December 7, 2002
I. Introduction:
Within the Christian tradition, one of the truths that we share with our Jewish and Muslim brothers is the understanding that we are heir of Abraham. And we readily apply this understanding to the promise that God gave to Abraham. As God had indeed blessed Abraham, we believe that God will also bless us. As God promised Abraham the Promised Land, we also claim that the same promise is available to us.
In terms of God’s promises to Abraham, we claim that we are indeed hair of Abraham. But the question is—are we heir in the footsteps of Abraham? Are we heir in the spiritual heritage of Abraham? Are we heir in the call and journey of Abraham?
Throughout this revival week, our theme will be journeying to the Promised Land. We will take our Bibles as our road map. We will have Jesus as our ultimate guide. And we will have the Holy Spirit as our equipper and sustainer.
II. Body:
Call of Abraham
As we begin our journey in the footsteps of Abraham, we begin it with God’s call to Abraham. We can find this call in Genesis 12:1-4, “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 shew 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 curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So 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.”
Negative Elements in the Call
A. The call came when Abraham was already of ripe age. He was seventy five.
1) This is the time when many of us have long been retired from our chosen professions
2) This is the time when we are starting to enjoy the fruits of our labor
3) This is the time when the children are grown up, have their own families, and perhaps the only thing that we need to do for them is to visit them once in a while and enjoy the grandchildren.
4) This is the time when many of us have already made up our mind about a particular place where we are going to spend the rest of our lives.
B. The call tells Abraham to get out of his country, his kindred, and his father’s house.
1) When we are old, we want to be closer to our families as much as possible.
2) This is the time when we need the support of our families.
3) This is the time when we need the familiarity of home. The camaraderie of those that we have known for a long time.
a) Illustration—my parents
b) My parents were in Las Vegas with my sister for three years.
c) In terms of their physical need, they had plenty of supply.
d) In terms of earthly entertainment, Las Vegas is not short of anything.
e) Two year ago, they decided to go back to the Philippines.
f) Why? They wanted the familiarity of home. Of people that they have accustomed conversing with. They want to finish their earthly journey in the place where they had been raised.
g) Occasionally, they want to visit their relatives, and so on and so forth.
C. The call to Abraham was to journey to a land known only to God.
1) This aspect of God’s call goes against the grain of human nature.
2) Why? As human beings, we want to know that the place we are moving to is better than the place we have right now.
3) We want to survey or see the place where we are moving to before we can finally decide and bring with us our family.
4) We ask questions such as:
a) How is the weather out there?
b) What is the crime rate?
c) Is there any hospital or school in the place where we are moving to?
d) What is the unemployment rate?
e) Are the locals receptive to a minority like me?
f) Will my children be happy in that place?
Positive Elements in Abraham’s Call
A. This is not an ordinary call. It is a call from God.
1) It is not a call from the president of the United States of America
2) It is not a call from the prime minister of Canada
3) It is not a call from the Queen of England
4) It is not a call from the Pope
5) This call is a call from the King of the whole universe. It is a call from the Creator. A call from our Savior and Redeemer.
6) This is the most important call that any person can receive.
g) EGW, “The work of saving souls is the highest and noblest ever entrusted to mortal man; and you should allow nothing to come in between you and this sacred work to absorb your mind and confuse your judgment.” (Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, page 372)
7) The irony is—many times, we grudgingly respond to God’s call.
a) When somebody calls us for a party, we right away obliged ourselves to go.
b) When somebody invites us for a picnic or other social and secular activities, we can easily cancel other appointments and give in to the new invitation.
c) But when someone invites us to the church service, or to the prayer meeting, or for a Bible study, we can easily think of reasons not to go.
d) But when we pray and call on to God, we expect that God will answer our prayers right away.
8) Illustration—Paul’s preaching to Felix
a) Acts 24:24-25
b) “A ray of light from heaven had been permitted to shine upon Felix, when Paul reasoned with him concerning righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come. That was his heaven-sent opportunity to see and to forsake his sins. But he said to the messenger of God, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." He had slighted his last offer of mercy. Never was he to receive another call from God.” {Acts of the Apostles, page 427}
B. The call to Abraham is a call to get out of our comfort zone.
1) As human beings, we would rather take the easy road than the hard one.
2) We would rather sit in one of those comfortable pews than standing here in front and have your blood pressure rising because of stage fright.
3) We prefer not do anything in the church because we are afraid that someone will criticize what we are doing.
4) We prefer to do the least visible responsibility in the church; at least, if we make mistakes, it is not too obvious.
5) We become satisfied by just coming to the church.
6) The call to Abraham is a call to get out of the comfort zone.
a) Get out from the comfort zone of your family
b) Get out from the comfort zone of your friends
c) Get out from the comfort zone of your neighbors
d) Get out from the comfort zone of your religion
e) Get out from the comfort zone of your tradition
8) Illustration—Eagles
a) Though many of us have seen pictures of a huge eagle’s nest high in the branches of a tree or in the crag of a cliff, few of us have gotten a glimpse inside.
b) When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs.
c) By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That’s when the mother eagle begins "stirring up the nest."
d) With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior.
C. It is a call to get out from an idolatrous nation
1) Based on historical and archaeological findings, Haran and Ur are considered as a major idol center of the Near Eastern civilization.
2) Everywhere you go, you can see objects or shrine for idol worship.
3) When we examine the Biblical evidences, we find that even the patriarchs themselves were idol worshippers.
a) Terah, the father of Abraham, has his idols.
b) Bethuel, the father of Rebecca, had his idols.
c) Laban, the father in law of Jacob, had his idols also.
4) EGW, Patriarchs and Prophets, page 125, “After the dispersion from Babel idolatry again became well-nigh universal, and the Lord finally left the hardened transgressors to follow their evil ways, while He chose Abraham, of the line of Shem, and made him the keeper of His law for future generations. Abraham had grown up in the midst of superstition and heathenism. Even his father’s household, by whom the knowledge of God had been preserved, were yielding to the seductive influences surrounding them, and they "served other gods" than Jehovah. But the true faith was not to become extinct. God has ever preserved a remnant to serve Him. Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Shem, in unbroken line, had preserved from age to age the precious revealings of His will. The son of Terah became the inheritor of this holy trust. Idolatry invited him on every side, but in vain. Faithful among the faithless, uncorrupted by the prevailing apostasy, he steadfastly adhered to the worship of the one true God. "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth." Psalm 145:18. He communicated His will to Abraham, and gave him a distinct knowledge of the requirements of His law and of the salvation that would be accomplished through Christ.”
5) Shrines of idolatry in every corner of the city
a) Downtown Montreal, you see shrines of bars and disco places where women sell their bodies
b) Las Vegas, you see shrines of casinos where people crowd wanting to get rich quick
6) God’s call to come out of Babylon
a) Revelation 14:8, “And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
b) Revelation 18:1-4, “And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”
D. The call is an affirmation that God is no respecter of a person
1) The call given to Abraham and the call given to Timothy is a testament that God calls both old and young
2) The call given to Samuel and Ruth proves that God calls both men and women.
3) The call given to Peter, a fisherman, and to Paul, a lawyer, is a testimony that God calls both the schooled and the unschooled.
4) When God calls, the most important thing is our willingness.
5) Someone said, “What we are is God’s gift to us; what be become is our gift to God.”
E. It is a call to a life of faithfulness
1) I recognize that living a life according to the word of God in our generation is extremely difficult.
a) We have bills to pay that sometimes demand that we work of Sabbath.
b) We have friends that label us as boring or antisocial when we don’t go to places that they find attractive.
c) We have our spouses who does not share or even respect our beliefs.
d) We have schools that prohibit us from praying in public.
e) We have public officials who would not even listen to public prayer.
2) Arthur C. Coxe, in his song entitled “We are living, we are dwelling,” describes this time that we are in as:
a) A “grand and awful time.”
b) It is an age when “to be living is sublime.”
c) Nations are waking up; “God and Magog to the fray.”
d) It is a time when you hear the creation groaning for her last day.
3) Clifford Jones describes our generation as a “gutter generation.”
4) EGW, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, page 49, “Although there are evils existing in the church, and will be until the end of the world, the church in these last days is to be the light of the world that is polluted and demoralized by sin. The church, enfeebled and defective, needing to be reproved, warned, and counseled, is the only object upon earth upon which Christ bestows His supreme regard. The world is a workshop in which, through the cooperation of human and divine agencies, Jesus is making experiments by His grace and divine mercy upon human hearts. Angels are amazed as they behold the transformation of character brought about in those who yield themselves to God, and they express their joy in songs of rapturous praise to God and to the Lamb.”
F. It is a call to abundant blessings
1) Genesis 12:2-3, “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 curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So 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.”
2) Malachi 3:10, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
3) Psalm 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
4) Depending on our situation, God’s blessing comes in different sizes and shapes.
a) Illustration—Corrie Ten Boom
1) Book entitled “A Hiding Place”
2) Dutch family named Ten Boom
3) During the Second World War, the Ten Boom home became a refuge, a hiding place, for fugitives and those hunted by the Nazis.
4) During 1943 and into 1944, there were usually 6-7 people illegally living in this home, 4 Jews and 2 or 3 members of the Dutch underground. Additional refugees would stay with the Ten Booms for a few hours or a few days until another "safe house" could be located for them. Corrie became a ringleader within the network of the Haarlem underground. Corrie and "the Beje group" would search for courageous Dutch families who would take in refugees, and much of Corrie’s time was spent caring for these people once they were in hiding.
5) Through these activities, the Ten Boom family and their many friends saved the lives of an estimated 800 Jews, and protected many Dutch underground workers.
6) On February 28, 1944, this family was betrayed, and the Gestapo (the Nazi secret police) raided their home.
7) Corrie and Betsie spent 10 months in three different prisons, the last being the infamous Ravensbruck concentration camp located near Berlin, Germany.
8) The camp was flea-infested.
9) Betsie urged her sister to thank god for everything.
10) Later, they discovered that they could freely study their Bibles and give Bible study to others with little interference from the guards.
11) Later, they found out that the guards were scared of the fleas
G. It is a call to come home
1) Hebrews 11:8-10, “By 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. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
2) One thing is certain—nothing is this world will last forever.
a) The cities that we are building right now will one day become ghost towns.
b) The cars that enjoy today will someday find their final resting place in a land fill.
3) No matter how good, strong, or durable, we try to make them, they will not last forever.
4) The cities in Abraham’s times now lay in ruin and uninhabited.
5) But Abraham made a decision—to look for a city whose foundation and builder is God.
6) After all, God’s call to leave Haran was not a call to leave home but a call to come home.
7) Haran is not our home
8) Ur is not our home
9) Montreal is not our home.
10) Jewish tradition of not completing their house
11) God is our home.
12) May we follow in the footsteps of Abraham, and somebody we can hear the voice of God saying, “Welcome home!”
