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“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

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“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 Introduction Genesis 12:7-8—“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. 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.” Abram: Idol worshipper Ur of the Chaldees (S Iraq—ruins still there, ziggurat, photos on the Internet of the ruins of the ziggurat) Speculated—Abram from wealthy family…had means to travel with father and family…wealth from making & selling idols, the HS reached down to this profiteer…idol maker & idol worshipper …just as He reached down one day to me and to you …with the message of justification by faith …and just like Abram, we were called out from our slavery to sin and to the world’s values …and challenged to begin a new life …and travel to a new destination with the Lord our God. 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 …and we were called, too, when confronted by the gospel, to begin our own journey to that which is promised us by our Lord…eternal life in His presence. …James 2:23 tells us Abraham answered God’s call…and therefore was a friend of God. As Abraham’s long journey to the promised land came to a conclusion, and as he crossed over into the land, we read in our text today…”8From 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.” One really interesting fact about the Old Testament for me is that there are so many historical facts that are also useful to us as metaphors…historical accounts that illustrate God’s grace and His judgment…accounts in which time and time again He rescued His people from their sinful ways to bring them back to Himself…just as He does for us. One of those interesting metaphors occurs in our passage today…Abram built an altar between the towns of Bethel and Ai. Now in writing this account, Moses is looking back many generations later. The town that came to be called Bethel was the major place the Hebrews worshipped in the early generations. The other town, which came to be called Ai, was pretty much in ruins because of Canaanite wars. And these facts led to the Hebrew names for these two towns. Bethel—“house of God” (Heb “bet” “el” God Ai—“heap of ruins” or better, “garbage dump” Each of us…were pagans worshipping in Ur of the Chaldees, spiritually speaking… …& the HS reached down and found us & brought us out of Ur of the Chaldees… …& wrote our names down in the Book of Life & made something holy out of us… God chose you the same as He chose Abraham…for a divine purpose! …& we entered the promised land…the church, the family of God…& we find ourselves camped between Bethel on the east & Ai on the west… …between the Bethel—the house of God—symbol of grace and righteousness…& Ai—the garbage dump—that is, the world and its temptations and sin… We were not saved & indwelt by the HS just to attend the service, sit in the pew, & breathe God’s air & say God bless you and I’ll pray for you once in awhile… …we have been divinely chosen—chosen by the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—God, who knew us & had plans for us from the beginning of time…just as He had plans for Abram and his offspring… …& one day the HS reached down…pushed back the darkness… broke your bondage to sin… & chose you and started dwelling in you… He brought you out of the darkness & chose you to take part in bringing the gospel to the people you know…to Gilmer County…to West Virginia…& to the uttermost parts of the world … He chose you to be in fellowship with other children of God…to worship together…to be part of each others’ lives…to encourage and admonish one another as we grow in faith and knowledge of our Father in Heaven… …you and I are not just an afterthought to God…like Abraham, we have been chosen…(1 Peter 2:9) “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” …you are not in the family of God by accident…as Mordechai told Esther before she approached the king to plead for the lives of God’s people…”And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”… God has called us…He has called our church…it is no accident… …One evening in April of 1978 as I stood alone in the front yard of our home in S. Charleston…as I contemplated His the majesty of God and His will for His children from reading the Bible…I prayed right there…& He entered my life and the HS dwelled in me…and the course of my life was changed… …while the circumstances of our salvation experiences are all different…the call of God to each of us is the same & it has not changed… He has called us to be holy, to live as Christ would live ...to teach our children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren about Him… to reach out to each other in edification & exhortation… to encourage one another… to witness with our words & our lives to the 1000s of people around us who don’t yet know Him…& to play our part in taking the gospel to the world… God chose you…& when you accepted Jesus as your Savior & Lord…what you may not have known at that time is that HS entered your life…& you are not here because of the singing…or the preaching…or the programs and friendships…you are here because you have been saved--& you are no longer enslaved by the world and its sin… Thank God for your salvation… & that your life will count for something other than just sampling the pleasures of Ai…the world…whose temptations lead to nothing but sin and sorrow…a life in ruins just as Ai was known for its defeat and destruction… What a waste it would be to be born & live & do nothing for the kingdom of God It’s possible for us to waste our salvation…looking toward Bethel 1 minute & Ai the next… Holding onto our relationship with God, but sometimes looking longingly at Ai…& forgetting that the life in Ai counts for nothing for the kingdom Abraham held some position of importance in Ur…his name was Abram (exalted father)… & we find another metaphor in God’s call of Abram… God changed his name to Abraham (father of multitudes)…to describe his new purpose… In the same way…when God saved you he changed you, too… & going through change can be difficult…it was for me… I thought I was real important the way I was…a corporate manager…destined, I was sure, for greater and greater responsibilities and positions…but God changed me…& 29 years ago I left the corporate world for seminary and the ministry… Now, God does not call all of us to walk the same path, of course…but what He does call each of us to do is to become a new creation, no matter what our vocation is… And in the call of Abraham, we find another metaphor that applies to us, too... God said, “you’ve got to leave Ur”…the same way He called you out from your comfort zone when He saved you…He did not save us so we would not be changed…He saved us & called us to a whole different way of life…& we surrendered & began a walk of righteousness… & we gave up some things to turn to a walk of righteousness… Abraham gave up his home in return for a new home… In following the Lord, he left some people behind, including some family… In your walk of righteousness, no doubt you have left some people behind, too… Not allowing others…perhaps even some family…to hold you back…to come between you and your Savior…& interfere with you doing what is right in the eyes of God… We are called to love Jesus Christ more than anything or anyone else… When Israel was captive and enslaved in Egypt, the time came for them to follow Moses out of Egypt and back to the land God had given them through their ancestor Abraham… …& when it came time to leave, some of the Egyptians went with them…just like you, they saw the power of God and left their false Gods…joined with God’s people…and left Egypt behind… Many years later, God warned his people to "learn not the way of the nations" (Jeremiah 10:1), for "many are the sorrows of the wicked" (Psalm 32:10). Maybe it’s time for each of us to do some soul searching… If you haven’t already…you will come to that fork in the road…to stay in Egypt and give in to the pressure and fleeting pleasures of the world…or to stand straight and tell the world, “I want to be saved and to travel from this point forward with Jesus”… …or maybe you once accepted God’s invitation and took that fork in the road of your life that led to His grace and righteousness…but you find you’ve drifted…you kept one hand on the altar but looked back toward Ai…and then reached back toward Ai, flirting with the world and its deceitful goals and pleasures… …Whatever your situation, if you have never known the Lord or if you know the Lord and you find yourself out of step with Him and His will for righteousness in your life…you can make the decision to come to Him and walk with Him today… Our Lord invites us to let our brothers and sisters in Christ know when we have made such an important decision…I invite you to do that by coming to the front as your testimony of accepting His offer of salvation or your rededication to the life God wants for you.
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