Hebrews 11:11-12 (NKJV) By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.
Even though Abraham and Sarah had a clear calling and a covenantal promise from God, they still underwent a fight of faith between what they had received from God and the contradicting circumstances they faced. Likewise, we must all go through the fight of faith in our lives, where we are faced with a choice to either believe in the promise or succumb to the circumstances.
Between the time that we receive a Word from God to the time that the promise is fulfilled, it is always a walk of faith—a process where we need to work on the call and stay in faith. If our faith is only a mental assent, we will give up sooner or later, but if the promise is accompanied by a conviction in our hearts, we will be able to hold onto it.
The greatest challenge for Christians is to believe without seeing, but faith is made possible when God has spoken to us personally. In winning the fight of faith, the key is to always believe and anchor our faith in our God-given promises instead of looking to the circumstances. We need to see with the ‘eyes of faith’ that the promise is already fulfilled in the spiritual realm even though it may take time to be manifested in the natural realm.
Both Abraham and Sarah were facing impossible situations when God spoke to them about their lives and calling. God said that Abraham would become the father of many nations, with descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, but in the natural, his physical body was “as good as dead”, whereas Sarah was well past childbearing age.
In the face of the contradicting circumstances that fed them with doubts and unbelief, they had to choose either to believe God’s Word or give up on God’s promise and accept the facts. Between doubt and faith, always choose faith! The key to their faith was that God had spoken, and Sarah considered God to be faithful to the promise.
God specialises in making impossible situations possible, but we must not be presumptuous and embark on something that God has not called us to do. Instead, we must always get a personal promise from God before making any major decisions, so that there will be an anchor to our faith when challenges come later on.
Abraham and Sarah concentrated on God’s promise to them and their calling. They did not waver or allow unbelief to come into them but strengthened themselves in faith. Faith is anchored in the promised Word of God—the Word of God that was spoken to us personally.
Sermon Series: Faith Is Anchored in God’s Word
选择超越境遇之上的应许
希伯来书11:11-12 因着信，连撒拉自己，虽然过了生育的岁数，还能怀孕。因他以为那应许他的是可信的。所以从一个仿佛已死的人就生出子孙，如同天上的星那样众多，海边的沙那样无数。
尽管亚伯拉罕和撒拉有上帝明确的呼召和立约的应许，但他们仍然经历了一场信仰的斗争：是相信从神那里领受的，还是相信眼前与之相反的境遇。 同样，我们都必须在生活中经历信仰之战，在其中我们需要作出一个选择，要么相信应许，要么屈服于环境。
从领受从神而来的话语，到应许的实现，这中间永远是一段信心的旅程——一个我们需要在呼召上努力并保持信心的过程。 如果我们的信仰只是脑中的同意，我们迟早会放弃，但如果这个应许伴随着我们内心的信念，我们就能坚持下去。
对基督徒来说，最大的挑战是在没有看见的情况下相信，但当神亲自对我们说话时，信心就成为可能。 要赢得信心之战，关键是要始终相信神所赐的应许，并将我们的信心锚定在其中，而不是只顾环境。 我们需要用“信心的眼睛”看到这个应许已经在灵界实现，尽管它可能需要一段时间才能在自然界中显现出来。
当神向亚伯拉罕和撒拉讲述他们的生活和呼召时，按他们俩当时的情况是不可能的。 神说亚伯拉罕要成为多国之父，子孙多如天上的星，但在自然界，他的肉身“如同死了”，而撒拉早已过了生育年龄。
面对使他们充满怀疑和不信的截然相反的环境，他们必须选择要么相信神的话语，要么放弃神的应许并接受现实。 在怀疑和信仰之间，永远选择信仰！ 他们信心的关键是神的应许，并且撒拉认为神是信实守约的。
神擅长将不可能的情况变成可能，但我们绝不能自以为是，去做神没有呼召我们去做的事情。 相反，在做出任何重大决定之前，我们必须始终从神那里得到个人的应许，这样当以后遇到挑战时，我们的信仰就会有一个锚定。
亚伯拉罕和撒拉专注于神给他们的应许和对他们的呼召。 他们没有动摇或让不信进入他们的内心，而是坚定了自己的信心。 信心锚定于神的应许——那是神亲口对我们说的话。
讲章系列：信心植根于神的话语中
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