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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/john-fitzpatrick/lessons-from-the-life-of-abram/
Book of Genesis, please, chapter 11. I'd like to draw some applications from the life of Genesis of Abraham that we can apply in our lives that we might move in a way or ways that would be pleasing to God with the different challenges in our lives.
Genesis chapter 11, please, and verse 31. The 31st verse and the 11th chapter of the book of Genesis. And Terah took Abram his son-in-law, the son of Haran, his son and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, to his son Abram's wife and they went forth with them from Ur of Chaldees.
Verse 1 of chapter 12. 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 show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation and I will bless thee and I will make thy name great and thou shall be a blessing.
And I will curse them that curse thee and bless them that bless thee and curse him that curses thee and in these shall all families of the earth be blessed. 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.
And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son and all their substance they had gathered and the souls that they had gotten in Haran they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. And into the land of Canaan they came and Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem unto the plain of Morah and the Canaanite was then in the land.
And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto thy seed will I give this land and there built he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him and he removed from hence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent having Bethel on the west and Hai on the east and there builded an altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
And Abram journeyed still going on still toward the south 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 and it came to pass and it was come near to enter in the Egypt he said unto Sarai his wife behold now I know that thou are a fair woman to look upon therefore it shall come to pass when the Egyptians shall see thee that they shall say this is his wife and they will kill me but they will save thee alive say I pray thee thou art my sister.
Verse 17. And the Lord plagues Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai his wife. Verse 14 of chapter 13. And the Lord said unto Abram after that lot was departed separated from him lift up now thine eyes and look hence from the place thou art northward southward eastward and westward for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever.
Now we know that the Lord will bless the reading of the good word of God as I mentioned the things are written afore are written for our learning so I'd like to try and draw if the Lord allows and give us a little help some of the lessons that you and I can learn from the life of Abram.
We would notice we find here that family ties can sometimes hinder growth or development in the things of God. We would notice that friends can hinder growth or development in the things of God and we would notice that Abram's call was he was called alone we find that over in the book of Acts.
He was called alone and let me mention beloved one when God calls you he's going to call you alone. There may be a large group in a meeting and there may be a challenge or whatever but God is going to call you alone and when God calls you he's going to give you a little word and that little word is going to gird up your loins and it's going to give you guidance in the days that are going to be ahead.
And so as we're weaving through this chapter here we find a little phrase here the Lord had said in verse 1 of chapter 12. I want to suggest that it's possible that we know God's mind and we hold back and we use human reasoning sometimes I wonder if this will work I wonder if it won't work I wonder how it's going to come to pass and we want to remind ourselves we're saved by faith and the Lord gives us divine and guidance that we should walk by faith and not by sight.
If God calls you I am thoroughly confident he will supply your each and every need. He may call you alone and you may live a lonely life as it were but you will have him as a companion and a guide all the days of our life we find in the Word of God and we can find in our own lives.
Abraham was called the friend of God. We notice as we weave in the Word of God that this is about 2 ,000 years before the Lord Jesus Christ and we find that there was a call that came from God. I want to note if you were to trace the life of Abraham as you would see in his journey of life every time he took God at his word and moved forward on a word from God he didn't have problems or difficulties.
I would find that in times in his life when he didn't follow and disobeyed God would give him the same challenge again maybe 20 years later. Do not ever boast I'll never do that again. It's only by God's grace that we'll never do that again.
We'll be challenged on whatever we had a problem on in days before and so as I am looking here he says I want you to leave your kindred, the Father's house. I want you to go to a land that I will show thee.
It's a word from God. You know as we weave through the Word of God we get words from God to give us direction. There are three different wills I want to suggest that are found in the Word of God. There is the revealed will of God if you'll allow me to say that.
On the first day of the week they came together to remember him and to break bread. It would be the revealed will of God that everyone that is saved and walking in the right ways of the Lord would be baptized hoisting the flag I am his and his alone.
I call the black and whites in the Word of God the revealed will of God. I want to suggest that what I would call the unrevealed will of God would not be a black and white in the Word of God who you're to marry.
It would not be a black and white in the Word of God where you to live but what there would be much divine guidance in the Word of God that would give us direction in that matter. And then of course there's the permissive will of God.
God never allowed it. Perhaps he overlooked it and perhaps not. He says I'll make thee a great nation. Abram was going to learn that he must depend on God and you and I in this wilderness journey, if we can put it that way, we must learn that we must depend on God for guidance, for direction, for wisdom, for supply, whether spiritual, whether physically we can develop it in any way that our life.
Abram was going to learn to die. Abram was going to learn to live for God. Abram had a cost, a call, consequences, and it was to follow the Lord. The Lord had said maybe there is somebody in the meeting this afternoon and you know what God wants you to do and you've had a word from God, a message from God, you've been awakened by God, develop it how you want.
Won't work out. Can't do that. If God calls you, he will provide the needs for that occasion. It says here that Abram departed. He's leaving home, leaving friends, leaving family. You may be called to leave friends or family, you may not be called to leave friends or family.
Our youngest one said, if you got any advice while I'm getting married, Dad, I said I do. She says, what would it be? I says, move 500 miles away from all family members. She says, that's not possible to do.
But what I was trying to say, you're going to set up your own home and you're going to set up your own values, so do not be obligated to family telling you what to do. You and your husband are heirs of life together to set up the home as you would see God would direct you.
It says Abram departed, but I want you to note here as we look at this, it's only a partial obedience. He brought Lot along with him. Lot was never supposed to come with him. Lot was never, there was never a word given from God for Lot to come.
And because he compromised, and because he brought Lot along, there were technical complications that came in that needed never to have come in, and we notice we've read in chapter 13, God was silent until Lot separated from him.
We cannot engage in a spiritual work and warfare with sin in our lives or sin in the assembly. We can never expect God's presence and power. Haram had to be given up before Canaan was going to be reached.
Lot was never called, and notice here, Sarah followed. Dear wives in the audience, you're the backbone for your husband. You're the behind-the-scenes help God bless you. Stand with them, move with them, any way you can develop it that you would strengthen and encourage and preserve in the work of God, whatever realm it would be.
We do know there's no elderesses, so could I just give a simple suggestion? When your husband comes home from the elders meeting or the meeting or whatever it was, what went on? No. Doctor's oath of secrecy.
When we are handling the affairs of the saints of God that are personal matters, whether it be I visiting one or whether it be the elders, the doctor's oath of secrecy must be maintained to be a help to the people of God when the matter needs not to be told.
I read here that they brought all their substance with them. I circled that in my Bible because I thought it was very important. There's not going to be any temptation to return. I was at a farewell for a brother that was going off into work, and I told Linda, I says, you know, I hardly know him, but he's not going to stay.
She says, how would you ever know that? You don't even hardly know him. I says, it's very simple. He stored all his goods at his parents house. This is just a trial run, and a couple years later he did come back.
When God calls you, he is asking you to leave behind where you were and to move on in progress for him. Abraham was called the friend of God, and they took the family with them and all the souls. If they were going to reach Canaan, they had to leave some things behind, and sometimes in our lives there are things that we need to leave behind, things that we need to put aside as perfectly legitimate as they could be, if I am going to make progress for God.
You notice Abraham departed a step at a time. You would note he went forth out of the land of Canaan. The world watches. Josephus says that Canaan was a suburb of Damascus, and it was called the habitation of Abraham.
Tiras settled in a rich pasture. They were a race of shepherds. Abram left, we read in Hebrews 11, not knowing where he went. Do not look at the difficulty, look at the God that sends. Do not look at the difficulty when the river dries up or the stream dries up.
Look to the God of heaven that dried the stream up for another stream of supply. Gathered all together, passed through the land. I suggest this is the first one we find in the Word of God that the Lord appeared to.
And they came to the place called Shechem, and the Canaanite was then in the land. Enemy of God, danger with Canaanites in the world. Canaanites, the world. Did you know that the world watches? The world might call you and I a fanatic or a number of other things, but we're going to have to plug our eyes to every voice that would hinder growth and development for God.
And the Lord appeared unto Abram, verse 7. It's a promise. I will give this land and there build he an altar unto the Lord. A word from God. I have never met one that I've talked to that's gone to the foreign field or even a worker that hasn't had a word from God before they stepped out for the work of God.
Because when the difficulty comes, we look back to the word that God gave us to assure us of the path that God has given us. Notice there's communion here. Notice there's an altar he built. And when there is an altar, there is worship.
And there is praise for the one who loved us and gave himself for us. Could I develop that worship is not optional, that it's essential, that worship is more important than doing, and that worship takes no gift?
We mentioned yesterday the prayer takes no gift, but worship is an overflow of the heart. Whether at home, whether washing the dishes, whether we come together in the assembly meetings, worship should be a part of our everyday life.
And the promise is, I will give thee this land. And he moved from hence unto a mountain and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west and Hai on the east. Bethel is house of God. I'm very thankful for the assembly, because as you dear ones know, I didn't grow up in the Christian home.
I want to suggest that the assembly is not a place, but it is the place. And when I thumb into Matthew's Gospel, chapter 18 and verse 20, I find where two or three are there, having been gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
It's a past act with present continuing results. If you want to simplify it, you can do a word study on the word in, and you will find that in is two different meanings. The first in is a point of time reached, and the second in is a present continuous tense of his place there.
I am exceedingly thankful for the local assembly. It's a place of preservation. It's a place where the Lord is. And I would like to remind ourselves that when we gather together, when we come together, this is where the Lord is.
I watched a young sister at an assembly going in. I won't tell you where. And she got her little brood of children around her, and she says, now we're going into where the Lord is, and so I want your behavior to be proper.
We remind ourselves the assembly is not a social gathering. We know not gather there because we've had friends or family there, but our gathering is unto him shall the gathering of the people be. The local assembly should be a place of holiness.
Holiness becometh thine house. The local assembly should be a place of reverence. Holy and reverent is our God. God is greatly to be feared in the gathering of the saints together. When I come to 1st Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15, I find how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God.
I want to remind myself, I want to remind each of us that when we come together and when we gather together, we gather in reverence. We gather in the fear of God, of the holiness of God. If we lose reverence, we lose worship, and when we lose worship, we can lose the power of God.
Abram built an altar years ago. If brethren in the assembly didn't pray, they were never asked to preach the gospel. I don't know how it is in these parts, but worship should come before service. He's got direction.
The house of God. He never had direction to go somewhere else. And Abram took things in his own mind, and yet we remind ourselves it's not in man's heart to direct his steps. Our movements should be directed by the Word of God.
We live in changing times, but we know that the Word of God never changes because God never changes, and so I'm convinced that the pattern and the blueprint we find in the Word of God needs not to be improved upon, but we have the privilege to obey it.
And Abram built the altar. If we are not building God's way, we're not building for any value. And Abram, second test in his life, if I can call it that way, I'm going south. Why? What happened? Did fear enter?
Was unfaithfulness entered him? And when he was there, there was a famine in the land. There was no tent. There was no altar. He's a picture of a believer in the wrong place in Egypt, and the world's tactics were around him to confront him.
One bad step leads to another bad step. He lost his peace. He lost his pilgrim character. He no longer could enjoy priestly activity, and he forgot the promises found in the Word of God. And when you and I feed the flesh, we can, as it were, lose the presence on the power of God.
Abram, what happened? That we might search our own minds and our hearts and our souls, and I speak to myself, beloved, that we might look for the Lord to guide us and direct us individually, collectively.
He found himself in the wrong land. He found himself where the Egyptians were. He was going to be tested on honesty. His integrity was going to be tested. Moral issues were crossing their path very quickly at a fast pace.
And so he tells his wife, you know, you're a very pretty lady, and if Pharaoh knows that you're my wife, he's going to kill me, I think, so he can have you. So she lied. One bad step always leads to another bad step.
Notice it's unique. Verse 17, And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house because of the great plagues, because of Sari, his wife. Sometimes the wordling has more of the fear of God than the people of God.
He says, why did you lie to me? And he sent him away. The third test that came in his life was getting back to God, getting restored, repentance, restoration. And he went out of Egypt and his wife and all that he had, a lot with him, and he went to the place which he had made at first, the altar.
If we get away, we get back to God. If we get away, we get back to the local assembly. If we get away, we go back to the place of the altar, we go back to the place, the Bethel house of God. He had a voice.
Lot was going with him. Strife came that never needed to come. Problems came that never needed to come. But because Lot came along, there was a strife. And because he did not separate himself alone, it's not the gales, but it's a set of the sails that determines which way the ship's going to go.
Abram was called for a pilgrim character, a tent of a camel's skin. He was called to be a sojourner, and there was a test and a trial. And notice verse 14, and the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes and look from the place from which thou art.
God was silent until the separation took place. God was silent until things were made right. I often wonder in assembly life at times if God is silent because things have not been made right. You can contrast, if you want, the life of Abram and the life of Christ, but I won't take the time.
But I want just to leave a little challenge. Are you willing? Am I willing to follow him, to obey him, unreservedly? Where I was saved, they had a young people's meeting, a little time, young ones, and they gave us a questionnaire, several questions to mark on it.
And I remember one of those questions on it was, if God were to call you to a foreign land, would you go? There were maybe 15 or 20 of us in the group. No names were on the papers and there was only one on that group that said I would go.
Our life is not to be my will or your will, but it's to be lived for his will. If God were to call you to Africa, to the Arctic, or to stay right where you are, would you obey? I've had people tell me I could never live where you live.
It's too hot for me. I do not think we get to pick the climate where we live, but I do think we have the privilege to live where God calls us to be. Abram called of God and every time as he traces life to the ultimate test, take thou thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, and place him on an altar.
Every time he obeyed, there was tremendous blessing. And every time he disobeyed or every time he hesitated, there were technical problems that came in. Might God help us, whether you have been saved a couple days or many years, to not rest on our knees, but be willing to obey and to follow and to cleave unto him for his name's sake.