The Building of Abraham - 5/27/26 - 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

sure to subscribe, follow, and share

with your friends. Now, let's join

Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from

God.

Genesis chapter 12 tonight.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 12. We'll begin reading

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

in verse number four

tonight.

Two messages here in the life of

Abraham. This will be our third this

evening. And uh just praying what the

Lord would have us to do. Series is

good, but series without God is just a

waste of breath. And so, um, I just want

to follow him. Um, but I do believe he's

led us back here again this evening. So,

let's look in verse 4 of Genesis 12

tonight. The Bible says, "So, Ab Abram

departed as the Lord had spoken unto

him, and Lot went with him. And Abram

was 705 years old when he departed out

of Haran. And Abram took Sarah his wife,

and Lot his brother's son, and all their

substance that they had gathered, and

the souls that they had gotten in Haran,

and they went forth to go into the land

of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan

they came. And Abram passed through the

land under the place of Sycam, unto the

plain of Mora. And the Canaanite was

then in the land. The Lord appeared unto

Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I

give this land. And there builded he an

altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto

him. And he removed from thence unto a

mountain on the east of Bethl, and

pitched his tent, having Bethl on the

west, and Ai on the east. And there he

builded an altar unto the Lord, and

called upon the name of the Lord. And

Abram journeyed, going on still toward

the south. Father, I ask you humbly

tonight that you would help us. That I

realize, Father, Lord, that once more, I

have nothing to say if you do not speak

through me. And Lord, I pray that you

would hide the ignorance of my youth.

And Lord, allow me to speak with the

tongue of the learn tonight. Lord, give

me liberty and give me uncction. God, I

pray that you would fill me with the

spirit of God. And Lord, I pray, Father,

Lord, for each person that's here

tonight, God, that you would bless and

touch every life as a result of this

time. May we take your word and apply it

to our hearts and lives. And Lord, may

we live what we read out in shoe leather

these days. God, I thank you for this

church. Please bless each one that's

here. And we'll thank you for it because

we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Genesis

12. Of course, we have studied the life

of Abram up to this point in the text.

We have considered uh the beginning of

Abraham. We've considered the

blessedness of Abraham. And if you want

to alliterate it, you can call tonight's

sermon the building of Abraham. But I

just want to look at the text tonight

and simply give you uh what the Lord has

put on my heart this evening. And uh we

noted here concerning the blessedness of

Abraham on last week that it was only

found when Abram stepped out in faith.

And I'm reminded of this fact in my life

and yours that we will never experience

God's blessing in our life until we just

simply obey. And it just seems like

that's been the thought that the Lord

has driven home in every one of these

sermons. It's been the the beginning and

the ending of all of these messages

really. And I want you to notice in the

text tonight, the Bible tells us that

Abram left Haran there in verse number

four when he was 75 years old. Lot is

with him. And the Bible says in verse 5

that he took Sarah, his wife, Lot, his

brother's son, and all their substance

that they had gathered, and the souls

that they had gotten in Haran, and they

went forth to go into the land of

Canaan, and into the land of Canaan,

they came. And so Abram here in the

text, he is finally obeying God. He is

finally doing what God had asked him to

do. But what I find is interesting in

this text, and you could look at it one

of two different ways. I'm going to

choose to look at it in one manner, is

Abram is still hindered in this text.

And you say, "What do you mean by that?"

Well, I notice in verse number five,

four five four things that I want to put

on your heart by way of introduction.

And I don't want you to miss these

thoughts this evening. The Bible says

there in the text that he gathers his

family. Now, it mentions Sarah, his

wife, and Lot, his brother's son. And

so, his family is found there in verse

number five. And then there's also a

fortune that's mentioned there in verse

number five. And all their substance,

their possessions, notice this, that

they had gathered. And then not only

there's his family, his fortune, and

then there is his followers or his

servants. The Bible says, "And the souls

that they had gotten in Haran, and they

went forth to go into the land of

Canaan, into the land of Canaan they

came." And and this thought has been

really just rolling around in my mind.

Abram leaves Haran in this text with a

lot of baggage. You say, "What do you

mean by that?" Well, notice what's said

there in the text. Now God highlights

everything that Abram has. And we know

that later on in Abram's life, it would

be considered a prosper prosperous

blessing. What Abram his blessing was

given to him. It was a land. It was

inheritance. It was a I I guess you

would say a possessional or a monetary

inheritance. But what I find in this

text is Abram's disobedience is

following him. You say, "What do you

mean by that?" Well, the Bible says that

these the souls that are mentioned, the

substance that's mentioned, and also

this son of of uh his brother here in

the text, Lot is mentioned. All of these

were gotten to Abraham in Haran. Now,

what do we know about Haran? Haran was a

place Abram was never supposed to be.

>> Right?

>> Amen. Abram picked up a whole lot of

baggage in Haran because he went to a

place that he was never supposed to go

in the first place.

>> I want to say this to you tonight. You

need to be careful where you spend your

life, what you invest your life in,

where you allow yourself or a husband or

a wife where husband where you allow

your wife to go, wife, where you allow

your children to go. You ought to be

careful where you find yourself because

Abram in this text picked up a lot of

baggage that he would not have had

otherwise.

And the Bible says here in the text that

his future is seen. In verse five, they

went forth to go into the land of

Canaan. And into the land of Canaan they

came. And so we're thankful that Abram

has made it out of where he was. He's

made it out of Haran. He's come into

Canaan land. But we know there's going

to be problems that go from this day

forward. And I don't want you to miss

tonight the truth that's found in this

text concerning the building of Abram.

But Abram's building is going to be

hindered in this text because of his

disobedience. But when Abram finally

leaves the place where he was never

supposed to be, the Bible says that into

the land of Canaan they came and Abram's

75 years old and he's finally getting

where God has desired for him to be. I

would I would hate to know that I waste

over half of my life

>> just trying to get to the place where I

know I was supposed to be anyway.

And that's what I'm convinced and I I

don't really the the rest of the message

is not this real tone, but just

something that's ringing in my heart

this evening is I'm convinced that 50 to

75% of Christian saved Bible believing

church people who are faithful, who love

God, will spend the majority of their

Christian life wasting it, wandering

around in a place they never should have

been. You're

>> right.

>> And so I want to exhort you tonight. If

God's telling you to go, get out and go.

I'm not talking about the church. I'm

saying and whatever he's telling you to

do, get out of that place and go where

he's telling you to be. Right?

>> You say, "What is that?" Well, it it

could be anything. You know in your

heart what that is tonight. And so I

notice in this text, you say, "Well,

preacher, if you're telling me that I've

got to go, what what what is the reason

why I should go?" Well, number one, God

told you you should go. You're

>> right. But number two, there's a lot of

things awaiting you over there that

you're not going to realize. You're not

going to be you're not going it's not

going to be revealed to you until you

get there.

And so in the text, I noticed the Bible

says in verse number six, look what your

Bible says. And Abram passed through the

land. He's finally come to the place

where God has desired for him to be. And

we know that the land of Canaan is still

Israel's ownership to this day. Can I

get an amen?

>> Right. That whole land belongs to Israel

and they're going to get it one of these

days regardless what Donald Trump or

Benjamin Netanyahu or anybody else has

to say about it. They will get their

entirety of their land. Amen. God shows

it to Abraham in Genesis chapter 13.

Genesis 13 · chapter mention

We'll look at that in the coming weeks.

But they will inherit that land. And I I

notice what's mentioned in this text.

The Bible says Abram passed through the

land into the place of Syikum unto the

plain of Moa. and the Canaanite was then

in the land. And I want to lay just a

few things I I guess if you uh numbered

them tonight, five things on your heart

concerning what you'll find when you

enter the land of Canaan, the place

where God desired for you to be. I

notice in this text and this is just a

simple simple uh thought directly out of

the verses tonight. I notice first of

all the first place Abram comes to when

he enters into the land of Canaan is a

place called syum. Now when you look up

that word syum in your Bible, it

translates to a city that many of us

would know well is called Sheckchum. And

Sheckchum all through the Old Testament

is mentioned as a place where the word

of God was heard. And I'm not going to

run references tonight because I don't

want to get ahead of myself, but I

simply want to give you the definition

tonight. And so what Abram found when he

entered into the land of Canaan, when he

got out of Haram and when he got to the

place he was finally supposed to be,

number one, I would say Abram found

instruction.

He found instruction. Now, what do I

mean by instruction? Well, the Bible

says he came, he passed through the land

unto the place of Sheckchum. Notice

this. Unto the plane of Mori of Mori.

And so this plane of Mori here in the

text, that word plane literally means a

tree. It's not talking about a piece of

land or a or a a parcel of ground or

even a large parcel of ground. What's

mentioned later on in the text when Lot

chose him all the plain of Jordan. It's

a different word. That word plain means

a tree. And that word mory in the text

means this. It means uh let me get this

get the definition up here. It's teach

it means a teacher or instruction. And

so when Abram come to the place of

Sheckchum here in the text, he come to

this tree in that place called Mory. And

this this tree represents instruction.

Now what's interesting to me in this

text is all the typology that's seen

here in the text. Now Abram has believed

God. He has left his father. He's left

his brethren in the Caldes. He left his

father in Haran. He's finally journeyed

to where God is wanting him to be. And

he gets to this place. And what's the

first thing he finds? A tree.

Now, there's no coincidence in that

tonight. What did Jesus tell his

disciples? Matthew 16:4. I'm just going

Matthew 16:4

to be real simple tonight because I

believe this is what we need. Amen. He

said this. Matthew 16:24, "If any man

Matthew 16:24

will come after me, let him deny

himself, take up his cross

>> and follow me." And the truth is, in all

of our lives, when you get to the place

where God wanted you to be, the first

thing you're going to find is a cross.

>> You're right.

>> You're going to find a tree. And what is

this tree represents? It represents

instruction. Now, I mentioned sheckchum

already, but here's what that word

psychum. Sheckchum means in the text it

means shoulder or strength. And so what

I'm finding here what the emphasis of

this text by application sense is Abram

came to this tree and it was a place of

teaching. It was a place of instruction

for him that did what? It gave him

strength. You're not going to find

strength in a church service in an

emotional heightened moment. You're not

going to find strength somewhere uh

having a a spell or on a creek bank or

even on an altar in such a sense as

having an experience. And experience is

not going to give you strength. You're

>> right.

>> Strength comes from instruction. And you

know where instruction comes from?

>> It comes from the word of God. You're

>> right.

>> Prayer functions. What does prayer

function off of? It functions based off

of the scripture. And so if you're

needing strength tonight, if you're

needing encouragement, that word

sheckchum literally means shoulder.

Abram found out when he left Haran, the

place where he was never supposed to be,

he would come to a place called

Sheckchum, the first place he came, and

the name of it means shoulder, he would

find a shoulder to lean on. He would

find strength that he did not have

before.

>> And now, let's be real honest tonight.

How many of you need a shoulder?

>> How many of you need some strength?

That's right.

>> Get out of her.

>> Get out of the place where God never

told you to be.

>> Right.

>> You say, "Preacher, how is that?" And I

keep going back to this because it's

just it's just on my heart right now.

You realize that Haran I did some more

studying on this today. You realize that

Haran between the Caes where Abraham

began, the Bible tells us that God spoke

to him there in Haran and then in the

Caldes and and so when God spoke to him

there, they left there and went to Iran.

Well, Haran is some 600 miles from the

Caldes. But you know how far Haran is

from Canaan's land from where God wanted

him to be? It's about 600 miles. And so,

you know what Abram did? He got halfway

>> and stopped.

You know what? I'm seeing that happen a

lot,

>> right?

>> I'm seeing people put one foot in

and the other one's out.

And here's the thing about the Christian

life. It don't work that way.

>> You're right.

>> You're either fully invested.

You say, "Preacher, well, I'll dab my

toes and what you'll find is you going

to fall off the back and drown." Amen.

on the other side

>> because a double-minded man's unstable

in all his ways. But when ca when when

Abram got to the place where he was

supposed to be, there was instruction.

Now, I know this tonight. We're all

looking for answers. We've got different

problems. We've got different

situations. We are in different places

and we're all looking for instruction,

but it's not going to be found until you

get out of the place where God never

wanted you to be. But when you get to

Canaan land, there will be instruction.

There will be strength. And it comes

through this teaching, this instruction,

this tree. It is your cross. Now, people

talk about a lot of times, you know, my

suffering. You know, well, it's my

cross. No, that's not the way that

works. A cross is something you had long

before your suffering. You're

>> right.

>> If you got saved, what you were called

to do the after you got saved, you were

saved to do what? Serve. Isn't that

right? And so, you know what? Since the

day you've got saved, you've had a cross

to bear, and that is obedience to

Christ.

>> You're right.

>> Amen. Now, there's a lot of things that

get hung on the cross.

There's a lot of things that you need to

hang on the cross.

>> You're right.

>> I'm not preaching this tonight, but I

just I don't know. I'm just trying to

mind the Lord. Okay? Just bear with me.

There's some things in your life that

unless you bring them to that place of

instruction and let them die there, you

know what it'll do? End up taking you

out.

>> You're right.

>> The strength comes through the

instruction that's given at the tree.

Notice this. You see, there's a lot of

things that happen at this tree. And you

say, "Preacher, is instruction the only

thing that happens here?" No. Look what

else takes place here in the text. The

Bible says there in verse number seven

or verse number six, "And Abram passed

through the land under the place of

Syakum under the plain of Mory. And the

Canaanite was then in the land." All

right. Now, you're probably going to be

able to identify a little more with

this. Okay? When you get to the place

where God wants you to be, there'll be

instruction. Well, let me just remind

you of something. There's going to be

some irritation.

>> You're right.

>> Look what your Bible says. And the

Canaanite was what? Then,

>> that's present tense. right now then in

the land. What was the Canaanite people

to Israel? They were a thorn in their

side,

>> right?

>> For all of history. And here's what you

got to realize that just because you're

out of har just because you are headed

to the place where God wants you to be.

You're finally getting there. You are

not free or exempt from struggles.

You're

>> right.

>> You're not exempt from the enemy. Matter

of fact, you're going to meet an enemy

that you never met before when you get

in that lane. You're right.

>> Because look what the Bible says there

in the text. The Canaanite was then

what's them last three words? In the

land. The Canaanites wasn't fought with

on the outside.

>> You're right.

>> You were dealing with yourself. Abram

was fighting with his family. When he

was in Haran, you know what he found

out? When he got over into where God

wanted him to be, then the enemies from

the outside started working in. When he

finally done what God told him to do,

then he realized there's another enemy

that he's going to have to deal with.

And let me say this to you, child of

God. Do not think, listen to me, do not

think that you're ever going to get to a

point in your life as a Christian that

you will not have an enemy.

>> You're right.

>> If you are saved, you have an enemy from

the moment that you were saved before

you were saved. From the moment you were

saved until the day of your death,

>> you're right.

>> You will have an enemy. You say,

"Preacher, but it's but but right now

I'm okay." Well, just beware. You may

not see him.

>> You're right.

You see, this text reveals to us that

when you get to where God wants you to

be, there will be some irritation. And

and the thing about is I think our

problem this day and time is we paint

the Christian life as some pretty rosy

picture that always works out perfectly.

But you know what happen? You know what

the problem with that is? There's people

we pray for that die loss without God.

>> Right?

>> There's people that we witness to that

don't come to church. There's people

that we try to help and try our best to

give them aid, but for some reason they

don't get right. You say, "Preacher,

THAT'S DOOM AND GLOOM." NO, IT'S THE

TRUTH,

>> RIGHT?

>> But that's not to affect you.

>> You see, Abram's present in the land was

not stringent on the Canaanites present

in the land.

>> They would always be present. You're

always going to have problems present in

your life, but you should not allow that

to kick you out of the land.

>> You're right.

>> Getting ahead of myself here, but what

happens just a few verses after this,

Abram goes through all this great

spiritual awakening in this text and

just literally less than six verses

away, Abram leaves the land because he

decides it's too bad there.

You got to stay in spite of the

irritation

there. And there will be, believe me,

irritations. Irritants. Amen. People.

Amen.

>> Right.

>> Some people I think their last names

irritation.

>> Amen.

I'm just being real tonight. They have

no concept of who God is or how God

works. And when you talk to them, you

might as well be talking to that pull

pit trying to talk spiritual sense into

them. And you know the reason why that

is? Number one, they probably not saved.

Number two, if they are, they ain't

never read enough Bible to know right

from wrong or up from down. Amen.

>> Right.

>> And the truth is, you know what that is?

That's a that's an enemy. Not the

person, but that mindset,

irritations.

There's instruction here. There's But

there is irritation here. And I'll say

this, all right? And I don't think I've

got any more negatives after this. The

Lord may change that, but we're going to

try to stay positive. Okay, notice verse

7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram,

said, "Unto thy seed will I give this

land." Now number three, we see not only

there's instruction, not only there's

irritation, but there is inspiration.

I don't know about you, but in these

days, I need something more than just a

a quote

on a Facebook post to encourage me.

>> Go ahead. I need something that's going

to give me some life. It's going to get

me from one day to the next. Here's what

I think's happened to us. We've become

so shallow, we've forgotten what it's

really like for God to move.

>> Amen.

>> Notice this. The Bible says, "And the

Lord appeared unto Abram." Now, you know

what had not happened since the day that

Abram was in the Caldes? God's not

spoken to him again.

Do you realize that God does not speak

to him while he's in her hand?

>> Right?

>> According to what Steven said in Acts

Acts 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7, Acts chapter 7:2, Steven said

God spoke to him when he was in

Mesopotamia. That was of the Caldes. God

didn't speak to him when he was in Iran.

But he gets to Canaan's land. Who shows

up?

God does. You know why? Because God was

there

>> waiting on him to get there.

>> Amen.

>> You say, "Preacher, well, God's always

with you." You know what I'm saying?

God, you know where you're supposed to

be. And until you get to that place,

God's not going to speak to you

>> the way he did. You say, "Well,

preacher, he spoke to me when I was out

in sin." He ain't obligated to do that

at all. If he does it one time, it's his

grace.

>> Right?

>> Abram was called out of vericalities by

God's grace and that alone. That was it.

God saved you by his grace. But if you

do not follow his will or obey his word,

God is not obligated to speak to you

again. You're

>> right.

>> The Holy Ghost will convict you because

he lives on the inside. But the longer

that you shut that out, the less he will

speak to you. That knocking Jesus talked

about the church of Leosy in Revelation

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, that knocking just gets

quieter and quieter.

And the truth is, if we need some

inspiration, we're going to have to

realize when we get to this place, we're

going to have to have God appear. Now, I

put this in in my in my margin here. You

see, where there's an appearance of the

Lord, there should be an altar

built to the Lord.

You say, "What do you mean?" Well,

notice the text. And the Lord appeared

unto Abram, said unto thy seed, will I

give this land. Notice this. And there

buildeth he what? An altar. He built an

altar. You see, where God shows up, that

ought to be a place you want to come

back to,

>> right?

>> This what I can't figure out for the

life of me. Why would anybody want to

leave a church where God has been has

has moved and we've seen him move and

it's going in the right direction?

>> Why would we walk away from that?

>> Amen.

>> Why would we do that?

>> Here's what it is. It's because our

flesh has decided it's better back in

Haran.

>> You're right.

>> Because you know what? all them

irritations, irritants

that wasn't in her hand or present.

>> You're right.

>> I don't know who needs this tonight, but

I pray that you'll take this. I'll be

honest with you. Truth is for my life. I

understand we all need what I'm saying,

but God's nailing somebody tonight. I

hope you'll listen to him. This

inspiration, you see what what is this

inspiration reveal in the text? Well,

the Lord appeared unto Abram and he

speaks to him and the Bible says, "And

he said, "Unto thy seed will I give this

land." Now, what does that mean? Well,

that phrase speaks of three things.

There's a people under thy seed. There's

a promise will I give. And then there is

a place, this land.

You say, "How what does that fit?" Well,

this is a deeper revelation of what God

is going to do. You remember when Abram

was given the command, notice it just a

few verses earlier, the Bible says in

verse one, he said, "Thy he Abram, the

Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out

of thy country and from thy kindred and

from thy father's house unto a land that

I will show thee."

Abram would have never saw the land if

he hadn't left.

>> Right?

>> But in this text, God gets him to the

pl. He finally gets to the place where

he's supposed to be, and God says, "All

right, this is the land that I'm going

to give to you. what you're treading

upon this belongs to you.

You say, "What is that?" Well, it's the

inspiration. You say, "Preacher, why?

Why should I go on another day?" Because

there's a land that you're called to

inherit.

>> You're right.

>> You know what that is? That's victory in

Christ

>> over yourself. You know what your number

one problem is? Go

>> ahead.

>> It's not the regrets you have. It's not

the fears you have for somebody else.

It's it's not the disappointment you

have in somebody or something else. Your

number one biggest problem is yourself.

You're

>> right.

>> Your reaction, Amen, is more important

than anybody else's action.

>> You're right.

>> Did you hear what I said? Your reaction

is more important and will always be

more important than anybody else's

action. Abram in this text could have

missed a blessing if he hadn't come to

where God told him to be. But you see,

when he got to this place, he realized

that there would be some people who

would be blessed because of his

obedience. There would be a promise that

would be fulfilled because of his

obedience. And this place would be the

symbol

forever of Abram's obedience.

I wonder what land, let me listen to me,

mom and daddy. I wonder what land your

children are to inherit because of your

obedience. But if you don't obey, what

are they going to miss?

>> Right?

>> What inheritance are they going to have?

>> Because we're too afraid to face that

irritation. Go ahead.

this inspiration. He says in the text,

notice that he said, "I unto thy seed

will I give this land." And Abram, look

what his response is there. He builded

an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto

him. You say, "What does that

represent?" Well, I I've said all that

to say these these truths here. There's

instruction. There's irritation. There's

inspiration here. But there ought to be

an indication

when you get to the place where God

wants to be. And what is that? An

indication is not something that God

sets up, but it's something that you put

up to go back to the place where God

showed you something that you couldn't

see. You say, "What is that?" Well, God

didn't write a deed.

>> You're right.

>> All right. Hang with me. Okay. God

didn't give Abram a deed.

>> You're right.

>> That was handwritten by the fingers of

God and said, "This is your land and

sign God at the bottom of it."

>> He didn't do that. You know what? God,

your salvation that you've got, he

didn't write you a letter of salvation.

>> Amen. I know we've got the word of God.

Just hang with me. I'm making a point

here. God didn't write you a letter of

salvation say such and such date, such

and such time, such and such was

preaching. You got saved. sign God on

the bottom of it because that's not how

it works.

>> Right?

>> You say, "How does it work, preacher?"

Well, when God meets with us, he has

designed us in such a way that we're to

mark where he met with us.

>> Right?

>> You say, "Preacher, I don't understand."

Well, you remember when Noah got off

that ark, what was the first thing he

did? Built an altar,

>> right?

>> To remember that God brought him safely.

>> You know what? There was nothing. No, he

couldn't go through that storm again.

Thank God he couldn't. Amen.

But you'd be honest with me tonight and

say there's probably some of you that

wished at some point in time in your

life you could get saved again so you

could feel what it feels like to do it

again.

You know what your problem is? You

didn't set up a marker.

>> You're right.

>> You say, "Preacher, what's that

indication?" Well, let me say this. I I

want to draw your attention back to the

text here for just a minute. Look what

he says. There builded he an altar unto

the Lord. He doesn't only build one

altar in this text, but he builds two.

Look what the Bible says. Verse 8. And

he removed from then unto a mountain on

the east of Bethl and pitched his tent

having Bethl on the west and a on the

east. And what's the Bible say, church?

And there he builded an altar unto the

Lord. So here he builds a second

indication. All right. He comes into the

land. the first place he goes, that

place of instruction, that place of

strength, that place of encouragement,

that place where he found the shoulder

that he would need to lean on for his

stay in Canaan land. He leaves that

place, but only after he'd made an

indication.

He set up some tent pegs.

Remember what I believe it was Jeremiah

said? He said, "Remove not the ancient

landmark

which thy fathers have said." You know

why this generation struggles so much?

Because we've watched a bunch of people

go around pulling up landmarks. You're

>> right.

>> Because here's the thing about it. Those

indications in your life, there's so

much I could say about this. All right?

Those indicators in your life are put

there for you to have a place to come

back to.

>> Because in your flesh, just like Abram,

you know what he does just a few short

verses later? He goes back to Egypt. And

I'm getting ahead of myself so much, but

notice what the Bible says in verse one

of chapter 13.

Actually, notice verse three of chapter

13. After Abram left out of Egypt,

according to verse one, verse three. And

he went on his journeys from the south

even to Bethl unto the place where his

tent had been. What's that say? At the

beginning, between Bethl Ai, unto the

place of the what? Altar. Which he made

there at the first. And there Abram

called on the name of the Lord.

Let me ask you, how long's it been since

you've been back to that place? I'm not

talking about a physical place. I'm

talking about that spiritual place in

your life where you know that God met

with you.

You say, "Preacher, what is that?"

It's not a geographical location,

>> right?

>> You're not going to find it on a map.

But you know what you'll do? There's

some verses that God will give you and

it's all diff different for all of us,

but I got some

indicators stuck up in here in a few

places where God spoke to me at once and

I can go to that verse and you know what

immed immediately will happen to me.

It's a good reason why you write in your

Bible too. You're

>> right.

>> Write dates, times, events when God

helped you. But I can go back to that

place and most time I don't even I don't

even have to have a date or time. I can

look at them flags that stuck up and

find where God spoke to me. There's an

indicator left.

God spoke to you there using this vi

this verse. Notice this. I'm moving

quickly. I need to get done.

When you get to where you're supposed to

be, there ought to be an indication that

you put up, but there also ought to be

some identification that's given.

I ain't got time to labor this point,

but I don't want you to miss this. All

right. The Bible says that when he

removed from Sheckchum in the text in

verse number eight, he removed from

thence unto a mountain on the east of

Bethl and pitched his tent. Notice this,

having Bethl on the west and Ai on the

east. Now, simply put tonight, Bethl

means what, church? The house of God,

right? What does Ai mean? Means a heap

of ruins,

a heap of ashes. You say, "What does

that represent?" tent. Well, notice

where Abram built his altar and pitched

his tent in the text. He pitched his

tent having Bethl on the west and Ai on

the east. And there he builded an altar

under the Lord. He pitched his tent,

that's his dwelling place. And he built

his altar

between the house of God and the heap of

ruins. Now, what does that represent?

That represents the life of you and I.

When we get saved, what happens to us?

We get saved and one becomes two.

>> And you know what? We spend the rest of

our life doing

choosing

between the flesh, that heap of ruin.

You're

>> right.

>> And between the house of God, that

spirit. You see, the Bible tells us that

our body is the temple.

>> Ain't that right?

>> We're the house of God.

>> Abram built his tent between this. And

you know what this does? This sets up

the scope for the rest of Abram's life.

every decision that he makes is going to

go one of two ways.

Why did he do this? Because he needed to

realize where his center point is.

You see, he could have built that tent.

He could have put that tent. He could

have put that that altar anywhere. But

what does this represent to us? Well,

the tent, one writer put it this way. It

represents that we're pilgrims.

We're living between the house of God

and a heap of ruins. This world is not

our home. Abram was what? He was a

pilgrim in Canaan land. Paul said it

this way. He said he looked for a city

that hath foundations whose builder and

maker's God. What was it? That's an

eternal city. That's heaven,

>> right?

>> And he built he put up his tent here.

But you know what he also built? He

built an altar unto the Lord. What is an

altar? It's a place of sacrifice. It's a

place of supplication. And it's

mentioned the last phrase in verse

number eight. Notice the text. And there

he built an altar unto the Lord. What's

your Bible say? and called upon the name

of the Lord. You see, God will give you

instruction.

There going to be some irritations, but

he's going to give you some inspiration

to help you. The spirit of God will

inspire you. The scriptures will

instruct you. But you see, out of that,

you have a responsibility.

You ought to put up some indicators.

You ought to make a place of

identification. You say, "What what is

that, preacher?" Well, this is the

bottom line. this is who I am. You ought

to decide in your heart tonight and

realize, all right, you're not perfect.

When you got saved, God didn't make you

sinless. You're

>> right.

>> And so, what is this place of

identification? It's showing, all right,

I've got to b I've got to battle myself,

>> right?

>> Every day. But then thirdly, not only

this indication and identification, but

there is for sake of alliteration, and I

probably need to stop doing this, but I

I do it because it helps me. So, just

forgive me. There's a place of invoc

invocation in the text. He called upon

the name of the Lord. You see, this is

the fulfillment of who we are as

Christians.

The only desire that God has for his

people is that they would speak to him.

Do you realize that out of talking to

him? You say, "Preacher, but he wants me

to read his word." You understand that?

That all that goes hand in hand,

>> right? Your conversation with God is

prayer and Bible study. That's what it

is. And all he asked of us is that we

speak to him. And Abram decides that

that indicator was the altar, the place

of his sacrifice. The in the

identification showed his dwelling where

he would ultimately live his life

between these two places.

And his prayer was made on that altar to

his Lord. And you say, "Preacher, but

what if I fall?" Well, you notice in the

text, he falls right after this,

>> right?

>> Notice verse N.

And Abram journeyed going on still

toward the south. Now, some writers in

their ignorance have said this. Abram

was always going forward.

You better be careful with somebody

that's always going forward.

You say, "Preacher, but some change is

good

sometimes."

But notice what's happened. You see, up

to this point, Abra Abram moving has

been good. But you see, his journeying

was not good in verse number nine

because of his direction.

You ought to be careful to never be

still, but you also ought to be careful

about where you're going when you're

moving. You're

>> right.

>> Say, preacher, well, how do I know what?

Well,

simply put, David said it this way. Thy

word is a lamp unto my feet and a light

into my path.

the instruction that you're going to

find at that tree.

That's the only way you can keep it in

the bounds. You're

>> right.

>> And you're going to have to hide it in

your heart. Thy word have I hid in my

heart that I might not sin against thee.

And then and only then will you pray and

then will you find deliverance. You see

these build this building that Abram

does in the text. And I didn't really

get time to emphasize this. There was a

lot more I wanted to say, but I believe

the Lord got across what he wanted to.

Abram could have built a lot of things.

He could have went to one place, you

know, he could have built his house and

put his stakes down and did all of that,

but that wasn't what God wanted him to

do. All throughout this this story of

Abram, you'll find in chapter 13, he

journeys on, leaves that place at

Sheckchham, goes to the plains of Mamry,

and God blesses him there in the plains

of Mamry, and then he journeys all

throughout the rest of his life. Why?

Because he was a stranger.

But you know, Abram was all was fine

traveling as long as he was in the place

where God called him to be. And what was

that? That was Canaan land. Anytime

Abram got out of Canaan land, what

happened? There was trouble.

You've got a realm of life that you can

live in. And in that realm, there's

freedom.

But you say, "Preacher, well, that's not

enough freedom for me." What you're

going to find is there's going to be

destruction on the outside of it. You're

>> right.

>> And you know what sets the bounds?

Where this thing stops,

>> right?

Because the land of Canaan is your

Christian life.

And that victory is only found when you

live inside the bounds

of the map.

You're

>> right.

>> I hope you don't miss that. Father,

thank you for the time tonight.

Lord, it's different service tonight. My

flesh don't like it, but God, I pray

somebody's got some help tonight. Lord,

I know there's so much so many things

going on. We all got stuff in our minds,

thoughts, heaviness, burdens.

But Lord, I pray that each individual

before they leave here tonight would

realize, God, that just because there

wasn't an altar called doesn't mean this

altar wasn't open.

And Lord, I believe tonight that each

one of us, Lord, ought to put up one of

those indicating marks on this altar

cuz Lord, I've watched you do it in the

last two years. these precious people.

Some have been here 30, 40 years and

they've seen you do it over and over and

over again. And Lord, they've got those

marks up. Maybe it's time for them to

revisit them again. Lord, would you help

us to be obedient to you? God, help us

to identify ourselves, who we really

are, and put ourselves in perspective to

make the right decisions. And Lord, help

us to always be people of prayer. God, I

realize that many of us live busy

schedules and God, we don't have the

time that we want to. But Lord, I pray

that you would help us throughout the

day, Lord, to be in a mental state of

prayer. God, as we go, Lord, you bring

somebody across our mind, Lord. We know

that we can bow our head in just a

moment and pray and lift their name up

to you. Lord, we know if there's a

sinner, Father, that we come in contact

with, God, we know that we may not even

know their name, but you do. and we can

call out to you and pray for them. But

Lord, I pray you would help us all stay

in the place where you put us. And God,

if there's somebody here tonight in a

place where they're not supposed to be,

halfway between where they was lost and

where they're found, God, I pray you'd

get them to the place where they need to

be tonight. Lord, I love you. Thank you

for loving us. We ask it in Jesus name.

Amen. I love you.

>> 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 7:00 p.m. For

more information, visit us at

meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.