In this sermon, the speaker focuses on the life of Abraham and his family. Despite having dyslexia and struggling with pronunciations, the speaker emphasizes the importance of studying and learning from the scriptures. The message is delivered from the speaker's office, rather than a pulpit, but the tape ministry is highlighted as a key factor in supporting the speaker's ministry. The speaker acknowledges that the sermon could have taken different directions, but they were led by the Lord to deliver it in a specific way.

Well, greetings friends, it's such a joy and privilege to be with you again. It is always a joy to come and chat with you for a few minutes before I try to bring the message, especially when I'm having to do the message here in my office. You know, I had promised you that I would try to do all the messages live from a pulpit somewhere, and I worked on this and worked on this and worked on it, and it just hasn't worked out. So here I am back in a portion of my office that we have set aside for recordings and so forth, and it's not the ideal spot in the world, but it doesn't hinder me from saying what the Lord has to say, and here I am this month with this message again from the office. But you just pray that the Lord will minister to you through this message. It's going to be something different than I've done in a long time, and it really has blessed me as I've studied for this message. I've studied for the message for an entire month and have tried to preach it once already, and got about ten minutes into it and backed up and erased it, so here I go again. You know, it's an odd requesting prayer for something that's already complete, but I'm not requesting prayer for me about it. I'm requesting prayer for you that you might receive it, and so it's perfectly in order to pray a little bit. There are some things that I would like to mention that I want you to pray about. I want you to consistently pray for me, because if I haven't got something big going, I have a tendency to procrastinate and relax and get cold and indifferent, and so I've got to have always a project that I am counting on and working on and projecting myself in. So this project challenges me to keep on trusting the Lord. Now, when I have taken on all these projects and have believed God, and I've seen victory in them, I have a tendency to really get loose and become very, very free, or permissive is the word I'm wanting, or apathetic, maybe is a better word. So you just pray for me, because at that time we have several things that we're looking for, but we're not really trusting the Lord for them. And as a result of this, I also have let go, and I'm not trusting the Lord for revival as readily and as definitely, specifically as I should. So I need your prayers in this area. I really feel that God is doing some mighty things across the country right now in relationship to revival. There are a great number of meetings that have been extended in the second, third, fourth, and fifth week in the last three or four months, and I do not know that the extension of these meetings is the total indication of revival, but it's certainly a sign that God is at work and is doing something. There also has been some meetings that have just seen all kinds of results in relationship to professions of faith, rededications, confessions, restitutions. And these meetings do not spell revival specifically, but basically, generally speaking, it's an indication that a facet of God's work is really being supernaturally carried on. And I am so excited about what I have seen and what I've heard. I belong to a church where in a one-week meeting extended into two weeks saw over 500 people come for baptism. This was quite interesting. I attended this meeting some, and there was some real evidence that God was mightily, mightily on the scene. And you might say, well, that is revival. Well, I do not believe that this type of meeting should be defined as revival. Now, I know that we Baptists basically would define that as revival. So I'm not fussing. I'm just taking exception to the term, and I'm not indicating by any means that God did not do a great and mighty work because, boy, there was only one explanation for what went on in our church and down the hole, and that was what God was up to. God was up to something. So I praise God for this and these meetings that are going on around the country. I hope you as a member of this ministry, part of my ministry, I hope you've been able to get into one of these meetings. I've had all kinds of calls talking about the meetings, and it's been a very beautiful story to me to hear of what God is doing. Well, in my own personal life, I have been in a number of meetings, and every one of those meetings have had the note of victory. I mean, the evidence of God. Like one meeting in a First Church, a First Church up in Tennessee, I didn't say where, but it started on Wednesday and ended on Sunday in a blaze of glory. Now, that wasn't revival, but in every sense of the word, the glory of God was there. We saw people saved. We saw people make restitution, get right with God. The only explanation for it was God. So I've seen several meetings like that, in fact, all but one. I've had one meeting that I just thoroughly did not understand. I don't know that if I just missed God in going, or if what it was, I just flat didn't see the glory of God. I was very disappointed, very upset, very confused. And that brings me to another thing. I really have been having a lot of battles with Satan. Many of you people pray for me and pray for me very seriously, and you realize that Satan really fights me through the physical. It's very difficult for me to maintain a normal physical involvement in anything. And I need your prayers because Satan has really fought me in the last couple of weeks. And I have this problem with this hypoglycemia. I can eat a piece of sweet pie or something like that, and I just go down emotionally until I can cope with it. And I'm having to learn to live with that. And you might pray for me because the Lord could just touch me in that and solve that problem. It really hinders me in my own personal devotional life. So I need your prayers about that. I trust that you'll pray that I'll have the wisdom of God and not get too deeply involved. I am working now, right now, on the meeting in Europe next year. We've called it the Swiss trip for so many years. We may not be going to Switzerland this next time. We may be going to Austria, Innsbruck, Austria. We haven't got that settled, but we're praying. So you have time to pray intelligently for me on that item. I'd appreciate it very much. Martha and I have been invited to go and speak at a conference in Hawaii, July the 19th through 26th. And some of you may be interested in going. I understand this is going to be a Christian trip. I've wondered through the years, these people going to these luau's over there, how in the world you could have a Christian luau. And, of course, I found out most of these luau's aren't Christian. But the trip we're going on has been carried on by these people for 20 years, and there's definitely a Christian luau. And so I'm interested in this. If you're interested in it, you write us and call us, whatever, and let us know. We'd love to have you go. I think it's going to be from July 19th through 26th. In fact, I know it is. I have a note here. It's going to be from July 19th through 26th. So if you're interested, call us or write us. And we'll praise God. I'm going through another storm right now, and I won't be out of this storm when you receive this tape. And I realize this may be too personal for some of you to handle, and so don't fool with it. There's nothing you can do but pray. I'm not asking you to do anything but pray. But I have had a CPA advising my office for the last eight years, and this CPA has definitely advised us wrongly. And now the government has come in, and we're having to get this all straight. The government at this point is not acting unduly. They are not acting ugly. It's just the fact that all of this is very nerve-wracking, time-consuming, and Satan has so much access to the average problem, you know, that it's just a constant warfare. So would you pray for me at this time? I really need your prayers. We are just having to go through all kinds of paperwork and seek out personnel that will really be knowledgeable. And so you pray for us. I would appreciate it so much. Amen. Well, I know we have the victory in this, and we're coming through. God's given the word, and I just need your prayers so much. Well, I've spent about ten minutes of your time just talking to you, but you know, you are a real family to me. And the folk that I'm talking to right now on this tape are the people that really stand behind my ministry. Not only do you hear me and give me an opportunity to be heard just as a friend, you know, to talk to back and forth, but your support, just that $4 a month on that tape, literally keeps my ministry in the business. That's right. You may not believe it. Some people always say, well, how can I help you? Well, this tape ministry is a key factor in my ministry. And you just paying your bill and giving as God leads you to give is a key to my staying in the ministry. Now, the Lord uses that. If it stopped today, if I stopped the tape club today, I wouldn't get out of the ministry. That's not what I'm saying, but I'm saying that the facilities, the office building, an office help, and all of that comes right from this tape ministry. So praise God for that. Well, I don't know where we're going to end up at this message, with this message. I have been working on it for a month, and I realized that I could have come up with several different sermons, I believe, but the Lord just didn't come that way. The Lord just dealt with me a different way. So I'm going to bring the message to you in the way that the Lord has dealt with me. Okay? We're going to talk about the events in the life of Abraham. We're going to just talk about his life and his family. And we're going to basically just get an overview or look at the events that's in his life. Now, if you want to, you can follow me in the Bible as I go through this material. I'm going to read a great number of scriptures because I feel like it's very important, and I feel like we can learn from it. Now, as I deal with these scriptures, you realize before we start that I have this dyslexia problem, and I can't see word for word just as it always is, so I may skip some on you. I hope you'll understand that. And then you also realize that some of these words cannot even be pronounced by the scholars correctly, so I'm going to miss some of those. And as I've looked over the material, there's not a lot of the big words and so on that I have to get into and skip around over to stay with the heart of the message. So I'm going to stay with the heart of the message. And I may, as I start here, I may just get on something and not get off of it and not even finish this message, and if that's the case, I'll finish it further on down the line. But we're talking about events in the life of Abram. His name was Abram at the time, A-B-R-A-M, Abram, at the time we find him in the 11th chapter of the book of Genesis, and we find him mentioned starting with verse 27 through verse 32, and we find him with his father, and we find him with his wife, Sarai, who is later called Sarah, and most of us refer to her basically Sarah. And so if I get messed up on Sarai and Sarah and Abram and Abraham, I hope you'll allow your understanding to put them in their proper place. We also run into a person right off that's significant with Abram and Sarai, and that's Lot. Lot is the son of Abraham's uncle. And at this time in these verses we have Terah, Abraham's father, and that's very significant, I think, and we're going to just discuss them. The 12th chapter, we pick up the word, Now the Lord hath said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make thee a great nation. Now watch very carefully because we're dealing with Abraham's call, which I think is so beautiful. And I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. Now he's laying down what he's going to give him. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And I want us to just stop there and talk about his call for a little bit. We see Abraham's call is what I call a sovereign call. And you say, well, what do you mean by a sovereign call? I believe that God initiated this call. Now I realize you might say, well, how in the world did God call him? Did God speak to him in an audible voice? Did God speak to him by writing in the sky? Or how did God speak to him? I don't know. I have looked and looked and looked and researched and researched, and I find that God spoke in so many different ways in the Old Testament. And even in the New Testament day, he still speaks in many different ways. But here God called Abraham. God initiated the call. It seems there's no evidence whatsoever to support the fact that Abraham had Christian rearing. In fact, it was the opposite. And he was just touched by God. And God just gave him not only the call, but he gave him the promised blessings. Now, it's important that you and I learn early in our life that God has initiated his reach for man. It's not man that has initiated his reach for God. The liberals would have us to think that man is in quest for God. But man is dead in his trespasses and sin. And he is not in quest for God. Man is in quest for fulfilling the flesh. And God is in quest for man. And here in Abraham's call, we see God taking the initiative to reach out and get hold of a man. And this call was something else. The call of God on Abraham is absolutely a classic. And I will come back to this call of God three or four times before I get through with this message. That is, if I get through. Because the call needs to be looked at a little further. Because the call has just begun here. And as Abraham obeys, the call is expanded. I think that's the word. Expanded. And I hope we can expand with that call as we move on in with Brother Abraham's life. Now, I think this is very significant. After Abraham received the call from God, he 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. Now, Haran was not Ur of the Chaldees. It's obvious that Abraham had moved from Ur of the Chaldees with his father to Haran. Now, some people may even say, well, that was a sovereign act of God to get Abraham in a position whereby he may call him. Well, I would not disagree with that at all. Because I believe God is over the heaven, over the earth. I believe God is Lord of the living and the dead. And I think God definitely was in that call of Abraham and that he was also in Abraham's departure from Ur of the Chaldees. But as far as coming up with any applicable material that would help us see that God used means or needs or desires, apart from the fact that God just spoke to Abraham in his call, I cannot find. So God spoke to Abraham in his call. It's not difficult for me to believe that God spoke to Abraham in his call. It's not difficult to believe that at all because one day God spoke to me in my heart and called me to preach. You know, I hear people saying, I just don't understand how God speaks. Well, I have no difficulty with that because one day God called me to preach. And the word of God was involved. My needs were involved. My desires were involved. But way beyond that, God called me to preach. And he spoke to me. So I have no difficult time in knowing that his sheep hear his voice and they know it. And so I had no difficulty in handling this business that God called Abraham to go out. Now this call was interesting because it was a call to separate himself from his father's house and his kindred. I might just throw this in. Abraham had some difficulty with Lot. And some theologians believe that Abraham should have left Lot in Haran. That Lot was working on Abraham's call, not his own. That Lot was just riding Abraham's coattail. Now, there's every reason to believe that's the case. And that's my firm opinion. That Lot should have been left in Haran. But for him to have been left in Haran would have been him being left by himself. It would have been a severe test to Abraham to possibly lose his relative there at that point. But nevertheless, that was the case. So Lot, Abraham, Sarai, all left Haran headed for Canaan land in the 5th verse. And they passed through a place called Sychim under the plain of Mori. And the Canaanites were in that land at that time. And the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said unto him, Unto thy seed will I give this land. And there built he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. Well, when he got into the land, one of the first things he did was build an altar. And that's 7th verse. And the 8th verse, he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east. And there he built an altar unto the Lord, and he called upon the name of the Lord. The first thing Abraham did when he got into the land was he built an altar. Now, altar really defines, denotes worship. And I believe that worship indicates thanksgiving, praise, adoration, surrender, dedication. And so Abraham worshipped God when he got into the land. Now, one of the first things that happened to him when he got into this land was he had a test. A real test. The Bible says that he had an awful test. In that 10th verse, there was a famine in the land. Now, this is interesting. The famine in the land that God had called him to. God had called him to Canaan. You and I know that. Now, maybe Abraham did not have all of his facts down. And you and I can look back on the Bible and see that that was it. But Abraham knew that there was a land. He worshipped God there. And he had a famine right in the middle of the will of God. Now, so many folk live on the premises or the basis that if I'm in the will of God, everything will go right. Everything is right. Everything will have to be right if I'm walking with God. There's only one thing wrong with that. That is just not true. God allowed this time of, I call it temptation, in the life of Abraham. You know, there's a difference between temptation and trials. Temptations save us, but trials save others. And here, the Lord was working out of Abraham what was in Abraham's life. So he allowed a temptation to come into his life. And Abraham went down into Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was grievous in the land. So Abraham hit this famine. And I do not know what all he thought, but he definitely went to Egypt for help. He went to Egypt for help. He went to the flesh pots for help. He went to man's way of solving problems. He did it immediately. He did not turn to God. He turned to Egypt. That's right. And by the way, it was right after he had received the call, obeyed that call, and blessed the Lord for the fulfillment. And here he went into Egypt. Well, I'll tell you, the trouble didn't stop when he went into Egypt. Because he had a beautiful wife. Sarai was a beautiful woman. And she was not only his wife, but she was his sister. So he devised a plan. And it was to tell a lie. It was to tell a lie. And when the Egyptians saw her, they saw that she was a beautiful woman. And so they mentioned her to Pharaoh, commended her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken unto Pharaoh's house in the 15th verse. Just like Abraham thought. And Abraham was spared. But something happened. This is so beautiful. In Abraham's weakness, he made a mistake. But in God's sovereign grace, he would not allow man's mistakes. He would not allow man's mistakes to thwart his complete program. Because you see, God had plans through Abraham and Sarah that their seed would bless the nations. And Abraham had made this mistake in trying to save his life. But in trying to save his life, he was also confusing the plan of God. Now you may say, boy, this was Abraham at his worst. I have reason to believe this was Abraham at his best. Abraham was trying to save the seed of God. God's plan. By his little plan. This was man's manipulation at its best. And if you aren't careful, as a believer in Christ, you will get in the flesh, and I mean really work the works of the flesh, trying to help God accomplish what God is out to accomplish. That's what Abraham was doing. So Abraham really got in a mess. And God rebukes Abraham by really letting a plague come up on Pharaoh's house. And I mean, he just really dealt with Pharaoh. And Pharaoh couldn't handle it. And so Pharaoh found out that Sarah was Abraham's wife. And he called Abraham and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why sayest thou she is my sister? So I might have taken her unto me. To why? Now therefore behold thy wife. Take her and go thy way. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away and his wife and all that he had. It was something. So God takes that bad and turns it into good. But I'm telling you, not without cost. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. And it's not without cost. I assure you that Abraham has to face the music of his fleshly endeavor to help God get his work done. Well, this trip into Egypt was a costly, costly trip. This trip into Egypt made him more wealthy though. Made Abraham more wealthy. Made Lot more wealthy. They were rich men. In the 13th chapter, we see Abraham and Lot coming out of Egypt. And Abraham was very rich in cattle and silver and gold. He went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel. Unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ahi. Now that's significant. Unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first. And there Abraham called on the name of the Lord. Now listen to this. And Lot also which went with him had flocks and herds and tents. And the land was not able to bear them that they might dwell together. For their substance was great so that they could not dwell together. There was strife among them. And Abraham said unto Lot that there be no strife. I pray thee between me and thee. And between my herdmen and thy herdmen. For we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself I pray thee from me. If thou wilt take the left hand then I will go to the right. Or if thou depart it to the right hand then will I go to the left. And what I want you to see here is we're not going to talk about Lot too much. Because I preached a sermon on him a few weeks ago, months ago. And Abraham went back to the altar. As he came out of Egypt he knew where his life was. He went right straight back to the altar. But a study of this 13th chapter will show you that Lot did not go to the altar. Lot did not go and call on the name of the Lord. And that's really something. Abraham did. And I think it's very significant. It says Lot lifted up his eyes. Lot chose. Lot separated. And so on and so forth. Lot did not call upon the name of the Lord. He did not. But Abraham did. And Abraham really found some grace at this altar. Because he told Lot to do what you will. Do whatever you will. And so Lot made him the choice. He made the choice that he would go into the land and sojourn in the plains of Jordan. And that's exactly what he did. And that was a tragic mistake for Brother Lot. But nevertheless he went that way. And I really like the disposition. I really like the attitude and the decisions of Abraham. Or Abram at this time. And Abram moved his tent. Came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre. Which is in Hebron. And built there an altar unto the Lord. Boy, I like these altars that Brother Abraham is building. And in the 14th chapter we have something significant. I'm not going to deal with the whole chapter. But just say that the kings of the surrounding area got together. And went and took Sodom and Gomorrah. Where Lot was. And Brother Abraham. It's very significant to notice. That Brother Abraham in verse 14 through 16. Got his men together. And some friends about him. And went and took back all the goods. And also brought again his brother Lot. And his goods. And the women also and the people. See Lot had been taken captive along with all of his goods. And Abraham went. And whipped these kings. And got Lot and all his women and all his goods. And brought back. And when he brought this back. The king of Sodom. Went out to meet him. And the 22nd, 23rd and 24th verse. 21st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th verses. These verses show us. That the king wanted to reward Brother Abraham. For getting all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah. And bringing them back. And Brother Abraham. Said I will not take from you a thread even to a shoelace. I will not take anything that is thine. Lest thou should sayeth, I have made Abraham rich. I'll tell you. I believe that this man knew that his wealth was in the Lord. I believe he knew this at this point. He learns more about the Lord. But I believe he knew that his wealth was in the Lord. The Lord was his substance. So he refused to let Sodom's king make him rich. So I think that's very significant. But that's not all. That's not all that happened in that 14th chapter. Something else very significant happened in that 14th chapter. The 18th verse. I'll tell you he was met. Abraham was met by Melchizedek. King of Salem. Brought forth bread and wine. And he was the priest of the Most High God. And Brother Abraham bowed to him. And paid his tithes unto this king Melchizedek. I think it's so beautiful here. And again he worships God. Now folk I'm not prepared to get into the meaning of this portion of Scripture. Because if you're a student of the Word of God you know that's a whole new story. And we're talking about Abraham just going mostly verse by verse about his life. And we won't get into this story of Melchizedek. But I'll tell you he was some significant person in the life of Brother Abraham. And Brother Abraham paid his tithes unto him. And after this 15th chapter. After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision. Saying fear not Abraham. Now listen to this. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abraham said Lord God what wilt thou give me seeing I go childish. And the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abraham said behold to me thou hast given no seed. And lo one born in my house is my heir. And behold the word of the Lord came unto him saying this shall not be thine heir. But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad. And said look now toward heaven. And tell the stars if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him so shall thy seed be. Isn't that something? He believed in the Lord. And he counted it unto him for righteousness. He said unto him I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees. You see the Lord talks about way back there in Ur. To give thee this land to inherit. I'm going to just stop right here. Let me read that one other verse. And he said Lord God whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it. Now listen. After brother Abraham had played his tithes. And he had this great victory. And Lot had been warned of his future fate. If he did not get right with God. I see God now dealing with Abraham. And he is expanding his call. He makes his call a little more specific. He says look into the skies. And look and see the stars. And he enlarges his promise to him. And he makes it certain that it was going to be through Abraham. His own seed. Not a servant. That God was going to do this great and mighty thing. Right? And so the Lord just really expands. He really expands the call. Like I said earlier in this time with you. There was a call initially or officially. That initiated this whole business. But now the call has been enlarged upon a little bit more. Now after this talk with God. Well let me say a few other things before I get to after this talk with God. I believe that this experience Abraham discovered God. As his shield. As his exceeding great reward. I believe that Abraham discovered a little more of the I am. And I think he exhibits spiritual growth here. And I think that you and I need to discover this type of spiritual growth. I think that we need to discover the Lord. We have discovered him as our salvation. But see that is not all. We need to discover him as our life. As our peace. As our health. We need to discover him as our faith. I think Abraham is discovering him as his all and in all. And it says in this sixth verse. And he believed in the Lord. And he counted it to him for righteousness. So Abraham obviously discovered the Lord as his righteousness. How did he discover him as his righteousness? Well God let him see that. It was by faith he discovered God as his righteousness. Now a whole kingdom is being established here. Boy I am just leaving so much out and I am so disappointed. That I am leaving so much out of here. Because I had so much stuff to say that I haven't said. But the call of God definitely was a call that was mere materialistic. And the call was a call that was basically spiritual. And the call was temporal. And the call was eternal. And so what I am saying here is God gave. Well you can go on a little bit further and you can say this call was immediate. Immediate. Also and then you say what do you mean? Well see God started the call initially with Abraham. And he definitely dealt with him on the basis that he was going to bless him. The call included him physically. It included his children's children's children's children's children. Physically. Right? And it included the Jewish race. And it included that race until the end of time. Physically. And that is the material and the temporal. Which would one day that come to an end. But that call was also a spiritual. See he started a kingdom. A kingdom that by grace through faith you enter into this kingdom. That just shall live by faith. And whatsoever is not of faith is sin. And he started a spiritual kingdom immediately. And it's continued and continued and continued into eternity. Into eternity. And it never stops. And so Abraham's life is very very significant. Now I'm sorry that I will not be able to finish this. I'll pick up at that 15th chapter the next time we meet. May the Lord bless you. I hope you've been blessed a little bit by this discussion. I will see you next month.