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When God Calls a Man Out - ABRAHAM Series (Genesis 12) · (Un) Common thoughts of Christ

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Called out by God.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: This is the first in the podcast series called Learning from Abraham, the Father of Faith.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Before we begin tracing the life of Abraham, we need to see where his story really starts.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: It does not start with a naturally great man.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: It does not start with a man who had everything figured out.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: It starts with the God of glory appearing to a man in an idolatrous world and calling him out.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Abram was not asked to improve the world he was in.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: He was called to leave it, to obey God's voice, and to walk by faith toward a land God would show him.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: So let's set the scene by reading the opening passage from Genesis 11 and 12, along with Stephen's words in Acts 7.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 11:31 through Genesis 12:4 says, Terrah took his son Abram, and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And they came to Haran and dwelt there.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get out of your country from your family, and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him, who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken to him.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then in Acts 7, 2-3, Stephen gives us this added light.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, Get out of your country, and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Abram's story does not begin with a man waking up one morning and deciding to become spiritual.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: It does not begin with Abram saying, I think I'll leave my homeland, change my future, and become the father of faith.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: No, Abram's story begins with God.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: The God of glory appeared to him.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: That is where faith begins, not with human ambition, not with self-improvement, not with Abram searching for a better life.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: It begins with God making himself known and calling a man out.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: That is the great opening truth in Abram's life.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: God called him, and when God calls, a man is responsible to obey.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Abram was living in Ur of the Chaldeans.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was not some empty desert place with nothing to leave behind.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Ur was a place of civilization, wealth, family roots, religion, and earthly security.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was connected with idolatry.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: The book of Joshua, and in chapter 24, tells us that Tera, Abram's father, served other gods.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: So Abram was not called out of a neutral world.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: He was called out of a world where man had settled down without the true God.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: After the flood, man again failed.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: Government was established by God, but man used the world to exalt himself, and eventually fell into idolatry.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: In that setting, God began to act on a new principle, the sovereign call of God.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: God called one man out from the world to himself.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: That is important.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: God did not tell Abram to reform Ur.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: He did not say, stay there and improve the city.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: He did not say, make that world a little more religious.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: He said, get out of your country.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: The call of God separated Abram from country, kindred, and father's house.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: That does not mean Abram was to despise family or act carelessly toward earthly responsibilities, but it does mean this.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: When God calls, his claim is higher than every natural claim.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Abram was called to leave the seen for the unseen.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: He was called to leave what he knew for what God would show him.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: That little phrase is vital to a land that I will show you.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: God did not hand Abram a complete map.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: He did not explain every stage.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: He did not give him every detail in advance.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: The first step was clear.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Get out.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: The next light would come after obedience.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Abram had to act, or he would have no more light.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: He could not have been the father of faith while remaining in Ur.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: That is a searching principle for the soul.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Many of us want more light before we obey the light already given.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: We say, Lord, show me the whole path.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: But God often says, take the step I have already shown you.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Abram could not remain in Ur and become the father of faith.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: He could not hold on to the old world and walk fully in the calling of God.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: The path of faith required action.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: The call of Abram was not based on any merit in Abram himself.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Abram came from a family involved in idolatry.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: The call was grace.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: God called him out, not because Abram was better than others, but because God was acting in sovereign grace.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: That should encourage every young believer.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Faith does not begin with how worthy we are.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: It begins with who God is.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Abram's strength was not in Abram.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: His authority to move was the word of God.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: His security was the God who called him.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, the story is honest.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Abram's obedience was not immediately perfect.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 11 tells us that Terra took Abram, Sarai, and Lot, and they went out from Ur to go into Canaan.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: But they stopped in Haran.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: They started in the right direction, but they did not reach the land at first.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: This delay matters.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Terra appears as a hindrance in Abram's path.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: The call had come to Abram, but Terra took the lead.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Until Terrah died, Abram did not fully enter the land to which God had called him.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: That is a solemn lesson.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Natural ties can be tender, honorable, and God-given.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: But they can still become hindrances if they take the place of obedience to God.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: Abram's father could go part of the way.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: He could leave Ur, he could travel to Haran, but he could not bring Abram into the full path of faith.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: Nature may imitate faith for a distance, but it cannot complete the journey.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: So Abram stops halfway.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Haran was not Ur, but it was not Canaan either.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: That is a dangerous place spiritually.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: It is possible to leave something behind and still not enter into what God has called us to.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: It is possible to be partly out, but not fully obedient.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Then, after Terrah dies, Abram moves forward.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Genesis 12 says, So, Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken to him.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: That is the sentence that marks the path of faith.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: He departed.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: He acted, he obeyed.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And Hebrews 11:8 gives the Spirit of God's recounting of faithful men and women.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: That is the first great public mark of Abraham's faith.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: He obeyed when he was called.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: He did not know where all of it would lead.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: He did not yet possess the land.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: He did not yet have Isaac.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: He did not yet understand all the promises.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: But he had the word of God, and that was enough.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Abram took God for his security and his portion.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: By separation from the world, on the ground of confidence in God, he lost everything and had nothing visible to rest on but the word of God.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: That is faith.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: To natural sight, Abram lost much.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: He left homeland, roots, identity, security, and visible prospects.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: But to faith, he gained everything because he had God.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for someone new in the faith, this is a vital truth.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Christianity is not merely forgiveness from judgment, though that is blessed.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: It is not only knowing that our sins are forgiven.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: God saves, but he also calls.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: He calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: He calls us to Christ.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: He calls us to walk as pilgrims here.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: With our hearts set on what is unseen and eternal.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Abram's call teaches us that faith is not passive.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Faith hears God.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Faith trusts God.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Faith obeys God.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Faith moves when God speaks.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And very often, faith must move before it understands everything.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is where many souls are tested.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: We want the comfort of certainty before obedience.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: But Abram's certainty was not in knowing the root.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: His certainty was in knowing the one who called him.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: That is enough for the path of faith.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: God said, get out.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Abram had to act on that word.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And as he obeyed, God gave further light.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: He did not get the second appearing while settled in Ur.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: He did not receive the fuller promise while halted in Haran.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: The next communication came in the path of obedience.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: That is a practical word for us.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: There may be a step that the Lord has already made plain, a relationship to order, a habit to judge, a compromise to leave, a path of obedience to take, a truth from Scripture that we already see but have delayed acting upon.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: We may be praying for more light while resisting the light already given.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Abram's first lesson says, obey the first word, not because you know everything ahead, not because you feel strong, not because the path looks easy, but because God has spoken.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And this is not only seen in Abram's life.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord Jesus gives us the same principle in John 7.17.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone wills to do his will, he shall know concerning the doctrine.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: That is, the heart that is willing to do God's will is the heart that receives light from God.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: And again, in John 14.21, the Lord says, He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Then the Apostle John writes, in 1 John 2.3, Now by this, we know that we know him if we keep his commandments.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, obedience is not a side issue in the life of faith.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: It is not merely outward religious duty.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: It is the response of a heart that has heard God.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Abram heard the call, Abram obeyed the word, and in the path of obedience, he received further light.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: That is still the way of faith.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: The God who calls is faithful.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the God who called Abram is the same God who calls his people today, not merely to escape judgment, but to belong to Christ, to walk with him, and to live as those whose true portion is not in this present world.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: So as we begin this series on Abraham, we begin here.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Abram was called out, called out by God, called out from the world, called out from what was natural and familiar, called out to walk by faith, called out to obey before he had the whole map.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: The life of Abraham begins with the voice of God, and the life of faith begins when the soul answers that voice and obeys.