[0:00] Good evening, a warm welcome. We'll begin this time of worship, we'll sing to God's praise. Psalm 105, the first three verses, the first two stanzas.
[0:13] Give thanks to God, call on his name to men his deeds make known. Sing ye to him, sing psalms, proclaim his wondrous works each one. See that ye in his holy name, to glory do accord, and let the heart of everyone rejoice that seeks the Lord.
[0:29] These two stanzas to God's praise we sing in Gaelic. O ye in his holy name, sing psalm, the first three stanzas.
[1:04] The Lord, we pray, how upon you may serve, to glory do drivers. elevator song The Lordua, we sing psalm, the first three stanzas. The Lord save you, sing it psalm, the first three stanzas.
[1:17] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[2:19] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Thank you.
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[13:45] Amen.
[14:15] Amen. Amen. When I Thank you.
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[17:45] Thank you.
[18:15] covenant, you and your descendants after you, for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep. Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. The generations to come, every male among you, who is eight days old, must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner, those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised.
[19:22] My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who has not been circumcised in the flesh will be cut off from his people. He has broken my covenant. God also said to Abraham, As for Sarai, your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai. Her name will be Sarah.
[19:44] I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her. Abraham fell face down. He laughed and said to himself, Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah be a child at the age of 90?
[20:07] And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael might live under your blessing. Then God said, Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you.
[20:28] I will surely bless him. I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers and I will make him into a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year. When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. On that very day, Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household and circumcised them as God told him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised and his son Ishmael was thirteen. Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised in that same day. And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or brought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him. Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us. We're going to sing again now the psalm that we began to sing, Psalm 105.
[21:36] And we'll sing from verses 4 to verse 9 of the psalm. The Lord Almighty and his strength with steadfast heart seek ye, his blessed and his gracious face seek ye continually. Down to the end of verse 9.
[21:53] we sing to God's praise and we sing to God's praise and we stand to sing. Amen. The Lord Almighty and his strength with steadfast heart seek ye, his blessed and his gracious face, seek ye continually. Think of the works that he hath done, which admiration bleak. His wonders and the judgments of, which whom he hath done, which whom he hath done, which whom he hath done, which whom he hath done,
[22:58] O ye that God of Abram's ways, his servant well hath done, O ye that Jacob's children are, whom he hath done, whom he hath done by whom he hath done, whom he hath運ed, whom he hath done, whom he hath done, whom he hath done, who he horiz through, whom he hath done, whom he hath done.
[23:24] Because he and he only is the mighty Lord of God.
[23:38] And his full-spice just judgment sought in all the earth of God.
[23:52] His covenant he remembered how the tinge may ever stand.
[24:06] Two thousand generations, the word he did command.
[24:19] Which covenant he firmly made with faithful Abraham.
[24:32] And unto Isaac by his oath, he did renew the scale.
[24:47] Amen. Amen. Amen. Let's just turn back to God in prayer as we turn to the passage that we're going to study.
[25:01] Amen. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you again for your word. And we pray for understanding. As we open your word, we pray that the Holy Spirit would illuminate our minds.
[25:16] And help us to grasp intellectually the truth of this passage. And more than that, we pray that our hearts would be touched.
[25:27] That we would take hold of the truth of this message by faith. As we consider these verses. We thank you, Lord, for your work and the life of your people through the generations.
[25:41] We look back all the way to Abraham. And we see your faithfulness to him. And we see his efforts to follow. We see sometimes how he followed closely and was faithful.
[25:55] Other times how he strayed and how he fell. And we recognize ourselves, Lord, in all that we see. So many years back. And we thank you that you are the same God.
[26:08] Who shows grace to your people. And we ask, Lord, that you would show to us this grace this evening. As we confess our sin day by day. We pray that you would forgive us.
[26:21] As we acknowledge that we are filled with self. We pray, Lord, that you would empty us. And as we recognize our great need of your help.
[26:31] We pray that you would fill us with the Holy Spirit. So be amongst us, Lord, we pray. We pray for those here in the building tonight. We're conscious of many who are not. And we pray that you would be with them wherever they are.
[26:44] We're aware of some who are sick, Lord. And who are caring for relatives who are struggling. And we bring them to you in prayer. And we ask that you would help them. We think especially of Roddy, Chrissy's brother, Peggy's uncle.
[26:59] And we ask, Lord, that you would be near to him. We ask that as he struggles with his health, Lord, that he would know your hand upon him. That he would be granted strength physically.
[27:12] And, Lord, that you would bless him spiritually. That he would know the ministry of your spirit in his heart. And we ask, Lord, that you would be near to him. We pray for Neil Cameron again.
[27:22] And we thank you, Lord, for taking him through these procedures medically. And we ask that as he takes time at home and seeks to recover, that you would speed that recovery.
[27:36] That you'd protect him from any infection or complication. That you would ease the discomfort that he feels physically. Take the pain away, Lord. And help him to know that you are with him.
[27:49] And help him to know also the blessing of being held up by the prayers of those who are his brothers and sisters.
[27:59] Those who love him. And many others, Lord, that we can think of who are sick at this time. We continue to pray for Kenny's mum. And we ask, Lord, that you would be especially near to her.
[28:11] And to the whole family at this time. And others that we haven't named, Lord. But we are mindful of in our consciousness. We pray that as we think of faces.
[28:23] And as we silently in our hearts bring to you names, Lord. That you would minister to each one of them. Pray for those in our families. Some who are away from us at this time.
[28:34] We think of those who are on the far side of the sea. Those who are on ships. Those who train to go out on ships. And who once were with us. And we bring them to you in prayer.
[28:47] We ask, Lord, that where there have been those who have gone off to study and gone off to work. Who once sat with us. Lord, that you would continue to strive with them. And that they would hear the voice of Jesus calling them.
[29:00] To come and find rest for their souls in him. And in him alone. So, Lord, we pray for all those that have come into our minds in this time.
[29:11] And we pray for others who perhaps have been overcome by the busyness of a day. We recognize that this is the day that you have given us. To be still and know that you are God.
[29:22] And yet we confess that there are still struggles to take that time to be still. We recognize that there are pressures.
[29:32] That there are those that would pull us this way and that. And for any who may be distracted. For any who may be drifting from you. We ask, Lord, that you would draw to them back.
[29:44] That you would take them back to a close walk with you. And for others, Lord, who are at a distance tonight. But who are worshipping in their hearts. We ask that you would bless them as we pray.
[29:56] That you would bless us. So, hear our prayers. Take away our sin. Help us as we turn to your word. And we pray this in Jesus' name. And for Jesus' sake. Amen. Genesis 17.
[30:12] As we turn back to it. We hit pause last week at verse 8. We've been considering the life. The testimony of Abraham.
[30:26] We were thinking about the fact that a testimony is a moving thing. It's the testimony. We often think about testimony as the story of how God met with us.
[30:37] And broke into our lives. And that's just the beginning of a testimony. Emily, don't be far away. Come over this way. But a testimony is a moving thing.
[30:49] A testimony is the story of how we walk with God. How we spend time with God. How we are in our relationship with God. And we thought about last week how Abraham, he had to wait for the Lord.
[31:03] And it was a long wait. God made a promise to him. A promise of people. A promise of land. A promise of blessing. And there was a lot of time that passed.
[31:13] And as that time passed. Faith would have been tested. But Abraham was being called to wait upon the Lord. And he did so. And we thought last week about how Abraham walked with God.
[31:28] Through different seasons. Through different experiences. Through different experiences. He was called to live before the Lord. To live his life in the presence of God.
[31:39] And we thought last week also about how Abraham listened to the Lord. As God spoke. God revealed more and more of his name.
[31:51] And his nature. And his plan to him. And as Abraham listened to God. His faith was strengthened.
[32:03] And he was able to keep on keeping on. So that's where we got to last week. The end of verse 8. And now I want to pick up at verse 9. We can hit play again.
[32:15] And continue to look in on the life of Abraham. And on this relationship with God. That is explained to us.
[32:27] In the verses and the chapters we've been looking at. So what do we see Abraham doing? As we look in on his spiritual life. Well there's three more things tonight.
[32:37] The first thing is he's trusting the Lord. The second thing is he is talking with the Lord. And the final thing is he's obeying the Lord.
[32:50] So there's the three points for this evening. Abraham he's trusting the Lord. He's talking with the Lord. We see him in conversation and prayer.
[33:00] And he is obeying the Lord. So first of all trusting the Lord. We can ask the question. A basic question.
[33:12] If the children were all sitting down here. They'd give me lots of answers I'm sure. There's a few of them about. So maybe I'll ask the question. What does it mean to trust the Lord?
[33:26] And is it easy to see if somebody's trusting the Lord? You're quieter in the mornings. How do we know? How do we know that someone really trusts us?
[33:40] You know it can be difficult to know. If someone really trusts us. Because it's very easy to say to someone. I trust you with words. It's very easy to say to anybody.
[33:53] Oh don't worry. I fully trust you. But the test of whether we actually trust someone. Is seen in our actions. Anna.
[34:06] Just turned 17 this week past. The L plates will soon be on the car. Natalie. I was glancing around. She's not here. So I can speak about her. She's. I've seen her.
[34:18] In the car. With the L plates on. Ruthie as well. And there's probably a few others. So there's various people in the congregation just now. Who are learning to drive. And we might say.
[34:29] Well you know. I think these three girls are going to make excellent drivers. It's very easy to say that isn't it? I think these girls are going to make excellent drivers. I think I could be absolutely confident.
[34:42] And fully trust in their driving skills. And that's very very easy to say. But the test of your trust. Is will you get in the car with them?
[34:55] Will you put your hand up and volunteer to go and do some. You know driving experience with them. That's the test of trust. Remember the story. I think I've told the story before here.
[35:07] Of the man called Charles Blondin. He was an early version of a stuntman. He was a tightrope walker. He did all kinds of stunts. And on one occasion.
[35:19] He set up a tightrope. Across the Niagara River. This fast fast flowing river. You know the Niagara Falls. Very powerful river.
[35:30] And he was going to do the stunt to end all stunts. He was going to do this amazing feat. So he set the tightrope over the river. And the crowd gathered. And he said I'm going to cross over the Niagara River.
[35:42] I'm going to walk the tightrope. No safety nets. No health and safety back in these days. And he did it. He walked over. He walked back. Crowd cheered.
[35:52] He walked over. He walked back again. I think he took a bicycle. And he cycled over. And he cycled back. And then he got out a wheelbarrow. And he took that forward.
[36:04] And he took that back. Walking the tightrope over this dangerous river. And the crowd were absolutely amazed and enthralled by everything that he was doing.
[36:15] They were stunned by it. And then he paused. And he turned to the crowd. And he says. Who believes. Who believes.
[36:26] I could walk back and forth. Over the Niagara River. On this tightrope. Not just with a wheelbarrow. But with a man in the wheelbarrow.
[36:38] All the crowd's hands went up. Big cheers. Of course we trust you. Of course we believe that. And then he said. That's excellent news. Now can I have a volunteer.
[36:50] To sit in the wheelbarrow. And the crowd went quiet. You know. No one wanted to do that. And it just illustrates the point. It's easy to say.
[37:02] I believe you. It's easy to say. I trust you. But the test of trust is. Will we do. What's asked of us.
[37:13] So what did God ask. Of Abraham. Well look at verses 9. To verse 14. God said to Abraham. As for you.
[37:25] You must keep my covenant. You and your descendants. After you. For the generations to come. This is my covenant with you. And your descendants. After you. The covenant. You are to keep.
[37:36] Every male among you. Shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision. And it will be. The sign of the covenant. Between me and you. For the generations to come. Every male among you.
[37:46] Is eight days old. Must be circumcised. Including. Those born. In your household. Or bought with money. From a foreigner. Those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household.
[37:57] Or bought with your money. They must be circumcised. My covenant. In your flesh. Is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male. Who has not been circumcised.
[38:09] In the flesh. Will be cut off. From his people. He has broken. My covenant. So that's what Abraham. Was asked to do.
[38:19] And I don't want to. For obvious reasons. Go into. Too much of the details. Of. What physically. He was asked to do. But let me. Just say that what.
[38:31] Abraham. Was asked to do. Wasn't an easy thing. It wasn't a pleasant thing. Circumcision.
[38:42] Was a. It was a sign. That God. Prescribed. That. It symbolized. The cutting away. Of the old life. Colossians 2. Verse 11. You can check that later.
[38:54] And really. That's what Abraham. Was. Was called to. He'd been cut away. From his old life. You think about. When we first. Saw Abraham. He's far away. In a different place. And the Lord.
[39:05] Came to him. And spoke to him. And cut him away. From an old life. And took him. Into this new life. And so Abraham. As we find him now. He's in a new place.
[39:15] That God. Had led him to. He's living this new life. Before the Lord. In the presence. Of the God. That he trusted. And Abraham. Was no longer. Living for himself.
[39:27] He. Belonged. To God. And he knew it. He cherished him. He was one of God's people.
[39:41] And this sign. Was. A sign that physically. Marked him out. As one. Of God's people. Now only.
[39:52] The males. Were required. To have the sign. I think. Probably the reason. For that was. The male. Was the. The head. Of the home. And so.
[40:02] It was enough. For him. To be marked. Out. On behalf. Of the whole family. And I think. Also. It was a mercy. Of God. That the females. Didn't have to.
[40:14] Undergo. Such a. A procedure. But all that said. This was a difficult thing.
[40:24] To be asked to do. It was actually quite a perplexing thing. To be asked to do. But as it was done.
[40:36] As Abraham. As Abraham. Heard this word from God. And trusted God. With this word. And acted on it. He was.
[40:50] It was a sign. That showed. That he himself. Personally. Was trusting the Lord. And also. He was.
[41:01] Entrusting. His family. And all of his life. To the Lord. Now going from the Old Testament.
[41:12] To the New Testament. If we open this up. Into the. The wider biblical context. Thankfully. The. The sign. Of the covenant. Changed from circumcision. To baptism.
[41:24] And when we're baptized. Or when. We are having our. Our little ones. Baptized. As we've seen here. In past months. We are saying. As parents. We are trusting the Lord. And we are saying.
[41:37] Openly. That we are entrusting. Our family. Our descendants. To the Lord. Believing. That in God's time.
[41:47] He will draw them. To himself. And we pray into that. But in general. As we look in.
[41:59] On Abraham's life. As we watch him. We can see. We can see. How he is trusting the Lord. Even. Even. In perplexing.
[42:10] Even in painful. Circumstances. He's trusting God. And this is.
[42:21] An example. It's a. An illustration. That encourages us. To do the same. You know. Sometimes. We won't understand. Why God is asking us.
[42:33] To do a particular thing. But our calling. Is to trust him. Sometimes. What the Lord. Asks us to do.
[42:45] Can be a painful thing. But our calling. Is to trust him. And the truth is. He is trustworthy.
[42:59] And if you doubt that. And if I doubt that. We're to look again. To the cross. We don't worship. A God. Who. Who. Who calls us.
[43:10] To be subject. To pain. And sorrow. And yet. Who sits distant. From it. We worship. The God. Who condescended.
[43:20] From heaven. To earth. Death. We worship. The God. Who. Was known. As. The man. Of sorrows. We worship.
[43:32] The God. Who was faithful. Faithful. Unto. The most. Excruciating. Painful. Physical. And spiritual.
[43:45] Death. On the cross. As we look at Jesus. We see. How he trusted.
[43:56] And obeyed. The will. Of the father. As he suffered. And as he died. To secure the salvation. Of those who believe.
[44:08] In him. So whenever. We're having. A difficulty. Trusting. In the Lord. And if we're honest. There are times. There are situations. There can be things.
[44:19] That break into our lives. And we struggle. Whenever we are struggling. As to whether or not. We can trust the Lord. Where must we look? We must look again.
[44:30] To the cross. Not the detail. Of whatever it is. That we're wrestling with. Trying to understand it.
[44:40] Sometimes we won't understand it. But when God speaks to us. And we're wrestling with it. And we're wondering. Can I trust him? Look again. To the cross. And be encouraged.
[44:54] That we can trust him. To the end. With everything. He's faithful. So Abraham. He's trusting the Lord. Secondly.
[45:05] More briefly. He's talking with the Lord. Verse 15. God also said to Abraham. As for Sarah. Your wife. You are no longer to call her Sarah. Her name will be Sarah.
[45:20] Now back in biblical days. As you know. Names. Names meant things. They didn't just go through. A book of names. And say. Well that one sounds nice. There weren't names.
[45:32] That followed fashion trends. Names meant things. And Sarah. Means princess. And this renaming. Of Sarah.
[45:44] At this particular point. In our life. When she hasn't. Actually been. On the best track. If you glance back. To the previous chapter. This shows the grace of God.
[45:56] God. And Sarah. The name means princess. But. If we were to. To glance back. To chapter 16. And we're not going to go there tonight.
[46:06] But you. You can remember. I'm sure. We can see. In Genesis 16. That Sarah. She doubted God's word. She had actually. Pulled Abraham.
[46:17] Off course. She had. Acted in such a way. As to cause. A whole lot of disruption. And. And difficulty.
[46:28] That was her immediate. Context. But God says. Her name will be Sarah. Her name will be princess.
[46:41] God shows her grace. God recognizes. That. That Sarah. Was a work in progress. You know. As we all are.
[46:54] One commentator. Eveson. Says. Like her husband's. Name. Sarah's name. Is prophetic. It is a sign. Of God's promise. To bless them. With many descendants.
[47:05] Including. Kings. So the name. Sarah. It was a. It was a prophetic. Name. That. That spoke. About all the descendants. That would flow.
[47:17] From her. Verse 16. And 17. That's pressed in. I will bless her. Says the Lord. And will surely. Give you a son.
[47:27] By her. I will bless her. So that she will be the mother of nations. Kings of peoples. Will come from her. Then we have this peculiar version.
[47:38] In verse 17. Abraham. Abraham fell face down. He laughed. We always remember Sarah laughed. Don't we? We don't remember so much.
[47:49] That Abraham laughed. But that's what it says here. Before Sarah ever laughed. Abraham laughed. He fell face down. He laughed. And said to himself.
[47:59] Will a son be born. To a man a hundred years old. Will Sarah be a child. At the age of 19. Now. You know. We don't know exactly. How Abraham said that.
[48:12] Is he laughing? Is this laugh? A laugh that is full of. Of joy. And wonder. And praise. Or is this a laugh.
[48:24] That is. Laced with doubt. God. You know. Surely. Sarah. Can't have a child. At this stage. You know.
[48:34] We don't know. What was going through. Abraham's mind. As he said this. We don't know. What was going on. In his heart. As he laughed. If you read the scholars.
[48:47] They don't know either. Because they all argue about it. But what is clear. Is that Abraham's thoughts. Are out there.
[48:57] Before the Lord. He doesn't speak out audibly. But. In this dialogue. As Abraham talks with the Lord. There seems to be that.
[49:08] Very honest prayer. Abraham speaks it out. And God hears it. And God responds. And there's a lesson there.
[49:21] About prayer. You know. Our prayers. They should be. They must be honest. There's no sense. In praying prayers.
[49:32] That sound. Very eloquent. And sound very. Very. Very correct. But actually don't. Don't connect with the heart.
[49:46] Our prayers. They should be. They must be honest. You know. There should be both reverence. And reality. In our prayers.
[49:57] We see that. In Abraham. He. As God speaks. Abraham. Falls. Face down. Verse 3. There's reverence. As he. As he sees God.
[50:09] As he responds to God. But there's also. A reality. About Abraham's prayers. Because. He's wrestling. With this promise. That isn't. Yet coming to pass.
[50:20] And. And he's honest enough. To be able to pour out. His heart. To God. In prayer. And show. How he feels.
[50:31] Deep down. In the. In the dark places. Of his heart. There's reverence. And there's. There's reality. There's. There's an honesty.
[50:42] About. Abraham's. Talking with God. Abraham said to God. Verse 18. If only Ishmael. Might live under your blessing. Then God said.
[50:55] Yes. But your wife Sarah. Will bear you a son. And you will call him Isaac. I will establish. My covenant. With him. As an everlasting covenant. For his descendants.
[51:06] After him. And as for Ishmael. I have heard you. I will surely bless him. I will make him fruitful. And will greatly increase. His numbers. He will be the father.
[51:17] Of twelve rulers. And I will make him. Into a great nation. But my covenant. I will establish. I will establish. With Isaac. Whom Sarah.
[51:28] Will bear. To you. By this time. Next year. So as Abraham. He talks. With the Lord.
[51:39] The Lord. Gives him. More details. About this promise. More encouragement. More. More things. That he can take hold of. By faith. God shares.
[51:52] With Abraham. As he. As he speaks. With. With the Lord. In this. In this. In this dialogue. He shares with him. The name that. That.
[52:03] He's to give his son. Isaac. Which means. He laughs. God is. Saying to Abraham. I've heard you laugh.
[52:14] The name of your son. Will remind you. Always. Of the fact. That you laughed. And now even. Abraham is given.
[52:25] A time skill. For years. And years. And decades. He's been hanging on. To this promise. Without any great clarity. And without. Any understanding. Of. Of when this is going to come.
[52:36] To pass. But now Abraham. Is given a time skill. By which the fulfillment. Of the promise. Will come. This time next year. Sarah.
[52:49] Will. Bear you a son. His name. Will be Isaac. And the lesson.
[52:59] Here. Is. Is an encouragement. For us. To. To. Talk with the Lord. The application. Is just that. That straightforward.
[53:09] As. Abraham. Speaks with the Lord. He learns. More and more. Of God's character. And God's plan. For him. And so the lesson.
[53:23] For us is. As we. Take time. To. Listen to God. And to talk. With the Lord. And. To be with him. We too. Will learn more. Of his character.
[53:35] Of his plan. For us. It's. Actually. The. The same lesson. That Donnie preached here. Was it two weeks ago. You know. We're to sit. At the feet.
[53:46] Of Jesus. We're to be less. Like Martha. Who's running around. In circles. Furiously. Trying to. Do things. For Jesus. And more like Mary.
[53:57] Who just sits. At his feet. And talks to him. And listens to him. Because this is how. Our relationship. With God. Is built up.
[54:08] This is how. Our relationship. With God. Is kept fresh. This is how. Our faith. Is strengthened. This is how. We're kept. Spiritually. Lively. This is how. We stop. Going stale. And stop.
[54:20] Falling back. It's by talking. With the Lord. And listening. To the Lord. You've.
[54:30] Heard the quote. Many times. That prayer. Is the pulse. That indicates. Whether we are. Living. Spiritually. Or not.
[54:44] Trusting the Lord. Talking. With the Lord. And finally. Just very briefly. Obeying the Lord. Verse 22.
[54:55] When. He had finished. Speaking with Abraham. God went up. From. Him. On that very day. Abraham. Took his son. Ishmael. And all those.
[55:06] Born in his household. Or bought with his money. Every male in his household. And circumcised him. As God told him. Abraham was. Ninety-nine years old. When he was circumcised. And his son. Ishmael. Was thirteen.
[55:17] Abraham and his son. Ishmael. Were both circumcised. On that same day. And every male. In Abraham's household. Including those born. In his household. Or bought.
[55:27] From a foreigner. Were circumcised. With him. And it's just so straightforward. Isn't it? God speaks. Abraham.
[55:40] Obeys. That very day. Abraham. Obeys. And God's word. For Abraham. Abraham. Abraham. Was not an easy word.
[55:51] To understand. When he's. Asked to be circumcised. And to have. All the males. In his household. Circumcised. But. The God said it. Abraham obeys.
[56:05] And this is a word. That was. Was very difficult. To act upon. This is a word. That. That would. In all likelihood. Not have been a very popular word.
[56:15] As Abraham. Went from that place. Where. Where God had spoken with him. Out into the. The household. As he said to all these guys. That. That were in his household.
[56:27] And the. The commentators reckon. And there was three to four hundred of them. And Abraham says to them. Can you head over in that direction. There's going to be some. Unplanned surgery. Scheduled for today.
[56:40] That's a word. I think that would have. Perhaps. Faced some resistance. And Abraham would have known that. But God spoke.
[56:53] Abraham obeyed. No hesitation. No. Procrastination. No discussion even. I mean.
[57:06] The children wouldn't understand this. No more than the children understand baptism. When we. When we bring them up to be baptized. When they're. When they're just a few months old. They wouldn't understand this.
[57:18] But Abraham doesn't have this. Conversation with God. Where he says. Shouldn't we wait till they're a bit older. And let them decide for themselves. Shouldn't we wait until they. They really understand. What they're doing.
[57:28] No there's none of that. God just speaks. Abraham says. I'll obey. He gets up. That very day.
[57:40] And he just obeys. Which is a real challenge. When you think about it. When I think. If I put myself in Abraham's shoes.
[57:52] I would have wanted to debate this one. Why. Why circumcision Lord. Why does it have to be this way. What's the meaning behind this. What's the logic.
[58:03] Behind this thing. Does it have to be this painful. Does it have to be at this stage. It has to be. It has to be. It has to be. It has to be. But there's none of that. God speaks.
[58:16] Abraham. Obeys. And the application. For me. Here is. Is to be less like me. And more. Like Abraham. You know.
[58:27] We sang the application. To this last Sunday evening. When we walk with the Lord. In the light of his word. What a glory. He sheds in our way. While we do his good will. He abides with us still.
[58:40] And with all who will trust. And obey. Trust and obey. There's no other way. To be happy. In Jesus. But to trust.
[58:50] And obey. Sometimes it's painful. To obey. Sometimes. It's perplexing. When we try to. Process what we've been asked.
[59:02] To obey. But there's happiness. And there. Is a. A closer walk. With God.
[59:12] And joy. As we obey. Him. In all the things. That he asks of us. It's not our obedience. That saves us. We don't get.
[59:26] Saved. We don't. We don't. Become Christians. Because. Of our. Obedience. But if we are. Saved people. If we are. Christ's people. If we are.
[59:37] Walking with the Lord. If we. Are those who have. Seen. All that Jesus. Has done for us. On the cross. If we. Believe in him. Then that belief. That thankfulness.
[59:47] For our salvation. That he has. Procured with his blood. Is expressed. Through our lives. In this kind of simple.
[59:58] Obedience. Think about the. The flow of that hymn. That we sang.
[60:09] A second. When I survey. The wondrous cross. On which the prince. Of glory died. My riches gain. I count but loss. And poor contempt.
[60:19] And all my pride. See from his head. His hands. His feet. Sorrow and love. Flow. And so. It goes on. We're taken to the cross.
[60:30] We're asked to survey the cross. We're asked to fix our eyes. Upon Jesus. And as we. Follow that story. Of the cross. As we see our salvation. Being worked out. The hymn.
[60:41] Ends. With us. Saying. Love. So amazing. So divine. This demands. My. My life.
[60:53] My soul. My all. Let's pray. Lord.
[61:08] We thank you. For your word. And we thank you. For all. That we. That we do survey. Every time we come. To Calvary. We thank you.
[61:19] That you. Are the God. Who has done everything. To make it possible. For us. To be saved. And we thank you. That the.
[61:29] The salvation. The grace. That saves us. Is. Is a free gift. That Jesus. Has paid for. With his blood. We thank you.
[61:40] That our relationship. With God. Begins. The. The moment. We come to Calvary. Confessing our sin. Trusting in Jesus. And yet.
[61:50] We recognize. That our calling. Is not. Simply to come. Be saved. And. And get on. With our lives. Going in any direction.
[62:01] That we please. But our calling. Is to walk with you. Our calling. Is to live lives. Which are holy. Our calling. Is to live lives. Which. Are obedient.
[62:11] Not because. That saves us. Not because. That keeps us. But that's. The way. Through which. We express.
[62:22] Our love. And our thankfulness. Lord. We pray. That you would help us. As we. Think about Abraham. As we see. The straightforwardness.
[62:33] In a sense. Of his life. As he trusts you. With things. That seemed. Mysterious. As he talks. With you Lord. And as he obeys.
[62:49] Help us. We pray. To. To follow that. Example. And to trust you. Day by day. With. With everything. Especially the things. That we find hard.
[63:00] To understand. Help us. To. Be exercised. In the closet. Speaking. With you. In prayer. And help us.
[63:12] We ask Lord. To. To be obedient. To be those. Who. Express. Our thankfulness. To you. In lives.
[63:23] Where we seek. To walk close with you. We pray this. In Jesus name. Amen. We'll sing to finish. The hymn. On the screen there.
[63:33] My heart. Is filled. With thankfulness. To him. Who bore my pain. And again. See the flow. Of the hymn. And how. Clearly it comes. Through. Who plumbed.
[63:43] The depths. Of my disgrace. And gave me life again. Who crushed. My curse. Of sinfulness. And clothed me. With his light. And wrote his law. Of righteousness. With power. Upon my heart.
[63:54] My heart. Is filled. With thankfulness. To him. Who walks. Beside. Think of Abraham. Who floods. My weaknesses. With strength. And causes. Fears to fly. Whose every promise.
[64:05] Is enough. For every step. I take. Sustaining me. With arms of love. Crowning me. With grace. My heart. Is filled. With thankfulness. To him. Who reigns above. Whose wisdom.
[64:15] Is my perfect peace. As every thought. Is love. For every day. I have on earth. Is given. By the king. So I will give. My life. My all. To love.
[64:27] And follow. Him. Sing these verses. To God's pres ie. This is the most. Times The depths of my disgrace and gave me life again.
[65:02] Who crushed the curse of sinfulness and clothed me with his light. And wrote his law of righteousness with power upon my heart.
[65:21] My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who walks beside. Who floods my weaknesses with strength and causes fears to thrive.
[65:40] Whose every promise is enough for every step I take. Sustaining me with arms of love and crowning me with grace.
[65:59] My heart is filled with thankfulness to him who reigns above. Whose wisdom is my perfect peace.
[66:14] Whose heavenly thought is nigh. For every day I have on earth is given by the King.
[66:28] So I will give my life my all to love and follow him. And I may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit, be with us all now and forevermore.
[66:48] Amen.