The Bringing of Abraham - 7/1/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to the podcast of Meadows

Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. We're so glad you joined us

today. If you enjoy today's message, be

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with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

Um, we looked last time, it's been a few

weeks, um, but we looked there, uh,

concerning

Lot in Genesis 13 and, uh, talked about

Abram's, uh, brother in the text and

dealt with Lot there the first time.

We're going to finish up with Lot. And I

want to talk mainly about Abram tonight

if we could. verse number we'll begin

reading verse number 11 just to refresh

our memory tonight and uh try if I if I

may uh to draw some parallels here in

the text and I think it's interesting

that we've come to this text um being

this weekend's coming up um the 250th

year of America and I see I see a lot of

parallels in this text between uh Abram

and our founding fathers and I thank God

for that. Amen. um I see some things um

that are definitely um drawn connections

in the text and so I'm very interested

in that and so I want to look verse

number 11 tonight and we'll begin

reading there and read down through uh

the end of the chapter Genesis 13:1

Genesis 13:1

then Lot chose him all the plain of

Jordan and Lot journeyed east and they

separated themselves the one from the

other Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan

and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain

and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But

the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners

before the Lord exceedingly. And the

Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was

separated from him, "Lift up now thine

eyes, and look from the place where thou

art, northward, and southward, and

eastward, and westward. For all the land

which thou seeest to thee will I give

it, and to thy seed forever. and I will

make thy seed as the dust of the earth,

so that if a man can number the dust of

the earth, then shall thy seed also be

numbered. Arise, walk through the land

in the length of it, and in the breadth

of it, for I will give it unto thee."

Then Abram removed his tent, and came

and dwelt in the plain of Mamry, which

is in Eron, and built there an altar

unto the Lord. Father, I want to ask you

once again, please tonight, that you

would help us. Lord, I thank you so very

much for the privilege that you've given

me to come and share the word of God one

more time with these precious people.

And Lord, I ask humbly that you would

help me tonight. God, give me liberty

and wisdom uh to share the word of God

and to uh draw these connections, Lord.

But more than anything, God, I just want

to do right by the word of God. And so,

help us to rightly divide it and uh be

pleasing unto you, Lord. We sure love

you. Thank you for loving us. Thank you

for this place on the side of the road

God that you put here many many years

ago Lord we celebrated 65 years this

year and we thank you for that God thank

you for putting this place here place we

can come learn your word and worship you

and I give you praise for that help us

now we ask in Jesus name amen Genesis 13

to get us back up to speed I want to

refresh our memory concerning the

location of where Abram is found in this

text according to verse number three of

Genesis 13, the Bible says that he went

on his journeys from the south, that is

um from Egypt, even to Bethl unto the

place where his tent had been at the

beginning between Bethl and Hi. And so

Abram in the text has journeyed back

again from Egypt. And we studied there

last time about Lot. We dealt with um

the choice that was given unto Lot, the

contingency that was expressed, the

consoling that Abram did in verse number

eight. And we talked about Lot's final

choice in verse number 11. And uh we

said all of that about where Lot was.

And I want to say this, I didn't really

say a whole lot about this last time,

but you understand that Lot made this

decision when he was in the presence of

God. You say, "How is that?" Well,

according to verse number three, the

Bible says that he went on his journeys

from the south, even to Bethl. And so,

Bethl's what? That's the the house of

God. Amen. And so, Lot made his decision

to walk away from Abram at the house of

God. And isn't it amazing? Sometimes the

worst decisions are made down at the

church house.

>> People make very foolish decisions. And

you say, "Why is that?" Well, it's

because they've come to a crossroads and

they either going to have to get right

or they going to walk away. Amen. And

so, I've seen a lot down through my

short day of ministry decide make the

wrong decision uh even in spite of being

in the presence of God and around those

that love God. And I notice in this text

verse 11, we we talked about that

choice. It was final. Lot chose him all

the plain of Jordan. And we emphasize

the fact that the next time Lot would

leave that place is when it was

literally burning with fire. Lot would

leave. He would leave his two daughters

and sons-in-law behind. And evidently,

he had some sons that were there, at

least two sons that he would leave

behind in Sodom and Gomorrah. And he

would walk out with two of his daughters

and his wife. But he would lose his wife

because she would turn into a pillar of

salt because she looked behind her. What

I'm saying is is sometimes the decisions

you make, well, let's just be real about

it. The repercussions are a long long

time down the road. Amen. And so, uh, we

we talked about that being the final

choice, but I want to pick up tonight

and I want you to notice the contrast

that's mentioned. Now, really, this is a

summary. I want to remind you that

Genesis is a record that Moses pinned by

inspiration of the Holy Ghost. And so,

notice what the Bible said in verse 12.

Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan and

Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and

pitched his tent towards Sodom. So there

first of all tonight I want us to notice

the contrast. We dealt with the choice

there on last time but notice the

contrast that the Holy Ghost paints for

us in verse 12. He labels in verse

number 12 number one that Abram dwelt in

the land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the

cities of the plain. So I see three

things here in verse 12 and verse 13

about the contrast. I would say number

one when you think about the dwelling

and that is what is being contrasted in

verse number 12 where Abram is dwelling

and where Lot is dwelling. Number one I

would say the size is a contrast. You

say what do you mean? Well notice it

again in verse 12. Abram dwelled in the

land of Canaan. So what do we know is

the land of Canaan? Well, that's the

whole area. You think about um the west

side, westward of Jordan there, that

promised land that God gave to them and

east east side of Jordan, he gave to

them. And uh and so he gave them all of

that. And when you think about the land

of Canaan, that is encompassing the

entirety of that promised land. And

remember, this is Moses writing in

retrospect about this, giving us the

history of this, that Abram dwelt in the

entirety of the land. I'll say more

about that in a minute. But Lot's

location, the size of where he dwelt was

was smaller. You notice at verse 12 that

Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain. So

Abram has the entirety of the promised

land to himself that he is dwelling in.

He is walking through it. We'll say more

about that in a minute. But Lot chooses

to confine himself to these cities of

the plain there in verse number 12. And

so I I thought about this as well. Not

only the size is contrasted because

Abram has a lot more real estate here

that he is dwelling in as he is passing

through this land uh than Lot does, but

also the sort of the of the dwelling is

different. You say, "What do you mean?"

Well, verse 12, it says that Abram dwelt

in the land of Canaan. So there's

there's basically what this means is is

that Abram is dwelling uh in a way

that's really like you know we would

compare it to uh the camper lifestyle.

That's what a lot of people are living

in America now. That's what some of

y'all would like to Amen. Get you in a

camper and just ride around all year uh

every year and just find yourself in a

different place every month. That's

basically what Abram's doing in this

text. Now that's by the will of God. Let

me say that. It ain't the will of God

for you to do that. All right, y'all

laugh a little bit. Lighten up some.

Okay. But uh he's dwelling in different

locations. But you notice the

description of where Lot's dwelling.

Verse 12, notice it. Lot dwelt in the

what? Cities of the plain. Now, you

going to be hardpressed cuz I thought

about it today. I couldn't I couldn't

think of a single instance other than

the city of Jerusalem anywhere in the

scripture where city is a positive

thing.

I think about Revelation and about the

holy city. But when you think about

city, the first time that city is

mentioned, it's mentioned about one of

Cain's children by the name of Lame. And

he built a city. He had two wives. Amen.

And he built a city for himself. Amen.

And uh that was a very wicked place.

Cain's children, they were wicked. And

so when I when I think about city this

automatically and and putting aside

everything that we know about Lot and

his future, just think about this. This

is already a vast difference. Abram is

dwelling just with his family and just

with his children. But what's Lot doing?

He's going to go join himself up with a

lot of other people. Notice the text

again. The contrast is size. The

contrast is sort. But I want to tie it

together with this. All right. This is

what makes the difference. There's a

great contrast of the sin of these

dwellings. You say, "What do you mean?"

Well, we know Abram was not without sin.

Amen. His life was not without failures

and he's going to make mistakes from

this point on. But when you think about

what is labeled in verse number 12, it

says that Lot dwelt in the cities of the

plain. And the first thing that's

mentioned about his dwelling there is

what? That he pitched his tent toward

Sodom. You know what that word toward

means? It doesn't mean that Lot was as

far off was was far off from Sodom. All

right? It doesn't mean that Lot was he

pitched his tent, you know, 50 75 miles

in the distance where he could just see

the distant reflection of Sodom. It

didn't mean that he was looking toward

Sodom. What that means is that word

toward, you look up in its etmology, it

means as far as that Lot pitched his

tent as far as Sodom. So, you know what

Lot's doing? He is trying to live the

tent lifestyle that his father Abraham

taught him, but he's trying to do it

with the world.

Man, I'm telling you, you seeing this?

>> You can't live the pilgrim Christian

life in the world.

>> That's right.

>> Amen.

>> Amen. And that's what Lot's trying to

do. What you're going to find is is Lot

gives up his tent later on. We'll get to

that story later on because he's not

just dwelling in a tent at the city, but

he's dwelling in a house in the city

>> and he's part of the government and all

of that. You know that's coming in yet

future. Amen. But he is related to this

sin. You say, "How is that?" Notice

verse 13. What's the first word? But but

but the men of Sodom were wicked and

sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

Now, the Holy Ghost interjects that in

this text to to further solidify the

contrast of where Abram's dwelling and

where Lot's dwelling. I can tell you a

lot about your life by the people that

you yoke up with.

>> That's right.

>> Amen. You look at who your best friends

are in this life and I can tell you a

lot about where you're headed. Amen.

because that's the truth is tonight.

You've heard it said many times, you are

or soon will be who and what your

friends are. And so Lot here, the

contrast is seen in their dwelling. And

and that's enough of the negativity. I

want to talk tonight about Abram. All

right, we've we've illustrated Lot and

his terrible choice. We'll see that

later on again. It's going to show up in

the next chapter. So let's talk tonight

not just about the contrast but out of

this contrast there leads to be a

special time of communion in the text.

Verse 14. And the Lord said unto Abram

after that Lot was separated from him.

Lift up now thine eyes and look from the

place where thou art northward and

southward and eastward and westward. For

all the land which thou seeest to thee

will I give it and to thy seed forever.

So we go, the scripture goes from

telling, revealing to us the contrast of

their dwelling to speaking about the

communion that Abram has with the the

divine in the text for save literation,

but the communion that he has with the

Lord in verse 14. And and I want to

emphasize a few things about this

because it it paints to us the picture

really of our own personal

sanctification. And the first

requirement, all right, when you think

about communing with the Lord, what is

the first requirement? Well, notice what

the Bible said. What is the first thing

verse 14 says? And the Lord said unto

Abram, what's those next five words,

church? After that, Lot was separated

from him.

So, I would say this tonight. Number

one, when we think about this communion,

first of all, there must be separation.

All right? And I've preached this this

church and preached this here and

preached this. I've preached this out

there and preached it here. Separation

is the first requirement.

>> Amen.

>> Now, you cannot

divorce yourself from the world. All

right. But you can divorce yourself from

the world's influence.

>> That's right.

>> Amen. God, he or Jesus prayed John 17.

He said, "I pray thee, father, that thou

wouldn't take them out of the world, but

you'd keep them from the evil." That's

what he said when he was praying for his

disciples. He said, "I've called them

out, but don't take them from the world

because the world needs their light."

But the Bible tells us in verse 14 that

Lot, the Lord said unto Abram, and it

was only on the on this term, the

contingency was after that Lot was

separated from him. Now, I want you to

think about this. All right? What has

Abram done in this chapter? Well,

chapter 13, the Bible says, verse three,

he went to Bethlehe, went to Ai, verse

four, under the place of the altar which

he had made there at the first. And

there Abram called on the name of the

Lord. So Abram's already been talking to

God. But you have no record of God

speaking to Abram again until verse

number 14, until Lot was out of the way.

You know what Lot's a picture of? He's a

picture of the flesh. Amen.

>> There must be a separation

from your flesh. And the Lord said unto

Abram after

after and only after that Lot was

separated from him. You say, preacher,

well, what's the what's what is the

ready illustration of the text? What is

the interpretation of the text? Well, it

goes back to chapter 12 and verse number

one when he said, "Get thee out of thy

country and from thy kindred and from

thy father's house." Lot was the last

one for that to ultimately be completed

what God told him to do at the

beginning. Lot had to be removed. And

isn't it interesting that God speaks to

him when Lot is removed? It's not that

it's just after, but it's exactly when.

Notice that. And the Lord said unto

Abram after that Lot was separated from

him, let me ask you something. Said,

"Preacher, man, it's been a long time

since I've heard from God. What what are

you what are you failing to obey him?

>> What is he ask? What is the next step he

is wanting you to take?" You see,

communion, it must begin. If communion

is to take place, there must be

separation. That separation must be from

your flesh. And you say, "Well, I I'm

separated from my my flesh, preacher. I

I died to my flesh." But what what

relationship is it in your life that you

need to sever? Because that was the

problem with with Abram in the text.

There was a relationship that he had to

sever. You say, "Preacher, how do I know

when I have to sever my relationship?"

How do I know when a relationship gets

to a point that it has to be severed?

When God in your heart speaks to you and

reveals to you that that other soul is

not going to come to the terms of

righteousness that you're trying to live

by, you say, "What do you mean?" God

knew that Lot was never going to get

right.

You think about that. Abram didn't know

that. But God in his providence brought

them to a place in this text that there

was a strife between the herdmen because

God knew, Amen. God knew that Abram and

Lot was never going to get along. Abram

was never going to be spiritual as long

as Lot would never be spiritual.

And so God had to remove Lot. And let me

say this tonight. This relationship was

severed because God severed it. Um and

and I think about this specifically.

Abram could have obeyed at the beginning

when there was no attachment. All right?

Let me say this. All right? Some things

if we just obey at the start, we won't

have to endure a situation later.

>> You get what I'm saying? If Abram had

have just left them at the beginning,

well, there would have been no problem

because Lot would have been left behind.

He would have never probably went into

Egypt. There's a lot of things that

would have been different if Abram had

done from the start what he was supposed

to do. But here's what had to happen.

God had to sever the relationship.

>> And some of you tonight have through

your life, you have watched God se have

to sever things off from your life

because you didn't do it when he told

you to a long time ago.

>> Hope that makes sense. Verse 14. After

that Lot was separated from him, I want

you to notice this. I love this. Okay.

Lift up now thine eyes. Lift up now

thine eyes. You say, "Preacher, what's

special about that?" Well, I want you to

notice who else just did that. Notice

verse 10. And Lot lifted up his eyes and

beheld all the plain of Jordan that it

was well watered everywhere. You know

what the difference between Abram and

Lot is in this text? You see, they are

both com they are both doing the same

thing. But the difference is is that God

told Abram to lift up his eyes. Lot was

acting on the will of man. When Lot

lifted up his eyes, he was in the flesh

looking out over that plain of Jordan,

desiring that prosperous land to raise

his cattle and to be prosperous and and

uh his business of cattle and the

herdman there. He wanted it to be

blessed. And so when he lifted up his

eyes, he was looking for his own

benefit. But Abram never lifted up his

eyes until God told him to. You say,

"What does that mean?" Well, when

there's communion, there must be

separation. And that's a prerequisite

from the flesh. But second of all, in

communion, there must be sight.

What is that sight? Well, it's faith.

Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11, now

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

faith is the substance of things hoped

for, the evidence of things what? Not

seen. You know what? Just because you

can't see it don't mean you don't need

to be looking at it.

>> There's a person that I've never seen

yet, but he saved me.

>> That's right. And every day of my life,

not with the fleshly eye, but with the

spiritual eye, I'm trying to behold him

who is invisible. And how is that? Well,

we look to his word. But what I what I

want to emphasize is is that Abram only

communed with God when God instructed

him to do so. Notice that after that Lot

was separated from him, the Lord said

unto him, "Lift up now thine eyes and

look." You know what our problem is?

We're always looking for oursel. Amen.

>> We ain't wait wait wait wait waited on

God to tell us to look. Amen. That was

something I had to learn as a young man.

Dad told me this as a young man. He

said, "What you need to do right now is

these these early years while you've got

the desire in you to look for a mate, to

look for a girlfriend, you know, and all

of that stuff." He said, "What you need

to do is you need to close your eyes.

And when God brings the right one by,

you need to listen to him because he'll

tell you to open them."

And I watched that happen.

>> And thank God for that. I'm thankful

that I'm not having to deal with

repercussions of decisions that I made

as far as opening my eyes too early and

desiring to see things that I should not

have beheld. Abram was blessed because

he opened his eyes when God told him to

open them. He said, "Lift up now thine

eyes." Look what the Bible says. and

look from the place where there are

northward and southward and eastward and

westward.

Now we see in this the the principle

communion that there must be separation,

there must be sight and and I said that

I I see in this our country. You think

about the reason that our forefathers

journeyed from England over over the

great sea to where we are and those

pilgrims what they did when they came to

this land. What were they desiring? And

they were desiring a place where they

could freely worship God. And God called

Abram out of the counties to do what? To

go to a place where he could freely

worship God and begin a nation of people

that would be God's chosen people. Amen.

And so in this text, I noticed not only

the separation for communion and the

sight in communion, but I noticed the

security of communion. What is that?

Well, it's the fields that he saw. Look

at this. And he said, "Lift up now thine

eyes, and look from the place where

there art, northward, and southward, and

eastward, and westward. For all the land

which thou seeest, to thee will I give

it, and to thy seed forever." Now, who's

speaking here?

This is God. You know what this is? This

is a covenant.

This is a promise. You read my mind,

brother?

>> I'll pay you after a while. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Seriously, that's a

blessing.

But this security is seen in these

fields. Now, it's given to him. You

notice the the area that's used

northward, southward, eastward, and

westward. And so, there is a

completeness in this security. I want to

say this verse number 15. There's a

covenant in this security. For all the

land which thou seeest, to thee will I

give it. Now, God is the one that's in

doing this to him. And you notice

there's a continual nature to this uh

security in verse 15. And to thy seed

for ever. So this thing, this is a big

deal. You say, "Preacher, what's so big

about this?" Well, you think about what

Abram could see. One writer said this. I

thought this was interesting. Abram in

this text could also see the place where

Lot was dwelling.

I want you to think about something with

me for just a minute. Lot less than

probably 50 years after this, the cities

that Lot are dwelling in are going to be

burned alive. There's going to be

nothing left of them. And you know what?

In this text, when the God tells Abram,

all right, you look all around,

northward, south, southward, eastward,

westward, you look at all of it. You

know what he saw in that pl that field

of vision? He saw the plain of Jordan.

He saw the place where Lot was dwelling.

He saw those cities. He saw those people

because that was where God said, "I'm

going to give it to you." You think

about this. Lot chose what he wanted and

it was small. I wrote this down in my

Bible. You see, Lot wanted a place and

got a lot of people. Abram wanted the

person and got a whole lot of places.

You say, "What was the difference?"

Well, when Lot, he desired that field

because it was well watered everywhere.

But you know what? When he went there,

you know what he had to deal with? He

had to deal with all them people. You

see, Abram, all he wanted was the Lord.

And God looks at him and says, "All

right, as far as you can see that way,

as far as you can see behind you, beside

of you, and on the other side, I'm going

to give it to you." So, you know what

that included? That included where Lot

was dwelling.

Do you realize that Abram would inherit

the very city that Lot thought he was

choosing for himself?

>> You know, isn't that the ignorance of

our flesh?

>> When we choose something in our flesh,

we think, "This is all that I need." But

God is saying, "I want to give you so

much more

>> than that."

>> You say, "How how can you picture that?"

that. Well, there's there's a thousand

ways I can picture that, but I think the

most read ready readily image of this is

found in um 2 Samuel

and it's found in David's message

to Nathan,

2 Samuel chapter number 12.

Listen to what Nathan says to David.

Verse number seven or verse number

eight. I gave thee thy master's house

and thy master's wives. David has just

sinned with Ba Sheeba. Nathan's rebuking

him. He's told him the story of the rich

man, the poor man, and the traveler, and

the little lamb. Verse eight, he said,

"I gave thy master's house, thy master's

wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the

house of Israel and of Judah." And

listen to this statement. "And if that

had been too little, I would moreover

have given unto thee such and such

things."

God looks at David and says, "Look, all

that I've given you, I was going to give

you a whole lot more than that. But you

picked out what you wanted, you went

after it." You know, that's what Lot did

in this text. He decided he was going to

go after what he wanted. And when he got

what he wanted, he wasn't able to keep

it.

But Abram got to have all of it.

Let me ask you something. You say,

"Preacher, what's the difference?" Well,

it's what it's what are you willing to

be content with? You see, Abram, all he

wanted was the Lord. Amen.

>> He just wanted what the Lord had to

give. And you know what? God gave him

everything. But Lot, he wanted that

place. And he got the place, but he

didn't get to keep it.

Notice this in the text. This security

was promised to him upon this time of

communion. You know, the reason why a

lot of people call themselves Christians

and yet they have nothing that Christian

ye Christian faith yields to a believer

is because they've never been in

communion.

You you get around God and you get in

communion with him, you're going to have

some things that other people don't know

nothing about.

>> You're going to know some things that

other people don't know. You're going to

be somebody that other people cannot and

will not be APART FROM COMMUNION WITH

GOD. THERE'S A DIFFERENCE. There's a

clear distinction between those that are

content and satisfied with God alone

than those that just are wanting to feel

their flesh. You notice this security is

seen. The security of this communion is

expressed in verse 15. He said, "I will

give it to thee and to thy seed

forever." It's a promise. Verse 16,

notice the seed here that's mentioned.

That is the family that's expressed in

this communion. and I will make thy seed

as the dust of the earth, so that if a

man can number the dust of the earth,

then shall thy seed also be numbered.

And so he is promising Abraham here a

seed. Now we know that Israel would

proceed through the loins of Isaac his

son. But we know more so than the seed

of seed of his family, there would be

the seed of faith that Abram would be

the father of faith to all that believe.

In one of these days we will all be we

are the children of Christ but we are

the children of Abraham by faith and we

are expressed as the family of God. And

he says he said I will make thy seed as

the dust of the earth. You know where he

got that promise in communion with God.

It was in a time of communion after

there was separation, after there was

that side of faith, after he revealed to

him the security of the place where he

should be, then he got to see the

blessing of the seed that would follow

him. You know, I don't want to ever stop

short in my communion of where God wants

what what God wants me to have. I think

we get satisfied sometimes. And I I'll

be real honest with you. I think that

for myself, and I can say this

truthfully tonight, I think for myself,

a lot of times I get satisfied when I

get to that first point. You say, "What

do you mean that separation?" Because

you know what? There is nothing more

relieving to me than having this flesh

put off.

When it's dead, when it's put aside,

when it's out of the way, I'm thinking,

Lord, just thank you for thank you for

getting that burden off of me for today.

But you know what? That's that's really

he he's that's just the start. That's

what it requires to get in fellowship

with him. He wants to give me something.

He wants to bless me. He wants to to to

speak peaceibly unto me concerning my

future. But so many times I stopped

short of that because I'm satisfied. But

I'm thankful that Abram didn't speak up.

But he stopped and listened. He stayed

in the presence of God in Bethl. He's

still in Bethl. And the Bible tells us

that after this communion, there is a

command that is given. Verse number 17,

the Bible says, "Arise." Notice that,

"Arise, walk through the land in the

length of it and in the breadth of it,

for I will give it unto thee." And the

Bible says, "Then Abram removed his tent

and came and dwelt in the plain of

Mamry, which is in Hebron, and built

there an altar unto the Lord." And so

the order is given in verse 17, "to

walk." Notice that walk through the

land. You know what our Christian life

is? Paul tells us to work out our

salvation in fear and trembling. The

Christian life is a daily walk with the

Lord. And as it's expressed here, Abram

would live in this land, not ever

settling down, but having a continual

moving dwelling place. You know, I don't

want to drive my tent pegs in this world

deep

>> because you know what? Tomorrow I may

have to pull them up

>> because you know what? where God's voice

is. That's where home is.

>> Amen.

>> It's not a physical location. It's not

an address. God has a place for all of

us. Amen. And we're not to put our tent

pegs, not to drive our stakes down in

this world. You say, "What do you mean?

I'm saying you ought not put your faith

in your job."

>> Amen. As much as I love my little bride

over there in my family, I can't put my

faith in them.

>> I'll be honest with you. I don't think

that she I I don't believe that she'll

ever leave me. And I've got as much

confidence more confidence in her than

any person on this world. But I'll tell

you this, the flesh that she's robed in,

Amen. that can decay and death can come

at any point in time. I'm saying people

who would have never left you otherwise

because of sickness and illness. Many

times they leave us prematurely. What

are you saying, preacher? I'm saying we

cannot completely depend on anybody or

anything else.

>> Our dependence is upon the Lord and that

is it.

>> He is the one that gives us our command

and we are to walk to him for him

through him.

Notice this. Arise. There's the command

to walk. Then there is notice notice the

the will that he gives in verse 17. I I

love the imagery of this. Look what he

says. Walk through the land in the

length of it and in the breadth of it.

Now, what do we know about surface area?

It's measured by length multiplied by

height or width, whichever one it is.

And so, when God says you arise and walk

through the length of it and the breadth

of it, you know what he's telling him?

You need to go over it all.

You need to cover it all. What is that?

Well, the command is to walk, but you

see here, he reveals the word. There's a

distance that we're commanded to go. You

know what that is? That's all the way.

When I preach to you the word of God,

what did Paul say? He said, we're to

preach the whole council. That's

everything. That's the entirety. And you

know what? For the will of God in our

life, for God to be pleased with us,

it's not that we check all the boxes,

but that we do everything that God has

told us to do.

You need to walk through it in the

length of it and the breadth of it. It's

a complete walk to fulfill Jesus when he

came to this earth. John spoke to him

when he was there. Matthew chapter 3, he

Matthew 3 · chapter mention

said, you know, Lord, I have need to be

baptized of thee. And Jesus looked at

him and said, suffer it to be so now,

for thus it becometh us to fulfill all

righteousness.

Jesus said, "My meat is to do the will

of him that sent me and to finish his

work." You know what that is? That's

completeness. That's entirety. That's

covering all of the ground. Let me ask

you something. How much ground is God

wanting you to cover? All right? Only

you in your heart know that. Let me ask

you this, too. How much of it have you

covered?

You say, "Preacher, I don't really

know." Well, I can tell you a good place

to start.

You see, this is the ground we're called

to cover.

Genesis 1 to Revelation 22.

You think about this land. What is this

land represent? It's a land of victory.

What is God saying, Abram? You're going

to have to travel. You're going to have

to walk if you're going to know all the

victory that I have for you.

You know, when we get defeated, it's

when we stop walking.

Notice this. He said, 'I walk through

the land and the length of it and the

breadth of it, notice it again, for I

will give it unto thee. You know what

the tragedy of most Christian lives are?

Is that God has given them everything.

Are you listening to me? But most

Christians will never cover even half of

the ground that God has rightly given to

them.

God has given you the vast expanse of

land that Canaan is. All of the victory

that you want. How much of it have you

seen for yourself?

How much victory do you know?

You say, "Preacher, well, Canaan's a

land of hills and valleys." Well, I'll

say this. You got to go through it all.

Lot wanted that plane where everything's

flat and pretty. But you know what? fire

came there.

I'll say this all and and and and I I'll

be done tonight. We see the order in

verse 17. There is the obedience in

verse number 18. Then Abram removed his

tent and came and dwelt in the plain of

Mamry which is in Hebron and built there

an altar of the Lord. So he comes to

Hebron. This would be the place where

David would reign at the first there in

Hebbr before he would go and reign in

Jerusalem. And that word Hebr means

association.

This is a place where it's marked that

this land would be given to Abram. You

know, I thought about this when we look

at this picture as a whole of what God

has done for Abram in this text. I think

I didn't even title the message tonight,

but the title of it is this is is the

bringing of Abraham. What has God

brought him to? Well, he got Lot out of

the way. And God has brought Abram to

the land of Canaan. And now Abram's

getting to see the full beauty of it.

Abram is getting to behold everything

that God wanted him to see. And I

thought about this. Lot wanted just a

piece, but Abram wanted it all.

The difference in your life and mine is

is how much of it do you want?

You say, "Preacher, well, I don't know

how I don't know what all I'm supposed

to want." Well, here's the thing about

it. I don't neither. But you know what

my response to the Lord is every day?

Lord, I want everything that you have

for me

today.

What you need from me today is what I

want to give to you. Nothing more and

nothing less. I don't want to go beyond

you, but I certainly don't want to get

behind you. And Abram in this text, his

obedience is expressed. Then Abram

removed his tent. And I want to say

this, Abram lived his life in the tent.

He never put his stakes down. He

continually was moving about. Why is

that? Because God was moving him.

I want to say this.

We often times equate somebody staying

in a in a place for a long time to

spiritual strength and stability. But

you know what? I think sometimes the

people that really recognize the pilgrim

life are the ones that are moving.

I'm not talking about your marriage. I'm

not talking about your church, but I'm

talking about those that are going

forward with God and their lives are

changing.

>> I wouldn't want my life to be the same

forever. Would you?

>> I want it to constantly be moving

because you know what moving is? That's

growth.

>> Amen. It's growth. Now, I'll say this.

Not all movement's good. We know that. I

mean, we know that. You've got enough

sense to know that. But I'll say this.

The most spiritual people that I know

are moving. They're going somewhere.

Where are we headed, church?

We're headed home. Number one.

>> I'll say this. Number two, we ought to

be headed in the direction where God is.

>> Wherever he's found, that's where we

ought to find oursel. Amen. So, God's

brought Abram in this text here, I

believe, to a fullness of what Canaan

is. Now verse chapter 14 is going to

open up to us the story of the war of

these nations that are present in

Canaan. We're going to study about that

looking next. Abram's going to bring

deliverance unto his nephew once again,

but it is not going to cause him to get

out of Canaan land. And uh

I want to say this to you tonight.

Deliverance when we think about what God

did for Abram in this text. Abram was

delivered out of the Caldes. He's been

brought in to the land of promise. He

goes back to Egypt. He's been brought

out again. And what we find in chapter

14 is Abram is going to rescue Lot again

from suffering because of his sinful

choices. I want to say this, your life,

there's going to be periods in it where,

well, for lack of a better way to put

it, you sort of relapse. Now, to the

extent of how far back you go, Amen. And

that's going to be determined by your

spirituality. But I'll say this. The

Bible tells us a just man fallth seven

times, but he riseth up again. Here's

what you need to know about that. It

your spirituality is going to be

determined by how long you stay down and

how quick you get back up.

Let me say this. Wherever you at, if

you're depressed, if you're down, get

up. Don't lay in that. Get back to

victory. Because you know what? There's

a lot more of that land that he's

promised to you that he wants you to

see. And the longer you lay outside, you

know what you're going to do? You're

going to miss a day and opportunity to

see more of that place that God's

promised to you. Amen. Father, thank you

for this time tonight. Lord, I thank you

for where you've brought us from, but

Lord, I thank you more importantly from

where you brought us to. And uh Lord,

I'm glad I'm not going to hell, but

Lord, I'm a whole lot more glad that I'm

going to heaven. And Lord, you've got a

journey for me to take. And Lord, I pray

that you would help me, Lord, this

convicts me to know that I'm going to

have to uh Lord, even days ahead,

Father, to decide uh God, what it's

going to take so I can see all of that

land that you have for me. And uh Lord,

I pray that you would give us wisdom in

each of these hearts here. I pray you

give them wisdom, Lord, to uh see the

vast expanse of victory that you have

laid up for them. And uh Lord, not to

just be satisfied with uh the mundane,

but God, to desire the supernatural and

to desire the victory, Lord, that you've

promised them. And Lord, I'm thankful

that we have victory in spite of our

circumstances. I'm thankful that we have

victory in spite, Lord, of everything

and everybody around us, Lord. You

promised it to us, and we praise you for

that. Help us to live there and trust

you and uh be who you're be who we're

supposed to be. Lord, I love you. Bless

our choir practice tonight. We sure to

thank you for what you do. We ask it all

in Jesus name. Amen.

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

We'd love it if you join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988

Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina. Our service times are Sunday

school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning

worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening

worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday

evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more

information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.