Genesis chapter 12 and look at verse number 7 Genesis chapter 12 verse 7 the
Bible says the Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto thy seed will I give this
land the title for the sermon this morning is the seed of Abraham the seed
of Abraham so let's pick it up in verse number 1 Genesis chapter 12 verse 1
there's a lot here there's gonna be a lot that we can get out of Abraham's
life and it says here in verse number 1 now the Lord had said unto Abram get
thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house
unto a land that I will show thee and I will make of thee a great nation and I
will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing and I will
bless them that bless thee and curse him that curse of thee and in thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed okay now the first thing I want to cover this
morning is just what we read there in verse number 3 right at the end there
and in thee now these singular speaking to Abraham and in Abraham shall all
families of the earth be blessed okay and if we can just backtrack there in
verse number 2 as well and I will make of thee a great nation I will bless thee
and make thy name great and thou shall be a blessing and I will bless them that
bless thee and curse him that curse of thee now immediately I just straight off
the gate I've just got a you know this mantle some false teaching that's out
there and I don't know what it is it's just it's just a nature of the sermons
that I'm preaching again we're talking about Judaism and talking about Israel
okay and you know there are there are Christians believers who I love Baptist
brethren that I care about there have been my pastors my brethren that will
say hey you've gotta bless 1948 Israel okay that's what's being promised here
if you're a blessing to 1948 Israel then the Lord will bless you and if you curse
them then God will curse you you know and and they they look at you know even
the United States they look at the the prosperity the wealth the blessings that
the United States has and say well the reason why they're so blessed is because
they've been a blessing to Israel but I say to you that prior to 1948 the United
States was blessed prior to that they were prosperous I mean since 1948 that
place is becoming a hellhole since 1948 I mean when they started blessing Israel
is when they started to be cursed and it's when they started to become full of
iniquity and affecting the nations around all the world and you know
influencing the nations around the world the reason Australia is going down you
know a dark path the reason why Australia our nation is becoming such a
wicked nation is honestly they're just following the footsteps of the United
States so I don't know what kind of blessing that is I mean that's a curse
that's a curse now look obviously that's not what's been referred to here when
the Bible says in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed the
good thing about the Bible is we don't need to go off some prophecy expert we
don't need to go off you know dispensational teaching the great thing
about the Bible is quite often I mean more often than not the New Testament
tells us about the Old Testament the New Testament caught you know it's a
commentary to the Old Testament so what we want to understand here in verse
number three how is it that all families of the earth will be blessed through
Abraham okay how is that well keep your finger there and go to Acts chapter 3
acts chapter 3 verse 24 acts chapter 20 acts chapter 3 sorry acts chapter 3
verse 24 and I love it when we just have commentary because then we don't have to
wonder you know it's straight there the Bible tells us acts chapter 3 verse 24
the Bible says yay and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after
as many as have spoken have likewise foretold of these days so we see all the
prophets including Samuel and all those after Samuel have foretold have
prophesied of these days the days of Acts right after the resurrection of
Christ the fact that you know the disciples are going out preaching the
gospel and it says here in verse number 25 ye are the children of the prophets
and of the covenant which God made with our fathers saying unto Abraham and in
thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed okay we saw that right
all the kindreds of the earth be blessed he said that to Abraham and of course
that plays into his seed say who is the seed of Abraham you know we've got a
passage we got to hear in verse number 26 unto you first God having raised up
his son Jesus sent him to bless you hey who's the seed Jesus Jesus how do we
how is our how all the nations of the earth blessed by Abraham any seed
because Jesus came to bless you Jesus has come to bless all the nations of the
earth it says here in turning away every one of you from his iniquities that's
how all the nations of the earth are blessed today that's how they will bless
from the time of Acts till forever is because every nation everybody has the
ability to place their faith in Christ Christ wants to bless each one of us and
how does he bless us by turning away us from our iniquities taking our
iniquities on the cross that's how we took them away and if you place your
faith on Christ you're blessed okay you're blessed and that's the promise
that God gave Abraham all the way there in Genesis chapter 12 and I want to be
in fact if you are saved you're blessed already you're blessed because your
iniquities have been removed have been taken away from you okay they'll put on
Christ and he paid for it all so please let's understand the Bible I hope you
you realize and appreciate how important is you know for us to go to the New
Testament that's quite often that's why I often say if you haven't read your
Bible through once start with the New Testament start the New Testament and
then you'll understand the Old Testament better when you go through that okay
because we have the commentary there and it's just that it's a great thing that
we see okay now let's go back to Genesis chapter 12 Genesis chapter 12 verse
number 4 Genesis chapter 12 verse 4 it says so Abraham departed as the Lord had
spoken unto him and lots went with him and Abram was seventy and five years old
when he departed out of Haran okay now the question is where did Abraham or
Abram depart from my question to you is let's look at it again where did he
depart from it said he departed out of Haran did you say that out of Haran say
why were they in Haran well let's just quickly go back to Genesis 11 I didn't
really cover the the last verses of Genesis 11 because I wanted to save it
for this chapter but Genesis 11 verse number 31 I want you to notice this in
verse 31 Genesis 11 31 it says and Tyra took Abram his son and lot the son of
Haran's his sorry and lot the son of Haran his son son and Sarai his daughter
in law his son Abram's wife and they went forth with them from I went to
this is important from where from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of
Canaan and they came unto Haran and dwelt there and the days of Tyra were
205 years and Tyra died in Haran okay so understand what's happening here where
did they originally start from this family they started from it said there
from Ur of the Chaldees right Ur of the Chaldees that's where they originally
started from then they were to go it said there in verse number 31 to go into
the land of Canaan they left Ur of the Chaldees to go to the land of Canaan
okay but they didn't make it to the land of Canaan they got they got up to Haran
and they dwelt there now we don't know all the information all the reasons why
that took place I mean I could come up with many reasons but the Bible doesn't
really spell it out for us okay but that's where they came into unto Haran
okay now when we get to chapter 12 Abraham's father passes away there in
Haran and then Abraham picks everyone up picks all things up to go to the land of
Canaan okay to go to the land of Canaan so I want you to understand there was
this stop before they went to the land of Canaan now you say why is that
important because let's go to Acts chapter 7 now why is that important go
to Acts chapter 7 verse 2 Acts chapter 7 verse 2 and while you're turning there
just um I should have asked you just to notice Genesis 12 verse 1 so if you
still got your finger there you might want to go there while you go to Acts 7
but Genesis 12 1 it said now the Lord had said unto Abram get thee out of thy
country the Bible doesn't say here now the Lord said unto Abram okay if the
Lord didn't say these words to Abram when he was in Haran the Bible says now
the Lord had said past tense okay and what I want to show you is these words
like that we read here in Genesis 12 they're not words that were said at
Haran and that's why they left no these were words that were said to Abram in
the Ur of the Chaldees prior to going to Haran okay prior to that and we'll
prove this here in Acts chapter 7 Acts chapter 7 verse 2 and these are the
words of Stephen who was obviously martyred for his faith but Acts chapter 7
verse 2 he says and he said men brethren and fathers hearken listen the God of
glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he
dwelt in Charan now Charan just dropped the sea okay Charan okay that's just the
the stop the pit stop that they had when they were on the way to Canaan okay so
the God had already appeared to Abraham before they went to Charan or Haran okay
there and verse number three how did it appear what did he say to him verse
number three and said unto him get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred
and come into the land which I will show thee then came he out of the land of the
Chaldeans we saw that the Ur of the Chaldees and dwelt in Charan and from
thence when his father was dead he removed him into this land wherein ye
now dwell so do you see the the chronology there okay when he was in the
the land of the I would have to say there in verse number four land of the
Chaldeans that's when the Lord called Abraham that's when he called him and
said hey leave that land and go to the land of Canaan all right that's when he
called him but then he had that stop there in Charan or Haran and it's when
his father Tyra died that he eventually decided well now that's time for us to
leave he left and went to the land of Canaan okay say why why are you telling
us that well just to know the Bible better number one but number two I just
want to show you that this was this chapter has two mistakes that Abraham
made okay two mistakes the Lord had called him to the land of Canaan and he
also told if you go back to Genesis 12 Genesis 12 verse number verse number one
again when he calls him out of the land of the Chaldeans he says get thee out of
thy country and from thy kindred and look at this and from thy father's house
you know that when it says house it's not talking about the building it's
about your father and his family he told Abraham leave your family leave your
father leave that family and go to the land that I've called you okay and so we
see the first mistake now look Abraham is a great man of faith and I believe
that he was already saved at this point in time and I'll prove that to you later
on in the sermon but one thing I want you to notice even though we we elevate
Abraham up he was still a man he was still a man that had weaknesses he was
still a man that had some doubts and he did not obey the Lord perfectly because
the Lord told him leave your family leave your father okay and what happens
I'm just going to tell you what I think may have happened Abrams like because he
believed the Lord we know he believed the Lord he we know that he said yes the
Lord's calling me that's the land that we're going to inherit I'm going to I
believe that and when he's going to tell his dad hey dad I'm leaving I'm going to
the land of Canaan his dad would have been yep son I'm coming along with you
you know let me help you you know let me be the one that guides and leads you and
we see this was the mistake that was made okay that he allowed his father to
tag along with him why because then they ended up in Haran instead of going to
the land of Canaan that's not where the Lord caught him Lord did not call him to
Iran he'd according to the land of Canaan and they ended up dwelling in
Haran why because he took the leadership of his father rather than following in
obedience to what Jesus what the Lord had caught him to do okay now this is a
lesson for us this is a lesson for us is that when the Lord calls you to do
something so how do I know the Lord's calling me to do something because the
Bible says so okay as soon as you see what the Bible says you say this is
something that I need to do and you might even express that to your family
you know you may experience where your family says you know because they're a
bit concerned about you says yeah you know I hope you're long I'll help you
along but what they mean by that is oh let me control you let me let me make
sure you don't go too far you said Canaan I'll come along with you but
we'll stop at Haran and we'll just live there that's what we're gonna live right
I mean you know and of course I'm sure there was a lot there was definitely a
love between father and son there but you know even even when family are
well-meaning even when they're trying to be a help they can be a hindrance to you
from obeying the Lord God and you see that Abraham had to wait for his father
to die before he went into obedience obedience and went to the land of Canaan
as the Lord had caught him hey this is Abraham's first mistake that we see in
the Bible okay and he's a little man these these things are in the Bible here
so we can learn from that okay listen when the core when God asks to do
something you just do it okay you don't need to go and get approval from anybody
else if the Lord says that's what you need to do that's what you do okay I
mean if you seek you could get into trouble because there's other people
that do love you they mean well for you they but they can prevent you from
following the Lord perfectly okay so go back to Genesis 12 please
Genesis chapter 12 and verse number 5 verse number 5 the Bible says and Abram
took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son and all this substance
they had gathered and the souls that they had gotten in Haran and they went
forth to go into the land of Canaan and into the land of Canaan they came okay
so now we have after that stop at Haran now they're heading finally to the land
of Canaan we don't know exactly how long they stayed in Haran okay we don't know
exactly how long but he says here that he takes his wife he takes a lot his
nephew and they also take the souls they had got in Haran so at this point now
Abraham had many servants you know I guess they were wealthy they had servants
and everybody that was part of that family part of that group went together
to the land of Canaan and of course in chapter 14 we won't go there now but in
chapter 14 we see that Abraham has a small army you know he's able to go and
fight make make warfare and the reason for that is because he had many servants
that were trained and skilled to be soldiers verse number 6 and Abram passed
through the land unto the place of Sikkim unto the plain of Mori and the
Canaanite was then in the land and the Lord appeared unto Abram and said unto
thy seed will I give this land and there built it here an altar unto the Lord who
appeared unto him okay now we already had confirmation from Acts chapter 3 who
that seed was for the blessing that would all the nations of the earth would
be blessed that's Jesus Christ but I do want you to now turn to Galatians chapter
3 Galatians chapter 3 because yes Christ is the seed but there's also an
extension to that seed and we'll have a look at this in Galatians chapter 3
verse 7 Galatians chapter 3 verse 7 because again you're gonna get those
that say well the seed here is 1948 Israel right you're gonna get that it's
1948 now look maybe some of them are part of that seed and we'll look at that
soon okay but this is very clear in the scriptures and for some reason I know
the reason but our Baptist brethren don't like Galatians 3 okay I don't
think I've ever heard any preaching on Galatians 3 and I've been going to
Baptist Church was pretty much my whole life okay and the reason they don't like
it is because they hold to dispensationalism and Galatians 3 just
demolishes dispensationalism totally demolishes it right and so they struggle
with trying to make Galatians fit like that they're not trying to look it's why
I would I have respect for the pastors that do believe in dispensationalism but
then when they read something like Galatians 3 they then say well I need to
change my understanding of dispensationalism because it needs to
fit the Bible I have respect for that but what happens is they say well
Galatians 3 says that I've got to change what Galatians 3 says to make it fit
dispensationalism okay but let's look at Galatians 3 verse 7 Galatians 3 verse 7
the Bible says know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the
children of Abraham I really preached when did I preach to you guys was it on
Wednesday about being the Israel of God that you you've been a Jew in Italy was
that Wednesday I can't remember anyway I preached that recently but once again
here the Bible tells us that we who are of faith hey do you are you saved by
grace through faith if that's you the Bible says that the same the same the
same people are the children of Abraham that means you're a child of Abraham
accept it you know and yes the Old Testament Jews if they were saved if
they were of faith they were also children of Abraham you see you can be a
child of Abraham in the flesh hey but that's not gonna profit you anything or
you can be a child of Abraham in faith okay and that will make you a receiver
of his promises as well as I keep seeing here verse number eight and the
scripture foreseen that God would justify the heathen through faith
preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying in thee shall all nations be
blessed okay so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham
why we blessed because we've been saved right we're of faith but also notice it
said here in verse number eight that he that God preached before the gospel unto
Abraham how did he preach the gospel to him saying in thee shall all nations be
blessed and this is why I believe Abraham was saved in the land of of the
Ur of the Chaldees before he even departed anywhere you know before he was
misguided by his father because that we really saw that God said these words to
Abraham prior to him leaving and it says here that God preached the gospel unto
Abraham listen there's only one gospel okay there's one more one gospel I mean
we get the idea here in thee all nations shall be blessed we get the
commentary of Acts chapter three saying well that's Christ okay well that means
that God would have told Abraham about Christ you know he would have told him
about the death-bearing resurrection you say no no you're going too far but
that's why he was willing to sacrifice Isaac we'll get to that later on in the
chapters because he was expecting Isaac to be resurrected from the dead because
he thought Isaac was a picture of Jesus Christ okay so he definitely had the
gospel as we know it preached unto Abraham okay this is prior to him
leaving anything okay because he received it by faith let's keep going in
our let's drop down to verse 14 Genesis Galatians 3 14 that the blessing of
Abraham that's to the Jews the blessing of Abraham's to the Jew what's it say
that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles what that's not the Jews
yeah the Gentiles why because it's not about your physical descendency it's
about your faith if you have the same faith as Abraham you're a child of
Abraham okay says here unto the Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might
receive the promise of the Spirit through faith brethren I speak after the
manner of men though it be as though it be but a man's covenant yet if it be
confirmed no man this annulth or out of out of there to now to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made look promises plural all the promises that we
read there today or we're gonna keep reading to Abraham in Genesis 12 all the
promises okay now to Abraham and seed were the promises made he saith not and
to seeds with an S there seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which
is Christ man that's who the promises have been made to to Abraham and his
seed which is Christ so what I thought was Israel well yes if they're in
Christ if they're in Christ they are also receivers of the promises but so
are the Gentiles if they're in Christ if we're of faith we're the ones that
receive the promises that were given to Abraham I mean this is something to
rejoice over this is something that should we should be you know this is
amazing this is amazing promises all the way to Abraham and we know who's a great
man hey those same promises were made to us the Gentiles because we're a faith
you know and I don't know why you want to change this in Galatians 3 just do
away with this sensationalism and believe what God says in his word let's
go down to verse 28 please Galatians 3 28 I mean the whole chapter is awesome
but let's just drop down there is neither Jew nor now I'm not saying to
you I'm better than the Jews okay because if the Jews are of faith as are
the Gentiles bar was very clear there is neither Jew nor Greek it doesn't
matter you know your physical DNA descendancy doesn't matter there is
neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for you are all one in
Christ Jesus see it's Jesus that levels it out regardless of how powerful how
rich what kind of position you have what kind of DNA you have we're all one in
Christ Jesus and then verse 29 and if you be Christ's then a year Abraham seed
and as according to the promise as that means we receive the inheritance of the
promises that were said to Abraham whereas of that as well praise God for
his truth praise God for his promises okay please don't allow these passes to
you know miss miss miss guide you okay and say well it's not for you your plan
be you know you need to go and give you know the Jews you know all the blessings
because it's not yours okay no no it's it's it's crystal clear you know it's
crystal clear all right so let's just go back to Genesis 12 please Genesis 12
verse 8 Genesis 12 verse 8 I feel like saying more about that but why should I
when the scriptures are so clear right Genesis 12 verse 8 let's keep going
Genesis 12 verse 8 and he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of
Bethel and pitched his tent having Bethel on the west and high on the east
and there he built an altar unto the Lord and called upon the name of the
Lord now I want to stop here because I already mentioned to you when I believe
Abraham was saved okay but I want to show you some other positions is about
four positions out there as to when Abraham got saved okay and what we just
read here we read about Abraham building an altar and it says after he built the
that he called upon the name of the Lord okay and some people will claim this is
when Abraham was saved all right because of course Romans 10 13 and whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved okay and so they say well
this is now the point where Abraham's calling on the name of the Lord this is
the point that he got saved but my question to you is do we only call upon
the name of the Lord when we need to be saved no every time we pray every time
we seek the Lord we're calling upon his name okay yes you do need to call upon
his name to be saved yes okay but the rest of your life you ought to be
calling upon them Lord all the time you should be in prayer every time and and
asking in Jesus name aren't we were meant to Jesus instructs us when we pray
we ought to ask in his name so we're always calling upon name the Lord we're
always asking the Lord to help and guide us so that's not and you know you'll
find other reference of the Bible where saved men are calling upon them the Lord
okay because they're just praying you know they're seeking the Lord's guidance
seeking the Lord's face so that's that's one position is that well this is when
he got saved my question is if this is when he got saved he's already building
an altar you know he's already building an altar you're saying he's doing that
as an unsaved man building an altar and then he calls upon the name of Lord and
gets saved no the reason he's building an altar is because he's already saved
the reason he's building an altar is because God's already preached him the
gospel and is already familiar with the need for blood sacrifice and of course
in the Old Testament days they were still doing the altar and the animal
sacrifices so Abraham already knew that he already knew the picture of that and
what that was pointing to and so you can see he was already a man of faith that's
why he built the altar okay and then he was just calling upon the name of the
Lord praying to him so that position doesn't hold up now go to Genesis 15
please Genesis 15 verse 6 Genesis 15 verse 6 and the the second position
that's out there is that Abraham got saved in Genesis 15 you know we're in
Genesis 12 I believe this man's definitely saved by now but some people
will point to Genesis 15 verse 6 and I even I've had some challenges with this
passage because in Genesis 15 verse 6 it says and and he speaking of Abraham and
he believed in the Lord and he counts it to him for righteousness okay so what
does that sound like keep your finger there actually don't keep your finger
there you go back to you can go back to Genesis 12 but go to Romans 4 now Romans
chapter 4 verse 2 Romans chapter 4 verse 2 and the reason some people think that
he got saved in Genesis 15 is because many of us you know if we're stuck at
the door of somebody that believes in a workspace gospel you know many of us or
they quote James 2 in our faith about works is dead will quite often then turn
to Romans 4 and disprove that okay and so this is something we use a lot for
our soul in efforts and rightly so I'm not saying it's wrong rightly so but
then we get to Romans 4 verse 2 the Bible says for if Abraham were justified
by works he have whereof to glory but not before God for what save the
scripture now when saying this is pointing back to Genesis 15 what we just
read what saved the scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him
for righteousness so they say see Abraham was not saved by works correct
he was saved by faith correct and then they'll say well when was he saved by
faith well it says here when the scripture said it there in Genesis 15
and so Genesis 15 is when he got saved so you get I can understand why people
have that view I'm not saying they're idiots or something like that I
understand it because it is it kind of seems that way right but here's here's
the thing you know Romans 4 2 is not teaching this is the point of time that
Abraham was saved okay it's not teaching this is the point of time it's teaching
this is the method by which he was saved okay the method which was his faith okay
and of course we're instructed as believers to live by faith we're
instructed to walk in faith we're instructed as believers to go from faith
to faith okay so yes you get saved the moment you believe on the on the gospel
you know that moment you place your faith in the gospel but the rest of your
life is also a life where you're to walk by faith okay and every time you do
things by faith the Lord counts it as righteousness it's righteous when God
sees you doing things by faith you know the Lord doesn't wait for you to do the
works before he sees the righteousness the Lord sees the faith in your heart
when God says there's something about the Bible and you're like Lord I don't
know but I believe that the Lord well he's going to count that for
righteousness the fact that you know you believe the Lord every time you believe
what God says to you in the Bible it's a righteous thing to do okay and and so by
extension because that is how God sees righteousness by extension of course
when you place your faith on Christ on the gospel that's counted to you for
righteousness as well that's how you're saved because that verse is basically
basically teaching us that it's not by the works okay it's not by the works
that Abraham did but rather his faith that he placed on the Lord so that's a
second position that's out there is that Genesis 15 is when Abraham got saved but
I don't believe that Romans 4 is telling us the time but rather the method by
which he was saved okay the third position out there that says when
Abraham was saved and I already covered this at the beginning so we'll go
through this very quickly but just back in Genesis chapter 12 verse 4
Genesis chapter 12 verse 4 and I do need to cover this a little bit because if
you do if you believe this again I don't think you're wicked or anything but it
can lead to dangerous ground okay and Genesis 12 verse 4 says so Abraham
departed as the Lord had spoken unto him and lot with him and Abraham was seventy
and five years old when he departed out of Haran so that's how you see this is
now when he finally you know he departed Haran he finally left to go to
Canaan now this is the point that he got saved okay and we already saw that the
Lord had called him prior to being in Haran okay so I mean that already
doesn't line up okay that really doesn't line up and Abraham already made the
effort to leave but he was misguided by his father okay so that doesn't line up
there but the problem with this position is well we know he got saved because
now he's actually on his way to Canaan and what that can lead to is a
workspace gospel okay he got saved because he packed his bags and now he's
walking see he's making the effort you can see his faith he's he's on his
journey now it's why it becomes my works okay and so you can see the danger there
instead of seeing his faith in believing the promise that God gave to Abraham as
as his you know his salvation now we're seeing his walk to Canaan as his
salvation that's that's the danger of believe in that position now I'm not
saying that everyone that believes that believes in a works gospel I'm just
saying it's dangerous it can lead to that and I have seen people use that as
evidence for a workspace gospel all right so you know the reason why he
wasn't saved they already proved that before okay that the Lord had called him
prior but there is another way we can prove this go to Hebrews chapter 11
Hebrews chapter 11 okay Hebrews chapter 11 verse 8 and again you know as we go
through Genesis we're going to continually be going through Hebrews 11
as well you know side by side because you know of course Hebrews 11 is the
great chapter of faith the hall of faith okay now it's not saying when we go
through the Hall of Faith not saying that these are the points these men got
saved it's just giving us the examples of their great faith and what it caught
it led them to achieve in their lives okay it's not saying this is the point
that he got saved you know Noah got saved when he built the ark that's when
he got saved no no you already found grace in the eyes of the Lord prior to
building the ark okay but of course when we have our faith in the Lord we
can do great works and that's what Hebrews 11 is about is just showing us
the great works these men did because of their faith all right now Hebrews 11
verse 8 Hebrews 11 verse 8 the Bible says it's important by faith Abraham
when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for
inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whither he went okay now look at
this when was he called when was he called out to go into the place when he
was still in the Ur of the Chaldees that's when he was called and it says
here he did it by faith you see he was already a man of faith he was already a
believer when the Lord called him to leave the Ur of the Chaldees so when we
look at Genesis 12 verse 4 and say well he's finally left Haran no no he was
already a man of faith prior to that in the Ur of the Chaldees and we can
already you know I've already proven that before but once again it's proven
he in Hebrews 11 verse 8 otherwise if he's not a saved man if it's not a man
of faith why would you list that down in the Hall of Faith as a great work of
faith that he did okay so I don't know exactly at what point Abraham was saved
but it was definitely when he was in the Ur of the Chaldees prior to that and
then the Lord calls him to leave his family all right so let's just go back
to and then the final that the fourth position as to when he got saved is what
I just told you okay when he was already in the in Mesopotamia in the land of the
Chaldees all right now I want to move on a little bit here let's you guys
are still in Hebrews right Hebrews 11 look at verse 9 Hebrews 11 verse 9 now
Hebrews 11 verse 9 the Bible says by faith he sojourned in the land of
promise how's the land of promise the land of Canaan okay the land of promise
he sojourned as in a strange country dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and
Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise say why why was he going around
as a stranger you know in a strange country going as a sojourner so journey
sojourner yeah you'd say that right why verse number 10 for he looked for a city
which have foundations that's great whose builder and maker is God say why
didn't Abraham just settle and start you know you know just start building a city
and you know Abraham didn't never received the promise of the land in his
time he never he never inherited it now the promise was given to him and to his
seed okay but he never inherited the land in fact when Sarah his wife passes
away he had to purchase a piece of land to bury his wife he never inherited in
his lifetime from the Lord why is that important because the land is just a
picture okay the land is just a type of what's more important okay what's more
important what was Abraham looking forward to he was looking for a city
which have foundation whose maker or did it say that whose maker was the
Lord sorry what's the reference that I was telling you guys to turn to verse
number 10 Hebrews 11 verse 10 for you look at for a city which have
foundations whose builder and maker is God now go back to acts 7 please acts 7
verse 5 acts 7 verse 5 because it might sound unusual for me to say that he
never inherited the physical land okay but go to acts chapter 7 verse 5 acts
chapter 7 verse 5 the Bible says and he gave him none inheritance in it no not
so much as to set his foot on yet he promised that he would give it to him
for a possession and to his seed after him when as yet he had no child okay so
again we have confirmation that Abraham never in his lifetime inherited the land
okay he was never he never had it he never had any of the possession that's
he had to buy a piece of land right but it was promised as an inheritance to him
and his seed okay so what's that about the seed is Christ and we're also of the
children of Abraham if we're in his seed what's that about well I believe this is
a twofold prophecy or twofold promise you know and number one is that when the
Lord comes back to set up his millennial kingdom we know he's going to be in
Jerusalem okay and this is why I do believe in a new Israel as a sense okay
this is why I believe in the millennium there will be a new Israel by which
Jesus Christ would rule from but remember we're going to rule and reign
with him so from a physical perspective you know yes that will be our nation
that'll be our land when you're gonna win our new resurrected bodies ruling
and reigning with Christ but again just remember that thousand year period is
just a temporary period it's not forever and ever why because again it's just a
picture of the real city that we need to be looking for okay the real city who's
maker is God the one that God is building for us all right now go to
Revelation chapter 21 please revelation 21 verse 1
revelation chapter 21 verse 1 the Bible says and I saw a new heaven and a new
earth for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no
more sea and I John saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down from God out
of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband this is the city that
Abraham was looking forward to okay when God promised him the land of Canaan you
know for him and his seed in the inheritance it's like well I know
that's just a picture of the greatest city that I'm looking for whose maker
is God the one that's going to come out of heaven and it says it was prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband drop down to verse number 9 verse number 9
and they came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of
the seven last plagues and talked to me saying come hither and I will show thee
the bride the Lamb's wife I mean that's clear you know the angel says to John
let me show you the bride the Lamb's wife the wife of Jesus Christ say well
that's the church well sort of okay sort of but look at verse number 10 and he
carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me
that great city the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God so
according to the Bible what's the Lamb's wife what's the bride of Christ it's new
Jerusalem it's a city okay that's what it is all right now by extension we do
because we're going to populate that city okay as people that are the seed of
Abraham and then verse number 12 please verse number 12 the Bible says and
tomato city and had a great wall great and high and had 12 gates and at the
gates 12 angels and the names written there on which are the names of the 12
tribes of the children of Israel so you see even the Old Testament tribes of
Israel hey they can participate in the city you know that I were expected yes
we're in the land of Canaan but hey we're looking forward to the to the city
of God we're looking forward to those gates that are there you know and if
they're part of those tribes I assume that's how they enter into that city as
long as they were of faith okay as long as they were a faith and then verse
number 14 please and the wall of the city had 12 foundations remember
Abraham was looking for a city with foundations well here it is 12
foundations right and in them and in them the names of the 12 apostles of the
Lamb now why is that important because the church the New Testament Church was
built upon the apostles of the Lamb okay they're the ones that went out starting
these churches so it's not just Old Testament Israel that that city is made
for but also for the New Testament churches okay we're all gonna be all of
us of faith are going to participate in that that city and so yes the church is
the bride if you want but because we're in the city and so is Old Testament
Israel the Old Testament Israelites that were a faith they too are part of the
city they to make up the bride of the Lamb okay and verse number or just leave
it there for now but I've had people mock me for this belief like friends of
mine and I don't mind being mocked because I usually mock people as well
but uh but I've had people mock me and saying well man if you believe these
promises were for you Kevin you know why aren't you out in Israel right now why
aren't you claiming a piece of land right now and saying hey this is my
promise this is my land you know you know instead of you know because you're
you're a child of Abraham right and the promises have been given to you well
first of all because I'm like Abraham I don't care about the physical land like
Abraham I'm looking forward to the city of God I'm looking for that land number
one that's what's more important okay but number two because Jesus told us go
you into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature okay so Jesus
is not telling us go to Israel and take a piece of land for yourself maybe in
the millennium we can have a piece of land I don't know but hey you know right
now we're called to go to the whole world you know and preach the gospel so
that would be counter active to that commandment you know that would be me
disobeying the Lord God trying to grab myself a piece of land you know when I
don't care about it first of all but second of all it's not what Jesus wants
me to do anyway with my life okay I'm in the land of Australia this is the
utmost part of the world as far as when Jesus Christ said those words I'm right
where he wants me to be you know as long as I'm out going out preaching the
gospel go back to Genesis 12 please just Genesis chapter 12 verse 9 Genesis
chapter 12 verse 9 there's a lot to unpackage you we're only up to verse
number 9 but you can see it's so important for us to understand it and
it's beautiful the Bible is beautiful you know Bible is beautiful because it
just tells us it's just clear it's straightforward we don't need to muck
around with it but verse number 9 and Abram journeyed going on still toward
the south and there was a famine in the land and Abram went down into Egypt to
sojourn there for the famine was grievous in the land and this is now
the second mistake from Abraham the second mistake that we read about him in
the chapter you say sometimes in your life the Lord's gonna call you to do
certain things you know you know the Bible says I'm going to do that but then
the famine comes the trials come the difficulties come it gets a little bit
too difficult you know and then you're going to be tempted to find your own
solution look Jesus the Lord asked Abraham to go to the land of Canaan he
told him to go there and what we see is when the famine comes Abraham says well
I guess I got to go to Egypt because that's where there's food and you know
the necessities of life and we need to provide for ourselves okay but here's the
thing if the Lord tells you to do something if the Lord tells you to go
somewhere and there's famine who's going to provide for you it's gonna be the
Lord if the Lord's told you to go there then you know the Lord's gonna provide
for you you know all your necessities because he's the one that told you to go
there you know if I'm if I'm if I'm you know starving you know after obeying
what the Lord has asked me to somebody that Lord hold on you told me to come
here you know why am I starving you know he should have had his trust in the
Lord instead Abraham like many of us you know things got tough well I've got to
come up with a solution you know I've got to come up with a plan contrary to
what the Lord has asked me to do he told me go to land of Canaan but I'm gonna go
to Egypt because time's got tough and that's gonna happen you know you know
you have faith in the Lord you know you're walking in his ways you know
you're on your way to Canaan you know figuratively speakingly and then there's
some famine there's some trial you're gonna be tempted to turn away okay and
I want you to take heed to this story because when Abraham turns away when he
finds his own solution he gets into trouble okay he should have just trusted
the Lord should just trusted the Lord look at verse number 11 please verse
number 11 he came to pass when he was come near to enter into Egypt that he
said unto Sarai his wife behold now I know that thou art a fair woman to look
upon therefore it shall come to pass when the Egyptians shall shall see thee
that they shall say this is his wife and they will kill me and they will save
thee alive okay so you can see the fear of Abraham he was married to a very
beautiful woman you know and we'll see later on the Pharaoh wants to take her
as his wife so she must have been beautiful you know but he says here man
when they see you they find out that I'm your husband they're gonna kill me and
take you for themselves okay now we can see the faith of Abraham faltering here
a little bit right because the Lord already told him I'll bless them that
bless thee and I will curse them that curse of thee God already made Abraham
that promise so if someone was going to come to in in Egypt you know to kill
Abraham if they were going to come and do that if that was their purpose God
already promised Abraham I'll curse him who goes to curse you okay and he can
see that Abraham is lacking his faith a little bit now okay he's struggling a
little bit you know he's turned away from the command that God gave him and
now you can kind of see his faith going on a downward spiral you know he no
longer you know he's holding to that promise that if someone tries to kill me
well God's gonna sort that out okay he's already promised this to be the case in
fact all the nations of the earth are gonna be blessed for me so I've got to
survive this right you know he should have been holding on to that promise but
it became a little weak in his faith there and then our verse number verse
number 14 please verse number 14 oh sorry verse verse number 13 I forgot to
mention and then he says say so he's saying to his wife say I pray thee that
thou art my sister that it may be well with me for thy sake and my soul shall
live because of thee what he should have said is my soul will live because of the
Lord because the Lord has promised me but he thought his wife would be able to
get him out of a tough situation so he tells them instead of saying that you're
my wife say that you're my sister okay that way they don't feel like they have
to kill me to take you for as as their wife you know if that's if that's good
if that's the case that's going to happen now keep your finger there in
terms of Genesis chapter 20 please Genesis chapter 20 verse 12 because you
might be thinking well Abraham told his wife to lie yes and no okay
Genesis chapter 20 verse 12 just quickly the Bible says here because this
happened another time later on and this happens in Genesis 20 it happens again
a third time to sorry Jacob yeah yeah it's Jacob yeah I haven't you're gonna
find this story basically three times in the book of Genesis okay and this is
this is the first time but in Genesis 20 is the second time verse 12 it says here
and yet indeed she is my sister she's a daughter of my father but not the
daughter of my mother and she became my wife okay just to show that in the
scriptures there that Sarah is his sister is his half sister his father's
daughter but not his father's daughter okay so she's not a full-blooded sister
but a half sister and so if we go back to now Genesis 12 back to Genesis 12
verse 13 so when he asked Sarah to say that about herself she's not lying he's
not telling her to lie right but it is deception okay he's purposely trying to
deceive the Egyptians and you know you you know we should not be people that
lie okay and what you're gonna be tempted when you sometimes you feel like
but I want to I want that person to have a you know a different view but I want
to lie either what are you gonna do you're gonna tell half a truth okay
you're gonna have to tell half the truth and then if they find out that that
wasn't quite right well I didn't lie to you I told you the truth but you know
your fault for misunderstanding what I said then look that can happen sometimes
you know you talk to people they have an idea or an impression and you know you
didn't mean to deceive them it's like they didn't have all the information at
hand and you probably didn't think about it but hey this was a purpose purpose
purposely done this was a deception that was purposely done by Abraham and we
ought not to be people like this okay where you know instead of telling the
truth you give half the truth for the purpose of deceiving other people okay
please don't be that way again you just see the downward spiral of Abraham okay
that is not behaving as a Christian ought to now Genesis 12 verse 14 please
verse 14 and it came to pass that when when Abraham was coming to Egypt the
Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair the princes also Pharaoh saw
her and commended her before Pharaoh that the woman was taken into Pharaoh's
house and he entreated Abram well for her sake and he had sheep and oxen and
and he asses and manservants and maidservants and she asses and camels so
Pharaoh in order to win the heart of Sarai okay and to treat him well because
you know they're brothers and sisters he gives Abraham all this wealth you know
the all these these animals and stuff like that so Abraham becomes quite
wealthy through this endeavor all right but then verse number 17 and the Lord
plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abraham's wife
now Pharaoh's not done anything wrong as far as what he's concerned right he
thinks this woman's available she's free I want to marry her and I'm going to
even be good to Abraham I'm gonna give him all these possessions right but
again the promise of God okay and even though Pharaoh did not know that he was
cursed in Abraham by taking his wife okay the Lord knows and the Lord carried
through his promise and he cursed Pharaoh for cursing Abraham even though
he did it ignorantly okay and we see that Pharaoh had all these great plagues
upon himself and this is kind of like a foretelling a picture of what would
eventually happen when all the plagues of the Lord would come upon Israel many
many times many many years into the future when Israel would come out of
Egypt but anyway it says here in verse number 18 and Pharaoh called Abram and
said what is this that thou has done unto me why didst thou not tell me that
she was thy wife so at this point Sarah is probably telling him the reason
you're plagued is cursed is because of I'm Abraham's wife and she so he finds
out about it right and verse number 19 why sayest thou she's my sister so I
might have taken her to be to me to wife now therefore behold thy sister take
her and go thy way and Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him and
they sent him away and his wife and all that he had so I just just end there and
just saying look God kept to his promise you know he protected Abraham when
another man a powerful man like Pharaoh I mean this Pharaoh seems like he's
pretty good from what I can see this Pharaoh here I'm talking about the
Pharaoh later on but this Pharaoh in Egypt seems pretty good you know he's
he's respectful to the fact that this woman was already married and you know
Abraham I don't believe he had to lie at all because the Lord would have
protected him we see even when Abraham is doing wrong the Lord keeps his
promises you know and this just reminds us guys that you know if we're not
faithful to the Lord one truth that does remain is that the Lord will always be
faithful to us you know and the Lord will never take away the promises that
he's given us the the unconditional promises that we he was gave to Abraham
hey we're also going to receive eternal life we're also going to be partakers of
that heavenly kingdom regardless of how messed up you are how weak you get in
the faith what kind of mistakes you make at least we have a God that's faithful
and his promises never change let's leave it there and pray