God's Sovereign Grace

Genesis chapter 12, and we will read verses 1 through 9. The Lord had said to Abram, Leave your country, your people, and your father's household, and go to a 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. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.

And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. So Abram left, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he set out for Haran.

He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and all the people they had acquired in Haran. And they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Morah at Shechem. At that time, the Canaanites were in the land. The Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land.

So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel, and 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. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev. Sometimes it's good for us to see the big picture before we get into the details.

Maybe you've looked into a food magazine before, and you saw this beautiful cake, and you said, Wow, that looks good. Now, how do you make that?

So you've taken in the big picture, and then you've got to figure out how you go about doing it, how you make those kind of details. Well, Genesis 12 is a new beginning in some ways.

It's the beginning of something new, and it's the beginning of the story of how God is not only saving Abraham, but how he's going to be saving all of his people.

This is the beginning of redemptive history in some ways. So up to this point, it's been promised. In Noah's day, the earth was made secure.

God promised that I'm never going to destroy the earth again by water. That means someday it's going to be destroyed by fire. But until then, the earth is going to be secure. And now we come into something new.

And before we dive into those details, let's take in the big picture and ask, what is God trying to do?

What is he setting out to accomplish in all of this? All of this redemptive history, all of this story about Abraham and what happens to him. It has a reason. And it's going somewhere.

God is taking it somewhere. He's building something. He's creating something. He's an artist. And he has a mural in mind, a picture in mind. And so what does that mural or that picture look like?

Well, we get a part of an answer. We can see the finished picture in the children's catechism. One of the first questions is, why did God make you in all things?

Children, do any of you know the answer? Why did God make you in all things? For his own glory.

For his own glory. Now, everything is for his glory. He's doing this for his glory. Well, maybe that's a bit fuzzy, because I think sometimes we can say things like that, and we don't exactly have a lot of content to what we mean when we say it's for his own glory.

And so let's clarify it. Remember, we're looking at the big picture. What is God trying to do in this whole story of Abraham and redemptive history? Well, it's for his own glory. But what does that mean?

Let's clarify it. And Jonathan Edwards is a big help here. And so listen to what he said. The glory of God does not consist merely in the creatures understanding God's perfections.

For the creature may see and understand the power and the wisdom of God and take no delight in it, but hate it.

Those creatures don't glorify God. So it's not only seeing and understanding how big and great God is that really glorifies him. It matters how we feel about it.

He goes on. This glory of God, therefore, consists in the creatures admiring and rejoicing and exalting in the manifestation of his beauty and his excellency.

The essence of glorifying God is the creatures rejoicing in God's manifestation of his beauty. And so let's break that down.

What is God's purpose in all of salvation? Well, he wants the greatest number of people throughout all of eternity to rejoice and exalt in who he is with all their heart and with all their strength and with all of their mind.

So that's the big picture. That's where God is going with this. And so as God begins this new thing with Abraham, he's not just blessing a single man. He's not just blessing a single kingdom.

He's not out to just set up a single nation. He's got a bigger idea than that. He wants the maximum number of people to rejoice in who he is, to enjoy him.

And so God is out to make people happy in who he is. And so the stage is set. That's the purpose. And what is the theme?

The theme of this play, then, is going to be sovereign grace. Because if God is going to be doing good to sinners and making them happy and rejoice and exalt in him, then he's going to have to treat them better than they deserve.

So the theme is sovereign grace. Now, Abraham's story is the beginning of that great history, of that great work. And it's also the template, the pattern.

Now, if you go into the library, the Plymouth Library, and you turn off into the children's section, you can find a big table.

And on that big table is always a big, white, blank sheet of paper. And on the table, there's coloring pencils and there's crayons. And then there's a lot of these plastic templates.

And so if you put the template down on the piece of paper and you take your coloring pencil and you draw inside the lines and you stick to the edges.

Well, when you take the template away, you have a picture of an airplane, picture of a horse, a picture of a train, something like that. And that's what I mean when I say Abraham's story is a template.

It's a picture. It's a pattern. What you're going to see in Abraham's life is the pattern that he takes in everyone's life.

Everyone who he's called and chosen, who he's setting out to save. And so the same pattern is in your life. It's in your life. God means to be Abraham's blessing.

God means to be Abraham's great reward. He means to make Abraham completely satisfied in him and rejoice in him and worship him. And that's what God is doing in your life.

And the same methods that God uses in Abraham's life, he uses in your life. Now, there's a lot of the details are different, but the same method, the same template, the same pattern is there.

And so all the details of your life, where you were born, who your family is, who did you marry, what kind of difficulties you're facing, what kind of struggles you have, your job, your spouse, everything, your problems.

All of your life is connected to this template, to this pattern. And so Abraham's story is your story. This isn't a history lesson.

This is an autobiography. And it's your autobiography. Now, as you see it, as you see God working in Abraham's life, it's a reflection of him working in your life.

And as you see that, you're not just supposed to understand it up here. You're supposed to worship God for it. Remember the big picture. What is God aiming for?

He wants people to adore him and to admire him and to rejoice in him. And so he wants you to engage the story.

He wants you to hear it and appreciate it and then apply it to yourself. And after you've done that, he wants you to worship. Worship him.

Rejoice in him. Now, that's a long introduction. But I think we need to get there so we understand that this isn't just back there. This isn't just something that happened to somebody.

This is our story. And this is meant to move us to worship, just like it moved Abraham to worship. So we're going to begin Genesis chapter 12, 1 through 9.

And we're going to divide that passage up into three headings. So three sections of the sermon. And then the first is God's gracious call. God's gracious call.

Chapter 12, verse 1. Look at it with me. The Lord had said to Abraham, leave your country, your people, and your father's household, and go to the land I will show you.

Now, if you read, if you go to the New Testament and read in Acts 7, Stephen talks about this. And from that passage, we see and we learn that when God initially first spoke to Abraham, he was down in Ur of the Chaldees.

So this is before he made that trip up to Haran. This is when God called him. The Lord, and it's reflected in the NIV, the Lord had said to Abraham. So this is a bit of a flashback, what we're getting in this passage, this promise and this call.

So God called him when he was down in Ur of the Chaldees. And he said, leave everything you know, leave everything that you, your old life, and go to the land I'll show you.

Now, it's easy for us, as we just read these words, to miss God's grace in it. Remember, this is God's gracious call.

It's easy for us to miss the grace in it. But do you know what Abraham was, who he was, before the Lord called him?

We don't know very much about his past life, except that his whole family worshipped idols, worshipped other gods.

In Joshua chapter 24, the Lord is speaking to the Israelites through Joshua, and he says, Long ago, your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham, and Nahor, lived beyond the river, and they worshipped other gods.

But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the river, and led him throughout Canaan. So Abraham grew up worshipping other gods.

He grew up a pagan. His family was lost. He was lost. And there seems to be no doubt that until the Lord called him, until the Lord revealed himself to Abraham, Abraham was lost.

Abraham wasn't seeking God. God graciously called Abraham. Abraham didn't deserve it. He called him from his old life, from his old idols and his old gods, while he was still living in those things.

Abraham hadn't cleaned up his life, and then God talked to him. Instead, it was out of that idolatry that God said, leave it all. And that's grace.

That's sovereign grace to do that. If God hadn't stooped and stopped to do something about Abraham, Abraham would have lived and died and spent an eternity in hell.

He would have lived and died without God, without hope in the world, and he would face forever and ever as sorrowful and living under God's wrath.

Abraham wasn't looking for God, but God looked and searched for him, and God called him, and that's grace. And so he said, leave your country.

Leave your family. Leave your father's household. And so that isn't just a call away from his social relationships. It's a call away from his whole life, because that included his whole life.

Remember, in those historic cultures, and in many cultures around this world, it's a very family-centered way. Who you were was determined by who your father was, and what you did in the community was determined by who your family was.

And so this wasn't just leave your family like, you know, some people are going to be leaving and going to England, right, Natalie? It's not just leaving your family and going to a different country.

It's leave everything. Leave your whole identity back there. Leave all your security that you've ever had back there. So who was he?

Well, he was the son of Terah. Well, what did he do? He did what his father did. Who did he worship? Who did he trust? He trusted in other gods. And God called him away from all of that, from all of his old hopes, his false hopes, his false identity, his false savior, his false securities.

And he called him to himself. So underneath this call to leave all of that, the Lord is calling Abraham to himself.

The Lord was calling him to singular devotion, to singular dependence. Find in me everything you need. Trust in me.

I'll bless you. I'll protect you. I'll be your God. I'll be your mighty savior. I'll save and I'll bless. Now, isn't that what God has done and is doing in your own life, brother and sister?

Abraham's life had this this divine interruption and your life has this big, jagged line across it where God's grace stopped you, stepped in.

You weren't looking for God, but God went looking for you. You weren't reaching out for him, but he reached down to you and he called you in Christ Jesus to a new life, to new hope, to new faith, to new security, to new identity.

He said, leave that old life behind. That life is dead. And this is the new life. And your life now is in Jesus Christ. And so you're going to find everything that you need in him for life, for today, for tomorrow, forever and ever.

For time and eternity, everything you need is going to be in Christ. And so he called us away from those puny lives that we used to live so small, so selfish and all those false hopes and saviors.

And he called you to Jesus and he said, Jesus is going to be enough for you to singular devotion, to singular dependence. He's called you to Jesus and Jesus is enough.

And so the same call that Abraham had, you have. It's in your life. This isn't just Abraham's story. This is your story.

Now, secondly, we see God's glorious promise. So we saw his gracious call. Now God's glorious promise. That's verses two and three.

When God called Abraham, he attached this wonderful promise. Why did he do that?

Why did he put the promise there? Why did he attach that promise to the call? Because the promise was meant to be an encouragement to Abraham.

It was meant to encourage him to believe and to obey. When God comes after sinners, he comes to win their hearts.

He comes to win their affections and their faith. And so he promises these glorious things to those who believe and follow.

You see the promise to Abraham in verses two and three. I will make you a great nation and I will bless you. Abraham had no children. There was no way physically that this was going to happen.

And God says, believe and I'll make you into a nation. God is stretching Abraham, isn't he?

God doesn't just promise him a son. He does that later. But initially he promises him a nation. He doesn't just promise him a family.

He promises him a great nation. And this is just one of those promises that we sang of. And all of God's promises are these stretching promises. When we take them into ourselves, when we believe them by faith, they stretch out our world.

They take us out from ourselves. And so they bring us into this bigger world. They open up our eyes to things that we could have never thought or imagined before. And so God breaks into our tiny little kingdoms and our happy little worlds.

And he says, look at my kingdom. Look at this thing. Look what I'm doing. Look what I will do. So just think of the promises of the gospel and how they stretch you, how they make.

They demand that you get bigger, that your eyes get bigger, that your heart gets bigger. They demand faith. If you believe in Jesus Christ, all your sins will be forgiven.

He will trample your sins in the dust. He says. He says, I will throw them into the deepest sea.

He said, I'll put them behind me and I'll remember them no more. He says, I'll give you heaven, a heaven of joy and eternity of joy.

He says, a new body, a new earth. I'll make you to be pillars in the temple of my God. You'll be there and you'll never leave.

Now, if you think about it, if those things get beyond just being words and they ratchet, they screw themselves into your brain and you think about it, those promises are amazing.

We're living so much of our lives half blind to these great things that God has said, I'm going to do. Well, God's promises demand that we stretch out for them.

And these promises, these promises to Abraham are no different. God is out to amaze us.

God is out to woo us. God is out to stun us and win us and all of our love and our affection. He wants us to rejoice in him. And so he's not going to give us a small salvation.

He's going to give us this great salvation that leaves us gaping in wonder and joy forever and ever. God goes on.

I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will make you a blessing. What that means is everyone who attaches themselves to Abraham will be blessed.

And that, too, is an amazing, glorious promise. Now, the way of blessing, we see it sort of historically building. In the Garden of Eden, the way of the blessing, the way of eternal life was the tree of life.

If they if you eat of the tree, you will live forever. And then once we fell, Adam and Eve fell, the way of blessing in Noah's day was this ark.

If you if you could attach yourself to Noah and get into the ark, you would be safe and have blessing. But now that blessing of God's safety and protection and salvation and eternal life, it's not in wood or in a tree or an ark or anything like that.

It's in a person. It now becomes in Abraham. You will be a blessing to whoever is attached to you. And so this is a new beginning. Abraham is really the beginning, the precursors of this new creation.

And it's going to culminate in Jesus Christ. And well, finally, it's going to culminate in the new heavens and the new earth. But it's it's being traced all the way back. And here is Abraham.

We used to have life in Adam, but he fell. And now God is promising life and blessing in Abraham. Abraham, not through Abraham's obedience.

But through Abraham's faith, the faith of Abraham. So all those who believe with Abraham will live forever. All those who embrace God's promises will have this blessing.

Whoever will say, I am one of Abraham's children. I believe the promises of God will be blessed. And so he's called the father of the faithful. The father of all those who would inherit eternal life through Jesus Christ.

And this is God's promise to Abraham. And if you think about it, what an amazing, gracious promise. Abraham wasn't anybody to deserve something so grand as that.

Well, God goes on. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse. And whoever curses you, I will curse. Abraham's a fork in the road to whoever meets him.

Depending on your attitude, meeting Abraham and having dealings with Abraham could do you great good or could do you great harm. Depending on your attitude toward him.

So what is God saying? He's saying, Abraham, I love you so much. Which is grace. I love you so much.

How people treat you. Is how they're going to treat me. So whoever blesses you, I will bless. And whoever curses you, I will curse.

Basically, Abraham's becoming the standard of judgment. God's attitude towards people is going to be dependent on their attitude toward Abraham because God is taking Abraham to himself in love.

And so now whoever mistreats Abraham. Will be cursed. And whoever loves Abraham. And blesses him will be blessed. Now, didn't Jesus say the same things about us?

Jesus has taken us to himself. And he said, how you treat them is how you're going to treat me. Remember Saul on the road to Damascus.

Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Or Jesus said, I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink.

I was a stranger and you let me in. And people say, Lord, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty? When did we see you a stranger and let you in?

Whatever you did for the least of one of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Jesus is saying, I'll bless those who bless you.

And I'll curse those who curse you. Because you know the other side of that conversation. Lord, Lord, when did we see you hungry and thirsty and a stranger?

And he said, what you didn't do for the least of these. You didn't do for me. And so this promise to be a blessing or a curse is not just a promise to Abraham, but it's also, it becomes our promise.

As we join ourselves to Abraham and we believe with Abraham, we are receiving every single one of these promises. Jesus is, well, let me skip that.

Now, as we go on, as you go through verses 2 and 3, God's promise to Abraham, it's getting bigger and it's getting bigger until finally it's reached its hands and its arms all the way around the world.

It started with, I'll make you into a great nation and I'll bless you. So that's talking about Abraham's family. But now, this last bit, he's stretching around the whole earth.

All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. So God is promising cosmic, worldwide blessing that will come through Abraham.

So God, at the very beginning, he had bigger plans than national Israel or just this one family. God's purposes were always bigger than that.

He had this end in mind that was going to reach around the whole globe and bless everyone there. All who would believe with Abraham. So even here in Genesis 12, so we're only 12 chapters in to the Bible.

He has in mind the end. He has in mind Pentecost. When the Spirit came down and all the nations began to hear the gospel.

He has in mind what we see in Revelation at the very end. When you see all the nations of the world streaming up to Jerusalem to worship and to be blessed.

And so the promise started with Abraham having a big family. And as it went along, it got bigger and bigger. Until now, God is promising salvation. To the lost sons of Adam wherever they live.

And beloved, if you think about that. This is this is a peek into God's heart towards you. And this is what I mean.

I don't think many of us can claim to be the physical descendants of Abraham. Of the family and the nation of Abraham. Maybe some of you can.

Maybe some of you in some small way can say that. But I know as far as I know. As for me and my family.

2,000 years ago. My fathers. Were performing human sacrifices. To appease Woden.

The God. The great God of. Well, it's now Germany and England and places like that. And my fathers. They would take bodies. And they would dump them into bogs.

As a sacrifice to the God. So the gods would be happy with them. And they bowed down to pieces of wood. But here in Revelation. In Genesis 12.

You see that God had. Me. Had you. In mind. I'm one of those. All the peoples of earth. That God was going to bless.

Through Abraham. Abraham. So God set his love. On us. On me. Way. Back. Then. So can you imagine that?

God is speaking to Abraham. Abraham. And he doesn't just have Abraham in mind. He has me in mind. He has you in mind. To do us good. And so this is Abraham's promise.

But you're here too. And I'm here too. This is a glorious promise. So that's our second point. Now here's our third point. We see Abraham's supernatural faith.

Abraham's supernatural faith. And that's what the rest of the. Of the passage is about. Abraham's response to God's call.

And to God's promise. Now probably some of the most remarkable words. In this passage. You see at the beginning of verse 4. It says.

So. Abraham. Left. Abraham. Left. He left his home. He left his father's household. He left everything.

That he said. Because God. Promised him. That he would. Do all these things for him. So. Remember this is. This theme here of. Abraham being a new beginning.

Adam in the garden. Didn't believe God. And he disobeyed. Abraham. Believed. Adam didn't obey.

But by faith. Abraham. Did. He left everything he knew. Everything that he was trusting in before. And he. Came to God. Adam didn't obey in the garden.

I want you to think about this. Adam. Fell in the garden. Under ideal. Conditions. In the perfect condition of. Of having the sinless heart.

He. Failed. But Abraham. Out. Of sin. Out of a sinful past. Out of a sinful heart.

Abraham. Believed God. And he left. He went. Now. How. How. In the world. Did that ever happen.

The only answer is God. God. Gave Abraham. Faith. That he needed to obey. Because. You know what. God was going to bless Abraham. And God was going to make sure.

That he blessed Abraham. And so here he is. Giving him everything he needs. In order to be blessed. For it is by grace. You have been saved. And this through faith. And this is not even from yourselves.

It is a gift of God. And so. This faith. That Abraham exhibits. In his obedience. It wasn't natural to him. It didn't grow on that tree. And he didn't just decide.

To follow God. And to believe God. God. Gave. Abraham. Super. Natural. Faith. Now that should give. Shouldn't that.

Shouldn't that give you hope. Shouldn't that give you hope. Sometimes. Do you ever ask. How can. How can all this be real. Just like.

When a believer dies. We say. To die is gain. That person is with Christ. But then. If you look at their body. It's a dead body.

We don't see angels coming. And carrying them away. And yet. We believe. And yet. We live. Like that's true. Because it is true.

And we believe. That it's not by good works. That you're saved. God actually saves sinners. Who say. You know what. I don't have anything good.

Those are the ones. That God has mercy on. When everyone else. Everyone else. And every other religion. Whether they have a religion. Or they have. The craziest religion.

That's ever been made up. They believe. That the people. That do the right things. Are saved. And. We believe. The exact opposite. All our hope.

Is in a man. Who claimed to be God. And who was executed. On a cross. And we say. He is the only way. Of salvation. And it's foolish. To foolishness.

To the world. But. We put all of our eggs. Into that basket. And we live. Like it's so. And the question is. How did we ever come. To believe such things. Did you work that up.

Are you here. Because. This was your life plan. And your decisions. Decided. What. What was going to be. And what you were going to do. No way.

This is God's. Work in your life. You wouldn't have believed. If he wasn't at work. And that's meant to encourage you. Because. If God is at work. In your life. You can know that he's not going to give up.

In 1st Corinthians. Paul says. He will keep you strong. To the end. He will keep you strong. To the end.

Every day. Brothers and sisters. You're going to get new strength. New mercy. He's going to keep you strong. To the end. How do you know. Because. It says. God who called you. Into fellowship with Jesus Christ.

Is faithful. He's going to. He began it. And he's going to finish it. And so that you will be blameless. On the day. Of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we look.

Forward. To the coming of Jesus. When it's going to be terrible. It's going to be awesome. It's going to be. Frightening. And yet we say. Even so. Lord Jesus.

Come. Come quickly. We say that. Because our hope isn't here. It's in our faithful God. That will make us blameless. On that day. And so we go from strength. To strength.

Because God is faithful. And we go right on believing. Right on obeying. Because God hasn't left us. So Abraham. Believed God. And he obeyed. And that pattern.

Is the same pattern. That's in your life. As you believe God. You embrace him. And you obey him. You follow him. Day after day. And Abraham.

Has a lot of life to live. At this point. He has a hundred more years to go. And he's going to keep believing. He's not going to waver in his faith. And the reason is. Is God was at work in his life.

And brothers and sisters. Some of you have a lot of time. And some of you only have. A little bit of time. But if God. Began a good work in you. He's going to finish it. He's at work in us.

And remember our response. We are to love him. We are to rejoice in him. That he's that kind of God. And we're to praise him. So. In faith.

Abraham went. And in faith. Abraham. Worshipped. It's interesting. Verses six through nine. Is. It talks about Abraham. Going throughout.

The land. That was promised. Of Canaan. And wherever it stopped. Wherever he stopped. He built an altar. And he called on the name of the Lord. And so.

He went throughout the land. That God was going to give him. And. Wherever he stopped. He worshiped. What was he doing?

Well. He was claiming. That land. From the Lord. He was claiming that land. For. The Lord. He was devoting God's gift to him.

And worship back to him. So God. Said. I'm going to give you this land. And. Abraham is saying. I believe you. And I'm going to worship you.

For what you've done. For me. And I'm going to. Worship you. For what you are going to give me. He was devoting God's gift. To God's glory. It didn't matter.

That there were Canaanites. In the land. By faith. He saw. What was going to be. By faith. He worshiped. Worshiped. By faith.

He devoted God's gifts. To God's glory. And so let me ask you. We've all received many gifts. Gifts. Are you devoting God's gifts.

To God's glory. Easiest thing for us to do. Is to take. Maybe say thank you. And then. Use it for.

Our own. Enjoyment. And pleasure. With no thought of God. So are you devoting God's gifts. To God's glory. Men.

God's given many of you families. Many of you families. Are you saying. As for me. And my household. We will serve the Lord. We will worship the Lord.

Are you actively. Purposely. With intention. And forethought. And planning. Saying. I'm going to honor. God. And my family.

So your children. Are God's gift to you. God's gift to you. And he wants you. To seek his glory. In their lives. Whether they're young or old. Now.

This world. Isn't going to teach them. To worship God. And their own hearts. Isn't going to show them. The beauty. And the glory. And the goodness of Christ. And his sufficiency. And his.

And his power to save. So. Fathers and mothers. Are you seeking. God's glory. In their lives. And if.

If you don't have children. And you're. Someday going to. Day one. Priority. I will worship God. In my family. This is not a chore.

This is not. A chore. This is a chance. It's a chance. To exalt. God. In their eyes. To make God. Look great. And so.

Make it personal. Make it relevant. Teach them. By word. And by your example. That God. Is good. He is great. He is gracious. He is glorious.

He is all. Satisfying. Because what. Let's go back to the. Very beginning. What is God's. Ultimate purpose. He wants. People.

To see that glory. And not only see it. But to love it. They want him to. He wants them to see his wisdom. And his grace. And rejoice in it.

And so. God has been. So good to us. He's promised us. Great things. He's promised us. So much. In Jesus Christ.

And it's enough. To set our hearts. Singing. Now. And forever. If we would. But believe. If we would just believe.

Our hearts would sing. And so. Maybe. Right now. In this week. Or the last few weeks. Your heart's been. Sort of cold. And constricted.

And you're like the ground outside. All dry. What is your. Primary problem? I don't know all the details. Of your life.

But your primary problem is. By faith. For some reason. You're. You're not drinking in God's glory. And so. We all need to cry out.

With that father. In the gospels. Who said. Lord. I believe. But help. My unbelief. And if we do. We will rejoice.

And we will obey. And we will worship. Let's pray. Heavenly father.

Thank you. That you love. To do. Helpless sinners. Good. And we see that. In our passage here. Abraham. Abraham. Was a sinner. Just like one of us. Fallen.

And yet. You called him. You set your love upon him. You gave him these great. And precious promises. And you gave him faith. And you gave him faith to believe. And you've done the same thing in our lives.

And so. We could say. Father Abraham. And we can say. Abraham is our brother. Because. Our Lord Jesus. Saved him. And he's. Saved us.

And so. All the glory. Goes to you. All the glory. Goes to Jesus Christ. Abraham is a great example. But we need.

More than an example. We need. Our mighty. Savior Jesus. To do. What we can't do. And so. Again. We turn away from men. And we turn away from.

Ourselves. And we look to Jesus. And we say. Father forgive us. For Jesus sake. You've. Showed us your word. Not only this evening. But this morning.

And. Many of us have seen your. Your great promises. And we need. Faith. To believe them. To live upon them. To drink them in. And to enjoy them.

So that you would be glorified. We see. If we don't believe. We won't worship. So please. Help our unbelief. And do us good.

Make us to have families. That honor you. Give us grace. To honor you. At our work. And in our marriages. That in all things. We would be saying. How can I. Make that person.

Love. And enjoy. You. Our great God. Give us that big vision. For our lives. That. What we would be living for. Is your.

Purpose. For all things. So I pray. Holy Spirit. Come and help us now. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.