Galatians 3:1-9 "Abraham"

1:08I know this song has lots was sung in lots of Sunday school classes and vacation Bible schools or children's churches. This song was the Christian version of the Hokey Pokey. And I'm pretty sure it was written by Baptists because by the end result, you're just marching instead of dancing. Earlier this week, John, our worship leader, texted me and asked if there was any point to my sermon. So, hopefully, there is. But he also asked if I had any song requests, and I told him I'd give him 50 bucks if he sang this song and included all the motions.

1:54He countered the offer and asked for double, and he said I had to be in the front row leading the march. So I opted to quote the song instead of singing it. Now, I know this song was written to get the wigglies out of kids, but there's a lot of truth to it. Father Abraham. Over the next few weeks, we're stepping away from our sermon series on Romans to talk about and discover the heroes of our faith, beginning with Abraham.

2:26And I think it's fitting that we begin with Abraham on the first day of Advent. It was Abraham who God made a covenant with to bless all the nations. And in so much of what we know about Abraham and his life, we see a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah to deliver us from sin and death. When we look at Galatians, we see Paul reminding them that our salvation, our justification, and our sanctification.

3:00That means not just being redeemed, but becoming holy as the Father is holy, is not by what we do or even what we witness. But our justification and sanctification comes through faith in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, or what we call in Christianes the finished work of Christ. And what we'll learn today is because God is faithful to us, we can be faithful to Him. So I want to set some background on our text and then why Abraham is so important in the story of our faith.

3:43So the Galatian church had been lured into thinking that they received salvation if they followed the Hebrew law through Moses. But Paul tells them that the law does not save, but rather the Holy Spirit works within them to bring about revelation of Jesus and who he is. And no one receives the Spirit by works of the law. Also, keep in mind that the Galatians were not by birth Jewish. They are not by blood related to Abraham.

4:19They're Gentiles. So there's no way that they can be saved by the law because they had already broken the law simply by being born into Gentile ethnicity. Practices. Paul is telling them: even if you keep the law perfectly from the time you heard about Jesus, you cannot be saved because you have already broken the law. You can't convert into perfectly keeping the law. And Paul also points out that the law has no ability to sanctify them. In verse 3, Paul writes, Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, you are being perfected by the flesh?

5:06I looked up in the Gen Z Bible translation, and it says, Are you guys like seriously making that dumb mistake? Like you started off with the Spirit, and now you think you can become perfect just by relying on your own strength and abilities? SMH. That's what you call a thought-for-thought translation. But it does check out, I promise. So, Paul then points to Abraham as an example of what it means to be someone who lives by faith.

5:41And it links our faith to Jesus, or our faith in Jesus, to his kinship with Abraham. And I also want to point out the humility in this passage. It amazes me how God the Father made. Maker of heaven and earth and all that is in it always gives credit to his creation. Even his creation that does nothing but believe. Our Father teaches us humility by acknowledging what seems to us a hard thing and sets a man like Abraham, who is flawed, impetuous, a liar, sometimes a coward, as the patriarch of all those who come to the family of God.

6:32Now, I know that word patriarch has taken on a negative context over the last few years. When you hear the word patriarch, some of you might think that's misogynistic or that's toxic masculinity. But believe it or not, patriarchy is a biblical concept. We're supposed to look to our forefathers as example setters and saints. We'll be spending some time in Hebrews today. Hebrews 11 says, 8 and 9 says, By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.

7:12And he went out, not knowing where he was going. And as you read through all of Hebrews 11, you see the many men and women who went before us and acted in faith. And then in Hebrews 12:1, tying it all, tying all to the culmination of our faith. Jesus, the author, says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

7:49Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Part of God's grace to us is calling men like Abraham to live a life as an example to us on how to live by faith. So we might run the race of faith with endurance. To me, that's a wonderful thing. That's not something to look at with suspicion.

8:28It's for our good. Now, take your Bibles and flip to Genesis 12. We're going to be camped out in Genesis for a bit. So keep your Bibles open there, and then if you have to flip back, I'll let you know. That should be on page 8 in the black Bibles located in the seat in front of you. Page 8. When Abraham was a younger man, God called him out of Ur. His mother and father named him Abram.

9:11It wasn't until later that God renamed him Abraham. The name Abram means exalted or high father. When God makes the covenant with Abram and called him the father of a multitude of nations, he renamed him Abraham, which means father of a multitude. Now look at Genesis 12:1:2. It says, Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

9:56How many here have heard God tell them to do something? There are times that God speaks to us in Scripture in a very powerful way, in a way that no one can deny that he is speaking. He meets and walks with Adam and Eve in the garden. He spoke to Moses in the burning bush and later at the mercy seat. He audibly spoke to Moses. He audibly spoke. At Jesus' baptism. But Scripture doesn't tell us this was one of those times. It just says, The Lord said to Abram, Go.

10:44How many know what I'm talking about? That voice of God that is like an idea that pops in your head, but you know that it is not your idea. That quiet voice that has so much power if you're diligent and listening for it. It was this voice that told Abraham to leave his father's house. And in verse 4, it says, So Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. And Abram took Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had, and the people that they had had acquired in Haran.

11:35And they set out to go to the land of Canaan. What Abram shows us here is that belief is always coupled with action. Now, in this room, we have a bunch of children. So, this is a question for all the kids in this room. Do you remember the very first day of school? Raise your hand. Remember how nervous you were? You didn't know if anyone or any of the other kids would like you, but your parents said that it would be okay, right?

12:24Maybe your mom gave you a hug and told you she would be there at the end of the day. If your dad was like me, he told you to be brave and then went outside and cried like a baby. But you remember at the end of the day being really excited, right? Do you remember the friends that you made and all the things you learned? You faced something really scary and unknown. But because you believed that your parents knew what was best for you, and you walked into that classroom or walked into that co-op, it turned out really well, right?

13:09That's what Abraham did. He believed the Lord, and he took complete action and left his father's house and became a foreigner in a dangerous land. He believed that God would do what he said he would do. But even in his belief, he was still sick. It's a scary thing to leave all that you know. In fact, after Abraham leaves and travels through Egypt, he convinces Sarah to pretend that she is his sister because he's afraid of what Pharaoh might do if he finds out that Sarah, who was apparently pretty hot, was his wife.

14:00So he let his hot wife get married to the Pharaoh. But God sent plagues to the Pharaoh because he took Sarah as his wife. So Pharaoh, being the common sense guy that he was, kicked them both out of Egypt and said, don't come back. So even though Abraham believed God and his promises, he sometimes acted in his own power. He sometimes acted in fear. And God intervened to clean up the mess. I bet you can relate to this if you're a believer.

14:45How many times have you acted in your own power and your own mortality? If you're like me, I bet you've messed up like Abraham. But the Lord still. Delivered us and set us back on the right path. I've lost count of how many times I've acted out of fear and gone against the Father and His Word. But as soon as Abraham leaves Egypt, trouble starts within his camp. Abraham had acquired wealth and livestock, and so did Lot his nephew.

15:33But fighting broke out among Lot's herdsmen and Abraham's herdsmen. This is the true Yellowstone prequel. So Abraham goes to Lot and he says, Look, there's no reason we should be fighting. I want you to pick which direction you want to go. Take your livestock and go. You go one way, I'll go the other. So naturally, Lot chose what appears to be the best land with all the water resources and green grass. Notice how selfish Lot was. Here, his uncle brought him out of the situation where he was not going to ever become a real leader. He was never going to be upper management.

16:28But Abraham takes him with him. Him and gives him the ability to accrue great amounts of wealth. And rather than defer to Abraham the choice of where to go, he jumps on the chance to take the best, most lush, most green land for his own. But it was also in the direction of Sodom, which was full of wicked people that did not enter into his decision-making. But Abraham had told Lot, if you go right, I'll go left.

17:12Yet God still blessed Abraham. Now, what happens next is one of my favorite stories in all of the Bible. Well, it's not my favorite, it's one. I already said that Jesus was my favorite, right? But this is a great story of courage, faith, and unwavering, the unwavering faith of Abraham. So we're in Genesis 14, and Lot had taken all of his wealth into the Jordan Valley. But he wasn't the only one to think like that. Every king in the area wanted that land. And they all went to war against each other. And I would read, starting in 14, verse 1, but I can't pronounce those names. So we're just going to skip down to 14, 14.

18:01Lot and all his possessions were captured and held as prisoners. And look at what Genesis 14:14 says, starting in 14. When Abraham heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the possessions and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his people.

18:40You think Abraham learned anything from his Egypt experience? See, when Abraham heard Lot had been captured, it was an immediate call to action. He did not hesitate or question the risk involved. Instead, he gathered his trained men and set out to rescue his nephew. 318 meant versus an army. Abraham's reaction shows that he was to act when family was in need. Do you see the difference? One time he says, pretend you're my sister. The next time he says, I'm coming after you.

19:36Abraham's swift action shows the deep love and the sense of responsibility towards his family. He had learned to have courage. Don't get too excited. He does this again to Sarah after a bit, but we all learn slow at our own pace. But Abraham did not just believe in the 318 men that were with him, he was trusting in God's promises. Abraham's journey to rescue Lot was not just a physical battle, but also a spiritual one. He trusted in God's promises and believed that God would deliver them from their enemies.

20:25In our lives, we often face those battles that seem unwinnable. And in all honesty, we have become a society of excuse givers. You might say, Pastor Chris, you don't understand. That person offended me, so I defended myself. That person said some really harsh things, so I ghosted them. I pushed him or her away because it's a natural trauma response. I got on the computer last night because I'm addicted. I slept in because I'm tired. I overate because I needed comfort.

21:15Abraham could have made an excuse here. He could have said, Well, he chose to live over there. He got himself into this mess. He can get himself out. But instead, Abraham goes to war to get his nephew back. Not just his nephew, but all his possessions and all his people. In many ways, the story of Abraham is the foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus. This is one of those foreshadowing moments. Foreshadowing when Jesus would come to our rescue, when we didn't deserve it.

21:57When we willfully chose the valley of death, he steps into history to redeem the sons and daughters of God the Father. Something else I want to point out is how wise Abraham was in going to get Lot. The first thing he does is goes and gets 318 trained men. Who do you think trained them? Abraham. Abraham had a bit of foresight here. He knew that he lived in a hostile land. Enemies were surrounding him, and there was no one to come to their aid because he didn't come under a kingship.

22:47If some king decided to capture him as they did Lot, they could do so. So Abraham did prepare to defend himself. Do you defend yourself against the possibility or eventuality of an attack? Do you look at your life and see weak points and prepare against them? Better yet, do you surround yourself with people who are ready with scripture, who are ready with encouragement, who knows what it means to conquer and defend? This is why the church is so important.

23:38But more than that, Abraham was a tactician. Abraham's strategy in dividing his men and attacking at night demonstrates his wisdom and leadership. He used the resources and knowledge he had to overcome a much, much larger force. And we'll find out in a few minutes. It's where that wisdom comes from. But I think you can guess. Abraham's successful rescue of Lot and the recovery of all the possessions is a powerful reminder of God's faithfulness to him. Despite the odds, Abraham's faith and courage led to a complete victory. And again, this victory is the foreshadowing of the ultimate victory we have in Christ.

24:29No matter the battles we face, we can trust that God will lead us to victory. The story of Abraham rescuing Lot is a profound example of faith, courage, and God's unwavering support. Now, I grew up without a decent example of how a man should be with his family. And I remember the profound effect this account affected me, how it affected me when I first read it. Abraham's example to act swiftly in love, trust in God's promises, using God-given wisdom, and celebrate the victories that God grants us. That's what he gave us.

25:18This makes me think that generational change of addiction, abuse, infidelity, cowardice, or idleness is well within the possibility to not only be broken, but to be redeemed. Those chains become freedoms that come with sobriety and kindness and faithfulness and courage and perseverance. It's a great story. But the story doesn't end there. Look at Genesis 14:18, starting in 14:18. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand.

26:18And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself. But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted my hand to the Lord, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich. I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me. Let Einer, Eshko, and Mamre take their share.

26:59After Abram Abraham's victory, the king of Sodom and the king of Salem come out to meet Abraham and congratulate him on his victory. Now remember, Lot is captured while he should have been under the protection of the king of Sodom. And it says in Genesis 13:13, Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. And the king of Salem, Melchizedek, is described in Genesis 14:18 as the king of Salem brought out bread and wine, and he was the priest of God, Most High. So you have evil and good.

27:46Melchizedek is a king and a priest. Keep in mind, the law had not been written yet. The Levites had not been appointed as priests. So we'll see something here if you put your finger in Genesis 14 and flip over to Hebrews 7. The author of Hebrews describes Melchizedek starting in verse 1, 7, verse 1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High, God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. And to him, Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything.

28:34He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he continues a priest forever. For all of you, Lord of the Rings fans out there, Melchizedek is the Tom Bombadil of the Bible. This mysterious Melchizedek character has a dual role of king and priest.

29:11It's unique and significant because it prefigures the dual role of Jesus, who is both our king and our high priest. Hebrews 7 emphasizes that Melchizedek priesthood is eternal, unlike the Levitical priesthood, which is based on lineage and had a finite duration. Jesus, like Melchizedek, holds an eternal priesthood, offering a permanent path to reconciliation with God. And this eternal priesthood is crucial for understanding the superiority of Jesus' priesthood over the Old Covenant. As Hebrews says, he remains a high priest forever. He foreshadows. Shadows the eternal priesthood of Jesus.

30:06In Hebrews 4, 14 and 15, it says, Since then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

30:42Are you beginning to see how God starts telling us the gospel long before he puts it into motion? So Melchizedek blesses Abraham and says, Blessed be Abraham, going back to Genesis, you can flip back over there. Blessed be Abraham by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. Melchizedek put into words what Abraham believed. He gave thanks to God for the victory. Because both Abraham and Melchizedek knew that this victory was not because Abraham was stronger, he certainly was not. An old man.

31:33He didn't have the better forces. He was outnumbered. And Abraham knew that all the wealth that he had accumulated and the family that surrounded him was not a result of Abraham's wisdom or hard work. Because Abraham lived a life of a sojourner. And he lived in a hostile land surrounded by people who at any moment could take everything that he had. Abraham recognized this victory was God's and God's alone. And in recognition of this being God's victory, Abraham gives a tenth of all his possessions that he recovered.

32:18Now keep in mind, the law had not been written yet, there was no tithe that had to be brought. Abraham sees Melchizedek and sees the authority that he has as the priest of the God Most High and gives him a tenth. And Melchizedek blesses Abraham and acknowledges God's role in Abraham's victory. This blessing signifies the recognition of God's sovereignty and the importance of giving thanks for his provisions. It also shows us what our response should be in recognition. God's provision.

33:03And we just celebrated Thanksgiving. Now we're moving on to Advent. So those of you that want to decorate for Christmas can. I start decorating for Christmas about October 31st. I know some of you say you got to celebrate the Turkey Day or Thanksgiving, but I'm thankful for Jesus so that I get to start early. But Thanksgiving is a time where we gather and give thanks by eating lots of food, watching some football. We might even say what we're thankful for out loud to our families. Some of you might do a turkey trot or volunteer in a soup kitchen.

33:48But then we go back and stuff ourselves and watch football. But the biblical expression of thanksgiving is giving back a portion that was given in gratitude and recognition that was a gift. David says in Psalm 34 or 54, With a free will offering I will sacrifice to you. I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. So often we try to take recognition for ourselves, don't we? The king of Solomon. Sodom is a great example of this. He stepped in and tried to do just that. I mean, after he got whipped by invading armies, as if he had any authority, he tells Abraham, give me the people and take the goods or the plunder for yourself. I can almost see Melchizedek and Abraham looking at each other and saying, Really?

34:56Oh, thank you for your permission, Mr. King of evil people. Mr. King who let his kingdom get sacked and his people taken. Thank you for your permission to keep what I took back from the enemy that took it from you. That's what I would have done. But Abraham, again in wisdom, looks at the king of Sodom and gives everything back because he does not want there to be any doubt of where his loyalties lie. Abraham's faith keeps him from being held hostage by politics, by riches owed, by a king who could not understand whose victory this really was.

35:46And I love what Abraham does here. He gives Melchizedek the honor that is due to him by giving him a tenth. And he gives the king of Sodom back all his possessions with no Honor. Now, going back to Galatians, hopefully, be able to tie this in. Galatians 3:8 says, And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed. From the very beginning, you can see God had a detailed plan to deliver us from sin.

36:34And he was pretty plain about it when he chose Abraham to come out of the land of Ur and promised him that he would become a patriarch of many nations. Now, remember, I said Abram means high father or exalted father. And later on in Abraham's story, God makes a covenant with him and changes his name to Abraham, which means a father of a multitude. And I wish I could share more about Abraham, but we just don't have time. But the story of Abraham is so rich, and in almost every turn, you can see the foreshadowing of Jesus.

37:18From the beginning of the calling of Abram to his death, we see glimpses of what is to come. And we can see that God was faithful to Abraham. Abraham. Much of the things that we do here are a result of Abraham's story. We give in gratitude, just like Abraham gave in gratitude. We spend our weeks, hopefully, fighting spiritual battles and come to our church and receive blessing from each other in those victories. But more than that, this foreshadowing of Jesus, the great Messiah.

38:15Now, this week in Advent, we'll spend some time contemplating and remembering what the world was like when it was living in darkness, darkness of sin, but with hope for the light of a Savior, hope for someone to redeem us. He sent Jesus. Jesus who comes to us, God with us, Emmanuel. Jesus who is the better Abraham because he did not struggle with sin. He was perfect, and he became the sacrifice offered by the Father. For our sins, all of sin and death were laid upon his shoulders.

39:10He did that for us. And Jesus went to war and conquered sin and death by rising from the grave. And as the Creed says, he lives at the right hand of the Father, interceding for those who believe in him. All of this was foreshadowed in Abraham's story. And it shows us the faithfulness of God. Long before Jesus stepped into history, he was telling us that he was going to step into history on our behalf. God is faithful to us. And we can be like Abraham. Even though we struggle just as Abraham struggled, perhaps you won't make your wife become someone else's wife, but you're still going to struggle.

40:13We can be faithful to the Father because he's faithful to us. Let's pray. Father, you are good. Throughout history and for all our lives, you have been faithful. Faithful to provide for our needs, to provide strength when we're weak, to provide a way for reconciliation through the blood of Jesus. And you gave us your word that it would remind us that you are faithful and that you will continue to be faithful. You give us hope when we are hopeless and life when we are dead.

41:02Thank you for calling Abram out of Ur and setting him up as the father of nations. Thank you for using him to bless us and bringing those who believe in Jesus into the generations of Abraham. So we can be called children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High God. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.