Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. I'd like to look at verse 8 tonight. Hebrews 11, 8. The Scripture. It says, ìBy faith, Abraham,
when he was called to go out into a place which he should
after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not
knowing whether he went.î Letís pray together. Our Father, this evening, we
are so thankful, Lord, that we are able to assemble ourselves
in the precious and holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
ask you this evening, would you bless the service? Lord, would you bless this word
to the salvation of sinners, needy sinners? And, Lord, comfort
the hearts of your people. For it is in Christ's name we
pray, Amen. This evening I'd like for us
to look at this one passage of Scripture concerning the calling
and the obedience of Abraham according to God's everlasting
purpose to show mercy to this object of God's affection. Now, before we look at that verse
8 right there, I want you to take your Bibles and turn with
me to the book of Joshua, chapter 24. Joshua 24. And I want us to look and read exactly
what the Scripture has to say concerning where the Lord found
Joshua when God called him. Now this passage of Scripture,
this tells us where Joshua was. The Scripture says in Joshua
24, verses 1 to 3, ìAnd Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel
to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads,
for their judges, for their officers, and they presented themselves
before God. And Joshua said unto all the
people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt
on the other side of the flood." Now that right there where it
says, Actually, that word flood right there means the river.
He was talking about the Euphrates River. Your fathers dwelt on
the other side of the flood in old times, even Terah, the father
of Abraham, the father of Nachar, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham
from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the
land of Canaan. and multiplied his seed and gave
him Isaac." Now, from that passage of Scripture right there, the
thing that we see first concerning God's dealings with His people
is the distinguishing love of God toward those that Almighty
God has everlastingly been pleased to show mercy to according to
His covenant of grace. Here was Abraham. The Scripture
sets forth that Abraham was worshiping and serving God's idols with
his family. Serving. I looked that word up. He was a bondman. He was in bondage. to these false gods. Here was Abraham when God found
him. He was blind to the glory of
the true God. He was blind to his own fallen
state. And he was thinking that he was
serving God Almighty. He thought he was. This has got
to be God. These gods that he was serving. But according to the Lord's good
pleasure. He showed mercy and compassion
to whomsoever He will. The Scripture says that He took
your father. That is what Joshua said. He
took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood over
there around the river Euphrates and led him through all the land
of Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac. but for the good pleasure of
God." What other reason did Almighty God pass by Terah, Abraham's dad, Abraham's father?
He passed him by. There was Abraham's dad, Terah. There was Abraham. There was
Nacar. They were all worshiping idols. And Almighty God showed mercy
and compassion to Abraham. Romans 9.21, Hath not the potter
power over the clay? Of the same lump is a dad and
two brothers, a dad and two sons, same family, same family. hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and
another unto dishonor." Now, I've brought this out before,
but I want to bring it out again. That word, make, right there,
it means to appoint or to commit. And the scripture sets forth,
Almighty God, back in Genesis 126, God said, let us make, and
I went and looked up these words to make sure that these were
the same words talking about the same thing. God said, let
us make, let us commit, let us appoint, let us have the charge
of. That's what it means. Let us
make man in our image after our likeness. Now, there's only one
likeness of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the express image of
God. And what that verse of Scripture
says when God said let us make man in our image, let us appoint,
let us commit, Let us have the charge of the potter that has
the right to make one vessel unto honor and another vessel
unto dishonor. Almighty God before the foundation
of the world made, committed, appointed all men, all creation,
men, women, all of them, an Almighty God who has the right to do what
He does. Committed or appointed. Some,
He chose to show mercy. And some, He left to themselves. He made. Let us make man. Let us commit man. Let us appoint
man in our image. And so God created. That's Genesis
127. God created. It means to make
fat. or to cut down, to prosper or
to cut down. So God created man in His own
image. In the image of God created He
Him, male and female, created He them. Isaiah 51, verses 1
and 2 says, Hearken to Me, ye that follow after righteousness,
Ye that seek the Lord, look unto the rock whence ye have hewn,
to the hole of the pit from which you are digged. And then he says,
Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sarah that bare you, for
I called him alone, blessed him, and increased him. Oh, remember
the freeness of God's distinguishing mercy and grace. Almighty God,
in the call of Abraham, we are to consider that God Almighty
has the right to do what He will with His own. We are proclaimers
of the Holy Scriptures. We set forth God Almighty as
He reveals Himself to be. God Himself is the potter. And the potter has the right
to do what he will with his own. But secondly, I want you to consider
in the call of Abraham the long-suffering of Almighty God's mercy to his
own. I want you to turn to 2 Peter
3.9. We've read this before, but I
want you to turn and look at these Scriptures. I'm going to
have you flip into a few Scriptures tonight, but I want you to look
exactly. There is so much in the call
of Abraham. 2 Peter 3.9. 2 Peter 3.9 is what the Scripture
says. And I'm talking about God's longsuffering
now. I'm going to show you God's longsuffering
to Abraham, but this is God's long-suffering to us. This setting
forth of Abraham, the faith of Abraham, Abraham is the example
of the faithful. Look at 2 Peter 3.9. The Lord
is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness,
but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing. that any should
perish, but they should all come to repentance." Almighty God
is faithful to His people. He's long-suffering to His people. Now, I want you to turn back
with me and hold your fingers there. Turn back to Genesis 12.
Genesis 12. It's what we read a moment ago
where the Lord found Abraham. Genesis chapter 12. In Genesis chapter 12, this is
what the Scripture sets forth concerning when Almighty God
called Abraham. Now we just read, just a moment
ago, we just read in Hebrews 11.8. The Scripture sets forth
that Almighty God called Abraham And the Scripture says, and he
obeyed. He obeyed. I want you to look
now at the historical account of the call of Abraham. Genesis
12-1, 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 show thee. And I will make of thee a great
nation, I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou
shalt be a blessing. 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." That's when God Almighty spoke to Abraham. But there is something revealed.
I want you to turn with me now to the book of Acts, chapter
7. Acts 7. We just read God's call to Abraham. Get out of your country. Acts
chapter 7. I'm going to read verses 2 to 4.
We read what the Scripture says in the book of Hebrews. God called
Abraham. Scripture says he obeyed. We just read in the book of Genesis
God's call. But here is something that the
Word of God reveals concerning that call of Abraham. Acts chapter 7, verses 2 to 4,
and he said, men and brethren, this is Stephen, the preacher,
he said, men, brethren, fathers, hearken, the God of all glory
appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before
he dwelt in Charon. And said unto him, Get thee out
of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land
which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land
of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charon, and from thence When
his father was dead, he removed him into this land wherein ye
now dwell." Now, I want you to turn back with me to Genesis
12. Turn back. I'll remind you of what Stephen
just said in just a second. Genesis chapter 12. Now Stephen just told us that
God had said before when Abraham was still in Mesopotamia. Now
let me tell you where Mesopotamia is. Mesopotamia is actually where
Abraham was when God found him. When Joshua was recording that
God came to where Abraham, Terah, Dad and Nacar, his brother, that
is Mesopotamia. He was in Ur of the Chaldeans. He was in the land of the Chaldeans. That's where God first found
him. And the Scripture sets forth back in Genesis that the Lord
had said, Genesis chapter 12, verse 1, the Lord had said unto
Abraham, Get thee out of thy country. Now, I want you to just
turn back just in Genesis 11. Here's Genesis 11 and verse 27. It says, Now these are the generations
of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahar, Haran. Haran begat Lot. Lot was Abraham's
nephew. And Haran, that is Abraham's
brother, died before his father Tira in the land of his nativity
in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahar took them
wives. The name of Abram's wife was
Sarai, the name of Nahar's wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran,
the father of Milcah, the father of Ishkah. But Sarai was barren,
she had no child. And Terah took Abram his son,
and Lot the son of Habron, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law,
and his son Abram's wife. And they went forth with them
from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan. And
they came unto Habron and dwelt there in the days of Terah for
205 years, and Terah died in Haran. Now, here's what the Scripture
says. Abraham was spoken to by God
when he was still in Mesopotamia. That's what Stephen told us.
Abraham was told by God when he was in his nativity, the land
of his nativity. He told Abraham, I want you to
leave. I want you to leave your family.
Leave this land. I want you to go to a place that
I'm going to show you. You go and you follow me. The Scripture in Genesis 11 right
there says this is what happened. Tirah, his dad, his family. Verse 31 of chapter 11 of Genesis
says, took Abram, his son Lot, the son of Haman, his son's son,
and Sarah, the daughter-in-law's son, and they went forth with
them from Ur of the Chaldees, where he was, to go into the
land of Canaan, and they came to Haman and dwelt there." Now,
I looked it up today to find out just exactly what did they
do. This is the way I'll do it. Here
on this part, I'll do it the way you would see it. This was
the land of Canaan. Here was the Persian Gulf over
here. And the Tigris and the Euphrates River came out. This was the land of the Chaldees,
Ur of Chaldees. Ur is a city. They were living
in the city of Ur in the country of Chaldea, Ur of the Chaldees. And God told Abraham, He said,
I want you to leave your family, your house, everything, and you
go to where I'll show you. This is where God told him to
go, to Canaan. Haran was up here, about 700
miles away, as closely as I could calculate. And Terah, Abraham's
dad, took Abraham and Abraham's wife and his sons and all of
them with him, and they went to Haran. and stayed in Haran
until Terah, Abraham's dad, died. That's where they were. God told
Abraham, you go where I'm going to show you. And Terah took his
family and Abraham went with him. Well, when Abraham, the
Scripture sets forth, did leave. Now I want you to look at verse
1. of chapter 12 of Genesis again, realizing what had actually happened
based on what Stephen told us. How that while he was still in
Mesopotamia, God had spoken to him. Look at this little word,
had, right here. How much significance it has.
Genesis 12.1, 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 show thee." And then the Scripture says,
I'll just drop down to verse 4, So Abraham departed as the
Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abram
was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
God didn't tell him to go to Haran. God told him to leave
his family and I'll show you where you're going to go. He
left with his dad. took up the move. And they went up to Haran up
here. And stayed in Haran until his daddy died. Now, knowing
exactly what happened back in Genesis, consider the mercy and the long-suffering
of Almighty God toward His people for Christ's sake. In the book
of Hebrews, the Scripture does not say one thing about Abraham's
disobedience. In the book of Genesis, it says
nothing of Abraham's faith. But let me tell you what went
on right here. The Lord Jesus Christ, the surety
of the sheep, The one that the Father always sees. The one that the Father looks
to for obedience. The one that paid the debt of
God's elect. The one in whom there is therefore
now no condemnation. This is what the New Testament
says concerning Abraham by faith. Abraham, when he was called to
go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed and went out, not knowing whether he went. Oh, the longsuffering of God.
The mercy of Almighty God. The distinguishing grace of God. Abraham's call by Almighty God
Oh, that was an effectual call. Scripture says, the Lord said
to Abram, Abram. And in the midst of that wandering,
the failings, the flounderings, and you think of us right now. You think if Almighty God should
mark iniquity. You say, I don't see how in the
world that Abraham could have done that. I do. I've done it. I've done it since I've stood
up here, Carl. Oh, the mercy of God. An effectual
calling. This wasn't just a general call.
Scripture says, for many are called, few are chosen. Every time a man stands in a
pulpit, and sets forth the glorious gospel of God. And men hear it. They hear it with an ear. There's
a general call. It's a general call. Men hear
that. Scripture says in Luke 14, 17,
18, He sent His servant at supper time to say to them that were
bidden come, for all things are now ready. And they all with
one consent began to make excuse. There's always a, they think. a good reason to forsake the
hearing of the Gospel, forsake it of Christ. I just don't have
time right now. I'm just so busy. When Almighty
God by His Holy Spirit effectually calls, and Abraham was one of
God's. He was one of God's own. When
God calls, the sheep always respond. They always, John 10, 27, My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. Just
like when Abraham was called to go out into a place which
he should after receive for an inheritance. Just like Abraham,
God's sheep come out. They come out from the darkness
of unbelief. They come out from rebellion.
All of them at one time. Had their conversation in times
past, the Scripture says, in the lust of their flesh, fulfilling
the desires of their flesh, their mind, and were by nature children
of wrath, even as others. They follow. They follow after. Do they follow perfectly? No.
No, sir. Do they use that for an excuse?
No. I tell you, they hate the way they are. They hate their
inconsistencies. They hate it. But thanks be unto
God, Almighty God, who has put away the debt that we've owed
to His law by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture
says, Abraham obeyed. He obeyed. He said, I don't see
how I could say that. But for the grace of God, I wouldn't
say it. Viewing him in Christ, Abraham
was God's chosen. The Lord Jesus Christ said in
John 15, 16, You've not chosen me. I've chosen you and ordained
you. We talk about God's choosing,
man's choosing. There's not but one choosing. The Lord said, I chose you. You say, well, I chose Him. Yes, right, because He gave you
a heart to do so. Well, I came to Him. That's right,
because He made you willing in the day of His power. You're
not your own, 1 Corinthians 6. You're bought with a price. Abraham
called to leave his country, kindred, leave his very father's
house. This is contrary, I know, to
our old nature. But Almighty God will have no
other gods before Him. And I'm telling you, for God's
sheep, they're coming. They're coming to Him. All of
this world coming to an end. The Scripture sets forth when
Abraham came out, he says he came out obeying, not knowing
whether he went. The Lord had not specified exactly
to Abraham where he was going. I'll tell you this. We know. And Abraham, the Scripture says,
Abraham, he knew. He knew where he was going. He
looked for a city that had foundations, whose builder and maker was God.
He believed God. And he saw the frailty in himself. He saw his wanderings. He saw
that old nature in himself. He knew it was there. He knew
it. But Abraham was just like every
believer right now. He warred against the nature
of that old man and struggled against it. And the Scriptures
brought out just exactly what He did. I'm no different and you're not
either. This is what the Scripture sets forth back in the book of
Genesis. This is exactly what He did. This is exactly how He
did it. And Almighty God revealed in Hebrews 11 and 8 when Almighty
God called Him. The Scripture said, God who sees
the end from the beginning, This is what God said. Abraham obeyed. Abraham obeyed by faith. God's people this evening, do
you know what they're doing? They're following after Him.
Even with all the struggles that they face every day, every moment,
Almighty God says this of His people, there is therefore now
no condemnation to them being Christ Jesus. Well done. by good
and faithful servants. Only in Christ is that said. Only in Christ. Thanks be unto
Him who giveth us the victory for Christ's sake. Amen.