Godly Men
Notes
Transcript
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
Men, we are experiencing some most unusual times in our society!
The pillars that make up a civilized society are being torn down.
The Ten Commandments have been sand blasted off the walls of our court houses, and removed from the hearts of the people.
Honesty, equity, truth, justice, integrity, righteousness, all these have been removed and where these once stood as character traits to emulate, have now been replaced by devilish acts and hatred.
The only hope is Christ!
And He has given us a responsibility to take the charge and make a difference in this world.
We were born and created to lead!
The story of Abraham is a true lesson for every man and especially every father.
I. God spoke to Abraham and he listened.
I. God spoke to Abraham and he listened.
Do you know that God speaks to us today?
Do you know men, that God is speaking to you?
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
Yes, He speaks to us through the living Word of God, by the Spirit of God.
In fact, He is speaking to you at this very moment, through this message.
So, are you listening?
When God called to Abram, he listened!
When a man listens to God he is brought to confession and conformity!
He stops everything to give full attention to what the Lord is saying.
I also believe there is a reason why men are not listening -
It is because they cannot hear Him!
And, they cannot hear Him, because, they have filled up their hearing with useless and unholy things, lifestyle, and anything that opposes itself to godliness.
And, that they are in a place where there are just too many distractions.
Which brings me to my next point.
II. God spoke to Abraham and he left.
II. God spoke to Abraham and he left.
A. He left the sin and familiarity of this world (Harran).
A. He left the sin and familiarity of this world (Harran).
"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;" (1 Peter 2:11, KJV)
B. He left the meager for the extraordinary.
B. He left the meager for the extraordinary.
Everything this world has to offer is not worth one second in Heaven!
"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." (Hebrews 11:13, KJV)
And that is why we must lead our wives, our children, our friends.
Everything that Abraham loved was in Haran, but he left it all because God said to!
· The abundant life is not found in Haran but in Canaan.
· The abundant life cannot be found in the abundance of sin.
III. God spoke to Abraham and he led.
III. God spoke to Abraham and he led.
As God led Abraham, Abraham led his family.
The Apostle Paul said it this way –
1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.
There were no excuses offered up by Abram.
Even age didn’t stop him. Notice the text says that he was 75 years old when he made this life change.
He also persuaded his family to go.
Here is a man we can emulate. He was a man to be trusted, because he trusted God.
I will say this from experience, that when a man truly trusts God with his life and his destiny, his family and those around him will trust him also.
They may not always agree with him, but they will not be able to help but trust him.
Conclusion:
Some of you will put this to the test and find it not to work. The problem will not be with the method for it is God’s. Rather, any failure will be solely on your part because you were only half hearted in your attempt.
You see Genesis 11:31 tells us that Terah, Abraham’s father left Ur of the chaldean’s for Canaan, but settled in Harran. He did not see the journey through.
Many start well but never finish. Paul said that we run so that we may win!
Which will you be?