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Devotions from Gospel Chapel Ministries HOME SERMONS SERMON NOTES
FAITH OR HUMAN REASONING
The lesson learned from Abraham, the father of the faithful, is parallel to that which we learn from the apostle Peter in MAT 16:17-19, "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
We have been studying Abram in the Genesis 4, and in GEN 5:1 we read, "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." Then in verse 6 we see, "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."
Their faith was so bright, and this faith was founded upon the Rock. It was a solid, unmoveable faith, but human reasoning enters into the picture. Notice the distinction between this God given faith and Peter's human reasoning in the very verses that immediately follow! MAT 16:20-23 says, "Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." The Lord Jesus reproved Peter's human reasoning because that is not faith. Look at how quickly Peter fell after Jesus, just moments earlier, had said, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven."
Right there in the following verses, Jesus says to Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me." This is the same Peter to whom Jesus gave the keys to heaven; it is the same Peter who quickly succumbed to human reasoning. That human reasoning was not born of faith. Therefore, Jesus sharply rebuked Peter. It is an offense unto the Lord when our faith gets caught in human reasoning. It causes us to walk by sight rather than by faith. It is a paradox that does not work. When we exercise such strong faith that we begin using human reasoning to exercise that faith, the Lord says, "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me."
We must learn to distinguish between faith and human reasoning. Abraham was the father of the faithful; he was a monument of faith, but in his human reasoning, he acted foolishly at times. The same thing happened to Peter. A man with such a strong faith resorts to human reasoning after receiving a tremendous blessing. It is a grievous error. It is an offense unto the Lord. We need to learn this lesson, also.
The Lord told Abram, "...tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be." Then we read in verse 6, "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Yet in the very next breath, we see the distinction between such God-given faith and human reasoning. GEN 15:7-8 says, "And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"
We know from these verses that both Abram and Peter had great faith. Now we need to understand the great difference between unbelief and human reasoning. Neither Abram nor Peter acted in unbelief. When Abram hearkened unto Sarai, his wife, he took Hagar. That was not unbelief, it was human reasoning. It is important to understand the difference between falling into human reasoning and turning from the Lord in disbelief. Unbelief is departing from the Lord. Human reasoning is trying to serve the Lord with a deduction based on logic and emotions. Peter thought he was serving the Lord. Understanding the great difference between unbelief and human reasoning enables us to reconcile the history of Abram and his taking of Hagar.
Turn with me to ROM 4:17-22 where we are talking about the same, identical situation. "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." If we were to call the verses from Genesis 16 in which Abram takes Hagar an example of unbelief, we would contradict the words of the apostle Paul in these verses. Paul says Abraham was strong in faith. "And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."
Abram believed God was able to perform; God had told Abram in GEN 15:4, "And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir [Eliezer of Damascus]; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir." Abram did not doubt or question that God would keep this promise, but with human reasoning, he decided to help the Lord. Time was running out, but if he took Hagar, the child would still be one from his own bowels. Sarai told him in GEN 16:2, "And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai." In her human reasoning, Sarai would obtain a child through Hagar. Abram did not doubt that the Lord would give him a seed from his own bowels, but he is going to help the Lord along a little.
I saw an example of this in a missionary who was promised a helicopter by the Lord. People went against scriptural principles to help the Lord because they thought it would take human resources to bail out the Lord and fulfill the promise. The whole thing fell on its face just like this did. It was an act of faith mixed with human reasoning. They acted because they did believe in the Lord, thinking they were helping or serving the Lord. Amen.
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