Origins of Faith: Abraham & Sarah
By Apostle Aje Pelser, preached at the Band of Brothers meeting, Harvester Cape Town

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
In order to live a life pleasing to God we must do 3 things:
• Come to Him. We can boldly approach the throne of grace by the blood of Jesus to help us find mercy and grace in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16
• Believe that He exists
• Believe that He is a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Abraham learned these lessons and we can learn from his life to stimulate our faith to believe God’s promises today.

Scriptures:
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.
Gen 12:2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
Gen 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Gen 15:5 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."
Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Read the account in Genesis too in order to gain full understanding of this faith account Abraham built up over a period of 3 decades that in turn set up a great nation blessed by God.

Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
Heb 11:9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;
Heb 11:10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Heb 11:11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
Heb 11:12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland.
Heb 11:15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return.
Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18 of whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR SEED SHALL BE CALLED,"
Heb 11:19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

12 Lessons of Faith from Abraham’s life that will stir us up to believe God’s Promises:
1. He was called out. Gen 12:4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. It is never too late to start again if you have faith in a word from God.
2. He received his inheritance by faith, not by sight.
3. He dwelt where he was by faith. Your treasure is where you heart is… if you put your heart into the place where God has placed you, there will be treasure there as long as you are in God’s will. When His presence moves you – move with him. Abraham built an altar to the Lord and called out to the Lord wherever he pitched his tent. Gen 12:7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Gen 12:8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD
4. He was not scared to live in a tent and move from place to place.
5. He knew there was something greater – a city prepared for him in heaven
6. Abraham’s wife Sarah received supernatural strength to conceive – evangelism and soul winning – birthing new souls in an age people call Post-Christian.
7. Sarah judged God faithful who had promised. Internal faith means confident trust in God to do what He said He would do. He is building His Church – ok – we trust You to continue building Your Church Lord Jesus!
8. Abraham believed that God would give him innumerable descendents. Link the passage in Hebrews with the account in Genesis. Although Abraham saw Isaac, Ishmael and probably their children, as well as sons born to him by his next wife after Sarah died, he died in faith – seeing God fulfil His promise to give him descendents like the seashore in the spirit. The key being that in Abraham’s Seed all the nations of the world would be blessed – a promise revealed in Acts
9. Abraham’s promise included Jesus Christ’s blessing to the all the nations of the World. Act 3:24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. Act 3:25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.' Act 3:26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities."
10. Abraham’s faith process: Seeing the promises by faith, being assured of them, embracing them as if they are here already and confessing that you are passing through this world as a stranger and pilgrim sets you up for a faith-filled life like Abraham. When you live like this you make a spiritual declaration that you seek a homeland, a better, heavenly country, a city whose builder and maker is God.
11. Abraham’s Faith was tested when God told him to offer the very promise he had waited for, for so long. He prophesied Jesus’ offering for the sins of the world and preached the Gospel through his faith filled actions. If we put action to our faith, people will see Jesus in what we do and say. Because he was willing to sacrifice, God cut covenant with Abraham and although a deep sleep fell on him, God and Jesus His Son moved between the cut pieces of animals as a flaming torch and smoking furnace. Jesus the light of the World and God the Father the smoking furnace that Moses and Israel saw at Sinai.
12. Abraham believed God could raise Isaac from the dead – and prophetically pre-empted the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ – then the only begotten son of the Father. One man’s faith helped God to show man a blueprint of salvation through faith and the pathway to righteousness.