Lesson 1: God's Call

A. INTRODUCTION

1. His faith. Abraham is the only one that God called His Friend. (II Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; 2:23). Arabs called him El Kahil, i.e., the friend of God. Abraham’s faith made him closer to God than all others.

2. Father. Terah was a worshiper of idols (Joshua 24:2). Tradition said he made idols.

3. He loves his Father. Abram came from Ab "father" and "Raham" "he loves his father". Abram was the youngest of three sons.

4. Culture. Ur was a city with paved streets, public houses, library, sewage, commerce, law and order.

5. Heathen. "Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged, look to Abraham your father" (Isa. 51:1,2).

B. HOW GOD CALLS TODAY

1. To salvation. "Among whom ye are the called of Jesus Christ" (Rom. 1:6).

2. To intimacy. "Ye were called into the fellowship of His son Jesus Christ our Lord" (I Cor 1:9) (see Phil. 3:10 -14).

3. To full-time Christian service. "Separate . . . for the work whereunto I have called them" (Acts 13:2).

C. ELEMENTS OF GOD’S CALL

1. The call begins with a burden. "The burden which Habakkuk did see" (Hab. 1:1).

2. The call involves desire. "But His Word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones . . . I could not stay (keep quiet)" (Jer. 20:9).

3. The call is evident by fruit. (John 15:16).

D. TWELVE PRINCIPLES TO TAKE AWAY

1. The call of God comes to those who don’t expect it nor do they deserve it. Abram lived in a heathen society (called a hole) was born to an idolater. Ur was a center for moon worship.

2. God manifest Himself to those He calls. First you must see God before you can respond to God. "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia" (Acts 7:2). That glory was the Shekinah glory. (Psa. 29:3).

3. The call of God sometimes has conditions that instruct us how to respond to God. The call to Abraham had three parts. First, to separate himself from his country. "Get thee out of thy country" (Acts 7:3). Second, to separate himself from his family. "Get thee . . . from thy kindred" (Acts 7:3). Third, to separate himself to God. "Come into a land which I shall shew thee" (Acts 7:3).

4. We sometimes only obey partially the call of God to us. Abram obeyed only one of the three conditions. First, Abraham took his family with him. "Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran . . . and Sarai . . . Abraham’s wife; and they went forth" (Gen. 11:31). Second, Abram only went half way, i.e., to Haran (means half way), the edge of civilization. Third, Abraham did separate himself to God.

5. Sometimes there has to be a death to get obedience to God’s call. Abram stayed 25 years in Haran, then "Terah died in Haran" (Gen. 11:32). Death means separation, we must "die" to the things or people that keep us from obeying God’s call.

6. Sometimes in grace, God gives us a second call. "The Lord had said unto Abraham" (Gen. 12:1). The second call required the same obedience as the first call, (three conditions) however there is usually a greater sense of urgency. "Get thee out" is qall imperative meaning, "with all speed."

7. The call of God includes a promise to us when we obey.

1. Make you a great nation.

2. Bless you.

3. Make your name great.

4. Make you a blessing

5. Bless those who bless you.

6. Curse those who curse you.

7. Bless all the earth in you.

"You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit" (John 15:16).

8. The call of God usually has added blessings that are unknown until we obey God. Abram was told to go see a land (Gen. 12:1). When Abram got into the land, God promised to give it to him. "The Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, ’Unto thy seed have I given this land’" (Gen. 12:7).

9. The call of God never ignores problems, nor does it mean we won’t have trials. "Abram passed through the land . . . and the Canaanite was then in the land" (Gen. 12:6). "And there was a famine in the land" (Gen. 12:10).

10. The call of God is not just a one-time event, because God calls us to a life-long pilgrimage. Abram was 75 years old when he was called, and 175 years old when he died (Gen. 25:7). In 100 years Abram had mountaintops and valleys, divided by monotonous years of uneventful toil.