SERMON OUTLINE:
A New Appearing (vs 1-2)
A New Requirement (vs 1b)
A New Name (vs 3b-5)
A New Bond (vs 9-22)
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• "What's in a name?"
• Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet made this question famous.
• If you know the story you will remember that they fall in love;
• Before learning that they bear the names of rival families.
• Romeo is a Montague;
• And Juliet a Capulet.
• Willing to deny name before love, Juliet cries out,
• Then a few lines later, Juliet asks that poignant "What's in a name?
• That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."
• Well to the great bard of Avon in this play names are unimportant!
• But in the Bible names are very important!
Ill:
• When we name a child today, we often choose a name we like,
• Or one we associate with something special.
• i.e. My daughter is Katherine Anna Curley.
• Anna is a family name that mum, grandmother etc. that all the girls have.
• i.e. My boy is named Arlo,
• That name was chosen after a folk singer called Arlo Guthrie;
• We chose it simply because it was unusual and we liked it.
Note:
• In the Bible names had deep significance;
• And were carefully chosen to have meaning and purpose.
• i.e. Positive example (Matthew chapter 16 verses 16-18):
• Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter - "rock" or "stone".
• i.e. Negative example (1 Samuel chapter 2):
• Ichabod was the son of Phinehas and the grandson of Eli, the “priest of the LORD.
• ‘Ichabod’ – ‘Glory of God had departed’.
In the Bible names had deep significance and were carefully chosen to have meaning and purpose:
• i.e. Longest name in the Bible: Mahershalalhashbaz (Isaiah chapter 8 verse 1 & 3).
• Which means; “"Hurry to spoil!" or "He has made haste to the plunder!""
• He sounds like an Israeli ‘Del Boy’ or ‘Arthur Daley’.
Often a name was chosen to represent who or what the parents hoped and expected their child to become.
• i.e. Moses' wife was named Zipporah, which means "bird”,
• A lovely name evoking beauty, grace and freedom.
• i.e. "Ruth" means "friend,"
• And the bible character called Ruth certainly proved to be an excellent friend.
• i.e. Zacchaeus, the small-in-height tax collector,
• Didn't exactly live up to his parents' hopes.
• His name meant "pure & good" a trait rarely attributed to tax collectors!
• And certainly not to this one – until one day he encountered Jesus!
Question: Why does God bother to change Someone's Name?
Answer:
• God made the changes for a specific reason.
• The name change corresponded with a life change;
• From this moment on;
• The person whose name was changed was expected to how they were before!
• In today’s passage Abram would become Abraham;
• And Sarai would become Sarah.
• The name change was significant;
• Because for this elderly couple their lives would never be the same again!
Background information:
• Abram was 99 years old at this time.
• Twenty-four years ago Abram had left Haran, in obedience to the call of God on his life.
• (You can read about that in Genesis chapters 12 verses 1-3).
Ill:
Signs You're Getting Old:
• You choose your cereal for the fibre, not the toy
• An "all-nighter" means not getting up to pee!
• You know all the answers but nobody asks you any questions.
• You smile all the time because you can't hear a thing others are saying.
• "Getting lucky" means you find your car in the parking lot.
• You keep repeating yourself.
• Your back goes out more than you do.
• Lawn care has become a big highlight of your life.
• You keep repeating yourself.
• You're wrinkled, saggy, lumpy, and that's just your left leg.
• You have trouble remembering simple words like...
• You still have a photographic memory but it no longer offers same day service.
• Your insurance company has started sending you their free calendar...a month at a time.
• You keep repeating yourself.
• My favourite:
• You sink your teeth into a steak...and they stay there!
• TRANSITION:
• As we pick up the story Abram is not actually a very old man;
• More like middle aged.
• We know that people in the book of Genesis;
• Lived to what we would call an exceptional old age;
Now as far as we can tell, God has not spoken to Abraham:
• For thirteen years;
• Thirteen years of silence.
Ill:
• I like the Les Dawson joke:
• I haven’t spoken to my mother-in-law for 3 months…I don’t like to interrupt.
• Well for Abram God had not been speaking, he appears to be silent, dumb.
• And God’s words in chapter 17 break the long silence of 13 years:
(1). A new appearing (vs 1-2)
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty, walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
• After thirteen years of heavenly muteness;
• Abram must have been greatly encouraged by this encounter with God.
• In times past we are told that:
• God had spoken to Abram (Genesis chapter 12 verse 1)
• Or come to him in a vision (Genesis chapter 15 verses 12-17).
• But in this chapter we are told that God actually revealed Himself to Abram.
• We are not given all the details;
• But in a very special intimate way God He appeared to Abram.
Notice:
• That God also exhibited Himself, he sowed to Abram;
• A greater understanding of His character and attributes:
• i.e. God referred to Himself as ‘God Almighty,’ (‘El Shaddai’).
• This is the first time God has been called by this name.
• It is a name which emphasizes His infinite power.
• God is informing Abram that he can do anything and meet any need.
Note: A promise is only as good as the one who makes it.
• I could promise my kids that next week I will take them to Disney land U.S.A.
• They would think that is a great promise….but
• I don’t have the means to fulfil that promise;
• I don’t have the time or the money to make that promise come true.
• So a promise is only as good as the one who makes it.
• And before God makes a promise to Abram;
• He reminds him that he has the ability to fulfil that promise;
• He is God Almighty,’ (‘El Shaddai’).
After thirteen years of silence:
• God is about to tell Abram that Sarai his aged wife is about to have a son,
• God wants Abram to know that he is the God who is all-sufficient and all-powerful.
• And that nothing is too hard for him.
Note:
• When Abram battled and fought with four kings;
• God came to him and told him he was his ‘shield’.
• (Genesis chapter 15 verse 1).
• When Abram turned his back on the wealth of Sodom;
• God told him he was his ‘exceedingly great reward’
• (Genesis chapter 15 verse 1).
• Now when Abram and Sarai bodies are ‘as good as dead’,
• God speaks to them and assured them;
• That he was more than sufficient to bring about the miracle of birth.
• In fact God says; “I will” twelve times in this chapter;
• He is about to do the miraculous.
Application: God revealing himself to us today:
• God meets with us today in various ways;
• But primarily through the word;
• That is Jesus the ‘Living Word’ and The Bible the written word.
(a). The Living Word:
ill:
• The American evangelist Billy Graham;
• Tells the story of how one time he was preaching in a small town;
• When he arrived he was in good time and decided to go post a letter;
• But he could not find a post-box.
• He saw a young boy and asked him where the post office was.
• The boy explained the way to the post office to Billy Graham.
• Billy Graham thanked the boy and said,
• "If you’ll come to the Church this evening,
• you can hear me telling everyone how to get to Heaven."
• The boy replied:
• "I don’t think I’ll be there, you don’t even know your way to the post office”.
TRANSITION:
• The way to heaven, the way to encountering God;
• Is always through Jesus Christ the ‘Living Word’;
• Who said in John chapter 14 verse 6:
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
(b). The Written Word – the Bible:
• A fore-runner to Billy Graham;
• Was the great 18th Century American Evangelist D.L Moody;
• In a 40-year period it is estimated that he won a million souls to Christ;
• This was the days before television and media communication as we know it!
• When he preached in Brooklyn; he preached to 20,000 people a day
• And admitted only non-church members to his meetings and then by ticket only!
Quote: He said this about faith:
“I prayed for faith and thought that someday it would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith didn’t seem to come.
One day I read in Romans that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
I had, up to this time, closed my Bible and prayed for faith.
Now I opened my Bible and began to study ---and faith has been growing ever since.”
• I would suggest we will not meet with God or know God’s guidance for our lives;
• If we are not having regular ‘systematic’ times in his word!
(2). A new requirement (vs 1b)
“…walk before me faithfully and be blameless.”
• Revelation always brings responsibility;
• Previously, God had required little of Abram other than to leave his hometown of ‘Ur’;
• And to believe in His promise.
• You can read the story in Genesis chapter 15 verse 6.
• But now God is going to require much more from Abram.
• Abram is being asked to live in a way that pleases God;
• “Walk before me faithfully and be blameless”.
This requirement is what puts many people off from following Jesus Christ:
• “Blameless” does not mean perfection,
• That would be impossible for anyone to reach.
• The word means; ‘Single-hearted’;
• God is asking Abram to follow him wholeheartedly.
• Quote: G.K. Chesterton:
• “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”
• Many people want Jesus Christ and all he offers
• But don’t want to allow him to affect their lifestyle;
• And you cannot have both!
Ill:
• On their 50th wedding anniversary,
• A couple summed up the reason for their long and happy marriage.
• The husband said,
• “I have tried never to be selfish. After all, there is no ’I’ in the word ‘marriage.’”
• The wife said,
• “For my part, I have never corrected my husband’s spelling.”
• Many people want Jesus Christ and all he offers
• But don’t want to allow him to affect their lifestyle – Jesus without commitment;
• And you cannot have both!
Notice: Abraham’s response (vs 3):
• N.I.V.: “Abram fell facedown”
• N.L.T.: “At this, Abram fell face down on the ground”
• In the Hebrew Bible, the word for ‘worship’ (‘shehhah’):
• Is a word meaning; ‘to prostrate oneself’ or ‘to bow down’.
• Abram is responding to God’s request with a mega ‘Yes!’
• He is acknowledging God as his Lord and Master;
• He wants to ‘walk’ with God, he wants to serve him ‘whole-heartedly’.
(3). A New Name (vs 3b-5)
“God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham”
• Just as Abram had heard God refer to Himself by a new name,
• So Abram is renamed, a token of his destiny:
• I love the humour of God found in this story;
• When Abram was 99 God changed his name to Abraham,
• Which means “father of a multitude.”
• ill: Like calling a 20 stone man ‘Twiggy’.
• ill: Like calling a pauper ‘Mr Moneybags’.
• ill: Like calling a small person ‘Lofty’.
• The name given to him was the very opposite of his situation.
• Question: Was God being cruel, taking the Mickey?
• Answer: No he had promised it! And so it was only a matter of time before it happened.
• The name Abram meant ‘high father’ or ‘exalted father.’
• But now his name was changed to ‘father of a multitude.’
• Remember that we were told that their bodies were "as good as dead"
• It is a medical term referring to the ability to reproduce an offspring.
• These two were well past their sell by date!
• In other words, medically, scientifically and physically speaking,
• Abraham and Sarah were "as good as dead" when it came to the matter of child-bearing.
• But God…!
And the great thing about the promise is:
• God not only promised Abraham a son,
• But that the offspring of his son would be as
• “Many as the stars of the sky and the sand by the sea shore."
• Although it was unnatural, unreasonable, and unbelievable;
• Yet Abraham believed God and God did it!
• ill: Every time you see a Jewish person or hear Israel mentioned on the news;
• They or it is a reminder that God keeps his word!
Application:
• Question:
• What do we learn from God’s promise to Abraham?
• Answer:
• We learn that no one who trusts in God’s promise need be disappointed.
There are four words that every Christian should never forget:
• 'God keeps his word'.
• He will not tell us one thing and do another!
• He will never use the expression that we often use;
• "Oh well, promises are meant to be broken".
• God traffics in truth!
• God keeps his word, always!!!
• This surety is based on the unchanging nature of his person.
• To trust in God’s unchanging promises;
• Is to trust in God who himself does not change!
(4). A New Bond (vs 9-22)
• In modern times we define a host of relations by contracts.
• These are usually for goods or services and for hard cash.
• Note: God did not establish a contract with Abraham.
• He established a covenant and there is a big difference.
• Contacts are broken when one of the parties fails to keep his promise.
Ill:
Just say, a patient fails to keep an appointment with a dentist,
• The dentist is not obligated to call the house and inquire,
• “Where were you? Why didn’t you show up for your appointment?”
• The dentist simply goes on to the next patient;
• And has his appointment secretary take note of the patient;
• Who may receive a bill for failure to turn up.
• Because the patient broke an informal contract.
Ill:
• The Bible indicates that a covenant:
• Is more like the ties of a parent to her child than it is a dentist’s appointment.
• If a child fails to show up for dinner,
• The parent’s obligation, unlike the dentist’s, isn’t cancelled.
• The parent finds out where the child is and makes sure he’s cared for.
• One member’s failure does not destroy the relationship.
• A covenant puts no conditions on faithfulness.
• It is the unconditional commitment to love and serve.
Ill:
• God made a covenant with Abraham;
• He promised him a land.
• He promised him descendants as numerous as the stars.
• He promised to use him to curse or bless every other nation.
• The expression “I will be your God and you will be my people”;
• Is a phrase used throughout the Bible until the very last page in the book of Revelation.
• It is a reminder that God keeps his word!
Question: What promises did God make to Abraham?
Answer: I find it helpful to group the promises into three categories.
• FIRST: God promises a great posterity;
• This is why Abram's name was changed to Abraham;
• He would have many descendants – as many as the stars in the sky.
• SECOND: group of promises is more general and goes beyond posterity and land.
• In Genesis chapter 15 verse 6 it says;
• "Abram believed the Lord, and he reckoned it to him as righteousness."
• God justifies Abram because of his faith,
• And justification is an act of God full of promise.
• THIRD: group amounts to this:
• All this blessing promised to Abraham;
• Will be enjoyed someday by all the families of the earth.
• God's purpose is to bless the world with the blessings of Abraham.
• He is to be a conduit, not a cul-de-sac, of God's blessing.
• i.e. Genesis chapter 12 verses 2-3,
"I will bless you . . . so that you will be a blessing . . .
and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed".
And that blessing is ours today through Jesus Christ:
• He has obtained humanities greatest blessing – salvation;
• The forgiveness of sins!
Ill:
• In his autobiography, Col. Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame says;
• That he was always a God-fearing man.
• In every venture he gave God a tenth of the profits.
• Yet he knew that if he died, God probably wouldn’t take him to heaven.
• Worried, he even travelled to Australia to a special church convention for the answer.
• He didn’t find it.
• One day, Sanders was walking down a street in Louisville, Kentucky,
• When Rev. Waymon Rodgers of Louisville’s Evangel Tabernacle;
• Invited him to some evangelistic services.
• Several days later, Sanders went.
• At age 79, he was converted and came to an assurance he was saved.
• He stopped trying and simply claimed the promises of God in Jesus Christ.
• TRANSITION: that blessing is for all people who will call on the name of the Lord.
• Jesus Christ has obtained humanities greatest blessing – salvation;
• Remember regarding salvation;
• The forgiveness of sins is never optional it is an essential!
Ill:
• Not far from New York there is a cemetery;
• On one of the grave stones there is the inscription “Forgiven."
• That’s right just one word “Forgiven”.
• There is no name, no date of birth or death.
• The stone is unembellished by the sculptor's art.
• There is no epitaph, no fulsome eulogy;
• Just that one word, "Forgiven."
• But that is the greatest thing that can be said of any man,
• Or written upon his grave, "Forgiven."
Question:
• Can you say this morning; “I’m forgiven”?
• Do you have that certainty, that hope, that assurance?
SERMON OUTLINE:
A New Appearing (vs 1-2)
A New Requirement (vs 1b)
A New Name (vs 3b-5)
A New Bond (vs 9-22)
SERMON BODY:
