April 24, 2023
Abrahams Faith is Strengthened
Abrahams Faith is Strengthened
Jerry Mongello shares on Genesis 21 Part Two
Watch Video Sermon Here: https://www.valleychristianchurchmorenovalley.org/abrahams-faith-is-strengthened/
Pastor Martin graciously extended the examination of Genesis 21 due to the abundance of information and doctrine in this Chapter.
Today, 176 million Americans claim to be Christians—69% of the population. Yet, only 6% of U.S. adults—which is 9% of those identifying as Christians—possess a biblical worldview, believing the Bible to be accurate and reliable, among other convictions.
That’s according to a new study by researcher George Barna and the Cultural Research Center (CRC) at Arizona Christian University in Glendale, Arizona.
The study asserts that every person has a worldview—defined as an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual decision-making filter. And though many Americans believe they have a “biblical worldview,” very few do. (A Barna-conducted study published in May found that 51% of U.S. adults claim to have “biblical worldview”—a far cry from the percentage who actually do, according to the latest findings.)
“Two out of three Americans think of themselves as a Christian, and a majority still think that Christianity is kind of about the Bible,” Barna said in an interview at the time. “But there’s a big gap between what (self-identified Christians) believe the Bible may teach, and what the Bible actually teaches.”
While the latest figures may be shocking to some observers, they’re similar to Barna’s findings in 2003 [ in that 2003 survey 84% of US adults self-identified Christians]. That survey found that 4% of U.S. adults possess a biblical worldview, including 9% of “born-again Christians.”
Analyzing specific beliefs of the faithful
The CRC study, which included 2,000 adults, classifies American believers on a spectrum of five sub-groups, from those who only self-identify as Christians to those who are termed “integrated disciples” and possess a biblical worldview. On the surface, they may all appear Christian, but the survey reveals stark differences in their core beliefs.
For instance, 61% of those who self-identify as Christians affirm that: I believe that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect and just Creator of the universe who still rules the universe today.
However, large majorities of self-identified Christians also report many beliefs “not in harmony with biblical teaching,” according to the survey. These include:
72% argue that people are basically good –
[Luke 18:19 NKJV] 19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one [is] good but One, [that is], God.
[Romans 3:23] 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
66% say that ‘having faith’ matters more than which faith you pursue
64% say that all religious faiths are of equal value
[John 14:6 NKJV] 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
58% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their way into Heaven
[Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV] 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
57% believe in karma
[Galatians 6:7-10 NKJV] 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
By contrast, the survey cohort termed as Integrated Disciples—a small subset of those claiming to be Christians—are noted as being consistent in their beliefs and integrating those convictions into their behaviors.
99+% believe that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful and just Creator of the universe who still rules the universe today
99+% believe that the Bible is the accurate and reliable words of God
96% claim that every moral choice either honors of dishonors God
However, Barna’s survey finds that even some believers classified as part of this highly disciplined cohort hold to some views that “challenge biblical principles.” Those “shocking” beliefs of Integrated Disciples include:
52% argue that people are basically good
39% contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence, or purity
33% believe in karma
“There is a remarkable level of self-deception (even among) born-again Christians,” said Barna, commenting on his recent worldview research. “It represents a huge educational challenge for those responsible for biblical worldview development.”
In response to the findings, George Barna quotes Scripture at length and calls believers to a life of “obedience” to Gospel teachings.
“Too often . . . people who want a certain reputation or image embrace the label ‘Christian,’ regardless of their spiritual life and intentions,” states Barna. “’Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ,” he states.
“It is the parent’s job to raise up a child in the way he should go, making sure that they know the admonitions of the Lord and they live accordingly,” he said in a recent interview. “They may not know how to do some of these things. Therefore, it’s the role of the local church to be equipping the parents.”
Back to Genesis 21, I believe the survey we just went through will correspond with the message in this chapter.
1 And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken. 2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. 3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him–whom Sarah bore to him–Isaac. 4 Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, [and] all who hear will laugh with me.” 7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne [him] a son in his old age.”
Two points I want to make concerning these passages.
” 7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne [him] a son in his old age.”[Genesis 21:1-7 NKJV]
Note Sarah joy being able to nurse children remember in chapter 16 when Sarah gives her husband her servant. That Sarah sacrificed in order for Abraham to have a child and I remember reading that chapter and the Holy Spirit putting in my heart what Sarah must have felt in making that sacrifice, the pain she must have felt, the shame she must have felt and the inadequacy she felt. Hagar never let Sarah forget it, never stopped mocking her and shaming her. God who is always faithful has put laughter in her heart, God put in heart at 90 years old. Today many believe childbirth is a burden, inconvenient, giving birth today is considered a harm to the environment.
Abraham personally witnesses the faithfulness of God fulfilling the promise from Genesis 15.
1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I [am] your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” 2 But Abram said, “Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house [is] Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” 4 And behold, the word of the LORD [came] to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Abraham’s faith is strengthened in chapter 21 after receiving the promise Seed. Abraham is now getting a glimpse of God’s promise given in chapter 12 [I will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will make your name great].[Genesis 15:1-6 NKJV]
Our faith never grows without witnessing God acting in our lives when we are experiencing time of stress, grief, loss, illness, tribulation, etc. Knowing His word, through His word knowing and trusting God. I wish that our faith would grow without these trials, but let’s face it, if God gave us everything we wanted and needed, God would be raising spoiled children, not children made in the image in His Son.
Chapter 21 prepares Abraham for the test he will experience in chapter 22. When God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, which Pastor Martin will go into detail next week.
8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. 9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, [namely] with Isaac.” 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. 13 “Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he [is] your seed.”
[Genesis 21:8-13 NKJV]
Some points from these verses.
Last week we read that verse “Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice;” of course as we read that Sarah was demanding that Abraham send his son Ishmael away and the text said it was displeasing to Abraham naturally. I mentioned that it was due to the fact that God was protecting the Seed. God tells Abraham that through Isaac the Seed will be called!!! We see God protecting the Seed throughout the Bible starting in Genesis 6 the Nephilim, fallen Angels knowing the women and have offspring. Protecting Jacob from Esau, protecting Israel from the famine through Joseph, David from Saul, his children and other enemies, protecting Israel from annihilation in the book of Esther, Protecting Jesus as a baby from Herod you could find this Matthew 2:13.
Of course God is protecting the Seed for the cross in order to make the children of Abraham as many as the star in the heaven and as many as the sand on the sea shore [Genesis 15:5]. Abraham as well as of Israel looked forward to Jesus’s death on the cross and resurrection that gives birth to the children of Abraham. [John 12:23-25 NKJV] 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
The last point is that there are two seeds that come from Abraham one is considered the works of the flesh and the other the works of the spirit/faith. The only seeds that believe or believed in the Christ are children of Abraham, joint heir with Christ and sons and daughters of God.
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain–if indeed [it was] in vain? 5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, [does He do it] by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?– 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that [only] those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, [saying], “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who [are] of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed [is] everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
[Galatians 3:1-29 NKJV]
Duet. 27:26 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God [is] evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed [is] everyone who hangs on a tree” Duet 21:23), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though [it is] only a man’s covenant, yet [if it is] confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ. 17 And this I say, [that] the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the inheritance [is] of the law, [it is] no longer of promise; but God gave [it] to Abraham by promise. 19 What purpose then [does] the law [serve]? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; [and it was] appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator does not [mediate] for one [only], but God is one. 21 [Is] the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. 22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore the law was our tutor [to bring us] to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you [are] Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Hab.2:12-29
1 Now I say [that] the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how [is it that] you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
[Galatians 4:1-9 NKJV]
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” 20 Where [is] the wise? Where [is] the scribe? Where [is] the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
[1Corinthians 1:18-25 NKJV]
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman. 23 But he [who was] of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise, 24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar– 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children– 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 27 For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren, [You] who do not bear! Break forth and shout, You who are not in labor! For the desolate has many more children Than she who has a husband.” 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac [was], are children of promise. 29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him [who was born] according to the Spirit, even so [it is] now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
[Galatians 4:21-31 NKJV]
28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [He], and [that] I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” 30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How [can] You say, ‘You will be made free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 “And a slave does not abide in the house forever, [but] a son abides forever. 36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
[John 8:28-36 NKJV]
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