CENTRALITY OF RIGHTEOUS LIVING IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH SERIES PART 5 SPECIAL SUNDAY SERMON:Prepared by Pastor Charles Chanda: Pretoria, South Africa. GOD CALLS ABRAHAM TO A LIFE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! Gen 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God;walk before me, and be thou perfect. Abraham had left his idolatrous native land at the age of seventy five years and for the next twenty five years, God observed something that needed to be corrected. Abraham had not been righteous in his walk and the Almighty God demanded that Abraham be perfect. If this was not necessary, God would not have bothered to appear to him with this message and as such we cannot overlook this and just continue following God. It was after the ugly experience of chapter sixteen that this message came. God is patient with his children and he will always give them time to correct things that are wrong but when we ignore his call, swift judgment is carried out. I pray that you and me will take heed to this message and correct things that are wrong in Jesus Name. ABRAHAM HAD BEEN SAVED FOR TWENTY FIVE YEARS BUT WAS NOT PERFECT IN HIS WALK! Gen 12:1-4 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy fathers house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran. 3. And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 4. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. If God loves us, and has mercy in store for us, he will not suffer us to take up our rest any where short of Canaan, but will graciously repeat his calls, till the good work begun be performed, and our souls repose in God only. In the call itself we have a precept and a promise. 1. A trying precept: Get thee out of thy country, By this precept he was tried whether he loved his native soil and dearest friends, and whether he could willingly leave all, to go along with God. His country had become idolatrous, his kindred and his father’s house were a constant temptation to him, and he could not continue with them without danger of being infected by them; therefore Get thee out, Get thee gone, with all speed, escape for thy life, look not behind thee, Note, Those that are in a sinful state are concerned to make all possible haste out of it. Get out for thyself (so some read it), that is, for thy own good. Those who leave their sins, and turn to God, will themselves be unspeakable gainers by the change . This command which God gave to Abram is much the same with the gospel call by which all the spiritual seed of faithful Abram are brought into covenant with God. For, (1.1) Natural affection must give way to divine grace. Our country is dear to us, our kindred dearer, and our father’s house dearest of all; and yet they must all be hated (Lu. 14:26 ), that is, we must love them less than Christ, hate them in comparison with him, and, whenever any of these come in competition with him, they must be postponed, and the preference given to the will and honour of the Lord Jesus. (1.2.) Sin, and all the occasions of it, must be forsaken, and particularly bad company; we must abandon all the idols of iniquity which have been set up in our hearts, and get out of the way of temptation, plucking out even a right eye that leads us to sin , willingly parting with that which is dearest to us, when we cannot keep it without hazard of our integrity. Those that resolve to keep the commandments of God must quit the society of evil doers, (1.3) The world, and all our enjoyments in it, must be looked upon with a holy indifference and contempt; we must no longer look upon it as our country, or home, but as our inn, and must accordingly sit loose to it and live above it, get out of it in affection. 2. By this precept he was tried whether he could trust God further than he saw him; for he must leave his own country, to go to a land that God would show him. He does not say, It is a land that I will give thee,’’ but merely, a land that I will show thee.’’ Nor does he tell him what land it was, nor what kind of land; but he must follow God with an implicit faith, and take God’s word for it, in the general, though he had no particular securities given him that he should be no loser by leaving his country, to follow God. 2Co 6:17-18 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Without any shadow of doubt, Abraham was saved by his experience of leaving his native land. If God could come and demand righteousness from a man who had left so much behind him to follow God, then you and me should not be content with the salvation we have received and thinking we have got it all. God is calling us to a higher life of righteousness. FURTHER EVIDENCE OF ABRAHAMS SAVED LIFE! Gen 13:8-9 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. 9. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. He was willing to allow his rights to be trampled upon for the sake of peace. Only a heart that has been touched by God can go this far. Does this speak of your salvation? Can you allow your rights to be trampled upon without staging a fight back?. Abraham had a definite experience of Bible salvation. He was a peace seeker and maker and always considered others. Brothers and sisters, are we sure we have the salvation that Abraham had? Gen 14:12-16 And they took Lot, Abrams brothers son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 13. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. 14. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.15. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, whichis on the left hand of Damascus. 16. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. Can you see Abraham’s love for his wayward nephew Lot? How many of us can risk our lives to rescue those who have called trouble upon themselves? Remember that Lot had chosen the best land for his cattle and the natural mind will normally under such circumstance take a stance that this is a lesson to him. Why did he deprive me of the best grazing land. But saved Abraham will not do that. He went and rescued Lot and all that he had. If you were what would you do? May be you could have said praise the Lord, God has vindicted me as all the cattle that eat the best grass are taken. Let us check our salvation. What I have observed in my Christian life is that God will allow certain things to happen to others so that he can check if we truly have the experiences we claim to have. This reminds me of the fatal accident I had which almost claimed my life. I was in hospital and not a single leader bothered to visit or even to enquire of my condition. I was in the hospital for one month in two cities and church leaders came to visit the churches in the same cities and coincidentally the hospitals I had been in were on the same route. God gave me grace not to put to heart but what I am trying to say is that may be God wanted to also check how many really loved me. Salvation brothers and sister is a deep experience and I pray that we will learn from Abraham. Mat 25:44-45 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45. Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did itnot to me. ARE YOU SURELY BORN AGAIN? MARKS OF THE UNSANCTIFIED HEART AS EVIDENCED FROM ABRAHAM’S LIFE STYLE! *Paid attention to the gospel of unbelief from his wife Sarah Gen 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. Those who are perfect will never doubt what God has said to them because of their prevailing circumstances. This will help you and me to understand that holiness and righteousness goes beyond just living a morally upright life but affects our attitude to what God has spoken. Look at Mary’s response to the words spoken by the angel Luk 1:38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. See how single ladies are panicking because of age. Just because you are approaching the thirties does not mean God is not aware of your condition. Can you see how you have become negative to God, his work and his people just because of a delayed blessing. That attitude is a sign that you are not sanctified. Yes you are born again but your heart is not right with God. Pray that God will purify your heart and you will see the blessing running after you. *Compromising the truth because of problem! Gen 16:3-4 And Sarai Abrams wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.4. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. *Becoming a hard master in an effort to please compromisers! Gen 16:6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. Abraham committed a sin he had never committed before, sleeping with the maid on the instructions of the wife. This is the danger of not being righteous. It is so easy to go back to sin. I pray that God will help you and me not just to seek the experience of righteousness but be established in it in Jesus name.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 05:30:17 +0000
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