Genesis chapter 11. I'm going
to read verses 27 through 32. The title of my message tonight
is Abram. Genesis chapter 11 verse 27.
Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram,
Nahor, and Haran. And Haran begat Lot. And Haran
died before his father Terah in the land of Nativity and Ur
of the Chaldees. And Abraham and Noah took them
wives. The name of Abraham's wife was Sarai. And the name
of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father
of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren. She had no child. And Terah took
Abraham, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son,
and Sarai's daughter-in-law, his son Abraham's wife. And they
went forth from them from the Ur of Chaldees to go into the
land of Canaan. And they came to Haran and dwelt
there. And the days of Terah were 105
years. And Terah died in Haran. Let
us pray. Our Father, we're thankful for
your word. We know that it's a light unto
our feet and a lamp unto our path. We know that the entrance
of it gives light and understanding even to the simple. We know that
also it is a search engine. We know that, Father, it seeks
out and discerns the very thoughts and intents of our heart, going
even to the joint and marrow. Father, we praise you that such
a thing exists in this world that has power beyond human understanding
and recognition. Power that no human being can
even begin to understand. That the preaching of it and
the teaching of it, by your grace and through your Spirit, changes
people's lives, gives them new life in Jesus Christ. We do rejoice
that we have the privilege of actually having it in our hands
and speaking of it and meditating upon it. Help us, Lord, to appreciate
it and be thankful that we have your Word. we look at in it tonight,
I pray you would enable us by your grace to grasp what is before
us in this passage of scripture. Teach us, oh Lord, as you begin
to open up the scriptures concerning your great covenant of grace
that was pictured with the calling out of Abraham, out of the, or
of Chaldees, out of Heron to go into the land which he would
not see, but believe you. And we're thankful for that.
Help us, Lord, tonight to worship You in spirit and in truth. We
pray for those of our company who are sick. Watch over them.
Comfort them. Cause them to seek the feet of
Jesus Christ and bow to our Lord. Kiss His feet lest He be angry.
Help us, Lord. Now we pray in Christ's name.
Amen. Now most of the remainder of
chapter 11, we stopped at actually about verse 9, the last few lessons
we had in this. Most of the reindeer is devoted
to the genealogy of one person, and that person is Shem. He's
the firstborn of Noah, and the man who began the lineage that
would produce Abraham here, or Abram, and in time would produce
the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, as set forth in Matthew chapter
1. Abraham's father was a man named Terah. And he and his family
settled in Mesopotamia in a place called Ur, which is the land
of Chaldees. This was mentioned by Stephen
in his message in Acts chapter 7 when he was preaching the gospel.
Now Terah decided to move his family to the land of Canaan.
So they all packed up and headed out, but they stopped in a land
called Haran. And there Terah died and at that
time Abraham was called by God to go to a place that God would
show him. At that time he was dwelling
in Haran. Tira is a picture of those who began to seek the Lord
and with what light they have, but they stop along the way and
die as they are. But in this passage are three
prominent characters in scripture. Characters that would play significant
roles in the canon of scriptural history. They're introduced in
these few verses that I just read to you. All three of these
characters are the elect of God, and each are pictures of the
manifold grace of God. Abraham, or Abram here, later
named Abraham, would stand forever as the father of the faithful.
Throughout Scripture he's called that. He occupies an honor place
throughout the Word of God. He would be the first in Scripture
of whom God said that he believed God and it was accounted to him
for righteousness. We'll find that out in chapter
15 of Genesis. The doctrine of imputation and
inextricable union with faith begins with Abraham. That's where
we begin to understand this doctrine of imputation. When the Lord
inspires men to describe Himself, He is described as the God of
Abraham. Often He describes Himself, but also He's described as the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham
had a son named Isaac. Isaac had a son named Jacob.
So he's talking about his son and his grandson. And these three
men form an important theme in the theology of salvation. These
three men are important throughout scripture. Abraham was called
to live for promise. God said, I'm going to show you
a city. He never saw that city. But he believed God. And he looked
for that city whose builder and maker was God. But he was called
to live for that promise. He was called to leave his own
country and go to that place where God promised him, to look
for that city. And he would see that city by
faith, but only by faith would he see that city. His children
are believers in Christ and are called heirs according to promise.
If you are a believer, according to Galatians chapter 3 and verse
29, if you are a believer in Christ, you are Abraham's seed
and an heir according to promise. What is the promise? The promise
is salvation. It was pictured in Canaan, the
land of milk and honey, Florida milk and honey, where nobody
did anything to get everything. God gave them everything and
not according to their own righteousness, but according to His. They didn't
have to work for it. When they got there, it was theirs.
whether it be cattle, whether it be homes, whether it be land,
God gave it to them freely. Now he's given to this man Abraham,
he's given no set of laws. No set of laws given to Abraham,
no record of it anywhere in Scripture. Nor was he told to work for the
realization of the promise. When the Lord promised him a
city, He didn't give him a set of things to do in order to gain
it. He never kept a Sabbath. There's no record of him ever
in his life keeping the Sabbath day. He knew nothing of a priesthood,
or the day of atonement, or any sacrifices such as that. He had
no written word. Doesn't have what we have. He
had none of these things, yet he's called the father of the
faithful. He was called by the living word and he believed God.
And everything he did was a response and a result of God's grace.
If you look over at Romans chapter four, it describes how Abraham
got the things he got. In Romans chapter four and verse
one, it says, what shall we say then that Abraham, our father,
as pertaining to the flesh, is found? What did he get? by his
own doing. That's what that means. What
did he get by his own doing? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. He can glory before men, but
not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God. He believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness, not by works. Now to him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If you gain
righteousness by your work, it's because God owes it to you, because
you've earned it. That's what this is saying. Now,
him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but dead.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness, even as David
also described the blessedness of a man on whom God imputed
the righteousness without works. Psalm 32 is where you find that,
saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man, and this
is true to blessedness, and you have it if you're a child of
God, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. And what blessedness is? for God never to charge you with
sin. You're talking about being a blessed estate, knowing what
we are by nature. Blessedness is for God to say,
I'll never charge you with that. And that's what he says in Romans
chapter eight. Who shall lay anything to the charge of the
elect? The charge of the elect, it is God that justifies who
is he that cometh. It is Christ that died. Now of
Abraham, Isaac was born, but Isaac was born in an interesting
way. He was born by the willpower
and spirit of God, not by natural generation. Scripture makes it
clear in Romans chapter four that Abraham and Sarah were both
past the age and ability to bear a child when Abraham was conceived. He was called a child of promise. He was the promised seed. In
Genesis chapter 15, our Lord took Abraham up to a mountain.
And there He said, look at them stars. Can you number them? Abraham said, no, I can't number
them. He said, well, so shall be your heritage, the people
that come from you. We're going to outnumber the
stars. Then he told him about the seed,
and Abraham believed God concerning the seed, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness. Abraham already had a son. His
name was Ishmael. God said, he's not going to inherit
the kingdom, because he was born of your flesh, and your power
of your flesh. I'm going to give Sarah a son,
a son of promise, by my power and by my spirit. He was a child
of promise. Now as I said, he had a half-brother
named Ishmael who was born of the power of the flesh and the
Lord would not allow the Son of the Spirit and the Son of
the flesh to dwell together. And the Son of the flesh was
cast out. I know that was a tough thing on Abraham because Ishmael
was probably 14 or 15 years old when that happened. But these two became a picture
and example of the contrariness of the flesh against the spirit
and the spirit against the flesh. Sarah and Hagar became a picture
of the two covenants. In fact, it's called an allegory.
Look over Galatians chapter 4. In Galatians chapter 4, look
at verse 27. It says, for it is written, excuse
me, verse 28. Now we brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of promise. Isaac was a child of promise.
How was he born? He was born by the Spirit of
God. How were you born again? You were born again by the Spirit
of God. That's how it happens. Galatians chapter 4 verse 28.
We are the children of the blood. But as then, he that was born
of the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even
so it is now. Same thing going on now. Those
that are in the flesh persecute those who are in the Spirit.
Nevertheless, what saith the Spirit? Cast out the bondwoman
and her son. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren,
we are not children of the bondwoman, We are children of the free one.
We're not born of the flesh, we're born of the spirit. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of
the spirit is spirit. Our Lord said in John chapter three. Oh,
in chapter five, verse 17, Paul explains it this way, for the
flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.
And these are contrary to one another so that you cannot do
the things you would. They're always contrary to one
another. This is Isaac. This is Isaac. and his opposition
to Ishmael. Jacob also was a son of Isaac. He had a brother, a twin brother,
named Esau. Jacob, in scripture, will stand
forever as an example of the electing love and the kind of
People that God has chosen to salvation and the indisputable
truth that God does not love everyone and his electing love
is unconditional Our Lord uses Jacob to set forth that truth
in scripture To make it very plain. So people will understand
exactly what he's talking about over in Romans chapter 9 In Romans chapter 9 says in verse 10, and not only
this, so when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even our father
Isaac, for the children, who are they? Jacob and Esau, for
the children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, so that can't be the thing that's measured by anything,
that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of him that calleth, It is said of her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved
and Esau have I hated. There are those who say, well,
I can't understand why God hated Jacob. I can't understand why
he loved him. Can you? He was a most unlovable
character. Stole his brother's birthright,
lied to his father. I mean, he was a sneaky guy.
Mama's boy. Nothing lovable about Jacob.
His name is pronounced in Hebrews almost sounds like a person's
clearing his throat to spit out some saliva. God, that's the
way they say it. Jacob, you bunch of Jacobs. And
yet God calls himself throughout scripture the God of Jacob. Why? Because salvation is by
grace. And Jacob is an example of that.
Why would God choose Jacob? Because he would. But Jacob is
the kind of person God chose. You know your calling, brethren.
You see your calling, Paul said to the Corinthians. Not many
wise. Not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish
things of the world, and the despised things of the world,
and the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things
that are. These are characters that all
come from Abraham. Very important characters in
Scripture that go from the first mention in Genesis all the way
through to the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The second
character revealed in our text is a woman named Sarai, who will
later be named Sarah. And she's a picture of the church.
She's called the free woman. We just read about her in Galatians
chapter 4. She's called the free woman.
She's also called the new Jerusalem in Galatians chapter 4. The Jerusalem that is above,
that is the mother of us all. She of herself is barren. She
can't bear any children. She has no capability of bringing
forth children. But like Hannah of old, it was
the Lord that had shut up her womb that he might open it, and
all glory for the offspring of the union would redound to the
glory of God and God alone. If she applies to the flesh to
have a child, she did. She got Hagar in. And Hagar is
a picture of the old covenant. It says in Galatians 4 that gendereth
to bondage. She called Hagar in because she
didn't have a son. God had promised. She didn't believe. So she said, why don't you take
Hagar, our handmaiden. We'll have a son by her. And
they did. They had a son named Ishmael,
which means God hears. She said, God heard my prayer
and gave me a son named Ishmael. And when God said, Ishmael is
not going to be the one to be the heir, Abraham said, oh Lord,
let it be Ishmael. And Ishmael is called the child
of Abraham in Scripture. And he is indeed a son of Abraham.
But he's not Abraham's seed. Abraham's seed are believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a spiritual seed. But she
is called the mother of us all. She applied to the flesh. And
the child born wasn't allowed to abide with the child born
by God's power. She may have doubts. She did
when she was told at past 100 years old and past the age of
childbearing she was going to have a child. She laughed. I'm all this old and I'm going
to have a baby? The Lord said, how come you're laughing, sir?
Didn't I promise to give you a child? Didn't I promise to
give you a child? She may laugh about her children
being born of her, but even if she does not believe, God abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. He cannot
break his covenant. He will not allow His words to
fall to the earth. He will not allow His word to
fail. It is her union with Christ. And by His Spirit, through His
word, she shall bring forth fruit unto life, and that fruit shall
remain. It's remarkable, the union that Christ has with His
church, that He takes this word somehow as a seed, as semen,
and gives birth to children through this union with His church, because
it's the church who's given the gospel of preaching this word.
And that's how it works. You are born. Not of corruptible
seed, but incorruptible seed, and by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth forever. And this is the word of God,
which by the gospel is preached unto you. This is how it works.
Sarah's a picture of the church. She was barren. What can we do?
Look at us. What can we make? What can we
create? What can we bring to life? Nothing.
Nothing. But God, through us, through
the church, through the preaching of the gospel, gives life to
his people. in a wonder, we're just barren
like she is. But God said, preach the gospel. I'm going to save my people.
Preach the gospel and I'll bring my people to myself. So we do
it. And he does it. And he gets all
the glory for it. The word we have of her in this
passage is simple. Sarai was barren. She had no
child. But that's not the end of the
story, only the beginning for later in Isaiah 54 and also in
Galatians chapter 4, God visited her and said of her, Rejoice,
thou barren that bearest not, break forth and cry, thou that
travailest not, for the desolate hath many more children than
she that hath a husband. And that's the church. And finally
we're introduced to another character, a man named Lot. A really interesting
character in Scripture. He will stand forever as a picture
of a justified sinner. A sinner saved by grace and God
knows how to deliver from temptation. And that's how he's described
in the New Testament. Lot wasn't that stable, like most people. He liked cities. He liked Sodom
and Gomorrah, didn't want to leave there, but he had to. He
had to be jerked out of Sodom and Gomorrah. He liked Zoar, that little city,
though he didn't stay there very long, but he said, it's just
a little city, can't I go over there? I like that little city. When Abraham was to divide up
the kingdom, he looked at Lot and says, take what you want,
and I'll take the rest, whatever's left over. And he took the best
stuff Lot did. How does that, well we would
probably describe him as a bit of a weak fella. Not much to
him. Not how God describes him. Look
over at 2 Peter chapter two. There's also what he says about
him in 2 Peter chapter two is very, very important for us to
understand. 2 Peter chapter two. In verse
six it says, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an
example unto those that after should live ungodly, and delivered
just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked, for
that righteous man. That's how God describes it.
that a righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing,
vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their wicked
deeds." Now the next phrase describes what was going on with Lot. Now remember he liked living
in a city. He liked the safety of a city.
The Lord knoweth how to deliver the ungodly out of temptation,
and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. The Lord knows how to deliver
the Godly out of temptation. Though he was a righteous man
in Christ, though he was justified by the blood of Christ and by
grace, the thing that is reported of him is that though he was
vexed in his soul, he was tempted to stay. I know he looked at
what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah and it vexed him. He
didn't want to leave. He was safe. Safe in this world. He was tempted
to stay. And he had to be delivered, plucked
as a firebrand from the burning. The word draw in the New Testament
is heilko. The Holy Spirit draws men and
we think, well, he woos them and allures them. And there's
an element of that that's true. For the Lord said of Gomer, I
will allure her into the desert and do wonderful things for her.
and give her the door of Acre, the city of Acre, for a door
of hope. But the word heoko means to drag,
or it actually means to move an inanimate object from one
place to another place. The same word is used when Peter
drew his sword and cut off Malchus's ear. Now he's not that good of
a swordsman. He was aiming to cut off the
boy's head, but he just wasn't that good of a swordsman and
he just got his ear. The Lord put his ear back on again, but
the same word is used, Peter drew his sword. That sword couldn't
do a thing until someone with power grabbed hold of it and
pulled it out and used it. That's your case and my case.
Unless God in his power grabs hold of us and pulls us out of
this miry clay and sets our feet upon the rock, Christ Jesus,
we'll stay on that rock and we'll like it. Because we were born on a dung
hill and it smells like home. It smells like home, and we don't
know how it stinks until we get lifted above it and we can smell
the stench left behind. But God's going to have to draw
us. God's going to have to pull us. And that's what he did for
Lot. The messengers said, come on, Lot, we've got to go. And
finally, they grabbed him and took him out. They took him out
of that city. His wife looked back and was
turned to a pillar of salt. But he got out. That's Lot. That's Lot. Lot loved cities
and felt safe behind their walls. The world offers a tempting safety. It does. It offers a tempting
safety and only God can deliver us from its temptation. These
are the characters that will occupy our studies for some time
to come. Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, and Lot. We will cover a lot of this book
in the Old Testament in Genesis. Father, bless us to our understanding.
We pray in Christ's name. Amen.