The Faith And Failure Of God's Man

Q: What does the Bible say about God's call to Abram?

The Bible shows that God's call to Abram was effectual and sovereign, directing him to leave his homeland and follow God's promise. In Genesis 12, God makes a specific call to Abram, instructing him to leave his country and family for a land that God would show him. This call reflects God's sovereign choice and initiative, illustrating that Abram was chosen not for any inherent goodness, as he was an idolater at the time, but solely by God's grace. The call is one-sided, with no requests from God, highlighting the unmerited favor and powerful authority behind divine calling. Abram's response to this call demonstrates God's ability to make His followers willing to obey through His power.

Q: How do we know salvation is solely by grace?

Salvation is solely by grace, as illustrated by God's unmerited favor to Abram, reflecting the principle that it is God's will that determines one's salvation. The principle of salvation by grace alone is woven throughout Scripture. Ephesians 2:8 underscores that it is by grace that we are saved through faith, and this faith is itself a gift from God. In the case of Abram, we see that he was chosen out of the blue, living in idolatry when God called him to be the father of a great nation. God's choice of Abram was not based on any actions or merits; rather, it reflects God's sovereign will. Thus, the consistent teaching of Scripture shows that from its inception, salvation has always been about God's initiative and grace, not human effort or decision.

Q: Why is understanding God's sovereignty in salvation important for Christians?

Understanding God's sovereignty in salvation assures Christians that their salvation is secure and entirely dependent on God's will. The sovereignty of God in salvation is crucial for Christians as it emphasizes that God is in complete control of the salvation process. As described in Romans 11:36, everything is from Him, through Him, and to Him. This truth reassures believers that their salvation is not contingent upon their efforts or faithfulness, but rather on God's unchanging character and promises. When believers understand that they are saved by God's choice, they can rest in the assurance that their salvation is secure despite their failures, much like Abram's failures did not negate his covenant with God.

Q: What does the story of Abram teach us about faith and failure?

The story of Abram teaches that even the faithful may falter, but God's grace is sufficient for restoration. The narrative of Abram's life exemplifies the reality of human frailty juxtaposed with divine faithfulness. In Genesis 12, we witness Abram's initial faith in leaving his homeland, yet shortly afterward, he falters in Egypt by resorting to deceit. This account reflects that even as believers, we may experience moments of doubt and failure. However, God's grace remains steadfast, as seen when Abram returns to Bethel, where God reassures him of His promises. This highlights an essential gospel truth: while we may fail, God's faithfulness is unwavering, and His restoration is available to all who turn back to Him.

OK, Genesis chapter 12 again. Chapter 12. We studied this last Sunday night,
the first five verses, and I think we saw very clearly how that
this is a type—Abram here is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Read it again here in verses
1 through 3. The Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, from thy
father's house, unto the land that I will show thee. That's
a type of picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father
in a covenant before the world began—a covenant, a meeting,
an agreement. said to the son to leave heaven,
to leave his father's house and go into a land, a land of sin,
a land of shame, a planet Earth, to go to this land. And verse
2, he says, I will make of thee a great nation. God chose a people
in Christ before the foundation of the world, a people, a tribe,
a kindred, a tongue out of every nation unto earth, and Christ
is the blessed one in whom we are bled. And I will bless thee,
and make thy name great," Scripture says, is giving Christ a name
which is above every name. Take the name of Jesus, every
knee should bow, and every tongue confess his Lord, and thou shalt
be a blessing. All the blessings of God are
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the blessing of God. Outside
of Christ, we're under the curse. And Galatians says, Christ was
made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that
hangeth on a tree. Verse 3 says, I will bless them
that bless thee. He's going to bless all those
that believe Christ, love Christ, and curse him that cursed thee.
And 1 Corinthians 16 says, Paul said, Any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be accursed." So this is a picture of Christ,
isn't it? "...in thee shall all the families
of the earth be blessed." Like I quoted, a people, God has a
people out of every nation, kindred, and tribe under heaven. And all these people are blessed
and chosen in Christ. It says at verse 4, "...Abram
departed." As the Lord had spoken unto him, Abram was old, seventy-five
years old, and our Lord Jesus Christ left heaven as the Lord,
as they agreed, and he was eternal. He was eternal. Oh, yes, eternal. And it says he took with him,
verse five, he took with him his wife, and like our high priest,
Christ had the names of his wife, his bride, his church on his
breastplate. with him, doing whatever he did,
he did for his wife, his bride. And they went into Canaan, the
land of Canaan, and the land of Canaan they came. And someday
we're going to go into that fair and promised land with our Lord
Jesus Christ himself. So there's a picture of Christ. Now, let's look at Abraham as
he—and Abram's his name now. It hasn't been changed yet. Now,
let's look at Abram as the believer. Abram as the believer. God called
him, God chose him, and he was faithful. That's the definition
of a believer in Revelation 17. Called, chosen, and faithful. I want you to notice four things
about this text as we go through here. Four things. We're going
to look at his call. We're going to look at his faith.
We're going to look at his failure. And then we're going to look
at his restoration. Abram's call, his faith, his failure, and his
restoration. And I said before, and I'll say
it again, that we could sum up the difference in the gospel
that we preach as opposed to what's being called gospel today.
in this way. We could sum it up this way.
The gospel, our gospel, gives God all the glory. Not some of it, not most of it,
but all of it. A-double-L, all of it. That passage in Romans 11 describes
it all. Of him, through him, and to him. are all things. That sums up
what we preach here. We give God all the glory for
all things, especially salvation. God gets all the glory from man's
salvation. Jonah 2.9 is our statement of
faith. Salvation is of the Lord, of
the Lord, from start to finish. And I'm just—the only reason
I'm bringing this back up is so that you might see the difference.
But today's gospel—today's gospel makes salvation a cooperative
effort between God and man. Today's gospel says that God
says, now, I will do this if you will do this. I will elect
you if you will believe. I will save you in the end if
you stay faithful. Right? That's what today's God—that
God does all He can do, and now it's up to you. That's not Bible. That's nowhere to be found in
the Bible. And here in Genesis 12 is a classic example of this. In Genesis, it means beginnings.
You'll find the beginning of salvation. The beginning of salvation,
how God saves people. And you'll find that way, the
way God saved, you'll find that he saves people the same way
from then on. He never changes. So the things that are set forth
in the beginning, are carried on all through the scriptures.
God doesn't change. Malachi 3.16. He's not a New
Testament God now. He had the old God, now he got
the new. Malachi 3.16, I am the Lord. I what? Change not. See, anything that changes, me,
why would a thing change? Why would you change something?
Because that means it wasn't good enough to begin with. What
that person was doing or who that person was, if they change,
that means they got better, right? God doesn't change. And the way
of salvation doesn't change. We're going to see that here
in Abraham, in Abram. We're going to see that. It's
not a—the gospel, our gospel says, God does the choosing,
God does the calling, God does the saving, God's the one that
stays faithful. That salvation is of the Lord
from start to finish. From the planning of it to the
applying of it to the finishing of it. He's the author and the
finisher of the faith. The gospel, our gospel, is the
way God saves, and it's consistent with every single scriptural
account of salvation. Look it up. Every time somebody's
saved in the scriptures, you look and see how they were saved.
They were headed down the road on their sweet, on their good
way, their way. The Scripture says, There is
a way that seemeth right unto man, but the end is death and
destruction. The Scripture says, All we like
sheep have gone astray. We have turned every man his
own way, but God. Now, there's the gospel in two
words, isn't it? But God. Today's gospel says, but you,
doesn't it? Today's gospel says, but you
must do this. But, but, the gospel says, but
God stopped us. Headed that direction, all who
were children of wrath, even as others, but God stopped them,
said, you're not going any further. Like Saul of Tarsus. And such
was the case of Abram. All right? Was Abraham seeking
God? Abraham's called the father of
the faithful. Was he seeking the Lord? He was an idolater. He was dancing
around an idol. Or at least had some kind of
God that he made up. And believe it or not, he was
an idolater. He wasn't seeking the Lord. He wasn't calling on
the Lord. Harold Cherry shall be called
on him on whom they've not heard. Now, it wasn't sincere. He wasn't
calling on the Lord. He didn't know who was the Lord.
He didn't think there was one. Was Saul of Tarsus seeking the
Lord? Huh? Was James or Peter or John seeking
the Lord? Well, name somebody. Was Mary
Magdalene seeking the Lord? Huh? She was sitting in a well
one day, and the Lord sought her and found her. You find anybody? Jacob, was he seeking the Lord?
The Lord was seeking him. Was Abraham seeking the Lord?
No. The Lord sought him and found
him. The Scripture says he leaves
a ninety and nine after that one lost sheep. See, lost is
lost. And he comes and finds them.
It says when he finds them—he finds them—puts them on his shoulder
and takes them back home in the joy and heaven of one sinner
repentant. The goodness of God leads us
to repentance. So our story here in Genesis 12 is a typical story
of how God saved a sinner. A typical story. He does the
choosing, he does the calling, he does the keeping. Now, there's
a lot being made about Abraham's faith, isn't there? A lot of
people. If a thousand preachers, so-called,
were to take Genesis 12 as their text this morning, 999 of them
would never mention Jesus Christ's name. And nine hundred and ninety-nine
of them would give Abraham all the glory. You've heard them preach from
it. I have, too. Well, I beg to differ. You're going to hear
the one out of a thousand that gives glory where it's due, that
talks about who needs to be talked about—the God who saved Abraham,
not Abraham. All right? Much is made of Abraham's
faith. Now, who did leave? He did leave,
didn't he? It says in verse 4, God told
him to get out, so Abraham left. Good for you, Abraham. Good for
you. It's a good thing. Is a man to
be commended because he jumps out of a burning building? Well,
let's congratulate this fellow. Is a man to be commended because
he grabs on to a life preserver when he's drowning out? No, it's
different. A man comes, swims out, Stan.
He's drowned, and a man swims out and gets him, and the man
grabs ahold of that fellow's neck, and the fellow saves him. Is that man to be commended because
he grabbed the fellow's neck, who saved him? Does everybody
congratulate the fellow that was served? Huh? Who gets the glory? The fellow
that does the saving. Right? When a man realizes he's
drownded, he's got to lay hold on eternal life. Right? He will flee a burning
place. Scripture even says that we were
plucked as brands from the burning. Now, Abraham did leave. Yes,
he did. He left his home, his family, not all of it, most of
it. He did believe God. Yes, he did. And he became a
pilgrim, traveling around. Yes, he did. Why? Now, there's the question. Why?
Why would he do that? Who's called, verse 1? Here it
is. Here's why he left. The Lord
had said unto Abram, get out. Oh, Abraham, I'd be willing.
No, it doesn't say that. He doesn't—you'll not find a
request in any of these verses, will you, John? You don't find
God saying, now Abel, if you will—if you'll follow me now,
I'll make of you—what'd he say, Stan? Get up! Now, that's an effectual call. The Lord made him willing. in
the day of his power." What's the day of God's power? What
is God's power? Preachers today are saying, God's
speaking, God's speaking, God's trying to tell you something.
Let me tell you something. According to this book, the Word
is called his power, and he upholds all things by the Word of his
power, the Scripture says. It says that God, who caused
the light to shine out of darkness by his Word, He said, God spoke,
let there be light. Was there? Was there a chance
there wouldn't be? No way. It's a word of His power. When God speaks, He said, I've
spoken it, I'll do it, didn't He? I've spoken it, it'll come
to pass, Isaiah 46. Whatever God says is going to
happen. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. Abraham, get out." He got out. He got out. That's the call. That's the call of God. No requests,
no please, no begging, no asking on God's part. This is the difference
in what we preach and what the world is preaching. Did you notice
all the way down through there, God says, and you shall." You notice that? That's the difference. That's the difference between
how God says and what they're saying today. The gospel says—God
says, I will save them, and you shall be saved. I will give unto
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. This is the Father's
will, that every man he hath given me I will lose nothing. This is the Father's will, that
all which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, shall have
everlasting life, and I will raise him up to the last day."
I will, God says, choose a people. I will call a people. I will
give them to my Son. He will save them. Call his name
Jesus. He shall save them. They shall
repent. They shall believe. They shall
come to Christ. They shall remain faithful. They
shall be with me someday. I will, and you shall. Do you
like that? Find any fault with that? See,
that's all this old sinner's hope. Because, you're going to
see in a minute, Abram failed miserably. He fell flat on his
face. He had—he became an—he absolutely
humiliated himself. If you looked at Abraham, you'd
have thought, ain't no way that guy's a Christian. You'd have
said the same thing about David when you saw him doing what he
did. He would have said the same thing
about Jacob every time he saw him. He would have said the same
thing about Lot. He would have said the same thing
about every single Saint Peter denying the Lord. What's their hope of salvation? Salvation is of the Lord. They're
kept by His power. Abraham failed, but his God didn't
fail him. Who gets the glory for salvation? From start to finish. God says,
I will and you shall. God called him. Verse 2 and 3,
read it again, "'I will make of thee a great nation. I will
bless thee. I will make thy name great. Thou
shalt be a blessing. I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse them that curse thee. In breeze shall all the
families in the earth.'" Sounds like it's signed, sealed, and
delivered. Sounds like it's over. Sounds like no one under God
will always work from the beginning. Sounds like God knows everything's
going to happen. He does, because He's the one in control. There
ain't nothing left up to chance. People say it all the time, don't
they? I believe everybody deserves a chance. If God gave them all
a chance and ain't nobody take it. Right? If you want to call it a chance,
look at Adam. Adam and Eve. All right, here's your chance,
Adam. Choose good or evil. Which do you choose? But that's not the way it is,
you see. I'm glad salvation's not for chance. I'm glad it's
on purpose. Salvation's on purpose. God doesn't
do anything accidentally. Things don't catch God by surprise.
God does all things on purpose. Learn that word, you've learned
something of who the God of the Bible is. That old Barnard asked
that woman one time, he said, she said, I don't understand
election, Brother Barnard. He said, all right, just let
me ask you a question. He said, did God save you on purpose or
was it an accident? She said, well, it was on purpose. That's election, you see. The Carl of Abram, like every
believer, is sovereign. Have you taken notes? The Carl
of Abraham is sovereign. God called Abram. Look back at
chapter 11, verse 27. These are the generations of
Terah. That's Abraham's daddy. Abraham's
daddy was named Terah. Terah begat three sons, Abram,
Nahor, and Haran. Haran begat Lot. Lot was Abram's
But Abram had two brothers, Nahor and Haran. Haran died. All right, he still had a brother
named Nahor. Do you hear about Nahor going
in, leaving his daddy? He didn't. Two boys in the same
house, Deborah. God chose Abram and passed by
Nahor. That's sovereign, isn't it? God
says it in Romans 9. He said it in Exodus 33. I will
be merciful to whom I'll be merciful. John, it was mercy that God chose
Abram, wasn't it? Oh, Abraham thanked God for his
mercy for choosing him later on. He didn't have to choose
Abram, did he? I mean, Abram was an idolater.
What did God need with Abram? He was an idolater. He didn't
need anything with Abram. You say we should have chosen
Nahor. No. He shouldn't have chosen either one of them. Abram
or Nahor. But God sovereignly chose Abram. Abram didn't have any trouble
with that. He didn't have any trouble with that. He wished
God had chosen Nahor his brother. He loved his brother. But God
didn't. Why? That's God's prerogative.
God's called us sovereign. Many of you have experienced
the same thing. I have a brother. You have brethren and sisters,
don't you? Brothers and sisters? I don't
see them sitting in here in the service, worshiping the same
God. Why you? Because God's sovereign, and
he chose you. And we praise God for choosing
us. Spurgeon said, if God chose one
person, That one person would be crying out through all eternity,
praising God for sovereign election, wouldn't he? If it was you. Steve
Parks, if you were the only one, had all human race saved, what
would you be doing in heaven? Praising God for His sovereign
election. Why me? You'd be saying that
all the time, wouldn't you? The whole time. Why me? Why me?
That's what we say, isn't it? Why me? Why me? Even so, Father,
it seemed good in thy sight." You know, there's a general call
to all. The Scripture says that all have
heard his voice to some degree. The heavens declare his glory.
The firmament showeth his handiwork. Romans 1 says that they're all
without excuse. When they knew God, invisible
things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, even
his eternal power and Godhead, so that they're all without excuse.
Every man, even the native in the jungle, can see that there's
some I've been some marvelous one that's created all these
things. Everyone's heard. Any man, woman,
boy, girl, anywhere that would call upon this one, show me yourself. Reveal yourself. He would reveal
Christ to him and reveal the gospel. The gospel would come
to him. Yeah, it would. I know it's so. I know. I've told you about Brother
Milton going up into places where they've never seen a white man
before. Brother Walter, growing up where they didn't have a wheel.
Yes! They didn't have a wheel, yes!
In the jungles of Mexico. Primitive tribes. And one man,
after he was all over and he heard the gospel, and the Lord
said, he said, I know why the Lord sent you. He sent you so
that I could hear the gospel. He even said he had a dream that
some man would come in some big machine and tell him about God.
Yes! There's a general call that all
men see the sovereign providence of God, but there's an effectual
call where God chooses people and says, Now, I'm going to reveal
Christ to you. I'm going to reveal the gospel to you. I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. I have chosen thee and given
you to Christ, and therefore you're going to know me, you're
going to repent of your sin, you're going to know your sinner,
repent of your sin, you're going to believe on Christ, and you're
going to be with me throughout eternity." That's good, isn't
it? It's sovereign. God's sovereign.
His call, His effectual call is, sovereign is particular. I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. Number two is to sinners. God's
call is to sinners. Sinner. Abram was an idolater,
wasn't he? He didn't come to call good people. God wasn't looking for good religious
folk. Christ said that, I'm not coming
to call the righteous. For, Lord, I've been attending
church all my life. I've been seeking the Lord all
my life. It's too long. You're just too good. God doesn't
save good people. He saves sinners. Why? Because He's going to get all
the glory that way. A good fellow is going to get some of the glory
with God. A really bad—to whom much is forgiven, they'll love
much, they'll worship much. He'll give him not much, but
all the glory. People in heaven are saying unto
Him, unto Him, unto Him. Not us, but unto him, who came
to cause sinners, not the righteous. Saul said, Saul, who was later
turned into Paul, said, I was before a blasphemer, injurious,
and a persecutor, but I obtained mercy. Ask them
all. What about those Zacchaeus? What
about Merriman? What about all of them, the lepers and so forth,
sinners? Save sinners. God chooses sinners. Abraham was an idolater. He wasn't
a good man. He was an idolater. And Henry,
he was seventy-five years old. Charles, he was older than you.
He was old. Seventy-five years old. Man's
set in his ways by then, isn't he? Huh? You've run into a few
of them. Well, you're not going to tell
them anything. Abram was old and set in his
way and worshiping. He was a good old-fashioned,
I'll tell you, he was a good old-fashioned whatever, Methodist
or something. And you weren't going to get
him out of it. God said to Abram, get out. Virgie's sitting there, she was,
I don't know how old you were, sixty-some-odd, weren't you,
when the Lord revealed the gospel to you? Old, anyway. Now, buddy,
it takes the grace of God, it takes the power of God to root
out that old religion that tell a person to get out of there
when their state and their religion and their tradition takes the
power of God, doesn't it? The power of God. And this call
was to worship. Look at verse 7 and 8. The Lord
appeared unto Abram and said, Unto thy seed will I give this
lamb. Thy seed. Who's that talking
about? What's this all about? Do you study the Scripture? Have
you ever read over in—have you not read over in Galatians chapter
3 where it says—listen to this. Listen. Just listen. You don't
have to turn. Galatians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul was talking
about this very incident here in Galatians 3 verse 16. Now,
listen. To Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. God saith—and I'm quoting Galatians
3.16—God saith not to seeds—Abram's children and grandchildren were
many—not to seeds as of many, but as of one—seed, and to thy
seed, which is Christ, Paul said. What's Abraham's story all about? Jesus Christ. What's salvation
all about? Who's it all about? Who's it
from? Who's it for? Who says who? Jesus
Christ saved Abraham. We saw that Wednesday night,
didn't we? You know, my pastor quoted that
Abraham rejoiced to see that day. See, the Jews, this was
a stumbling block. Wasn't it? Their tradition. Well,
we're keeping the law. We're keeping the law. I went
to great lengths in Galatians, didn't I, Jeanette, to tell them
that Abraham was saved before there was a law. Four hundred
years before there was a law. Didn't he? Didn't he, Eric? He
wasn't circumcised yet. There were no ten commandments
yet. What Sabbaths to keep? What day
are you going to keep, baby? I don't know. I'm just going
to worship God today. But if He said it, it's mine.
Because that's the Sabbath. Who said that? It wasn't even
made yet. How was Abraham saved? Jesus
Christ, that's how. Faith in Jesus Christ. Look at
verse 7 and 8. It says, He got to this land,
and there builded an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.
Who appeared to him? No man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared." Make an altar. What are you going
to put on it, Abram? I don't know. Oh yes, he knew. Just like Adam knew, just like
Abel knew, just like Noah knew. Going to put a lamb on it. Going to put blood on it. The
Lord told him what it's all about. Substitution. Your Redeemer is
living, Abram. And he's going to put away your
sin by the sacrifice of himself. or make propitiation for your
sin on the mercy seat in heaven itself, the blood of the Lamb.
There's a Lamb that's been slain before the foundation of the
world, Abram. And this is just a type of Him who's to come and
save you from your sin. Every time you sacrifice a Lamb,
you remember, you look to, you think upon this One who's coming,
God's Lamb, to save you from your sin. Abram knew, oh yes! Christ said, I am the way. No man comes unto the Father
but by me. Right? And Christ said to those Jews
one day, they said, who do you think you are? Are you greater
than our father Abraham? He said, before Abram was, I
am. Abram rejoiced to see my day
and saw it and was glad. Christ is better than Abram.
He's better than Abram. And so God called Abram to see
his Son, to worship the Son, to worship Christ. And he did
it there at that altar. And the name of the place was
Bethel. Bethel means house of God. House of God. Do you remember where Jacob came
back? Where the Lord changed his name? Remember where Jacob
had that dream of the ladder going up to heaven? That Christ
said that I, here unto you say, will see the Son of Man ascended
up into the glory of angels, and heaven ascended up into Jacob's
land. Where was it? Bethlehem. What's
Bethlehem? The house of God. The tabernacle
of God. What's the tabernacle of God?
Jesus Christ. Who tabernacled among us. It's
Christ. It's all Christ here. The whole
story is about Christ. Even Abram's sin down there,
it says that you say, you say you're my sister and be well
with me. Even that's a picture of Christ. Even that's a picture
of Christ. He's not ashamed to call me brethren,
John. Therefore, it's well with me. Ah, boy. It was effectual too. This call
was effectual. Did Abraham leave? Verse 4 says
he left. He left. Well, did he make it?
Did he make it to Canaan? He made it into Canaan he came. What about Abram's faith? I told
you I was going to say that. Abram's call was of God. What
about his faith? Where did he get it? Romans 10
says, Whoso shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. That's Romans 10, 13. Well, how
are they going to call? Him whom they have not heard
or believed. How are they going to believe
in Him whom they have not heard? How are they going to hear without a preacher? And
how are they going to preach except they be sent? And that's quoted in Joel 2.32.
It says, As many as the Lord our God shall call shall be saved. Who's going to call? Who's going
to believe? Where does faith come from? Ephesians
2.8. Faith is the gift of God. And
that's sovereignty. That's sovereign, too. And it's
persevering. Did Abraham believe in the end? Sure he did. Why? Because the
scripture says the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
Whatever he gives, he never takes back. If he gives you faith,
you're going to have it. He's never going to take it back.
Here's salvation, Henry. God never take a no for an answer. You remember that, huh? We said
no in the beginning, didn't we? Here's the gospel. I heard it
as a young man, 18, 19, 20 years. Well, I heard it all my life.
And I said no. I don't want that. John, one day God said, you're
going to say yes. I was made willing in the day
of his power. I heard it one day, just like I'd heard it before,
same message. And the day before I said, no,
that's it. Yes, that's the gospel, I believe. Why? Who made the
difference? The answer's in the question.
Who? Who? What sort of, and let me
ask you this quick, Abraham's faith, where did it come from? It came from God. Not Abraham's
decision. God's decision. God's decision. Not Abraham's call. God's call.
Now, Abram was just a man, wasn't he? Just a man. Like any man. Sinful, unbelieving,
God-hating, fickle, finite, a failure. A man. But God chose him and
set his love on him. granted him repentance and faith,
and the Lord Jesus Christ kept him by his power from that day
forward. What sort of man did Abraham
become? A lot of people like to make
a great to-do of, you know, what they were and now, look at me. That's all these testimony meetings
are, people bragging on what they now are. Right? Oh, I used to be a drunk. Oh,
how bad a drunk were you? Drunk, drunk. Bad drunk. Beat
my wife. Beat the dog. Beat the kids.
Beat myself. Beat up people. Bad, bad drunk. But now, the Lord Jesus saved
me. Look at me now. Yeah, look at
you. You're a stinking self-righteous
Pharisee. That's what you are. You're worse.
I like you better as a drunk. You're holier than thou. What
sort of man did Abraham become? Well, he followed God, yes. He
followed God. He grew in grace and the knowledge
of God like every believer does, yes. He became like Christ, yes
he did. He became like his Redeemer in
character, yet he was still a man, still a sinner. There was still
a law warring in his members. He was still a fickle, finite
failure. And the story proves it, doesn't
it? He fell. Verse 10 says there was a famine,
and he ran out of the land of Egypt. He went down to Egypt,
ran out of the land of Bethel, Canaan, where God told him to
go. God didn't tell him to leave
there. But a little trouble came up, and he ran. famine was sore. Well, God didn't say it'd be.
He said you must, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom
of heaven. Abram ran. He resorted to reason,
the arm of the flesh, didn't seek God, didn't trust his God,
didn't depend on his God. Now, we're talking about the
father of the faithful here. Didn't depend on God, didn't seek God's
will, God's face. He went to a place where he shouldn't
have been, Egypt. God wasn't down there. God wasn't
being worshipped in Egypt. This is a picture of every believer
who at one time or another ignores God's Word, ignores God's leadings,
ignores God's providence, leaves the place of God's blessing and
resorts to human reason to further themself. You've done it. I've done it. And look at what
happened, verse 11 through 13. He came to pass when he got to
Egypt, or got near to Egypt, he pulled his wife Sarah aside
and said, wait a minute, you're a good-looking woman. And these
Egyptians now, they love good-looking women. And they're going to find
out you're my wife and they're going to kill me. Tell them that you're my sister. Tell them you're my sister, verse
13. Why? Able to save me. He'll be well with me. They're going to kill me. He wasn't the father of the faithful. Great Abraham who left his father's
house. Look at him now. Shriveling little
coward. Turn his life over to some pagan
heathen. What kind of a coward? You miserable. What do you think
Sarah thought about, sir? Uh, Charlie? What do you think
of Stan from that day forward? Huh? With that miserable little
creep, we'd all be breaking on Stan, you know. Stan, oh, he's
a faithful fella. Huh? What, Rebecca, what would
you think about Terry? Oh, he would kill me. Let him
have you, but don't let him kill me. What a great man. What a miserable
little sinner. A no-good, ungrateful... That's God's man? Is that God's
man? Yeah, it is. God was about to
bring him down to his lowest point. God was going to break
this fellow. Evidently. We'll see it tonight. Come back tonight, and you'll
see a little more about that. Evidently, he must have got lifted
up with a little bit of pride. Here, that's what happens every
time. Pride grows before a fall. He must have thought, hey, God
chose me. God's going to bless me. Hey,
I'm sovereign. I'm a Calvinist. Hey, I know
something nobody else knows. I'm somebody. And came a theologian,
and he fell. Greatly failed miserably. Denied his Lord. What's his hope,
John? He, God remained faithful to
him. What's Abraham's hope? His faith? Huh? Amy, was Abraham's
hope his faith? If I can just keep on believing.
He didn't. He failed. What's his hope? God
didn't deny him. God remains faithful. He won't
deny his promise. Right, John? God promised him. What's my hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
praise. Not even my faith. None of that. But wholly lean on his name,
Savior. His oath, His covenant, His blood
support me in that overwhelming flood. When all around me my
soul gives way, I fail miserably. What was Peter's hope? Huh? When he denied the Lord, what
was his hope? Christ said, I pray for you. You're not going to
fail, Peter. You're not going to fail. You're
going to fall, but you're not going to fail. You're going to
fall many times, but you're not going to stay down. I'm going
to lift you right back up. Look at his restoration, and
I'll quit. Abram left God, left the place
of blessing, ignored God's Word. Where's he going to find any
comfort? Got in a mess. Got down there in Egypt and got
in a mess. That was no—Henry, his conscience—don't
you know his conscience was killing him? Oh, he had him a new car,
and he had him a new house, and he had him a new job, and he
had him all these things, you know, houses and lands. But his
conscience, his sin was ever before him. He found no comfort
in those things. And God turned it all around
and said, Abram, he had to tell him to get out of there too.
Told him by a man, get out of here. You don't belong here.
You're not like us. Get out. Where'd he go to find
comfort? Huh? Where'd he go? Where'd Abraham
go? He left Egypt. Where'd he go?
Back where he started. Back where he heard the gospel
to begin with. Back to Bethel. Went right back
to Bethel, chapter 13. It says, Abram went out of Egypt,
he and his wife, all he had. Lot went with him to the south.
Abram was very rich, went on his journey from south even to
Bethel, the place where his ten had been in the beginning, where
he should have stayed to begin with. And what did he do? Verse 4, he got back to that
altar. I know a place. I have failed
miserably, Abram said. I failed miserably. I left my
God, left the place of worship. I found nothing but an old rotten
sinner and no good." Sarah said, Amen. I need some comfort, some hope. I'm a failure. I'm going to go back where I
heard the gospel and worship again, see if God will have mercy
on me again. Went back there and God spoke comfort to him again. Chapter 13 says, Abram, God didn't
even bring it up. His sins and iniquities, God
didn't remember. Didn't even bring it up. Abram,
you shouldn't have done it. Look at you now. No, He didn't
bring it up. He went on down to say, Abram,
I'm going to make thy seed as the dust of the earth. Thy seed
shall be numbered greater number, I want to bless you." Just repeated
the promise to him again. Just told him the promises again.
Abram, I want to bless you. I want to bless you. And by seed,
which is Christ. Right? Well, Abram was called
by God. He was chosen by God. He was
just a man. He was just a man. He was a miserable failure. But
like David, David encouraged himself in his God, the Lord
his God. Back where he started, back where
he heard the gospel to begin with, Abraham found his God to
be faithful. Abraham, great faith, great faith, great Savior. There's the difference. Did you pick a song out of you
get one. What number. Two thirty three two hundred
thirty three. Will stand as we say two hundred.
Thirty three. Thirty three. First and second. you. If not mercy, can there be Mercy
still reserved for me? Can my God His wrath forbear
Me, the chief of sinners, spare? I have long withstood

The Faith And Failure Of God's Man

What does the Bible say about God's call to Abram?

How do we know salvation is solely by grace?

Why is understanding God's sovereignty in salvation important for Christians?

What does the story of Abram teach us about faith and failure?

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The Faith And Failure Of God's Man

What does the Bible say about God's call to Abram?

How do we know salvation is solely by grace?

Why is understanding God's sovereignty in salvation important for Christians?

What does the story of Abram teach us about faith and failure?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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