Has God ever put your faith to the test by asking you to give something up? Something so precious or so important to you that you don’t know how you would go on living without it?
Sometimes God takes such things away from us – but I’m not talking about that. Have you ever given anything up voluntarily, of your own choice, because God has commanded you to do so. If so you will know a little of how Abraham felt that day when he climbed up Mount Moriah with his only son Isaac.
GOD TESTED ABRAHAM
Verses 1-2
God sometimes calls us to give up the things we hold most dearly to show that we love and obey and trust Him.
A test of love –
v 2 – your son, beloved, only son – v2
This was a test of loyalty, a test of priorities, to love God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind.
Luke 14:25-27 – here is an agonising choice, but between love for family and love for God, God must take the priority
A test of obedience
Vv 9-11 obeying God when we don’t understand, even when what he asks of us seems impossible, incredible, unacceptable.
James 2:20-24 Our faith must show itself in obedient actions. It isn’t enough to believe the Bible – we have to obey the Bible.
Test of faith
Genesis 17:19-21 Isaac was the child of blessing, the heir of the promise.
Note the certainty of Abraham’s faith in verse 5 – we WILL come back.
Hebrews 11:17-19 –
God will sometimes test OUR love, OUR obedience, OUR faith. God will sometimes demand sacrifices from us too! But when we do come to times of testing we should remember
GOD WILL PROVIDE
Verses 7-8, 13-14
God is Jehovah Jireh, God the Provider.
God provided for Abraham v 13
God provided a substitute, the ram in place of Isaac. Sometimes God DOES take away things we try so hard to cling on to – remember the story of Job. At other times God will let us keep such things so that we can use them for his glory. God WILL be there in our times of testing
1 Corinthians 10:13
God has provided for the world.
God himself will provide the Lamb John 1:29, 1 Peter 1:18-20
God was only demanding from Abraham the same sacrifice He himself would give for the salvation of the world. Abraham was challenged to give up His only son Isaac. God the Father DID give up His only Son Jesus Christ for the sins of the world. Jesus was the substitute. Jesus died not only in the place of Barabbas but ion the place of every sinner who truly repents and believes the gospel.
There is so much symbolism here. Abraham representing the Father willing to sacrifice up his only Son. Isaac representing Jesus the one would die as the perfect offering for sin. God has provided such a wonderful Saviour!
And God will continue to provide – even for us.
Verse 14. Look at the history of the church. Look at the history of world mission, and the history of revivals, and the lives of the great missionaries and saints of God who put their trust in God for their food and shelter and their very lives. Each proved in their own experience, GOD WILL PROVIDE Romans 8:31-32.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided – Great is thy Faithfulness Lord unto me! WE can all rely on the God who provides – whatever challenges lie ahead, whatever sacrifices God may call us to make, we can say “GOD WILL PROVIDE”.
And the consequences of Abraham’s obedience and faith?
BECAUSE YOU HAVE DONE THIS
Verses 15-18
Abraham’s love and obedience and faith released great blessings for the whole world. We can’t tell at the time the full significance of our service for God but I believe that often it has a much greater importance than we can imagine. Sometimes even OUR simple acts of sacrifice can have a COSMIC significance in God’s masterplan of redemption.
Blessings for Abraham
This experience built his character and deepened his relationship with God. It also brought Abraham blessings in the life to come. Matthew 19:27-28
Blessings for Isaac.
Verses 5-8. This was Isaac’s first encounter with Almighty God. Isaac learned his faith and obedience from Abraham. There will be other people whose lives have been influenced by YOUR faith. Your obedience is a blessing to THEM. Who are the people who have been touched by YOUR faith and witness and example?
Blessings for the whole world
Verses 17-18
We cannot know what the effects and results of our service for God in these days might have in years to come. When our love and faith and obedience tested, we can expect blessings to follow if we simply trust and obey – whatever the sacrifice God commands of us. And we can be completely confident that in our situation too, God will provide. Because this story gives us a wonderful picture of the sacrifice God was prepared to make for us and for our salvation.
MALACHI 3:10

GROUNDS for intercession –
Abraham’s covenant relationship with God
Abraham had also experienced God’s grace many times so he wanted others to experience that same grace.
WE are in a covenant relationship with God, and have experienced His saving love – so we should want others to do the same!
Our relationship with God – v 19, John 15:14-16
14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last.
Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

God’s invitation to pray – v 17
Our own passionate concern – v 23. Abraham is concerned for the righteous in general, and for Lot and his family in particular. His prayer is a cry for mercy, not destruction: no apathetic “it’s their problem, not mine”
God calls us to have the same concern for our neighbours.
Matthew 9:35 ¶ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the
workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

FORM of intercession
Standing before God – v 22
Approaching God – v 23 “Bold I approach the royal throne” – yet boldly vv 30-32
Humility – vv 27-28
Perseverance – v 32. “Tenacious intercession, 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10
Luke 18:1-8
1 ¶ Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God
nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, `Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But
finally he said to himself, `Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!'” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.

The unfair judge responds to persistence, how much more will the judge of all the earth do right

PURPOSES of intercession
To discover God’s will v 23-24
Appeal to God’s character – vv 25-26
Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?!
Concern for God’s glory and God’s name, So few in North Springfield bow the knee to Jesus Christ as saviour and Lord – so many worship false gods of money and entertainment
Changing God’s mind v 32. Intercession is simply going into God’s presence on behalf of others
Ephesians 6:18-20
Abraham knew THE LIMIT OF GOD’S PATIENCE – he stopped at 10, not 5, not 2, not 1
Abraham learned that although God is merciful, he is also just! God is the judge of all.

RESULTS of intercession
Changes within us: vv 17-19 Process of prayer refined and transformed Abraham
This is not so much a prayer of intercession as a prayer of formation, God changing Abraham. It’s a prayer of relinquishment –handing our lives over to God – “God, do whatever is right and I will trust you are doing the right thing – Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

Prayer is much more than merely God changing us, changing our perceptions and our expectations to align with God’s will. Intercessory prayer is indeed one way in which God’s children can play our part in the Father’s plan for the redemption of the world.
Changes in the world vv 23-29
Notice that Abraham’s prayer receives the answer “no”. Judgment still comes – but because of Abraham’s intercession Lot and his family are saved.
Question – who prayed for me to be saved? Who prayed for you to be saved? Now it is our turn to pray for North Springfield to be saved.

2 Chronicles 14:7
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their
sin and will heal their land.

If we want God to move in power in North Springfield then He will – as long as we ask Him – as long as we pray. Abraham interceded for his family and for Sodom – will we intercede for our families and for our town?

What kind of Christian are you? Some Christians are deeply spiritual. Some others are incredibly practical. Some Christians spend all their time reading their Bibles and praying for miracles. Some others are so busy doing good deeds that they never have time to pray. There are even some Christians who are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly use. There are even some others who love their neighbours in their actions but never tell those neighbours in words that God loves them.

The story of Abraham and the three visitors has two great themes. Each of these themes demands a sermon. The first is miracles – the greatness of Almighty God – nothing is too hard for the Lord! If you are a very spiritual kind of Christian you will be waiting for me to preach on the theme that nothing is impossible for God! But the second theme is equally important. It is the simple theme of hospitality – Abraham’s example to us in the way he welcomed these strangers as honoured guests. If you are a very practical kind of Christian you will rightly be expecting me to preach on hospitality.

Miracles and hospitality. This passage speaks to us about both – so here is a sermon about both miracles and hospitality. Because the two go together. We need both. We need the power of God working miracles in our lives. But the door to Abraham and Sarah’s miracle was very simple – welcoming and giving hospitality to three strangers.

First theme – miracles

The God of the Bible is a God of miracles.

Romans 4:18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead- since he was about a hundred years old- and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

God has the power to do what He promises. ANYTHING He promises! NOTHING is too hard for the Lord! Genesis 18:14 “Is anything to hard for the Lord”
Have you ever felt like you just can’t do something? You aren’t smart enough, or talented enough, or strong enough to do a particular task, or to do what you know the Lord wants you to do?
Have you ever thought that something just can’t be done, its impossible?
Maybe you are here and you feel like your life is hopeless, and your circumstances will never change.
Perhaps you have been praying for a loved one and it seems like they will never sort their life out, or that they will never get saved.
If any of these situations describe you today, You are not alone!!! But listen to what God says, “Is anything to hard for the Lord?” The answer to that question is absolutely not, nothing is to hard for the Lord!
We need to take our seemingly hopeless situations to the Lord, trust Him, commit them to Him, and allow Him to do what we cannot. There are many situations that are to hard for us. But nothing is too hard for God.

Bishop Graham Dow – “We can’t, God can.”

If today you need a miracle- remember nothing is to hard for God.
If you are in need of a special touch from God –nothing is too hard for God.
If you need direction in your life – nothing is too hard for God.
If you need encouragement, strength, salvation, freedom from the bondage of sin, comfort, protection, courage. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
If you need forgiveness, and feel so unworthy to go to a Holy God, remember that nothing is to hard for the Lord.

Remember the words of Jesus. Matt 19:26 with God all things are possible.”
Luke 18:27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”

For Abraham the key to experiencing this miraculous blessing was faith. Somebody has said, “We do not discover the resources of God until we trust Him for the impossible.”

Hebrews 11:11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age- and Sarah herself was barren- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Genesis 15:6 Abraham believed the Lord and it was credited it to him as righteousness.
Abram put his trust in the Lord, and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.

Abraham believed God. But sometimes we find it hard, even impossible to believe. Just like Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Genesis 18:10 Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, `Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son.”

When we find it difficult to trust God for a miracle, it is important to remember that God does not promise to work miracles just for our benefit and convenience. But God’s miracles are a part of His plan of salvation for us and for the world.
Like the escape of the slaves from Egypt through the Red Sea, and the way God led them through the wilderness for 40 years by the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Like the way God provided manna and quail and water from the rock for his chosen people – all part of his plan of salvation.
Like the birth of Jesus Christ the saviour of the world!
31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”

Miracles like the ministry of Jesus to those in all kinds of need.
Luke 7:22 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 23 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

When a miracle in our lives is a necessary part of God’s plan of salvation, nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Second theme – hospitality

I say again – the door to Abraham and Sarah’s miracle was very simple – welcoming and giving hospitality to three strangers.

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Genesis 18:2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. 3 He said, “If I have found favour in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way- now that you have come to your servant.” “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.” 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread.” 7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them.

In our modern world of motels and restaurants and coffee shops, we can be tempted to think that the need for hospitality is no longer there. I’m happy to say that simple hospitality remains a vital tradition in the middle east and the Third World. It was one of the things that stood out for me on my visit to Uganda. Ugandan Christians show lavish hospitality even though they have next to nothing. Hospitality is not a difficult thing. It simply means welcoming people into our homes and into our lives. The conversation together is much more important than any refreshment we may offer. It is simply spending time together.

Hear what the Bible COMMANDS.
Practise hospitality Rom 12:13. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling 1Pet 4:9.
Hospitality is at the heart of Christian fellowship and pastoral care. If we are aiming at more pastoral care then we need less meetings and more and deeper friendships.
And hospitality is at the heart of outreach and evangelism as well. Paul wrote about his outreach to the Thessalonians, We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. (1 Thess 2:8)

In the dictionary, the word “hospitality” is fits nicely between “hospital”, a place of healing, and “hospice”, a place of shelter. Hospitality isn’t just an admirable social skill; It’s essential for anyone who follows Christ. When we show kindness to outsiders, we reflect the character of God. The Message translates 3 John 5 like this: “When you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. … It’s good work you’re doing, helping these travellers on their way, hospitality worthy of God Himself!

Remember the words of Jesus
Mark 9:37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”…. 41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

It’s very important not to confuse hospitality with entertaining. Entertaining is fine china, and cloth napkins, and a dessert that took three hours to prepare. Entertaining is having the carpet cleaned, and the lawn mowed, and the kids out of the way and preferably out of the house so they won’t spill anything on your guests. Hospitality, on the other hand, is inviting people into your life, just as you are. Hospitality is walking into the living room two steps ahead of your guests and hiding the toys behind the sofa. Hospitality is sharing whatever you’re having, even if it’s just out of the freezer into the microwave. Hospitality is real life. Hospitality is treating strangers as part of the family.
So it follows that hospitality is humble. Because if we open up our homes and our lives to people, some of the messiness of our own lives is going to be exposed. And that’s OK. Hospitality has to come before pride. Not that there’s anything wrong with cleaning the house and putting a special menu in the oven, when you know that company is coming. That shows caring and respect. But sometimes, when you sense a need, or the opportunity for fellowship arises spontaneously, you have to be prepared to invite folks in regardless of what the house looks like. Because it’s not your house, or your furniture, or your culinary skills that people need most. It’s your friendship. It’s your conversation. It’s your time. We mustn’t let pride keep us from practicing hospitality.

Hospitality means friendliness to friends AND friendliness to strangers! The Greek word for hospitality is philoxenia – love for strangers. Jesus even pointed to the practice of hospitality as evidence that we have come to know him as Saviour, and a lack of hospitality as evidence that we haven’t. In the parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus describes the last judgment.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in . . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ …. Matthew 25:34-35, 41-42, 45-46

This is all about hospitality. Inviting people into your home who don’t normally belong there. Hospitality is a sign of genuine faith. That’s challenging. Especially if we’ve been neglecting hospitality and too busy to entertain strangers.

It was Archbishop William Temple who said that “the church is the only organisation which exists purely for the benefit of non members.”

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Hospitality begins with simply saying hello to people we don’t know. I remember the first church members meeting I ever chaired. I had been at the church for three weeks. As folk came in and sat down one by one I tried to remember all their names. I remember one man particularly. He was probably in his sixties, smartly dressed, silver hair, neat silver beard. I didn’t know his name. It wasn’t until after the meeting that I found out that nobody else knew his name either. Nobody had ever seen him before and we never saw him again. His first and last visit to that church was to come and sit on the front row of a members meeting nodding wisely and encouragingly for an hour and three quarters. And we never found out who he was or why he had come! It was spooky! Perhaps it was a heavenly visitation! Perhaps he was indeed an angel in our midst. Even now I can’t help wondering what wonderful blessings that church missed out on because not one of us had the sense to welcome that mysterious guest! Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

So we need to work at HOSPITALITY. That isn’t impossibly difficult! It only means inviting folk round for a coffee or a lunch or even just a chat. Making the effort to get to make new friends and welcome newcomers. Here are three things you could start doing from today!
1. How about resolving to talk to at least one new person every week.
2. Why not say hello to somebody you don’t know yet next Sunday morning? Make a new friend every week!!
3. How about fixing a date to have a coffee or even have a meal with somebody this week? Catch up with an old friend you haven’t seen for a while. Or get to know one of the new families who have been worshipping with us regularly for a while now. Don’t just think about it. Do it!

Abraham and the three visitors. Miracles and hospitality. We need them both. Especially as we think about stepping out in outreach and evangelism. We need the miracle-working power of God in our midst as we seek to share the gospel with North Springfield. But the door to Abraham and Sarah’s miracle was very simple –giving hospitality to three strangers. And God expects us to be just as welcoming!

The word covenant appears more than 300 times in the Bible. Throughout both Old and New Testaments, God’s relationship with men and women is describles as a covenant relationship. A covenant is an agreement or a treaty. A covenant with God is an agreement between two unequal partners – King and subjects. It is based on God’s gracious promises and man’s response of unconditional obedience.
Here in Genesis 17 we see the beginning olf the “Old Covenant” – God’s covenant with the Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. The covenant which was to be the basis of God’s dealings with his chosen people for the next 2000 years.
God’s side – blessings and promises.
10 times in Genesis 17:1-8 be read about what God does or will do. 13 years have passed since God’s promises to Abram in Genesis 15. In that time God has said nothing and done nothing. Abram’s faith must have been severely tested. But THEN we read vv 1-3
Descendents v 4-7
Land v 8
Heir who would be Isaac v 19-21
The new covenant: rests on God’s grace and God’s promises, not on human effort. We have the privilege of belonging to God’s chosen people, the household of faith, the church, dwelling not in the promised land of Canaan but even better in the promised Kingdom of God. All these are gifts of grace, received by faith. God kept all His promises to Abraham and He will keep all His promises to us as well.
Abraham’s side – devotion and obedience
We saw last time how Abram had already embraced those promises by faith: Gen 15:6
But at well as simply trusting God, we read now how that faith is expected to be worked out in practice in everyday living. Faith is more than just intellectual agreement. As the letter of James makes clear, faith without actions is dead. And God makes clear what he will expect from Abraham.
v1 “I am God Almighty – Walk before me”
Adam – God walked in the Garden of Eden and talked with Adam and Eve.
Enoch “Walked with God and then was no more, before God took him away.
Noah walked with God
It is the destiny of the redeemed of the Lord to walk with God: Revelation 21:3-4
And it is God’s requirement of His chosen people that they walk with Him Micah 6:8
Walk before me, God commands Abram, and “be blameless” just as Noah was: Genesis 6:9
That doesn’t imply a state of sinless perfection – but a singleminded devotion to God, wholehearted obedience, complete surrender.
This covenant will be renewed with Isaac – Genesis 26:3-5. But we can see there that God’s blessing on Abram’s descendents only followed from Abraham’s obedience.
In the New covenant: Like Abraham we are saved by believing God’s promises. “We are saved by faith alone, but true saving faith is never alone.” (Calvin)
Our proper response to God is Romans 12:1-2
We must devote ourselves to fellowship with God, prayer, worship and complete obedience, total commitment. If Abraham could offer these things to God at the age of 99, without the help of the indwelling Holy Spirit, then we have no excuses.
Circumcision – the outward sign of an inward reality.
God had sealed His side of the covenant with an oath – Genesis 15:8 and17-18 – a cutting ritual.
God now demands a cutting ritual from Abraham. Genesis 17:9-12. This would be the mark of Abraham’s descendents the people of Israel for 4000 years.
The rite of circumcision was a sign that Abraham believed God and claimed his promises. It was also a sign that Abraham in turn promised to do what God required, to walk with God and be blameless.
Circumcision was a religious sign – a sign of the need for change before human beings can have fellowship with God – a sign of separation from the world, a mark of God’s ownership on men so they cannot forget that they belong to God.
It was also a public sign so that everybody would know they belong to God. Many religions have public and visible signs – perhaps we Christians need some more public signs that we belong to God? Wearing a cross? Or fish symbol? It is too easy to blend into the crowd and hide the fact that we belong to Jesus Christ.
Change of name was also a pretty public sign! vv 5, 15. But then people can lie about their names – the rite of circumcision was the sign God commanded for his chosen people.
Outward sign was meaningless without the inward reality. Romans 2:25-29
Salvation rests on grace, received by faith, not obedience to Law Romans 4:9-13. The gift of salvation comes first, response by the external sign followed for Abraham. But in Judaism the outward sign and the inward reality are inseparable. To refuse the sign is to break the covenant. Genesis 17:14
In the New Covenant: the sign of the covenant is believers’ baptism.
Acts 2:38-39 Colossians 2:9-12.
Baptism is the sign that we have received God’s promises by faith and that we commit ourselves to obedience and worship. The outward sign does not guarantee the inward reality – we do not believe in baptismal regeneration. But in parallel to the rite of circumcision, in the New Covenant the inward reality will normally be accompanied by the outward sign.
So Christians will normally show their faith publicly by believer’s baptism. And we renew that covenant each time we eat the bread and drink the cup. We claim God’s promises afresh and we renew our baptismal promises to trust in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and our Lord and to follow Jesus and serve Him all the days of our lives in the fellowship of the church.
God’s covenant with Abraham in the Old Testament is the pattern for the New Covenant sealed in the blood of Christ. It is a relationship based on God’s blessings and promises and sealed by an outward sign. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. God expects the same response of faith and obedience from us as He did from Abraham. No less – maybe rather more! Genesis 17:1

There is an unspoken assumption in many approaches to morality and ethics. “The end justifies the means.” As long as the eventual outcome is good, it doesn’t matter what we do to get there. The ultimate good of the results cancels out any incidental evil we may commit as the means to the end.
So people say: It is good to save a mother’s life, or enhance her life, even if the means is the death of her unborn child.
People say: It is good to protect lives and property, even if the means is the death of enemies in a war.
People say: It is good to bring war to an end quickly, even if the means is the destruction of a Hiroshima or a Nagasaki.
People say: It is good to save a marriage, even if the means is adultery with a surrogate partner in sex therapy.
Ethicists wrap this up in what they call “the doctrine of double effect.” It is permissible to perform an act in order to achieve a good result even though we know that act may have bad side effects. The examples are endless. They are all complex and emotive issues but underlying them is the simple assumption, “the end justifies the means”.
I hope you will realise that I don’t agree with that principle. I don’t accept the idea that it is ever permissible to achieve good ends by evil means. But we should be aware that even Christians can fall into that kind of practice.
So many people say the end justifies the means. Do WE ever make that mistake?
Which brings us to Genesis chapter 12. Here some would say is an example of the end appearing to justify the means. The end is worthy – Abram wants to save his own life and protect his household. And he achieves that end. He even gains property and livestock from it. All the way through it appears that God is blessing Abram. All through Abram telling little white lies – what some would call “heavenly deception”. Some read this story as a demonstration that the end does justify the means. They are profoundly wrong. Here we do not find an example to follow, but a catalogue of sins to avoid. Abram is a hero of faith – but he is also a miserable sinner. Here is a story of God’s grace at work not through Abram, but despite Abram!

Genesis 12 is a story of DISBELIEF
12:10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
Here was an extreme situation. It was the first test of Abram’s faith in Canaan – and Abram failed miserably. Remember God’s promise to Abram just a few verses above
12:7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Yet Abram didn’t even trust God to provide him with food. “He deserted faith in favour of logic”. It wasn’t God who guided Abram to take refuge in Egypt. Abram took a human way out of the situation. He turned to Egypt – so often in the Bible a symbol of alliance with the world and reliance on human strength rather than God’s power.
Isaiah 31: 1 ¶ Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.
Sometimes we can be tempted to find human solutions to our problems, human ways out of difficult situations, because we don’t really believe God can help us or that God wants to help us. Somebody has said, “We mustn’t look at God through our difficulties – we must look at our difficulties through God.”

Abram’s faith fell at the first hurdle. As a result of disbelief, Abram resorted to DECEPTION
12:11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, `This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
The deception came from FEAR. It was a realistic fear for Abram, moving to live as an immigrant, an alien in a foreign land. Surely Abram could have trusted God to protect him. But instead he shows a complete lapse of faith, and a brutal disregard for Sarai too. It was an act of pure SELFISHNESS.
13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
Abram was only concerned for himself and not for his wife – indefensible cowardice!
This story very clearly shows us sins to avoid. It is a solemn warning against disbelief and deception. It certainly does NOT prove the principle that the end justifies the means.
And yet in all of this GOD BLESSED ABRAM. Those blessings were totally undeserved! That’s grace. Mercy is not getting the punishment we do deserve. Grace is God’s blessing poured out which we could never earn or deserve.

In Egypt God blessed Abram with material possessions: 12:15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.
In reality this was the “bride-price”, the dowry! Since Sarai wasn’t free to be married, this was really all a fraud! Pure and simple theft!
Yet despite this God blessed Abram with protection. When he was found out, Abram escaped punishment.
12:17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, `She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”
And God even allows Abram to keep all his ill-gotten gains.
12:20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Too many preachers today assume that this mercy of God will come to them too. They assume that because they gain material wealth God is happy to overlook their immoral lifestyles. When God blesses us that is never a sign of our worthiness but only ever a sign of his generous grace.

At least when Abram left Egypt he turned back to God again.
Gen 13: 1 ¶ So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. 3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.
But he hadn’t learned his lesson. Because reading on to Genesis 20 we find exactly the same sin. Facing a similar danger, Abram (whose name God had now changed to Abraham) tells just the same lies!

Genesis 20:1 ¶ Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
God reveals to Abimelech that Sarah is in fact Abraham’s wife. So the king confronted him, and this is Abraham’s explanation for his actions.
11 Abraham replied, “I said to myself, `There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And when God caused me to wander from my father’s household, I said to her, `This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”‘”
So Abraham’s defence is that he had told the truth but not the whole truth – just a half-truth. Lies often involve telling only half the truth instead of the whole truth. We deceive by what we conceal – the truths which stay hidden. We have good relationships with neighbours and friends and colleagues – because we never get round to telling them the whole truth that we are Christians and that they need Jesus too. For some Christians that is just another example of the end justifying the means.

Instead of punishing Abraham, God protects his Sovereign purposes.
20:3 ¶ But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” 4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Did he not say to me, `She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, `He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.

Any child Sarah would have had by Abimelech would not have been Abraham’s descended. So God makes sure that cannot happen. God protects his masterplan of salvation and the future of his chosen people.
7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.” 8 ¶ Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”

So despite Abraham’s deceit, God gets him out of trouble. Don’t you have a sense of déjà vu here? Abram has got himself into exactly the same mess a second time. And for the second time God rescues him. Now THAT is grace! Throughout history the people of God would praise God for keeping His promises to Abraham and to his descendents. And again in Genesis 20 we find Abram showered with material wealth.
Gen 20:14 ¶ Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.” 16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offence against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
Abraham’s lie had put Abimelech technically in the wrong. So Abimelech ends up giving Abraham enormous compensation – and God lets him keep it!

What depressing stories. Abram failed to trust God. He openly lied – exactly the same lie twice in similar situations, truly a besetting sin. Abram brought the name of the Lord into disrepute. Abram’s standards of morality were lower than either Pharaoh’s or Abimelech’s. Yet it was Abram who God blessed.
On thing which these stories definitely do NOT teach us is that the end justifies the means. What they DO show us is that God’s grace is sufficient for our weaknesses. God can deal with our disbelief and even with our failures. God wants to bring blessings through us and because of us. But God can bring blessing even despite us. All the heroes of faith fell into disbelief and sin from time to time. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Peter, James, John – all of them fell. Only Jesus Christ gives us a perfect example we can always follow. Yet God was pleased to bless and to use all of these saints. We must take care not to be caught by the traps they fell into – we are given plenty of warnings to avoid.

And people can’t assume that because God is blessing them, that He is happy with all their actions. The end does not justify the means – it never will! But God does bless us, not because of our failings but despite them. And he blesses us as he blessed Abram out of the riches of His grace. And we, like Abram, should just be very, very grateful!

Friend of God, first of the Patriarchs, the Father of All true believers. We understand little of Judaism and even less of Christianity if we do not recognise that Abram is the most significant individual in God’s purposes in the whole of the Old Testament. The call of Abram is probably the most significant event in the Old Testament And Abram also gives us the greatest example of personal faith.

THE CALL OF GOD
Genesis 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
Abram heard God’s call
In the midst of a pagan society of moon-worshippers, Abram had learned the recognise the voice of Almighty God. Many times we may hear the voice of God but not recognise it, or prefer to ignore what God is saying to us because it sounds too demanding. Abram heard God’s call and didn’t pretend that he hadn’t.
Called to leave behind – service God will always involve sacrifice and surrender.
Leave behind his country – Abram had to abandon so much of his wealth, his success and his reputation, his land, his security for the future in the comfortable rich land of the Chaldees.
Leave behind his people – instead of being surrounded by family friends and his own kind of people, Abram was called to live as a foreigner, an exile amongst strangers.
Leave behind his father’s household – Abram’s father Terah still had 60 years to live so Abram was also giving up his family inheritance.
Obeying God always involves sacrifice. Think of all Peter and Andrew, James and John gave up to follow Jesus, leaving behind everything they had ever known. Or think of the Rich Young Ruler, who at least had the integrity to turn back when he wasn’t prepared to pay the price. If we are not conscious of things and even people we have had to leave behind because we are following Jesus, then we may not be following Him that closely.
Called to Go
Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.
God often calls his people to step out in faith, trusting in Him for help and guidance, to attempt great things for god and expect great things from God, without knowing what the future will hold.
We can always see more clearly the things God is calling us to give up than the things He promises we weill receive. We must always exchange the substance for the shadow, the known for the unknown. We must always give up the bird in the hand for the hope of the two in the bush, give up the material in the hope of gaining the eternal and the spiritual. If we are aiming at heaven, we will always need to leave behind lesser goals for an unknown future. And don’t forget, Abram was 75 years old when God called him. None of us is to old or too settled in our ways for God to call us to leave things behind, and go and move on with Him.

THE PROMISE OF BLESSING
Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

There were five separate occasions when God promised Abram his blessings, distant abstract blessings which would be Abram’s reward for give up the concrete blessings of security and pleasure in his comfortable life at Haran.
Blessings for Abram – some blessings would be inward and personal, in a unique relationship with God. Other blessings would be outward and public, prosperity and success.
Abram would become a great nation – an amazing promise for a man who as yet had no children.
Abram would have a great name. When Abram allowed God to control his life, then God’s blessing would be so evident that everybody around would recognise it.
And Abram would be a blessing to others – what a privilege, and what an ambition, to be a channel of God’s love and power that other people are blessed.
Abram would be protected – God blessing those who blessed him and cursing those who cursed him.
Blessings for the whole world – “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Abram couldn’t possibly even guess how others would be blessed through him. It would be 2000 years before the Messiah would be born as Abram’s descendent, the Son of God who would be that blessing to all the nations.
Yet Abram was still prepared to sacrifice his own security and comfort, not so much for the blessings on himself and on the family which he would never live to see, but for the possibilities of blessings for others. The faith and obedience of that one man was to be the pivot for the whole of human history. Abram gave up everything to become a solitary wanderer, for the hope that one day there might be a people of God. And untold blessings have come down even to you and to me through that life of self-sacrifice!
How ready are we to obey God, not so that WE will be blessed, but so that through our sacrifices OTHERS will be blessed. Some people are so selfish that they want the blessings all for themselves – or they aren’t interested in serving God at all. Abram wasn’t like that!

THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
“So Abram left, as the Lord had told him”! (Hebrews 11:8)
Faith and obedience – are just two sides of the the same coin. Faith means relying on a person and trusting their words. Faith in God doesn’t just mean claiming His promises – it must also mean obedience to His commands. Taking God at His word means taking God at ALL His words – the commands as well as the promises. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!
Abram is God’s example to us of the obedience of faith. In years to come God may call any one of us, or the whole church, to step out in faith, into uncertainty, with only His promise of blessing to sustain us. Are WE prepared to be the pilgrim people of God?
The pilgrim life
Genesis 12:4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
Abram left (v4) set out (v5) travelled through (v6) went on (v7) and continued (v9). He gave up the security and comfort of Haran for a life on the move. Despite misunderstanding and ridicule and mocking from the people he left behind – Abram set out. He wasn’t alone of course. Maybe hundreds were travelling with him on that expedition into the unknown. And it was ABRAM’s faith and ABRAM’s vision that had to sustain them all! If God were to call US into that kind of pilgrim life, giving up our comforts to follow Him one step at a time into an uncertain future, would we be prepared to obey?
The promise of the Land
Genesis 12:6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Obedience led to a fresh vision from God. Abram acted on the light he had received, and so he received more light. At last God points out specifically the land he had previously promised generally. But that Land would be for Abram’s descendents, not for Abram himself. The Canaanites were in the land and for his lifetime Abram would have to live there as a foreigner, an alien and a stranger. Obedience had led him into the lion’s den, yet God’s promise was there, “I will give you this land”. Even where people do not acknowledge Him, in Canaan or in North Springfield, God is still Almighty and God Almighty still reigns. God is still Lord. And with the eye of faith, impossible as it is seems, Abram receives God’s promise. But his life still consists of
Tents and Altars.
Genesis 12:8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
We find Abram pitching his tent in the Promised Land, recognising that his home there in Canaan would be temporary until God’s plans were fulfilled. But wherever he camped he also built an altar to God – the altars which act as a testimony not only of worship but also of self-denial and sacrifice and surrender. The tent was temporary – always moving on. The altars were permanent – built for eternity.
Hebrews 11: 8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
And so Abram pressed on to that city with foundations, built by God. If only Christians would adopt the same priorities as Abram, putting all our energies into things of eternity instead of the things of this world, recognising how temporary the things of this world actually are.
Like Abram we are called to be strangers in the world.
Hebrews 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.
My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue,
The Saviour beckons me from heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world any more.
We say we believe in heaven. But until the world around sees Christians laying up our treasures in heaven instead of on earth, I am not sure many people are going to believe us.
Abram still has at least 10 trials of faith and obedience to come. But he has passed the first hurdle. God called and Abram obeyed. Whatever God may call us to in the future, may He give US the grace to respond with faith and obedience.