He Saw My Day

Q: What does the Bible say about Abraham's faith?

The Bible describes Abraham's faith as unwavering and strong, exemplifying belief in God's promises despite seemingly impossible circumstances. Abraham is upheld in the scriptures as a pattern of faith, particularly in Romans 4. The passage reveals that he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, demonstrating a belief that God's power far exceeded his limitations. He acted on this faith by obediently leaving his homeland and ultimately preparing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, trusting that God would provide. This unwavering faith is what establishes him as the 'father of the faithful' and shows that true faith is evidenced by actions and a steadfast reliance on God's promises.

Q: How do we know God's promises are true?

We know God's promises are true through the example of Abraham, who demonstrated unwavering faith and was fully persuaded that God was able to perform what He promised. God's promises are validated through the life of Abraham, who exemplified strong faith and complete trust in God's ability to fulfill His word. As mentioned in Romans 4:21, Abraham was fully persuaded that what God had promised, He was also able to perform. This belief was not just theoretical; it was actionable faith that prompted Abraham to follow God's directives without hesitation or doubt. The assurance of God's truth is evident through Abraham's experiences and historical accounts of God's faithfulness throughout Scripture. This serves as an encouragement for believers today to rely on God's promises with the same conviction that characterized Abraham's faith.

Q: Why is faith important for Christians?

Faith is essential for Christians as it is the means by which they receive God’s promises and live a life of obedience and trust in Him. Faith is the cornerstone of the Christian life, for it is by faith that believers are justified and reconciled to God. As exhibited in Abraham's life, faith is not a passive belief but an active trust that motivates obedience. The power of faith is demonstrated through actions that align with God's word, as shown by Abraham's readiness to sacrifice Isaac, believing God could raise him from the dead. This belief underscores the relationship between faith and obedience; true faith produces a life that honors God and responds to His promises. Without faith, one cannot hope to receive the assurance of God’s grace and inheritance, making it indispensable for all Christians.

I want you to open your Bibles
for the moment to Isaiah 41. I took a little longer than usual
this morning to read the Scriptures, to read that passage from Romans
4, because it would be so wise for us, so wise
to study the life and faith of this man, Abraham. Get acquainted
with Abraham. Look here at Isaiah 41, verse
8. Isaiah 41, 8, But thou, Israel,
art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham,
my friend. You think about that. God says,
he's my friend. That would be sufficient for
me, wouldn't it, my friend? Abraham is called a pattern of
all who believe God. He is always upheld as an example
of faith, as an example of faith. As the scriptures praise the
love of David, I think The strongest characteristic
of David was compassion, affection, and love. That's David. When you think of David, you
think of love. God sees a man after my own heart.
Heart. When you think of Abraham, what
do you think of? Faith. Faith. He believed God. He's an example
of faith. He's a pattern of faith. Actually,
everybody who believes God is called a child of Abraham. Did
you know that? That's what it says in Galatians
chapter 3. It says, they which are of faith
are children of Abraham. They're children of Abraham.
Well, what about this man Abraham? What about this man who's our
pattern, our father in faith, this man whom God called my friend? My friend, Abraham my friend. Well, there are four statements
in Romans 4. You probably noted them while
I read this a moment ago, Romans chapter 4. But there are four
statements which describe this man Abraham, his faith, his relationship
with God. Now what's these four statements?
There are four statements that describe Abraham's faith. The
first one is in verse 20. They're right here in two verses,
verse 20 and 21. Abraham, verse 20, staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief. Nothing too hard for God. That
was Abraham's faith. He believed God, and he didn't,
the great promises of God didn't stagger him. They didn't amaze
him when God said, He was a hundred years old nearly, and Sarah was
old and wrinkled and passed bearing children. God said, you'll have
a son. He didn't stagger him. He didn't stagger him, didn't
amaze him, didn't befuddle him. Well, God can do that. And when
God told him, I'll provide for you, Abraham said, I've lifted
my hand to God. God said, I'll provide for you.
Get out of your father's house. Get out. Go to the land I'll
show you." Wandered around in the wilderness, dwelling in tents,
and he believed God. God said, I'll provide for you.
And some kings, wealthy, powerful kings, offered him a fortune,
a fortune, gold and silver and all kinds of things. And he turned
it down. Why? He believed God. Your whole future is uncertain. Oh, no, it's not either. It's
in the hands of God. Oh, he staggered not at the promises
of God. God said he'd provide for him.
Abraham believed him. He didn't stagger at the promises
of God. Turned down a fortune. And when God told him to sacrifice
his son, the Lord came to him and said, take your son, your
only son, Isaac, whom you love. About 14, 15, 16 years of age. Take him to a mountain, I'll
show you, and put him on an altar, and put a knife in his heart,
and shed his blood like you've shed the blood of lambs and bullocks
all these years, and sacrifice him to me. And Abraham packed
up and started toward the mountain. Nothing too hard for God. What
was he counting on? God raising Isaac from the dead. He knew that if he put his knife
in the heart of his son, that God would raise him from the
dead, because God said, in Isaac shall your seed be called, not
somebody else, in Isaac. And he believed God. And nothing
staggered him. He staggered not. He wasn't overcome
and staggered at the promises of God, no matter how great they
were. forgiving man of all of his sins, of raising the dead,
of providing for us and for our children. Are you staggered by
the promises of God? Do the promises of God seem just
like asking too much? Well, you don't believe like
Abraham then, because he didn't stagger. Nothing too hard for
God. See what I'm saying? That's his
faith. Why study this man? Why is he
called the father of the faithful? Why is he called God's friend?
He believes God. A man who doesn't believe you
is not your friend. A man who has no confidence in you is not
your friend. He's not your friend. I say, well, I'll take care of
that obligation for you. Now, don't you worry about it.
You walk off saying, I better worry about it. He's not going
to do it. You're not my friend. And I'm not your friend. Because
friends believed you. See that? He didn't stagger.
Secondly, what's this? Same chapter 4, but he was strong
in faith. The promises of God didn't stagger
him. The power of God didn't stagger
him. What God intended to do didn't amaze him. He was strong
in faith. What does that mean? That means
his faith was not just a head faith, he acted on it. There's
the difference. Faith without works is dead.
It's not living faith, it's dead faith. And Abraham acted. How do I know that he staggered
not at the promise of God to give him a city? He left his
father's house, not knowing where he was going. Not knowing where
he was going, but he left because he believed God. That's strong
faith. When you say, show me and I'll
believe, you believe and I'll show you. We got it backwards. We want a sign. I hear people
talking about putting out the fleece. You better keep the fleece
in the kitchen. If God says it, you believe it.
That's what Abraham did. Get out of your father's house.
God Almighty told him he'd prosper him and he'd bless him, so he
gave Lot the best land. He was strong in faith. Lot's
herdsman and his herdsman had a conflict and he said, Lot,
pick out what you want. That's faith. God's my portion,
you take what you want. And when God told him to send
Ishmael away, there's no harder thing ever been demanded of any
man than to send away his son, Ishmael. Send him away. The son
of the bondwoman cannot inherit with the son of the free woman.
Send him away. And Abraham believed God. He
sent him. He sent him. He acted on faith.
He took Isaac to the sacrifice, to the mountain. He dwelt in
tents. He flat-believed God. He acted on it. He was strong
in faith. I sometimes wonder if our faith
can be called faith at all. At all. He staggered not at the promise
of God. He was strong in faith. What's this? The next, giving
glory to God. That describes his faith. He
gave God the glory. I can illustrate that in one
particular difficult time. That old man, after a three-day
journey to the Mount Morau, where he was to sacrifice Isaac, turned
to the servants. He said, you stay here. The lad
and I are going up there to worship, and we'll return." That's believing
God, isn't it? We'll return. And he put the
wood on Isaac's back, and he took the fire. And they started
up that hill, that 110-year-old man and his 14, 15-year-old son,
to worship God. And Isaac turned to his father
and said, Father, here's the wood and there's the fire. Where's
the lamb? Now here's Abraham's faith summed
up. Without a moment's hesitation,
he turned and said, My son, God will provide. That's Jehovah-Jireh. God will provide. That's what
I believe. I don't care how dark the cloud,
how deep the river, how heavy the trough, how dim the outlook,
If a man believes God, he can always answer that, God will
provide. That's sufficient for me. Himself
a lamb. All right? That's this man's
faith. What's the next statement? And
being fully persuaded, oh boy, I looked at this, fully persuaded
that what God had promised, God was able to perform. He who vacillates He who goes as the wind goes
doesn't believe God. This man was fully persuaded.
His brow was not furrowed with fear. His mind did not devise
or seek a better way, an alternate. We've always got something to
fall back on in case God doesn't do what he said. Come on now,
ain't that right? I know us because I'm us. I like
Brother Shanks. Brother Shanks had a Christian
school, and he was principal to about 300 students. For various
reasons, parents sent their children to that school. And a mother
called Brother Shanks one day and said, Brother Shanks, he
said, yes ma'am, she said, I want you to be sure and keep an eye
on my son down there at your school and don't let him get
with the wrong crowd." And Brother Shank said, Mother, your boy
is the wrong crowd. So I know us because I'm us. I'm us. You say, how do you know
so much about me? You'd be surprised. But this man was fully persuaded. His heart didn't beat with doubt.
His brow was not furred with fear. His mind did not have an
alternate in the event it didn't work. He was fully persuaded
in what God had promised God would perform. This is the reason down there
in Athens. Paul said, I walked through your
city and I saw all these different gods. He said, I perceive that
you're very superstitious. I even found an altar to an unknown
god. Why do you suppose these people
erected all these different altars to all the different gods, even
one to an unknown god? Was it compassion? Was it tolerance? Was it permissiveness and love
for others? No, sir. They doubted that their
God was God and they didn't want to miss one, just in the event
their God wasn't God. People who are fully persuaded
that God is almighty won't put up with the preaching of any
other kind of God. People who are fully persuaded
that Jesus Christ's death is sufficient and effectual won't
stand for any other kind of preaching. People who know that salvation
is of the Lord are intolerant of any other gospel. The Apostle
Paul was fully persuaded that his gospel was the gospel, therefore
he said if any man preached any other gospel, let him be accursed. Right? See what I'm saying? Abraham believed God. And Abraham
staggered not at the great, abundant, indescribable, incomprehensible
promises of God. They didn't stagger him. God's
able. He's the only one who is able. And he was strong in faith. He
acted on it. That's what I'm calling, I know
there are a lot of people in their heads believe what they
call the doctrines of grace, but I'll tell you the man who
believes it, the man who walks in it, that's the man who believes
it. You say, I know preachers that
believe what you do, they don't preach it, they don't believe
it. If Abraham was still sitting
down there in the Chaldees, I'd say you don't believe God. If
Abraham refused to take his son to the mountain, I say, you don't
believe God. If Abraham accepts the fortune of the kings, I say,
you don't believe God. A man who believes God acts on
faith. That's exactly right. He staggered
not, he acted on his faith and he gave God the glory. Not himself,
he didn't ascribe any credit or glory to himself. He didn't
do it. He didn't deserve it. Like David
said, Lord, who am I? Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Abraham found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. If you got grace, God gave it to you. Who maketh
you to differ? What do you have you didn't receive?
He gave glory to God. He said, my son, God will provide.
God started this. God will finish it. And he was fully persuaded, not
partially. Our God is worthy of full persuasion. Our God is worthy of full commitment. And anything less is an insult. That's exactly right. Anything less than complete commitment
to Christ, to his gospel, is an insult. That preacher this morning, I
watched on television with his gown and crosses and all these
things, made this statement. He said, everybody's got something
for us. He said, I used to think the
Catholics were trying to rule the world, and I found out they
weren't. He said, they have some good things. I've learned much
spiritual truth from Catholics. He said, I listen to my children,
I learn so much from them. He said, I read the conservative
preachers, and I read the fundamental preachers, and I read the liberal
preachers. And he said, they all have something
for us. Everybody's got something for us. He's not there fully
persuaded, is he? Abraham was fully persuaded that
what God promised God would perform. Watch verse 22. It was imputed to him for righteousness,
holiness. Now I ask this question. How, on what basis, what is the
reason for such confidence? This man and his confidence and
his strength Strong in faith. Where did he
get this strength? Where did he get this strength
of faith? Was it mind over matter? Was
it exercise in positive mental attitude? What was it? How did
he get such confidence, such persuasion, such faith? Well,
I'll show you. Turn to my text, John 8. John 8, 56. And this is where
you'll get it. Where I'll get it. if I do at all. John 8, verse
56. Draw a big circle around this.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. That's Christ
our Lord speaking. Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it. He saw my day. And he was glad. What put him
on this road? What put him in this persuasion
and confidence? He saw Christ. He saw Jesus Christ. That's exactly what our Lord
said. He saw my day. He saw it. He ate it. In so many undeniable
ways. Let me show you just briefly
a few. Abraham saw the day of Christ.
God revealed Christ's day to Abraham, number one, in several
ways. I've just picked out a few. In
that he called him. God called him. That was mercy. Abraham was in idolatry. Did
you know that? He was in idolatry. His father
was an idol worshiper. Abraham was nothing but a common
idolater. Following the religion of his
day. following the religion of his father, idol worship, and
God singled him out, and God chose him, and God showed him
grace just like he did Noah. God called him. He saw the day of Christ right
there when he experienced the effectual call of God's grace.
That's mercy. See, God, my Savior, is God Jehovah. God didn't come to him in justice,
he came to him in mercy. God didn't come to him holding
him accountable for his sins, God came to him in mercy. And
that's the first revelation of the day of Christ, the day of
God's mercy to Abraham. And I'll tell you this, God didn't
leave me in false religion. He could have. He didn't pass
me by. But He came one day, effectually,
by His Spirit, by His grace, and called me out of false religion. I had a revelation of the mercy
of God, of the grace of God. Abraham saw my day, Christ said,
in that day when God didn't leave him alone, but called him out. And I'll tell you this. I know
mama might call, and daddy might call, and the preacher might
call, and the evangelist might call, and everybody else, the
soul winner might call, but I'll tell you when a man will see
the grace of God and see Christ is when God calls. God calls. Pass me not, O gentle Savior,
hear my humble cry, while on others Thou art calling. Don't
pass me by. Old Bartimaeus cried out, Lord,
don't pass me by, don't pass me by. They said, Jesus of Nazareth
is passing by. He said, Lord, have mercy on
me. And God called Abraham. I'll
tell you, secondly, God gave him the sign of circumcision.
Now, I know circumcision is in the flesh. I know what circumcision
is. I know what it denoted. I know
it was a sign, a seal of the covenant, and all these things.
But circumcision did this to Abraham and his sons. Circumcision
says, Abraham, you're different. You're different from all other
people. You're different from all other
nations. You're separate from all nations. That outward sign of circumcision
was an outward sign of an inward work. God made him different. Why was Abraham different? God
made him different. God gave him a knowledge of God.
God gave him the heart to love God. God gave him faith to believe
God, and he was different. All the men around him were men
who worked with their hands, they were shepherds, they had
herds, they had cattle, they had oxen, they had all these
things, but Abraham was different. And I'll tell you this, when
God Almighty deals, if He calls a man, that man's different. That's all there is to it. I've
heard people say, well, the only difference between the Christian
and the people of the world is the Christian believes. There's
a whole lot more difference. The only difference is Christians
go to church. There's a whole lot more difference. And I'm
not just talking about paying the bills. Lost men pay their
bills. I'm not talking about they don't get drunk. There are
a lot of lost men who don't get drunk. I'm just talking about
telling the truth. There are a lot of truthful lost
people. I'm talking about a believer
who's different. He's different. His heart beats
differently. He thinks differently. He talks
differently. His attitude's different. He
has a relationship with God Almighty. He knows God. This Word glows
for him. This God lives in him. Jim Eccles,
a believer, is different. And the difference is not, and
really the difference is not noted by an unbelieving man.
It takes another believer to know the difference. He's just
different. He's generous and kind, he's
lovable and gracious. He's different, he believes God.
He's different. And God, Abraham saw Christ's
day, God made him different. He's different from all other
men. Abraham was coming back from
the slaughter of the kings. Coming back from the slaughter
of the kings. And a most unusual thing happened. Most unusual. The scripture says that a man
appeared. And this man was called Melchizedek. And this man had no mother or
father. This man had no beginning of days or end of days, no pedigree,
no ancestry. This man was called the King
of Peace. This man was called the Priest
of the Most High God. And he came to Abraham. Not to
everybody with him, to Abraham. You know who this man was? It
was Jesus Christ. That's who it was. It was a pre-incarnate
appearance of Jesus Christ. And he blessed Abraham. This
priest blessed Abraham. But he didn't sprinkle water
on him. He didn't make a cross. He didn't
slay a lamb. That's what they did back then,
slay a lamb or turtle dove. He gave him bread and wine. Abraham knew something was different.
Bread and wine. That's Christ. That was the Christ
who stood before the disciples and broke that bread and said,
this is my body given for you. And blessed that wine, said,
this is my blood of the new covenant for the remission of sins. And
Abraham saw my day. He saw my day. Yeah, he did. And that high priest of God,
old Melchizedek, disappeared. Nobody else saw him again. He
didn't need to bless Abraham but once. That's not just one
time. Oh, I know they walked down the
aisle a half a dozen times, just like a revolving door. It's like
the religious mayor go around, down here to confess, and down
to rededicate, and down to promise to tithe, and down to promise
to win souls, and down to promise to keep this around. If Jesus
Christ, God's Melchizedek, with his broken body and shed blood,
ever on purpose, crosses your path. And by his grace, blesses
you with the knowledge of himself. That's it. He doesn't need to
come back and do it again, and again, and again, and again,
and again. It's done. The great transaction's
done. I am my Lord and he's mine. That's just so. That's just so. All depends on who saved you.
And then God, then the Lord Jesus, He saw His day another time.
He stood, Abraham stood and watched that woman, Sarah, his beloved
wife, ninety some odd years old. Can you imagine this? Ninety
some odd, there's not a woman in here ninety years old. He watched her who had never
had a child. had never had a child. And now she was old and wrinkled
and gray and stooped and weary. And he stood and watched come
from her womb a beautiful, healthy, strong baby boy. And he didn't
beat on his chest. He lifted his crying eyes to
heaven and said, what a miracle. has sent the miracle boy, the
miracle boy. And I'll tell you what he was
seeing. He's looking beyond this boy coming out of the womb of
that old woman. He was seeing the Son of God
come forth from the virgin to redeem his people, the miracle
boy. That's right, Abraham saw my
day. The birth of a virgin shall concede. You say, how can a virgin
give birth to a child? How can a woman 95 years old
give birth to a child? By God's power. By God's power. And I'll tell you another thing,
the time he saw my day, he saw my day, is when he stood and
took that knife in his hand over Isaac, his son, fully intended. to cut his throat, to shed his
blood as a sacrifice to God, but believing God would raise
him. And he had him tied to the altar. And Isaac must have been
willing because Isaac was 15 years old, Abraham was 115. Abraham,
could you imagine being 115 years old and trying to tie up a 15-year-old
boy? Some of y'all can't tie up them
4-year-olds you got. But he stood there with that
knife and God said, Abraham, touch not the land. And he went
over and there was a ram caught in the thicket and he took that
ram and joyfully untied Isaac and set him aside and put that
ram in his place and killed him. He saw my day. He saw Christ
in my stead. And I'll tell you, you take your
modern liberalism and you take your freewillism and your semi-Pelagianism
and all your other isms, I'll take the old, plain, truthful
gospel of substitution. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. That's right. By his stripes
I'm healed. God put the ram in Isaac's place
and the ram died and Isaac went free. People tell me, well, Christ
died, but we may not go free unless we do certain things.
If He died, I'm free. And I'll do certain things because
I believe Him, because I love Him, because He's my Redeemer.
You see, obedience is the result of faith, not the cause of it.
Obedience is evidence of faith, not the life of it. Abraham was
justified 15 years before he was ever circumcised. and before
the law, 400 years before the law was ever given. Right, John? That's exactly right. Somebody
said, well, it's our rule of life, and Abraham didn't have
any rules to go by. Wonder he didn't get in a mess.
Enoch walked with God with no rules. Yeah, he had a rule. He loved God. He believed God. He pleased God. And he had no
rule. That's what, I believe, was Lord
Huntington. One of them wrote a book one
time. If the Christian's rule of life is the law, Enoch, wonder
how he walked with God having no rules. When I, Abraham, believed
God having no rules. Faith worketh by love. And then, He saw my day in closing
in so many ways. You know, Abraham never had a
city to dwell in. He stayed out there in the wilderness.
Can you imagine the bandits? One time he defeated, what was
that king's name? Cheddo de Lamar or something
like that. He defeated some kings. One of
them controlled an area of a thousand miles, and he whipped them with
318 men out of his house. that he gave them a sword and
said, let's go get them. Isn't that right? You read Genesis
14 and 15 right in that area there. He went out and whipped
all those wicked kings with 318 farmhands. God provided. He saw it every day. He saw my
day. And I'll tell you this, it's not any different. This
wasn't written for his sake alone, but for ours also, to whom this
righteousness shall be imputed. We can believe. Can you believe
God? Now, preachers say, come down
here and shake my hand. That won't do you one bit of
good. Or me either. I've got to believe God. Well,
join the church and read my book on how to get started and all
that. That won't do you one bit of good. Until we start acting
by faith, in faith, on the promises of God. I believe God. I'm persuaded
He's able to keep that which I've committed to Him. Don't
commit to a man or to an organization or to a way or to a law. I've
committed it to Him. He's my Lord. He's my Lord. I believe God. I might have to
wander in the wilderness some day. I won't have anybody there
to keep my spirits up. I don't need I have Him. Let's sing 228. Ask Mike to come
lead us in singing 228. My faith has found a resting
place. It's at rest. Not in device or
creed. I trust the everliving One. His
wounds for me shall plead. Let's stand while we sing 228.

He Saw My Day

What does the Bible say about Abraham's faith?

How do we know God's promises are true?

Why is faith important for Christians?

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He Saw My Day

What does the Bible say about Abraham's faith?

How do we know God's promises are true?

Why is faith important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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