Abraham's Faith Stretched

Abraham's Faith Stretched!

2/8 Abram’s call and My Call
Why????? WHAT IS MY CALL? HOW CAN I ACKNOWLEDGE DIVINE PURPOSE IN MY LIFE??? HOW CAN I BE SURE THAT I AM FOLLOWING CHRIST AND NOT MERELY MY OWN IMPULSES?
God calls me in similar ways: I am called to love Christ more than I love all my relatives and friends, to live in anticipation of a new creation, and to worship God by enjoying Him forever.
God calls us in these ways: as a faith community, as the global body of Christ…
We leave behind what is comfortable for the sake of a new and greater family, a new and greater land, a new way of relating to the One Who made us.

2/15 Abram’s faith stretched: a new family, a new land READ: Genesis 12:1-13:1
Series Theme: We participate in God’s covenant with Abraham by faith, as we respond to the divine call, are tested by God, enjoy His guidance, and enjoy the rewards of faith fulfilled in a transformed world.
God’s call contains seven (i.e., the symbolic number of completeness) elements:
1. I will make you into a great nation’
2. I will bless you
3. I will make your name great
4. you will be a blessing
5. I will bless those who bless you
6. whoever curses you I will curse
7. all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (in the favored seventh position)

I. Abram was called to a new land, given a new family
a. Abram & Jesus—called, tested, guided, rewarded
i. Abram was called, as summarized.
God called Abram to leave his family for the promise of a new and greater family, to leave his land for the promise of a new and greater land, to leave his lifeless gods to walk with the one, true God.

ii. Jesus was called, anointed for his work by the Spirit.
Psa. 2:7 “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
b. I am called by God: to a new family, a new home, a new vocation

Abraham was called and we are called. RECOGNIZE? RESPOND!

II. Abram was tested by the call
a. Testing by the call to leave home, by the failure of crops in the new land, by the wait for the promise, etc. He failed the test of truthfulness when his first words were to coach Sarai to lie to the Egyptians (we often find ourselves challenged to bend the rules when we find ourselves in places we shouldn’t be).
b. Jesus was tested by Satan in the wilderness, by the many acts of obedience, by the cup of death on the Cross.
c. I am tested by the call to love Christ above all others, to treasure His companionship above my longings for all other friendships,
Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

d. I am tested by the call to love my neighbour as myself.
e. I am tested by the call to “make something of the world,” to its restoration to the Garden.
f. I am tested by the nature of my call:
i. I am called to walk with God—I will have a growing hunger for conversation with Him, by His Word, by prayer, by His Spirit.
ii. I am called to be a part of a larger family, in some ways alien to my nuclear family.
iii. I am called to make something of the world:
1. To preserve it, restore it, improve it.
g. I am tested and sifted for motives. WHO NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED? Doesn’t God know?
Abraham was called and we are called.
Abraham was tested and we are tested. Recognize the TEST? Embrace the TEST!
Savour the goodness of God toward you…Rom. 8:28—good life, health, work, friends,
Rom. 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Recognize none of these? [“Relative deprivation”] Take a trip with me!

III. Abram was guided…
a. Abram experienced the guidance of a good God.
i. He was guided to a new land.
ii. He was guided through that land, boundary to boundary.
iii. When he left the land out of fear and sought refuge in Egypt, Sarai was guarded from Pharoah and Abram was guided back home.
iv. To the rescue of Lot
v. To the resolution of the Ishmael conundrum.
b. I can experience the guidance of God.
i. I am guided by the Spirit as I look to the HS for strength and control (Eph. 5:18).
Eph. 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
ii. By my life choices, understanding my spiritual gifting and potential impact on the Body of Christ.
iii. Of a mate—more when we get to Isaac!
iv. Of a vocation.
v. Of A family of disciples.

Abraham was called and we are called.
Abraham was tested and we are tested.
Abraham was guided and we are guided. Recognize? Respond!!
Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you
IV. Abram was rewarded…
a. Abram experienced the goodness of God in his lifetime.
i. With a son(s).
ii. With many offspring
iii. With the Seed (Jesus—Gal. 3:16)
Gal. 3:16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham 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.

b. I enjoy the reward of God.
i. I enjoy Him and his goodness directly.
Psa. 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

ii. I find nourishment and delight in His Word.
Psa. 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

iii. I find rest in Him and from Him.
Matt. 11:28-29 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You Will Find Rest For Your Souls.

iv. I am rewarded by the call with enjoyment of
1. fresh fruit (Gal. 5:23),
2. new fruit (John 15), and
3. new hope (trust that God will be faithful to me at the end of days as he has been yesterday and today).

v. In the future, I will be welcomed into His presence without fear, to walk with Him and work for Him in a new earth, merged with heaven.
Abraham was called and we are called.
Abraham was tested and we are tested.
Abraham was guided and we are guided.
So, WAS Abraham rewarded?

Keller—“Abraham left but never arrived. Never sees it. Lives his entire life in the gap between vision and reality.”

Abram & me—called, tested, guided, rewarded

Recognize YOUR Reward???

GOSPEL Jesus had a call:
HE Left security in his father’s house, without knowing what it was like in the depths.
He lost his father ‘My God, my God, why hast thy forsaken Me?’ so we could gain His Father.

2/22 Abram’s Faith extended: a Prayer for the City, Gen. 12, 18:16-33