All right, I want you to take
your Bibles and turn back with me to the book of Genesis chapter
12. Genesis chapter 12. I'd like to look at the two verses
that we read just a moment ago. Verses 4 and 5 of chapter 12. Now, Abram has been in Paran
for five years. His dad has died. And the scripture
comes to that point where Abram is going to leave Haram. And his departure, according
to the scriptures, was exactly in complete compliance with the
call of the Lord. The Spirit of God moved upon
the writer of Hebrews to set forth God's account of Abram's
departure to go to the place that was given him by the Lord
for an inheritance. This is what Hebrews 11.8 says,
by faith. Abraham, when he was called to
go out into a place which he should receive for an inheritance,
obeyed. And he went out not knowing whether
he went. Now, I don't want to scare you. I've got six points out of these
two verses of Scripture, but they're going to be very short. I don't want to labor it, but
I want to bring out six beautiful, glorious points of truth that
declares the grace of God in the Lord calling His people out
of the darkness of unbelief. Six points that are relevant
to every object of God's mercy when they're called by the Lord,
effectually called by the Lord. Here's my first point. The effect
of God's call. The effect of God's call. Verse
4 says, So Abram departed. So Abram departed. Abram obeyed God. The Lord Jesus declared in John
10, 27, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. Now, faith in Christ is known,
true faith in Christ is known by hearing Hearing, yes, with
the natural ear, but hearing in the heart, with the new ear,
and obeying. The sheep hear the voice of the
Master in the Gospel. They hear it when the Word of
God is preached. And again, they hear it in the
heart because they hear as the sovereign God has given them
life. They have spiritual life. Now
listen, spiritually dead men don't hear the voice of the Lord
any more than physically dead men hear the voice of other men.
Someone that's in a casket. And you're looking at them. They
have ears. You can still see their ears.
They're there. They have ears, but they can't
hear. There's no hearing. And spiritually
dead men They can't hear. They don't hear the voice of
the Lord. They've got to be given life
before they can hear. So the Scriptures sets forth
the effect. When God Almighty calls, God's
people hear. They hear the voice of the Lord
Jesus, the Shepherd, because life has been given them in regenerating
grace. And they obey. They obey. They follow after the Lord. Hold
your place and turn to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians 1. I'm saying this because there
is a sense in which you can have a head knowledge of the truth. You can have a head knowledge
of the truth of God and have a natural understanding You can
understand what's being said. I told you about one of my daughters.
Years ago, she was 18 years old, and she grew up sitting under
the gospel. She wasn't like me that had been
set under false religion. She heard the truth from her
youth up. 18 years old, and she said, Dad,
I want you to baptize me. I've told you this story. And
I asked God, I wanted to know why. I said, you tell me, why
are you asking me this? She said, because I believe the
Lord's given me a heart for what I've heard. She said, I understood
what you were saying. She said, I could. In my head,
I could understand five points of Calvinism. I knew what you
were saying. I knew the difference between
Calvinism and Arminianism and could give a good argument for
it. But she said, I had no heart for it. I understood it in my
head, but I had no love for it. I had no love for Christ. And
I think the Lord's given me a heart, and I want to confess it. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. Verse 4 to 7, listen to this.
Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. Now isn't that
a beautiful passage? Knowing, beloved, your election
of God. How is that? For or because our
gospel came not unto you in word only. but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner
of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers
of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction
with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that ye were in samples, or examples,
to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia." So we truly believe
that which moves us to obedience. That's what you do. You believe
it, you do it. You follow after. First Peter 2.21, For even here
unto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps. So here's
the first effect of God's calling. Obedience. The scripture says
And Abram departed. Here's my second point. The exclusiveness
of God's calling. Abram departed, but look exactly
what it says. As the Lord had spoken unto him. The scripture bears out that
there's many voices. in this world. They're religious
voices, but they're many voices. They're voices that claim to
be sin of God. I'm going to show you this. But
they're voices that are inconsistent. with the Scriptures. They're
the voices. Turn to Matthew 24 and I'll come
up to this. These are voices of false shepherds. Voices that the sheep are instructed
in the Scriptures to not believe. They're voices. Matthew chapter
24 and verses 23 to 24. Now listen to this. The Lord's speaking and he says,
if any man shall say unto you, lo, here is Christ, or there,
believe it not, for or because there shall arise false Christs,
false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch
that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Now, the scripture bears out
that believers, they can hear, they hear. They hear what these
false voices are saying. But the scripture sets forth
that these many voices that are claiming to be Christ, or what
they're saying is, we're preaching the gospel. That's what they're
saying. I'm preaching the message of Christ. I'm preaching the
word of the Lord. But they're setting forth things
that are false. And if it were possible, the
Lord said, they would even deceive the elect, if it were possible. But obviously, from the wording
of Scripture, it's not possible. According to the word of the
Lord, His people shall not be deceived to their eternal ruin,
no signs or wonders shall everlastingly deceive them because they were
chosen in Christ by the Father without any respect whatsoever
for any merit in themselves and they were chosen before the world
began. So they are eternally secure. They're kept by the power
of God through faith. ready to be revealed unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. So there's an exclusiveness. The scripture said, so Abram
departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. It wasn't another voice.
It was a voice of the Lord. The scripture says in John 10,
4 and 5, and when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before
them and the sheep follow, for they know his voice. And a stranger
they will not follow, but will flee from him, for they know
not the voice of strangers. Now here's the question. How
do we know the voice of the Lord? We talk about that. We hear it
in the scriptures. Well, I just said how we know
it. The voice of the Lord never contradicts anything that's found
in His Word. If you're hearing something from
someone and they're saying something that you know is not scriptural,
then I can, with scriptural evidence and justification, declare unto
you that's not the voice of the Lord. The Lord told me so and
so and so and so. The Lord has declared, thus saith
the Lord, so and so, and it's inconsistent with this word,
that's not God speaking. So I know that the voice of the
Lord will always be in conjunction with His word. His voice always
brings glory to Himself. It always sets forth Him to be
the way to God, the truth of God. and the life of his people. His voice always humbles the
sinner and it always magnifies the glory of Almighty God as
the sovereign Savior of his people. That's the voice of the Lord.
So the sheep of Christ are by that distinguishing ear, they're
sensitive to the voice of the shepherd and when they hear Him
being preached, they know that's His voice. That's the voice of
the Lord. And a stranger's voice, one that
does not set forth, magnify the Savior, humble the sinner, make
the Lord to be the author and finisher of our faith, that salvation
is all of grace, salvation is of the Lord, they hear something
that's inconsistent with that and immediately they know that's
not the voice of the shepherd. That's not the shepherd. That's
not the shepherd. I told you before, you know what
my voice sounds like. You know what I sound like. I
sound like me to you. I've heard people say, I've heard
myself. on the recording, stuff like
that. And I really, I thought, I don't
know if I'd recognize me. But see, the way I hear me, the
way you hear me, it's two different hearings. But you recognize my
voice. And if somebody stood up here
and said, or you just heard them say from the backside, you heard
them say, I'm Marvin Stoniker, and you don't recognize that
voice, you're going to say, that's not Marvin's voice. The sheep
hear the voice. So Abram departed as the Lord
has spoken to him. Thirdly, third point, the blessing
of fellowship and love for the brethren in God's calling. The scripture says, and Lot went
with him. Now the key to Lot's actions
is found in the wording It says that Lot went with him. I looked up that word with to
just understand what it meant. And every concordance that I went
to, all of them, here's the first word that pops up. Nearness. Nearness. Lot went with him. He went with Abram. It reminds
me of that passage of scripture over in 2 Kings that speaks of
the nearness that Elisha had to Elijah. When three different
times Elijah, who was soon to be taken out of this world by
the Lord, Elijah, three different times, told Elisha, one time
in Gilgal, one time in Bethel, and finally in Jericho. Three
different times, Elijah, each time, would tell him, now I'm
going on over to so-and-so. I'm going from here to there.
Now you stay here. And three times, the scriptures
declare the same thing that Elisha said to Elijah. He said this,
as the Lord liveth, And as I so liveth, I will not leave thee. I ain't leaving. I ain't leaving. No. Naomi told Ruth, say, look,
husband's died. You're just going back. And she said, no. Where you go,
I go. I ain't leaving. I ain't leaving. The scripture says, in God's
calling of his people, there's a nearness. There's a nearness
to God's people. And obviously, there was a joyful
spirit of oneness and fellowship found with Lot. And the scripture
says, and Lot went with him. Isn't the fellowship among believers
a joy to behold? God's people. I love this scripture. David said, Psalm 122, I was
glad when they said unto me, let's go into the house of the
Lord. Let's go to the house of the Lord. Let's go worship together.
You want to? Let's go hear the gospel preached.
Let's go where God's people are. Let's go meet with the sheep.
Let's be in fellowship with them. Hold your place and turn to Acts
2. The Lord brought a mighty miracle on the day of Pentecost.
Acts chapter 2. He was pleased to call out sinners
from all areas. And they were all there on the
day of Pentecost. Peter was preaching. When he
was preaching, the Lord blessed his preaching. Thousands were
saved. called out of darkness. Scripture
says in Acts 2, 41-47, after the Holy Ghost had fallen and
cloven tongues over the heads of those that were preaching,
they were preaching in languages that they had never heard before.
People were saying, these are Galileans. And we're hearing
them preach the wonderful works of God in our own tongue. We're
hearing that. These guys don't speak us. They
speak Galilean, but we hear them. I hear them. And the scripture
says in Acts 2.41, then they that gladly received his word
were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about
3,000 souls. And they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine and in fellowship. and in breaking
of bread, and prayers, and fear came upon every soul, and many
wonders and signs were done by the apostles, and all that believed
were together, and had all things common, and sold their possessions
and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need,
and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and
breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with
gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor
with all the people. And the Lord added to the church
daily, such as should be saved." And when God calls out His people,
I'm telling you there's a blessing of fellowship and love. God's
people want to be with God's people. That's where I want to
be. I want to be with you. Fourth point, the strength and
power in God's calling. The scripture says, and Abram
was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Often we find in the scriptures
the saints of God being called according to the will and good
pleasure of the Lord to service in latter years. And it's a fact
that whenever the Lord is pleased to call someone, whether in their
youth or in the twilight of their journey, the scripture bears
out that the Lord preserves those that he calls Keeps them until
he's pleased to receive them unto himself. Listen to what
scripture says about Moses. Deuteronomy 34, 7. And Moses
was 120 years old when he died. And his eye was not dim, nor
his natural force abated. I mean, for us, Well, let me
say for me, man, I've had cataracts replaced, and I've had everything,
and I'm tired. I used to hear people that were
getting older, and they'd say, man, I just can't do what I used
to do. And I thought, well, you need
to gut up. But I'm telling you. And this
is the way it happens. You know, I just don't feel like
doing stuff that I once did. I try it, and I get so tired
so quickly. But God had called Moses. Called
him, and here he was leading the people. And he's 80 years
old. And here he goes. He lived 40 more years, 80, God,
about 40 more years in the desert, in the wilderness. And when the
Lord was pleased to take him, his eyes wasn't dim and his natural
force abated. He was strong. God kept him. Abram, the Scripture says, was
75 years old when he departed Haran. And according to the scriptures,
he was 175 when he died. The Lord is going to sustain
his people. He's going to keep his people until he's pleased
to receive them unto himself. He was 75 years old. Somebody
said, man, Lyle, that's 75. That'd be a... Lord kept him. Point number five. The faith. that's found in God's
calling, faith, when God grants faith. Verse five, it says, and
Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all
their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that
they had gotten in Haran. Again, that scripture that we
read beginning of this message, Hebrews 11, eight, by faith, Abraham, when he was called to
go out into a place which he received for an inheritance,
obeyed and went out, not knowing whether he went. The Scriptures
bears out that when Abram left Haran, he took it all. He didn't have a place, according
to the Word of God, And he left there as a backup in case things
don't work out. He left completely. He brought his wife. He brought
his nephew. He brought all their substance
that they gathered while they were there in Haran, all the
souls that they had gotten that were there. And the writers I
read, and I don't doubt this, it probably referred to those
who were his servants that were bond servants. They wanted to
go with him and desired to go with him when he left. And that's
a beautiful picture of all of God's sheep who Follow Him. Why do God's sheep follow Him?
Because they want to. I want to. That's what I want
to do. Why do you go? I don't go against my will, made
willing, in the day of God's power. And he left it all. In God's calling, they leave
it. Paul, the apostle, what did he consider? when the Lord was
pleased to call him out of darkness. We've read this passage so many
times. He said, though I might also
have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that
he have whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more circumcise
the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of the Hebrews, touching the law, a Pharisee, concerning
zeal, persecuted the church, touching righteousness, which
is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, though I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things. I do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. When God calls a man or a woman
out of darkness, what do they leave concerning their old profession? What do they leave? All of it.
All of it. They're not hanging on. They're
not hanging on. They have no confidence whatsoever
in the flesh. And when God called Abram to
leave Haran, what did he do? He left. What did he take? Everything
was his. His wife, his nephew, his substance.
All of it. He took all of it. He didn't
presume on God. He didn't tempt the Lord by holding
on to that which God had told him to leave. He left. Not knowing
where he was going. But he believed God. He trusted
the Lord. What a blessing. What a blessing
to just walk by faith. Believe in God. Lord, increase
my faith. That's what this is. Lord, help
me. And number six, this is the last one. The surety and the
faithfulness of God's calling. The latter part of verse five,
and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan and into the
land of Canaan They came. God had called him. God had called
him. Go to a place, I'm gonna show
you. I'm gonna show you this place. It's gonna be for an inheritance.
That which the Lord promises, he faithfully brings to pass. Last week, I looked at this passage
of scripture, but I thought, I want to read it again because
it was so relevant to this passage right here, Joshua 23, 14. And
you know in all your hearts, in all your souls, that not one
thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your
God spake concerning you. All are come to pass unto you,
and not one thing hath failed thereof. First Corinthians 1.9
says this, God is faithful. By whom you were called unto
the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. God had promised
Abram, I'm going to bless you and you're going to be a blessing
to people. I'll make of you great nations
in all the nations of the world. are going to be blessed through
the seed, that natural generation, but by the good providence of
God, the Savior was sent. And Abram, being the means, being
the bloodline of Christ, he was a blessing to this world. And
the Lord did make of him a great nation in the seed, in the Christ
himself. Oh, the beauty. of hearing the
promise of God and believe in Him. I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. God's people believe that. They
look forward to that day when the Lord shall return. They know
He's coming. They know He's coming. Now, we may pass, lie in the
grave, sleep in the Lord, but He's coming. And when He comes,
Those that died in the Lord, died in the faith, they're gonna
rise first. Those that remain, they're gonna
meet the Lord in the air with them. We won't prevent them,
we'll meet them and they'll go first. So shall we ever be with
the Lord. I pray the Lord bless this to
our hearts for his glory and our good.