Abraham—Called by God: LIVING BY FAITH

5

LIVING BY FAITH

By faith Abraham, being called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Hebrews 11:8

For we walk by faith, not by appearance.

2 Corinthians 5:7

And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.… Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.

Genesis 12:7-8; 13:18

In all of human history there has never been a book as wonderful as the Bible. As the first book in the Bible, Genesis is not a book of doctrine; it is a book of history. It is not a history in a human way but in a very divine way. Genesis uses the biographies of some ancient saints to tell us something that is so divine. The divine revelation is contained in the human lives, in the human stories, of the people in Genesis. In this message we need to see the divine revelation found in Abraham’s experience of living by faith.

In some of the preceding messages we have seen that the experience of the called ones has three aspects, the aspects of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The first stage of the first aspect, the aspect of Abraham, was Abraham’s being called by God. We have covered this point adequately in the last two messages. Now we come to the second stage of the experience of Abraham—living by faith, or we may say a life by faith. When we speak of a life by faith, we do not mean the life within but the life without, that is, the daily living, the daily walk, of the called ones. This daily walk is not by sight but by faith (2 Cor. 5:7).

Abraham’s history is a seed. The entire biography of Abraham is a seed. It is not a seed of doctrine but a seed of our history. Abraham’s history is the seed of our history because our history grows out of his history. In a sense, we and Abraham are one in the experience of life. We, the believers, are the true descendants of Abraham, and he is the true father of everyone who has been called by God. When we read his biography, we are also reading our own. His story is about us. As we read all of the chapters in Genesis about Abraham, we must read them in the way of realizing that his story is our story.

We need to see the steps that we must take in following the Lord. The first step is being called, and the second is living by faith. Have you been called? You must strongly say, “Amen, I have been called.” Abraham was the first to be called, and, as we have seen, he did not answer God’s calling in a clean-cut way but in the way of dragging his feet through mud and water. Our story is the same. Our answer to the Lord’s calling was exactly the same as his. In principle, the seed is on a small scale, the growth is on a greater scale, and the harvest is on the greatest scale. We have seen that when Abraham left Haran, he took Lot with him. Did you not bring a Lot with you? If Abraham, the seed, brought one Lot, then it is probable that each one of us has brought many Lots. I am afraid that some of those reading this message have brought more than ten Lots with them. By this we see that our history is found in Abraham’s biography.

Regardless of how much Abraham dragged his feet through the mud and water, God was still sovereign. God is God. Abraham was not only called; he was caught. He came out of his country, his kindred, and his father’s house, and was brought to Moreh, the place where God wanted him to be and where He reappeared to him (12:6-7). God’s reappearing was a seal to Abraham’s answer to His calling. God’s calling was clean-cut, but Abraham’s answer to God’s calling was not. Nevertheless, eventually God received a full answer to His calling. I do not care how much the young brothers and sisters drag their feet. Sooner or later, they will be fully caught. The Christian workers and the leading brothers must have the faith never to be disappointed with the brothers and sisters. Never feel that a particular brother is beyond hope. Rather, we must say that there is much hope with that brother. Simply wait awhile and you will see that everyone will come to Moreh.

STRENGTH—THE APPEARANCE OF GOD

At Moreh God reappeared to Abraham and he met God again (12:6). If you say that you have been called, I would ask you this question: What is the seal of your calling? The seal of our calling is God’s reappearance. God’s reappearance, His coming again to us, is the seal of our answer to His calling. The reappearing of God to Abraham was the strength that enabled him to live by faith.

If you read the record in Genesis, you will see that during Abraham’s time mankind lived in the way of building a strong city for their protection and erecting a high tower for making themselves a name. That was the living of the humankind at Babel. But Abraham lived in an absolutely different way. His living was an anti-testimony to the way of the humankind, to the way that had been fully developed at Babel. As we saw in message thirty-six, at Babel there was a great city built by man. This city was not built with God-created stones but with man-made bricks. Those bricks were made by killing the element in the soil that grows life. But Abraham, the called one, did not live in that way. With Abraham, there was no city and no tower. After God’s reappearing as the seal to Abraham’s answer to God’s calling, Abraham immediately built an altar, not to make a name for himself but to call upon the name of the Lord. Why did Abraham do this? Because he had the reappearing of God. How was he able to do this? Also because he had the reappearing of God. Remember that the record in Genesis concerning Abraham is a biography, not a doctrine, religion, or tradition. Abraham did not build an altar because of teaching or religious tradition. He built it because God had reappeared to him. God’s reappearing meant everything to him. It not only sealed Abraham’s answer to God’s calling; it also strengthened him to live in a way that was absolutely different from the way of all of the humankind. It caused him to live as an anti-testimony to his generation. The altar that Abraham built was an anti-testimony to the tower of Babel.

AFTER ARRIVING AT CANAAN • Now we need to find out at what time Abraham experienced God’s reappearing. Our God never does anything without a purpose and He never acts in a meaningless way. Everything He does is purposeful and meaningful. After Abraham answered God’s calling, believing in Him and obeying Him, he came to the oak of Moreh (12:6-7). When he came to that place, God reappeared to him because he had believed in God’s calling and had obeyed it. As one who believed and obeyed God’s calling, Abraham had no choice of the place where he should stay. God called Abraham a second time at Haran, and he crossed the river there, beginning a long journey. While he was on this long journey, he did not have his own choice. Hebrews 11:8 tells us that Abraham did not know where he was going. He had no road map in his hand. His road map was a living Person, the living God. While he was journeying, he had to look to God continually; he could not stop at any place he chose. As he was traveling, God’s presence was his direction, his road map. He followed God in this way until he arrived at Moreh. At Moreh, God appeared to him. That appearing of God at Moreh indicated that Abraham had come to the place where God wanted him to be. There God told Abraham that He would give that land to his descendants.

God’s first appearing to us does not depend upon us at all. It is God who initiates that calling. However, after the initial appearing, every other appearing depends upon our condition. Although God’s first appearing is initiated by Him and does not depend upon us, the subsequent appearings depend upon our condition. If Abraham had not arrived at Moreh, he would not have had God’s reappearing, the reappearing that strengthened him to go on with God. This going on with God was Abraham’s living by faith in God.

AFTER THE SEPARATION OF LOT • A second reappearing of God to Abraham is recorded in Genesis 13:14-17. In this chapter we see that Abraham had difficulty with Lot. In the flesh, Lot was Abraham’s nephew, but before God he was Abraham’s brother. Although Lot gave Abraham a difficult time, Abraham did not strive with him. Rather, he allowed Lot to have the choice. After Lot had separated from Abraham, leaving him alone, God reappeared to Abraham again. This reappearing was due to the fact that Abraham did not strive or fight for himself but left all the choices with his brother Lot. This second reappearing of God also strengthened Abraham’s life by faith.

After we have been called by God, we need to live by faith. This is our need today. If you have been called by God, you have to live by faith. In the Bible, faith is in contrast to sight. If you have been called by God, you must live by faith, not by sight. Look at today’s world: it is undoubtedly a harvest of the human living sown at Babel. A seed was sown at Babel, and the world today is a great harvest of that seed. People are building great cities for their living and are erecting high towers for their name. This is the situation everywhere on earth. But we have been called. What shall we do? We must live by faith. What does it mean to live by faith? It means to live by trusting in God for everything. Abraham did not declare that he lived by faith. Neither did he preach living by faith. He simply lived by faith. Now we need to see in what way Abraham lived by faith.

SIGNIFICANCE—THE ALTAR

THE FIRST ALTAR • After Abraham had arrived at Moreh and after God had reappeared to him, he built an altar (12:7). This was the first altar that Abraham built. In order to live by faith, we must first of all build an altar. In the Bible an altar means that we have all for God and serve God. Building an altar means that we offer everything we are and have to God. We need to place all that we are and all that we have on the altar. Before we do anything for God, God would say to us, “Child, don’t do anything for Me. I want you. I want you to put all that you are and all that you have on the altar for Me.” This is real fellowship, real worship. The real worship of the called ones is to put all that we are and have on the altar.

According to the human viewpoint, people will say that we are foolish for doing this. They will accuse us of wasting our time, of wasting our lives. If they had been with Abraham, they would have said, “Abraham, what are you doing? Are you crazy? Why do you build such a low thing as an altar, and put everything on it and burn it? Isn’t that foolish?” As called ones, whatever we do will be foolish in the eyes of the worldly people. Many of our relatives will say that it is foolish for us to attend meetings so often, wondering why we do not stay at home and watch television with our family. The worldly people cannot understand why we attend meetings several times a week. They think that we are crazy. They would say, “What are you doing there in that little building? Why do you go there on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, twice on Sunday, and even sometimes on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday? Are you people crazy?” Yes, according to the worldly people, we are crazy. God’s appearing makes us crazy.

An altar means that we do not keep anything for ourselves. An altar means that we realize that we are here on earth for God. An altar means that our life is for God, that God is our life, and that the meaning of our life is God. So we put everything on the altar. We are not here making a name for ourselves; we are putting everything on the altar for the sake of His name.

If you check with your experience, you will see that immediately after you were called, God appeared to you again, and you said, “Lord, from now on everything is Yours. All that I am, all that I have, all that I can do and am going to do is for You.” I can still recall what happened on the afternoon that I was saved. As I went out of that church building and walked along the street, I lifted up my eyes to heaven and said, “God, from today on everything is for You.” That was a real consecration. In a spiritual sense, it was the building of an altar. I believe that many of you reading this message have had such an experience. When we received God’s calling, we were crazy, not caring about what would happen. Although we did not realize what it meant at the time, we promised the Lord that everything we had was for Him. When I said this to the Lord that day on the street, I did not realize what it involved. When after a few years I found myself in some difficulties, the Lord within me said, “Don’t you remember what you said that afternoon as you walked along the street? Didn’t you say, ‘O God, from today on everything is for You’?” When I signed the contract, I did not know what was involved. But it was too late to repent; the contract had already been signed. To tell the Lord that everything is for Him is the real building of an altar. We all can testify how sweet is the sensation and how intimate is the fellowship whenever we tell the Lord that everything is for Him. At that time, we come deeply into the Lord Himself.

Although we may tell the Lord that everything we are and have is for Him, we may forget it a few days later. But the One who called us will never forget. He has an excellent memory. Often He will come to us and remind us of what we have said to Him. He may say, “Don’t you remember what you said to Me that day?” This is not a doctrine; it is a real experience. Unless you have not been called, you are not an exception. As long as you are a called one, I have the complete assurance that you have had this kind of experience. The Lord did reappear to you, and at that reappearing you were crazy, promising to give the Lord everything, without considering the meaning of the involvement. You simply consecrated yourself to Him. You did not realize the meaning of what you promised. I thank God that we were not clear about this when we did it. We did not realize how much we became involved with God as a result of speaking one short sentence. We were bound by it. He is God. He is the calling One, and we are the called ones. It is all of Him. Even if we want to be crazy for Him, in ourselves we do not have the incentive to do it. But once He appears to us, we are crazy and say, “O Lord, everything is Yours. Take it. Lord, do what You want. I offer everything to You.” Such a time of offering ourselves to the Lord is like a dream. Later we wake up and begin to realize what it involves.

In the early days of my ministry I was burdened to help people to consecrate themselves. Although I gave a lot of teaching about consecration, I did not see much result. My teaching did not work very well. Eventually, I learned that you cannot help people to consecrate themselves by teaching them. It is not teaching that causes people to consecrate themselves to the Lord; it is the Lord’s appearing that motivates them to do this. If we can help people to meet the Lord and come into His presence, that will be sufficient. We do not need to tell them to consecrate themselves to God or to offer everything to the Lord on the altar. Once God appears to people, nothing can stop them from consecrating themselves. Spontaneously and automatically, they will say, “Lord, everything is Yours. From now on everything is for You.” Have you not had this kind of experience? Have you not laid everything you are and have upon the altar for God and His purpose?

THE SECOND ALTAR • After Abraham built an altar to the Lord at Moreh, he traveled through the land. God did not give him just one little spot; He gave him a spacious land. In his travels, Abraham came to a place that was between Bethel and Ai. Bethel was on the west and Ai was on the east. Here, between Bethel and Ai, Abraham built another altar (12:8; 13:3-4). Bethel means the house of God, and Ai means the heap of ruins. Bethel and Ai stand in contrast one to another. What does this contrast mean? It means that in the eyes of the called ones only God’s house is worthwhile. Everything else is just a heap of ruins. The principle is the same with us today. On the one hand, we have Bethel, God’s house, the church life. Opposite to this is a heap of ruins. Everything that is contrary to the church life is a heap of ruins. In the eyes of God’s called ones, everything other than the church life is a heap of ruins because the called ones look at the world situation from God’s point of view. This point of view is absolutely different from the world’s point of view. According to the worldly viewpoint, everything in the world is high, good, and wonderful, but, from the point of view of God’s called ones, everything opposite to the house of God is a heap of ruins.

Firstly, we consecrate ourselves at Moreh. Then we consecrate ourselves at the place that is between the church life and the heap of ruins. As far as we are concerned, only the house of God is worthwhile. Everything other than this is a heap of ruins. Between the house of God and the heap of ruins we build an altar that we might fellowship with God, worship Him, and serve Him.

THE THIRD ALTAR • Abraham built the third altar at Mamre of Hebron (13:18). Mamre means strength, and Hebron means fellowship, communion, or friendship. According to Genesis 18:1, it was at Mamre that God came to visit Abraham. In that visit God not only appeared to him but stayed with him for quite a long time, even feasting with him. We shall see more about this when we come to that chapter. Although both Moreh and the place between Bethel and Ai were good, neither one was the place where Abraham stayed for constant fellowship with the Lord. The place where Abraham stayed for such constant fellowship with the Lord was Mamre of Hebron.

We all need to maintain a constant fellowship with the Lord. This does not happen by accident; neither should it occur occasionally. It must be constant. Perhaps some years ago you built an altar to the Lord. This is good, but what has happened since then? You may say that you built an altar two years ago, but how about today? Many of us have had the experience at Moreh but have not had the experience at Mamre. I believe that Abraham’s life was mostly spent at Hebron, the place where he could have constant fellowship with the Lord. There, at Hebron, he built the third altar. We all need to build at least three altars: the first at Moreh, the second between Bethel and Ai, and the third at Mamre in Hebron. We need to build an altar at Mamre in Hebron so that we may worship God, serve Him, and have constant fellowship with Him. This is the experience of the third altar, the altar in Hebron.

EXPRESSION—THE TENT

BECAUSE ALL THE THINGS HE HAD WERE FOR GOD AND HE TRUSTED IN GOD • After Abraham built an altar, he pitched a tent (12:7-8). At Babel, the people firstly built a city and then erected a tower. But Abraham firstly built an altar and then erected a tent. This means that Abraham was for God. The first thing he did was to take care of the worship of God, of his fellowship with God. Secondly, he took care of his living. The tent was for Abraham’s living. Abraham did not take care of his living first. That was secondary. With Abraham, the primary matter was to consecrate everything to God, to worship and serve God, and to have fellowship with God. Only then did Abraham pitch a tent for his living. Abraham’s dwelling in a tent indicated that he did not belong to the world but was a testimony to the people (Heb. 11:9).

AT THE PLACE OF TESTIMONY • Abraham firstly pitched his tent at the place between Bethel and Ai (12:8; 13:3). That was the place where God’s house was and where he began his testimony in expressing God by fellowshipping with Him. His altar was the beginning of his testimony for God to the world, whereas his tent was the completion of his testimony to the world for God. His tent was a miniature of the tabernacle built by his descendants in the wilderness, which was called the “tabernacle of testimony” (Exo. 38:21). Since his tent was pitched by Bethel, in a sense it may be considered as the house of God for God’s testimony on earth.

AT THE PLACE OF FELLOWSHIP • Later, Abraham removed his tent to Hebron, which means fellowship (13:18). His tent firstly was a testimony for God to the world and then it became the center where he had fellowship with God. This is strongly proved by what occurred in chapter eighteen when God came to stay with him in the tent at Mamre in Hebron. By Abraham’s pitching a tent God had a place on earth where He could communicate and fellowship with man. His tent brought God from heaven to earth. All of us, God’s called ones, should pitch a tent. On the one hand, such a tent is a testimony of God to the world; on the other hand, it is a place of fellowship with God to bring God from heaven to earth.

Do not think that this matter of a tent is a small thing. Later, when Abraham’s descendants were called out of Egypt and entered into the wilderness, God commanded them to build a tent and in front of the tent He commanded them to build an altar (Exo. 26:1; 27:1). There, in Exodus, we see an altar with a tent, a tabernacle. That tabernacle was God’s house on earth. Abraham’s tent was also God’s house on earth. In Genesis 18 we can see that God came and stayed with Abraham in his tent. At that time, Abraham was a priest offering sacrifices to God. His building an altar and offering sacrifices to God proved that he functioned as a priest. God’s intention is that all of His called ones should be priests. We are priests. We do not need others to offer sacrifices for us. We must do it ourselves. When Abraham was feasting with God in his tent, he was the high priest, and the inner part of his tent was the Holy of Holies. God was there. By this we can see that Abraham’s tent was a prefigure of the tabernacle built by Abraham’s descendants in the wilderness as the dwelling place for God and for the priests. Here in Genesis we see a priest named Abraham who lived with God in his tent. At the side of this tent there was an altar.

SOJOURNING BY FAITH AS IN A STRANGE COUNTRY • Do not forget that Abraham’s history is yours. Do you not have a tent where you always have the Lord’s presence? The worldly people do not have such a tent. They only have a great city. The only thing that the worldly people can see is their great city. They say, “Look at my corporation. Look at my education, my attainment. Look at how many things I have.” But we can say to the worldly people, “You have everything, but there is one thing that you don’t have—God’s presence. You do not have the tent—you have the city of Babel. All that you have is a part of the great Babylon.” Whether we are high-class people or low-class people does not mean very much. All that matters is that wherever we are we have a tent with God’s presence. When we have a tent with God’s presence, we have the deep sensation within that nothing here on earth is lasting. Everything is temporary. We are looking to eternity. The banks, the corporations, the attainments—all are temporal and mean nothing. We have nothing constant on this earth. I just like to have a tent with God’s presence. I like to live in such a situation. We may say to the worldly people, “Dr. So-and-so, I don’t have as much as you have, but I have the one thing that you don’t have—God’s presence. I don’t have to wait for eternity to have God’s presence. I have His presence right now in my tent. My surroundings are a tent, a miniature of the New Jerusalem. This may not be worthwhile in your eyes, but in God’s eyes it means a great deal.” This is what it means to pitch a tent.

Whenever we answer God’s calling and God reappears to us and we build an altar for God, telling Him that everything we are and have is for Him, we shall immediately erect a tent. Spontaneously, people will see that this is an expression, a declaration, that we do not belong to this world. By pitching a tent we declare that we belong to another country. We do not belong to this country; we are looking for a better one. We do not like this country, this earth, this world. We expect to come into another country. We are sojourning by faith as in a strange country (Heb. 11:9).

WAITING WITH EXPECTATION FOR A CITY WITH FOUNDATIONS • Hebrews 11:10 says that Abraham “waited for the city which has the foundations, whose Architect and Maker is God.” This city which has foundations is undoubtedly the New Jerusalem, which has solid foundations laid and built by God (Rev. 21:14, 19-20). While Abraham was living in a tent without any foundations, he was looking and waiting for a city with foundations. But I do not believe that Abraham knew that he was waiting for the New Jerusalem. Even many Christians do not know that what they are waiting for is the New Jerusalem. But we have to be clear that we are living in the tent of the church life today, waiting for its ultimate consummation, which will be the New Jerusalem—the city of God with foundations.

LIVING IN A SHADOW OF THE NEW JERUSALEM • Abraham’s tent was a miniature of the New Jerusalem, which will be the ultimate tabernacle of God in the universe (Rev. 21:2-3). As he lived in that tent, he was living in a shadow of the New Jerusalem. While he was living there with God, he was waiting for a city, a city that eventually will be the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem, the eternal tabernacle, will replace that temporary tent in which Abraham lived. Abraham’s tent was a seed of God’s eternal dwelling place. This seed grew in the tabernacle erected by his descendants in the wilderness (Exo. 40), and its harvest will be the New Jerusalem, the tabernacle of God with man. God still needs to have such a seed in all of us. We all need to be those who live in a tent and who look forward to a better country, a country in which there will be the eternal tabernacle where God and we, we and God, will live together for eternity. Abraham’s interest was altogether in a better country. Although God had told him that He would give the land to Abraham and his descendants, Abraham did not care for that. He was looking for another country and for a city with foundations. Eventually, the Bible tells us that this better country is the new heaven and the new earth and that the city with foundations is the New Jerusalem, the eternal dwelling place for God and for all His called ones.

Today we are repeating the life and history of Abraham. Once there was only one Abraham; now there are many. The church life today is the harvest of the life and history of Abraham. Abraham’s life by faith is presently being repeated among us. We all are here building an altar and pitching a tent. Look at the church life: we have an altar and a real tabernacle. This is a picture of the coming New Jerusalem where we shall spend eternity with God.

The Bible ends with a tent. The New Jerusalem is the ultimate tent, the ultimate tabernacle, in the universe. Maybe one day Abraham will meet with God in the New Jerusalem, and God will say, “Abraham, don’t you remember that day when we feasted together in your tent? Your tent was a miniature of this eternal tabernacle.” Abraham’s tent was a seed. The growth of that seed is in Exodus and its harvest is in Revelation 21. In principle, there is no difference between Abraham’s tent, and the New Jerusalem, the ultimate tent. If I were Abraham meeting with God in the New Jerusalem, I would say, “Lord, I remember the day You came to my tent. Now I come to Your tent.”