Quote from Forum Archives on May 21, 2002, 7:39 pm

Posted by: balderman <balderman@...>

"LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ABRAHAM: WE MUST MOVE ON!"

GENESIS 12:1-4

TEXT: GENESIS 12:4

INTRO: As we study the life of Abraham we see that much of his time was

spent in moving from place to place. Hebrews 11:8-10 tells us, "By

faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he

should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not

knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise,

as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,

the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which

hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Oliver B. Greene,

in his commentary, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews,

comments on these verses: "God simply said, ‘Get up and get out—not

to a land that I have shown you, but to a land I WILL show you,’…

when God called Abraham he simply said, ‘Go to a land I will show

thee.’ Abraham obeyed, and when he arrived in Canaan, God

appeared and revealed to him that he was IN the land of promise…

"For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and

maker is God" (v10). The Greek language here reads "THE City."

From this we know that Abraham believed the inheritance God had

given him was a heavenly estate as well as an earthly possession.

How did Abraham know about the city of God?…The only way

Abraham could have known about the city was for God to tell him

about it…Abraham did not see that city, but by faith he knew that

the city WAS, and that one day he would dwell there" (1).

We like Abraham are pilgrims and strangers here. We, also, are

looking for "a city to come" Peter exhorts us in 1 Peter 2:11, "Dearly

beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly

lusts, which war against the soul." The sad reality is that many of

God’s people today have lost their pilgrim character. Late last century,

an American tourist paid a visit to a renowned Polish rabbi, Hofetz

Chaim. He was astonished to see that the rabbi's home was only a

simple room filled with books, plus a table and a cot. The tourist

asked, "Rabbi, where is your furniture?" Hofetz Chaim replied,

"Where is yours?" The puzzled American asked, "Mine? But I'm only

a visitor here. I'm only passing through." The rabbi replied, "So am I."

That's true for all of us--all Christians know that on this earth and in

this body they are but pilgrims passing through on the way to eternal

glory. We must never forget that this world is not our home. A. W.

Tozer said, "The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they

feel too much at home in the world. In their effort to achieve restful

"adjustment" to unregenerate society that they have lost their pilgrim

character and become an essential part of the very moral order

against which they are sent to protest" (2).

The Christian life is future oriented. We are to be always moving

onward and upward; if not we are not moving on and we prove to this

world that we are not true disciples of Jesus. By definition, the word

DISCIPLE means "One who accepts and follows." We have many today

Who say they are the Lord’s but are not following Him. Paul said in

Philippians 3:13-14 that he had to keep moving on for the Lord,

"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I

do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto

those things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the

high calling of God in Christ Jesus." This was an imperative in Paul’s

life. Notice he says, "I PRESS toward the mark.." The word means "to

pursue, to follow after, to give one’s self to, and to press forward." It

implies to strain to reach the goal. Paul knew he must keep moving

forward to attain God’s best for him. That should be our desire also!

In verse 4 of our text, we see that Abraham made a sad mistake; that

mistake was to stop in his journey to the place where God was direct-

ing him. Let us look at this incident in the life of Abraham and learn

from it so we will not repeat his error as we think on this subject, "WE

MUST MOVE ON!"

NOTICE:

(1) HIS THREEFOLD CALLING

GENESIS 12:1—"Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out

of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s

house, unto a land that I will show thee."

*When God called Abraham there were some sacrifices to be made and

some things had to be left behind. The same is true of us if we truly

want to be His disciples. Jesus said in Luke 14:33, "..whosoever he be

of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Jesus

did not say we had to give up all to be His disciple, but that we must be

willing to forsake all for HIM. But without absolute surrender of self the

contest is hopeless! Until self is slain it will always interfere in our

devotion and discipleship. Harold R. Crosser said, "Love is pure when

self is slain" and Charles E. DeVol said, "It’s the life you live after "death"

that counts. If you haven’t died [to self and sin] the life you are now

living is not counting" (3). Notice what God’s call required of Abraham:

A. HE WAS TO LEAVE HIS COUNTRY. His country was one steeped in idolatry and sins of every description. "Ur was consecrated to the

worship of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god. It shared this honour,

however, with another city, and this city was Haran, or Harran.

Harran was in Mesopotamia, and took its name from the highroad

which led through it from the east to the west. The name is

Babylonian, and bears witness to its having been founded by a

Babylonian king. The same witness is still more decisively borne by the

worship paid in it to the Babylonian moon-god and by its ancient

temple of Sin. Indeed, the temple of the moon-god at Harran was

perhaps even more famous in the Assyrian and Babylonian world than

the temple of the moon-god at Ur" (Easton’s Bible Dictionary). His

country is a picture of this world. We are surely living in the midst of

a godless and perverse nation. We, as Abraham, are called to leave

this world behind and walk in the light of the Lord. Romans 12:2 tells "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the

renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and

acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Philippians 2:15-16a tells us,

"that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without

rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye

shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life…" The

children of God should differ from the sons of men. The more perverse

others are, the more careful we should be to keep ourselves blameless

and harmless. The doctrine and example of consistent believers will

enlighten others, and direct their way to Christ and holiness, even as

the light-house warns mariners to avoid rocks, and directs their

course into the harbour. Let us try thus to shine. The gospel is the

word of life, it makes known to us eternal life through Jesus Christ

(Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary).

B. HE WAS TO LEAVE HIS KINFOLK. By this precept he was tried

whether he loved God better than he loved his native soil, and dearest

friends, and whether he could willingly leave all to go along with God.

His country was become idolatrous, his kindred and his father's house

were a constant temptation to him, and he could not continue with

them without danger of being infected by them; therefore get thee out,

(Heb.) vade tibi, get thee gone with all speed, escape for thy life, look

not behind thee (Wesley’s Explanatory Notes). Our kinsfolk before we

were saved were the lost of this world. These were the ones we

associated with. We had things in common. We did the same things

they did they were our family by nature (Ephesians 2:1-5).

If we are going to "move on" in our Christian lives, we must not be in

friendship with this world. James 4:4 tells us, "Ye adulterers and

adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity

with God? Whosoever therefor will be a friend of the world is the enemy

of God." Matthew Henry said, "Worldly-mindedness is enmity to God.

An enemy may be reconciled, but "enmity" never can be reconciled. A

man may have a large portion in things of this life, and yet be kept in

the love of God; but he who sets his heart upon the world, who will

conform to it rather than lose its friendship, is an enemy to God. So

that any one who resolves at all events to be upon friendly terms with

the world, must be the enemy of God" (Matthew Henry’s Concise

Commentary).

C. HE WAS TO LEAVE HIS FATHER’S HOUSE. Terah, Abraham’s father, was an idolater. Joshua 24:2 tells us, "And Joshua said unto

all the people, thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on

the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of

Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods." His

kindred and his father's house were a constant temptation to him, he

could not continue among them without danger of being infected by

them (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary). Before we are saved,

our father is the devil. John 8:44 says, "Ye are of your father the

devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from

the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in

him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar,

and the father of it." Our old father, the devil, had houses we could

go to. They were our homes. We lived there. Spent our time there.

What are some of the houses of our old father?:

• Pleasure.
• Possessions.
• Pride.
• Promiscuity.
• Pornography.
• Paralyzing Drugs (Alcohol, dope, etc.)

Our list could go on and on. But once we belong to God and He

becomes our Father. We leave these houses behind and walk with

Him day by day! (Ephesians 5:1-5).

(2) HIS TERRIBLE DECISION

GENESIS 11:31—"And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son

of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his

son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of

the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came

unto Haran, and dwelt there."

A. THE PROBLEM. Haran was about half-way between where he had

come from to where he was supposed to go. Abraham had stopped on

half-way ground. He tried to settle down at Haran. Notice that

Genesis 12:1 says, "Now the LORD had said unto Abram.." The words

"had said" are past tense. This call of God came earlier in the life of

Abraham. Acts 7:2 tells us, "..The God of glory appeared unto our

father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in

Charran." It seems that Abraham had encouraged his father, Terah to

leave Ur of the Chaldees, that city laden with idolatry and begin their

journey to Canaan. Why that they stopped at Haran is unknown. But

it was half-way ground. It was not what God had told Abraham to do.

B. THE PLACE. Just what kind of place was this Haran? We know it was

a place of idolatry. The name appears in Assyro-Babalonian as

Charran, which means "road"; possibly because here the trade route

from Damascus joined that from Nineveh to Carchemish. It is

mentioned in the prism inscription of Tiglath-pileser. It was a seat of

the worship of Sin, the moon-god, from very ancient times. In the 4th

century it was the seat of a bishopric; but the cult of the moon

persisted far into the Christian centuries. The chief temple was the

scene of heathen worship until the 11th century, and was destroyed by

the Mongols in the 13^th (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia).

But what else do we know about it:

1. It was a place of fruitlessness. The word HARAN means "parched

ground." Little if any fruit would grow there. Abraham could not

produce fruit for God while in Haran. Why? Because he was not

where God told him to be. He was on half-way ground. If we are

going to produce fruit for God we must be planted by the water

(Psalm 1:1-6). The ungodly the Psalmist speaks of can be saved

people as well as they can be lost ones. Whenever we find ourselves

in dry and barren places, not planted by the living waters, we are

acting like the ungodly and will be fruitless.

2. It was a place of faithlessness. If Abraham had not have suffered a lapse of faith, he would have gone on. He would have told his

father, Terah, "I cannot not stop here. This is not where God wants

me to be. I must move on." Abraham had what is called "a faith

breakdown." We must not judge Abraham too harshly because we

all, from time to time, suffer "a faith breakdown." In fact, all of our

failures in the Christian life are faith failures. C. S. Lewis said,

"Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once

accepted, in spite of your changing moods" (4).

3. It was a place of failure. The word TERAH means "delay." In

other words, the blessings that God wanted to give Abraham were

delayed. These blessing could not be realized as long as he

remained in Haran. Every lack of faith leads to failure. When we

fail to follow God’s Will, when we become discouraged because of

the way, and when we allow distractions to blind our vision of God

we are headed for failure.

ILLUS: In one scene of the popular movie Robin Hood, The Prince

of Thieves, Kevin Costner as Robin comes to a young man

taking aim at an archery target. Robin asks, "Can you shoot

amid distractions?" Just before the boy releases the string,

Robin pokes his ear with the feathers of an arrow. The boy's

shot flies high by several feet. After the laughter of those

watching dies down, Maid Marian, standing behind the boy,

asks Robin, "Can you?" Robin Hood raises his bow and

takes aim. Just as he releases the arrow, Maid Marian

leans beside him and flirtatiously blows into his face. The

arrow misses the target, glances off the tree behind it, and

scarcely misses a bystander. Distractions come in all

types, and whether they are painful or pleasant, the result

is the same: we miss God's mark. -- Penney F. Nichols in

Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from

the editors of Leadership.

C. THE PERTINENT QUESTION. Are there some of us here today who are living on half-way ground? I mean you know you are saved, but

in your life you know you are not following and doing the will of God

for your life.

• Maybe you have been saved, but you have never openly confessed Christ.
• Maybe you are a Church member but never have gotten involved in the Church and the Lord’s work.
• Maybe you are deliberating disobeying a plain Biblical command.
• Maybe you are out of fellowship with someone and the Lord, and you know God is telling you to make things right.

We must not settle for half-way ground or else we will miss out on

some of the richest blessings that God has for us. WE must as

Lamentations 3:40 tells us, "…Search and try our ways, and turn

again to the LORD."

(3) HIS TOTAL COMMITMENT

GENESIS 12:4—"So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken

unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy

and five years old when he departed out of Haran."

A. THERE HAD TO BE FAITH. You will recall that a few moments ago I said that he tried to settle at Haran. But the truth is, God would not

let him stay there. Many have ran when God has called, but God will

not let them stay where they are. We must follow God by FAITH and do

His will for our lives! Abraham because of a lapse in faith stopped at

Haran, but it was not God’s will for him to stay there. He had to move

on. David Livingstone said, "Without Christ, not one step; with him,

anywhere!" (5).

ILLUS: "For those who believe, no explanation is needed; for those who

do not believe, no explanation will be enough."--Franz Werfel

For Abraham to totally commitment himself to the will of God, he had

to trust God. Faith had to be working in his life. The same is true for

us. If we are going to move on WE MUST HAVE FAITH!

B. THERE HAD TO BE A FUNERAL. Terah died. Terah is a type of,what, the Apostle Paul calls, "the old man." As long as Terah’s

influence was in Abraham’s life, he would not have made it to the

Promised Land. The same is true of us. We must die to self if we are

going to follow and do the will of God. Our Lord Jesus said in Luke 9:

23, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his

cross daily, and follow me."

ILLUS: A drunken man entered his row boat one night to cross the

river. He picked up the oars and pulled away-so he thought. He

rowed all night but did not reach the destination. When

daylight came, he was surprised to find that he was just where

he started the night before. He had forgotten to untie his boat.

So it is with many of the Lord's followers. They are tied to their

habits, desires, wills, or some cherished idol or idols of the

heart. Consequently, their lives are fruitless. Shorebound

Christians never flourish and are of little or no help to others.

We will never make much progress for God until we are no longer tied

to SELF. Colossians 3:1-3 says, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek

those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of

God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For

ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." We should

consider ourselves dead and unconscious to evil desires; sexual sin,

impurity, lustful desires, and materialism. This is never easy, so we

must make a conscious daily decision to live according to God’s values

and to rely on the Holy Spirit’s power (6). Dietrich Bonhoeffer said,

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die" (7). "The Old

man" must die if we are going to move on for God!

C. THERE HAD TO BE A FOLLOWING. This was a second call to Abraham. God had called him earlier while still in Ur. Now God calls

him again to follow and do His will. The cause of his migration was a

call from God (Acts 7:2-4). There is no mention of this first call in the

Old Testament; it is implied, however, in Genesis 12. While they

tarried at Haran, Terah died at the age of 205 years. Abram now

received a second and more definite call, accompanied by a promise

from God (Genesis 12:1-2); whereupon he took his departure, taking

his nephew Lot with him, "not knowing whither he went" (Hebrews

11:8). He trusted implicitly to the guidance of Him who had called

him (Easton’s Bible Dictionary). He began a journey when God first

spoke to him and instructed him to leave Mesopotamia to go to a land

God would show him (Acts 7:2). Abraham left. While pausing in Haran

along the way, God spoke again, repeating His command (Genesis

12:1), and adding words of promise (Teacher’s Commentary).

We see Abraham’s total commitment to God’s will in the words of

Genesis 12:4, "So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken to him.."

I am glad our God gives us more than one chance to obey. We read

of Jonah how the Lord said to him a second time. God is a God of

great mercy. He calls over and over again. The question for each one

today is, What will your response be to that call?

CLOSING: We learn from Abraham that WE MUST MOVE ON. WE must

follow and do God’s will for our lives! Friend, What is your

response to the call of God today? Someone may need to be saved

today. God is calling, what is your response? There maybe one

whom God wants to use in a mighty way in His service, what is

your response?

Christian, are you Moving ON for the Lord? or Are you living on

half-way ground?

NOTES: 1. Oliver B. Greene. The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews.

pp. 462-464.

2. Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotation-Contemporary &

Classical. p. 219.

1. Wells. p. 178.
2. Wells. p. 68.
3. Wells. p. 68.
4. Living Letters from the Life Application Bible. p. 155.
5. Wells. p. 177.