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They turn in your Bibles to Genesis 
chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12, I do want to express indebtedness 
to Dr. Ralph Davis. I listened to a 
sermon by him on this particular section, and it's not plagiarism 
if you acknowledge that you are borrowing heavily from his work. 
I think he handled the text very effectively. I'm going to change 
some things, obviously, because I'm not him. But I want to look 
at the call of Abraham in Genesis chapter 12. Abraham, of course, 
would make a top ten list of top of the most significant men 
in all of the scripture. He is the father of faith. And 
what we find here in Genesis chapter 12 concerning his call 
is truly amazing. So I want to read beginning in 
chapter one at verse or chapter 12 at verse one. We'll read through 
verse nine. 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. 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. So they came to the land of Canaan. 
Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far 
as the territory of Moriah. 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. There he 
built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 
So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our blessed 
God, we thank you for the call of Abraham. We thank you for 
this section of Holy Scripture, and we pray that you would just 
cause us now to receive it with great joy and gladness, to reflect 
upon these things, and may they indeed affect us for good. We 
thank you, Father, for so great a salvation. We thank you, Father, 
for so great grace, and we pray that we would just have cause 
in our study tonight to be reminded of these truths. And may we marvel 
and may we likewise worship you, the living and the true God. 
And we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, probably I'll refer to 
Abram as Abram and as Abraham, because we know him more specifically 
as Abraham. Of course, God changes his name 
or expands upon his name in Genesis chapter 17 to highlight the fact 
that he would be the father of a great multitude. But as we 
look at these several verses tonight, I want to make four 
observations. First, we'll notice the amazing 
grace of God. Secondly, the demanding call 
of God. Thirdly, the world changing program 
of God. And then fourthly, and finally, 
the response of Abraham. And then we'll make a few concluding 
applications. So that's our roadmap for this 
evening. But the amazing grace of God. We get that from the first part 
of chapter 1. Notice, now the Lord has said 
to Abram, we should really stop and pause and reflect here upon 
the amazing grace of God. We cannot forget what has preceded 
Genesis chapter 12. Yes, Genesis chapters 1 to 11. But what do they record? They 
record first the fall of man into sin, Genesis chapters 2 
and 3. As a result of Adam's taking 
that fruit in direct disobedience to God Most High, God pronounces 
a curse upon mankind. That really isn't amazing. That 
really isn't something that should puzzle us or perplex us. God said in the day that you 
eat, dying you shall die. So when Adam eats and he plunges 
himself and his posterity into sin, it really follows of necessity 
that God's curse upon mankind is legit and it is righteous. And then what happens later on 
as we move through the narrative in Genesis up to this particular 
point, we find that the earth is exceedingly corrupt, or it 
is full of corruption, and it's exceedingly violent. We see that 
man had indeed done what Solomon said in our reading tonight. 
God made man upright, but they sought out many schemes. And 
so what does God do as a result of this? God sends a flood. He sends destruction. Everyone, 
with the exception of Noah and his family, are destroyed as 
a result of sin. Again, that shouldn't puzzle 
us. It shouldn't perplex us. It shouldn't 
cause us to wonder. When men defect from God, When 
men apostatize from God, when men engage in corruption and 
violence, it is righteous with God to send destruction upon 
them. And then, of course, after the 
flood, you'd think that everything was going to be good. Everything 
would be right. Everything would be orderly. 
Everything would be in the way that it ought to be. But then 
we get to Babel, and we see these men laboring to make a name for 
themselves. Come, let us make bricks and 
bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone and 
they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, come, let us build 
ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. 
Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over 
the face of the whole earth. So, of course, what does God 
do? He visits them with a specific judgment that they were working 
so hard to try and avoid. They didn't want to be scattered 
across the face of the whole earth. They wanted solidarity 
and unity. They wanted to rise up. They 
wanted to engage in this particular activity. So God simply confuses 
their lip, He confuses their tongue, and then He disperses 
them and He scatters them. Again, that shouldn't puzzle 
us, it shouldn't perplex us, it shouldn't cause us to wonder 
that when men together form a militancy against the living and true God, 
it really doesn't surprise us that he would scatter them across 
the nations. What I suggest and what I submit 
to you ought to perplex us, ought to cause us to stand in awe, 
is that in light of these several chapters, it just naturally flows 
in Genesis chapter 12. Now the Lord has said to Abram, 
this is amazing grace. God didn't owe us anything. God 
didn't owe anyone anything. And yet the narrative just highlights 
this reality that now the Lord had said to Abram. God should 
have cut everybody off. The wages of sin is death. He's 
already cursed. He's already destroyed. He's 
already scattered. This is truly a display of the 
amazing grace of God that the Lord said to Abram. In fact, Dale Ralph Davis calls 
his sermon by this title. God so loved the world that he 
called Abram. That is precisely what we find 
in this particular section. William J. Dumbrill says, in 
the call of Abram, we are dealing with the divine reply to the 
human disaster of Genesis chapters 3 to 11. This is, in many respects, 
the but God of Ephesians 2.4 in the Old Testament. Notice 
in Ephesians chapter two, you may turn there just so you can 
see how we ought to appreciate this statement concerning God's 
call of Abraham in Ephesians two. You're probably very familiar 
with it. It says in verse one, And you 
He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which 
you once walked according to the course of this world, according 
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works 
in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted 
ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires 
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of 
wrath, just as the others. Notice in verse four, But God, 
we were dead, we were helpless, we were hopeless. But God, the 
same thing is true back in Genesis chapter 12. We were dead, we 
were helpless, we were hopeless. Now the Lord God said to Abram, 
in the call of Abram, we find the divine reply, the divine 
response, to the chaotic sinfulness of man that is indicated in Genesis 
chapters 3 to 11. But God, Paul says, who is rich 
in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, 
even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, 
by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together and 
made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that 
in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of 
His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace 
you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it 
is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For 
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, 
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 
Brethren, do you ever stop and consider the amazing grace of 
God in statements like these? This is what you were but God. This is what mankind looked like 
in Genesis chapters 3 to 11. Now the Lord said to Abram. There's an incident like this 
in the book of Ezekiel, in Ezekiel chapter 16. God says, when I 
came upon you. He's talking about the nation 
of Israel. I found you in your blood. You polluted yourself, 
you had prostituted yourself, you were in sin and wretchedness 
and ungodliness. Nevertheless, he says, I said, 
live, live. And not only did he raise them 
up, not only did he make them his first born, not only did 
he make them his prized possession, but then they plunged themselves 
into sin. He highlights the reality of 
this in language that is almost offensive. In fact, it is offensive. I remember preaching from the 
New American Standard in Ezekiel 16.25. It's a very literal translation. And someone was very offended 
by that. I can't believe you said that in the pulpit. All 
I did was cite the text. It's offensive because it describes 
man and sin. It's offensive because it describes 
us for what we are. It's offensive because it shows 
to us and demonstrates to us just how far we have plunged 
into iniquity. And yet, after all of that, God 
says, nevertheless, He will be merciful to them. Nevertheless, 
they will be brought back out of the exile. Nevertheless, they 
will be reconvened in their land. He realized, brothers and sisters, 
that we serve the God who says to Abram these particular things. But God. Great news. A manifestation of His great 
grace. And that is something we ought 
to appreciate in Genesis chapter 12, verse 1. The Lord had said 
to Abram. And that brings us, secondly, 
to the demanding call of God. Notice this call that He issues 
to Abraham. Notice what he says here. Get 
out of your country, from your family, and from your father's 
house. Everything that was near and 
dear to Abraham, he has to leave. Everything that he knew, everything 
that he was comfortable with, affections and love and work 
and pleasure and familiarity and comfort You've never heard 
that statement, get out of the comfort zone. Why do we stay 
in the comfort zone? Because it's comfortable. We 
like our comfort. Yet God speaks to Abram in Ur 
of the Chaldeans and he says, get out of this land. And Abram 
does what he is told. This is the demanding call of 
God. It is by grace through faith 
in Jesus Christ that Abraham is justified. Of course, faith 
then yields or faith then issues forth in this sort of behavior. It is the demanding call of God. And it's very interesting because 
there are two of these demands placed upon Father Abraham. They 
both have to do with leaving a place and going to another 
place. Here in Genesis chapter 12, he's to leave his country. He's to leave his family. He 
is to leave his father's house. In other words, he must turn 
his back upon his past. He must say goodbye and farewell 
to those things that once were dear to him. But interestingly 
enough, later on in Genesis chapter 22, he is told to go from this 
place. He is told to go to the land 
of Moriah. And there he is told to take 
Isaac, your only son, the son whom you love, take him with 
you, lay him on an altar and then kill him. So we see with 
this man of God, Abraham, life wasn't always just a bed of roses 
for him. I think it's important that we 
understand that. I think oftentimes as new covenant 
Christians, we get a bit perplexed or dismayed when things don't 
always go our way. Well, as a general rule, when 
the father of faith has this sort of a life, we cannot help 
but think that we're going to have this sort of a life too. 
When Jesus Christ, the master and Lord has this sort of life, 
we can't help but think that we're going to have this sort 
of life also. So you see, Abraham is told in 
two occasions that he has to depart. He has to go. He has 
to leave those things that are comfortable, those things that 
hold his attention and affection. And yet, by faith, he does those 
things. So this departure, this demanding 
call of God, was a difficult one for Abraham. As well, we 
need to understand something of the religious significance 
involved. You can turn to Joshua 24 for 
just a moment. Joshua chapter 24, interestingly 
enough, that when Abraham obeys, he departs from the land of Aaron 
and then he goes down to Shechem. Well, in Joshua 24, they reaffirm 
or they re-ratify the covenant and it happens to be at Shechem. And when Joshua stands before 
the people, he rehearses God's dealings with them as a people. I want you to notice in Joshua 
24 at verse one. Then Joshua gathered all the 
tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, 
for their heads, for their judges and for their officers. And they 
presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, 
thus says the Lord God of Israel, your fathers, including Tara, 
the father of Abraham and the father of Neor, dwelt on the 
other side of the river in old times. And they served other 
gods. Not just Terah. They served other 
gods. When a man is an idolater, like 
Terah was, he teaches his son Abraham to be an idolater as 
well. Just in the same way that, hopefully, 
a Christian parent teaches or catechizes their children in 
the things concerning the true and living God. So this demanding 
call placed upon Abraham by God was difficult in terms of leaving 
those things that he loved and he held near and dear to his 
own heart. But the religious significance is stark. Leave 
those gods. More than likely, the moon is 
what Terah and his family worship. Leave those false gods, leave 
those idols and follow me, is what the Lord God Most High says. Now, it might rise up in our 
hearts at this particular point, you're following, you're paying 
attention, to perhaps say something like, I'm glad I'm not Abraham. I'm glad that was old covenant. You see, I quite like it in Ur 
of the Chaldeans. I quite like my country. I quite 
like my family. I quite like my father's house. I really appreciate my comfort 
zone. I'm thankful that God does things 
a bit differently in this new covenant era. I'm thankful that 
the Lord God Most High doesn't call me or put such a demand 
upon me in terms of discipleship. Well, if you are thinking that 
way, it is unbiblical. The Lord Jesus says, Do not think 
that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring 
peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man 
against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law 
against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemy shall be those 
of his own household. He who loves father or mother 
more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter 
more than me is not worthy of me. And he who does not take 
his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. He who finds 
his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake 
will find it. Not even in the old covenant 
did God's call of discipleship mean that every single person 
leave their country, and leave their family, and leave their 
father. But the demand of God is always 
implicit. That if that's what it takes, 
then you leave. Christ comes first. There is 
no softening in the New Covenant. There is no change in the New 
Covenant. There is no I get this and Jesus 
in the New Covenant. Again, thankfully, God in His 
mercy oftentimes leaves our temporal blessings in place when He regenerates 
us, when He calls us out of darkness into marvelous light. Very few, 
probably percentage-wise, actually have to leave their home. actually 
have to leave their parents, actually have to leave their 
comfort zone. I mean, there are those who go into missionary 
service. There are those who change, leave their countries 
or relocate for the cause of Christ and for a particular calling 
on their life. But for every single one of us, 
we ought to be willing For every single one of us, we ought to 
be willing to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. If in His providence He so twists 
or turns things, not twists, but turns things to cut us off 
from certain comforts, we ought not to grumble, we ought not 
to whine, we ought not to complain, and we ought not to call into 
question His goodness. Abraham, as the father of the 
faithful, is paradigmatic. Jesus Christ is simply teaching 
what has been consistent biblical religion from the very beginning. It is simply unthinkable that 
we could profess the name of Christ and not follow the Lamb 
wherever He says to go. It is unthinkable that we get 
to choose and pick what it is that we want in terms of our 
own pleasure. No, God has placed His claims 
upon us. When God called us out of darkness 
into marvelous life, there was a demand placed on us. You know, 
it's like the man who signs up for the army. He ends up in war-torn 
Afghanistan. He says, I didn't sign up for 
this. But you did. I don't care what your recruiter 
said. Sometimes those guys lie. I hate 
to bring the bearer of bad news, but when you signed on the dotted 
line and you swore to uphold the Constitution against enemies, 
domestic and foreign, you should have known very well that that 
meant you could be standing on a fence in Afghanistan or wherever 
with an M16 rifle. How many times do Christians 
sign up for this? We hit a bump in the road. We 
have some difficulties. We have some trials. We have 
selective memory, don't we? We remember all the blessings 
of the Bible. We remember Ephesians 1.3. He 
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places 
in Christ. It's the John 16.33s that oftentimes 
escape our mind. In this world, you will have 
tribulation. Be of good cheer, for I have 
overcome the world. The demand of God or the call 
of God upon the Christian is as demanding in the New Covenant 
as it was for Abraham. We are not to hold on to things. 
We are not to be rooted and tied and fixed upon this present world. In fact, isn't Abraham known 
as the sojourner? Abraham is the pilgrim. Abraham 
is the one who dwelt in tents. He never even realized this land 
that was promised to him. He gets a little portion of it 
in Genesis 23. That's a blessed portion to be 
sure. Remember at the death of Sarah, 
he finagles with the men in the land. He buys a cave to bury 
Sarah and he gets a field. What is the author telling us 
at that stage? He's telling us that God is faithful. 
In this passage we learn that the Canaanites are already present 
in the land. This deposit by Abraham in Genesis 
23 is not simply a little story designed to show us how they 
did land trading in Old Covenant Israel. It's designed to testify 
that God is faithful and the one who promised land to Abraham 
will most certainly carry it out. But Abraham didn't realize 
the entirety. Abraham didn't see it in its 
fullness and its blessedness. Abraham obeyed. Abraham walked. Abraham did. He left Heron. He left his father. He left all 
those things, all those possessions. Now, Lot joined with him. Don't 
think that betrays the demanding call of God in that particular 
instance. Nevertheless, it cost him. The 
amazing grace of God, the demanding call of God. Notice, thirdly, 
the world changing program of God. Get out of your country, 
verse two, from your family and from your father's house to a 
land that I will show you. The land of Canaan, the promise 
of property, ground upon which this man and his tribe could 
live. For us, land doesn't seem that 
important. In this situation, land was most 
important. You get to the book of Joshua, 
and what do they do? They carve up the land. They 
first dispossess the Canaanites, and then they give the specific 
inheritance to the various tribes. When you read through the Pentateuch 
and there's all these laws and all these prescriptions about 
not moving a neighbor's landmark and not jockeying with landlines 
and all those sorts of things. And the daughters of Zelophehad 
need to find out if they too can inherit the land if they 
don't have husbands. All those things are based on 
a particular reality that the land meant something to Israel. God promised, God covenanted, 
and God is faithful to deliver. This world-changing program of 
God included the land. It included, secondly, seed. I will make you a great nation. The end of earth's three in you, 
all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Seed was most 
important. Descendants were most important. This is why I call it the world 
changing program of God. The world in Genesis 1 to 11 
rejected God, rebelled against God, despised God. So God undertakes 
in the call of Abraham to reverse things, to bring reconciliation, 
to bring redemption, to bring healing. And it would be through 
this servant, Abram. So there is land, there is seed. Remember in chapter 13, he tells 
him, to look at the sand of the seashore, he says, your descendants 
will be more numerous than that. Genesis chapter 15, he says, 
look up at the stars, your descendants will be more numerous than that. Ought we to expect conversions? 
Ought we to expect gospel success? Ought we to expect, what Pastor 
Porter preached last Sunday, that Christ will build his church 
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it? Absolutely. God said, look at the stars, 
look at the sand. Your descendants will be more 
numerous. When you pray for missions, when 
you pray for evangelism, when you pray for your neighbor or 
you pray for your family member, pray with confidence, pray with 
hopefulness, pray based on Genesis chapter 12 and Genesis 13. God has purpose to save a multitude 
that no man can number from every tribe, tongue, people and nation. The world changing program of 
God included land, it included seed, it included blessing. I will bless you. And he says, 
and you shall be a blessing. I don't think that meant specifically 
that when Abraham went to the grocery store, everybody around 
him just felt blessed. He would be the conduit through 
which God would bring redemption to this world. We'll see that 
when we conclude tonight. So there's land, seed, blessing, 
and honor. And make your name great. Again, not in Shechem, not in 
Haran, not in the various parts of the world at that particular 
time. Why not Abraham? He's a really 
great guy. Now, probably some did say that. 
Probably many did say that. But again, I think the idea here 
is pointing to the reality that this covenant nation would be 
great in the nations. This covenant nation would be 
esteemed. This covenant nation would be 
Awesome. This is what the tower builders 
at Babel had hoped for. In 11.4, let us make a name for 
ourselves. And here God says, I will make 
a great name out of you, Abram. It's interesting how it's applied 
as well to David. You've got the father of the 
faithful, the covenant of promise. You've got the covenant of kinship 
with David. Again, all of these converge 
upon and find their fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ. But 
God says to David, I have been with you wherever you have gone, 
and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made 
you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the 
earth. So, land, seed, blessing, honor, 
and finally, protection. And what do you say about Israel 
by the time you get to the New Testament? They made it. How? How did they make it? How do we get to Matthew's gospel? And Israel is there. I mean, 
look at what these people went through. Wasn't just fighting 
the Canaanites. is ultimately having God chasten 
them, and God bring judgment upon them. God's sending Assyrians 
against them. God's sending Babylonians against 
them. By the time we get to the New Testament, that there is 
a people left testifies that God is faithful to His promise. Isn't that what verse 3 is all 
about? Protection. I will bless those 
who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. Remember, prior to Assyria invading, 
prior to 722, there was a time under Sennacherib when they wanted 
to destroy the children of Israel. What does God do? He sends an 
angel of the Lord around the Assyrians and destroys a multitude. I will curse him who curses you. Again, we'll open this up or 
we'll conclude rather, I want to say open up almost at six 
because you're going, oh, wait a minute. We need to close down, 
not open up. We'll close down with some observations 
on the fulfillment of this promise, this program, this world changing 
program. But let's just hasten on to look 
at the response of Abraham. First, he obeys. He just does what he's supposed 
to do. Great, great example there, isn't it? We don't always obey 
like that. We don't always do what God says 
to do. We have the written word. We have the Puritans. We have 
the reformers. We have sermonaudio.com. We have 
a couple of services on Sunday. We have a Wednesday night Bible 
study. We hear a lot of what God calls us to do, and yet we 
don't always obey. When Abram's in Ur of the Chaldeans, 
God says, I want you to leave. Probably what we find here specifically 
in chapter 12 is a second Paul, when he's in Haran. He leaves 
early Chaldeans, he goes to Haran with his father, Terah. Terah 
ultimately dies, Abraham moves on from there. He obeys God. What a gem, what a beautiful 
attribute in the life of one of God's people. You know, you 
say, well this is a no-brainer. Of course the people of God are 
supposed to obey, but we don't always do that. It cost him everything 
and he obeyed. He left everything and he obeyed. It was comfort, it was joy, it 
was blessing, it was happiness, it was family, it was work, it 
was whatever. And he left. He obeyed. He did what God said. Not only 
did he obey, he worshipped. Notice at verse 6, Abram passed 
through the land to the place of Shechem. As far as the terrible 
tree of Mora 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. I'm not a Hebrew scholar 
or anything like that. I'm basically thinking in terms 
or reflecting what Dr. Davis said in his message. This 
this tree, this terrible tree at Mora means the teaching tree. And what he reckons, and I have 
no reason to doubt him, is that this is where the Canaanites 
went for their religious services. Perhaps a divination tree, a 
centralized location where they would come and worship their 
idols, where they came in hope and anticipation that their idols 
would speak to them. It was very common when a man 
entered into a new land to adopt the worship practices of that 
land. And yet, look at what Abraham 
does. He worships the God of Israel right before their eyes. He's got a bold faith. He's got an I'm going to worship 
God right here faith. He's not the sort of man that 
says, well, you know, I'm a believer. What are we ashamed 
of? What are we afraid of? He's standing 
at the Teravim tree, he's standing at Mora. God says to him or God 
communicates to him. So what does he do? He builds 
an altar and he worships right there. And then he travels from 
Shechem to the Negev, that's the southern regions of Israel. He stops at a place between Bethel 
and Ai. What does he do? He worships 
God some more. You see, this is characteristic 
of those who, by God's grace, come out of darkness into marvelous 
light. They obey, they worship. They obey, they worship. You want to know what a Christian 
is? He obeys, he worships. Pretty simple, isn't it? We make 
it a lot more difficult and a lot more perplexing than it really 
ought to be. As a Christian, here's your description. Obey God and worship Him. This 
is what the father of the faithful does. At a specific location 
at Shechem and then near Bethel, he is a worshipper of the God 
of Israel. So the amazing grace of God, 
the demanding call of God, the world changing program of God 
and the response of Abraham. In conclusion, we see it is the 
promise of the Lord that is conspicuous. Notice the recurring I will. I will show you this land. I 
will make you a great nation. I will bless you. I will bless 
those who bless you. I will curse him who curses you. Derek Kidner says, Abram's part 
is expressed in a single, both searching command while the heap 
up I wills reveal how much greater is the Lord's part. If salvation 
comes to this world, it is because of God Almighty. I will show 
you. I will bless you. I will make 
you a great name. I will curse those who curse 
you. It makes one think of Ezekiel 
36, when God in the promise of the New Covenant says, I will 
bring you out of that land. I will sprinkle water on you. 
I will give you a new heart. I will take out the old stony 
heart. It is the I-wills of the Lord that we hang our salvation 
upon, not the supposed free will of man. And then secondly, we 
need to understand something. by what we have here and preceding 
a bit in the genealogy. See, after chapter 11, when it 
talks about the scattering of the peoples, it then highlights 
Shem's descendants and Terah's descendants, and then it does 
expand upon specifically Abraham. That's the idea here and the 
flow of things. But you've heard that statement, 
he stacked the debt. I'm not a gambler, but I suppose 
that means someone stacks the debt so that they'll win, right? 
I'm going to deal you a three. I'm going to get an ace. I'm 
going to deal you a six. I'll get another ace. I'll deal 
you an eight. I'll take a king this time. So 
I throw you off the beaten path. We say he stacked the debt. You 
know what's going on in Genesis 11 and 12? God is stacking the 
debt. against himself. Because when 
salvation comes, no one can say, what an Abraham! No one can say, 
what a Jacob! No one can say, what a David! But when victory comes to the 
people of God, it is, what a God! He has told Abraham, I'm going 
to make a great nation out of you." Later on, he gets very 
specific in Genesis 13 and in 15. He speaks specifically about 
descendants. He speaks specifically about 
seed. He speaks specifically about 
children. Go back for just a moment to 
chapter 11 at verse 30. Chapter 11, verse 30, but Sarai 
was barren. She had no child. Abraham was 
certainly aware of this. Abraham certainly understood. 
He wasn't changing any diapers. He wasn't schooling any children. 
He wasn't paying for education. He wasn't paying for gas or insurance 
for their cars. Abraham knew good and well that 
Sarai was barren. Isn't that the tension that we 
feel throughout the passage concerning Abraham? So much so that Sarah 
and Abraham seek to break the tension with the suggestion of 
Hagar? That's what's behind the scenes. 
You said I'm going to be the father of a great nation. You 
said I'm going to have a great number of descendants. You said 
I'm going to have a massive seed. The Lord, my wife is barren. 
Remember, it's in chapter 18 that God comes and says she's 
going by this time next year to have a son. What's Sarah's 
response? Praise the Lord. The text is very conspicuous. It was no longer the time with 
her. She'd hit menopause, brethren. That's what the author is telling 
us. Now, women that were menopausal 
in those days no more had children than menopausal women today do. You see, that tension is there 
throughout, so that when Isaac comes along, God is glorified. God is praised. God is honored. That's the first obstacle. The 
second, we've already read it in chapter 12, verse 6. And the Canaanites were in the 
land. Abraham, I'm going to give you 
this land that is possessed by these people, a wicked and ungodly 
people. What does Abraham do? He operates 
in terms of that promise. He doesn't say, wait a minute, 
Lord, there's Canaanites here. He doesn't say, wait a minute, 
Lord, how can this be? Wait a minute, Lord, what am 
I supposed to do? He just obeys God. By faith, he perseveres through 
these various obstacles. By faith, he moves forward, looking 
to Him who is invisible. And then thirdly and finally, 
I've already indicated, we'll look at some fulfillment. The 
land promise fulfilled. You get to Joshua, you see they 
had rest. I think this is more expansive. 
I think it's more inclusive. I think it has to do with what 
God tells Abraham in Romans 13. I want you to look to the north. 
I want you to look to the south. I want you to look to the east 
and I want you to look to the west. This is for you, Abraham. We get a hint of this or we get 
a statement of this in Psalm 2. When Jesus was speaking, the 
Lord said to me, ask of me and I will give you the nations for 
your inheritance, the ends of the earth for your prized possession. 
Romans chapter 4, verse 13, Paul is highlighting faith. And it's 
almost incidental what he says concerning Abraham. He says, 
for the promise that he would be the heir of the world was 
not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through 
the righteousness of faith. You see, when Abraham looked 
north, south, east and west, he wasn't just looking at the 
land of Israel. He was looking at the world. Land promise. Check. What about 
seed? Galatians 3. Galatians chapter 
three, you see, in the call of Abram, what we find is that God 
is focusing his design. God has chosen for himself a 
particular people, a special people through whom the Messiah 
would come. Paul tells us this in Galatians 
chapter three at verse 16. He says, now to Abraham and his 
seed were the promises made. He does not say, and to seeds 
as of many, but as of one. And to your seed, who is Christ. And then that funnels down, or 
that rolls down and includes the people of God according to 
Galatians 3, 26-29. We don't need to do a census 
in Israel to see if the number of descendants directly connected 
physically to Abraham answers to the seed promise. It is spiritual. Not all Israel is Israel. It 
is those who are in Christ. It is those who are Jesus' people. They are the ones that God is 
speaking about in this call of Abraham. Chapter 3 of Galatians 
26-29 makes this evident. For you are all sons of God through 
faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized 
into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. 
There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. 
For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, 
then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise." 
Isn't that beautiful? Isn't it wonderful how the Bible 
fits together? It's not a bunch of disconnected 
parts. It is one unified, grand, blessed, 
cohesive whole that demonstrates to us a sovereign God, a gracious 
God, who in the call of Abraham purposed this world-changing 
program to be brought through the ministry of Jesus Christ. It's wonderful. Honor. Jesus has that title of honor. He has given him a name which 
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee 
should bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory 
of God the Father. Blessing, do we have that in 
Jesus? I already mentioned, already 
referred to, Ephesians 1.3, in whom we have, is blessed us with 
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And then protection. I hope no 
one here says, well, I don't have protection. If you're in 
Christ, you have protection. If you're in Jesus, you have 
protection. Paul says it this way. I am persuaded 
that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, 
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate 
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I will bless those who bless 
you. I will curse those who curse 
you. God Most High has purpose to 
save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto Him through Jesus 
Christ the Lord. You see, Genesis chapter 12 describes 
for us in vivid detail the amazing grace of God. If you are here 
tonight and you don't know those blessings, you don't know that 
joy, you don't know what it is to have God in your corner, God 
on your side, there's only one place for you. That is, to flee 
to Christ, to believe the gospel, to believe all that the Bible 
says concerning him, specifically the fact that he lived, that 
he died, that he rose again. And this, to fulfill the law, 
to satisfy divine justice, and to secure for all those who come 
to him justification, the forgiveness of sins, and the imputation of 
righteousness. Brethren, let us close in prayer 
and thank the Lord for this world changing program that he has 
made us, by his grace, a part of. Lord, thank you for these 
things. Thank you for this call of Abraham. 
God, it happened so many, so many years ago and times we read 
through sections like these and we don't even stop to think. 
We don't even stop to rehearse the wonder that is contained 
here. We just pray, God in heaven, that you would indeed cause us 
to reflect, cause us to think in terms of your graciousness 
and of your kindness, the way that you replied, the way that 
you responded to man's defection and man's rebellion. We thank 
you for this passage in Genesis 12, how we thank you to the divine 
reply to the mess made in Genesis 3 to 11. We give you praise and 
glory and honor and worship. We thank you for our Lord Jesus. 
We thank you for the salvation that we have in him. And our 
heart's desire and earnest plea is that more and more people 
would come to know him as Lord and Savior. And we ask in his 
name. Amen.