He stands as one of the main figures of faith in the world.  With his legacy felt even today, thousands of years after he has died. Described as the father of the faithful and quite likely second only to our Lord Jesus Christ in his overall influence he is Biblical proper called the father of the faithful.

      But we are not in the days of Abraham.  Abraham is the father of the faithful and indeed it was he, as Abram, which God called out of a polytheistic worship of God in the Mesopotamia region.  Called him to a monotheistic worship of the one true God as he marched against the migration of his day towards Canaan land.  But things are not the same since the days of Abraham. 

      Just as God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, signifying his closer established walk with the God, other things have changed as well.  Since Abraham’s days on earth the institution of the Mt. Sinai law handed down by Moses to the Hebrew people was implemented.  David has been anointed King and the prophets have prophesied about a day when God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh.  Unforgettable Jesus Christ has been born, lived, crucified, buried and rose again as Lord of all.  Things have changed since the days of Abraham.  Furthermore the prophets’ prophecy has come to pass and God has poured out His Spirit upon all flesh beginning in Jerusalem (Acts 2:4).  No longer dwelling just in the heavens or in manmade temples God now has taken up His residence in the hearts of men, believers now becoming the temple of God (2 Cor. 6:16).  Things have changed since the days of Abraham.

      The above statements are not in any way to diminish the significance and pivotal role in our faith history that Abraham played.  He is after all the father of the faithful.  But it does us well to remember that Abrahams example was one of believing and walking by faith.  He began the first step in Genesis 12 as Abram with hundreds of miles and numerous days behind him before he became Abraham (Gen. 17).  He believed God all along to do what He said He would do, “a land I will shew thee” (Gen. 12:1).   Yet as he believed God, and along the way in his walk of faith towards God’s promise, things changed.  More promises were made, his name was changed and babies, indeed nations, were born. 

      I am not Abraham.  The truth is Abraham would not want me to be.  For his was a journey of faith.  If Abraham lived today he would not be where he was thousands of years ago, even at the place he was at during the end of his life.  To that proposition he would respond, absolutely not.  Why?  Because Abraham walked by faith, he did not stand still.

      Many today point back to the beginnings of the massive and monumental spread of Pentecost across America and the world.  Specifically to the great Apostolic pioneers that God used mightily to instigate, establish and spread revival.  Many of these men came from different faiths.  To chart their initial formative year of ministry in Pentecost to their later years is to see in many cases individuals who stepped out by faith, walking in what they knew God had showed them, to finally become assured and convinced there was no other way.  These were great men.

      But let there be no doubt.  Just as I am no Abraham, neither am I a trailblazer of Pentecost in the early 1900’s.  Neither do I want to be.  And most certainly they would not want me to be.  Because they walked by faith, they did not stand still.  I am thankful for truths they championed and paths they blazed and churches they pioneered.  Our gratitude to them should be unending and forever.  But though I recognize they have handed me a baton I realize they have not handed it to me to stand still or to look at them but rather to run with it and carry it forward.

     If we are to look back to help keep us on track for our future, let it not be to Abraham nor to the pioneers of the 1900’s but rather to our Lord Jesus Christ, the chief cornerstone,  the Apostles and the original church found in the Bible. 

     I am not Abraham.  He would not want me to be, nor would he want me to be where he was.

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