FAITH, THE WAY TO MOVE ON IN THE LORD
THE GRACE OF GOD IS DISPLAYED IN HIS PROMISE
GEN 12:1-9
V:1. "Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy
kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee."
A. The Father has a call on our lives. Romans 1:6, 8:28-30
1. This is the second call to Abram. The first is recorded in Acts 7:2-4.(Adam Clark)
a. God prepares us to accept His call and to follow His will.
b. In order to hear the call of the Lord, you have seek His will.
c. This second call would indicate that Abram had a close relationship with the
Lord.
2. Abram was commanded by the Lord to leave his country and family.
a. Lord= Yahweh= the God of Israel, self existing one.
b. To follow God we to have leave our past for a future with God.
B. God has a new place for the called out. 1 Peter 2:9
1. Abram was going to a new land.
a. Any man in Christ is a new creation.
b. Positionally we are in the heavens with Christ. John 17:24
2 We leave behind our old life for a new life with Christ.
THE PROMISE
V:2."And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing."
A. Our Father has a plan for our lives.
1. Greatness is found only in the Lord.
2. If we are obedient to God's Word, He will be cause of any greatness in us.
a. Service is the way to greatness. Matt. 23:11
b. Greatness is found only in a humble spirit. Matt. 18:4
B. God blesses us to be a blessing to others.
1. If we follow the commands of God we will be a blessing to others.
C. The start of a new nation begins with the faith of one person. Heb. 11:8-10
1. Abram would become the Father of the Nation of Israel.
a. Abram had no children at this time.
b. It would be 24 years before he and Sarah would have a child.
2. God knows the end from the beginning.
a. Israel grew up as a nation during a 430 period in Egypt (mostly in slavery).
Gen 15:13, Ex 12:40
b. God keeps His promises according to His will.
2. Your life under the direction of God will affect the lives of many.
a. At this very moment, you really don't know how many lives you are affecting.
b. It is by faith that we move according to the commands of God.
HIS PROVISIONS
Verse 3. "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
A. God uses others to bless His people.
B. God protects those He call.
C. In the seed of Abram was the blessings for the whole world.
1. Through Abram we have the Bible, our Savior and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. The families of the earth is blessed with knowledge and the means of salvation.
HIS OBEDIENCE
V:4. "So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him:
and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran."
A. Abram was in the Ur of the Chaldes when God called the first time. He moved to
Haran (Adam Clark).
1. Abram was a man of faith. He believed God. James 2:23
2. Abram was obedient to the Father. He moved when God said "move".
B. Without faith it is impossible to please God.
1. It pleased God to make Abram the father of the Nation of Israel.
2. We know God was pleased, because all the nation of the earth is blessed through
him.
C. It ought to be every believers desire to please God.
1. When God is pleased, you can't imagine what He will do for you.
2. When God is pleased, you can't imagine what He will do through you.
3. When God is pleased, you can't imagine how others will be blessed because of
your obedience and commitment.
D. God's call keeps us on the move.
1. When we get to comfortable, it means we are not seeking the higher call of the
Father.
a. We have already arrived, we have done enough.
2. The work of the Lord is never done.
a. There is always more to do.
E. Age is not a factor when it comes to serving God.
1. You are never to young and you are never to old to serve God
2. Abram was 75 which was young compared to his father who died at 225 years of
age.
3. God call us when we ready to be a blessing to others.
V:5. "And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance
that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth
to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came."
A. When God calls, He requires a complete move.
1. Abram took his wife and all his stuff and move out of town.
2. You can't serve God when you are holding on to the past.
3. God wants full custody, not week end visits.
B. You got to leave some stuff behind to follow God.
1. Abram only took his wife and his nephew with him.
a. He left some other relatives behind.
b. Not everybody in the family will follow God.
2. If you won't praise Him; I can't let you hinder me.
3. If you want follow God, then Good Bye. I am on my way to the kingdom.
C. God has a particular place where He wants us to serve.
1. Abram was directed into the land of Canaan.
a. This would be the physical place of God's temple
b. At some time in the future, the whole world would center it's attention on this
land.
c. This would be the place where our Savior Jesus Christ would be born and preach
the Gospel.
d. This would be the place where Israel would be gathered as a Nation.
e. This would be the place where salvation would be made available to the whole
world.
f. This would be the place of the second coming of Jesus to receive His Church to
himself.
D. God has a place for us to serve.
1. We need to find that place and get busy.
V:6. "And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of
Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land."
A. To get you prepared to serve, God may put you through a series of trials.
1. Abram on his way to Canaan pass through two lands.
2. What we go through in life prepares and equips us to serve God.
3. Trials and tribulations are faith building exercises.
4. Each experience strengthens and builds us up for future events that God only
knows.
HIS WORSHIP
V: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."
A. God made a new covenant with Abram .
1. The covenant includes the promises of :
a. A Seed, an offspring.
b. A Nation
c. A Land
d. A Blessing of all the nations of the earth
2. This covenant was unconditional
a. It was made by the grace of God.
b. It had nothing to do with any worth in Abram.
c. It was made because of God's love for His people.
d. It was made because of God's need to save mankind.
2. The blessing of the Lord is not all about you.
a. God blesses us with a greater purpose in mind.
b. We never know what the final outcome of our service will be.
3. We are the recipients of somebody else's service.
B. When God blesses us, we ought to make a special effort to show our gratefulness.
1. Abram built an altar to the Lord.
2. Blessing God ought to more than just lip service.
3. There ought to some physical evidence that we are thankful.
C. Abram built an altar to God and He showed up.
1. You can be sure if you do something special for God, He will show up in your life.
V:8. "And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his
tent, having Bethel 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."
A. Where ever we travel we ought to make it our business to set up a special place to
worship the Lord.
1. Only the Lord can provide divine protection.
2. There is no protection in the house where there is no worship.
B. At the altar Abram called on the Lord.
1. It not enough to set up an altar.
a. We must humble ourselves before the altar and seek His presence.
b. We must give Him glory and honor for our existence.
2. Setting up the altar was an open profession of Abram faith
a. It was an act of devotion to the Lord.
b. It was an act of worship.
C. When we diligently seek the Lord, He will in time reveal His purpose for us.
1. The Lord Jesus was revealed to Abram. John 8:56
2. Abram came to know the promise seed.
3. It should be our desire to know Jesus.
4. We ought to be in constant communication with the Lord.
V:9. "And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south."
A. Our journey with the Lord never ends while we live on this earth.
1. The Lord continues to take us to higher heights in the spirit.
2. We should never stop growing in the Lord.
B. Whatever God give us should be considered carefully to know it fully.
1. Abram walked the land to see his blessing.
2, We must walk with God to see His blessing.
No comments:
Post a Comment