Abraham: The Friend of God

Text: Gen. 12.1ff.

Thesis: To note Abraham’s walk of faith in order to encourage us on our walk of faith.

Introduction:

(1)    2 Cor. 5.7 – Walk by faith and not by sight

(2)    His name means “father of a multitude” (Abram – “exalted father” – changed in Gen. 17).

(3)    In Isa. 41.8, he is called “the friend of God.”

(4)    Let us note God’s friend on his walk of faith:

Conclusion:

I.                   His Sacrifice (Gen. 12):

A.    God told Abraham to leave his home behind in order to go to a better home that God would give him (vv. 1-3).

1.      “As soon as Abraham understood God’s command, he obeyed and began the monumental disruption of life that would follow” (Macarthur).

2.      He left Ur of Chaldees and thus “gave up certainty for an uncertainty” and “surrendered the seen for unseen” (Lockyer).

3.      The Hebrew writer tells us that Abraham left by faith, not knowing where he was going (Heb. 11.8).

4.      “His future was surely a mystery to him.  But his heart had been divinely moved so that he trusted the God who had called him” (Macarthur).

God promised to:

a.       Make a great nation

b.      Give a great land

c.       Bless all families through Abraham’s seed (Gal. 3.26)

B.     We are to leave our old life behind (Rom. 6.3-5; 2 Cor. 5.17).

II.                Family Strife (Gen. 13):

A.    Problems arose between his kinsmen and Lot’s kinsmen.

B.     Abraham decided to allow Lot to choose which side of the river he and his kinsmen wanted in order to keep peace. [We be Brethren]

C.     Later, Abraham pleaded to God on Lot’s behalf amidst the turmoil in Sodom and Gomorra (Gen. 18).

D.     We should strive for unity (1 Cor. 1.10; John 17.20-21).

III.             His Shortcomings:

A.    Once a famine came, he left and went to Egypt and there lied about his wife (Gen. 12.10ff.).

B.     Having been promised a son, he, at age 86, grew impatient and worrisome and took matters in his own hands and had a son, Ishmael, through his handmaid, Hagar

(Gen. 16).

IV.             His Surprise (Gen. 18-21):

A.    At age 100, Abraham had a son, Isaac, with his 90-year-old wife, Sarah.

B.     Remember, with God, all things are possible (cf. Matt. 19.26).

V.                His Shining (Gen. 22):

A.    He was told to offer us his son, Isaac.

B.     He went on the journey with the intention to follow through with the command.

C.     He also went on the journey with the belief that God was still going to keep His promise of all nations being blessed through Isaac even if that meant that God was going to raise Isaac from the dead (Heb. 11.17-19).

D.    The point of the test was that God wanted Abraham’s life and not Isaac’s life.

Conclusion:

(1)    Have you started your journey of faith?

(2)    Will you, like Abraham, finish your journey so that you, too, may be the friend of God?