether a word that god spoke was either singular or plural people that get aggravated at us for splitting hairs on things well paul said it that the word was seed and not seeds and throat so through abraham's seed the singular jesus christ was the promise in which all of this blessing comes from abraham to the world today that's a pretty important thing that you that jesus christ would be from your lineage and that's abraham because of abraham it's through him that all families are blessed when the new testament writers are trying to articulate what faith is and even jesus christ when he was trying to demonstrate faith he says uh to he said be like abraham after you've said everything about at the conclusion of my message today i may forget to say it but but i should say just be like abraham and then maybe we should just have the altar call right now be like abraham that's the faith jesus spoke to john 8 39 abraham did many works that demonstrated his strong faith in god jesus christ told the jewish leaders every day but now you seek to kill me a man who has told you the truth which i heard from god abraham did not do this he said abraham believed the truth from the mouth of god and from the angels that god sent abraham believed god

we know that we should walk by faith and not by sight right we know that he's the waymaker he's the miracle worker he's the promised keeper we know all of that but there are times in our lives that walking by sight is pretty routine and because we live in a wonderful country walking by faith is many times unnecessary and even as mature christians we can almost feel like a failure if we're not walking by sight if we have to trust god we must have made a mistake somewhere along the line we failed to plan we failed to properly see the future and save enough money for that situation or so so now we have to trust god

and i'll never forget my father-in-law my precious father-in-law that we miss so much when we first started out in the ministry carl and i we didn't know any better we felt like i felt like god told me to quit my job and to put all our stuff in storage i had it i had two invitations to go preach and it was a total of two weeks and carla was pregnant four months i think five months pregnant with our first child didn't have two dimes rubbed together i had to put maternity clothes on a credit card for her because she didn't have anything to wear so she could have something some dress clothes to wear and we just and i never will forget we stopped off to preach in richmond now i know my father-in-law was trying to help us out i i didn't really you know at the time i thought he thought i might have a word for the church i didn't know he just wanted to help me but anyway he was afraid his daughter wouldn't have any money but he said well he said scott and carla they're just they're just walking by faith right now so i don't i don't know if that was a compliment if that was said to make them feel sorry for us or whatever but but we kind of say well they're just walking by faith that means they don't know beans about what they're about to do and anything could happen and and we're like well hmm i wonder what they did to get themselves in that situation we prosperous living can be a curse down south we say they're all they're fat and sassy or living high on the hog my uncle i used to work with him they'd say how you doing girl he said every day like a holiday every meal is like a picnic well i don't know that was always true but that's what we want people to think isn't it jimmy dean you may not know him but i i uh he a storyteller poet he had a little deal he did part of it was i thank god for his blessings and the mercy he's bestowed i'm drinking from my saucer because my cup has overflowed now that's where we try to live as christians right and that's what we want we want to be our have our cup overflowing and blessing but sometimes it doesn't happen that way and if you're not careful you'll think what have i done wrong i'm an established christian

well i want to tell you you need to be like abraham you need to be like abraham our father abraham did not do this

abraham was a man of faith he was the only person on earth we know at that time that was serving god the only person that god was speaking to on the earth and abraham uh believed god he he was minding his own business in er of the counties he was uh being blessed already and but god said i want you to leave your family i want you to go to a land that i'm going to show you and and and so abraham just said yes god i will and packed up and and and left and had no answers where are you going abraham i don't know well what you doing i'm looking for a city well where is it at i don't know we think that's irresponsible nowadays and they thought abraham was irresponsible but he didn't care and lot uh his nephew said you know what i think i'm going to go with this guy i i lot had a had an insight he said i think we're all being blessed because of this guy i'm gonna go with him and so abraham and lot set out and they they go and and and abraham was full of faith abraham was in the will of god and of course he had already uh gone through his split he went through that split with a lot lot uh got sideways about something and and abraham came to that moment and he said i'm just going to let the kid take whatever he wants and i'm going to trust god to give me what god wants me to have and god was speaking to him and and lot took the best land and and abraham look if you ever driven into uh jerusalem and in those hills of judea there you see goats out there grazing and you're like what are they eating they must be eating rocks or something they're finding some little something but it's bearing land and and so abraham takes out into this barren land now he had a whole house full hole full of people and you can believe they were wondering what he was doing i guarantee you a bunch of them were upset at lot and wondering why abraham didn't just take over and send a lot to these rocky hills but abraham believed god abraham trusted god to do what was right for him he was walking by the spirit he had not made a mistake abraham was doing the right thing he had believed god and had his whole household circumcised nobody ever heard of that before but god instituted it and abraham as shocking as it was abraham believed god i won't go into details on that but you can imagine that was a traumatic event for his whole household and then lot gets in trouble and he goes and rescues this ungrateful nephew abraham's been walking by faith for a very long time here abraham was not just a beginner at all of this he believed god for a child and received a miracle and while he was a hundred years old and sarah was 90 they conceived the promised child and was born into their household and they just believed god and and and was the center of god's work on earth was abraham's family and his community and then one day god says abraham i want you to take your son your only son and i want you to offer him on the altar the ultimate test of faith to a mature christian sometimes we think we're too mature to have our faith tested you're mistaken we want to hide sometimes the fact that god is testing our faith and and there are things god asked us to do that that he we don't understand and it doesn't make sense in any sort of the word and we can put any kind of twist we want to on abraham's test but it seemed barbaric and horrible but abraham trusted the character and nature of god and even as he contemplated this kid that he loved he his dearly beloved son this was a son he had in his old age he was more like his grandson he i mean you know about grandkids well we we we they're special grandkids are god's gift to people who don't kill their children growing up and so you get to raise your grandkids and and boy they doted on isaac and he he and and god said tie him up and lay him down on the altar and plunge a knife into his heart i don't think god's going to ask me to do that i i think i i i don't have the faith of abraham i'm working on it i'll tell you god will test he will not test us above that we're able to bear but he will test us severely look at these two wonderful ladies one lost their dad and one lost their brother in the month of november and you know i know i don't understand it and i'm sure they don't understand you're going to be tested there are things that come into our lives we don't understand abraham taking that boy up that hill contemplating what he had to do and i said daddy where's the sacrifice god will provide a sacrifice and he keeps walking up the hill never doubting the nature and character of god hebrews tells us he believed that god was able to raise that boy from the dead he was fully prepared to follow through with offering a sacrifice knowing that god's nature and god's character is going to somehow bring this to a redemptive resolution and it was going to be fair and just

god wants us to believe him god wants our faith to grow now faith is the evidence of things that are not seen it without faith it is impossible to please god you don't please god by just being faithful in your good works that is a demonstration of faith but god wants to come in he said after abraham pulled that knife back and the angel stopped him god said now i know for you to go to the next level with god god has to test that faith he's going to bring you to the end of your faith he's going to bring you to a place that you've never walked in faith before you haven't failed you haven't done anything wrong this is just a natural progression of your spiritual maturity god wants you to believe him in spite of the circumstances in your life in the middle of your tears in the middle of your pain in the middle of your confusion god wants you to focus on his nature and his character we've got we have to believe in god's power and promises without wavering i said pastor that's a that's a big order to feel you know without wavering is subject to interpretation if you think that you have to believe god and never have one question and one negative thought and one moment of anxiety you must understood abraham had some anxiety and some missteps along the way abraham lied one time two times because he was afraid but he got his balance back biggest mistake ever made in the in human history maybe besides the garden of eden was abraham and ishmael because his faith he said well maybe god needs some help we have moments that we question moments if you say you've never questioned why god did something well congratulations i haven't i have questioned god on numerous occasions why'd you do that because i don't understand the ways of god i don't understand bethlehem i wouldn't have done it that way i wouldn't have done it i don't understand calvary really either i wouldn't done it that way either i i had all kind of grandiose plans the way god ought to do things i used to tell god all the time i'm out and you know and ann arbor passing out tracks i'm like god if you'll just specifically i was putting end time magazines in the waiting rooms at the university of michigan and the waiting rooms were all right there they were stacked on top of each other so i'd walk up the stairs put some there walker and i was like i was up there one day i said uh god if you just let me wipe out one whole floor of this hospital just heal everybody up here have them follow me down to the lobby and let's have a press conference then we can build a church around here he said i tried that it doesn't work

we don't understand everything but that's a different thing than questioning god's character and god's nature we can question his actions and his active the bible says his way is in the sea his footsteps are from the great waters and his pathway is not known you know you can't track god down you can't figure out oh well he was here now he went there and then i'm gonna no if he doesn't hold our hand we lose him because you can't track him down it's a walk of faith and and god wants us to believe you know satan wants us to push the panic button uh you know uh we've got to get rid of our americanitis that says if our politician didn't get elected if our supreme court don't make the right decision all is lost no it's not nothing's lost nothing's lost god hasn't been out of control one day one minute one second if god doesn't heal this or do that then then it's not gonna work no it's gonna work out right because god's even able to raise from the dead it's never hopeless for god god's always able to make the situation better

when you fall into divers temptations know this that the trial of your faith worketh patience that's endurance but let patience have a perfect work that you might be perfect and entire wanting nothing if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god to give it to all men liberally upbraideth not and it shall be given him let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like the wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed god's nature is not to be questions he gives us wisdom

are you anxious are you nervous are you fretting you got to go back to the belief in the nature of god god created this world god's word holds it together he has made the things that we see with invisible things it is god's word that holds everything together the scientists look for the god particle i'll tell you what holds this world together it's the word of god he spoke it into existence and it still exists because his word holds it together he made me he made me in his image he put the breath of life in me he loves me i see calvary i know that he died for me he i know my experiences i know that when i was seven years old i was filled with the baptism of the holy ghost i remember being baptized in his name i remember the things that god has spoken to me through the years and i don't understand maybe what's going on today but i trust his nature i trust his character

god is testing our faith god is testing your faith we have to believe in his nature his character don't be dismayed because you've been serving the lord a long time and something has happened to you that you don't understand

can you imagine abraham living his life because of a promise and then god asking him to kill the promise it's coming in your life and maybe it's here today

i'll never forget my dad my dad was a printer he was a saint in the church wasn't a preacher faithful to the house of god but his brother was going to work one day his brother was 10 years older than him my dad's dad died at 10 and so uncle charles was 20. and so uncle charles was like a dad to my father and all my life any time my dad had a problem with anything but i'm gonna call charles and charles would come over and fix it you know charles had all the answers you know and charles was driving to work he was 60 years old driving to work one day and something happened to his brain didn't know where he was didn't know his son found him on the side of the road just happened to be driving by he was confused disoriented he was diagnosed with a brain tumor uh stage four didn't have but weeks to live and my dad was so upset and he began to rally the church to pray for charles god was gonna heal charles uh my dad uh you know felt like most people that uh you know believing god means purging your mind of all doubt and kind of having some kind of self-hypnosis so that you can push aside everything and i've got a gin up faith and he was doing his best to believe that god was going to heal his brother as i said he was a printer and so he printed he printed up invitations to a celebration party for the healing of charles sister he was putting it out there i'd never seen my dad do that my dad was not expressive he wasn't expressive in worship he didn't run the aisles he didn't shout he came to church and he raised his hand he lived a faithful life but all of a sudden he's putting it out there he was at my house when i got a call from brother kraft said scott charles just passed away and i had to tell my dad that his precious beloved brother passed away to say he was devastated wouldn't even begin to touch it and i worried about my dad what is he going to do and he actually questioned well why would god heal i never forget why did god heal wendell price but he wouldn't heal charles and what could i say to him what was i going what counsel was i going to give my faithful dad that taught me everything i know about serving god what words did i have to explain god's actions to him i don't know where or when it happened somewhere my dad come to trust the character and nature of god just like he always had he didn't miss a service over brother wilford he was buried in the neck service and i don't know how hard it was but he lifted his hands to the lord and he worshiped god and he kept on walking he kept on being faithful he kept on paying his tithes and he kept on singing the praises of jesus christ

faith and the character and the nature of god church i'm telling you god has not abandoned you god is not it didn't quit watching whatever's happened in your life it happened with god watching and god in control and as painful and as horrible as it may feel you better know that god has the power to fix it and he will

let's stand this morning david said i will lift up mine eyes into the hills from which cometh my help my help cometh from the lord which has made heaven and earth now some people this scripture is interpreted several ways some people say i will lift up my knives to the heels as is a reference to the false gods and where they worship the false gods and they he was saying i will lift up mine eyes to the hills but my help doesn't come from the hills my help comes from god some say the hills represents jerusalem and where the temple was or would be and where they worshipped and he was saying i lift up my eyes to the hills where god dwells and that's where my help comes from you better not look to anywhere but jesus your help doesn't come from your bank account your help doesn't come from the politicians your help does it come from anyone or anything your help comes from the lord who made heaven and earth every great leader whether it's abraham moses simon peter

you have moments when as much as we know better we're like oh god's on vacation i better take care of things uh where i don't see god around i'll do it myself better not better not oh what are you gonna do and in some ways it seemed like oh man i've got to come up with that faith and what in the world if you could have fixed your situation you'd have done it a long time ago there was anybody around that could fix your situation we'd fix it a long time ago i'm gonna trust god because i know that he loves me whatever it is i believe god can raise him from the dead god can bring victory out of this situation

if you feel comfortable if you don't feel comfortable that's fine you can either come to the front or where you want you lift your hands say god i trust you i believe you god i trust you i believe you i will not succumb to those who want me to push the panic button and are trying to prey on my fears i will not give in to that god i will admit i don't understand it but i will trust you i trust you god he had a borrow god if i don't trust you the world explodes the world explodes there's no where can we turn god i trust you i'm here to tell you there's victory ahead there's victory ahead i said there's victory ahead if you if you pass your test of faith pass your test of faith it's going to be the beginning the beginning of a new dimension a new dimension oh thank you jesus in fact your whole future is depending on you continuing to trust the nature and the compassion and the love the justice of god oh hallelujah hallelujah god in the name of jesus y'all that faith arise in this place god lord let's fan that that uh smoking flax god oh lord you said you wouldn't uh break a bruised reed you would not quit to smoking flax god lord take that faith god let it kindle again into a roaring fire oh god hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah you're the waymaker you're the promised keeper hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

this whole place is an altar right now hallelujah this whole place is an altar right now oh give it to the lord put your eyes upon jesus look full in his wonderful face today free acquaint yourself with his nature with his character no the journey has been hard we will confess your goodness god we still believe we're still surrendering our hearts your faithfulness is our reward we still believe we still believe and know the journey has been hard we will commence your goodness god we still believe we still believe we're still surrendering our hearts your faithfulness is our reward we still believe and though the journey has been hard we will the holy ghost and just coming and wrapping someone up this morning we're going to stay here as god does his work and as god moves and touches hearts would you let him do that in your life right now your faith is being tested why don't you just run to that god and get a hold of his hand again today have you ever let go of it jesus i trust your nature i trust you lord that you're faithful you've never failed me you've never disappointed me we're still surrendering hearts

just a moment ago i just felt like the lord came in and just wrapped us up i really just a certain direction i feel to do that if you feel like your faith is being tested right now you need the strength of the body and the strength of the prayers of those around you would you just be so bold as to say i'll take those prayers and i'll take some strength today some help i was looking just over at this section while i was sitting here and i could pick out ones whose faith had been or is being tested and i know it's all across the building we're going to take some time right here and let the strength of god come alongside would you just keep that hand lifted if your faith is being tested right now and you need to get a hold of god again oh they're going to sing again can we pray right now church over these lies these families whose faith is being tested and they're you're not wrong for your faith being tested right now but i feel the strength of the presence and the glory of god come alongside someone let them know you're not alone today i haven't left you today but take a hold of my hand again and i'm carrying i'll walk with you i'll be with you we speak the strength of god over families over individuals those facing lost god those facing trial and storm and health situations and heartache we rally behind those who stay is being tested in the name of jesus we still believe we're still surrendering we still believe we're still surrendering pray that last line of that song we still believe in your own words would you just let the lord know right now god i still trust you i may not understand right now and i may not even be able to track you right now lord i don't know where you're at just yet but i trust you just like abraham did i put my trust in you lord and you have not abandoned you have not forsaken you're with us today in your presence and your glory is evidence of it lord we trust you i still believe in you i still believe in you oh jesus jesus cheese that's a call from god to worship he's wanting our worship right now in the midst of your test let's thank him and praise him together that was a definite call from god right now it was a worship and it's a worship call oh yes go ahead and push every mountain in the midst of the touch against the wall go ahead we praise you jesus we praise you jesus oh yes that's right that's right we praise you hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah jesus we praise you lord in the middle of it all we worship you jesus hallelujah hallelujah oh god hallelujah thank you jesus thank you jesus

well if we weren't convinced that he's with us before just his presence his glory and gifts of the spirit and operation lets us know god is with us his hand is on us i got encouraged today thought of that father in mark chapter 9 son dealing with demon possession he said lord would you heal him if you can so he had a question in his mind he said the lord asked him do you believe and he said i do help my unbelief i'm dealing with something here my faith is being tested here would you help my faith and my unbelief god knows exactly where we are and in the end he did give a victory he did one way or the other we're going to be victorious thank god for his word can we thank him again today for his help lord i thank you for your word and your clarity that you brought today and your strength that we feel we're leaving here with a note of victory lord even in the middle of our faith being tested i thank you for the feeling and the power of victory that's here today and your presence that's going with us we honor you and glorify you thank you jesus thank you jesus amen amen