The Sermon Abram - Promises Fulfilled by David McGee
Apr 28, 2013
Abram - Promises Fulfilled (35:43)
Referenced Scriptures: Hebrews 6:13-18; Genesis 17:17; Genesis 21:1-8; Genesis 22:1-24
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The scriptures below are from the WEB Bible.
Hebrews 6:13-18
13) For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he swore by himself,
14) saying, "Most surely I will bless you, and I will surely multiply you."
15) Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
16) For men indeed swear by a greater one, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.
17) Wherein God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath;
18) that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us,
Genesis 17:17
17) Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, "Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?"
Genesis 21:1-8
1) Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said, and Yahweh did to Sarah as he had spoken.
2) Sarah conceived, and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.
3) Abraham called his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
4) Abraham circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
5) Abraham was one hundred years old when his son, Isaac, was born to him.
6) Sarah said, "God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me."
7) She said, "Who would have said to Abraham, that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age."
8) The child grew, and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
Genesis 22:1-24
1) It happened after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."
2) He said, "Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of."
3) Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went to the place of which God had told him.
4) On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place far off.
5) Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go yonder. We will worship, and come back to you.
6) Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. They both went together.
7) Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am, my son." He said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8) Abraham said, "God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they both went together.
9) They came to the place which God had told him of. Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, on the wood.
10) Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to kill his son.
11) The angel of Yahweh called to him out of the sky, and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."
12) He said, "Don‘t lay your hand on the boy, neither do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."
13) Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and saw that behind him was a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
14) Abraham called the name of that place Yahweh-jireh. As it is said to this day, "In Yahweh‘s mountain it will be provided.
15) The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of the sky,
16) and said, "I have sworn by myself, says Yahweh, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
17) that in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies.
18) In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
19) So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.
20) It happened after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, "Behold, Milcah, she also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
21) Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram,
22) Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel."
23) Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham‘s brother.
24) His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bare Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.
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While today we are continuing the practice finishing our sequence of sermon on Abraham Abram, changing his name to Abraham and today's messages. The promise will fail and we noticed that last week we had Abraham trying to fulfill his promise, and his own understanding. In his own way of making things happen and that's when he ever you had the son Ishmael to Hagar while Abraham here is this hero of our faith, and he is called the father of the faithful is calling his life. His travels are all part of the walk of a believing person trying to do the best they can with where they're at and living out the promises that he is received within his heart, and it's quite a change from Abraham, the automaker and are of the counties in which he made yet. I was his living. He and his father 's living making idols. Jewish tradition have that but he was an idol maker and Harry was making all of these gods in these godly mate never spoke to him, never influenced his life, but there was a God of creation that spoke to him and changed his life called him to leave our other counties and also landed, he would show him. Hebrews chapter thirty six. Verse thirteen to eighteen, says this when God made his promise to Abraham. He backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line, he said. I promise that I'll bless you with everything I have less and less and less a Brown struck out stock apps, you know, I'm having trouble talking today. I'll blame it on my own bells palsy or whatever it is is is not working very well today, for whatever reason. So anyhow of I get tongue tied. Please forgive so he struck out where to go. He stuck it out there. I go from Abraham, stuck it out and got everything that he had been promised to them. When people make promises they guaranteed him by appeal to some authority above them, so that if there is any question that they'll make good on the promise. The authority will back them up when God wanted to guarantee his promise he gave his word, a rocksolid guarantee God can break his word, and because his work cannot chain the promise is like likewise unchangeable. So here we have that Abraham his life was written for us not only in the book of Genesis, but it's referred to throughout the Scriptures referred to by Jesus himself, and referred to after Rob AAL, the book of the book of the New Testament. So we find him being given to assault the story of Abraham is not just the folklore is not a folklore of history of campfire stories that people have passed down to one another, but we find were Abraham is a very real person encountering very real difficulties living them out through very real promises. This is where I I look for our lives in the sense that we live our life in a very real world. We have very real situations that you face every day and we have very real promises that God has given to us that come together and it's the big flashing on the mingling of these promises together that gives us hope. Just to give a little bit of history from where we are, where last week where we are today in Genesis seventeen, three. We know the God dear to Abraham to change his name and he changed his name from Abram to Abraham, which means I'm making you the father of many nations now can you imagine you imagine going down to the local post office and say that ninety nine years of age that you know what I'd like to change my name. I like the Jays, my name from Abram to Abraham. I'm a father. Many nations and you see I wander around the desert looking for a place I found a place that God is good to give me and my descendents, but other people live there, but is actually mine, and I'm going to change my name to the father of many nations. Now I know my wife has had any children and she's ninety years. All outlets that touching. Imagine this type of encounter that minute is going on in Abraham 's mind, and when Sarah and we see that he's saying that God is speaking to me and ninety nine years of age is going to change his name from Abram to Abraham and I'm going to change Sarah, I want to change her name is Sarah, because God says I will bless her and give her a son by her pay any ladies here ninety years of age. Okay, he imagine adding a few years off where your active. A lot of gears up to where you're at and being ninety years all add to you. You say you're not have another baby at nineteen okay. Well, in chapter seventeen. Abraham fell flat on his face. This is God speaking to him. He is not advocating that a child ninety nine Sarah 's that have a child at ninety, and this is what Abram did Abram fell in this phase, and then he laugh you ever laugh at the face of God. If you have a laugh of the promises that God puts into your life Mike Hjalmar. I then got happened to me so I followed his face and he began to laugh. He says Canada hundred -year-old man& and chance. There are ninety years old have a baby would you laugh at that. I would so we understand the faith is not the absence of doubt and faith is not usability to figure everything out there was always a struggle in our life between what we believe that God wants to do and what is going to happen. The baby Robert Robbie, what's he going to be working to be when he grows up. I'm still wondering that myself. But what a lucky guy to be when he grows up. There's what's the potential inside of the child with the potential that is there. You see, even at ninety, ninety nine God is telling Abraham, you got something more design. Sarah had ninety. There are promises that haven't yet been fulfilled in your life and how many of Austin. Our lives is God saying to wise never reached the end you're not in the middle, you're just beginning is just part you were part of a process of the workmen to become install. We find that I like this little analogy is that if there were no faith, there could never be doubt if Weigel expects something there couldn't be adopted and will happen. So we focus down on such canceling out something that we expect to happen. And God is saying to us that I I I challenge ourselves until just against the surgery gives us the desires of our heart, who just wants to put those things in place inside of us. It's not there yet. When I finished yet but a long way to go. But God has a way of working in our lives and working this out one chapter eighteen. We have the conflict over Sodom and the more. And now that it's going to be destroyed, and Abram bargains with God that God, if you'll just save than five find ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah. While didn't happen and lauded his wife and two daughters escaped and went into his life. She looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. I will avoid Sunday school, said that's nothing my my mom. She looked back and turned into a telephone pole. I thought that was funny and chapter twenty is one of those chapters, we would think could never happen again to Abram Abraham and for the second time. Now if you want to understand Sarah Serra is a very, very beautiful woman, because at ninety and rebels this country where the Abimelech king is and he has afraid that he had ninety nine is going to be killed because this changes my wanted his wife, whose ninety the part of his harem and he doesn't want to die so he tells Sarah for this time preventively, my sister, mom, what happened to King says, well I want her in my harem and he and God came to the king, and said you'd be dead. He touched this woman that's the Magee paraphrased translation and him are actually the message Bible says that he was as good as dead in his dream. Any jump out of you whenever you that any rant. It took Sarah gave her back neighbor who says Jenna. Garrick, felt to come back she's your wife of Abraham, inflate there is here is this guy who has for twenty five years and following God, and still has doubts about what's going to happen with his life. So you see in our lives we can we does not the absence about it, it's the presence of faith and sure they're going to be things that go wrong in Charlotte. Every time the dog and confusion, and all of you happen, but that's not our life is based upon what doesn't go right. Our life is based upon the decisions we make it said that wrong. Our life is not based upon the thing to go wrong. Our life is based upon the decisions that we make after they go wrong because we are going to end up on her face, falling down. It's a matter of getting up again. It isn't that we will never fail in summertime, you get out and getting up is the most important thing because falling is not, and Robert, there is the fall learning how to walk learning how to maneuver things and were going to stand around and know what destiny God has now they will learn a lot and were out of the excited about. It doesn't have to fall to learn how to balance himself we have to fail. Learn how to know the balance of God 's word in our lives so. Genesis twenty one is almost a year since Abram has Abraham 's had this promise that his name would be changed from a printer, Abraham and Sarah to satirize. So it's been almost a year is on Genesis twenty one. The Scripture says, God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would not did to Sarah when he promised Sarah became pregnant and gave Abram a son in his old age, at the very time God had set Abraham named him Isaac when his son was eight days old neighbor and circumcised him, just as God had commanded Abram was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born Sarah said. God has blessed me with laughter. This was, this was still in her culture. It was almost it was a curse from God, that you can have a child, but at ninety years old. Talk has blessed me with such joy he has brought laughter into my life. This is such an impossible thing we get it happen blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me and she also said whoever would have suggested to Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse the baby yet. I am given the old man assigned to get it out of man assigned to see she's not ninety. Not all of these all so the baby girl was weaned Abraham threw a big party on the day. Isaac was weaned so broken up only that Abraham would have assigned in a hundred years of old age, doing the impossible is ever day business for God. God doesn't have a problem doing the impossible. They just has hard time finding people who will allow the impossible to take place in their life is a hard time finding people who will allow the impossible take place because we are so set in our understanding and our limitations in our boxes in our performances are mass that we bear to wife and to work into a rounded. It's hard to find or to think that something out of the ordinary could really happen because we don't want to be disappointed with alike disappointment, so why should I believe in something better I should just be happy with what I got and that's not what life is about. We are to be thankful of all things, but God has a purpose in the plan, which we are continuing to grow personally and develop who we are as an individual and how that our life is the change and will change because things happen and changes come into our life, you know, we consider them that it who knows whether that exact event is going to lead us down the particular route to get to what we need to be in the first place. So the way to bring peace to the troubled heart, then, is the focus on God 's promises trust his word to our life and for Abraham and Sarah would appear that all is well. They've had their son hundred years old, got his son and eight Isaac is born promises fulfilled were living our life work were tinting here and there on the countryside were pretty wealthy, we have all the camels are not sheep and the goats than those sermons and everything we need. It's all good. We're just out here living the nomad life taken anything. Chapter twenty two, after all this, God tested Abraham. The difference between a test in the trial temptation would invest in temptation, a test is to give us an understanding of where were at as the teacher what to test for what, what do your children understand what do they know we want to find that out a temptation is for to lead us astray to take us away from God to bring the house, steal, kill and destroy take away from who we are. God never tempts us. He will never attempt us is God cannot be tempted with evil, he does not bring evil into our life e-mail. Wow temptation or something to come into our life. It is only applicable only, in an area in which we find our weakness, the devil never comes to hit his head on with our strengths becomes in the back door where our weaknesses, which we think we have hidden while know that when God tests us. It's always our benefit as God only knows the outcome. He wants us to know and believe. So God tested Abraham God that Abraham. Yes answered Abraham, I'm listening. He said take your dear son Isaac, whom you love and go to the land of Mariah. Remember that land. Maria sacrificing there as a burnt offering on one of the mountain I will point out to you. So here he goes again. He is leaving for place that he doesn't know where he is going. He has a general direction and God is the challenge that when you get there, I'll tell you you're there and so Abraham obeys Abraham got up early in the morning saddled his donkey took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split the wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had directed him in on the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distant, so here is a group recognizing that God has spoken to him. He picks up the wood. The flames and the knife and I seek is dead in his heart got broken heart and tell Sarah a Sarah, you know, my son am a no kill and what she's got a crazy and anger the lesson that he listed all of this and how that God was doing a work in his life and how that God was no challenging him by his word and God spoke to him and said, go and to this place and sacrifice him. So for three days. He carried that Isaacson 's heart. Abraham told, is set to younger servants stay here with the donkey, so they've arrived at this place in this land of Mariah, which is a general area, we would say would be like we live in Pittsburgh and I want you to go to Somerset County to a place that when you get there I will show you what to do next. So you take off walking to Somerset County know exactly where you're going, but when I reinvent aware you are a hotel, you you're there to where Grenville was just this area called maria because of this month inside this place and he says this is Jackie tells a servant. You stay here and what happens the boy and I are going over there to worship then what what's the little word here then will we. We will come back to you. We are going there. What is a brand going to do until the sun out of obedience to God is one Achilles son, but he says where coming back. Abraham believed in the resurrection. Abraham believed that this song I think was the chosen son, and he didn't understand even if you have a concept of how this was going to be a no. Then he added that the sunny and heard from God that he was going to die, but he also knew that this time was the son of promise, and at the side of promise was through all of his descendents were going to be blessed through the son, and even all that were there until they were, but there's only one thing that can happen, he has to come back from the dead, while I think okay, Abraham took the wood birds were six paper and took the wood for the burnt offering and what it did do, he gave it to Isaac his son to carry so I think carried the woods to the place of sacrifice first line. I think said that the father is father Abraham, father. Yes, my son with latex input, but all he all but where's the sheet for the burnt offering Abrams@ God will see to it that there is a sheet for the burnt offering, and they keep on walking together, there's no turning back for Abraham, there's no turning back. He knows what's in front of him. He knows what he must do. But he believes that God is going to supply the offering God is going to supply what is necessary for this sacrifice, but he knows that he himself must continue going first night they arrived at the place to which God had directed him, Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac, and made him on the words, Isaac in many pictures is the is pictured as a little child like five years old pictures. All now Isaac is about sixteen eighteen he had the ability to overpower his father, but he would not overpower his father. He submitted to the will of his father and allow himself to be bound and laid on the altar to be killed, and Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son Abraham had to do this because he knew this is what God has spoken his seat a premise, the guy who for your marketing, but he is also, I think his son is a lot like Jesus our Savior. Abraham is a lot like God our father. Anything that just as Abraham is revving to kill his son and then ran the angel said, and Jack Abramson, yes, I'm listening. I hand on that boy don't touch him. I know how fearless you are how fearlessly you fear God, you didn't hesitate to place your son, your dear son on the altar for me. He was willing to give everything he had to follow God 's command. God doesn't want human sacrifice, God has never wanted human sacrifice apron doesn't know that is the first of its kind in our life. God doesn't want us to kill ourselves. We lay ourselves upon the altar of God as a living sacrifice. We live our life out for God. We dedicate our children that we will sacrifice our faith on our children. We will give ourselves to God 's direction for our life for our children. Abraham looked up, he saw a RAM caught by its horns in the thick Abraham took the RAM and sacrificed in the burnt offering instead of his son. God always provides takes us to a place where we don't have a choice and God says, I will provide. Abraham named the place God the Ira or in the King James is not Jehovah Gyro, which is the Lord will provide in this place that we look at in our life that God is our provision if we need healing, health, we ask for God 's touch upon our life if we need to work money. We pray that God will provide. We need strength. We pray for God 's provision jihad, like Gyro is a place where we arrive at and it's like we have nothing left to go on, but our faith, and I promise, and it is there that God comes through as the provider of our life. The birth of Isaac is a miraculous birth. Sarah is wound beyond the age of having children, but they have a child, Jesus was born of a virgin. Abraham was called to go to the land of Mariah where is the land of Mariah. It is the area around Jerusalem. What was he to do in this place. It was then that he was going to sacrifice his son Isaac in this land of Mariah there is a field called cocoa and it is no stretch of imagination that Jesus carried the cross up the same hill that Isaac carried would and laid himself down as a willing sacrifice of his father Abraham Terry then I think his heart for three days. It was thereupon the altar that he received him back to life. Abraham believed in the resurrection, he says we come back when we face the departures of our loved ones, we will see them again. We believe in the resurrection they built an altar made of stone and wood. Jesus laid himself upon the cross and told them you do not take my life, I get it. Abraham raised the knife to kill his son and he said dogs, God will provide himself a lamb Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and it is in the last verse and want to read is verse twenty through twenty three and put that up after all this Abram got the news, your brother name or is the father, not milk, has given him children. I was his firstborn, his brother bus came, you'll he was the father of Abram Amram, she said Hazel Phil Job ad and Bethel Bethel was the father of who is it who is the bride five. Rebecca, when I think is taken off of the altar. His bride is born when Jesus rose from the dead, his bride is born. The church of Jesus Christ that you see the challenges that we don't are our faith is not built on circumstance. Our faith is not built on wins and schemes and religions and denominations and doctrines. Our faith is based upon her relationship with Jesus Christ and as far back as it is, it begins with Abraham and fought also a brand. There's pictures and there's types and those reflections, and all of these things line up with Jesus who is the Messiah, who is our Savior, who is the Lamb of God who is the one who forgives us of our sins, he is the one we celebrating communion. His shed blood is broken body. All of this we see that much of this we see in Isaac, and as we have looked in Abraham, we've seen his journeys we say he's not this perfect man, is this guy was without sin promises and an impulses and in NY and an still comes back to Bethel. The place where he met with God, and this is what goes on in our life. We may have found silly man lies we may have things that go wrong, but we always get up, we always rise up in our faith because Christ is the live in our makes a difference in each of us who not only is our Savior saves us from our sin. He is our friend. He is our strength is our companion. He is the one who loves us. He is the one who walks with us. He is one is never so far way is to be just near. I can never be anywhere out of his presence, and we see these pictures. These pictures of life is pictures of love pictures of sacrifice, we see how that this picture of Isaac paints a portrait of how the goblins us and how that as Isaac fulfilled as Abraham went to fulfill the promise. The direction, the God of place in his life. We see that same picture in Jesus Christ, son, it is said that Abraham lived about nineteen forty eight BC. So somewhere in that timeframe. The beginning of our faith was there, and from that point to the birth of Christ we see all of these promises coming together. Our faith is based on the substance of all of these promises, worked out in the lives of others and then comes to us anything, this place of these promises, we find our faith and then so is there Jesus. We dedicate ourselves to you we ask you oh God, for your forgiveness. We place ourselves in the arms of our father. And if ever iPhone I'm safe, whether in this life for the life to come. I am safe whether in happiness or weatherman sorrow. I'm safe whether things go the way I plan or the whole world falls apart. I am safe. You are working on a purpose. We ask you oh God, that you continue to minister to us. They got your life in us live out your promises in us, forgive us of every sin of God establish our hearts establish our going out and are coming in from this time forth and forever more, knowing the Lord that you are the one who will walk with us and talk with us by your spirit and your word, you will give us the assurance of eternal life, and of a purpose in the plan for this day we ask these things in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, and we all pray the Lord 's prayer our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Start trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever on publisher is of a handshake or hugWhile today we are continuing the practice finishing our sequence of sermon on Abraham Abram, changing his name to Abraham and today's messages. The promise will fail and we noticed that last week we had Abraham trying to fulfill his promise, and his own understanding. In his own way of making things happen and that's when he ever you had the son Ishmael to Hagar while Abraham here is this hero of our faith, and he is called the father of the faithful is calling his life. His travels are all part of the walk of a believing person trying to do the best they can with where they're at and living out the promises that he is received within his heart, and it's quite a change from Abraham, the automaker and are of the counties in which he made yet. I was his living. He and his father 's living making idols. Jewish tradition have that but he was an idol maker and Harry was making all of these gods in these godly mate never spoke to him, never influenced his life, but there was a God of creation that spoke to him and changed his life called him to leave our other counties and also landed, he would show him. Hebrews chapter thirty six. Verse thirteen to eighteen, says this when God made his promise to Abraham. He backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line, he said. I promise that I'll bless you with everything I have less and less and less a Brown struck out stock apps, you know, I'm having trouble talking today. I'll blame it on my own bells palsy or whatever it is is is not working very well today, for whatever reason. So anyhow of I get tongue tied. Please forgive so he struck out where to go. He stuck it out there. I go from Abraham, stuck it out and got everything that he had been promised to them. When people make promises they guaranteed him by appeal to some authority above them, so that if there is any question that they'll make good on the promise. The authority will back them up when God wanted to guarantee his promise he gave his word, a rocksolid guarantee God can break his word, and because his work cannot chain the promise is like likewise unchangeable. So here we have that Abraham his life was written for us not only in the book of Genesis, but it's referred to throughout the Scriptures referred to by Jesus himself, and referred to after Rob AAL, the book of the book of the New Testament. So we find him being given to assault the story of Abraham is not just the folklore is not a folklore of history of campfire stories that people have passed down to one another, but we find were Abraham is a very real person encountering very real difficulties living them out through very real promises. This is where I I look for our lives in the sense that we live our life in a very real world. We have very real situations that you face every day and we have very real promises that God has given to us that come together and it's the big flashing on the mingling of these promises together that gives us hope. Just to give a little bit of history from where we are, where last week where we are today in Genesis seventeen, three. We know the God dear to Abraham to change his name and he changed his name from Abram to Abraham, which means I'm making you the father of many nations now can you imagine you imagine going down to the local post office and say that ninety nine years of age that you know what I'd like to change my name. I like the Jays, my name from Abram to Abraham. I'm a father. Many nations and you see I wander around the desert looking for a place I found a place that God is good to give me and my descendents, but other people live there, but is actually mine, and I'm going to change my name to the father of many nations. Now I know my wife has had any children and she's ninety years. All outlets that touching. Imagine this type of encounter that minute is going on in Abraham 's mind, and when Sarah and we see that he's saying that God is speaking to me and ninety nine years of age is going to change his name from Abram to Abraham and I'm going to change Sarah, I want to change her name is Sarah, because God says I will bless her and give her a son by her pay any ladies here ninety years of age. Okay, he imagine adding a few years off where your active. A lot of gears up to where you're at and being ninety years all add to you. You say you're not have another baby at nineteen okay. Well, in chapter seventeen. Abraham fell flat on his face. This is God speaking to him. He is not advocating that a child ninety nine Sarah 's that have a child at ninety, and this is what Abram did Abram fell in this phase, and then he laugh you ever laugh at the face of God. If you have a laugh of the promises that God puts into your life Mike Hjalmar. I then got happened to me so I followed his face and he began to laugh. He says Canada hundred -year-old man& and chance. There are ninety years old have a baby would you laugh at that. I would so we understand the faith is not the absence of doubt and faith is not usability to figure everything out there was always a struggle in our life between what we believe that God wants to do and what is going to happen. The baby Robert Robbie, what's he going to be working to be when he grows up. I'm still wondering that myself. But what a lucky guy to be when he grows up. There's what's the potential inside of the child with the potential that is there. You see, even at ninety, ninety nine God is telling Abraham, you got something more design. Sarah had ninety. There are promises that haven't yet been fulfilled in your life and how many of Austin. Our lives is God saying to wise never reached the end you're not in the middle, you're just beginning is just part you were part of a process of the workmen to become install. We find that I like this little analogy is that if there were no faith, there could never be doubt if Weigel expects something there couldn't be adopted and will happen. So we focus down on such canceling out something that we expect to happen. And God is saying to us that I I I challenge ourselves until just against the surgery gives us the desires of our heart, who just wants to put those things in place inside of us. It's not there yet. When I finished yet but a long way to go. But God has a way of working in our lives and working this out one chapter eighteen. We have the conflict over Sodom and the more. And now that it's going to be destroyed, and Abram bargains with God that God, if you'll just save than five find ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah. While didn't happen and lauded his wife and two daughters escaped and went into his life. She looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. I will avoid Sunday school, said that's nothing my my mom. She looked back and turned into a telephone pole. I thought that was funny and chapter twenty is one of those chapters, we would think could never happen again to Abram Abraham and for the second time. Now if you want to understand Sarah Serra is a very, very beautiful woman, because at ninety and rebels this country where the Abimelech king is and he has afraid that he had ninety nine is going to be killed because this changes my wanted his wife, whose ninety the part of his harem and he doesn't want to die so he tells Sarah for this time preventively, my sister, mom, what happened to King says, well I want her in my harem and he and God came to the king, and said you'd be dead. He touched this woman that's the Magee paraphrased translation and him are actually the message Bible says that he was as good as dead in his dream. Any jump out of you whenever you that any rant. It took Sarah gave her back neighbor who says Jenna. Garrick, felt to come back she's your wife of Abraham, inflate there is here is this guy who has for twenty five years and following God, and still has doubts about what's going to happen with his life. So you see in our lives we can we does not the absence about it, it's the presence of faith and sure they're going to be things that go wrong in Charlotte. Every time the dog and confusion, and all of you happen, but that's not our life is based upon what doesn't go right. Our life is based upon the decisions we make it said that wrong. Our life is not based upon the thing to go wrong. Our life is based upon the decisions that we make after they go wrong because we are going to end up on her face, falling down. It's a matter of getting up again. It isn't that we will never fail in summertime, you get out and getting up is the most important thing because falling is not, and Robert, there is the fall learning how to walk learning how to maneuver things and were going to stand around and know what destiny God has now they will learn a lot and were out of the excited about. It doesn't have to fall to learn how to balance himself we have to fail. Learn how to know the balance of God 's word in our lives so. Genesis twenty one is almost a year since Abram has Abraham 's had this promise that his name would be changed from a printer, Abraham and Sarah to satirize. So it's been almost a year is on Genesis twenty one. The Scripture says, God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would not did to Sarah when he promised Sarah became pregnant and gave Abram a son in his old age, at the very time God had set Abraham named him Isaac when his son was eight days old neighbor and circumcised him, just as God had commanded Abram was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born Sarah said. God has blessed me with laughter. This was, this was still in her culture. It was almost it was a curse from God, that you can have a child, but at ninety years old. Talk has blessed me with such joy he has brought laughter into my life. This is such an impossible thing we get it happen blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me and she also said whoever would have suggested to Abraham that Sarah would one day nurse the baby yet. I am given the old man assigned to get it out of man assigned to see she's not ninety. Not all of these all so the baby girl was weaned Abraham threw a big party on the day. Isaac was weaned so broken up only that Abraham would have assigned in a hundred years of old age, doing the impossible is ever day business for God. God doesn't have a problem doing the impossible. They just has hard time finding people who will allow the impossible to take place in their life is a hard time finding people who will allow the impossible take place because we are so set in our understanding and our limitations in our boxes in our performances are mass that we bear to wife and to work into a rounded. It's hard to find or to think that something out of the ordinary could really happen because we don't want to be disappointed with alike disappointment, so why should I believe in something better I should just be happy with what I got and that's not what life is about. We are to be thankful of all things, but God has a purpose in the plan, which we are continuing to grow personally and develop who we are as an individual and how that our life is the change and will change because things happen and changes come into our life, you know, we consider them that it who knows whether that exact event is going to lead us down the particular route to get to what we need to be in the first place. So the way to bring peace to the troubled heart, then, is the focus on God 's promises trust his word to our life and for Abraham and Sarah would appear that all is well. They've had their son hundred years old, got his son and eight Isaac is born promises fulfilled were living our life work were tinting here and there on the countryside were pretty wealthy, we have all the camels are not sheep and the goats than those sermons and everything we need. It's all good. We're just out here living the nomad life taken anything. Chapter twenty two, after all this, God tested Abraham. The difference between a test in the trial temptation would invest in temptation, a test is to give us an understanding of where were at as the teacher what to test for what, what do your children understand what do they know we want to find that out a temptation is for to lead us astray to take us away from God to bring the house, steal, kill and destroy take away from who we are. God never tempts us. He will never attempt us is God cannot be tempted with evil, he does not bring evil into our life e-mail. Wow temptation or something to come into our life. It is only applicable only, in an area in which we find our weakness, the devil never comes to hit his head on with our strengths becomes in the back door where our weaknesses, which we think we have hidden while know that when God tests us. It's always our benefit as God only knows the outcome. He wants us to know and believe. So God tested Abraham God that Abraham. Yes answered Abraham, I'm listening. He said take your dear son Isaac, whom you love and go to the land of Mariah. Remember that land. Maria sacrificing there as a burnt offering on one of the mountain I will point out to you. So here he goes again. He is leaving for place that he doesn't know where he is going. He has a general direction and God is the challenge that when you get there, I'll tell you you're there and so Abraham obeys Abraham got up early in the morning saddled his donkey took two of his young servants and his son Isaac. He had split the wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had directed him in on the third day he looked up and saw the place in the distant, so here is a group recognizing that God has spoken to him. He picks up the wood. The flames and the knife and I seek is dead in his heart got broken heart and tell Sarah a Sarah, you know, my son am a no kill and what she's got a crazy and anger the lesson that he listed all of this and how that God was doing a work in his life and how that God was no challenging him by his word and God spoke to him and said, go and to this place and sacrifice him. So for three days. He carried that Isaacson 's heart. Abraham told, is set to younger servants stay here with the donkey, so they've arrived at this place in this land of Mariah, which is a general area, we would say would be like we live in Pittsburgh and I want you to go to Somerset County to a place that when you get there I will show you what to do next. So you take off walking to Somerset County know exactly where you're going, but when I reinvent aware you are a hotel, you you're there to where Grenville was just this area called maria because of this month inside this place and he says this is Jackie tells a servant. You stay here and what happens the boy and I are going over there to worship then what what's the little word here then will we. We will come back to you. We are going there. What is a brand going to do until the sun out of obedience to God is one Achilles son, but he says where coming back. Abraham believed in the resurrection. Abraham believed that this song I think was the chosen son, and he didn't understand even if you have a concept of how this was going to be a no. Then he added that the sunny and heard from God that he was going to die, but he also knew that this time was the son of promise, and at the side of promise was through all of his descendents were going to be blessed through the son, and even all that were there until they were, but there's only one thing that can happen, he has to come back from the dead, while I think okay, Abraham took the wood birds were six paper and took the wood for the burnt offering and what it did do, he gave it to Isaac his son to carry so I think carried the woods to the place of sacrifice first line. I think said that the father is father Abraham, father. Yes, my son with latex input, but all he all but where's the sheet for the burnt offering Abrams@ God will see to it that there is a sheet for the burnt offering, and they keep on walking together, there's no turning back for Abraham, there's no turning back. He knows what's in front of him. He knows what he must do. But he believes that God is going to supply the offering God is going to supply what is necessary for this sacrifice, but he knows that he himself must continue going first night they arrived at the place to which God had directed him, Abraham built an altar. He laid out the wood. Then he tied up Isaac, and made him on the words, Isaac in many pictures is the is pictured as a little child like five years old pictures. All now Isaac is about sixteen eighteen he had the ability to overpower his father, but he would not overpower his father. He submitted to the will of his father and allow himself to be bound and laid on the altar to be killed, and Abraham reached out and took the knife to kill his son Abraham had to do this because he knew this is what God has spoken his seat a premise, the guy who for your marketing, but he is also, I think his son is a lot like Jesus our Savior. Abraham is a lot like God our father. Anything that just as Abraham is revving to kill his son and then ran the angel said, and Jack Abramson, yes, I'm listening. I hand on that boy don't touch him. I know how fearless you are how fearlessly you fear God, you didn't hesitate to place your son, your dear son on the altar for me. He was willing to give everything he had to follow God 's command. God doesn't want human sacrifice, God has never wanted human sacrifice apron doesn't know that is the first of its kind in our life. God doesn't want us to kill ourselves. We lay ourselves upon the altar of God as a living sacrifice. We live our life out for God. We dedicate our children that we will sacrifice our faith on our children. We will give ourselves to God 's direction for our life for our children. Abraham looked up, he saw a RAM caught by its horns in the thick Abraham took the RAM and sacrificed in the burnt offering instead of his son. God always provides takes us to a place where we don't have a choice and God says, I will provide. Abraham named the place God the Ira or in the King James is not Jehovah Gyro, which is the Lord will provide in this place that we look at in our life that God is our provision if we need healing, health, we ask for God 's touch upon our life if we need to work money. We pray that God will provide. We need strength. We pray for God 's provision jihad, like Gyro is a place where we arrive at and it's like we have nothing left to go on, but our faith, and I promise, and it is there that God comes through as the provider of our life. The birth of Isaac is a miraculous birth. Sarah is wound beyond the age of having children, but they have a child, Jesus was born of a virgin. Abraham was called to go to the land of Mariah where is the land of Mariah. It is the area around Jerusalem. What was he to do in this place. It was then that he was going to sacrifice his son Isaac in this land of Mariah there is a field called cocoa and it is no stretch of imagination that Jesus carried the cross up the same hill that Isaac carried would and laid himself down as a willing sacrifice of his father Abraham Terry then I think his heart for three days. It was thereupon the altar that he received him back to life. Abraham believed in the resurrection, he says we come back when we face the departures of our loved ones, we will see them again. We believe in the resurrection they built an altar made of stone and wood. Jesus laid himself upon the cross and told them you do not take my life, I get it. Abraham raised the knife to kill his son and he said dogs, God will provide himself a lamb Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and it is in the last verse and want to read is verse twenty through twenty three and put that up after all this Abram got the news, your brother name or is the father, not milk, has given him children. I was his firstborn, his brother bus came, you'll he was the father of Abram Amram, she said Hazel Phil Job ad and Bethel Bethel was the father of who is it who is the bride five. Rebecca, when I think is taken off of the altar. His bride is born when Jesus rose from the dead, his bride is born. The church of Jesus Christ that you see the challenges that we don't are our faith is not built on circumstance. Our faith is not built on wins and schemes and religions and denominations and doctrines. Our faith is based upon her relationship with Jesus Christ and as far back as it is, it begins with Abraham and fought also a brand. There's pictures and there's types and those reflections, and all of these things line up with Jesus who is the Messiah, who is our Savior, who is the Lamb of God who is the one who forgives us of our sins, he is the one we celebrating communion. His shed blood is broken body. All of this we see that much of this we see in Isaac, and as we have looked in Abraham, we've seen his journeys we say he's not this perfect man, is this guy was without sin promises and an impulses and in NY and an still comes back to Bethel. The place where he met with God, and this is what goes on in our life. We may have found silly man lies we may have things that go wrong, but we always get up, we always rise up in our faith because Christ is the live in our makes a difference in each of us who not only is our Savior saves us from our sin. He is our friend. He is our strength is our companion. He is the one who loves us. He is the one who walks with us. He is one is never so far way is to be just near. I can never be anywhere out of his presence, and we see these pictures. These pictures of life is pictures of love pictures of sacrifice, we see how that this picture of Isaac paints a portrait of how the goblins us and how that as Isaac fulfilled as Abraham went to fulfill the promise. The direction, the God of place in his life. We see that same picture in Jesus Christ, son, it is said that Abraham lived about nineteen forty eight BC. So somewhere in that timeframe. The beginning of our faith was there, and from that point to the birth of Christ we see all of these promises coming together. Our faith is based on the substance of all of these promises, worked out in the lives of others and then comes to us anything, this place of these promises, we find our faith and then so is there Jesus. We dedicate ourselves to you we ask you oh God, for your forgiveness. We place ourselves in the arms of our father. And if ever iPhone I'm safe, whether in this life for the life to come. I am safe whether in happiness or weatherman sorrow. I'm safe whether things go the way I plan or the whole world falls apart. I am safe. You are working on a purpose. We ask you oh God, that you continue to minister to us. They got your life in us live out your promises in us, forgive us of every sin of God establish our hearts establish our going out and are coming in from this time forth and forever more, knowing the Lord that you are the one who will walk with us and talk with us by your spirit and your word, you will give us the assurance of eternal life, and of a purpose in the plan for this day we ask these things in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, and we all pray the Lord 's prayer our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Start trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever on publisher is of a handshake or hug