Receiving the Promise

1 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: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Lesson Connection

Promises

People are professional promise-makers. We make hundreds of promises, and often keep only a handful.

If you are a parent, you may have seen your child’s puppy dog eyes when they pleaded to you, “If you let us have a puppy, we promise to walk him and feed him and take him out and give him a bath!” But the truth is this: without YOUR assistance, that poor dog wouldn’t have seen water in his bowl or in a bath in two weeks! …promises.

As parents, we make promises to our kids… “This medicine… well, um, it tastes good. Like bubble gum! I promise!” We are the parents. We tell the truth. And with great trust, they open wide and gulp down a tablespoon of “bubble gum” flavored medicine and head off to bed.

Men and women stand lovestruck at the altar and make promises to each other to love, honor, and cherish one another - a promise they fully intend to keep… But as the bills pile higher and life gets tougher, many times brides and grooms forget to love, honor, and cherish each other …promises.

And how about election season?!!! More promises fly during campaign season than pollen flies during allergy season. Politicians use stumps and social media to make enough promises to fill up the RV that pulls them from stop to stop. But most of the time they only keep a handful of the promises they made. So when I start seeing campaign signs sprout up in lawns all over, I prepare myself for the barrage of garbage …promises.

As we grow up, we grow to realize that a promise made is not always a promise kept. Humans don’t always keep their promises. But what I love in the Word is that it says:

Numbers 23:19 NKJV

19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

According to 1 Kings 8:56...

1 Kings 8:56 (NKJV)

56 ...There has not failed one word of all His good promise...

I’m reminded of what Sis. Brittni Scott’s recent song says, “You will never break a promise!” We can rest assured, when God makes a promise, He will make good on His promise.

You can just ask Abram, who we are focusing on today.

Abram Heard God’s Voice

Leave Your Homeland

His day started like any other day. (AD LIB)

He and Sarai had been living on his father’s farm for a while, and home was starting to feel more like home.

And during that day, Abram heard a voice speaking to him. A voice much deeper than Sarai’s. As he looked around, no one else seemed to hear it, and no one else seemed to be speaking to him. It sounded like it was coming from up above. Who was this???

He heard the voice again, and this time it was unmistakable. It wasn’t some kid up in the barn loft messing with him. It was coming from God.

God spoke to Abram and told him to leave home - leave his country, his father’s house, his farm - and start walking where God was leading.

And God didn’t give him turn-by-turn directions. God just simply asked Abram to trust that He would show him where to walk.

GPS’s are not always all they are cracked up to be. Going to HYC recently, I was using a GPS in Conway, AR and everyone in the vehicle will be my witness: it took us through about 5 “circles of death” in a row!

We like the feel of certain, turn-by-turn directions. But that’s not always how God works. And that takes away the need for faith!

I Will Make You a Great Nation

So God’s first command came also with His first promise to Abram...

Genesis 12:2 (NKJV)

2 I will make you a great nation...

So this was probably earth-shaking for Abram. He was just one guy, but God was going to multiply his influence to make him a great nation. It’s one thing to be the mayor of a city or the governor of a state, but to the the start and the patriarch of a “great nation” - that’s a high honor!

And so I’m sure Abram was thinking that this was all going to take a sovereign act of God to actually happen.

But God wasn’t finished making promises...

I Will Make You a Blessing to All the Families of the Earth

Genesis 12:2–3 (NKJV)

2 ...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.”

So… where was all of this coming from???

Why were all these promises coming Abram’s way out of the clear blue???

I’ll tell you why: God was looking for a man He could bless to bless others, and He chose Abram. His plan from the very beginning was to bless Abram so God could bless others THROUGH Abram.

God Wants to Use Us to Bless Others

You know, God’s blessings are not only for us; they are for everyone! When God blesses us in a service, it’s not only for us to enjoy some strong worship, but it’s also for others to be blessed as well.

And here’s an important thing to understand: God fills us up with His Spirit so He can pour us into others and give them a taste of what it’s like to live as a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led child of God.

You are filled so that you can be poured! When’s the last time you poured out? Or maybe I could ask this as well: when was the last time you were filled up???

Look at the blessings that you’ve been afforded! When I look back on this past year at how God has blessed our family, I am so thankful at what He’s done. But I also know that God doesn’t do it all for me - He wants me to bless others!

He wants our new home to become a place where people can be reached!

Maybe God gave you that great-paying job so that you can not only just have a nicer car or home, but because he also wants you to bless a missionary or your church?!

He wants to use us to bless others. We need to keep our ears open to hear God’s voice, our hands open to receive God’s blessings, and our hearts open to share God’s goodness.

Abram Left His Homeland

God Told Abram to Leave His Home and His Relatives

I want to note something real quick: a whole lot of blessing came with separation.

So, Abram started packing his things as quickly as he could. Sarai walked into the tent to find her husband packing his bags.

She asked, “Hon, what are you doing???”

Up until this point, it doesn’t appear that God had spoken to her like He had spoken to Abram. And so you can imagine that this must have been an interesting conversation...

“Oh, Sarai… we’re leaving. We’re moving. Here, give me a hand wrapping these dishes.”

“Where are we going??? I though you liked it here!”

And he would respond: “I do, but God just spoke to me and told me to leave my country and my father’s house and start walking. He’ll tell us where to walk. And He’s going to make us a great nation, sweetheart! He’s going to bless me and make my name great. Can you believe it??? People are going to know my name. And He’s going to bless me and all the families of the earth through me!”

So, here’s a question that I would certainly love the answer to… How do you persuade your wife that it is a good idea to leave behind what is familiar and comfortable - all you’ve made of yourselves - to start walking, not knowing where you are going, just because you believe God spoke to you?

That would be a hard sell.

But Abram believed it, and so did Sarai.

Abram Partially Obeyed

And what happened next is interesting… Although Abram fully trusted God, he did not fully obey God.

God’s command was pretty clear: leave your father’s house and your father’s family. But Abram had a nephew he wanted to bring along, so he brought his nephew Lot. And not long into their walk, Abram’s herds and herdsmen grew, and so did Lot’s. The herdsmen started fighting with one another, so Abram made the suggestion that they split up. And he even gave Lot the first choice of the land.

Lot chose the plain of Jordan. It was lush, green grass and much water - a great area. So Abram lived in the land of Canaan.

But then Genesis records the first red flag that Lot may become a problem to Abram’s walk with God:

Genesis 13:12 KJV 1900

12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Eventually Lot actually moved his family into Sodom. Soon, Lot found out what war was all about. Kings from other nations started joining together to fight the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, and a couple of others. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah couldn’t hold off the others, and they fled for the mountains.

In the middle of all of this, Lot was caught up and captured as a prisoner of war. And Abram reacted VERY quickly to that! When he heard about it, he got together an army and rescued Lot. Pretty loyal of a family member.

But sadly, Lot didn’t learn his lesson. The next time we read about him, he was living again in the sinful area of Sodom. Genesis 19:1 actually might even imply that he may have been a leader there...

Genesis 19:1 NKJV

1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.

But, for whatever Lot thought he had made of himself, God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah for their wickedness, and He sent two angels to rescue Lot for Abram’s sake. Lot and his daughters escaped with only their lives before God rained down fire and brimstone on those cities.

And that is the last we hear of Lot. Abraham continued walking his walk of faith without Lot or his herdsmen.

We Must Obey God Completely

Here’s the key in the story of Abram and Lot: partial obedience is still disobedience.

What did God say???

Genesis 12:1 NKJV

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.

But Abraham brought Lot.

God doesn’t grade obedience on a curve. God is not impressed when we are 99% obedient to Him.

And disobedience is costly! Yes, God kept all the promises He made to Abraham, but Abraham ended up fighting battles he wasn’t supposed to encounter. He fought with a sword once and fought in prayer the other time to save Lot’s life.

God knew Lot was not going to be like Abraham. And if Abraham had obeyed God fully, he would have avoided unnecessary battles and heartache.

We… have got… to obey God COMPLETELY!

The Bible is filled with eulogies of men and women who obeyed God partially but paid a high price because the ended up fighting battles they weren’t supposed to fight. There are people right now, at this moment, who are spinning their wheels in life, in a rut they can’t get out of, much of the time unknowingly, because they refuse to completely consecrate their life to God. There’s some part of their life they won’t give up to Him. And it’s said that they aren’t seeing the blessing that comes with simply being obedient.

You know, God is not erratic. He doesn’t bark orders just to watch us sweat. He doesn’t get tickled by giving us unhelpful direction. That’s not what He does. He knows what is best for us because only He knows what is ahead of us.

I want to implore you today: When God speaks to you the next time, obey Him completely.

He speaks to us through His Word, through the preacher, through a song, and through our prayer time.

And He is speaking to people who are listening.

When He speaks, let us listen and obey.

Abraham Received God’s Promise

Abraham Received the Promise by Faith

So God spoke again and reminded Abraham of the promise He had made to him 24 years earlier. And this time, God gave Abraham a gift.

Long before sonograms or ultrasounds, God told Abraham they would have a son and even told him when. And before they knew it, Sarah was starting to show.

And so Abraham went to work on his diaper-changing techniques. I can sympathize!

But, you know, living for God, walking in the Spirit, and managing the blessings also involves the mundane. The most spiritual person you know puts on their deodorant just like you do - at least I hope they do. If they don’t, there’s a word for ‘em!

Sarah sewed another blue blanket to replace the one they lost years earlier.

...Tending to the blessings and the promises God gives...

And just as God promised and when God promised, Abraham and Sarah found themselves sitting in their tent, holding their baby boy they named Isaac.

They waited 25 years for God to perform His promise… and He came through! That’s having faith.

We Will Receive God’s Promises by Faith

You know, this faith thing is sort of a tightrope. And we can fall off the tightrope on two sides.

Sometimes people confuse laziness with faith. God makes a promise to them, and they do nothing. And they think that God will do everything. They call it waiting on God, but God is waiting on them to do whet they can until He will do what they cannot.

If God promised He is going to save your family, don’t just wait for Him to do what only He can do. Start praying for them! Share your testimony of God’s goodness with them, and then watch Him do what you can’t.

But Abraham didn’t have this problem. He fell off the tightrope on the other side. He tried to speed God along. Eleven years after God first spoke to him, Abraham felt like he had waited long enough. So he had a son through his wife’s servant, Hagar, but that was not God’s intention.

God was still fully prepared to come through with the promise He had made, but Abraham stepped off the tightrope of faith and had a son with another woman. Ishmael was his name, and he is the father of the Arab nations. Isaac is the father of the Jewish nations. And because of Abraham’s disobedience here, I don’t have to convince you… both families are still feuding 4,000 years later.

Abraham didn’t have the benefit of the Bible, but we do. We have this awesome highlight reel of God’s faithfulness and power. We see Him opening seas. Shutting lions’ mouths. Touching lepers. Healing the sick. Forgiving sinners. Making the lame walk. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” the Bible says (Genesis 18:14).

And what’s funny is, that scripture I just quoted, in Genesis 18:14… that was the question God asked Abraham. It’s the question He still asks us today. “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

Internalizing the Message

We need to remember that question. And ask God to let us know if there is anything we can be doing while we wait for Him to do what He’s promised.

God has promised some truly awesome things to our Church and people in our Church. You can probably think of some right now. Maybe to win your family. He’s definitely promised revival!

Until we see the promises come to pass, we need to pray, “God, while I wait, make my hands to war! Let me be about my Father’s business! You say revival of souls is coming… let me be active in it happening! Give me words to say to people and boldness to say them! I’ll teach a Bible study! I’ll war in prayer, because I know Your promise is coming!”

Let’s pray it right now!

I want to leave you with one last scripture this morning to encourage you on the promises of our God...

Romans 4:20–21 NKJV

20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

God bless you, everyone who has tuned in for Teaching this morning! I’m going to turn it over to Pastor now and I can’t wait to hear what he has to say! His live feed will be coming on in just a few short moments.

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