Download Walking in Humility - Calvary Baptist Church

SERIES:
SUBJECT:
READING:
Life Lessons From Abraham
Found By God and Purposed By God
Gen. 11:27 – 12:20
Introduction:
Have you ever wondered why you were fortunate enough to
receive Christ? We sometimes say that so and so found God. The
truth is however that God found us in eternity past when He was
looking for someone to be a part of His Eternal Purpose;
We are studying Ephesians on Sunday Evenings (It would be
encouraged to me if you all would join us for that study; I’m sure it
will strengthen your walk with God. In that study Paul reminds us
of God choosing us to be a part of His Eternal Purpose; According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (5)
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Eph
1:4-5)
We can learn from studying the life of Abraham something about
how we ended up with our relationship with God.
Abram, his name before God renamed him was deeply involved
with his family in the Ur of the Chaldees when God began to work
in Abram’s life.
Gen 11:27-32 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah
begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. (28) And
Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur
of the Chaldees. (29) And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the
name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife,
Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father
of Iscah. (30) But Sarai was barren; she had no child. (31) And
Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son,
and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went
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forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of
Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. (32) And the
days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in
Haran.
Adam was chosen to oversee God’s Garden in Eden; Noah was
chosen to oversee God’s establishment of the human race after sin
had led God to destroy all but eight members of Noah’s family;
God chose Abraham to oversee the establishment of His chosen
people, Israel. God has chosen each of us to oversee a small
portion of His work in reclaiming sinners for His Kingdom.
When it comes to understanding God's choices Abraham is an
illustration of how God works.
Abraham has no Bible, church, or pastor; yet he journeys into
unknown territory and experiences the wonderful adventure of
overseeing God's establishment of His chosen people Israel!
We get some insight to what it is to be an instrument of God’s
choosing. Abraham's prominence in the Bible is evident by the
amount of space devoted to him and the way his life is
mentioned in the New Testament.
 For example, three times he is called God's friend (2 Chron.
20:7, Isa. 41:8, Jas. 2:23).
 The first book of the New Testament traces the genealogy of
Christ to its spiritual beginning to Abraham (Mt 1:1).
 According to Romans 4:11b, why is a study of Abraham's life
so important to us today? that he might be the father of all
them that believe,
In the Bible, Moses is the great lawgiver, David the great king, and
Elijah the greatest OT prophet. You can never be a lawgiver like
Moses, Israel's greatest king like David, or a prophet like Elijah,
but you can, like Abraham, be God's friend by finding and
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fulfilling your part in His eternal purpose. Where were you
when God began to work in your life?
I. Abraham teaches us four basic steps.
a. First, Act when you hear God's voice Gen12:1-5
i. God's call initially came to Abram while
living in Ur; Act 7:1-2 Then said the high
priest, Are these things so? (2) And he said,
Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The
God of glory appeared unto our father
Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia,
before he dwelt in Charran,
ii. Then God speaks to him again in Haran.
What does God tell him (Genesis 12:1-2)?
Gen 12:1-2 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: (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: God has three very important purposes for
His call on Abram..
1. First, He has a land he wants to
show Abram so God sends him to a
different piece of real estate, one
God has purposely chosen for him;
unto a land that I will shew thee:
Did you ever wonder why you got a
job in a different city or even a
different state? Or why you ended up
in Sebastian or Vero Beach or Palm
Bay?
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2. Second, He wants to make Abram's
seed a great nation. This promise
was fulfilled physically since
Abraham is the father of the Hebrew
race.
But it is also fulfilled spiritually,
according to Gal 3:6-7 Even as
Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness.
(7) Know ye therefore that they
which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham.
Abraham believed God and so did
you if you have received Christ as
Savior.
3. Third, God says He will make
Abram's name great.
iii. These promises are amazing because when
God makes them, Abram is 75 years old and
Sarai is barren (Gen. 11:30).
However, God makes the promise, Abraham
believes, and then he leaves, taking 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 goes
to Canaan (12:5).
iv. What makes Abram's obedience so
remarkable, according to Hebrews 11:8b is
the fact he acted; and he went out, not
knowing whither he went.
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v. Fulfilling your part of God eternal plan
when God tells you to do or go someplace!
vi. Until you act God won’t work; it is like
steering a car—you can't steer it unless it's
moving.
vii. We must be moving, actively serving the
Lord by attending worship services, Bible
studies, and any other available
opportunities where we are likely to hear
God's voice.
viii. We find our part in God’s eternal purpose
one step at a time.
1. God never reveals the whole deal in
the beginning.
2. We must be faithful in the little,
everyday things.
3. We know this because of what
statement Jesus made in Luke 16:10;
Luk 16:10 He that is faithful in that
which is least is faithful also in
much: and he that is unjust in the
least is unjust also in much.
So the Initial steps in finding your part in God’s eternal plan is to
ACT when you hear God's voice and...
b. Secondly; Communicate with God Gen. 12:6-9
Gen 12:6-9 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of
Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in
the land. (7) And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto
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thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the
LORD, who appeared unto him. (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. (9)
And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
i. When Abram arrives at his destination,
Canaan, and there he finds Canaanites in the
land (12:6).
1. The Canaanites were descendants of
Canaan, who was the son of Ham,
one of Noah's sons (9:22).
2. They were extremely immoral,
violent people.
ii. The Lord appears to him and says, Unto thy
seed will I give this land: (12:7).
1. So, Abram builds an altar to the
Lord.
2. Abram then travels southward and
sets up camp in the hill country
between Beth-el on the west and Hai
on the east (12:8b), about ten miles
north of what is now Jerusalem.
3. There he again builds an altar and
calls on the Lord (12:8c).
a. The Hebrew word translated
altar means "place of
slaughter or sacrifice."
b. Anytime we begin to search
for our part in God’s eternal
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purpose for our lives, there
will be sacrifices to make.
c. We live today in a
"Canaanite" society with
sexual immorality,
pornography, profanity, and
violence.
d. Therefore, we all need an
altar where we can regularly
obey what God command in
Romans 12:1; I beseech you
therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable
unto God, which is your
reasonable service.
e. Finding God's purpose
always requires offering
ourselves to God as living
sacrifices.
f. This means we have an altar,
a suitable place where we can
be alone with God and
commune with Him without
interruptions.
4. In Genesis 12:8, the Hebrew word
translated called (qara, car-raw) has
the idea of accosting a person or
intrusively calling out to someone.
a. Abram was walking step by
step and called on God to
direct him daily!
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b. When we follow God's
direction, we may not be able
to see too far ahead so we
need regular updates!
c. Sometimes when we are
obeying God as best we
know how, we become more
needy rather than less.
To find our part in God's Eternal purpose for our life, we must take
these initial steps: ACT when you hear God's voice,
COMMUNICATE with God, and...
c.
Thirdly; Anticipate problems; 12:10-16
i. It is a mistake put the great heroes of faith
on pedestals of perfection, as if they are
superhuman.
ii. This is not how God's Word describes its
key characters. With shocking candidness
God tells "the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth" about His great saints,
such as
1.
2.
3.
4.
Noah's getting drunk,
Samson's weakness for women, and
David's adultery.
Even the greatest of OT prophets,
Elijah, had lapses of faith. Why,
Elias was a man subject to like
passions as we are, and he prayed
earnestly that it might not rain: and it
rained not on the earth by the space
of three years and six months. Jas
5:17
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iii. Since Abram is also human just like us,
when he faces starvation during a famine in
the land, he doesn't consult the Lord but
goes down into Egypt to sojourn there; for
the famine was grievous in the land. Gen
12:10 And there was a famine in the land:
and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn
there; for the famine was grievous in the
land.
1. Because his well-being and life seem
in jeopardy, Abram panics.
2. Now God's scorched Promised Land
doesn't look nearly as good as the
fertile banks of the Nile River; so
without asking God, Abram goes to
Egypt.
iv. Following God's eternal plan for our lives
doesn't mean an end to our trials.
1. Even in the midst of fulfilling God's
Eternal purpose there may be
financial pain, relationship problems,
and various other personal struggles.
2. At this point we must remember the
words of Jesus in John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might
have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of
good cheer; I have overcome the world.
v. Knowing his wife Sarai is beautiful even at
age sixty-five, Abram anticipates having a
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problem when he enters Egypt. Because she
looks so young and beautiful, she could do a
facial cream commercial.
vi. Abraham fears the Egyptians would kill him
to have her, so he proposes to her: Say, I
pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be
well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall
live because of thee (Gen. 12:13).
1. This was at best a half-truth because
she is his half-sister (20:12), but she
is also his wife.
2. Perhaps Abram thinks if he is
thought to be her brother, any
marriage arrangements would have
to be made with him, and he could
negotiate with them until the famine
was over.
vii. Sarai agrees, and when they arrive in Egypt,
the Egyptians see Sarai is a very beautiful
woman (12:14). But things get much worse
when Pharaoh's officials see her because
they praise her beauty to Pharaoh and she is
taken into Pharaoh's house (12:15).
1. This means she became one of
Pharaoh's wives (12:19).
2. As a result, Pharaoh rewards Abram
with several kinds of livestock and
servants (12:16).
3. Abram's deceit seems to be paying
off, but that's about to change.
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