CLOSE ENCOUNTERS SERIES
2 – ABRAHAM
This morning, we are continuing our sermon series called “Close Encounters”
And we’re talking about the lives of the great people of God in the Bible who had CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God
And we’re going to be talking about the fact that no matter who you are, or what you’ve done, you too can have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with the living God
And if there’s ever been day to have CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God is now…
--we’re living in the last days
--these are the days of great opportunity
And if for no other reason, than because the world that is watching our lives
Did you know that we as Christians should be a witness for Jesus? But not only a witness, but we ought to be part of the EVIDENCE
Did you know that a Christian is not only the greatest argument for Christianity, he can also be the greatest argument against Christianity.
Do you know what Mahatma Gandhi said? He said, "I would have become a Christian if it had not been for the Christians."
And oh how like never before, do we need for Christians to be on fire for God, not…
--half backslid
--with one foot in the world
--sanctified and “cranctified”
But we need some believers…
--who have been alone with Jesus
--who have holy fire
And most importantly who’ve had CLOSE ENCOUNTERS with God like never before
And before you think…
--you’re not holy enough
--you’re not educated enough
--you’ve made too many mistakes
You’ll learn very quickly, that the greatest people who had the closest encounters with God were people just like you and me
People who had…
--flaws
--setbacks
--failures
--problems
But at the same time, people who HAD CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD!
And last week, we began this series by talking about ADAM, and today, we’re going to be looking at another great person who had close encounters with God, and his name is ABRAHAM
So, with that in mind, let’s read…
Genesis 12:1-5 ( KJV ) 1Now 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: 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that 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.
INTRODUCTION
If you could list the top 100 most influential people of all human acheivement, Abraham would be in the top 5
Because without question, there is no one man that has impacted all of humanity like this man called Abraham
And the reason being, is because…
A. HE IS GREAT IN HISTORY
He is the biological father of BOTH the JEWS and the ARABS
In other words, when you look at the map today, much of the world is held by the direct descendants of this man and the world as we know it today has been shaped by the history of this man and his descendants
But not only was he great in HISTORY, secondly…
B. HE IS GREAT IN SPIRITUALITY
Because from him has come the 3 greatest religions of the world – JUDAISM, ISLAM, AND CHRISTIANITY
The Torah, the book Koran, and the New Testament are all a direct result of the life of Abraham
There is rich spirituality in this man
In fact, in the Christian Bible, he’s not only greatly mentioned in the Old Testament (the Jews only use the Old Testament), but over 60 times he’s mentioned in the New Testament
For it’s in the New Testament He’s…
--called the father of them that believe (Romans 4:11)
--called the Friend of God (James 2:23)
--listed in the Champions of Faith in Hebrews 11
And not only is he great in history and great in spirituality, but ultimately, this man Abraham
C. HE IS GREAT IN DESTINY
Because everyone today and all who will yet to come in some way or another will be impacted by the life of this great man
What a great man this man Abraham was and is
And there’s no way we could do a sermon series on people who had close encounters with God and ignore this giant of the faith
And for a few moments, I want to give you a brief overview (and I do mean brief, for I could preach a 12 part sermon series just on his life)
And I want you to put your sandals on as we walk the sandy desserts of the middle east and learn about a great man who had CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH GOD
And as we look at his life, I want to point out 3 major things
First of all, I want you to know that…
1. HIS CALLING WAS SOVEREIGN
Look again at…
Genesis 12:1-3 ( KJV ) 1Now 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: 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
WOW! What a calling
God told Him several things…
--move, get out from where you are
--I’ll make a great nation
--I’ll make your name great
--you will be a blessing
--I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee
And how true God has been in fulfilling all these promises
And that tells me right there that when you come to God, you don’t make the promises, you let God make the promises!
People say, “God, I promise if you’ll save me to do this or that”
But I want you to know that God’s call was Sovereign! There was nothing that Abraham did to merit that call, it was all of grace
Now, we know that God called Abraham out of his land – where was it?
It was Ur of the Chaldees which today is in modern Iraq, south of present day Baghdad
And we know that this was a place of EXTREME IDOLATRY
Joshua 24:2 ( KJV ) 2And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
In other words, God called Abraham out of idolatry – and we don’t realize it today, but idolatry was big in that day, and it was also horrific what the people did to appease those idols
Some of those idol statues people would offer up infants to appease their gods
And somewhere in there, no doubt Abraham had to be thinking there’s got to be more to this! There’s got to be something else
And about that time, something began to stir in his heart, and he heard the sovereign call of God to go out and leave all that he knows to a land that God will show him
Oh, my friend, that tells me that if you serve God this morning, it’s because He soverignally called you!
You didn’t choose God, He choose you
And I want you to know that God not only soverignly called Abraham, but notice what happened next…
Genesis 12:4 ( KJV ) 4So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
In other words, HE OBEYED
It was a STEP OF FAITH
He had no idea where he was going and he was totally trusting God
The writer of Hebrews tells us
Hebrews 11:8-10 ( KJV ) 8By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country…10For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
And that’s the way it is today, we have to move on out when God tells us
We may not no how, or when, or what, but as long as we know WHO, then everything will be all right!
Abraham had a sovereign call and he obeyed
But I wish that I could tell you that Abraham was perfect and he made no mistakes
Not only do I want you to know that HIS CALLING WAS SOVEREIGN, but secondly, understand…
2. HIS MISTAKES WERE COMMON
Because along the journey, Abraham made some mistakes
What were they?
A. HE STOPPED AT HARAN HALF-WAY
The Bible tells us in Genesis 11:31 that Abraham obeyed God, but didn’t obey him fully
He took his extended family and stopped half-way at Haran
And that’s they way many are this morning – you’ve stopped half-way at Haran
You’ve gotten saved, but you won’t get baptized in water
Why? You’ve stopped half-way and half-way is always miserable
The most miserable person in this room today is not the sinner nor the saint, but those who are half-way serving God
Because you know there’s something more and you know that you can have close encounters with God
B. HE LIED ABOUT HIS WIFE, TWICE
Read on later in Genesis 12 and you’ll find the first time that he lied about his wife
There was a famine in the land and he went down to Egypt and Abraham told his wife to tell everyone that she was his sister because she was so beautiful that he was afraid that they would kill him for her
And so this great man of faith LIED!
And sure enough, Pharaoh took Sarah and great plagues came upon them and the Bible says in Genesis 12 that Pharaoh rebuked Abraham
And this happened again, many years later in Genesis 20
And then, the very worst mistake was
C. GIVING BIRTH TO ISHMAEL
This is found in Genesis 16 – get the picture: God had promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have children and they had none
So, Sarah comes up with the idea of having a surrogate mother, and as a result, Ishmael was born
And from that moment to now, the world has never known peace
Genesis 16:12 ( KJV ) 12And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
Listen, when you mess up, it affects everybody
So over and over, in the life of this great man Abraham, there were times…
--when his faith faltered
--when he moved too fast
--when he moved too slow
--when he made some serious errors
--when he even sinned!
But if we left the message right there, we’d have no hope!
Because let me tell you, not only do we know that…
--Abraham’s call was sovereign
--Abraham’s mistakes were common
But finally, understand…
3. ABRAHAM’S CLOSE ENCOUNTERS ARE INSPIRING!
Because what inspires me most about Abraham is the fact that all during his life of…
--sometimes failing
--sometimes missing it bad
--sometimes messing up
Abraham still had close encounters with God
I hate it for Abraham, but I’m kind of glad to know that if this great man struggled, and still had close encounters with God, how much more me?
Times like in Genesis 13, where Abraham built an altar unto God and God spoke to him and said…
Genesis 13:17 ( KJV ) 17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
Times like in Genesis 15 when God told Abraham to build an altar and he cut up the sacrifices and in those days, when you make a covenant with someone, you would divide up animals and walk between them
And in that vision, Abraham saw God walking between those animals
Folks, I want to tell you that our God is a covenant keeping God!
Times like when God told Abraham to take his son, Isaac, and lay him on the altar
God said, “Abraham, you don’t have to give your son, I’ll give my son!”
And there was a ram, and…
Genesis 22:14 (KJV) 14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
And He’s still a provider
You talk about a close encounter
IN CLOSING
Do you want a close encounter with God?
God laid His Son on that altar so you wouldn’t have to
Listen, He gave His SON – we ought to give our ALL!!
He wants to know you
Some of you are getting the call to be saved
Some of you are getting the call to offer your Isaac on the altar
Some of you have made some tragic mistakes, but you can still have a close encounter with God!
