Preaching the Word
Preaching the Word
God's Calling to Lead: The Call of Abraham
In our latest episode, we journey through the remarkable story of Abraham, the father of our faith. We explore his profound transformation from Abram, a man mired in doubt and fear, to Abraham, whose trust in God culminated in the ultimate test of faith. Hear how Abraham responded to God’s call to leave his homeland, turning away from his past to embrace a future shaped by divine promises. This episode underscores how God’s call can break through any background and lead to a life-changing relationship with Him.
But what does Abraham's journey teach us about godly leadership today? Turning our focus to 1 Timothy 3:2, we draw insightful parallels between Abraham’s faith journey and the high standards set for church leaders. Discover how integrity, repentance, and a blameless walk are not just ideals but achievable through a daily walk with God. We delve into key lessons from Abraham's calling, demonstrating how leaders can rise from diverse backgrounds, upheld by God’s promises, and be called to serve at any stage in life. Dive into this thought-provoking discussion on living above reproach, ensuring your leadership is as unwavering as Abraham’s faith.
Email: nathan@nathandietsche.com
Praise the Lord. Today we're going to be talking about Abraham, the father of our faith. Abraham is known throughout scripture as the father of the faith, the father of all who believe, and, with the exception of Moses, there's no one mentioned from the Old Testament more in the New Testament than Abraham, as we learned a couple of weeks ago, when Jesus was speaking to the Jewish leaders, the Jewish leaders told Jesus that Abraham was their father. But Jesus told them If you were Abraham's children, you'd be doing the works that Abraham did. But now you're seeking to kill me, a man who's told you the truth that he heard from God. This isn't what Abraham did.
Speaker 1:James, the half-brother of Jesus, who wrote the book of James in the Bible, refers to Abraham as God's friend, and the Apostle Paul tells us Abraham is the father of all believers, both Jew and Gentile. All generations of faith are considered children of Abraham according to the scripture. When we think of Abraham, we often think of an incredible man of faith who was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac. We think of the man that believed on the promises of the Lord and trusted in God against all human reason. And today we're going to look a little bit further into Abraham's life. While the first thing that may often come to our minds with regards to Abraham is his incredible faith, do we recognize that Abraham had a journey of faith? Do we recognize that before Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, he went through many years of character growth? And do we understand how God initially called Abram out of idolatry? Abram, like you and me, struggled with doubts and with fears, yet the Lord encouraged him as Abram continued to walk in faith.
Speaker 1:Let's begin in Genesis, chapter 12, with the call of God on Abram's life. Genesis 12, verses 1 through 4. Read Now the Lord said to Abram Go from your country and from your kindred and from your father's house to the land that I will show you and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing I will bless. Lord had told him, and Lot with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Speaker 1:The first thing I want to take note of here is that the Lord himself spoke to Abram and called him into a relationship with himself. Genesis 12.1 says Now the Lord said to Abram this was the Lord, god Almighty, speaking directly to Abram and calling him into relationship. During the time of the patriarchs, god would show up in person. It's what theologians refer to as a theophany, and we often see these examples of theophanies in Earth's early history. But might I suggest something to you? That while God has interacted with people differently throughout history, his calling is always the same. The calling of God has always been worked out in the same way. It has always been the will of God, the Father, that comes through God, the Son, with a conviction of the Holy Spirit. Again we see the Lord speaking personally to Abram.
Speaker 1:The second thing I want to notice in verse 1 is that Abram was called out from his people. It says the Lord said to Abram go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. So Abram was told to leave his family of origin and to go to a new place, a new place that God would show him. And as we look into the scriptures we learn why God called Abram out from his kindred. It was a call out of idolatry. Joshua 24.2 reads that Joshua had said to all the people Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel Long ago your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates Terah, the father of Abraham, and Nahor, and they served other gods.
Speaker 1:Now, as we learn about Abram in Scripture, we learn that he's a Chaldean and the Chaldeans were a group of people that lived in southeastern Mesopotamia. The region of Chaldea became synonymous with Babylon, and the people known as Chaldeans lived in the areas around and south of Babylon. At the time of Abram, the Chaldeans were steeped in idolatry and superstition. You may remember the great king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He was a Chaldean. So God is calling Abram the father of our faith, out of a life of idolatry, out of a life of superstition. Abram, like every one of us, was born dead in sin. He was lost and he was without hope, but God spoke to his heart. He spoke to Abram through the message of the coming Christ and called him into a personal relationship.
Speaker 1:This may seem shocking to some people. I know I was a bit taken back when I found out that Abraham's family worshipped other gods, but it shouldn't shock us. Scripture is clear there's no one righteous apart from faith in the Messiah. Some people believe that godly leaders must come from a healthy family life or have a spotless past. I have to confess that I myself had been bamboozled by much of modern psychology and believed that somehow our past upbringing would determine our future, and I was kind of taken aback when I realized Abram's family worshipped other gods. But scripture is clear Our past does not determine our future, because all of us come from a broken background. We are all lost, apart from faith in Jesus Christ. God's not looking for a spotless person, because there are none. There's no one righteous, not one. One of the lessons we see from Abram is that some of the greatest godly leaders come from what we might consider broken backgrounds. As we'll see next week, moses was abandoned and raised by Egyptians. The Apostle Paul was steeped in false religion and a murderer of believers, but God. But God will use any man that recognizes their need for Christ, any man that recognizes their need for Christ, and he will train them to be the leaders he needs for their generation.
Speaker 1:The second point we notice here is that God gives Abram eternal promises the moment he calls him. Genesis 12, 2 and 3 says and I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, I'll make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Now I don't want to go deep into the Abrahamic covenant today, but I do want us to recognize that, from the moment when God called Abram out of idolatry, he promises Abram eternal blessing. I also want to mention that the Abrahamic covenant is fulfilled through Christ. When God is promising these things to Abram, such as that in him, all the families of the earth shall be blessed, god is promising Abram that through Abram, the Messiah will come. Abram hasn't done anything. He hasn't gone anywhere. He hasn't gone anywhere, he hasn't walked a walk of faith, but yet God promises him these eternal blessings from the very beginning. Why? How can God do that? Because the God that calls us out of sin is faithful to finish what he begins.
Speaker 1:The third point I want to note here is that Abram was 75 years old when he first was called by God. Genesis 12.4 reads the Lord had told him, and Lot with him. Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. God's call on Abram's life, or on anyone's life, is according to God's plan and according to God's timing, not our own, even though Abram had a longer lifespan than we do today. Even though Abram had a longer lifespan than we do today, he was past his prime At 75 years old. Abram still yet had much to learn before God would use him as a prophet. And what does that teach us? It shows us that God isn't concerned with the age of a man. When he calls him, he can use anyone at any age. What God looks at is the heart of man. God is looking for a man that will trust and obey. Abram was 75 when God first called him, but it's going to take Abram another 24 years before Abram becomes Abraham. Now I want to fast forward those 24 years in Abram's life and jump over to chapter 17 in Genesis. Genesis 17, verses 1 through 2, read when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you and may multiply you greatly. As we see here, abram is now 99 years old. I want to point out that up until now, abram has not become Abraham, and Abram has gone through 24 years of making some very poor choices, some compromises that he should not have.
Speaker 1:There are many ways in which Abram had trusted and obeyed God's promises. He left his home, he traveled into a foreign nation. He did believe that God would keep his promise to bless him and bring the Messiah through him. But yet in other ways he was still acting very immature, attempting to bring about some of God's promises on his own strength. And Abram could not understand how God could bring about an heir through him and Sarai in their old age. Abram tried different ways to make God's promise happen. Early on in Abram's faith walk he appointed one of his faithful servants, eliezer, as an heir, thinking well, maybe God is going to use this faithful servant of mine to bring about the Messiah. But then God told Abram that it was not Eliezer that would be the heir, but it would be from his own loins. Yet his wife Sarai was past her years of childbearing and she just could not believe that the promised child would come through her. And in continued questioning and doubt, abram listened to his wife Sarai, who told him to sleep with his servant Hagar. So now 24 years have passed since God's initial call on Abram's life and Abram's son, ishmael, who came through that relationship with his slave. Hagar is now 13 years old and we read in Genesis 17, that God appears again to Abram. And when God speaks to Abram, he tells him I am God Almighty.
Speaker 1:The Hebrew phrase for God Almighty is El Shaddai. You might remember that Amy Grant had once sang a song called El Shaddai. That made this name of God very popular. Another way of translating El Shaddai might be overpowerer or all-sufficient one, and if we were to rank the titles of God, this might stand out at the top because it describes God's power, his strength, his sovereignty. That God will accomplish that which he sets out to do and he will overpower all opposition. Overpower all opposition. Furthermore, it is God that defines truth and reality. God is declaring to Abram that he is enough, his way is true. And when Abram comes face to face with the Lord, god Almighty, he falls on his face before the Lord, because Abram knows he's failed to trust God in his marriage. He knows he's failed to trust in the fullness of God's character and he's made some bad compromises.
Speaker 1:God showing himself in this way to Abram signifies a significant change in Abram's walk with God. God is commanding Abraham now to walk blameless before him. God establishes the covenant of circumcision with Abraham and he calls Abraham into leadership. I want to remind you that God established the Abrahamic covenant 24 years ago in Genesis, chapter 12. God's eternal promises to Abraham began that moment that Abram came into a relationship with God. And what's happening here is something new. Abram is being called into leadership. God is establishing a sign for the covenant, a sign of circumcision, just as we learned last week, it is Jesus that calls leaders to his church, and when Jesus calls a leader to his church, he asks him to walk blameless.
Speaker 1:Timothy 3.2 reads Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach. That word, above reproach, is often translated blameless. So the pastor, the overseer of a church, is to be blameless, like Abraham. This word for blameless is sometimes translated perfect, whole integrity or upright, and the context in which this is used to describe Abraham and leaders in the church is telling leaders that they are to walk upright. They're to be a man of integrity. It means to walk in purity before the Lord.
Speaker 1:Let's be clear about what this means, because the scripture is clear on this topic. There is no one who lives perfectly without sin. Our flesh is sinful. Even if we've been born again in our spirit, our flesh is still under a curse of sin. No one ever arrives at sinless perfection in their flesh before the return of Jesus Christ in the clouds. However, godly leaders are called to walk before God in integrity, putting to death the things of the flesh.
Speaker 1:The Apostle Paul often talked of walking with a clear conscience before God. Hebrews 13.18 says Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience before God. Hebrews 13.18 says pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience desiring to act honorably in all things. So being blameless doesn't mean we're without sin, but rather that we acknowledge our sinfulness and we confess it to God. It means that we are continually living a life of repentance as we turn to Jesus and turn away from sin. Put this another way God is telling Abram okay, now, when you're tempted, I want you to come to me. Stop compromising your integrity as a man and live before me, knowing that I am with you. Trust in me, obey me and walk with me.
Speaker 1:After Abram becomes Abraham, god uses him as a prophet before other men. Once Abraham begins to walk with God daily, god uses him to speak to kings and to nations. As we wrap up today, the four things that the calling of Abraham teach us about leadership and God's calling are 1. Godly leaders can come from any background. 2. God's eternal promises to his church rest on him, not on us. 3. Godly leaders can be called at any age, even 99. And four godly leaders are to have the quality of being blameless, walking daily with God and living repentant lives. As we continue to consider God's calling to leaders throughout history and to his church, god's calling to leaders throughout history and to his church, let us recognize that it is through the power of Christ that we can be blameless and leaders in the church are to walk with him every day. God bless you this week.