Called
Notes
Transcript
Series Introduction:
Series Introduction:
We are going to start a new series today.
It will be about the faithfulness of Abraham
A model citizen if you will
of all those who are called to be faithful to God
We understand through the revelation put forth
In the New Testament
That we are all children of Abraham
Through the Promise of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit of Adoption
And therefore, we are heirs to any of his promises
So, despite living over 4,000 years ago
We are all still affected by his story
by what he did
and by what he didn’t do
I believe there were other men who were called
but the Bible says many are called
and only few are chosen
In this first message of this series
We will look at the calling of Abraham
As depicted in Gen 12
What did that look like
what did that entail
In the second message we will look at how Abraham
Transitioned from being called, to be chosen
and the covenant that God made with him in Gen 15
In the final sermon on this series
We will explore the promise that Abraham
received, the promise of a child
A child that would bless all nations
Including us here today
So, if you have your Bibles
Turn with me to Genesis chapter 12, and verse number 1.
Called to Blessing: The Journey of Faith
Called to Blessing: The Journey of Faith
Bible Passage:
Bible Passage:
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
1. Called to Leave Comfort
1. Called to Leave Comfort
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
There is a built in survival instinct in all humans
Unless they have some sort of deficiency
people tend to want to survive
and they will do anything in their power to survive
However, there is a level above survival
when you step above just making it by
and just going with the flow
and you decide, I don’t want to just survive
I want to thrive.
There is no built in thriving instinct
If you rely on instincts
you will do little more than survive
But if you want to thrive
Something new has to develop
Something you were not given at birth
And that is the desire to do more than just survive
Society is built in such a way that poverty is a requirement
People don’t want to hear it
and no one will really say it
but this society needs the poor
The millionaire is not going to work at the grocery store
The billionaire isn’t going to sweep floors
This is why the underlying message of this age
Is don’t worry about being a victim
You can’t help it
You were born this way
And you have to stay that way
You can’t afford a house
You’ll never have a higher paying job
Just stay down
If you buy into that messaging
Then you will always seek comfort
You will always seek what is familiar
You will never try to rise above where you are
and you will never pursue what God has called you to do.
When God calls you,
It won’t be comfortable
You won’t ever be called to find the familiar
He isn’t going to be in a boat
calling you out of the trouble waters
but in fact
He will be on the waves
Calling you to step out of the comfort of the boat
And come out on waves where He is.
I know the Midianite army is great
But locked inside you somewhere Gideon
Is a mighty man of valor
You can’t see it
and you are hiding from it now
but God knows what you are truly capable of
And that’s why he called you
Moses said he had a stutter
Saul hid at his crowning coronation
Jonah ran to hide in Tarshish
Jeremiah said he was too young
Isaiah said I’m a man of unclean lips
The Bible is full of stories of Called people
not realizing their potential
but God does
Today, there are those who point to things like
My past
My poverty
My anxiety
My parents
My kids
My depression
My addiction
My this, and my that
But God knew all of those things
When he called you
And he intends to use you anyways.
When Samuel came to anoint the new king
He asked Jesse to line all his boys up
And Jesse got 7 of them lined up
but he didn’t bother to call David in from the fields
His earthly father didn’t recognize
what his heavenly Father knew David was capable of
His brothers talked down to him
Goliath mocked him
Saul tried to kill him
His wife laughed at his worship
but today no one else is said to be a man after God’s on heart
The father of our Messiah
The first one to sit on the Throne of Judah
No one else saw what God saw
When the little shepherd boy sat in the fields
and played his harp
and the same is true for you
If God calls you, he has already calculated the cost
He knows what you can and can’t do
and He also knows what HE can do through you.
It took me a long time to learn that God never intended me to do what He called me to do.
He just wanted me to start walking
and He would take care of the rest
I’ve watch countless miracles
Y'all don’t even know the half of them
Where God moved things around to make my calling possible
And that is why I know it is Him fulling my calling through me
and not me
which is why I can’t brag or boast about it
God get’s all the glory in the end.
You see, the devil is going to point to your faults and failures
But God already knew those when he called you
And God already calculated those into your calling
ANd in fact, one day you will learn that those very faults
those very failures that you think are keeping your from answering the call
are the very things that God put into your life
so that you could actually fulfill your calling
God never called you to be perfect
He never called you to figure it all out
He just calls you to take one step of faith
and let him show you what HE will do.
Uncomfort Comes First.
Uncomfort Comes First.
The initial step of faith is going to be uncomfortable
You think Abram wanted to leave his country?
Imagine leaving the US right now… today
Pack a bag and go…
Think about that…
You think that would be peaceful and comfortable?
He said leave your county
Then he said, Leave your kindred.
That means, your extended family
You can bring your spouse
and he didn’t have kids yet
but don’t bring anyone else.
Wait a minute God
It will be hard enough to leave my country
but you want be to break ties with all my kinfolk too?
Yes…
Why?
Because where I’m taking you
They aren’t able to go
They will keep dragging you down
His kindred were all pagans
They worshipped all kinds of Gods
They did very evil things to worship false gods back then
They would have all sorts of orgies
They would assault women and children sexually
They would even sacrifice children to the gods.
And the place God wanted to take Abram
Was a place where that kind of culture wouldn’t work
So, he said, you’ve got to leave your friends and cousins behind
Leave your nieces and nephews behind
They won’t go where I’m taking you
And they will keep you from going to.
So, take just your wife and go
We can look back one chapter and see Abram’s father
Look what he did.
And we see why God said leave your Father’s house behind.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 And Abram and Nahor took 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 Iscah.
30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
32 The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
Now, why in the world would Terah be heading to Canaan?
Why would he be leaving his country?
Why would he be heading to the very place?
That God later promises to give to Abram?
It doesn’t take a rocket sceintist to figure out
That God call Terah to do what Abram later did
And yet… Terah settled in Haran.
Instead of Going all the way to Canaan
Terah settled in a city named Haran
Is it a coincidence that the city was named after his dead son?
Perhaps Terah named it after his son
Or perhaps when he got there and heard that it was named Haran
He was reminded of his dead son
And that was enough to get him to quit
to stop walking
and to settle for less than what God called him to do.
The world is overrun with people who have been called by God
but somewhere along the way they settled for less.
If you look at an ANE map
Haran is exactly halfway between UR and Canaan.
Terah was halfway there
He was just as far from where God brought him from
as he was from where God was talking him.
Turning back was pointless
but Terah didn’t turn back
Instead… he settled.
Stuck in the middle
Not living like the pagans in UR
But not living like the people God was calling them to be either.
Anytime you settle, you die.
When you stop pursuing what God is calling you to be
You are spiritually dead
The devil will do anything in his power to get you to settle
If the devil is fighting you
they you outta know by now
that whatever you are doing is right
Because answering your calling is not supposed to be comfortable.
And if the devil isn’t bothering you
Perhaps you’ve settled in Haran
Or Perhaps you’ve turned back to UR
But I can guarantee you are not walking to the Promised land.
2. Conditions of the Calling
2. Conditions of the Calling
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
When we look at verse 1,
We understand that there are conditions to the calling.
Abram had to do 4 things.
Leave his country
Leave his Kindred - extended family
Leave his Father’s House - Immediate Family except Spouse.
Walk to a land that he could not see.
We know he could not see the land
Because God said, “I WILL Show you”.
Abram didn’t have a picture of it.
He didn’t get to sit in on a 30 minute timeshare presenation
about the wonder land of Canaan.
He started walking on faith and not by sight.
When God calls you…
He gives you very limited details
And there is a reason for this
Because, number 1, you can’t handle the details.
And number 2, you would try to control the outcome.
and finally… when it is all said and done,
You will give all the credit to God
Because He will make something happen
That you had no idea was even possible.
If you had the details, you’d know it was possible
and then it wouldn’t require faith.
God is looking for you to trust him.
Don’t worry about the details
Just walk.
Don’t try to figure it out
Just walk.
Don’t try to get to Canaan your own way
Just walk.
This is a condition of the calling.
It is the hardest condition if you ask me.
Trust God will all of the details
and don’t lean on your own understanding
When we look at Abram’s conditions.
We find that he did number 1.
In fact, his father Terah did number 1 for him.
He also did number 3.
He left his father’s house.
If this means a physical house
He did that.
But I think it means his Mother, bothers, and sisters.
His immediate family.
He also did number 4.
He started walking to that promised land.
But what about number 2?
Did He leave behind his extended family?
No.
Look at verse 4…
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Lord, I’m doing what you asked.
I’m going to Canaan.
To the land that you will show me
I’m leaving my father’s house
I’m heading down the road…
but Lot went with him.
mmmm.
You see, there are conditions to our calling
And God is often waiting for us to meet those conditions
before he can move us into the next season.
Some of you in this place right now
are on the brink of a breakthrough
but God has asked you leave something behind
Something precious to you
Something you don’t even understand why you need to leave it
You’ve asked God to explain it and he didn’t
You’ve asked God to accept it, and he doesn’t
He said to lay it down or leave it behind
and you said, I’ll do all those other things God
I’ll go wherever you want me to go
I’ll do whatever you want me to do
but I can’t do that one thing…
and that is exactly why God asked you to do that one thing.
If you do it, God has miracles in your future
If you lay it down, God will blow your mind
He will take you places you never dreamed of
He will show you things you didn’t know existed
But until you meet the conditions of the calling
Get ready to settle in Haran
Because you will never see the promise.
Strife with Lot
Strife with Lot
In the very next chapter we see strife between Abram’s men
and Lot’s men.
Abram couldn’t see that future, but God did.
That’s why God said leave your kindred
He knew about the stife.
If we would trust God
We’d avoid a whole lot of strife.
5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents,
6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together,
Where God is taking you
There isn’t room for some people
God has another calling for them
and they can answer it or not answer it
but they can’t go where God needs you to go.
There isn’t room there for the both of you.
And if you try to bring them anyway…
7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock…
Strife is in the future if you don’t meet the conditions of the calling.
God will let you live in that strife
until you get to a point that you finally do what he asked you to do
He won’t take Lot out of your life
He could have
He could let him die,
but God left Lot because he told Abram
Leave your kindred behind
I know you don’t understand why
but this is a condition for your calling Abram
And you will have an entirely different set of condtions for your calling
Don’t think that you can just use Abram’s conditions
and abandon your family, or leave your husband, and move to a new country
Abram’s conditions are his conditions for his calling
God has something else in store for you and your calling.
But rest assured, there will be conditions
and you can try to pursue your purpose
without meeting those conditions
but you will end up with strife…. every single time.
The strife as a purpose.
It is meant to cause you to move
it is meant to cause you to obey.
To do what God has already told you to do.
You thought you left comfort behind when you answer the call
Wait till you see how uncomfortable it gets
when you don’t answer the call.
8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.
Abram said, look let’s end the strife because you are my kindred
But what Abram has failed to see
Is there will always be strife until you obey God
And God told him to leave his Kindred
Not try to cope with him
or try to work around him
That land was for Abram, not Lot
And Abram tries to share it with him
He tells him, you take half, and I’ll take half.
and even let’s lot pick which half he wants.
9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
You pick a side Lot
And I’ll talk the other side.
you see, now Abram is settling for half his promise
because he refused to meet the full conditions of the calling.
You want to know why Abram was afraid to kick Lot to the curb?
Because he was an old man
And his wife was an old woman
and She was barren
and God said, I’m going to make you a Father of Many Nations
and Abram kept Lot around because legally
he could call him a son
since his brother Haran died
Lot’s biological father
and Terah died
Who appears to have adopted Lot
so either Nahor or Abram could now call him son.
and leave an inheritance to him
But did he call him son?
No, he called him Kinsman, not son.
God didn’t intend to make Lot the heir
God had a child in Abram’s future
One that came from him and his wife
Even in their old age
but that detail wasn’t given to Abram yet
because they wouldn’t have believed it
and because they had not yet met the conditions of their calling
Abram was holding onto Lot
Because he thought, this will be how I help God
to fulfill the promise he gave me
Because we all know I’m not really going to have a son of my own.
When they separated though
And Lot went east,
He went own his own out to the Jordan Valley
and pitched his tent toward Sodom
and Eventually Lot left Abram
And watch what happens…
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,
15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.
16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.”
