Msg #1437 The Faith of a Friend

What The Bible Says

Good Samaritan's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice

Abram, the friend of God, believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness, but he never even came to know God by his first name. It is not that the LORD did not reveal his proper name to Abram, "I am the LORD" (Gen15:7, Exod 6:2). God said it to Abram and to Moses. But he also told Moses, "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH (LORD) was I not known to them" (Exod 6:3). Bible believers are conservatives who despise progressive ideas. Progressive Liberals trust Karl Marx's doctrine that capitalism must progress to socialism, then evolve to communism. Just the same, God uses progressive revelation to reveal himself and all his plans to man. Today we have all 66 books, and know God's first name, but don't have all the faith that Abram displayed. Genesis 15 is interesting because God says to Abram "I am the LORD," and Abram does not get it. Even though Abram missed a lot, what he did get he thoroughly believed. That pleased God. God tells Abram all his plans for all Abram's seed. He passes through an exotic multifaceted sacrifice with him. He appeared to him as a smoking furnace and a burning lamp (15:17). Much later Ezekiel gave a more progressive picture of God's mobile presence, it was a glowing wheel in the middle of a wheel. There was more revealed to Abram than he could take in, but he believed everything he could comprehend. Thus, he is called the father of faith, and the friend of God. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen... without faith it is impossible to please him" (Heb11:1,6) Be His friend.

An Essay for week #37 09/14/2014

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