Faith and Obedience: Abraham's Journey of Divine Calling

Steven starts a way back with the story of Abram why well he's got many objects in doing this one is of course that these Jews the Sanhedrin were Jews it was the great Jewish Council they were very proud of Abraham as their father proud of their descent from Abraham whenever any charge was brought against them they always fell back on this and said we be Abraham seed. [00:04:51]

God told him the secret that's what he said to Abraham that's why Steven starts with this so that later on the Lord Jesus Christ says Abraham Rejoice to see my day he saw it and was glad God you he revealed the secret to this man Abraham the father of the Jewish Nation what did he tell him well what he told him was this that though the devil had dragged mankind down into the misery which it was experiencing it was his purpose deliberate determined purpose to save mankind. [00:11:12]

The way whereby we are saved and delivered is simply to believe this message that's you see the thing we get in that fourth verse God said to Abraham get thee out of thy country from thy Kindred and come into the land which I shall show the then this is the astounding thing then came he Abraham out of the land of the calans and dwelt in Ken he did it simply on the word of God nothing else at all. [00:13:10]

To believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he has died on the cross for my sins is just the entry into the Christian Life it's the introduction I'm not a Christian at all without this but you see Christianity doesn't end there it only begins there it is equally important that we should realize the object of that death on the cross that we should understand something of the ne nature and the character of the life which he has made possible for us. [00:16:06]

The Great thing that Abraham discovered after God met him and spoke to him was this that all his troubles rarely were due to the fact that he was living a self-centered life he lived a life according to his own ideas he' inherited them of course we all like to think we are original we are not we're not original in anything we repeat the sins of our fathers we accept the prejudices of our fathers Kindred and Nation. [00:21:21]

The Christian is a man who God centered everybody else is World centered self-centered it's the same thing everybody in the world is self-centered and what makes us a Christian a Christian is that he becomes God centered he lifts up his eyes he doesn't mer look horizontal he looks upwards God has appeared and he looks back and he keeps on looking he sees there is truth there is reality it's everything I want and so he becomes a god- centered and a god controlled men. [00:23:12]

The Christian is a man who submits himself entirely to this teaching that God alone gives and he does so not only with his mind but with his heart his desires you see he he's a man who's discovered that he can't trust himself I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy lean on Jesus name desires can be treacherous and he's almost afraid but now having met with God he says I desire nothing except that which is well pleasing in thy sight. [00:26:34]

The Christian is a man who may be tempted by these things and tempted severely until he's almost fallen he may even fall and yet he knows it's wrong if you want to live like abrah if you want to live a life of blessing here is the word of John to you in his first epistle love not the world nor the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the Flesh and the lust of the eye and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world. [00:32:15]

The Christian is a man who always lives in the light of that knowledge he says here of we no continuing City but we seek one to come he sees the old world going round and round in its circle of sin trying to buy itself up and trying to be optimistic but always falling back into cynicism and final despair he says it's now good the world is against God and God is against the world I must come out of it I must separate myself I must live for God I must live for the glory that is to come. [00:46:00]

The Christian is a man who has seen plainly and clearly that he will never have ultimate satisfaction in this life and in this world but he knows he's going to receive it in the world that is to come this is the great wat sh the Christian is a man who knows that he's only a stranger and a pilgrim in this world you see Peter puts it dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims now the world hates this idea the world doesn't like to talk about death it says it come soon enough without you're talking about it. [00:44:19]

The Christian is a man who submits himself entirely to this teaching that God alone gives and he does so not only with his mind but with his heart his desires you see he he's a man who's discovered that he can't trust himself I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy lean on Jesus name desires can be treacherous and he's almost afraid but now having met with God he says I desire nothing except that which is well pleasing in thy sight. [00:26:34]

The Christian is a man who submits himself entirely to this teaching that God alone gives and he does so not only with his mind but with his heart his desires you see he he's a man who's discovered that he can't trust himself I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy lean on Jesus name desires can be treacherous and he's almost afraid but now having met with God he says I desire nothing except that which is well pleasing in thy sight. [00:26:34]