5/6/26 Wednesday Evening Service - Pastor Charlie Branch - Meadows Baptist Church

You know,

you

know,

Heat. Heat.

down.

Heat.

Well, if I could get some kids down

front for the pledging stations, we'll

get started with our service this

evening.

Okay, kids, come on down.

Well, welcome everyone and it's good to

have each and everyone out in the house

of the Lord this evening where we have

our um Bible study in our kids club on

Wednesday nights. Good to see each and

everyone out house of the Lord this

evening. Let's begin our service by

standing and we'll sing redeemed.

Redeemed.

Redeemed. Now I love to proclaim it.

Redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Redeemed through his infinite mercy.

His child and forever I am

redeemed.

Redeemed.

Redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Redeemed.

His child. And forever I am.

Redeemed and so happy in Jesus.

No language my rapture can tell.

I know that the light of his presence

with me does continually dwell.

Redeemer,

redeemed,

redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Redee,

redeemed,

his child and forever I am.

I think of my blessed redeemer.

I think of him all the day long.

I sing for I cannot be silent. His love

is the theme of my song.

Redee,

redee,

redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Redee,

redeemed,

his child and forever I am.

I know I shall see in his beauty.

The king in whose law I delight.

who lovingly guarded my footsteps

and giveth me songs in the night.

Redeem,

redeem,

redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Redeem,

redeemed,

his child and forever I am.

Amen. Amen. Now for our pledges.

First, the American flag.

Attention. Salute. Pledge. I pledge

allegiance to the flag of the United

States of America, and to the republic

for which it stands, one nation under

God, indivisible, with liberty and

justice for all.

The Christian flag.

I pledge allegiance to the Christian

flag and to the Savior for whose kingdom

it stands. One Savior crucified, risen,

and coming again with life and liberty

to all who believe.

Now, the Bible,

I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God's

holy word. I will make it a lamp unto my

feet and a light unto my path. I will

hide his words in my heart that I might

not sin against God. Amen. Amen. You may

be seated.

>> Good to see you in the house of the Lord

tonight. Appreciate you being here on

this Wednesday evening and thank the

Lord for some more rain today.

Appreciate the Lord's blessings and he

sure is good to us. But I do thank you

all for being here uh this evening in

the evening service. I hope you've had a

good week thus far and we'll go ahead

and get right off with some

announcements this evening and then get

into our prayer quest time. If you could

got your calendar there, do remember

tomorrow night men will be having men's

fellowship uh tomorrow night at 7:00.

And so remember that tomorrow evening

that's open to anybody and everybody uh

men. Amen. Let me put it that way. Men,

okay? And so all the men, you're welcome

to come to that tomorrow evening at

7:00. And then the ladies Mother's Day

brunch is Saturday at 10:30. Okay?

Saturday at 10:30, y'all have the brunch

there. And so come out and be part of

that. All right? And I'll be praying for

that. And mom will be there speaking to

y'all that day. So that'll be a good

time. And so y'all remember that as well

on Saturday. All right. 10:30. And then

um Mon uh Mon Sunday, I'm wanting to say

Monday. Mother's Day and Sunday. It

don't go together. Um the 10th, Mother's

Day, we'll have our Mother's Day

service, normal Sunday school worship

service at 11. And then we'll have no

evening service on Mother's Day, uh May

the 10th. And so that's this coming

Sunday. So remember that. And we won't

be having evening service on Sunday. And

then the next thing here we've got

coming up is the visitation uh at

Springfest. So that'll be the 16th of

May there on Saturday uh from 10 to 2.

And so we'll go out and hand out some

tracks, waters, things of that nature on

Saturday, May the 16th. And uh you broke

the blessed time of her being nice to

you. So anyway,

for so long she's been nice to her and

not to us, but now that's been broken.

So anyway, but uh somebody else want to

try? Anyway, I'm just

since all of y'all said she never cries

at all. Well, there you go. All right.

So, anyway, um friends and family day,

May the 24th, remember that. And, uh the

service times that day. Morning service

will be normal. And then afternoon,

we'll just hang out that afternoon, have

music by by grace and have some games

and things out here in the back parking

lot. And then the evening service will

be at 4:30 that day on the 24th. And

depending on how hot it is, we may do it

outside. I'll ask the preacher how he

feels about it. Brother Don Anderson

will be here with us that evening. And

so we want to make sure he's taken care

of uh that night. So um the 24th will be

friends and family day. And so remember

that. And uh then be praying as well.

June's going to be a busy month. Got a

lot of stuff going on. Bible school,

Father's Day, homecoming, youth Sunday.

Um a lot of stuff going on. So just keep

praying about all of that and praying

that God would help and bless uh in

everything that we do here at the

church. And just pray that God would

touch it. Amen. And uh so remember these

dates if you could please. And is there

anything else I need to bring up?

>> Yeah, team camp registration. You see

Abby about that for the registration for

power of two there in Georgia in the

month of July. So see her if you have

questions about that. We need to get

those turned in directly. Okay. So

remember that. All right. All right. I

think that's all I'll make mention of

tonight. Let's get to our prayer request

this evening. Let's continue to remember

all the requests of prayer has been made

mention of. container member, Miss

Rhonda Southern, and she is going on

Friday uh there to have another

examination done on her foot and to see

whether or not they're going to have to

remove more of that. So, if y'all would

pray for her, especially on Friday,

let's continue to remember all of our

shutins and pray for them. Miss Barbara

Mandarin, let's remember her in prayer.

Donnie and Die Scott and Donnie and

Sarah Joe Abbott. Has anybody heard from

Miss Sarah Joe? Miss Rose, you heard

anything from her about Donniey's test?

Okay.

>> Okay. Let's remember that in prayer.

Continue to pray for them if you would

please. And uh

let's continue to remember uh uh brother

Todd and Miss Janet Duggin. And did see

there on the message that they came

through everything well. And so continue

to pray for them. Did see Miss Janet's

in some pain. So if y'all wouldn't

remember her in prayer. Let's continue

to pray for the family. Michelle, I've

not heard anything, brothers.

So no, no new no new news. Okay. So we

was over there with them on Sunday

night. Pray for their family and pray

for her daughter especially and uh was

there with them Sunday evening after

church and watched her daughter giving

her her medicine. And I can't imagine

how that must feel for her. And how old

is she? probably 18 20s. So, if y'all

would please pray for that family and

pray that God would be with them uh

during that time and so and no new news.

So, just pray for them if you would. All

right. And and their family, Michelle,

all of those. So, does anybody else have

a request of prayer tonight before we

pray? Yes, sir.

Amen. Let's continue to pray um for John

and pray God would work in his life.

Amen. Been praying for him uh for this

time. and praying God would move and

work. I tell you this, it takes God to

make these types of things happen. And

uh you know Jesus said those disciples,

there was a man come to him said they

brought their son to the disciples and

he had a demon. Remember what they said?

Said that he said your disciples

couldn't cast him out. And you remember

what Jesus said, "This cometh this kind

cometh not out but by prayer and

fasting."

>> Right?

>> Amen. And I believe that. I believe

that. And so let's continue to pray for

John. Let's pray for uh sister Don and

brother Eric as well and pray for them.

Lord, continue to give them strength. I

appreciate them being faithful to church

these days. And let's pray for them this

evening. Someone else tonight before we

pray.

Yes, ma'am.

All right, let's remember those

requests.

>> Someone else tonight.

>> Amen.

>> Praise the Lord for that.

>> All right. Amen. Just remember that

someone else tonight. Yes, ma'am.

Amen. Let's remember that this evening.

Someone else tonight. Yes.

and remember

my sister.

>> All right, let's remember those requests

for prayer.

Okay.

>> All right. Just remember that. Someone

else have a request tonight? Yes, sir.

Brother Todd.

>> Yes.

Amen. Let's remember Sister Mary Lou in

prayer.

And uh she done had had a better week

this week.

>> Good.

All right. Let's continue to pray for

her this evening. Remember her in

prayer. Yes, sir. Brother Mike.

All right,

we won't. Don't worry. Amen. Amen. Let's

remember that. Let's remember brother

Mike, too. Pray for him and uh

pray for Miss Carolyn tonight. Someone

else this evening. Yes, ma'am.

>> Okay.

>> All right. Let's remember

Doug and Kay in prayer.

Someone else tonight. Yes, ma'am.

All right, let's remember that this

evening.

Remember Miss Jean's family in prayer.

Someone else tonight. Yes, sir.

My goodness. Yeah, let's remember that.

>> Yeah, let's do remember that. Pray for

that this evening.

All right, let's remember that. Let's

remember that request of prayer this

evening. Someone else over here. Yes,

sir.

All right.

>> All right. You said his name was

Everett.

>> Everett.

>> All right. Just remember that.

Anything else this evening?

>> Hey. Yes, sir.

If

pray

hospital,

>> I'll do that. I'll do that. Just

remember that request a prayer this

evening.

If y'all would pray for a friend of mine

um found out just I don't know probably

guess a week ago that uh his wife um I

don't guess the baby was still born but

she she did have a miscarriage and they

did have to remove the baby. And so

y'all please pray. She put out a

Facebook post there talking about how

hard it was to to see that and then to

have to leave the baby there at the

hospital and go home. And so if y'all

would please pray for them and Luke and

Cheyenne Ponder is their names and but

please pray for them. God help them

during this time as they go through

that. Amen. Is any other request of

prayer tonight before we pray?

Yes.

Yes. Let's remember

brother Randall, sister Kea in prayer,

their travels and do pray for their

family as well and sister and sister

sister-in-law pray for them and Kea's

mom Sher and remember them in prayer

this evening. Anything else tonight

before we pray.

All right, let's remember our

missionaries tonight. do always pray for

them uh each time that you pray and pray

for each other and our church and I pray

that God would bless and help us keep us

strong and encourage these days.

Appreciate his blessing on us and the

good services that we've had of late.

Thank him for that and I pray it

continues. Pray the Lord continue to

give us liberty and uh let's pray for s

some salvation to happen. Amen. I'd love

to see some people get saved. Amen. And

uh been too long and I I think about

this a lot of times. I knew a man my dad

talked about a Bible college professor.

I don't know if it was particularly one

that he had or it was one maybe that he

knew of uh said that this gentleman

would go every day and he would walk

around shopping centers until he could

win somebody to the Lord and he wouldn't

go to sleep until he had won somebody to

the Lord. And uh you know I was thinking

about that. That's a that's a fery we

ought to get a hold of. Amen. And these

people dying and going to hell left and

right. And we ought to do everything we

can to win them. Amen. And I know it's

hard to do those type of things, but I'm

I'm telling you, Jesus is that concerned

about their soul. Amen. And I don't know

about you, but I'm thankful there was

somebody concerned enough about mine.

Amen. That they prayed for me. Amen. And

I got saved by the grace of God. And

I'll tell you, there ain't nobody ever

been saved apart from prayer. Amen. And

I do appreciate God's blessing. Man,

it's just good to be saved tonight.

Amen. And we can be hum drum and ho hum

and all the rest of those lowly things.

Amen. But I'm telling you, God is good.

Amen. He is good. And I appreciate his

blessings and I appreciate you being

here this evening. Is there any other

requests of prayer tonight?

All right, let's come pray around the

altar. Do pray for the classes tonight

and the teachers. Pray God will bless

and I pray God will help us in here

tonight as we look through the word of

God. And uh let's do tonight. Remember

our graduates got several they graduate

some high school, some college and be

praying for them. And these days, some

young ones be moving up from middle

school to high school. We praying for

them. And all the young ones will be

moving grades. Well, some of them

probably won't. Amen. If that was be

like me. Amen. But uh anyway, I'm just

saying let's pray for them, too. Amen.

And uh Amen. It's all right to laugh.

Amen. Let's pray and ask God to help us

tonight. I do appreciate each one of you

and love you in the Lord. Let's pray

together tonight.

Alrighty. Genesis chapter 12 tonight if

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

you have a Bible. Genesis chapter 12.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

And uh

we'll look here again this evening. And

I've been looking forward to this today.

And uh I realized on this past Sunday

night I was preaching. I really didn't

finish my message. And uh I was thinking

about it. I posed the question uh on

Sunday night u concerning u why

rebellion brings confusion. I'll give

you the outline. I ain't going to preach

it tonight. There's a whole another

message here uh that I didn't deal deal

with, but I'll give it to you. You might

want to write it down. Go study it for

yourself, but Genesis 11 where we

preached that on Sunday night. I my

outline was rebellion uh causes

confusion. Of course, Nimrod is

rebellion. And that confusion deals with

the tower that of Babel. That city Babel

means confusion. And Nimrod built that

city. And so, uh we titled that

rebellion why rebellion brings

confusion. And I put these thoughts in

my Bible here. Didn't preach them Sunday

night, but uh number one, rebellion

brings confusion because it's not our

design. We wasn't made to be rebellious

against God. We were not made to be that

way. We were made to be obedient and

submissive to the Lord. And so

rebellion, number one, is not our design

from the beginning. God didn't make us

that way. We were made in his image. And

so number two, not only rebellion is not

our design, but number two, rebellion is

not desirable. You've never seen anybody

living in rebellion that enjoyed it.

That's right.

>> Amen. Um it's not a fruitful life. It's

not a faithful life. It's not an

enjoyable life. And so rebellion's not

our design. It's not desirable. And then

thirdly, I thought about this. It's not

only not our design and not desirable,

but it's not our destiny.

>> Right?

>> And uh I'll say this about that. When

God had to go and confound the language

of those people in that city, you know

what? God didn't want to do that.

>> And he didn't have to do that. But

because of their sin, he did.

>> Right?

>> They would have never had to do that if

they'd have just been obedient to God.

And you see tonight, you shape who you

end up to be. What? But what became

their destiny did not have to be their

destiny. Amen. And so there's the

outline that I gave you why rebellion,

amen, causes confusion. So maybe next

time I'll do a better job preaching.

Amen. But Genesis 12, let's look here

tonight and going to begin studying the

life of Abraham uh this evening. We'll

really begin reading in Genesis 11 and

try to lay out the background of his

life here in the text. Genesis 11 verse

number Let's begin reading in verse

number uh verse number 26 of Genesis 11.

Your Bible says and Tara lived 70 years

and begat Abram Nahor and Haran. Now

these are the generations of Terara.

Terara begat Abra Abram Nahor and Haran

and Haran begat Lot and Haran died

before his father Terara in the land of

his nativity in of the Caldes. And Abram

and Nahor took them wives. The name of

Abram<unk>'s wife was Sarai. And the

name of Nahor's wife Milkeyi. Milka the

daughter of Haran the father of Mila and

the father of Iska. But Sarai was

barren. She had no child. And Terara

took Abram's son. and Lot the son of

Haran his son's son and Sarai his

daughter-in-law his son Abram<unk>'s

wife and they went forth with them from

the cowes to go into the land of Canaan

and they came unto Haran and dwelt there

and the days of Tara were 205 years and

Terara died in Haran chapter 12 and

verse number one the Bible says now the

Lord had said unto Abram get thee out of

thy country and from thy kindred and

from thy father's house unto the land

that I will show thee, and I will make

of thee a great nation, and I will bless

thee, and make thy name great, and thou

shalt be a blessing, and I will bless

them that bless thee, and curse them

that curse thee, and in thee shall all

families of the earth be blessed." So

Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken

unto him, and Lot went with him. And

Abram was 70 and five years old when he

departed out of Haran. Father, I ask you

for just a moment, Lord, that you would

help us tonight. I thank you for Bible

study. But God, I just want it to be

what you want it to be tonight. If you'd

have me to preach, help me preach, Lord.

And I just pray you'd help me to expound

the word of God well. Give me uncction,

liberty tonight. Cleanse me of all sin.

Father, use me. Make me fit. God, I pray

that you'll help me tonight. Get all

glory unto yourself. And I pray for each

individual that's here tonight. Lord, I

thank you uh God for them being here. I

pray you bless them for their presence.

But God, I pray that they would receive

a blessing from your word tonight, Lord.

Some instruction, Lord, to help them go

on another mile, some encouragement.

Lord, I pray you'd help us tonight uh to

be obedient to the word of God. Lord,

you said obedience is better than

sacrifice. And so, Lord, help us to

hearken to the word of God tonight.

Lord, we love you. Thank you for loving

us in Jesus name. Amen. Genesis 11

begins here the genealogy. It began with

the study of this city of Babel in the

text and then it leaves off in verse

number 10 with the generations of Shim.

Now, if you know anything about the

Bible, the origin of Israel, the godly

family comes through the Shemmites. And

so, when you hear the phrase, I don't

know, you probably already connected

this, but we you hear the phrase in our

country a whole lot today of

anti-semitism.

And what that is is that Seemetic, the

Seemetic people are Shim's children.

That's what that refers to. And so

people anti-semites are people who are

against Shim's children. That's what

that means. And so Shim's genealogy is

given in chapter number 11 verse number

10 down through uh the end of the

chapter ending up with the death of

Tara, Abram's father in the text. Now

Abram of course in this text would go on

to be Abraham. Sarah Sarai his wife

would go on to be Sarah. But this is the

beginning portion of Abram's life. And I

want to just lay the history of his life

out of this text. Try to draw a

correlation and connect all of this

together. Let me say this tonight. The

first 12 chapters of the Bible

encompassed some 2,000 years. What we've

read about here in chapter number 11 has

accomplished some 2,000 years of

history. And from Genesis 12 on through

the rest of the Old Testament would be

another approximately 2,000 years. And

so without these first 12 chapters of

the book of Genesis, you would miss a

big picture really where all the uh the

uh knots and loose ends are tied up

throughout the Old Testament. All the

principles that we find in the law of

Moses and everything that goes on from

that comes from these 12 chapters. And

so this beginning portion is important.

And I definitely want to highlight here

Abram's life. I want to give you just

some things concerning Abram here in the

text. When Abram comes on the scene in

Genesis 12, the first thing that's

mentioned in Genesis 12 verse number one

is notice those first five words.

There's a word that comes from God. Look

what the Bible says. Now the Lord had

said, now to put this in a timeline

period, it's been 422 years since God

spoke to Noah in Genesis chapter number

9 and verse number one. And so Noah has

been dead approximately 75 years or

maybe a little more than that at this

point in time because he lived 350 years

after the flood. And so to tie all of

this together, I want you to think about

this with me for just a minute. When the

earth was divided, when the languages

were scattered according to the text,

Noah was still alive.

Noah was still alive. Noah was alive.

Sheam and Japheth were alive. You can

read that according to chapter number

10. If you notice in verse number 25 of

Genesis 10, the Bible says in in verse

25, "And unto Eber were born two sons.

The name of one was Pelleg. For in his

days was the earth divided, and his

brother's name was Jockan." And so Pleg

was in that line of Shin. And that's

just a few generations down from Noah in

this text. And so Noah was still alive

at the dividing days in those days. And

you say, "How is that, preacher?" Well,

Noah witnessed everything that

transpired. And you think about this,

the sin that we preached on in Noah's

life, Noah watched the people that he

had saved off of the ark. He watched

them go down. You're

>> right.

>> And so what we discover in our text

where Terara is finding himself in verse

number 27, the Bible says in verse 27,

"Now these are the generations of

Terara. Terara began Abram, Nahor, and

Haran. And Haran begat law. And Haran

died before his father. Notice this. In

the land of his nativity. All right,

that's the land of its birth. Look at

this. In of the cowes. Now, if you look

up that land of the cowes, that is

literally another city in the plain of

Shinar. And you look at the text in

chapter number 11 verse number two.

Those uh Babel people, amen, those ones

those the people that had came there

with Nimrod, they f found a plane in the

land of Shinar. And so obviously

Terara's family when the dispersion took

place was not one of the families that

was sent out. Okay? And because in this

text the Bible said in verse number

eight that the Lord scattered them

abroad. So obviously Tara and his

children, all I know this is deep, all

right, but just stay with me, okay? Tara

and his children obviously stayed right

there in the city. They stayed right

there local to the plain of Shinar. They

stayed in this place. And I want to give

you a few things about Abram's life. You

see in this text uh four things by way

of introduction. I'll give you one

point. We'll be done. What I notice

about Abram's life. First of all, we see

in this land that he is living here in

the text is is that Abram is already

it's already presented to us that Abram

is living amidst blasphemy.

>> Right?

>> You say, how can you prove that? Well, I

can prove it scripturally by this text.

First of all, notice what the Bible says

in the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter

number 24.

This record is given.

Joshua chap ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch

ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch

ch ch ch ch chap number 24 and verse

number two. All right, I'm gonna give

you the proof from the wording in the

text, but this is Bible proof. You can't

argue with this. All right, Joshua 24

and verse two. The Bible said and Joshua

said unto all the people, "Thus saith

the Lord God of Israel, your fathers

dwelt on the other side of the flood in

old time, even Terara, the father of

Abraham and the father of Nor." Notice

that last phrase, what does it say? and

they served other gods. So they're

according to Joshua they're serving

other gods but I can tell you from a

proof number one by their location

they're living in of the cowes it was a

place of moon worship when you look up

that word it was a central point of

astrology and uh I what's the other word

you you use for that soothsaying I guess

would be the word that you would use

there was moon worship and stargazing

that went on here doesn't that sound

familiar with that tower that whose top

would reach unto heaven, amen, to the

skies. And so this land, this whole

plane of Shinar was engrossed in this

sin. And when you look up that word, it

doesn't only speak of a center of moon

worship, but it also means, it literally

means a flame, a burning. Now, what did

we talk about that city of Babel? They

were making brick in verse three,

burning them thly. The Bible says it was

a place of great industry. Let me say

this. The reason where our country began

to go off the rails is when prosperity

took hold of our nation.

>> You can go back and see the days of the

industrial revolution is when wickedness

began to run rapid in this land. You can

look at early society. Some of you may

know a little bit about this. I I

enjoyed studying it coming up, not

because I enjoyed studying about sin,

but I remember studying about the

Roaring 20s. Has anybody ever heard

about the roaring 20s and everything

that went on in those days? The days

prohibition days and everything that

went on that all of that was birthed out

of a country who had become prosperous

industrially. And what this land here

represents is a prosperous place. Yes,

God dispersed the people and so he

divided them up, sent them all over the

face of the earth, but this city still

became a central point for sin. And I

remind you again, Babel all the way

through the Bible to the book of

Revelation, today's yet future from us

is still going to be a wicked city.

>> You're right.

>> Still, it's it system is still here.

There's going to be a Babylonian revival

in the end of the days. And that the

Assyrians, they're going to rise up

again. Amen. And reappear on the face of

the earth. I'm not preaching that

tonight. But what I'm telling you is

when this started, it did not end.

>> You're right. When wickedness took hold,

it did not end. And so Terara and his

family are living in this land of the

Caldes. It's a land Abraham was Abram

was dealing with blasphemy. So his

religious background is not good. Okay?

He's he's living amidst wickedness. But

I notice this. Not only there's

blasphemy in his life, but I'll say this

to make matters worse. There's

barrenness in his life. Look what the

Bible says. Verse 29. Abram and Nahor

took them wives. The name of

Abram<unk>'s wife was Sarai. And the

name of Nahor's wife, Mila, the daughter

of Haran, the father of Mila, and the

father of Iska. But Sarai was barren.

She had no child. Now, it interests me

why that God puts that out there at the

very first. One of the first things that

he says about Abram is that Sarah was

barren. Well, you understand everything,

and I'm not going to get ahead of myself

here, but everything that has to do with

Abram's life, everything that God tells

him is hinging upon her barrenness.

>> You're right.

>> And you understand barrenness in this

day was a lot bigger deal than it is

now.

>> You're right.

>> I'll say this, there's some families

that uh some ladies that are barren, and

it is a big deal to them, but our

country almost celebrates barrenness

anymore, seeming like I don't understand

that. Amen. But when you look at this

culture, the only thing that these

ladies had to be honored because women

were not highly esteemed the way that

they are in our day and time or the way

they should be. I believe they are in

good bibleelving churches. These this

time if she could not bear children, she

was rendered useless by society. This is

Abram's wife. So they're living amidst

blasphemy. His wife is barren in the

text and then there's a barrier in his

life. Notice what the Bible says in

verse 31. What's that first phrase of

verse 31? And Terara what? Took Abram.

He's got a daddy that's got a hold of

him.

He's controlling his life. All right,

don't lose that thought. Okay, notice

the text. Terara took Abram his son and

Lot the son of Haran his son's son and

Sarah his daughter-in-law his son

Abram<unk>'s wife and they went forth

with them from the Caldes to go into the

land of Canaan and they came unto Haran

and dwelt there. Now what happens in

this text is as they make a journey out

of the Caldes and to go unto the land of

Canaan would be several hundred miles uh

to leave the Caldes to get unto Canaan.

And so they go just a short distance,

probably uh 100 or so miles. I don't

know exact distance, but they leave the

Caldes and go unto Iran and they stop

there. And and obviously it's because

Terara in his old age according to verse

32. Look what the Bible says. And the

days of Terara were 205 years and Tara

died in Haran. And so uh Abram's father

has held him back. He's journeying to go

to Canaan. They're headed there, but his

family is holding him back. And if

that's not enough, he's living amidst

blasphemy. His wife is barren. His

father's a barrier barrier unto him.

Verse 32, you think about the brokenness

of his family.

He loses his daddy.

He's already lost a brother. Notice the

text. Haran's already died. Nahor, he

left behind in the Caldes. And so the

family here in the text, according to

the text, he's lost everything except

his wife. And now he's got to take care

of Lot, his nephew. And so his family's

broken up. And you say, "Why are you

telling us all of that?" Well, this is

the story of Abram.

>> You're right.

>> This is his story. But you see, it all

begins to change in chapter 12. And I

just want to remind you tonight, where

you're at is not the end.

>> You're right.

>> Right.

>> Amen. Just because your story is broken

right now, don't mean it's going to be

broken forever. Amen.

>> Notice the text. Now the Lord had said

unto Abram, "Get thee out of thy

country, from thy kindredom, from thy

father's house, unto a land that I will

show thee." Now, I want to deal for just

a few minutes tonight with the call of

Abraham here in this text. All right?

So, it's been 420 years since God has

spoken audibly to somebody. Genesis 9,

he spoke there unto Noah. And uh we know

that it's recorded on the pages of

scripture and and it it's very well

possible that God spoke unto the people.

I don't know. He may have spoke unto

Eber or Pleg there in the text when he

divided the languages. I don't know. We

can't verify that. But we know it's been

some time since God has spoken to these

people. He's distanced himself because

of their sin. But the Bible says in

verse number one that God's speaking

again. Boy, aren't you thankful when

it's been a while? Amen.

>> Amen. When you ain't heard his voice in

a while, he's got something to say.

>> Right.

>> And I'll tell you this, I'm thankful I

know his voice.

>> Amen.

>> He said, "My sheep know my voice."

>> And Abram here in the text, God calls

out to him for the first time. Of

course, we remember Abram's living in a

s amidst a sinful world. He's his wife

is barren. There's there's been great

anguish because of the death of his

father. And then I noticed this phrase

in verse number one. Now the Lord, what

your Bible say had said. It doesn't say

the Lord said. It said the Lord had

said. So what that reveals is that there

was a command that had been given unto

this man.

Now let me say this. All right. What do

we know from the Bible about obedience?

Delayed obedience is what? Disobedience.

Just because when when you think about

the fact that you've been commanded to

do something and and you're waiting. All

right? You're refusing to do that thing.

You're delaying. All right? The whole

time that you're waiting, you're in

disobedience.

>> You're right.

>> Well, I'll go on and do it. Well, you

can't get back all those days that you

wasted.

>> You're right.

>> You get what I'm saying? Well, what we

notice in this text here is that God had

already spoke to Abram. Now, there's

some writers that would want to argue

this fact, but the New Testament sheds

some light on this. Turn with me to the

book of Acts, chapter number 7.

Acts, chapter 7. I want you to listen to

Acts 7 · chapter mention

Stephen's sermon. All right. Stephen's

going to be stoned. We know the story.

Stephen's going to get stoned for

preaching the gospel. But thank God,

he's going to preach from Genesis to to

all the way to where he knows. Amen.

Before he gets stoned. Amen. And I like

it. Praise God. Genesis 7. Listen to

what he says. Look where he begins in

Genesis 7 verse number two. All right.

Genesis 7 and verse two. And he said,

this is Stephen speaking. Men, brethren,

and fathers hearken, the God of glory

appeared unto our father Abraham when he

was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in

Haran, and said unto him, Get thee out

of thy country, and from thy kindred,

and come into the land which I shall

show thee. Then came he out of the land

of the Chaldanss and dwelt in Haran. And

from thence, when his father was dead,

he removed him into this land, wherein

ye now dwell. So this reveals to us here

in the text that God had spoke to

Abraham back when he was in the land of

the Caldes. God had come to him and

said, "All right, you need to get out of

here." Well, the Bible says they make

their journey. But in verse 31 of

Genesis 11, the Bible says, "And Terara

took Abram." Is that not what your Bible

said? And so the reason I want you to

wanted you to remember that is because

somebody had a bigger control on Abram

than God did.

>> You're right.

>> You got to be careful about who you let

get control of your life.

>> If you're not careful, your your

husband, your wife can get control of

you. Your children can get control of

you. You're

>> right.

>> And when God speaks, you know what you

do?

you locked down. Abram went as far as

Tara could go and didn't go any farther

until Tara was gone. And I noticed from

what Stephen said in chapter 7, look

what he says. He said, "Our father," he

appeared unto our father Abraham when he

was in Mesopotamia, that's the land of

the counties. He appeared to him back

there when he was in the plain, the land

of Shinar, and spoke to him. God had

said to him to go, but you know what?

Abram didn't go because his daddy wasn't

ready to go. I wonder what's holding

people back in our church. I I wonder

what's holding you back from going all

the way with God.

>> You see, I don't know. You say, "Well,

preacher, this really is Abram's

salvation." Well, if you want to be

truthful about it, Abram's salvation

came the moment that God spoke to him.

>> Right.

>> And so, he was given a command to obey.

All right. He was given a command to

obey. And we believe that Abraham

believed God. All right. We we do that.

All right. We believe that. We know that

according to Genesis 15 and verse number

six. And I understand salvation. The Old

Test. I realize every bit of that. But

you understand it's still by faith.

That's

>> right.

>> Abraham had to believe the word of God.

I think Abraham believed when God came

to him when he was an error, but he just

wasn't willing to go yet.

>> You're right.

>> Amen. I think he received it, but he

wasn't ready to put it in practice. And

you know what? I've seen people, there's

a young man that tonight, he's probably

about three years younger than me. He

grew up with him. He lived on my road.

And uh I remember we we grew up together

and uh played ball, rode bicycles,

four-wheelers, all that other stuff. We

grew up on the little farm over there.

And and he didn't have no family, bless

his heart. At one point, mom and dad

even tried to tried to adopt him

different things. It was just just a lot

of different stuff when I was growing

up. I remember this young man, no

family, his great-grandmother was

raising him and and uh we he come into

our home pretty much lived with us and

we took him to a revival meeting one

night and he got saved. I remember it

just like it was yesterday. I remember

watched him pray that night and it

wasn't probably I don't know it was just

weeks after that. He disappeared.

I didn't see him no more and broke my

heart cuz I loved him. He was my friend.

But you know what? I I really believe

that boy's saved. But I just believe

because he had no home life.

>> He had nobody to guide him. He had

nobody to give him aid. When he got away

from us, he had no support.

>> You're right.

>> And so, you know what? He went out and

he's probably I don't know where he

could be tonight. I heard several years

ago that he was in jail for a time. I

don't know. But this is what I'll tell

you. I believe that boy's saved, but I

think there's a lot of people like that

that are saved. And I think this is what

happened to them. I think when they get

saved, the devil comes immediately and

he says, "All right, I'm going to ruin

their testimony."

>> You're right.

>> So, they can never do anything for God.

They'll spend the rest of their life

wondering. They'll spend the rest of

their life and won't. They'll be

miserable because of it if they are

saved. Amen. Somebody say, "Amen."

They'll go out there and they'll live

the rest of their life in that mess and

they'll go to heaven when they die. But

the truth is, they never had a chance to

grow because something or someone held

them back.

>> You're right. I'm convinced there's

church people that sit in a church pew

their whole life that's allowed one

event in their life of bitterness to

keep them from going forward with God.

>> You're right.

>> You'll never do anything for God because

he's holding you. What is it that's

holding you? I don't know what that I

don't know why I'm on that. But but

Abram was held up by his father. Terara

had a grip on him. But when Tara died,

the Bible says in verse 12 and verse

number one, now the Lord had said the

call has been given. The place is

revealed. The call was given to him

while he was in. And we see Abram's

procrastination.

He waited. Why did he wait? Let me ask

you this. How long do you think Abram

waited?

Abram waited a long time.

Notice what the Bible says in verse

four. So Abram departed as the Lord had

spoken unto him, and Lot went with him.

Notice this. And Abram was what?

705

years old. He was 75 years old in the

text. And from what I've read in the

scripture, I can't remember exactly. I

tried to find it this afternoon, but I

think Abram lived to be somewhere

between 120 and 150. So at best, he's

already lived half his life,

>> and he spent a lot of it waiting. I

notice here in this text the place his

procrastination God told him he said get

out. Look at that. Get out of thy

country from thy kindred from thy

father's house unto a land that I will

show thee. What is God what was God

telling Abram? He was saying all right

you've got to leave the fields.

>> All right that plain shower. You're

going to have to leave the fields.

You're going to have to leave the

family. Look at that. And from thy

kindred. Nahor was still there.

That family was left behind because you

understand Nahor's children were the

wives for Isaac and for Jacob,

>> right?

>> Nahor's children. Nahor's daughters,

they stayed behind. But God told Abram,

"Look, you going to have to leave. You

got to get out. Look what Look what the

Bible said. From thy kindred, from thy

father's house, he had to leave the

fields. He had to leave the family." And

you know what? He did do that. But where

did he stop? He couldn't leave the

father,

>> right?

>> When a when when when when Terara got to

as far as he could go to Haran, that's

as far as Abram went.

And then I noticed this. You know what

he also didn't leave behind? Because he

didn't leave Tara. He didn't leave the

false religion either.

You see, Terara brought that with him.

>> You're right.

>> Terra carried that with him out of the

Caldes. And so it was present in their

lives. You understand that what'll

happen to you is God will speak. But if

you're not careful, you'll let that

brokenness, that barrier in your life

and that blasphemy will hang around.

What I found is a lot of times and

really all the time when there is a

barrier, when somebody here's what

happens, okay? And I don't know why I'm

hung up on this, but I'm just going to

hang with it till God says get done.

When somebody gets stopped, you know

what happens in your Christian life when

you get stopped?

>> You don't sit still.

>> You're right. You're right.

>> There's no such thing as sitting still

in the Christian life.

>> Come on, preacher.

>> You know what you do when you stop? You

go backwards. You're

>> right.

>> Because when that barrier comes up, you

know what was along with that? All of

that blasphemy that his father had

raised them boys in. Remember, that was

the land of their nativity. This is who

they are. And so because he's still

there, he's still stuck with that, God

said, "You got to leave it all." You

say, "Preacher, what is that an image

of?" Well, it's just like when you take

that marriage vow. When that marriage

vow, what's it say? Forsaking all

others. You're

>> right.

>> Salvation, Christ, and the church. It's

the image of that marriage vow. And when

you come to him, what are you doing? You

leaving it all behind. Jesus said this.

If any man come unto me and hate not his

father, his mother, his children, his

wife, yay, in his own life also, what

did he say? He cannot be my disciple.

>> You're right.

>> He wasn't speaking in the sense that

you've got to hate your family. But he's

saying that you've got to love God so

much that it doesn't matter what anybody

else says in your life.

>> You're right.

>> And if you love God the way you're

supposed to, you'll love them in a way

you never could have.

>> You're right.

>> But Abram got held up. And because of

that, not only Abram was held up, but

you know who else was held up? Sarah was

held up.

>> You're right.

>> And Lot was too.

Now, we could argue that maybe Lot

wasn't supposed to go with him. But I

think I think Abram wanted to help Lot.

I think Abram could have helped Lot. And

I think Abram's mistake is what caused

Lot sin. But I'm not preaching on that

tonight. I'm saying procrastination

held him up here in this text. It held

him up. He The father kept him. This

false religion kept him according to

Joshua 24 and verse two. They worshiped

other gods. His father served other

gods. That's obviously pinned somewhere.

Joshua wrote it down. And so I noticed

this. All right. And I'll be done this

evening. I see the the place of the

call. It was when he was there in the

Cales. I see the procrastination

of this call. Abram was not obedient to

go directly. But I'll say this. I think

if there's anything we could get from

this tonight, it's it would be this

encouragement. If the call is still

present, you need to go now.

>> You're right.

>> Look what the Bible says. Verse number

four. What's them first three words? So

Abram departed.

>> Yeah, he's 75 years old now, but you

know what? He's decided to go on. I know

a man right now, and I'm going to get

back to the text in a minute, but I know

a man right now running from the call to

preach his entire life. got on up in his

70s and and I remember telling me this.

I went and preached a revival in the

church he was in. He told me this. He

said, "You know, I've run from it my

whole life." He said, "I feel like the

best thing I can do is do it what time I

got left." Said, "I regret wasting all

them years, but this is what I know. God

didn't never take the call from me."

>> Amen.

>> And so, I'm going to do it what time I

got left.

See, the emphasis here is is that Abram

was still obedient. We know that God

used him in this text. And I'll say more

about that in just a minute. But when we

think about all that Abram's been

through, remember this, the blasphemy in

his life, the barness of his wife, the

barrier with his father, the brokenness

of his family. But then you see after

obedience and only after obedience, what

what does the Bible say in verse two?

and I will make of thee a great nation

and I will bless thee.

You know when that promise came

when he obeyed.

>> You're right.

>> When he obeyed. Now you say, "Preacher,

but the Bible says God had already told

him that." Well, you understand Abram

never got a grip on that

>> until he walked away.

>> Amen. You see some things in your life,

you're ne it's never going to be really

real to you until you step in it. You're

>> right.

>> The reason why that so many people I

believe who are saved and they struggle

with their salvation, I say it all the

time, the reason they struggle with it

is because they've never stepped into

it. They're saved, but they don't know

how to enjoy it.

>> Yeah.

>> Abram didn't get the effect of this

promise until he stepped out.

>> You're right.

>> He didn't know the blessedness that God

spoke of in this text. And the Bible

says, "I will make of thee a great

nation, and I will bless thee and make

thy name great, and thou shalt be a

blessing." So much preaching in these

verses, you understand God is setting up

a people. Abram is the father of Israel.

But Abram is more than that. Abram is

the father of what you and I are doing

tonight. You're

>> right.

>> Turn with me to the book of Romans,

Romans 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

And this is how I want to begin our

study of Abram's life.

Romans chapter 4.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

The Bible says

Romans chapter 4 and verse number

Romans 4 · chapter mention

I really just need to preach the whole

chapter to you, but I'm going to give

you this. All right? and and we'll deal

with this at a later date. Romans 4,

Paul is describing to the church at Rome

faith and works. Now, many writers have

said that Paul in the book of Romans and

James in the Epistle James disagreed

about faith. But here's what I'll say

about that. When James was saying faith

without works is dead, he was not

talking about our salvation. And he was

talking about the outpouring of a of the

spiritfilled life in a Christian. Paul

said himself in Romans 5, he said, "And

the hope is shed. The love of God is

shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy

Ghost which is given unto us." And so

that faith in us is going to have some

evidence outside. You're

>> right.

>> Amen. If you're saved, there will be

some evidence of that. But Paul says in

Romans 4, he talks about works. And he

reminds them in chapter number three

that it's not by the deeds of the law.

He says in verse number 28 of Romans 3,

therefore we conclude that a man is

justified by faith without the deeds of

the law. And so it wasn't the keeping of

the law that saved anybody because Abram

was saved long before the law was ever

given. The law came by Moses. But how

was Abram the father of the faith if it

requires the law to be saved? Well, the

Bible says in Romans 4, notice this. The

Bible says in Romans 4 and verse number

one, "What shall we say then that Abram

our father as pertaining to the flesh

hath found? For if Abraham were

justified by works, he hath were of to

glory but not before God. For what saith

the scripture, a quote of Genesis 15:6,

Genesis 15:6

Abraham believed God, and what? And it

was counted unto him for righteousness.

It was his faith. It was not his works.

It was not what he did that saved him,

but it was him believing in the words of

God. You're

>> right.

>> And his faith was evidenced by his

works.

He lived his life in obedience unto God.

Listen to what he says here in Romans 4

verse number 20.

Romans chapter 4 and verse 20. Skipping

Romans 4 · chapter mention

over so much truth here, but I I want

you to get this. Okay? Romans 4:20, the

Romans 4:20

Bible says verse number 19, "He being

not weak in faith, considered not his

own body now dead when he was about a

hundred years old, neither yet the

deadness of Sarah's womb, he staggered

not at the promise of God through

unbelief, but was strong in faith,

giving glory to God. And being fully

persuaded that what he had promised, he

was able also to perform."

He was convinced that God was going to

do what he said.

>> You're right.

And you know, the only thing that

Abraham ever saw

as a fulfillment of his promise, look

with me back in Genesis chapter 12

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

again. Everything that's revealed in

this text, and I wasn't going to deal

with this tonight, but I'll just briefly

touch on it this evening. He says, "I

will make of thee a great nation." Well,

that brings up a problem. His wife's

barren.

The promise that God gave to him, "I'll

make of thee a great nation." and his

wife is barren. He says, "I'll bless

thee. I'll make thy name great, and thou

shalt be a blessing." Everything that

God is saying to him, Abraham would

never see the land. He would never see

the blessing of God. He would never see

all of this coming into fruition. But

you know what he would see? He would see

that son.

>> You're right.

>> And you understand that the blessing of

God's promises, you may never see all

that they entail on this side.

>> You're right.

Some people in here know that very well.

I was thinking about that just today. I

think about your mom all the time,

Brother Steve. I think about the prayers

she prayed. She never saw them answered

on this side,

>> but she knows they're answered now.

>> You're right.

>> And I want to give you this tonight and

I'm done. Okay, I told you I wanted to

really just tie this in with chapter 11

at first. I want you to notice verse two

again or verse number one. He says

number one, verse number one, he said,

"Get thee out of thy country, from thy

kindred, from thy father's house, unto a

land that I will show thee." Notice

that, "A land." Verse two, "I will make

of thee a great nation. I will bless

thee and make thy name great." What was

everything that the Babylonian people

were seeking for in chapter 11?

>> Look what the Bible says. Verse number

four. And they said, "Go to let us build

us a city and a tower whose top may

reach us reach us up unto heaven, and

let us make us a name, lest we be

scattered abroad on the fl the face of

the earth." Verse two, and they found a

plain land of Shine, and they dwelt

there. Everything that they wanted, they

lost.

>> But God comes to somebody who's just

unsuspecting.

Oh friend, if this don't help you, you

don't have to remember nothing else I

said tonight, but you better not forget

this. God come to somebody who was not

looking for anything.

>> You're right.

>> And said, "Here, I'll give it all to

you."

>> Amen.

>> Them people that went seeking for it,

searching for it, trying to attain it on

their own. You know what God did? Said,

"You can't have it." That's

>> right.

>> Aren't you thankful? It's not of works,

>> lest any man should boast.

>> Right?

>> And when they started strutting their

chest out, talking about the tower,

talking about the city, talking about

the name of Babel, God left him in a

dismay and said, "It's just all

confusion."

>> But to Abram here in this text, though

his whole family was sinful, God says,

"I'm going to pick you out.

>> You're right.

>> You're going to be mine, and I'm going

to give you everything that they wanted

but couldn't have."

>> Amen. and I'll give it to you with no

cost to you.

>> Amen.

>> I don't know the greater picture of

salvation.

>> He's given you everything that you can't

even fathom.

>> That's right.

>> Do you realize that you don't really

understand the fact that all your sins

is forgiven?

>> Right.

>> That your life when it ends on this side

that this is just a a dot

>> in the universe of eternity.

>> You're right.

>> We have no idea

>> what is waiting for us. Amen.

>> And God says, "I'll promise it to you."

There's the land. There's the nation.

There's the name. You think about it.

We've got it tonight. We've got a land.

We've got a nation that we're part of.

The church of the living God,

>> right?

>> And we've got a name.

>> Amen.

>> A new name.

>> Written down in glory.

>> Right.

>> And it's mine. Amen. I'll tell you this.

All this stuff ties up a lot. Get a lot

closer than you think it does. I want to

encourage you tonight. Don't forget the

promise. You say Abram lived 75 years.

Bible says 75. Can you imagine that? I

think about it all time. Say it all the

time. Probably Jeremiah preached for 70

years. Never saw anybody turn to God.

But you know what? He's seeing things

right now that we're going to be seeing

for long.

>> Amen.

>> We may not ever see things turn out the

way we want it to. But you just don't

know. You can you you can know this. You

can expect the unexpected

>> from God. Amen. God will show up and the

cowes. Aren't you thankful for that?

Amen. He'll show up for those people

that's unwanted. Amen. For the most

part, unwilling. Amen. But I'm I'm

thankful for what little bit of faith.

Amen. He said, "If you just had faith as

a mustard seed." Amen.

>> Just believe. Amen. Trust the Lord.

Father, thank you for this time. Thank

you for this truth tonight. God, I thank

you, Father, that you chose to bless

Abraham. And Lord, we'll look at on next

time, Father. We know we'll look there

at his ministry and the missionary that

he was and God, what you designed him to

be, Lord, as the father of the Israel,

but the father of the faith. Lord, the

father of all that believe and trust in

you, God. May we just trust you, God. We

know, Father, there's days, Lord, it

feels like we can't track you, but God,

I know that we can still trust you. Help

us trust you, be obedient to you.