Sermon Central
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Abraham Series
Contributed by Rick Pendleton on Dec 31, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: When was it that scripture says, “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness" Was it when he was still in Horan? NO It was when Abram had traveled far from home and wandered around for 10 years
Abraham
Today I am starting a new series of sermons on Our Family Tree… not MY family tree but OUR family tree. Yes, we do have the same family tree. And I do not mean through Adam and Eve.
I am going to be going back and tracing our FAITH family tree.
My purpose in this study is to show how “the apple does not fall far from the tree.”
We are going to look at our spiritual forefathers and see spiritual lessons we can learn. We will look at spiritual DNA that they passed on to us.
Hopefully, we will see why we are like we are and what we can do to overcome our heredity.
To go back to the root, the seed of our faith family tree… we go back to a man named Abram. (Perhaps you know him better by his second name… Abraham)
In 15:6 we find this truth: “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness"
That is the first time scripture actually states that someone believed God.
Obviously, people before this time believed God… Noah believed God and built the ark.
But this is the first time that faith is connected to righteousness… not salvation… but righteousness.
((Abraham was not saved by his faith in God or by his good works that issued from his faith)) LATER.
Now look at two earlier verses (12:1-2) The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing”’
To whom was Abraham a blessing? His family? The Jews? Yes but that is not all.
Verse 3… And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
When you put these verses together, you get a very important truth: Abraham was a blessing to all people because he was the father, the first, of those who, through faith, were saved.
Abraham was the seed, from which all believers come. He is our Spiritual Fore-Father
It is only right that we begin this study of the family tree with Abraham.
So let’s look at Abram
For Abraham, the starting point came four thousand years ago (c. 2100 BL.) in a burgeoning metropolis near the Persian Gulf. At the time, he was wealthy successful, and prosperous… and becoming more-so every day
The last thing he intended to do was to abandon everything and go to some unknown far-away place.
And what does God tell him to do?
The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”
God asked Abraham to leave everything that was dear to him to go to the land He would show him. Abraham had no idea where that land was. He only knew that God had
promised to bless him and to make him into a great nation.
Let’s put this into perspective by making it modern and applying it to YOU
Let’s say you live in the same town with your family and the relationship is great… visiting back and forth house to house. And your family has a lot of land… and you have five hundred or so acres. And you have worked hard and turned that five hundred acres into prosperous farm land and pasture. You have cattle and vineyards and large corn and wheat fields. This year you made 15% more than last year and with modern equipment and processes, next year figures to be even that much better.
Then along comes God… through some spiritual experience… and says I want you to pack up your family and some of your stuff and leave your land and family. I will show you where I want you to go and what I want you to do.
Remember: No promise of more land… no promise of profit
Now I want you to be honest… putting yourself in Abram’s placed, not knowing what you and I know about what would happen to Abram… how many of you would start packing?
How many would start making excuses?
How can you not have a greater appreciation for Abraham?
He was the first to have such faith.
When was it that scripture says, “Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness"
Was it when he was still in Horan? NO
Was it when he packed his bags… or 30 days from home? NO
It was when Abram had traveled far from home and wandered around for 10 years. When he had no land, no people, no place to lay his head, and he is still childless and getting older and losing hope.