Historical Posts
Genesis 04:01-07 – Who Has Control? – Audio
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Text: Genesis 4:1-7
Two brothers each had control over their sacrifice. Abel offered unto God a sacrifice that was well-pleasing unto Him. Cain, on the other hand, offered a sacrifice that was not respected by God. As Cain became angry, the LORD said to him, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it (Genesis 4:7).” Cain was made aware of what happens to all of us: sin’s desire is for all of us. However, we should rule over it! If we allow God to be in control, to rule over us, we will rule over sin.
I. Sin’s desire is for control of you.
A. Through one man, sin entered the world (Romans 5:12).
B. Sin has spread to all men (Romans 5:12; 3:23).
C. Jesus said that whoever commits sin is a slave sin (John 8:34).
D. Paul struggled with sin, as we all do (Romans 7:13-25).
II. You should take control, with God’s help, and rule over sin.
A. Sin should not have dominion over us (Romans 6:14).
B. We should not continue in sin because we have been dead to sin through baptism (Romans 6:1-2; 11-12).
C. David prayed that sin would not have dominion over him (Psalm 19:13), as another Psalmist did (Psalm 119:133).
D. Paul told Titus to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and instead to live “soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age (Titus 2:12)…”
E. Peter encourages Christians to “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11).”
F. To overcome sin, one must exercise self-control (Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:5-6).
III. If God rules over you, you will rule over sin.
A. We are to be dead to sin but alive to God (Romans 6:11).
B. We should put on Christ, making no provision to fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Romans 13:14).
C. If we do sin, Christ is our Advocate and propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2).
Does sin rule over us? We should not allow sin to rule over us, but we should rule over sin! This is only possible when we put God in control and allow God to rule over us.
Salvation: Hear - Believe - Repent - Confess - Be Baptized - Live Faithfully
Genesis 12:01-03 – Faith of Abraham – powerpoint – audio
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Text: Genesis 12:1-3 ESV
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(slide 2)
Introduction
Many tributes deservedly can be paid to the patriarch Abraham. He is the source of several nations including the nation God called His own people.
- Peoples who trace their origin to Abraham still have a vigorous existence 4000 years after his death and still maintain their identity.
- He was the father of kings and the father of persons who influenced the thinking and the course of the world.
- Three world religions trace their origin to Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
- Of all the tributes that justly can be bestowed upon Abraham, no tribute equals the one conferred upon him by God. This nomad who lived a primitive existence as he wandered among foreign cultures was capable of having a faith which God declared to be the Christian’s model for faith.
The Christian’s understanding of God’s promise to produce a universal blessing through Abraham far exceeds Abraham’s understanding. The Christian knows the full meaning of the promise, knows the ultimate fulfillment of that promise was achieved in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and knows the ultimate objective was the opportunity for all people to have salvation in Christ. He has the written Word. He can see God working through history to keep that promise.
Yet, the best any Christian can hope to do is to equal the faith of Abraham. God’s purpose began to take its earliest earthly form in Abraham because he was capable of having a faith which God could reckon for righteousness. It is that same faith which will allow the Christian to be righteous before God.
The New Testament pays great tribute to Abraham, the man of faith. His name appears 30 times in the gospels, 8 times in Acts (5 in one sermon), and 32 times in the epistles.
(slide 3)
Body
I. Abraham: A True Man of Faith.
Perhaps no one, except Christ, embodies the full meaning of faith more than the patriarch Abraham. The Bible quickly identifies Abraham, then called Abram, as a man of faith.
Genesis 15:6 ESV – And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. Throughout the history of Israel, Abraham is viewed as the “father of the faithful”. He is central to the story of God’s people.
Isaiah calls Abraham, “the rock” from which Israel was hewn, and “the quarry” from which they were dug (Isaiah 51:1 ESV).
It was the covenant that God made with Abraham that anticipated and promised the coming of Christ (the offspring through which the world would be blessed – Gal. 3:16 ESV).
Christians today are described in the New Testament as the spiritual heirs of the promise made to Abraham.
The Faith of Abraham as a type:
A. Both Paul and James reference the faith of Abraham as typical of the faith God has always desired and expected of His people. His faith was comprehensive, and thus was accounted to him for righteousness.
1. To those who wanted to find their salvation in the law of Moses, and return to that law as a means of justification, Paul references Abraham as an example of justification by faith, not perfect law keeping:
Rom 4:16 ESV – That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring – not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, … All men, like Abraham are justified by trusting in God.
2. To those who would define faith as just believing apart from obedience, James references Abraham’s faith as the classic example of faith that obeys God:
James 2:19-22 ESV – You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe – and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works;
(slide 4)
B. Abraham was reared in the city of Ur (Genesis 11:27-31 ESV), in the land of the Chaldeans. The city of Ur was located in Mesopotamia at the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates River. It was dedicated to Nannar, the moon god. Nannar’s temple was in the center of the city, along with a colossal Ziggurat that was dedicated to her honor. Nannar was considered the queen and the landlord of the people. In the book Archaeology and the Old Testament by Unger, it is said that the moon god “owned their farms, their shops and their wealth.”
The scriptures tell us in Joshua 24:2 ESV that Abraham’s father, Terah, “served other gods.” It is unusual to find children that do not follow their parents in the course of their religion. Although Abraham was born in a city of idolaters and was raised by an idolater, he chose to serve Jehovah.
(slide 5)
II. God’s Call
According to Stephen, God called Abraham to leave his family while he was still living in Ur.
Acts 7:2-4 ESV – And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living.”
We might be able to reason why God did not want Abraham to stay in Ur. God was calling him away from the wickedness that surrounded him and his family. But God’s sanctifying purposes are deeper than just Abraham’s environment. This call was a test of faith.
After the death of his father, God called Abraham again.
Genesis 12:1 ESV – Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”
God’s requests represented major challenges to Abraham’s faith.
A. First, he must sever his ties with his kinsmen. There are many today who will not leave family ties for any reason.
B. Second, he had to sever his tie to the place he had settled, to familiar things and customs, and with his roots. There are many today who have such a powerful bond to the place they live that they will not sever that bond for any reason.
C. Third, he had to leave the known for the unknown. God gave him no description of his destination. Abraham knew nothing about where he would be or how long he would be there. There are few who would make a move today with so little information.
D. Fourth, he had to trust God’s ability to protect him among strange peoples. In that time it was not safe for a man of wealth to live as a foreigner among strange peoples. Most people today would be hesitant to place their security solely in the hands of God.
(slide 6)
III. Abraham’s Response
How did Abraham respond?
Hebrews 11:8 ESV – By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.
This verse describes a faith that obeys God even when it does not know where it is going. Abraham was walking by faith, not by sight. The writer of Hebrews cannot teach us about faith without a close look at Abraham. He walked by faith, was justified by faith, and died in faith. What can we learn from Hebrews 11 ESV about the faith of Abraham?
A. “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out… ” (Heb. 11:8 ESV)
How do we know that Abraham believed God? That is an easy question. He obeyed. Obedience is a recurring concept in Hebrews 11 ESV, and an inescapable characteristic of true faith.
1. In the Greek language, “he was called” is a present participle, and thus could be translated, “as he was called”. When did Abraham obey? As soon as he was called. He was packing to go at the first words of God. There was no reluctance or hesitation. There was no arguing or rationalizing.
a. This type of implicit obedience does not appear out of nowhere.
Abraham had absolute confidence in God’s words. Implicit and complete obedience is born out of real faith. Abraham did not just agree with God; he trusted God.
b. In the same way, disobedience is the fruit of disbelief.
What was the first thing that Satan ever attempted to get men and women to do?
Gen 3:1-5 ESV – Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Satan wanted Eve to doubt God’s word – To disbelieve the full truthfulness of God’s commandment. Satan understood, and still does, that sinful conduct begins in disbelief. Adam and Eve could be led to sin if they were convinced that God did not speak the truth.
(slide 7)
c. The effort to strengthen our faith or confidence in God’s words is not just an intellectual pursuit. We must learn to live by faith, or we will fall through disobedience.
Heb 3:12-14 ESV – …Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Heb 3:18-19 ESV – … And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
B. “he went out, not knowing where he was going.” – Abraham was not motivated to leave Ur or Haran because it appeared to be the most logical thing to do. He did not have a well ordered plan of his own. He was simply following the directions of God – not knowing what was ahead.
1. Was his faith blind? He was not blind to the reality of God, or His character. He knew God, and he believed Him. We must trust in God to lead – As a child trusts in his father and mother to provide.
Prov 3:5-7 ESV – Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.
(slide 8)
C. Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house. He was called to leave Ur behind. The call of God in Gen. 12 ESV was specific:
Genesis 12:1 ESV – “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. How difficult was this?
1. Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be enrolled in a witness protection program? How could you leave your family and never contact them again? It would be difficult to be convinced that I had to completely sever the relationship.
a. Abraham was called to leave behind what he was most familiar with, and trust God to show him a new way. Every person who comes to God in faith is called to leave behind his past lifestyle through genuine repentance and follow God. God calls us to a commitment to leave sin behind and not return.
1. Rom 6:2-7 ESV – …How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.
2. This pilgrimage of demands that we live in this world without becoming like it.
Rom. 12:2 ESV – Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
2 Cor. 6:14 ESV – Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
Paul tells us that Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” Gal. 1:4 ESV.
a. The pressure to conform to the world around us and settle in here is sometimes called “worldliness”. There are certain activities that characterize worldliness, but it is primarily an attitude. It is the desire to stop sojourning and begin to take up residency here. It is giving into the flesh and living by the desires that characterize the world around us.
3. The apostle John presents an undeniable dichotomy. He tells us that we cannot “love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15 ESV) There is no point of compromise, ever. The world we live in will always oppose Christ, and thus His people.
a. The challenge for us is to retain our “pilgrim status” and not be enamored with what this world offers. To defeat worldliness we must grow spiritually to the point where we do not desire the world. The things of the world lose their attraction.
b. Abraham’s faith is impressive because he was not a poor man who had nothing to leave behind, or nothing to become attached to. He fully participated in the world, and did it successfully. But he lived detached from the world around him because of his faith in God’s promises. He still considered himself a stranger and longed to go somewhere else.
(slide 9)
IV. Lessons from the Life of Abraham
A. Abraham was a man of sacrificial selflessness.
In view of the vast wealth the gentleman possessed (Genesis 13:2 ESV), one can only imagine the property holdings he must have surrendered when he yielded to the Lord’s command and left his native Ur.
He lived the balance of his life – a full century – as a wanderer, abiding in tents along the way (Hebrews 11:9 ESV).
His vision of, and dedication to, the concept of the coming Messiah made all other considerations subordinate (John 8:56 ESV).
B. Abraham was a man of conviction.
Though his forbearers had been idolaters (Joshua 24:2 ESV), he was unswayed by family ties; rather, he cast his lot with the one who created him. How unlike so many today who measure their religious activity by what father or mother believed.
To Abraham, truth was more important than a genealogical connection. Faith was thicker than blood! This makes sense only in the light of an eternal reality.
C. Abraham was a man of faith, or trust.
Frequently the term “faith” suggests the idea of trust, and this aspect of the word aptly describes Abram. Because of his trust in Jehovah, the patriarch left his homeland and kinsmen, he journeyed close to a thousand miles (“not knowing where he went” – Hebrews 11:8 ESV), pursuing the will of the Lord, with only the promise of arriving at a destination that God would show him (Acts 7:3 ESV). No map, no radar was available – only the benevolent hand of his Maker.
D. Abraham provides a magnificent example of what constitutes true loyalty to God.
His path was charted generally by a course of unwavering obedience. His was not a “faith-only” philosophy. When he was called by Jehovah, he obeyed, walking by faith and not by sight (Hebrews 11:8 ESV).
The word “obeyed” in the text literally means to “hear under.” It implies a recognition of the authority of the speaker, and reflects a willingness to submit thereto.
(slide 10)
Conclusion
The life of Abraham abounds with lessons from which the sincere child of God can profit.
If we learn from these valuable truths, we too can be characterized as “the friend of God” – as the prophet was (James 2:23 ESV).
We are encouraged to walk by faith ever growing in our friendship with God. Let us thus “walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham” (Romans 4:12 ESV).
And we hold on to our hope in Jesus Christ as we trust in God’s promises to us. We are men and women of the promise! We are fully persuaded, even as Abraham was, that God will give us an eternal victory far more marvelous and grand than we can now imagine. For this victory we patiently wait as we walk by faith.
Genesis 12:01-03 – God’s Promises to Abraham – Part 2 – powerpoint – audio
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(Part 1 – Part 2)
Text: Genesis 12:1-3 ESV (Reading by Steven Winland)
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(slide 2)
Introduction
- What does the Bible predict will happen in the future?
- How will God fulfill His promises to His people?
- Are the promises that God made to Abraham still being fulfilled?
- Does Israel have a special place in the coming of Christ?
- Will the temple be rebuilt and all Israel be saved?
(slide 3)
The most popular religious teaching concerning these questions is given by the premillennial dispensationalists. They teach that Jesus is returning to rule over a physical kingdom on earth for 1,000 years. Israel will be restored as a nation and return to God corporately through a national conversion to Christ. The temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt, along with the worship of the Temple.
(slide 4)
Body
I. Israel in the Divine plan:
The Biblical teaching concerning the place of the nation of Israel includes at least four elements:
- Selection;
- Testing;
- Rejection; and
- Replacement.
(slide 5)
A. Selection:
Almost two thousand years before the birth of Christ, Jehovah selected Abraham to be the founder of a new nation. It was declared that through him a seed would come by whom all peoples of the earth would be blessed. God fulfilled the promises of Genesis 12:1-3 ESV.
(slide 6)
1. Abraham’s offspring were delivered from an era of bondage in Egypt. They were given a special law and system of worship designed to separate them from the other nations of the world
Exodus 19:5-6 ESV – Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;
(slide 7)
2. God’s selection of Abraham, and thus Israel, was not due to any holy character, or just for their benefit, but as a means whereby He would bring Christ, as the coming Messiah of the Jews, and the Savior of the world.
Galatians 3:24-25 ESV – So the, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
(slide 8)
B. Testing:
For some fifteen hundred years the Lord God attempted to cultivate the nation of Israel to be a people that reflected His character and purpose. This was in preparation for the coming of Christ. But the nation grossly violated the law, frequently went after “strange gods,” and they viciously persecuted God’s prophets.
Jeremiah 32:23 ESV – And they entered and took possession of it. But they did not obey your voice or walk in your law. They did nothing of all you commanded them to do. Therefore you have made all this disaster come upon them.
Jesus enunciates the failure of Israel to meet the conditions of God’s covenant with them in Luke 13:34 ESV – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
(slide 9)
C. Rejection:
The rebellion of the nation consummated with the murder of Jesus Christ. God rejected the Hebrew people, repudiated their status as His nation and determined to scatter them as dust.
(slide 10)
1. Israel’s unique status with God was conditional: Deuteronomy 28:1 ESV – And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
(slide 11)
2. Jesus foretold this Divine judgment in several of his later parables, including The Parable of the Wicked Tenants: Matt 21:33-44 ESV – “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more that the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?’ Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
(slide 12)
a. This parable came to fulfillment when the Roman armies came against Palestine in A.D. 70, and Judaism was destroyed.
b. According to Jewish historian, Josephus, some 1.1 million Hebrews were slaughtered, and thousands were taken into slavery. All Jewish records were lost in that holocaust. Today, there is not a single Jew who knows his tribal ancestry. The physical nation of Israel is dead. The “Jews” that make up the State of Israel today (less than twenty-five percent of the world Jewish population) cannot legitimately be called a “God’s covenant nation.”
(slide 13)
c. With the coming of Christ, there was also an end to the law of Moses, and thus the separateness of Israel as God’s covenant people.
Ephesians 2:14-16 ESV – For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.
(slide 14)
d. The writer of Hebrews points out that the law of Moses was inherently weak in several ways and that God had promised a new covenant based upon better promises.
Hebrews 10:9-10 ESV – then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
1 Peter 1:18-21 ESV – knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
(slide 15)
D. Replacement:
As a consequence of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah, God has replaced physical Israel with a new nation, spiritual Israel. This spiritual Israel has been sanctified by the blood of Jesus. Today, the “Jew” is not one who is so physically, but one who is so inwardly, spiritually.
Romans 2:28-29 ESV – For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.
(slide 16)
1. Those who submit to the gospel plan of redemption—whether Jew or Gentile become children of God, and thus are constituted as the true “offspring of Abraham”
Galatians 3:7-9 ESV – Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Galatians 3:26-29 ESV – for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
1 Peter 2:9 ESV – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
(slide 17)
II. Will All Israel be Saved?
Will there be a national conversion of Israel and the reestablishment of a national Jewish State?
A. Although, in fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, physical Israel was a special people to God, with the coming of the Gospel, there was no intrinsic value in being a physical descendant of Abraham.
John the Baptizer: Matthew 3:8-10 ESV – Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
1. John’s words are focused on the coming wrath of God (Matthew 3:7 ESV) which was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome in 70 A.D. The point to be seen is this: When a tree is cut down, there is hope that it will sprout again, provided its stump or roots remain (Isaiah 11:1 ESV – There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.) But when the axe is laid at the root, where is the hope of restoration? There simply is none!
In the parable of the barren fig tree of Matthew 21 ESV Jesus declared “May no fruit ever come from you again!” (Matthew 21:19 ESV). Later in that same chapter Jesus announced to the Jews “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” (Matthew 21:43 ESV).
(slide 18)
2. In several of Jesus’ later parables He depicts Israel as those who reject…
1) the royal invitation to the marriage (Matt. 22:1-8 ESV);
2) the reign of the Nobleman over his household (Luke 19:14 ESV);
3) or the invitation to a great supper (Luke 14 ESV).
In each of these parables the punishment for such rejection is swift and final.
Luke 14:24 ESV – For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.
This refers, of course, to the Jewish majority that refused the gospel (a remnant accepted the invitation – Romans 11:5 ESV).
(slide 19)
B . Although Israel, as a nation, lost its land and its status as a favored nation in the eyes of God, the spiritual blessing of salvation remained. This was always the primary goal of the promises to Abraham.
Romans 10:12-15 ESV – For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
(slide 20)
1. Paul goes on to say that God has not cast off His people, but rather provided “ a remnant, chosen by grace” (Romans 11:5 ESV). After counseling the Gentiles to not be haughty about their position in the kingdom, he states that Jew can be “grafted” into the tree if they do not continue in unbelief. (Romans 11:23 ESV)
Romans 11:26-27 ESV – And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
The context provides the correct meaning of “all Israel will be saved.” It is in this way (the way of obeying Christ) that all Israel (who are saved) shall be saved. This passage does not affirm a nation-wide conversion of the people of Israel, but the true and only hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
(slide 21)
2. Paul anguished over his brethren in the flesh: In the previous chapter in Romans – Romans 9:1-5 ESV – I am speaking the truth in Christ – I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit – that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh is Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 10:1 ESV – Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
Paul’s anguish is inexplicable if Israel was to be converted as a nation in some future time. Israel’s blessing was spiritual, not physical. Israel’s hope was in Christ alone, and not is a physical connection with Abraham or the Law of Moses.
(slide 22)
Conclusion
Israel fulfilled it’s purpose in the Divine plan.
- Selection
- Testing
- Rejection
- Replacement
Israel can be saved just as we can be saved only through Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:26-29 ESV – For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Genesis 12:01-03 – God’s Promises to Abraham – Part 1 – powerpoint – audio
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(Part 1 – Part 2)
Text: Genesis 12:1-3 ESV
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
(slide 2)
Introduction
The words God spoke to Abram here form a spiritual foundation for our understanding of the rest of the scriptures. From God’s special calling and choosing of Abram we are able to see His progressive work that consummated is the coming of Christ, His death on Calvary and His resurrection from the dead. We need to understand how God fulfilled His promises to Abram (later Abraham).
(slide 3)
I. The Elements of the Promise:
When we describe the words of Genesis 12:1-3 ESV, we often speak of them as containing 3 interrelated promises. This is a good way to categorize the many promises that God made to Abraham. (Some suggest that it is best to understand the promise as a twofold promise:
1) A nation and land promise which was physical; and
2) a seed promise, which was spiritual).
The content of God’s promises to Abraham and His children were:
(slide 4)
A . A Great Nation
- Genesis 22:17 ESV – I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, God promised to turn Abram’s children into a great nation (I will surely multiply your offspring)
- All males of his household were given the special covenant of circumcision (Gen.17:1-14 ESV);
- His previously barren wife, Sarah, bore him a son (“of promise”) when he was “one hundred years old” (Gen.21:1-7 ESV).
- Later, that son, Isaac, took a wife from among his father’s people (Gen.24 ESV); and Jacob, the “chosen” son of Isaac, took a wife from his mother’s people (Gen.28:1-4 ESV). Both men were warned to take no wives of the Canaanites, nor of other nations where they dwelt, a warning extended throughout the generations yet to come. This was the “building” of a race of people who were to serve God’s purposes in a special way.
- Later known as the nation of Israel, (Jacob named called Israel by God). Israel became God’s nation through the giving of the law at Sinai, and God sanctified them through His commandments.
1. Prior to entering the land of the “promised land” of Canaan, Moses said, “The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven.” (Deuteronomy 1:10 ESV)
2. Later Israel is identified as God’s special people, a great nation of His own making: 2 Sam. 7:23 ESV – And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeem for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?
(slide 5)
B . The Land of Canaan
After Abram entered the land God led him to, God reiterated His intentions concerning the land: Genesis 13:14-15 ESV The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.
God later provided definitive boundaries to the promised land to Abraham: Genesis 15:18-21 ESV – On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
(slide 6)
C. The Offspring
“in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” A repetition of the promise in Genesis 22:18 ESV reads, “in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” We are not left to guess the meaning. Paul writes, “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, ‘And to offsprings,’ referring to many, but referring to one, ‘And to your offspring,’ who is Christ. (Galatians 3:16 ESV).
Paul’s grammatical emphasis makes it clear that the blessings for “all nations” did not depend upon Israel as a nation, nor upon Jews as a people, but upon one of Abraham’s descendants, Jesus Christ.
(slide 7)
II. The Fulfillment of the Promises
It is crucial that we understand the manner in which God fulfilled the promises He made to Abram in Genesis 12 ESV. Much false doctrine, especially the false teachings of pre-millennialism, has roots in a misinterpretation of these promises, and a failure to recognize their proper fulfillment.
(slide 8)
A. Pre-millennialism alleges that Jesus will return to this earth before he commences a thousand-year reign on David’s throne in Jerusalem. Pre-millennialism, and its theological sister, dispensationalism, argue that God intends to reestablish a physical Jewish kingdom in Palestine. The doctrine contends that there is yet a purpose to be served by physical Israel (interpreted as the present physical state of Israel that began in 1948). Dispensationalists also allege that in the “seven-year tribulation period,” just prior to Christ’s “millennial reign,” God will restore the Jews to Palestine, and a national conversion of the Hebrew people will occur.
(slide 9)
B. However, a careful consideration of the Bible text will indicate that God fulfilled every physical element of the promises He made to Abraham. Note: The physical aspects of these promises were but means to a far more important and eternal purpose of salvation from sins for all mankind. “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29 ESV).
(slide 10)
1. We have already seen that God fulfilled His promise to make Abraham’s children a great nation. This special covenant relationship was driven by the law given at Sinai, and predicated on their keeping of that law. In speaking about the value of the law to Israel Moses said… – Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:6-8 ESV).
(slide 11)
2. God gave all the land He promised – Scriptures clearly refute all of the present “land claims” of the pre-millennialists. Joshua 21:43-45 ESV – Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
(slide 12)
The retention of the land was conditional on their faithfulness. Joshua 23:11-16 ESV – Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you. “And now I about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, if you transgress the covenant of the LORD you God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.”
(slide 13)
3. God returned a remnant to the land: There is not a single New Testament passage that speaks of a restoration of national Israel and the literal return of Hebrews to Palestine at some future time. The prophets did speak about a restoration of Israel to the land after the 70 years of exile in Babylon. Jeremiah 29:10 ESV – For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon. I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place.
(slide 14)
a. Ezra 1:1 ESV – In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: Jeremiah’s prophecy was fulfilled in the days of Cyrus, king of Persia, through the work of Ezra and Nehemiah.
(slide 15)
b. Other predictions, which speak of a “restoration” of Israel, refer to a spiritual restoration (to God, not Palestine – such as Isaiah 49:6-9 ESV; where Isaiah speaks of Jehovah’s Servant (the Messiah) restoring Israel and blessing all nations. Paul references this verse twice (2 Cor. 6 ESV and Acts 13 ESV in Antioch) in connection with the preaching of the gospel to both the Jew and the Gentile.
(slide 16)
Conclusion
God promised Abraham:
- A nation
- A land
- An offspring
God fulfilled these promises in the nation of Israel, the Promised Land and Jesus Christ.
Genesis 06:05-08 Noah Found Grace
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Text: Genesis 6:5-8
Introduction
1. We read of God’s displeasure with the world and its wickedness – Genesis 6:5-7
2. But as God pronounces judgment upon the world, and prepares to destroy it with a flood, we find encouraging words concerning one man: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” – Genesis 6:8
3. This simply means that Noah found favor in God’s sight, and we know the result of that favor: escape for him and his family from the flood!
a. But why Noah?
b. Why did Noah find grace in the eyes of the Lord?
c. And how might we apply this to our situation today?
Body
I. WHY NOAH FOUND GRACE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD
A. HE WAS “A JUST MAN” – Genesis 6:9
1. Some translations say “righteous”
2. This likely refers to his moral relation to God (Keil & Delitzsch)
B. HE WAS “PERFECT IN HIS GENERATIONS” – Genesis 6:9
1. Other translations (Genesis 6:9 nasb95, Genesis 6:9 NIV) use the word “blameless”
2. Not that he was sinless, but that there were no blatant faults
3. He was a man of moral integrity among the people
C. HE “WALKED WITH GOD” – Genesis 6:9
1. This is how he manifested his righteousness and integrity
2. In walking with God, he imitated the example of Enoch, his great- grandfather – Genesis 5:24
3. Walking with God in Noah’s case likely involved
a. Calling upon the name of the Lord (which began in the days of Seth – Genesis 4:26)
b. Offering sacrifices to God (which began in the days of Cain & Abel – Genesis 4:3-4)
D. HE “DID ACCORDING TO ALL THAT THE LORD COMMANDED HIM”
1. Twice this is emphasized in the Scriptures – Genesis 6:22; 7:5
2. We learn from the writer of Hebrews that this obedience of Noah came from faith – Hebrews 11:7
E. HE WAS “A PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS” – 2 Peter 2:5
1. He not only “lived” a righteous life
2. But he also “proclaimed” the need for righteousness, even though he lived in a very ungodly world
F. What about ourselves? Is there a need for us to “find grace in the eyes of the Lord” today? Yes!
II. WHY WE NEED TO FIND GRACE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD
A. NOT BECAUSE WE FACE THE THREAT OF A WORLDWIDE FLOOD
1. After Noah and his family were saved from the flood, God promised He would never again destroy the world in such a manner – Genesis 9:8-11
2. The rainbow is a constant reminder of God’s promise – Genesis 9:12-17
B. BUT BECAUSE WE FACE THE PROMISE OF THE END OF THE WORLD!
1. Peter reminds us that just as the world was once destroyed by water, so it shall be destroyed by fire when Jesus returns! – 2 Peter 3:3-13
2. In view of this promise, Peter calls upon us to “be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” – 2 Peter 3:14
a. Just as Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord”…
b. So we need to “found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless”
3. Is this not simply another way of saying that we, like Noah, need to find grace in the eyes of the Lord?
4. Indeed, it is! When the end of the world comes, we had better be in a condition where we too find grace in the eyes of the Lord! Otherwise, we will be like those left outside of the ark when the floods came!
III. HOW WE CAN FIND GRACE IN THE EYES OF THE LORD
A. WE MUST BE “JUST” IN HIS SIGHT
1. Fortunately, the good news of the gospel is that God sent Christ in order to make us “just” (righteous, forgiven) in His sight! – Romans 5:8-9
2. This blessing is available to all who demonstrate true faith in Jesus – Romans 3:24-26
3. Being justified, we can have peace with God – Romans 5:1; cf. 2 Peter 3:14
B. WE MUST BE “PERFECT” IN OUR GENERATION
1. That is, to be complete, mature, to be everything God desires of us
2. Again, the good news of the gospel of Christ is that God has provided the necessary elements for us to be “perfect”!
a. The blood of Christ, to cleanse us of our sins – 1 John 1:7-9
b. The Word of God, to guide us to completion – 2 Timothy 3:16-17
c. The strength of the Spirit, to help us in our struggles – Ephesians 3:16
d. The providence of God, who will work with us and lead us to victory! – 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 1 Peter 5:10
C. WE MUST “WALK WITH GOD”
1. Of course, this would mean that we can “no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk…” – cf. Ephesians 4:17-20
2. Rather, it requires that we be “followers of God as dear children” (Ephesians 5:1), and that we…
a. “Walk in love” – Ephesians 5:2
b. “Walk as children of light”, exposing the sins of darkness – Ephesians 5:8-11
c. “Walk as wise”, with an understanding of what the Lord’s will is – Ephesians 5:15-17
D. WE MUST “DO ALL THAT THE LORD HAS COMMANDED”
1. Observing not just “some” things, but “all” things – cf. Matthew 28:20
2. For in so doing, we demonstrate our faith to be “a living faith” – James 2:17,24,26
E. WE MUST BE “PREACHERS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS”
1. It is God’s will that we “proclaim the praises of Him”, which would include His righteousness – cf. 1 Peter 2:9
2. This can be done most vividly by example, in living transformed lives – Romans 12:1-2
Conclusion
1. God does not want anyone to perish in the great conflagration that is yet to come, but He does require all to come to repentance – 2 Peter 3:9; Acts 17:30-31
2. And when we turn from sin and turn to God, what do we find? The same thing Noah and his family found: “grace in the eyes of the Lord”!
3. Speaking of the salvation of Noah should remind us of the comparison Peter makes between Noah’s salvation and our own
a. I.e., the part baptism serves in our salvation – 1 Peter 3:20-21
b. Just as God used the element of water to save Noah from a wicked world
c. …so in His grace God utilizes water in our salvation through the blood of Jesus!
4. If you have not done so, why not find favor in God’s sight by being baptized for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16)?
5. Then, as we look forward to the coming of the Lord in which He will usher in “the new heavens and new earth”, give special heed to the words of Peter: “Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless.” – 2 Peter 3:14
Genesis 04:01-27 Cain and Abel – powerpoint – audio
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Text: Genesis 4:1-27 ESV
Why did God “have regard” for Abel’s offering and not Cain’s? – Genesis 4:4 ESV
“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” – Hebrews 11:4 ESV
Genesis 15:06 Faith of Abraham
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Text: Genesis 15:6
Introduction
1. One of the greatest men in history has to be the patriarch Abraham…
a. Three religions look to him as their spiritual progenitor (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
b. Christians view him as “the father of all them that believe” – Romans 4:11
2. What is most noteworthy about Abraham was his faith…
a. Paul made reference to his faith time and again – Romans 4:3,9, 11,16-22; Galatians 3:7-9
b. James used his example to illustrate saving faith – James 2:21-23
3. Both Paul and James make reference to the following OT statement about Abraham’s faith: “And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” (Gen 15:6; cf. Romans 4:3; James 2:23)
[What was it about Abraham’s faith that so pleased God? Do we have the same kind of faith? Let’s take a closer look at “The Faith Of Abraham”…]
Body
I. ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS BASED ON REVELATION
A. GOD REVEALED HIMSELF TO ABRAHAM…
1. In Ur of the Chaldees – Genesis 15:7
2. At Haran of Mesopotamia – Genesis 12:1-4
3. At Shechem in Canaan – Genesis 12:6-7
4. After Lot moved to Sodom – Genesis 13:14-17
5. And many times more – cf. Genesis 15:1-17; 17:1-27; 18:1-33; 22:1-19
— By revealing Himself to Abraham, God provided Abraham ample evidence for him to place his faith and trust in God
B. OUR FAITH MUST BE BASED UPON REVELATION
1. Not that God reveals Himself to us as He did to Abraham
2. But faith comes through the Word of God – cf. Romans 10:17
a. It contains evidence that we might believe – John 20:30-31
b. The more we read, the more God is revealed to us, especially in the person of His Son Jesus Christ!
— If we desire to have “The Faith Of Abraham”, we must be receptive to God’s revelation of Himself through His Word!
II. ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS AN OBEDIENT FAITH
A. BY FAITH, ABRAHAM OBEYED GOD
1. He left his country – Hebrews 11:8
2. He sojourned in a foreign land – Hebrews 11:9-10
3. He offered his son Isaac – Hebrews 11:17
— Abraham’s faith was not a dead faith (cf. Ja 2:20,26), but a dynamic faith expressing itself in obedience!
B. BY FAITH, WE MUST OBEY GOD
1. For the gospel calls for “obedience to the faith” – cf. Romans 1:5;16:25-26
2. We must “obey from the heart” the doctrine of Christ – cf. Romans 6:17
3. Woe to those who do not “obey the gospel” – cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; 1 Peter 4:17
— If we desire to have “The Faith Of Abraham”, we must have a faith that “works through love” (Galatians 5:6)
[While works are an essential element of a saving faith, it is crucial to note that it is the faith behind the works that pleases God (and not the works per se)! Therefore we point out that…]
III. ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS A TRUSTING FAITH
A. ABRAHAM TRUSTED IN GOD, NOT HIS WORKS
1. Return to our text, and note what is said – cf. Genesis 15:6
a. Abraham believed in the Lord
b. “It” (his faith) was reckoned or considered for righteousness
c. It was Abraham’s faith in God that greatly pleased God
2. Paul stresses this point in his epistle to the Romans – cf. Romans 4:1-3
a. Abraham was not justified because of his works
b. Abraham was justified (declared blameless) because of his faith!
— Though he had a faith that works, he did not trust in his works; rather in God who justifies the ungodly (cf. Romans 4:5-8)
B. WE MUST TRUST IN JESUS, NOT OUR WORKS
1. As noted before, we must obey God which involves certain “works”
a. Such as faith, which is a “work” – cf. John 6:28,29
b. Even baptism, which is more a work of God than a work of man – Colossians 2:12-13
2. But when all is done, we must not put our trust in our obedience
a. As though we somehow earned our salvation
b. For Christ taught us to realize we are still unworthy – cf. Luke 17:10
— It is the faith or trust in Jesus prompting us to obey that pleases God, not some meritorious value of the work done to receive God’s grace!
[So “The Faith Of Abraham” was an obedient faith that placed its trust in God who justifies the ungodly. To be “the sons of Abraham”, we must have the same kind of faith. Finally, observe that…]
IV. ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS A GROWING FAITH
A. ABRAHAM GREW IN FAITH
1. There were times when his faith was weak
a. He had Sarah his wife tell a half-truth to save his life – Genesis 12:11-20; 20:1-18
b. He questioned God when he and Sarah did not have children – Genesis 15:2-3
c. He showed weak faith in the case of Hagar – Genesis 16:1-4
d. He offered an alternative to God when he thought it would be impossible for he and Sarah to have children – Genesis 17:17-18
2. But God was patient with Abraham, and his faith grew
a. He had faith, even against hope, and was able to conceive – Romans 4:18-22
b. He had faith that God could raise Isaac from the dead, and so was willing to offer him as commanded – Hebrews 11:17-19
— “The Faith Of Abraham” was not a static faith, but an ever-growing faith that came through being “a friend of God” (cf. Ja 2:23)
B. WE MUST GROW IN FAITH
1. Just as the apostles of Christ did
a. From men with little faith and easily afraid – Matthew 8:25-26; 14:31
b. To men of great boldness – Acts 4:13
2. Like the Thessalonians – 2 Thessalonians 1:3
a. Their faith was growing exceedingly
b. Our faith needs to grow likewise
— Our faith will grow, if we are willing to “walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had” (cf. Romans 4:12)
Conclusion
1. We have seen that “The Faith Of Abraham” was
a. Based upon revelation
b. An obedient faith
c. A trusting faith
d. A growing faith
2. Why do we need this same kind of faith…?
a. Because “those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham” – Galatians 3:7
b. Because “those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham” – Galatians 3:9
3. Indeed, those who have “The Faith Of Abraham” are truly the recipients of the promise made to Abraham: “In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” – Genesis 18:18
4. Are we walking in the steps of the faith of Abraham, obeying the Word of God given today through the gospel of Christ, even as he obeyed the word given to him?
Joseph’s Character – Genesis 37:1 – 50:26
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Text: Genesis 37:1-50:26
Introduction
1. When we think of “the patriarchs”, the following likely come to mind
a. Abraham, man of faith
b. Isaac, son of promise
c. Jacob, father of the twelve tribes of Israel
2. Yet consider this about the patriarch Joseph
a. More space in Genesis is devoted to him than the others
b. There is not a single word of reproof against Joseph
3. Indeed, the character of Joseph is worthy of careful study
a. His nobility of character, his purity of heart and life
b. His magnanimity as ruler and brother
4. Make him, more than any other of the Old Testament characters, an illustration of that type of man which Christ was to give to the world in perfection (ISBE)
Body
I. JOSEPH AS A SON IN CANAAN
A. HATED BY HIS BROTHERS
1. Telling on his brothers didn’t help – Genesis 37:2
2. Favoritism by his father certainly hurt – Genesis 37:3-4
3. His dreams made it worse – Genesis 37:5-11
4. They eventually sold him as a slave – Genesis 37:12-36
a. Spared initially by Reuben who intended to free him – Genesis 37:21-22
b. Spared death by Judah, who suggested slavery instead – Genesis 37:26-27
B. FAITHFUL TO HIS FATHER
1. Some children rebel against their parents to win approval from their siblings
2. Joseph remained faithful to his father, willing to obey his wishes – Genesis 37:13
One might think such ill treatment, followed by separation from country and kin, would produce bitterness and hopeless in such a young man. Yet the character of Joseph really shines.
II. JOSEPH AS A SLAVE IN EGYPT
A. OVERSEER IN POTIPHAR’S HOUSE.
1. Blessed by God, Joseph found favor in Potiphar’s eyes – Genesis 39:1-6
a. Though a young man, he proved industrious and trustworthy
b. He made the best of the situation, and God blessed him and Potiphar
2. Handsome in appearance, Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife – Genesis 39:6-20
a. She tried time and again to seduce him
b. He resisted, out of faithfulness to Potiphar and God – Genesis 9:8-9
c. Her advances spurned, she spitefully accuses him wrongfully
1) Angering her husband
2) Resulting in his imprisonment
B. OVERSEER IN PHARAOH’S PRISON
1. Blessed by God, Joseph is favored by the keeper of the prison – Genesis 39:21-23
a. Placed in charge of the other prisoners, with complete trust
b. Prospered in his new role by God, who was with him
2. Interpreter of dreams, Joseph is forgotten then remembered – Genesis 40:1-41:36
a. He interprets the dreams of the butler and the baker
1) Acknowledging God as the interpreter – Genesis 40:8
2) The dreams are fulfilled, yet Joseph was forgotten – Genesis 40:20-23
b. He interprets the dreams of Pharaoh
1) Again acknowledging God as providing the answer Genesis 41:16,25,32
2) Offering advice in regards to the dreams’ fulfillment – Genesis 41:33-36
Falsely accused, then forgotten by man, many might wonder “Why bother to be righteous?” But Joseph maintained his integrity and was not forgotten by God. Just as he found favor in the eyes of Potiphar and the keeper of the prison, so he enjoyed favor in the eyes of Pharaoh
III. JOSEPH AS A PRINCE IN EGYPT
A. WISE IN HIS SERVICE TO PHARAOH
1. At the age of thirty, Joseph is exalted to rule over Egypt – Genesis 41:38-46
2. His wisdom manifested in his administration
a. Showing foresight during the years of plenty – Genesis 41:47-49
b. Showing shrewdness during the years of famine – Genesis 41:53-57; 47:13-26
3. Mindful of God’s blessings – cf. Genesis 41:50-52
B. MERCIFUL IN HIS TREATMENT OF HIS BRETHREN
1. Finally reunited with his brothers and father – Genesis 42:1-45:15
2. Arranged for them to live in Goshen – Genesis 46:16-20, 28-34; 47:1-12
3. Reassured his brothers that he has forgiven them
a. When he first revealed himself to them – Genesis 45:4-8
b. When their father Jacob died – Genesis 50:15-21
C. BELIEVING IN THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD
1. That God could make good things come out of evil intentions – Genesis 50:20
2. That God would keep His promises made to His people – Genesis 50:24-25
Conclusion
1. In the life and story of Joseph, we see the value of a character
a. Centered in faith and trust in God
b. Devoted to serving God and man with honor and dependability
c. Unwilling to be deterred by the hatred, betrayal, and forgetfulness of others
d. Willing to forgive the wrongs committed by others
e. Able to see the big picture, God’s wonderful workings in the affairs of men
2. This noble character can be useful in all the seasons of life
a. As a youth, tempted and tried with no help from family or friend
b. As a mature individual, charged with important responsibilities
c. As an aged person, knowing that death is imminent
May the character of Joseph serve to inspire us to develop our character as well, that in some small way we too can be: “..an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12)
Certainly this is the case with the patriarch Joseph!
Genesis 06:01 – 09:17 Noah and the Worldwide Flood – powerpoint – audio
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Genesis-06-01-09-17-Noah-and-the-Flood PDF
Genesis-06-01-09-17-Noah-and-the-Flood PowerPoint
Text: Genesis 6:1-9:17 ESV
The Biblical Worldwide Flood in the days of Noah has become a great divide
The central issue is not what current “evolutionary geology” decrees.
The issue is what the Bible actually says.
God’s Word speaks plainly of a Worldwide Flood.
The evidences to that effect from both Scripture and science are overwhelming.
Outline
Introduction
- God ensured that men possessed the rules
- Men were created as free moral agents
- Humankind set its face against God
- Scientists believed in a universal Flood
- Religionists also have opposed a global Flood
- Christians attempting to harmonize the Bible with science
- A lightning rod for controversy
- The Biblical Worldwide Flood in the days of Noah has become a great divide
- The central issue is not what current “evolutionary geology” decrees
- The issue is what the Bible actually says
- God’s Word speaks plainly of a worldwide Flood
- The evidences to that effect from both Scripture and science are overwhelming
I. The Reasons For The Worldwide Flood – Genesis 6:1-8
II. The Worldwide Flood Genesis 6:9 – 8:22
III. The Rainbow Covenant and Its Implications
Conclusion
- The Worldwide Flood is one of the most prominent stories in the Bible
- Next to Creation, the Flood of Noah’s day is the greatest single geological event
- Repeated references to the Flood account within the Old Testament
- Jesus and the writers of the New Testament often alluded to Noah and the Worldwide Flood
- There is no other event except the Fall which has had such a revolutionary effect
- Theologians and scientists of the past attributed many of the Earth’s features to the Flood of Noah
- That no longer is the case
- The conflict between evolutionary geology and the inspired Word of God
- It is impossible to correlate the Bible with evolutionary geology
- Those who do not believe in God, delight in ridiculing the Flood account
- Was the Flood universal in scope, or was it merely a local flood?
- Is the account in Genesis 6-9 of the Worldwide Flood the record of an actual historical event?
- Examine the biblical and scientific evidence that supports the Genesis Flood
- Never be willing to compromise inspired testimony
- The main concern, as always, should be what do the Scriptures teach
Genesis 11:1-9 The Tower of Babel – powerpoint – audio
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Tower-of-Babel PDF
Tower-of-Babel Powerpoint
Text: Genesis 11:1-9 ESV
The second general rebellion of humanity against the Creator, ending in the confusion of tongues and the scattering of the nations.