Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, before I get started, this week's a pretty big week,
ain't it? Some of you too old to know, but school starts back. If you are working administration
or faculty or staff at a school, do me a favor and stand for just a moment. Go ahead, don't
be shy, don't be ashamed. Stand here for just a moment. Amen. Heroes that are put under fire often
have the opportunity to make wonderful impacts on young people. I'm thankful for what you do,
and go into what feels like the war zone. I am speaking at YLA this week, and I told her middle
school is like a school of terrorists, you know? I mean, it's just part of it, but it's just that age
in life, you know? Did I say that out loud? I guess I did, but anyway, but it's just that age in life,
but I appreciate what you do, and I want to begin this morning by just praying for you and for our
students, okay? Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, thank you for those who have dedicated their lives
to leading, to teaching, and to staffing, feeding, cleaning after, doing whatever needs to be done
for students, dear God. I'm thankful for Christians that do it. When we live in a spiritual war zone
that so often focuses upon the schools, I'm thankful for those who stand for their faith,
and Lord, who in the midst of their circumstances continue to be a testimony for the Lord Jesus,
just in the way they live, allowing folks to see Christ through them. And so, God, I pray
that you'll give endurance for the race. I pray, dear God, that you'll give strength
for the times of trials. I pray, dear God, that you will do a work not only in those that lead,
but God, I pray for our students. I pray, Lord, that they will live out their Christian example
before others. They'll live out their faith. They won't fall into the traps that so many fall into
during school age that sometimes can war on their life for a lifetime. God, I pray that you will
watch over them. Help them to achieve great things, dear God, and help them, Lord, to keep their eyes
upon you through it all. I love you and thank you that every time I've dropped a young'un off in my life,
I can entrust that child to you and ask you, dear God, to guide her. So, God, today, I pray that you'll do
that for our schools as they start this week, dear Father. Thank you for the opportunity to lean upon you.
Thank you for the opportunity to worship. In Jesus' name, amen.
This morning, I'm going to finish up talking about Abraham. We've spent a lot of time talking about
Abraham, but I want to begin by telling you what we're going to talk about next week.
I'm going to begin a series called The Reality of Eternity, and I believe it is a very important series.
I'm going to talk about the reality of heaven, and I'm going to talk about the reality of hell,
and most of what I talk about about heaven will be the first part of that series, and the second part
will be about hell. I want to encourage you to pray with me about that because it's pivotal.
A lot of people are so fascinated with heaven that they'll come and listen to a sermon about heaven
when they may not come other times because they want to know about the unknown.
And then there's others who need to hear the truth, the reality of hell, and some people that God has laid upon your heart,
and you've wanted the opportunity to invite and can't figure out why.
Listen, next Sunday, I'll be preaching on one minute after you die.
One minute after you die. It's pivotal.
And so I encourage you to pray that God will allow you to invite somebody to come.
You'll be here yourself, and that we'll start August the right way, studying the Word of God.
There's a lot of thoughts about eternity, and a lot of them are not biblical.
We're going to deal with the biblical basis of what happens when we leave this life.
And so I'm looking forward to that, but we ain't there yet because we're finishing up with Abraham today.
You know, there's an old woodsman's proverb that says,
a tree is best measured when it's down.
In other words, don't admire somebody too much too early
because the proof is when it's all said and done.
A few years ago, Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth,
one of our six Southern Baptist seminaries that we support through the co-op program,
at that school, the president and his wife wanted to honor those who had accompanied them
in helping to save the Southern Baptist Convention from liberalism.
And they wanted to do that by decorating their new chapel and performing arts center
with stained glass windows of modern leaders of the conservative resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention.
And they began to put these stained glass windows up.
And halfway through the nearly $2 million, six dozen window, 20 year commission,
the project was stopped.
The installed windows were taken down.
New leadership came into that seminary
and changed what they wanted to focus on.
And many of the living legends that had already been put in stained glass
have now been defamed by moral failure.
Don't immortalize people until they're mortally gone.
There's still time for them to mess up.
However, when the tree does come down,
you can judge it with confidence.
And as we walk through the life of Abraham,
we walk through the life of Abraham together.
Now we can see the whole story.
There were rough years along the way.
There were disappointments along the way.
There were bold, soul-stirring, life-changing years
and eternity-influenced decisions that were made along the way
that God truly blessed in.
And Hebrews 11 is what I call the, and I'm not the only one,
the hall of fame of faith.
It focuses on those heroes of faith that we look to
and then follows that up by saying,
with such a great cloud of witnesses,
that's a little hint about what's coming
in the coming service series.
But what a great cloud of witnesses that we're surrounded by.
Run on.
Keep running in the midst of that.
But of all the folks that are mentioned in Hebrews 11,
probably the one that's most focused on more than anybody else
is Abraham because of his faith.
And he kind of sums up his life.
I want us to look at that today.
It's in Hebrews 11, verse 8 through 12, and it says this.
By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out
to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.
And he went out not knowing where he was going.
By faith, he went to live in the land of promise,
as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob,
heirs with him of the same promise.
For he was looking to the city that has foundations,
whose designer and builder is God.
By faith, Sarah herself received power to conceive,
even when she was past the age,
since she considered him faithful who had promised.
Therefore, from one man, and in him as good as dead,
were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven
and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.
The faithfulness of Abraham's walk of faith
can teach us a lot about how to live.
And I want to simplify it as much as I can this morning
by giving you four simple principles
to live by in your spiritual walk.
The first is this.
When called, go.
He went when God told him to go,
and he was determined to be where God wanted him to be.
And let me be clear,
he did not have a God-given agenda
that was placed in front of him
so that he knew where he was going and what he was doing.
He had no future family picture to know what was ahead.
No printout of the future.
He went by faith.
And when you go by faith,
you trade your plan for God's plan.
You set aside what you can see
for what God will show you.
You exchange what you know
for that that you do not know.
And he went without knowing where he was going.
Now this is not some pitiful little man
looking for a handout
or a man who didn't have anything going on at all.
When God called Abraham,
Abraham was 75 years old
and he was well-established.
He was a rich man.
He had every reason to stay exactly where he was
except the fact that God told him to go.
And for a person of faith, that is enough.
And on faith, he picked up and went.
It is sweet to listen to somebody else do such.
It's wonderful to hear that story.
But let me ask you a question.
If God led me and I knew that God was leading me,
would I go if I didn't know where I was going?
Think about that, folks.
If I could not at least anticipate
what to expect with any kind of accuracy,
do you step out and go?
I mean, that's tough.
But that's faith.
And Christians have a tendency to have a tough time
to walk across the street to share their faith
with a neighbor that they speak to often,
let alone go to an unnamed destination.
And I want to be clear,
he didn't have a prayer team
that met after church down at the altar
and prayed over him to go.
No, not at all.
He was surrounded by idol worshipers,
worshiping Canaanite gods.
He didn't have that kind of support.
Now, whether you have that kind of support
or whether you feel like you don't have that kind of support,
be clear, a walk of faith in the Lord
comes without a clear roadmap.
Man, I wish you'd make it clear.
But you have to take it a day at a time.
You walk daily with the Lord
and trust him for that day
because you don't know what tomorrow holds,
but thank God you know who holds tomorrow.
So you rest in that.
And God cultivates our faith
by holding those details back.
He knows what they are,
but he holds those details back
so he can cultivate our faith.
And that's where our blessing comes in.
Now, when I say when called, go,
I want to be clear about something.
God didn't call Abraham
to go into vocational Christian ministry.
That's not what he did.
Don't you dare think
that's the only calling of God upon somebody.
It is not.
Now, having said that,
let me tell you,
it is very real.
To me, it's a pretty special one.
For me, it was a very clear one.
I didn't know what I was going to do,
but I knew what I was supposed to do.
And God made that clear.
And I knew when he spoke what I was to do.
However, it does not stop there.
He has called me in many ways
at many times to do many things.
And I want to be clear.
I have a relationship with the Lord.
Some people don't feel comfortable with this,
but he speaks to me.
He does.
We have a relationship.
He does.
Now, I realize people can say
all kinds of quacky things
when they say that,
but I'm telling you,
I believe the Holy Spirit of God
indwells a believer
and leads them
to do what they do.
For instance,
I had a man I was praying for one time,
and I was burdened for him.
And God laid that on my heart one night,
and I picked up the phone
and called this man at 10 p.m.
I don't call folks at 10 p.m.
You can call me if you need to,
but I don't call folks at 10 p.m.
I don't do that,
but God led me to do it.
I've been trying to reach him for Christ.
He was stubborn.
I had had the opportunity
to baptize his wife.
I knew she had a burden for him.
I knew he needed to change his life,
and I knew only Christ could do that,
and so I called him.
God wouldn't let me sleep
because I was burdened
for this man's salvation.
I didn't know why it was pertinent
at 10 p.m. at night,
but I don't know those things.
And so I did what I felt led to do,
and I called him.
And I said,
Chuck,
God has laid you on my heart tonight,
and if you'll surrender your life
to the Lord tonight,
I will ride over your house
and meet you in your front yard
and lead you to Christ.
But if you tell me no,
the blood's on your head,
not mine.
I've done what I was supposed to do tonight.
So what do you think?
He said,
Preacher, come on.
We stood out in our nightlight
in front of his house,
the whole house asleep,
except me and him,
standing out in the yard.
He gave his heart and life
to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and I said,
Walk back in there
and wake up your wife.
She won't be mad at you
for telling her you got saved.
Go with God
and trust him
for the rest
because God blesses such as that
if you'll just lean upon him.
Faith grows
through that.
Faith builds on faith
in your life
and establishes legacies of faith.
A seed of faith
will grow into something
that's blossoming in your life
in faith.
And if you don't venture
on the uncertain path of faith,
you will never enjoy
the joys that come
with the uncertainties
that come in your life
due to your walk of faith.
And watching God
show up and show out
at the right time,
but you have to have the faith
to step out
and acknowledge him.
You have to do that
to come to Christ.
And a relationship
with the Lord
starts by your surrender
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you sense
that God is stirring
in your heart,
that something needs
to change in your life,
that you can't change yourself,
I want you to know
that Christ came
and died for your sins,
for your wrongdoing
that separates you
from the Lord.
And God,
His Holy Spirit
will come to us
and will speak
to our hearts and lives.
No, it's not audible.
It's louder than that.
And you know
it's Him speaking to you.
And you know
you need to come
and surrender your life
and give it
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
That begins
that relationship.
And then you have
the faith to continue
to please God,
to continue
to grow in God.
Abraham shows us this,
that even in extreme
circumstances,
you ought to trust
the Lord.
You ought to go with God
even when you're standing
on the foot of Mount Moriah,
not knowing
what's coming ahead,
but trusting that
whatever's coming,
God's there.
You'll be surprised
where life will take you.
If you let the Lord
lead you
and as you look back,
you'll see His hand
upon you the whole time.
You don't always
see it at the time,
but you can look back
and see God's hand
upon you the whole time
that you never sensed
at the time,
but God in fact
was leading you
all the way.
It is rarely easy,
often challenging,
but so is growth
and God wants us to grow.
And so when He calls,
whatever He calls you
to do,
go.
Second thing I learned
from Abraham's life,
and I ain't focused
on this a whole lot
during this series,
so I'm going to do it
right now.
When married,
stay.
When married,
stay.
Now I want to be clear
about something.
The devil has a wonderful
time making us feel guilty,
are shamed over sin
that is in our past
that is under the blood
of Christ.
You've had sin in your life,
you put that under
the blood of Christ,
and He cleans the slate,
and you need to let it go.
Period.
I'm not talking about
yesterday.
Whatever happened
yesterday
needs to be confessed,
forgiven,
and moved past.
Don't hold it against
yourself,
because God don't hold
it against you
if you ask Him
to forgive you
and to cleanse you.
So I'm speaking
to the current,
not the past.
And if you're married
today,
stay married.
Abraham and Sarah
did
for over
a hundred years.
They put them
in the Greenville News
and celebrated them.
Match that.
Now that ain't
no piece of cake.
What do you think?
He was called
to pick up everything
in the midst
of a very settled state.
And to go on
direction by God
to a new place.
And his wife said,
where are we going?
And he said,
I don't know.
I'm looking for a city
that has foundations
whose designer
and builder is God.
And I can just see
Sarah kind of going,
oh my.
And where is that?
And he said,
honey,
come on.
Now that's Daniel's
paraphrase,
but that's what
was happening.
When they wanted
a child,
but they couldn't
have one,
Sarah,
as she was called
then,
said,
have one with
my maidservant.
He did.
That didn't go well.
You know that story
if you've been here
a few weeks.
Hagar resented her
and Sarah was then
mean to her
and sin never works out.
It never works out.
Just because Scripture
points out
that those things happen
does not mean
that God justified it
or that it was okay.
It's a big misunderstanding
about that today
that things that happened
in yesteryear
that God gives direction
and guidance through
in the midst of that
is somehow justified
by us.
Not at all.
But God speaks
to where we live
and what our circumstances
are and how we are
to respond to that.
And Hagar resented her
and Sarah was mean to her
and sin didn't work out
and it never does
so don't go that route.
Twice as they traveled,
Abraham told his wife
to tell others
that she was his sister
which was a half truth
and a half truth
is always a whole lie
but it was to be
but she was to tell people that
to make sure
that Abraham was not killed
because his wife
was beautiful.
Such a philosophy
led to some kind
of difficulty along the way
because sin always
leads to difficulty.
So don't go that route.
When she did have eyes
Abraham took him away
to sacrifice him
because God told him
to do that.
And I guarantee you
that made for tense days
as well.
But somehow they hung around
for a hundred years together.
And the closest example
that I've seen
of anybody of that
is a couple
named Herbert
and Zelmyra Fisher.
Herbert and Zelmyra
was married 86 years.
How many have been married
86 years?
86 years.
They married
when Calvin Coolidge
was president.
They reared five children.
They survived
the Great Depression
off a nickel a day.
They reared five children
through the World War II
on ration supplies.
They witnessed
the Korean War together.
They witnessed
the Vietnam War.
They witnessed
the Civil Rights Movement.
They witnessed
the passing
of 15 presidents.
The world changed
a little bit
over their time.
And a year
before Herbert died,
he was interviewed
on Valentine's Day
2010.
And they asked him,
they said,
Herbert,
what's your secret?
What's your secret
for being married
86 years?
And Herbert said,
there isn't a secret.
It was only God
that kept us together.
And the next year,
he went on to be
with the Lord.
Folks,
when married,
stay.
Stay.
Third thing is this.
When commanded,
obey.
When commanded,
obey.
I've tried to share
the powerful message
of Genesis chapter 22
when God asked Abraham
to sacrifice his son
of promise.
We spent two weeks
evaluating the sacrifice
of Isaac.
We have examined
how God told him
to go and do it
and he went
and we talked about
that place,
that dreaded place,
how he looked
to the top of that mountain
and dreaded going
to that place
as he started
that journey,
as he made that climb
and as he arrived.
It is amazing to me
how he told his servants
that he and the boy
would return
after they went
to worship.
He knew something
was up,
didn't know how
it was all going
to shake out,
knew God
was going
to take care of it.
If he took his boy
from him,
he was going
to bring him back.
He knew it was
all going to work
out somehow
and he bound
his teenage
or young adult son.
Somebody asked me
about that.
Man, I don't know.
How he placed him
on the altar
and then watched
God provide.
You want to talk
about sweet worship?
Think about that.
Can you imagine
what it was like
going back down
that mountain?
It is the most
challenging times
that we go through
that sometimes
lead to the greatest
worship experience
because the provisional
hand of God
is seen in the clearest
and is seen
the clearest
in the most
difficult circumstances
that we face
in our life.
You need to trust God.
When God asks
the most of you,
he gives his best.
When God leads you
to do something,
do it.
When God commands,
obey.
Because he has
your ram
waiting in a bush
for the opportune time.
Trust him.
You won't know
it's there
until it's time.
Honor God
with your obedience
and he'll honor you.
When commanded,
obey.
And lastly,
when knocked down,
get up.
When life
knocks you down,
get up.
The marriage
that lasted
over a hundred years
ends in the death
of Sarah.
Abraham
mourned
the death
of his wife
and buried her
the best way
he could.
But God
wasn't finished
with Abraham.
That loss
in his life
did not finish
his life.
He turned
his attention
to his son,
finding his son
a lifelong companion.
And in order
for the promise
of God
to be carried out,
Isaac needed
at least one heir.
Abraham,
after Sarah's death,
would live
another 38 years.
He eventually
found another woman.
They had
more children.
As
Ecclesiastes
chapter 3,
1,
2 through 4
says,
for everything
there is a season
and a time
for every matter
under heaven.
A time
to be born,
a time
to die,
a time
to plant
and a time
to pluck up
what is planted,
a time
to weep
and a time
to laugh,
a time
to mourn
and a time
to dance.
I mention
that scripture
for two reasons.
One is this,
if you've suffered
great loss
in your life,
I pray
that you heal
and the balm
of the Lord
will provide you
a comfort
and a peace
that is unlike
anything this world
can offer.
because the only
one that can
feel the voyage
in our life
is the Holy
Spirit of God.
I am thankful
that when I stand
behind any casket
I can promise
a family
that if they'll
look to the Lord
and commit their
lives to Him
that He'll be
faithful even
in the hardest
time.
That He will
not leave us
alone.
He will not
forsake us.
He'll come
to us.
That the peace
that He gives
us is unlike
anything this world
can offer to us.
And I want to
encourage you
today to attempt
to live again.
If you're here
this morning
God hasn't
taken you home
when He took
your loved one
home.
Although it may
have felt like it.
But God has
more for you.
We need you
to serve Him
right alongside
us.
Don't stop
living until
you die.
The other
reason I say
that is this.
I'm going to
mingle into
your business
here.
If you have
a parent who
has lost his
or her spouse
let them live.
Let them live.
Don't try to
ascertain how
long they need
to wait to
find a maid
or don't try
to find them
one.
Let them
live.
Marriage
should only end
in death and
when it does
it's over.
God wants us
to live and
honor and serve
Him for all
of our days.
Be faithful to
your spouse
until the end.
Be faithful to
God until the
end.
When life knocks
you down by
loss and pain
and setback
get up!
Get up!
God wants you to
live.
He wants you to
live.
Beat you like a
yard dog.
God's still on the
throne folks.
And He still wants
you to live
wholeheartedly for
Him.
God gave us the
account of the
life of Abraham
for us to
learn from.
Not just to get
some historical
knowledge but to
learn from.
And so let's
learn from it.
And when God
calls, go.
And when you're
married, stay.
And when God
commands, obey.
And when you get
knocked down, get
up!
Because that's
what walking by
faith is.
With every head
bowed and every
eye closed, it is
my prayer that
through the life of
Abraham, I'm
you'll see
yourself.
Not because you've
been through the
same experiences
that He has, but
because the same
God that led Him is
the same God that
leads you.
And if you're not
being led by the
Lord because you
don't have a
personal relationship
with Him, the
sin and the
wrongdoing that is
in your life will
separate you from
Him.
If you'll ask Him
today to forgive
you and to
cleanse you and to
come into your
life and save you,
He'll do exactly
that.
God's working in
your heart in a
way like that.
Will you let me
know?
We're going to
stand in just a
moment.
We're going to
sing.
You come down
this aisle and
say, Pastor, I'd
love to give my
heart and life to
the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Pastor, I've
given my heart and
life to the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Maybe you've done
that privately, but
you've never done it
publicly.
You've never
acknowledged Him
through baptism
publicly.
We have a cool
experience happening
in two weeks.
An outdoor
baptism at Camp
McCall, dinner on
the grounds.
man, does it get
any better?
If you need to
settle those
matters in your
life, let's do
that.
We've got time to
deal with that.
Make it right.
Deal with it.
Let's make what's
private public.
Let's let folks
know with biblical
baptism what it
means to live for
the Lord.
Maybe God's drawing
you to be a part of
this church.
You're kind of in
between.
Hadn't found your
place, but you know
God's leading you to
be here.
I encourage you to
come.
We'd love to guide
you in that process.
We'll stand in just
a moment.
We'll sing, and as
we sing, as soon as
we begin to sing, you
come.
Maybe you're here and
you just got stuff.
You've been knocked
down.
Or God's calling you,
or God's commanding
you something.
Or you're struggling
with whether to stay
or not.
I have no idea what's
going on in your
life, but I know the
Holy Spirit does.
I truly believe he
led me to be here
today, to say what I
said today, so he can
work in your hearts
and lives, and I
encourage you to just
be obedient to him.
I'd love to pray with
you.
You can pray at this
altar as God leads.
Just don't ever be
satisfied with doing
anything less than what
God would have you to
do.
Just trust him today.
Heavenly Father, I
love you.
Thank you, Lord, for
your love that you
have for us.
Guide us today,
oh God, I pray to live
out our faith for you.
In Jesus' precious name,
amen.
Amen.