Went to Grace Presbyterian this morning as usual church has combined back with its high church (Yes, Presbyterians do High Church. Something I had never seen before Dunedin. The key text was Genesis 15: I’m using the NASB here.
Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
The sermon related to how we do doubt. We wonder if the promises that God has given us will happen, and there seems to be a great gap between how our lives are and how they should be. We struggle. We do not get what we think we are promised.
Now, it may be that we are deluded about the promises we will get, for we are not promised prosperity in this life, but persecution. And that we are truly getting.
This is the Knight on the recent martyrdom of those who proclaimed Christ on a Oregon Campus.
He didn’t like organized religion – particularly Christian organized religion. Christians who vote and evangelize get in the way of non-religious people who want to pursue immorality and pleasure. We already see lots of coercion of Christians, even in America, from the secular left. Many of the people who command the culture – news media, celebrities, politicians, academics, etc. seem to be comfortable with expressing outright hatred of Christianity. This raging intolerance can easily spill over into violence, as it has in other times and places. If you look at less Christian atheist regimes in North Korea today, and in the past in the Soviet Union, the anger at Christians and our “organized religion” spills over into mass murder very naturally. Maybe the non-religious people at the top who oppose organized religion so strongly should choose to be a little bit less hateful, and a little more tolerant of differences?
But our God is a God who acts. For the passage goes on to a ritual of covenant — that is listed in other ancient texts. The preacher pointed out that usually it was the weaker party who walked between animals, and swore that if he did not keep his oath of loyalty then he should be torn apart.
But God walked between animals Abram prepared, for he keeps his oaths by his power. It is not ours.
And our God is not merely a God that could make Sarai have a child in her old age. He is a God who can raise people from the dead. We are not promised that our descendants will be like the stars. We are promised a home with Christ, and life eternal.
Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
The peoples of Israel were religious. They did not have the error of this time, of loving our sins more than our salvation, and looking no further than our own pleasures. When the widow of Nain had her son raised, they did not argue that this was unfair, or unjust, or that the state would suffice for her. They rejoiced: her son was restored.
And they knew that a great prophet was among them.
Now, I know little in this life. I don’t think we are promised prosperity: I see we are promised troubles and hardship and persecution. For in that we can show the glory of God. The pagans worship nature, seeing the divine in the beauty we have. But it is fleeting.
Our salvation is with God, and our covenants are kept with God. For he is faithful, even when we waver and doubt.
So if in doubt, return again to his words, which are sealed with his blood.
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