You can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 11. That's Genesis chapter 11. We're going to look at Genesis 11, 27 through 12, 20 this evening. I know several months back we looked at Genesis 14.
We're going to go back in time to see the call of Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans. So you can turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis 11, verse 27, and we will read all the way to 12, 20. Begin reading in verse 27. This is the genealogy of Terah.
Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran begot Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land in Ur of the Chaldeans. Then Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
But Sarai was barren. She had no child. And Terah 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. And they came to Haran and dwelt there.
So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. Now the Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country, from your family, from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.
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. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Then Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. And so they came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will give this land. And there he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
So Abram journeyed, going on still towards the south. Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Indeed, I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
Please say, you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.' And so it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. And the princes of Pharaoh also saw her, and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. And he treated Abram well for her sake.
He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
Why do you say she is my sister? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife. Take her and go your way.
So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had. Amen.
Introduction
Well this here in Genesis 11 verse 27 is the beginning of the life of Abram. Perhaps we need to understand the overarching context a little bit before we dive right in. But if you remember in Genesis 6 through 9 we see the flood. The flood comes upon all the land and God in his mercy in the Noahic Covenant dials back the common curse, which sets up the platform for saving grace to come through the Noahic Covenant, or under the Noahic Covenant, or with the Noahic Covenant.
That is, the common grace serves as a platform for saving grace. And then we come to the Tower of Babel in Genesis chapter 11. We see that the people want to ascend to the Lord, climb to the heights of God, and God then judges them. And He scatters all the people.
Rather than having one language and one speech, God gives them many different languages so they would not understand one another. He punishes them for what they have done, and He scatters them over the face of the earth. Perhaps as we're reading through, then we have to ask ourselves, what's going to happen next? Q Genesis 1127, where God begins to unite all the families of the earth in Abram.
So 1127 begins the life of Abram and there's two important themes we must remember whenever we read through the life of Abram. The theme of land and the theme of seed. So those two things you must keep in mind and hopefully we'll see that as we go through. But the main thing we see in these verses in Genesis 11-27 to 12-20 is that God promises to bless Abram and in him all the families of the earth would be blessed.
This is the beginning or what's part of the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis 12. But we will look at this call of Abram under three headings this evening. We'll first look at the line of Abram in chapter 11, 27, to verse 32. Secondly, we will see the promises to Abram in 12, verses 1 through 9.
And thirdly, we'll see the deliverance of Abram in verses 10 through 20. So the line, the promises, and the deliverance.
The Line of Abram
Notice, first of all, the line of Abram. Notice verse 27. This is the genealogy of Terra. Now, if you're reading through Genesis, you'll see many times the author, Moses, includes these sayings.
These are the generations of. If you want a good way to structure the book of Genesis, we should use these structures. These are the generations of. And usually they point forward.
They're looking ahead to someone, looking ahead to a person of great significance. And in this case, it is Abram. What is the purpose of a genealogy? It's to point out and show us where Abram comes from.
And so this is what we see. He comes from the line of Terah. And we see that Terah, in verse 27, begets Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And then we also see the information, verse 27, about another man, Abram's nephew, named Lot.
Then we get further information about what happened to some of Abram's brothers. And Haran died before his father, Terah, in his native land in Ur of the Chaldeans. What's this highlighting for us when he includes that Abram is from Ur of the Chaldeans? He's highlighting for us where Abram comes from, not only his family, but also the land in which he comes from.
Both his seed, that is his father, and both his heritage, or his land, are pagan. Abram comes from Ur of the Chaldeans. He is the one who is a pagan. Joshua records this for us, or it's found in Joshua 24 verse 2, when the writer includes and describes where Abram came from, after the people inherit the land.
He says in verse 2, And Joshua said to all the people, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the river in old times, and they served other gods. Then we see even a further recounting in verses 3-5 of what God did for Abram. The very thing we're looking at in Genesis 11, 27-12, 20. And so Abram is a pagan.
He's from Ur of the Chaldeans. And then we see how Abram and Nahor took different wives who they are married to. Abram is married to Sarai, and Nahor is married to Milcah. And then we see in verses 31 and 32 that Abram leaves this home.
They leave Ur of the Chaldeans and they go to Haran. Notice in 31. And Terah 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. And they came to Haran and dwelt there.
And so the days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. So we see where Abram comes from. We see he is from Ur of the Chaldeans. We see that he is a pagan.
He is one who is probably unlikely for one who would be an unlikely hero in the story. But in this case, God calls him from Ur of the Chaldeans. But one important piece of information that we skipped over is verse 30. This is the center of the structure of verses 27 through 32.
This is what the author is highlighting for us, specifically wants us to pay attention to in verse 30. He says, but Sarai was barren and she had no children. This is setting the stage for us. This is the rising action.
This is foreshadowing the work of God Almighty. As one writer says, someone without children, the man had no one to perpetuate his name, and the wife enjoyed little prestige and much frustration. So it was a difficult thing to be a barren woman in the land of Canaan, in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans. And as we'll see as the story goes along, there's going to be rising action.
How in the world will Abram have a seed if his wife is barren? That's what we need to see here. But Sarai was barren, and she had no child. So in verses 27-32 we see where Abram comes from, and we went over that very briefly and quickly, but I think something we see here in this section is we see God's initiative when it comes to the salvation of the world.
Again, Abram worshipped other gods. Abram probably worshipped gods made out of clay, made out of wood, made out of stone, anything that you could form with your hands. He worshipped the false gods. Yet God, in his goodness and in his purpose for salvation, even in redemptive history, uses this man in him, all the families of the earth would be blessed.
And God does it through a barren woman. You see, as one writer says, the theme of God's purposes overcoming symbolic barrenness recurs. It's not just with Sarai, but Rebecca, not just with Rebecca, but Rachel, and Hannah, and all these ladies who are barren foreshadow something even more extraordinary, the virgin birth. namely Mary. When Mary would come, the Holy Spirit would overshadow her, and she would be the mother to the Most High.
All these things point forward to Abram's seed through this barren woman. But we see that God is pleased to work through this, that there's hope in the midst of death. There's hope in the midst of hopelessness. And as Bruce Waltke says, through this childless couple, God will bring into being a new humanity that is born not of the will of a husband, but by the will of God.
Throughout this story, what's it highlighting for us? It's not anything man can do, but what God does for His people. Because when it comes to human actions, the deck is stacked against Abram and Sarai. It's God's initiative.
It's what God does. And even the writer to the Hebrews, in Hebrews 11-12, says, "...from one man, and him as good as dead." were born as many as the stars of the sky." So it's God Almighty who works. God is the one who's going to bring about salvation, and God does it through a pagan man, from a pagan land, from a pagan father, and through a barren wife as well. So we see here where Abram comes from, and whenever we read these genealogies, that's what they're highlighting.
Where are certain figures from? So that's the line of Abram where he comes from.
The Promises to Abram
Let's look secondly then at the promises to Abram in verses 1 through 9.
God's Promise in Genesis 12:1–3
Notice God's promise in verses 1 through 3. 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." And so that's what they do. You see, what happens in 11, 27 through 32, and even repeated in verse 4, is God calling Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans. He calls him to leave his country and to leave his family.
And so he says, I will bring you to a land that I will show you. Now it's important, because that's going to come back in verse 7. But He says, I will go out of the land, from your father's house to a land I will show you. But notice the promises of God.
Verse 2, I will make you a great nation. We should be asking ourselves, how is that going to happen? Notice He says, I will bless you and make your name great. How shall that be?
And then he says, and you shall be a blessing. And then in verse three, 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.
This is foreshadowing God's coming grace, foreshadowing God's work in the coming chapters, foreshadowing how God will work through this barren woman to bring a seed to Abram. And notice what we see here. We see God's great grace. Because this comes on the heels of Babel.
This comes on the heels of God bringing judgment upon the people for ascending to God. Ascending, climbing to be equal with God. God, after He scatters them, is going to unite all the nations in this Abram in this seed. As one writer says, Bruce Waltke again, he had a lot of good things to say.
The Lord has not spoken to his saints since Noah. Now suddenly his creative word to bless the tribes and nations, which he has scattered, redirects the course of history. man's sin than God's great grace. And what we see here in verses 1 through 3 is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, even in the Old Testament. And this is quoted and referred to in several places in the New Testament.
Acts 3.25. Remember Peter and John have just healed this lame man, and now they're preaching at Solomon's portico. And then in 325, he says, "...you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed." So he's preaching the gospel. But even Stephen records this for us in Acts 7, verses 1-5.
And notice verse 2 of chapter 7 of Acts. And he said, Brethren and fathers, listen. 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. And then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran.
And from there, when his father was dead, he moved him to this land in which you now dwell. And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no children or no child, he promised to give it to him for possession and to his descendants after him. So he's highlighting the gospel here.
The gospel is proclaimed. But perhaps most importantly, is in Galatians 3, verse 8. When he's describing Abraham as that preeminent figure of faith, he says in chapter 3, verse 8, and the Scripture, For seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed. So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
You see, as theologians rightly point out, there's a national identity to Abraham, that is a physical seed, physical descent, but there's also a spiritual identity to the seed of Abraham. Not just a spiritual seed, not based on physical descendants, but those who believe on Christ Jesus. So anyone who believes on the Lord Christ are part of the spiritual descendants of Abraham. And how we think of them and how they work together is through the physical seed, the Christ would come.
And through the Christ, through Abraham's seed, those who believe on Christ are part of his spiritual seed. So the spiritual seed comes from those who have faith in Christ Jesus. And doesn't Paul say this in Romans 9? Those who are not of Abram, or those who are not...
Just because they are physically descended from Abraham doesn't mean they are children of Abraham. It's those who are part of the promise. So in the Bible, in the Scriptures, there's a distinction between those who are Abram's physical seed and spiritual seed. And in verse 7, we'll see how the physical seed serves to serve the purpose for bringing salvation for God's people.
But again, we've got to ask the question, who is the seed? It's the main question we ask in Genesis. Who is the seed of the woman? Who is the seed of Abraham in Genesis 12?
And then even following as well.
Abram's Faith in Genesis 12:4–6
But notice Abram's faith in verses 4-6. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Again, setting the stage and showing us how the deck is stacked against Abram.
He's 75 years old. Humanly speaking, there is no way that they're going to have children. It's just not going to happen, humanly speaking. So then notice in verse 5, So he does what God requires.
He trusts in this God, this pagan believes on the Lord. And then notice in verse 6, Now the language here of pass-through is going to be important, because it'll come up again in chapter 13. Passing through carries with it the idea of being a nomad, carries with it the idea that you do not have a home, that you set up your tent, you take it down, you move on again. You set up your tent, you take it down, and you move on again, because you do not have a permanent dwelling.
I don't know about you, but when I go on vacation after, you know, maybe a week or two, I'm ready to go back home. What he's saying here is Abram doesn't have a home. And that's going to be important because in chapter 13 he's going to inherit a home. But nonetheless here, Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh, and then noticed the language, and the Canaanites were in the land.
Remember the key themes, seed and land? We've seen an obstacle to the seed, a barren woman, but now we see an obstacle to the land. There's not enough land to go around in Canaan because the Canaanites are still there. Again, the author is stacking the deck against Abram and what he would do to highlight what God would do.
The purpose of our Lord God, to bring salvation, the power of our God, and even further to test Abram's faith in God Almighty. So, and the Canaanites were there in the land. That's why these pieces of information are there for us. So, Abram, they come to the land, and notice what he does in the land, or notice what happens.
God's Appearance and the Altar
Verse 7, The LORD appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will give this land. So even though they just said, or the piece of information we have, the Canaanites are in the land, God is going to be the one to fulfill His promises. To your descendants I will give this land. God is going to fulfill His promises.
He will inherit the land of Canaan. That doesn't happen for a very long time, does it? I mean, certainly we see Abram inheriting it in verse chapter 13, but fully inheriting it when his descendants possessed the land in Joshua, in the book of Joshua. But notice what he says, notice what he does.
Notice he says, and there he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. He worships God Almighty. He looks to God Almighty. This altar carries with it an expression of gratitude, and it kind of consecrates the promised land to God, even if the Canaanites are still in the land.
But Abram comes to this land. He trusts God. God then promises to his seven physical descendants will receive this land. There he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him.
And then notice again in verse 8, they continue to move on. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east. And there he built and altered the Lord again, and called on the name of the Lord. And so Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south, or to the Negev.
And so we see Abram builds another altar, but again, it's this nomadic kind of text, this nomadic feel. He doesn't have a home to dwell in. Abram is wandering, but God has promised to still give him the land. But I think what we see here again, as I've already highlighted, is the Gospel is proclaimed in the Old Testament.
I don't know how people don't see God's grace in the Old Testament. I mean, it's right there. Genesis 3.15. After Adam and Eve sin against God, there's the promise of salvation.
After Genesis 12, when God judges all the people of Babel and scatters them, we have grace offered and the gospel offered and unity offered in Genesis 12. Sometimes you just want to shake your head and ask people, have you read the scriptures? Do you understand what's going on or what it says? Because the Bible is very clear that God does not change.
He is the same and he demonstrates his grace in the Old Testament. And I love the way Bruce Waltke puts it. The One People of God consists of two choirs. Old Testament saints sang in anticipation of Christ's suffering and glory, and New Testament saints sing in remembrance of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and in celebration of His anticipated second coming in glory.
One people of God united together with Abraham, who is our father. So we can sing that silly little children's song, Father Abraham and many sons. I'm one of them and so are you. So let's just praise the Lord.
That is legit because of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. One people of God consisting of two choirs. I love how he puts that. But the gospel is present here in Genesis chapter 12.
As God promises in Abram, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
The Deliverance of Abram
But then we see in the third point the deliverance of Abram. We see his faith waver a little bit here in 10 through 20. Notice the circumstances of what happens. Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
Now there are three similar stories with Egypt. There's Genesis 20 and Genesis 26. In a lot of ways we see the triple threat to the Holy Seed. The difference with this one is there's also the issue with the land as well in chapter 12.
We see not only an issue for the seed, but also for the land as well. God just said, I will give you this land, and now there's a famine in it. God says, and you all the families of the earth shall be blessed, yet Abram doesn't trust in this moment. So they have this challenge.
A barren wife, 75 years old, Canaanites in the land, and now a famine in the land. Thus he has to go to a neighboring territory. Perhaps they would be more hostile towards him. And thus he devises this plan with his wife.
Notice. Verse 11, And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Indeed, I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.
Abram's Unbelief in Egypt
He fears for his life. He plans this deceit, which highlights a lack of faith. Now we should see it's not a complete void of faith. You see there's a difference between temporary faith and weak faith.
Temporary faith and saving faith. And under saving faith there's weak and strong faith. And as we'll see as we go, Abram's faith will grow by God's grace. But we see here, after God has promised these things, his faith begins to waver.
Waltke again, in his first challenge to believe in God's fruitfulness when the land is barren, Abram will fail to act rightly. And this is the case with his devising this plan. He says, Sarah, you're very good looking. All these men will find you very good looking, and they will kill me because they like you.
So then this is what happens in verse 14. And so it was when Abram came into Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. So they see she's very good-looking, and notice even the princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. They whistled at her as she went by, and then all of a sudden they tell Pharaoh concerning her.
And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.
God's Protection of the Seed
But then notice what happens in verse 16. Very interesting. And he treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, and female donkeys and camels.
What does God say in 12.3? 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. That's why we call this section the deliverance of Abraham.
Because Abraham is wavering, the seed is threatened, but God intervenes to protect Abram. You see, in a lot of ways, Abram's concern is legit, but he didn't trust in his God. And Abram then, which is interesting, receives these blessings, all these things that he would need. And so his riches multiply in verse 16 because of God's mercy, God's grace, God's protection, but even further God's protection with the seed in verses 17 through 20.
God is the one who protects his promises. Notice verse 17. But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues, because Sarai, Abram's wife. And then notice, and Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this you have done to me?
Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say she is my sister? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife.
Take her and go your way." Pharaoh recognized that she was being protected. He recognized something. You see what we see, and he rightly returns her to Abram. Verse 20, so Abram commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.
I think what we see here is God's great grace and God's promises to His promises, to hold fast to His promises.
Application: God Faithful to the Faithless
Brothers and sisters, when we lack faith, God is faithful. When we don't trust in our God, even after He just tells us something, He is still gracious to us. If I just told someone something and then they forgot two minutes after, I'd probably give them a smack in the face. But God Almighty is gracious and good that when we forget the promises of God, He is comforting and kind.
When we forget what's found in Scriptures for us, when we read the Word of God and see God's goodness to Abram here and forget the very things, God is still gracious to us and protects us. Because you see, trust is a lifelong endeavor, isn't it? Sometimes it's easier to obey God than it is to trust God. And sometimes God's promises are not always fulfilled in the timing that we think they should be fulfilled.
Let's change that. They usually are never fulfilled in the timing we think they should be fulfilled. Because God is God, and we are man. God is the one who governs all things, and he does it for our good.
And even when we think about the story of Abram, do you notice as we read along, we know the end of the story. But as Abram's going along, he doesn't know the end of the story, does he? God says to him, in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. He doesn't say how that's gonna happen.
He says in verse seven, to your descendants, I will give this land. He doesn't say how that's gonna happen. And then as we go along, he's asking, well, God, what am I supposed to do? I only have Eleazar as my seed.
And then we see him also engaging, having Ishmael as a son, because God didn't reveal all what would happen with Abram. He doesn't give Abram all the information. And God does that because He is God overall. And thus Abram wavers a little bit, but God remains the one who is trustworthy.
And what we see here is that we mistrust God and not man. Gil says, with respect to what Abram did in verses 10-20, it was done to conceal truth, and to deceive the Egyptians, and tended to endanger his wife's chastity, as well as show great timorousness in him, and distrust of the divine care and protection of him. And upon the whole it must be criminal in him, and shows that the best of men are liable to sin, and the strongest believer to fall, and that a saint may fail in the exercise of that grace for which he is most eminent, as Abram was for his faith, and yet fell into unbelief, and through that into other sins. We trust our Lord.
We do not trust men. And even the strongest believer will have times where we waver in our faith. We'll have times when we doubt. But nonetheless, God is gracious to assure us, and comfort us, and strengthen us through His Word.
And the way that we primarily should do that is have our eyes fixed on Abram's spiritual seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. faith and trust in Him, knowing that He is the One who reigns now. He has ascended on high. He is the One who is sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and will make all His enemies a footstool, and is with us as He sent us the Holy Spirit. He helps us and strengthens us by the Holy Spirit, that we might resemble Him, that we might look like Him, that as we battle and walk this life, we have strength and vigor to do those things.
Sometimes it's in the times of greatest temptation where we sense the greatest evidence or sensory evidence of God with us in our daily, in our battles. John Patton highlights this, the missionary to the New Hebrides or what's modern day Vanuatu. When he's fleeing for his life, he talks about this moment where he's in the tree. He talks about how he would love to have one more night like that of comparative peace because as he's fleeing, as he's running, God is with His people and strengthens them in the battles that they face.
God is gracious. God is good. He is the one that we trust in, and Christ is with His people in the big things and in the little things as well. He is a gracious and good God.
We must continually trust in Him, and it is a lifelong duty for God's people.
Conclusion
Well, in conclusion, we've seen the call of Abram, and we see God's great grace through it. It's God's initiative. It's nothing to do with Abraham. He's a pagan.
His parents are pagan. His wife is barren. It's God is the one who brings about salvation His way, and the way that shows His power. Even as we think about the Gospel advancing in other parts of the world, sometimes we think, there's no way humanly possible that could happen except by God's grace and by God's power.
When we hear of the Gospel spreading further in Afghanistan or in other parts of the world, it shows God's great grace. And that's not to minimize, God is demonstrating His power in this part of the world as well. When sinners are saved and the Gospel is going forward, it's still God's great grace. But humanly speaking, sometimes we think, how does that happen?
It shows God's initiative and power, as His gospel, which was proclaimed in the Old Testament, fulfilled in the New Testament, is still being proclaimed day by day, Sunday by Sunday, as the Word of God, hopefully Sunday by Sunday, as the Word of God goes forth out into the world, that sinners might know the truth, might know Abram's seed, and believe on And also, we just talked about this for believers, God sustains His people. It is a lifelong trust we engage in. We must look to Him always. Sometimes that's difficult, but He is God.
He knows what's best. He is the Lord over all. We must trust in Him as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and of God over His church and His people, even now. Well, let us go to our God in prayer.
Closing Prayer
O Lord God Almighty, we thank you that you are gracious and good, that we see your power, we see your initiative, that you are pleased to save sinners through Christ, through Abram's seed. We thank you, O God, that he came, lived, died, and rose again, that those who look to Christ might be considered sons and daughters of Abram. We thank you for this. We thank you for your mercy, that we see your grace even in the Old Testament.
As you called this pagan out of his land, that you called him and brought him to a place that you would show him, and we thank you that you appeared to him, and you showed him that land, and you are one who is gracious and good and fulfills your promises. As we see you fulfill your promises in the life of Abram, as we see you fulfill your promises in the Lord Jesus Christ, when the prophets prophesy concerning him, And we know that You will fulfill Your promises now, that You will be with Your people, that You will never leave us nor forsake us. And Father God, that Christ will return again. Just as surely as He came, He will return.
We look forward to that time, we look forward to that moment when we will get to enter into that heavenly land. That spiritual land, the land that is where there's no more sin, no more sorrow, no more pain and no more suffering. We long for this, O God, and we thank you that even as we think about land and seed, that there is Abram's seed spiritually, but there's even a land spiritually as well. We get to enter into that because Christ has entered it.
We get to enter in because of what Christ has done. We always look to our Lord and Savior, trusting in Him. And Father God, we thank you that even now you help us and aid us and strengthen us by your Holy Spirit, to be strengthened by your Spirit in the inner man, as the Apostle Paul says. So we pray that you would strengthen us by your Spirit in the inner man.
Help us now to go out into the world. We pray that you would be glorified in all things, in the name of Christ. Amen.