Problems bring perspective Acts 6

The famous preacher, Henry Ward Beecher entered his Plymouth Church one Sunday to get ready for his sermon.

He found a letter addressed to him so he opened up to read it.

When he opened it up it only had one word written on it in large letters – FOOL

He took the pulpit that Sunday and addressed the issue of what seemed line an anonymous letter.

Beecher told his congregation- I have known many of an instance of a man writing a letter and forgetting to sign his name but I have never known of an instance where a man signed his name but didn’t write the letter.

Well I hope you guys don’t think I am such a fool today that you would address a letter to me like that.

Today we are going to look at Acts 6. 

In today’s lesson we see a church growing, a church growing so fast that they have growing pains. 

We will find that it will take a church that cooperates and works together to please God.

Back in 1957 the 1st Brethren Church of Sarasota, Florida had a groundbreaking service.

Ordinarily, a church will get a few shovels and certain people will turn over a few chunks of dirt.

 But recalling the words of Jesus, "Take my yoke upon you," this church decided to borrow an old one-horse plow and harness two of their strongest young men to it.

The signal was given and the men PULLED… but nothing happened.

They strained at the harness, but they were unable to pull the plow even an inch.

So then the entire Building Committee of the congregation took hold of the rope, and they PULLED. But the plow wouldn’t budge.

Even they couldn’t get the plow to move.

Other church officers were added, and the Sunday school officers and teachers, and they PULLED… but still they couldn’t get the plow to budge.

Finally every member of the congregation who was present each took hold of the rope. With every member pulling together, the plow moved, the ground was broken.

That is a great example of how congregations should do their work.

Congregational work with shared responsibility is a must for the church to thrive and succeed. 

But the Bible does give us examples and commands to show us that there needs to be demarcations of roles and responsibilities in the church.

I know in the game of football to be successful some have to play WR, Some OL, Some DL and other LB.

You cant walk out on Friday night and win if everyone plays the same position.  Each man must have a roll.

The same is true for the church.  Whereas the work of the Church is for all of us there are certain people marked out for a specific roll to play.

One preacher was quoted as saying God Can move mountains but don’t be surprised if He gives you a shovel.

Lets start with a look at the first verse in Acts 6

Acts 6: 1

1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.

1) Problems can come from the best places

Sometimes problems in a church can come from the best of all places and that is growth.

Sometimes in life things that we don’t even think about can complicate our lives.

I know when Anna Grace was born our family grew by only one person but it changed everything.

With the 3^rd child we officially became a van driving family.   I never thought I would be in the van club but I am.

Next thing you know she is mobile and you cant turn your back on her for a second because she is all over creation.

The same could be true for a church.  Growth happens, new people come in and problems arise that we never could expect.

I don’t know if the overlooking of the Hellenistic Jews by the Hebraic Jews was intentional but whether it was or it wasn’t – they still had a problem on their hands.

Growth often brings out hidden issues.

Here is something that we have to understand that when a person is saved they are placed in the Church.

That is Scriptural and we have already looked at that concept in the book of Acts.

Think of it this way – Noah’s ark may have been stinky on the inside but it sure beat being outside in the water.

The same is true for the church – it may not be perfect and we may have issues at time but it sure beats being out alone in the world. 

 Growth may not so much create the problem as reveal issues conveniently swept under the rug.

With rapid increase comes administrative problems.

The problem Luke describes requires us to understand that era. But it is emblematic of issues the church has always faced.

This was a conflict between the Hellenists and the Hebrews.

The term Hellenists refers to those Jews who over the previous 500 years had spread throughout the Mediterranean basin.

They remained Jewish, but spoke Greek and not Aramaic.

 Their diet remained kosher, but with a Cyprian twist or an Athenian flair.

It was not uncommon for Jews, living abroad, to make their way back to the mother country, especially in their twilight years.

As they would settle in Jerusalem, the husband would die, leaving a widow to fend for herself often without the extended family resources of those Aramaic-speaking Jews, here called the Hebrews.

Native speaking Aramaic Jews often discriminated against Hellenistic Jews, whom the Pharisees held in utter contempt, considering them second-class Israelites.

 What is more, ethnic groups tend to associate with those who share their language and cultural background.

This division is seen in verse 9 of chapter 6,  as the Hellenists had their own synagogues.

Then came Pentecost and thousands of Aramaic speaking Jews plus hundreds of Hellenistic Jews became one in Christ.

However, conversion did not erase all their prejudices.

The Greek speaking widows soon felt they were being shorted. It was the Jewish practice was to take care of their own,

as there were no social security or welfare programs.

In a society where women could not support themselves and, as Christians, they may well have lost all support from the Temple, they were in need. 

The church may have followed the precedents set in Judaism, which had a double system of distribution to the needy.

 The Jews had a weekly dole for needy residents.

It was given out every Friday and consisted of enough money for 14 meals.

 There was also a daily distribution.

It was for nonresidents and transients and consisted of food and drink, which were delivered from house to house to the needy.

It would be easy to imagine how some would be overlooked, perhaps due to language or status.

It may have been intentional or purely an oversight.

 But the hurt was the same.

2) The problem did not turn into a bigger problem.

Acts 6: 2-7

2 So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. 3 "Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. 4 "But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." 5 The statement found approval with the whole congregation ; and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch. 6 And these they brought before the apostles ; and after praying, they laid their hands on them. 7 The word of God kept on spreading ; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.

Notice how the people reacted to this issues.

Notice that the church continues to grow and the word of God kept on spreading after this problem.

The Hellenistic widows did not go off and form their own church.

Think about it from modern terms – we tend to divide churches and form new denominations whenever we cant see eye to eye.

Do you think from a modern perspective they had good reason to divide up.

Think about it – the Hellenistic Jews could have easily had the first church of the Hellenists down the road from the first church of the Hebrew Jews.

But they didn’t do that, they toughed it out together.

And here is the key component they trusted their leadership to do something about it.

So many times we get seduced by popular culture and want an answer immediately to our problems.

God doesn’t operate that way sometimes – it takes time, discernment and patience when dealing with an issue like we see in our text today.

They stay unified and they don’t fracture.

3) The problem brings perspective.

The apostles focus on what is important when they deal with this issue.

I find this story strikingly similar to the story of Moses. 

Exodus 18: 14-23

14 Now when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, "What is this thing that you are doing for the people ? Why do you alone sit as judge and all the people stand about you from morning until evening ?" 15 Moses said to his father-in-law, "Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 "When they have a dispute, it comes to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor and make known the statutes of God and His laws." 17 Moses' father-in-law said to him, "The thing that you are doing is not good. 18 "You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. 19 "Now listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people's representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, 20 then teach them the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk and the work they are to do. 21 "Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain ; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens. 22 "Let them judge the people at all times ; and let it be that every major dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 "If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace."

Jethro the father in Law of Moses comes and sees Moses in the wilderness with the Israelite people. 

He sees something that disturbs him.  Moses is doing way too much.

He tells Moses to delegate some authority.

Train other people at this job – and pick trustworthy people.

You see the precedent – Moses needs to be focused on the task of leading Israel and not being distracted by other problems.

Moses cannot be caught up in every dispute among the people.

The situation in the church was a little different.  The problem arises and they need a solution.

Training must take place.   In the time of Moses as well as in our time.

The Apostles must keep their perspective straight.

Their primary purpose is to preach and minister the word.

The Apostles have a roll to play and they must stay on task.  They cannot get caught up in this dispute because the Gospel call is urgent.

In other words one overarching organizational principle for a church should be driven by this – the Word of God must be taught and proclaimed.

I think the perspective of the Apostles is 100 correct.

It is two fold:

1)    the needs of the flock is important to them.

2)    The ministry of the word is important to them.

Heed to the flock:

The apostles show us a key to leadership and that is listening to God and to God's people.

In his book Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "The first service that one owes to others in the fellowship consists of listening to them. Just as love for God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brothers is learning to listen to them. It is [because of] God's love for us that He not only gives us His Word but also lends us His ear."

In the church at Jerusalem you can look at the church make up as the following:

The Apostles – served as the Evangelist – spreading the word

The deacons – were the hands and feet of the church – serving needs of the members.

Eventually we will learn in Acts 15 that the church in Jerusalem has elders.

The elders are the pastoral leaders of the church.

If someone asks you if you have pastors – you answer them yes- they are elders.

The same office in the New Testament is the elder/presbyter/bishop/ pastor. 

They are one in the same office.  Each term describes a roll of an elder.

Elders of course provide pastoral care for the sheep and also safeguard doctrine.  They make sure the flock develops spiritually.

That seems to be the primary role of an elder in the New Testament – pastoral care – spiritual development and doctrinal purity.

Elders were also to teach – that is why some churches have a teaching elder that acts as a minister in their role.  We see that with Peter the apostle who was also and elder.

The passage today though gives us the prototype of our deacons today and their qualifications and rolls.

 "Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task."

Therefore, because the duties are incompatible and one has the strongest claim on us.

Therefore brethren, or those of like faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Therefore brethren select, look out among you, inspect yourselves. There are five requirements listed in this brief verse.

They concern the infant church establishment of the office of deacons.
The first qualification is that deacons are to be known members of the local congregation.

They were selected from among themselves.

 Second they were to be men, not in the vague sense of persons but in the specific sense of males.

Certainly women have vital roles to fill (Titus 2:3-5).

In the early church women such as Dorcas, Lydia, Phoebe, Priscilla and Phillip's evangelistic daughters were greatly used by God.

Nevertheless God's design for the set aside deacons of the church is men.

A third requirement is that they be men of good reputation.

The Greek word is ma'rtus (from marturomenous) meaning witness.

The word can mean a person about whom a good witness is given and also a person who is a good witness.

The apostles wanted people of character who were involved in communicating Christ' love to others.

A fourth prerequisite is that they be full of the Spirit. They must be fully yielded to His control in every area of their lives.

This would be evidenced by the Spirit's sanctifying influence as well as by His giftedness.

They were also to be full of wisdom.

Men competent concerning the spiritual priorities of life, and also qualified to deal wisely with a situation in which there are many factors to consider.

These are men that apply biblical truth to everyday life situations.

Men of heavenly prudence knowing how to spiritually act and react to life.

The apostolic plan found approval and seven men were selected. That all are Greek names suggest they were Hellenists.

If true it was a demonstration of loving unity. Since the Hellenists felt slighted men are appointed from among themselves to rectify the situation.

 Division was avoided and Satan's attack was thwarted.

This passage also teaches how deacons are selected as well as their qualifications. The congregation is to nominate scripturally qualified men.

The qualifications for leadership in the church have not changed. We can do church work without them, but not the real work of the church.

That is why our church government is such as it is.

It is set up to be two fold – the safeguard and care for the flock and to the ministry of the word – the outreach and teaching of God’s word to the community.

4) The problems bring about prosperity and unity

I like good endings to stories.  This passage this morning ends well. 

It ends with the church being unified and working toward the goal.

The church is only held up in its work momentarily but each member saw what was at stake and got back to work.

So many problems in churches are just simple misunderstandings. 

People loose perspective and they think they are bigger than the whole, they even forget that the Gospel’s proclamation is bigger than their problems.

The story is told about a small, country church where the pastor called a special meeting of the congregation to approve the purchase of a brand new chandelier.

 After some discussion pro and con, an old farmer stood up and said, "Buying a new chandelier may seem like a good idea to you, but I’m against it for three reasons.

First of all, it’s too expensive and we can’t afford one.

Second, there isn’t anybody around here who knows how to play one. And third, what we really need in this church is a new light fixture."

Many of our problems are the same way – we just don’t listen to each other – we don’t give one another the benefit of the doubt.

I definetly think the early church put each other’s feelings first before their own.

I want to end with this thought and this is something near and dear to me.

And this is training the next generation of God’s men and women.

I will say that this is a place the modern church is failing miserably.  We are stuck in a rut of what has been passed down in many American churches and it isn’t working.

More and more churches are having a hard time finding deacons, elders and ministers.

Why is that so?  We are not training young men to desire these offices. 

Most young ladies have never considered committing themselves to the training of this next generation through bible class teaching or mentoring.

We need to look to pass on our faith. 

The true mark of spiritual maturity is being able to teach others.  How many churches are turning out adult people that can teach others?

Lets be honest about this issue- I believe we must change – not some type of liberal change – I am talking about a commitment change.

The U.S. standard railroad gauge (distance between rails) is four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.
Why such an odd number?

 Because that’s the way they built them in England, and American railroads were built by British expatriates.
Why did the English adopt that particular gauge?

Because the people who built the pre-railroad tramways used that gauge.
They in turn were locked into that gauge because the people who built tramways used the same standards and tools they had used for building wagons,

which were set on a gauge of four feet, eight-and-one-half inches.

Why were wagons built to that scale? Because with any other size, the wheels did not match the old wheel ruts on the roads.

So who built these old rutted roads?

The first long-distance highways in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their legions.

The roads have been in use ever since. The ruts were first made by Roman war chariots.

Four feet, eight-and-one-half inches was the width a chariot needed to be to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses.

Maybe "that’s the way it’s always been" isn’t the great excuse for not changing that some people believe it to be.

God's Calling on our Lives

There are certain things when your in a foreign country that you can’t bring back into the United States.

 Adrian Rogers tells of a time when he was coming back into this country and he was going thru security.

 Their was a man in front of Adrian Rogers who had some gourmet cheese.

The inspector said, “I’m sorry sir, you cannot bring this cheese into this country.”

 The man and the inspector argued for a few minutes, until finally the man said, ‘oh yes, I am going to bring it into this country you just watch.”

 Walked to the back of the line and ate the cheese then walked right on thru

Many of us, including me compartmentalize our lives. 

We see Jesus as something outside of me, a religion of sorts that I just adhere to.

Well our passage today will  not let that stand.  Our passage this morning tells us that we have a living relationship with Jesus.

Today I am going to pull a switcheroo.  I am going to preach my Sunday night sermon this morning.

On Sunday Evening we are going through the book of Romans and I love Romans. 

It is one of the great masterpieces of the Bible and I know that many of you don’t come back on Sunday evening so I am going to give you a taste of Romans today.

So far in the book of Romans we have learned many great and valuable things:

1)    The Gospel is powerful – it is God’s power

2)    No one is righteous before God – Jew or Gentile. 

3)    We are saved by faith and not works of the Law of Moses

4)    God’s plan to be faithful to his covenant promises is justification by faith.

5)    We must die to the sinful nature and live for Christ.

6)    The sinful nature is so powerful that it must be put to death and in the death of Christ we die to the regulations and penalties of the Old Law

Today we are in Romans 8 and in this passage we are being told what life in Christ looks like.

The first 11 verses of Romans 8 gave us instruction about our new position before God in faith through the work of Christ.

The next section we learned last week gave us exhortation as to how to live our lives in Christ.

Today we learn about God’s Call on our lives and Security in Christ.

Security in a time of great upheaval.  Never has this message been needed for the church than now.

Our identity is in Christ and in Christ we are secure.  In Christ we have nothing to worry or fret about.

In Christ we experience the love of God and his love should fill our lives the brim.

I am not saying that you will never have problems or trouble but contentment and security is found in Jesus.

Our security is not found in the world, it is not found in our job, our government doesn’t provide it, our family doesn’t provide it, only Christ gives you the peace that surpasses all understanding.

Today I want us to walk away from an understanding of God’s Call and our Security.

With that lets turn to the text today:

Romans 8: 26-37

26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness ; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words ; 27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren ; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called ; and these whom He called, He also justified ; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. 31What then shall we say to these things ? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things ? 33Who will bring a charge against God's elect ? God is the one who justifies ; 34who is the one who condemns ? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? 36Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This passage has given Christians great comfort over the last 2000 years. 

From this passage we learn what we learned last week that we are God’s Children. 

So closely connected to God that the Holy Spirit groans within us and helps us with our prayer life.

When we don’t know what to pray the Spirit groans within us. 

This passage talks about many things – God’s foreknowledge – this in itself can be very divisive to some people or a great comfort to others.

God’s predestined plan for this world is also addressed in this passage.

Those two topics I will pick up later was we get into chapter 9 because in chapter 9 Paul gives more detail on this particular teaching of God’s foreknowledge and God’s Predestined plan for our world and the world to come.

Today I want to talk about two concepts that this passage picks up and they are calling and assurance.

God’s Call upon us and our security in Christ. 

We live in a world of rampant insecurity – the stock market, wars, sickness.

The world provides tons of instability and insecurity.

The Bible speaks directly against that and tells us that we should not have that type of anxiety with our relationship with God.

That is wonderful news to a congregation like Rome that could at any minute die for the faith.

IN a later lesson I will look at the seven things that Paul mentions that the world tries to bring against Christians but we stand secure in Christ.

1 John 5: 11-13 tells us specifically

11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12He who has the Son has the life ; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. 13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life

It doesn’t say that these things have been written so you can doubt your condition before God.

Or you can fret and live in continual fear – it says that you MAY KNOW that you have eternal life.

The Scripture is written for you to build a relationship with your Heavenly Father.

This is a relationship of family not of doom and gloom.

God loves you and wants what is best for your life.  I am not saying it will be easy but I am saying that it is true.

How do we balance this idea – that God calls me and how can I be assured that I going to have eternal life?

Do you think God wants you to doubt His promises and your life in Him? Does God want you to live in a state of fear and instability where you constantly worry about what is going to happen to you?

Is that what Christian living is all about?

Today I want to hold out to you the perfect example of How God’s Call and Assurance works in the life of a person.

Paul has already used this fellow as an example for His readers of Romans. 

In Romans 4 Paul held out Abraham as the exemplar of faith.

We learned that Abraham is the example of the type of faith that Paul holds out as our exemplar.

Tonight let us look at Abraham in light of Chapter 8 and I would propose the Abraham may be in the background of this passage.

Whenever one mentioned the ideas of election, calling, foreknowledge to a Jew the first person that would come to mind is Abraham.

Abraham was called by God’s choice – Abraham was part of God’s Plan all along for the promise to come to the world

Abraham is so important that we many times miss his importance.

Do you realize that all three Monotheistic religions of the world trace their roots to Abraham. 

Now we differ greatly with the other two but when you see a Jewish synagogue and a Muslim Mosque just remember that they claim Abraham as their father.

Do you think you can understand the geopolitical struggles of our day without understanding who Abraham was?

He factors big to Paul and to the New Testament. 

Tonight let us take up his story as we consider God’s Call and Real Security.

Genesis 11: 27- 12:7

27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran ; and Haran became the father of Lot. 28Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai ; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai was barren ; she had no child. 31Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife ; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan ; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred and five years ; and Terah died in Haran.

1 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great ; And so you shall be a blessing ; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." 4 So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew , and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan ; thus they came to the land of Canaan. 6Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

Abraham just didn’t live life. 

He didn’t just let life happen to him but he lived a big life.

He stood against his society, culture and family.  He stood alone in a world of polytheism. 

What made him great?

The Call of God – that is what makes his life great.

That is what makes you great – The call of God on your life. 

You are not a Christian unless you have been called by God – called by the Gospel – and you hear that call and you accept God’s call.

The word for Church comes from this concept – the word for Church is EKKLESIA – literally those Called out.

We are the ones called out by God.

That is what the Bible teaches about conversion – we believe that you must be converted- changed, transformed, and all this begins with God’s Call.

Seems simple doesn’t it, but we cannot understand Abraham until we understand this.

3 Things about the Call of God

1)   The Power of God’s Call

2)   The Radical nature of it

3)   How we receive that call

All three of these facts can be learned in the story of Abraham.

This passage from Genesis can be divided along these three lines – The Power of the Call, the Radical nature of the Call, and thirdly How we receive that call on our lives.

We usually start chapter 12 when we start to talk about Abraham but we miss out on a huge point if we don’t start in Chapter 11

What does chapter 11 tell us?

All human history is coming to a close – a climax of sort

God’s chosen line from Shem the son of Noah is Abraham’s family.

This is the family of God’s promise as you trace this from the Flood account to chapter 9

But we learn in chapter 11 of something very, very sad.

Instead of fulfilling God’s call and going to the land of Canaan, we see that they stopped.

Abraham’s family leaves Ur of the Chaldeans and stops at Haran

Terah dies, and Abraham’s wife is Barren

It seems like the story of God’s promise is coming to a close – hopeless – stopping and ending with a great fizzle.

Genesis 1-11 is a story of spiraling – sin, brokenness,  In chapter 1-11 the one ray of hope is the single line, the single family tree

The family of Seth in Genesis 4 is the family that called upon the Lord – in Seth’s family alone was the knowledge of the true God was kept alone.

Terah and Abram were the last line

Sarah’s barreness was a sign of despair – it is over, lights out, nothing no hope

Terah means moon and Ur was the city of moon worship.

This gives us some clue that Terah had become pagan. On top of that Joshua 24 tells us specifically that Abraham had turned to paganism.

This last family knowing who God is has now gone over to idol worship.

This is confirmed in Joshua chapter 24:2

, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.

The last line with knowledge of the Lord had now gone over to Idol worship.

This is a bleak situation and tragic at best.  Sometimes we don’t stop and think of the magnitude.

The knowledge of the true God was almost lost upon the earth.  How could we get to such a situation?

But Joshua doesn’t stop there – thanks be to God.

3 'Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac

God took him out, God didn’t not allow his purposes to be stopped.

God intervened in human history and said – No this will not happen!

God’s Call is absolutely necessary!!!

Abraham was in the best family – He is in the chosen family but If God’s Call doesn’t come on his life Abraham is spiritually dead.

If you think pedigree or family will save you – you are sadly mistaken.  If you think your children will be saved just because you are misses the point.

It doesn’t matter how good your family is.

Abraham comes from the family of promise – the best family the world had to offer at that point.

It is God’s call that changes Abraham.

God calls Abraham out – there must be a conversion of the heart.  We cannot miss this point or nothing that Paul says in Romans 8 will make sense

God calls Abraham out of this situation.

Not just Necessary but Gracious.

The call is not just Necessary but Gracious.

Abraham is unqualified – he has nothing good about him that would cause God to Call him.

Abraham we will learn has a problem with telling the truth sometimes, Abraham is in idol worship.

There is nothing about Abraham that God looks at from the outside as man sees and says you know what Abraham is qualified for Me.

NO, it is the call of God that qualifies you.  When God calls you through the Gospel and you accept His call – it is God that changes your situation.

As  a human if I want my plumbing fixed I will call a plumber that is qualified to fix my plumbing. 

They must be qualified first before I call them.

It doesn’t work this way with God – God calls me and the call of God then qualifies me.  This very Pauline, Biblical and comes straight out of the story of Abraham.

I love the story of Thomas a Becket.

This may seem like a strange example but many of you have read this story in history and I think it illustrates how this call may work in a person’s life.

Henry the 2^nd is the King of England and Henry and Thomas Becket were drinking buddies. 

Becket and Henry were fools and acted corrupt, hotheaded, living for self.

Becket was even a priest and still acted like this.

One day Henry the 2^nd found out that the Archbishop of Canterbury had died.  He decides to appoint Thomas Becket the archbishop of  Canterbury. 

He has solved church state relations in one fell swoope.  He knows Becket will go along with the King and his corruption and just do as he says.

Becket though has something happen to him.  Call it a conversion experience.

He knows the call of Henry is corrupt to come and fill this position but the gravity of his position and the Call of God on his life is overwhelming.

Becket changes and actually becomes a good archbishop.  He actually stands up for the poor, for truth and challenges the King’s hedonist lifestyle.

He becomes a nightmare to his old friend.

One day the king is drunk and tells four of his knights who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?

And with that they go to the Canterbury Cathedral and kill Becket.

They claim as Becket was being killed he said, Poor Henry!

1170 This really happened.

He has totally changed – he is concerned about his friend the impact of this killing on his life.

Becket has become a different man.

This is how the call works – the Call makes you holy and makes you like Christ. 

The call changes situation from bleak to hope.

That is the power of the call.

Chapter 12: 1-3

The Radical Call-

Get out of your country

Make you a nation

Bless all through you.

This is a radical call.

1)   Personally Radical – leave your country

Literally – Get thee out –

Two Hebrew words – Get Yourself Out

Get out yourself -  verse 31 of chapter 11 – BUT – they had set out for Canaan BUT they stopped at Haran.  Why?

They didn’t want to go any further. 

Get yourself out – they may not want to go but you Abraham you have to God – God doesn’t care what his family wants to do – God is saying you must go.

It is not good enough to be an American, it is not good enough to be in a Christian family.

You yourself must Go- You yourself must answer the Call – each individual must answer that Call- have you made a personal commitment.

Has to be our faith.

2)   Volitionally Radical

A surrender of the will – is all that God accepts.

Get out and go to the land that I WILL show you.  Not Go to the land on the map marked so and so or past Jerusalem.

But get out and I am not going to tell you where you are going.

People today – I want to be a Christian but do I have to stop doing this?  Can I keep this in my life?  Can I have these friends and be a Christian?

I will get out if you show me exactly where I have to Go.

That is not answering the call – God calls us to totally surrender -  we cannot know where God is taking us, God is sovereign, God says just Go

Later he will say I will give you a son – Abraham says How?  And God says just trust

God says to kill your son your only son, and Abraham says Why?  God says just go and I will show.

This is the radical nature of the call.

You see we want an adventure- to go to wonderland and then come back and tell of the adventures.

Something like Peter Pan – an adventure like little kids.

But God calls us to a Quest – A Quest – you will never be the same again.  You will be called to do things and go places

You don’t choose but it comes to you – you never come back from a quest – a quest you die from it or you are so changed you will never be the same again. 

This is a quest – not an adventure where we go there and back again – GET OUT

You will be radically changed.  Don’t ask if what God is doing will fit your agenda

It is not an enrichment of your life but an entirely new life. 

Hebrews 11: 8 God said to Abraham – Get out – he didn’t know where He is going.

Whatever God calls – take your hands off the wheel.

3)   Missionally radical –

I will bless you so you can bless other s- I am not deciding on what is the most comfortable to me.

I cant take the best job for my comfort and security – the call of God calls us to be the biggest blessing.

The call of God tells you that if you seek to be blessed you will be empty but if you bless you will be blessed and filled out.

You must  GET OUT to be a blessing –

How does this apply today – Get out of your comfort zone – get out of the rut, live radically for Christ.

Get out of the way the world does things and live like Christ lives. 

Today there are people that need you to tell them the truth.  They need you to get out of your comfort zone and tell them that they need Jesus.

We must Go out of your comfort zone and share with others. 

The call of God is culturally radical – it is not easy.

Abraham left but never really arrived. 

He leaves his nation, culture, family – to become a great nation but he never sees the fulfillment.

Comfortable would have been Ur of the Chaldeans. 

What if Abraham would have stayed and not accepted the call of God – God has a purpose with him but it wasn’t comfort.

It was a quest one that Abraham had no idea of how it would play out because God is in control and we are not.

Submission to God is accepting that Sovereignty – God you are in control you have called me and I submit to that call.

I want to close you with this today.

God wants you back in his family.  He wants you to know that He loves you.  He wants a relationship with you so intimate that His very spirit will cry out your prayers of anguish.

He loves you so much that

I will leave you this statement from Paul today.

It wraps up what I have been saying to you this morning – that God’s Call on your life is the most important thing you will ever experience.

And here is why:

31What then shall we say to these things ? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things ?

God is for you, God wants you to be saved,  He desires that none be lost.

Do you want to have that relationship with Him.

Do you understand what He is calling you to?