The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1963-08-02
Venture Of Faith
Genesis IL through IA.
Devotional Reading: Romans 5.
Lesson for August 4,1963

Is.
! Surely it would be a very ex-
traordinary mortal who would
be remembered with pride near
ly four thousand years after his
lifetime. Such man was Abra-
ham. honored as a saint in
three religions, Jewish, Moham-
medan and Christian. There is
a Mohammedan mosque owe
the cave where it is said Abra-
ham was buried; and piou S
Jews used to write out prayers
and drop them in. presumably
over his tomb. But Abraham
is much more than historical
curiosity and a post-mortem
saint. The point is. Why is he
so long and so respectfully re-
membered? He was a rich man
for his times; he was a stout
desert fighter; he was a great
family man; he was on equal
terms with kings. But he is not
best remembered for he S e
things. The word that should
pop into am ones mind if ask
ed what Abraham was noted
for, is Faith.
The Faith that says, 81 Believe"
Faith has various meanings
| We can select three of these and
find that Abraham had all
three. Now Abraham faith. of
whatever sort. was centered in
God. This man had some faith
in his family, a little in people
outside his family, and no
doubt some sef-confidence. But
these are slight matters, and he
is not remembered for his faith
in man. He put his faith in God.
How he came to know a b o u
God when his ancestors were
worShipperS of "other Gods
as Joshua said Joshua 24:2).
we do not know. What expert
ences led him to the God for
gotten or never known by his
fathers before him, the Bible
does not say. But he believed
in God. and God counted it to
his credit. He believed in God
in three ways which are closely
related. First he believed that
what God said was true. G o d
gave him a three-part promise:
first that he sould have a son
and many descendants; second
that these descendants woul d
inherit" a place in the sun. TO
grow to a nation; and third
Is rang &c r than alb that in
some way he, Abraham, would
be one who would bring a bless
ing to the whole world
The Faith that says, 81 Will"
The reader can think for him
self why all these promises
were hard to believe. But Abra-
ham believe ed them because he
believed tn at it was God, and
not some trick Of his own imagi-
nation, who had put the thought,
the convict ton, into his mind.
How did God speak to Abra-
ham? Did Abraham hear God
just as you hear voices on the
radio? Did God speak in the
Sumerian language? abraham
lived where Sumerian was spo-
ken. and the Hebrew language
had not then been born.) We
don't know about this. What is
really important is that VIII a
God W n tie d Abraham to be-
lieve, he believed.
1t was nj t only matter of
believing that Gods promises
were true. He could have be-
lieved that with his eyes shut,
doing over his supper, without
the east danger in the world.
But God called him into uncer-
tainty and danger. GO! g d
said; and Abraham went. He
had faith that said "You are
right" in the face Of improba-
bihties; he also had the faith
that said II will" when faced
with hardship and risk. He had
sit-sill conserving faith but he
also had a going faith.
The F aith that says.
II Believe What You Are"
Abraham believed wha God
said. and be was willing to do
as God commanded him, be-
cause he believed in God. Again
we do not know how he came
to this faith. Perhaps gradually,
perhaps all of a sudden. At any
rate we all know what it is to
believe in a person. You know
this person will not lie to you,
you know this person will not
try to use you for selfish adj
vantage. You know that this
kind of person is just not cap
able of doing a mean thing. If
some one told you scandalous
story about him you would know
at once it could't be true. Now
Abraham had that kind of faith.
The number one thing With him
was not, after all, believing in
Gods promises and Gods com
mands. He believed in G O d..
period. Believing that God ex
lists is thought by some people
to be the essence Of religion,
but it is not. believe that pipe
organs exist but that does not
put one in my house and it