The Call of Abraham

If you have your Bible, I would invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 12. This is day four of the 25 different prophecies and symbols that we're looking at toward the coming of the Messiah. It would be great if we could meet every day, wouldn't it? I had to, you know, get a holy grunt out of you because you weren't going to give me one. But wouldn't it be good if during the Christmas season that every night we met here at the church? And we had a little Advent devotional, Jesse Tree, and brought all the kids up on stage.

And of course, Jan, you have to have the choir sing every night. I know that's a lot of work, but you can repeat a few songs if you wanted to. That'd be fine. And, you know, we have a service here and we gather the children around and we teach them each day. Day one about creation, day two about that first sin, day three about God's judgment upon sin, the promise never to judge the world with the flood again, and then of course the call of Abraham.

And just to spend time reflecting on those different symbols and the meaning of them when it comes to the arrival of the Messiah. I think it would do us wonders if that was the case, as we would learn to reflect upon the coming of Christ. It'd be a lot of work. We'd have to leave work early or leave work late and get here early or whatever the case may be. And some of us would miss dinner. It'd be hectic for most people, inconvenient for the rest of us, but it would be very rewarding when it was all said and done.

Having been together, prayed together, studied God's word together, it'd be rather unique. We're not doing that, so we allow you the opportunity in your home to spend time with your family. You might not have young children at home, it just might be you and your husband or your wife. It just might be you, and that's okay, because there's nothing wrong with studying the Bible yourself, right, and learning about the things that the Bible says concerning the arrival of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But today we're in day four of the call of Abraham. This is such a beautiful passage, as we told your children earlier, that this really is a focal point of Scripture. The first 11 chapters lead up to chapter 12, and the rest of the Bible explains to us the fulfillment of chapter 12, the call of Abraham.

It's really the revealing of a covenant, a revelation that would be ratified in Genesis 15, reaffirmed in Genesis 17, and renewed in Genesis 26 and Genesis 28 to Isaac and Jacob, the offspring, of course, of Abraham. It really is the focal point of the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, that takes us all the way to the very end, Revelation 20, where the actual ending fulfillment of that covenant is realized with the Messiah, the seed, and the nation ruling in the land that God has promised them, and that's what the Abrahamic covenant's about.

It's about a land, the land of Israel, the land given to the descendants of Abraham. It's about a nation, the Israelites, the Hebrew people. It's about a seed, a Messiah, who would come and rule over His people to give them peace and joy in that land. That's the Abrahamic covenant. In Genesis 12, we have the revealing of that covenant to Abraham. Let me read to you the first three verses because that's all the time we have today.

If you want to know more about this, we have three tapes on Genesis 12, one to three, and we have another series of tapes on the rest of Genesis 12 when we went through our study of the book of Genesis many, many, many years ago now.

Genesis 12, verse number one, now the Lord said to Abram, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. And then verse seven, and the Lord appeared to Abram and said, to your descendants, or literally to your seed, I will give this land. Now, four things I want you to see about the call of Abraham. One, it was a personal call. Two, it was a predetermined call. Three, it was a particular call. And four, it was a purposeful call. You need to understand that. Because if you do, it will help you understand God's call upon your life and God's calling you into his kingdom.

You need to understand, first of all, that it was a personal call. How did God call Abram? Abram's name means exalted father. Abram was in a place called Ur of the Chaldees. We know that because of Joshua 24, when Joshua would address the people of Israel and tell them that our fathers, our forefathers, were in a foreign land, Ur of the Chaldees, and they were all pagan worshipers. I love to tell my Jewish friends in Israel that, you know, you were me before you were you. And they look at me and say, what do you mean?

They look at me and say, well, you were a Gentile before you were ever a Jew. You know that, don't you? And they would say, well, what do you mean? Well, Father Abraham, he was an idolater. He was a pagan Gentile idolater in Ur of the Chaldees. He didn't become a Hebrew until he crossed the river, because that's what the word Hebrew means, to cross. So they crossed the river, the great river, the Euphrates, traveled some 600 miles to Haran, okay, and then God would speak to him again about the land, and he would move then to the land of Canaan, the land of promise.

But the Jewish nation were birthed out of a Gentile, pagan, idolatrous worshiper whose name was Abram. And God called them. He, I believe his father also, Terah, was saved, and they would cross the river. But it was a personal call. The question comes, how did Abram receive the call? God didn't text him on his cell phone, didn't have cell phones. God didn't write him a letter. Abram didn't have a Bible to read. How does God call Abram? Well, Acts chapter 7 tells us. Verse 2, Stephen said, Hear me, brethren and fathers.

The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, Depart from your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you. Then he departed from the land of the Chaldeans, and settled in Haran. How did God call him? The God of glory appeared to Abram. The God of glory? Well, how does he do that? Well, if you read Psalm 29, verse number 3, it says, The God of glory thunders. Okay, so it's not like he whispered to him, Psst, Abram, psst, no, the God of glory thunders.

There had to be a dramatic revelation of God to Abram because he was a polytheistic worshiper. He worshipped a plethora of gods. He needed to become monotheistic, worshipping one God. The only way that would happen was for the one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, to prove himself as the only living and true God. Because all the idols that Abram worshipped were dead idols. That's why God is called the living God. That's why his word is called the living word. Because it actually is alive.

So the God of glory would thunder when he spoke to Abram. So Abram would not be under any cloud as to who was speaking to him and what he said. It was at that point that Abram obeyed God and, getting the song again? And followed the Lord God. You will notice that the Bible says the God of glory is the Lord of hosts.

The Lord of hosts who is the Lord of armies. You know, a lot of times the glory of the Lord would come down in the temple, everything in the temple would begin to shake and begin to shudder. Because when God spoke, everything changed. So God would prove himself faithful. He would call Abram because he was going to use Abram in a mighty way. It was a very personal call. See, boy, I wish the Lord of glory would thunder in my presence. Well, just to let you know that the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3.18, that we all with unveiled face behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.

Whenever you open your Bible and you begin to read it, you're able to perceive the glory of the Lord and the glory of the Lord is that which shouts to its people. And that's why we understand that when God calls people, we use his word because that's how God and his glory is revealed to people. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by a word about the Christ, right? John James 1.17 and 18 says that we're born again by the word of the truth. First Peter 1.23 says that we're born again by the living and abiding word of God.

Psalm 19.7 says what? The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, right? Oh, believe me, when God calls you, the Lord of glory thunders. He speaks to your soul and causes you to turn from your sin. It was a very personal call. On top of that, it was a predetermined call. Why did God choose Abram? Why did he choose anybody else in the world? Why Abram? Well, some would say, well, because he is, his name means exalted father and God was going to change his name from Abram to Abraham, so he'd be a father of a multitude, a father of nations.

No, God didn't choose him because of his name. Well, God chose him because he was searching. No, because the Bible says that no man seeks after God, Romans 3 verses 10 and 11.

So Abram wasn't seeking after God. He was a worshiper of many gods, none of which was the true and living God. So why did God choose Abram? Why did he choose somebody else? Well, let me ask you a question.

Why did God choose Noah? If you were with us in our study of the book of Genesis, we told you there were some six million people on the face of the earth during the flood in the book of Genesis. If you go through and you understand the genealogies of Genesis, you realize that there were millions of people on this earth that were destroyed. Why did God choose Noah? He was just as wicked as everybody else was. Every thought that he had was evil continually like everybody else's was. Why did God choose Noah and nobody else?

Because he'd be a preacher of righteousness? Because he was good? Because he was better than somebody else? Because he was seeking after God? None of that's true. God graced him. God chose to grace him. Didn't choose anybody else. Just Noah. And Noah then would preach for 120 years, but God didn't grace anybody else. Just Noah, his family. Everybody else perished. They had the opportunity, but none of them received the grace of God because none of them had been graced by God. Why did God choose Abram?

Because that's what he wanted to do. It's as simple as that. It was his choice. It was a predetermined call. Acts 4 tells us that it was, I'm sorry, Romans 4 tells us that Abraham believed God and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness. There was no work that Abram did that caused God to look with favor upon him. He said, you know, I think I'll grace Abraham because he's a good guy. He's not as bad as everybody else in Ur of the Chaldeans, and so I think I'm going to choose him, have him cross over the river, because Hebrew means cross, and I'll just develop a whole new nation called the Hebrew people.

No. So I said, well, maybe God just looked down the corridors of time and said, boy, Abraham's a good guy. I'll choose him. No, because he was chosen before the foundation of the world. God just decided to choose Abram. Why? I don't know. I'm not God to show his glory. Romans 9 says that he shows his glory by showing mercy to people who are really vessels of destruction and wrath. But God at his mercy chooses some to represent his glory, his grace, his forgiveness. Over in the book of Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1, Paul says it this way, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world.

Really? Really? He chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Before Genesis 1, God chose us. Before the foundation, the formation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will. This is the kindness of God. It goes on later to say these words, we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to his purpose who works all things after the counsel of his own will.

What did Jesus tell his disciples? You did not choose me, I chose you. This Christmas, as you embark on the arrival of the Messiah and all the details surrounding his coming, be grateful for the fact that you are the recipients of the kind intention of his will, that you've been graced by God, that he chose you, not because of anything you've done. That's why the Bible says over in the book of 1 Corinthians 1, these words, for consider your calling brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, everything the world thinks is important, wisdom, intellect, power, nobility, high-ranking people, everything that the world thinks is important.

We want you to make a lot of money, we want you to be powerful, we want you to be smart, we want you to have a high position, and the Bible says not many of those people were chosen, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world, and the despised, God has chosen.

Isn't that good to be reckoned among the despised and the shamed, that's you. Not many wise, not many noble, but the foolish things, were the foolish things, were the despised things, why? He goes on to say these, that no man should boast before God, that no man could say you know why he chose me, I was smart, and he knew that if he chose me I could help all those kids in college know God, because I'm smart. He chose me because I am of high nobility, I am an heir to the throne of England, and God knew that if he chose me, I could turn England around for God, no, no.

God never chose you because of what you are, God chose you because of who he is, and what he is makes you who you are, and that's why the call of God is so important. The call of God upon Abraham was a personal call, just like your call is, God calls you to himself. God doesn't call us in groups, doesn't call us in families, he calls us individually, a personal call. And then, not only that, it was a predetermined call, God chose Abraham before the foundation of the world, to be a father of a great nation.

And the third thing you need to notice is that it was a particular call. When God calls you, two things happen. Number one, a separation from the world, and number two, a submission to his will.

And that's evident in Abraham's life, at this point it's Abram. He says this in Genesis 12, the Lord said to Abraham, go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house, that's your separation from the world, to the land which I will show you, that's a submission to the will of God. Whatever the call of God is in your life, it involves two particular things, a separation from the things of the world, and a submission to the will of Almighty God. God calls you to separate from all the evil of the world, the evil practices of the world, all that's going on in the world, because you are his chosen representative.

He calls you away from those things to serve him. That's why in 1 Thessalonians 1 chapter 1 verse 9, Paul says about those in Thessalonica, how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. They were separate from the world in order to be submissive to the will of God. Abram was an idol worshiper, he was polytheistic by nature. God called him to separate himself from that pagan, idolatrous society to be submissive to all that God says, to follow his will, to a land which I will show you.

And that's what God does when he calls you and me. He calls us to himself, that we might be uniquely distinct and separate from the world and from the people who influence us the most in the world. That's why Jesus would say over in Matthew chapter 10, these very specific words, do not think that I came to bring peace on earth, I did not come to bring peace but a sword. I think that would be a good Christmas morning text, right? For I came as a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household.

He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it. In other words, God says, when you come after me, you are separate from the world, the places of the world, the people of the world, and the practices of the world, to be submissive to my will, to take up your cross and follow me.

When God called Abram, he called him to himself. He called him in a very unique and very special way for a very unique and special purpose, for the glory of Almighty God. He called him to be submissive to his word. Let's know what the rite of Hebrew says, which is the commentary on Genesis 12, Hebrews 11, verse number 8. By faith to Abram, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going. Now you understand why Abraham is the father of our faith.

God called him to a place he had never been before. He didn't tell him where it was, he said just go and I'll tell you where you're going to be. None of us would do that. If God said I want you to move and leave California and just keep going until I tell you to stop, we'd have a hard time with that. But that's what happened to Abraham. You go and I'll show you the land. He obeyed. He was submissive to the will of God because he had separated himself from the world. See the reason we're not submissive to the will of God is because we refuse to separate from the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.

They are all consuming. We want those things. But if I separate myself from the world, I'm going to do whatever God says.

And then it says, by faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise. For he was looking for the city which has its foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And then it says in verse 13, all these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on earth. Listen, you're always able to submit to the will of God when you know you don't belong here.

You don't belong here. You're an exile. You're a stranger. See, we think we belong here. Some of us live as if this is all there is. You don't belong here. You're just passing through here on the way to your real home, your eternal home of glory. This is just a brief stop in the long line of eternity. It's brief. I think it's going to be forever, but it's not. Just a short amount of time. The issue is not where you live, but who you live for. And God wants us to live for Him. And Abraham realized that he was a stranger, an alien.

This was not his land. He was just passing through. He understood that because he had separated himself from the world. While a pagan idolater, he was committed to the things of the world. He loved the world. And the God of glory thundered and called him. He said, you got to go. And Abraham submitted. And he went. He separated himself from the place, Ur of the Chaldeans. He separated himself from his own family, the people that would influence him in another direction. And he separated himself from the practices of the evil world that would detract him from submitting wholly to the will of God.

And he followed. Is it not true what happens to us when we're saved? Sure it is. When God calls us with a holy calling. When the God of glory thunders through His word. He makes a personal call to you and me. When eternity intersects with time. And we realize that what God did, He did before the world was ever formulated. And we separate ourselves from the things of the world. And we submit our lives to following the King of glory. That's what Abraham did. That's the call of God upon the life of an individual.

But one more. Not only was it personal. Not only was it predetermined or providential. Not only was it particular. It was purposeful. Purposeful. Purposeful. And just real briefly, this is the covenant of God to Abraham. I will make you a great nation. And I will bless you. I will make your name great. Isn't it interesting? That in the building of the Tower of Babel. They wanted to make their names great. God makes your name great. You can do all you can to give yourself a great name. But it's God who makes the name great.

He said, Abraham, I'm going to make your name great. And I will bless those who bless you. And I will curse those who curse you. That's always the way it's been. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. The covenant of Abraham, the call of Abraham was about but a land. And in that land I'm going to bless you. And all your descendants. Which would be the nation of Israel, the Hebrew people. And you should be a blessing for the entire world. And that's why I read to you verse number 7.

Because it says, and to your seed I will give this land. That's the promise of the Messiah. Remember Galatians chapter 3? Verse 8. And the scripture foreseeing that the Lord, that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. Preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, all the nations shall be blessed in you. That's the gospel. The gospel is in Genesis chapter 12. Verse number 16. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham. This is Galatians 3 still. And to his seed, he does not say and to seeds. As referring to many, but rather to one.

And to your seed that is Christ. According to Genesis 12 verse number 7. Paul reiterates the fact that what happened in Genesis 12. Was a promise given to Abraham. That yes you're going to have a land. And yes your descendants will be many. But there will be one descendant. A seed, a particular seed that will bless the nations of the world. Because that seed is the promised Messiah. So in that covenant you have a semblance of the gospel being preached. As Paul would have reiterated in Galatians chapter 3.

That's the call of God. That's the call of Abraham. To give us a promise of the coming Messiah. When you gather your children around. You need to ask them this question. As it's signed in scripture. Peter would say these words. Therefore brethren be all the more diligent to make certain. About his calling and choosing you. For as long as you practice these things you will never stumble. For in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of the Lord. And Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

You need to ask your children. Do you know for certain. God has called you. And God has chosen you. Do you know. That God has called you. And God. Has chosen you. Real briefly. Two minutes. God calls you. The call. From God. Commences. With God. Right. It commences with God. John 15 and 16. You did not choose me. I chose you. It comes only. Through the gospel of God. Psalm 19 verse number 7. The law of the Lord is perfect. It converts the soul. Number 3. It's conceived only. By grace. Galatians 1 6.

Ephesians 1 6. It's conceived only by grace. It comes only through the gospel. It commences only with God. It's clarified. By good works. Ephesians 2 10. For we are his workmanship. We've been created unto. Good works. One's call of God. Commences with God. Comes. Comes. Only through the gospel of God. Conceived by the grace of God. It is clarified. By good works. For God. And lastly. Causes us. To be grateful to God. Psalm 103. Bless the Lord. Oh my soul. And all that is within me. Bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord. Oh my soul. And forget none of his benefits. Who pardons all. Your iniquities. Who healeth all. Your diseases. Who redeems. Your soul. From the pit. Who crowns you. With loving kindness. And compassion. Who renews your wings. Like the eagles. And satisfies your ears. With good things. It causes us. To be grateful. That's why at Christmas time. What do we say? Thanks be unto God. For his indescribable gift. You've been called. Make certain. Of God's calling. And choosing you. Let's pray.

Father we thank you for this day. Truly Lord you are a great God and worthy to be praised. Thank you for our time together today. May it truly be honoring to your name. I pray for every man. Woman. Boy and girl today. That has come to Christ community church. They will be certain of their calling. In your choosing of them. That every one of us Lord. Would be faithful in our service of the king. May this season. Be the most blessed of all seasons. For those who suffer. Greatly at this time of the year.

We pray for. An extension of your grace and mercy. To their souls. That you as the loving God. The caring God. The omnipotent God. Would do a mighty work in and through their lives. For your purpose. And may we. As the people of God. Always be supportive of one another. Loving and caring for one another. Do whatever we can. To love. Not just in word and tongue. But indeed in truth. And may we always be grateful. For the great gift of Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Who is the God who resides within us. Forever.

In Jesus name. Amen.