Abraham's life is presented as a model of faith and obedience, beginning with a pivotal decision to leave his homeland in response to God's call. The sermon highlights Abraham's willingness to step out in faith, emphasizing that God's plans are not limited by age or circumstance, as seen in the examples of Moses and David who were also prepared through trials. The core lesson is that true faith involves not only hearing God's call but also obeying it, trusting in His promises even when the path is unclear, and learning the secret of worship through prayer and dedication. The message concludes by urging listeners to commit their ways to the Lord, build an altar of worship in their lives, and trust God's ultimate plan, even as Abraham faced future challenges.
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Good morning. Truly His holiness. Did you ever stop to consider the power in a name? If you want to try something sometime, if you're in an area where there's something going on, or some anger, or some dissension, you mention the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and see the power in that name. The name that men have used is profanity. The name that men have stalked at. It's the name of the Lord of glory and praise his name. Oh, is it joy to be with you this morning? I've been looking forward to this conference. I trust we're going to have a wonderful time. But you know, I'm reminded of the scriptures that we're told you have not because you asked for us.
And I believe that every one of us in this room should bow our heads for a moment of silent prayer and ask God to speak to our hearts. Oh, we're living in tremendous times. I was sharing with Brother Milligan just yesterday afternoon. We're living in a day that men have dreamed about. This may be the day that our Savior will return. So let's bow our heads in a moment of silent prayer and let our hearts request be known unto him. Our Father and our God, as we bow in my presence this morning, we praise and thank you for the good things we received already.
We thank you for the meeting, just prior to this meeting, that we had the privilege of remembering the Lord Jesus Christ. And now, Father, as we gather together to look into thy word, I pray that you speak to our hearts. Lord, we thank you for the ministry of music. We thank you for the blessing we've had already. But now we just look unto thee. Father, you've heard our prayers. You know the deep down secrets in our hearts. You know our needs. You know our wants. And so we just look unto you to bless us as we wait upon thee. And we commit this all to you. In our Savior's name we pray. Amen. When Mr. Willie Beck last summer asked me if I would take part in your Labor Day conference, I went before the Lord and I thought of many subjects I could speak on.
The one that came to my mind was that I'm a debtor. We're all debtors, aren't we? So one way or another we're all debtors. And I was thinking of this subject as a debtor, that I'm a debtor to God for creation. That I'm a debtor to the Lord Jesus Christ because of Calvary. And I'm a debtor to mankind because of the great commission that the Lord Jesus gave. To go into the uttermost parts of the world. And as I prayed about the subject, the more I wrestled with it, the more I felt that this wasn't what the Lord would have had. And so I've learned through years of experience of waiting upon the Lord. Again, you have not because you ask not. And when I let God have his way, then he spoke to me.
He says, why don't you speak about Abraham? Why don't you share about the great man of God that was considered my friend? And so these two days we're going to be considering the great man of Abraham. We're going to go up to the heights of Abraham. We're going to go down to the depths of Abraham. And we're also going to walk up to Bethel of Abraham. And I trust that each one of us will be as Abraham. That we'll call. upon the name of the Lord. We're going to consider Abraham in four ways. I like to think of four milestones in Abram's life. First of all, he was faced with a great decision. And then he was faced with a great division. And then he was faced with a great deception.
And then he was faced with a great dedication. These will be our four subjects, two today and two tomorrow. This morning we want to consider Abraham faced with a great decision. We find this in our scriptures, Genesis the twelfth chapter, if you'll turn with me. We want to read the first nine verses. And what an audience I like to read responsibly because I believe that this helps each one of us to get the understanding of the scripture and what God wants to say to us. Genesis the twelfth chapter, beginning at verse one, I'll read verse one and so on. You read verse two. Now the Lord has said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred. and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee.
And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curses thee. And I will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curses thee. And on thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the soul that they had gotten in Heron. And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the soul that they had gotten in Heron. And they went forth to the land of Canaan, and under the land of Canaan they came.
And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Under thy seed will I give this land. And there built he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him. And Abram journeyed going on still toward the south. May God bless the reading of his word.
The life of Abram, we've heard many messages on it. And I have mentioned many, many times from the platform. But quite often we take these men and we try to visualize them almost as deity. We don't realize that these men were a human being just like we are in this room. They had toothache. They had headaches. They had upset stomachs. They stubbed their toes. They had all the heartaches that we face. But you know they were men that learned a great secret. They learned the secret of depending upon God. This doesn't come easy. In every man's great man's life, there's always a beginning, isn't there? There's a beginning in every great woman's life. Every person has a beginning.
I'm reminded of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of God, the Lord of glory, that came down in his beginning was where? In a palace? In a beautiful hospital? In a beautiful mansion, a luxurious home with servants waiting on his mother and waiting on him? No. His beginning was in a barn. A very humble surroundings. At his birth he was rejected of men. Can you imagine that? The Lord of Glory. What did the innkeeper say? I have no room for you. Why, you're peasant people. You have no money to pay for one of my rooms. Why, you wouldn't indulge in my wines. As an actor thought, oh, yes, I'm a great humanitarian. You can use a barn outside.
And so the Lord of Glory had his beginning on earth in a barn. But oh, I praise and thank God that wasn't his beginning, wasn't it? Because his beginning was way back in the very beginning. In the beginning, God. And that's a wonderful thing. And as we look to consider Abraham this morning, we want to consider his beginning. Abram was called at the age of seventy-five. Just think of that. I hear many people trying to put labels on people. And trying to set folks in categories where they should serve God. I've traveled a lot. And I've been on a lot of college campuses. And I held a lot of children's meetings. And I held a lot of young people's meetings. And I was always pointing at the young people.
I said, you go and serve God. Until one day I realized when I was pointing a finger at them and telling them to go, there was three more pointing back at me. And God said, well, why don't you go? Well, there's a tremendous need for you. And so God has no respecter of age. Up in glory in heaven, God has no wristwatches. He has no calendars. A day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and in a thousand years this is a day. And when God calls us, we best obey Him. Moses was age eighty, before he launched out to serve God in the ministry that God had prepared for him. And so we can praise and thank God that ours, God, has a call for each one of us.
And as I mentioned, we want to consider this weekend Abraham in four phases. And if I can just redumerate them again, We want to consider Abraham when he was faced with a great decision. We've all been faced with great decisions. We want to consider Abraham when he was faced with a great deception. And I think each one of us confessed that we've had deceptions in Ireland. We want to consider Abraham when he was faced with a great division when his heart was broken. Yet he knew that God would supply all. Yes, and then Lord willing that the Lord should carry tomorrow night. We want to consider Abraham. And that great dedication. Faith was the greatest of dedications.
And I've followed that dedication thousands of times. And I've just asked God, please don't ever face me with a dedication that Abraham was facing. To where he had to take his son. The son that he loved so much. His only son. Take him up and put him on an altar. And offer him up as a sacrifice. Oh, what faith. What dedication this man had to God. that he was willing to take that knife and thrust it into the body of his son. Because he knew that his God would raise his son back up again. This is real dedication. And that's why Abraham was called a friend of God. And so as we consider these subjects, I trust that our hearts are going to be thrilled and we're going to be challenged.
Now I'd like to back up for just a moment if we can get a little history. And I always like to paint word pictures. What brought this all about? And I used to be under the impression... that Abraham was the one that left earth. Well, he did leave earth. But his father was the one that gathered his family, Terah gathered his family together. And they said, we must leave this evil land. And we're going to go on to the land of Canaan. Well, yes, it wasn't Abraham that had that vision to start with. It was his father. We don't hear much about his father, but his father must have been a God-fearing man. Because I don't know how much studying you've done of the land of earth, but the land of earth was a very interesting city. It was a very interesting culture. Back some years ago, geologists uncovered the great land of the city of Earth.
And the things they found that were absolutely astounding. They found a very advanced civilization. A civilization that was very much like our civilization. They found that these people were advanced in science in many of the other fields today that we're so proud of. But you know what else they found in them? They found out that that civilization, that age was a very moral, a very wicked age. Great immorality took place in their midst. Great Jesus. They were very hedonistic. They offered up human sacrifices. And I believe with all my heart that it sure looked over his city. And he saw the evilness and the debauchery of it.
He said, this is no place for my family. I must move out. And he moved out. But you know the pathetic part of the story? He moved out and he traveled. He was headed for Canaan and he stopped short of the blessing of God's blessing because he stopped in Heron. He stopped in Heron and he carried in Heron and he died in Heron. How many of us stopped short of the glory of God? I believe every one of us if we're honest. None of us have really seen the glory, the blessing that God has in store for us because we all fall short. We all stop short. of what God had. And but by the grace of God I believe that Abram too would have fallen short.
But as his father stopped and they carried it here and God had lessons for Abram to learn. You know I found out in my own experience that God never uses a novice. That God takes his man and God takes his woman and he trains him. He trains him for his youth. God took Moses. and prepared Moses. God took Moses the young man that was raised in a palace. Oh, he was raised as the adopted son of a king. He had nothing but the very best. He was sent to the best of schools. He was trained in the art of politics. They say that Moses was a great strategist as a general. Moses was groomed and trained to sit on the throne of Egypt.
But one day he heard a call. One day he was faced with a choice. And the choice was, well, Moses, what do you want? Do you want the throne of Egypt? Or do you want the wilderness? And Moses chose the better. He chose the wilderness. And he went out and he spent forty years in that wilderness. And a lot of people don't realize what Moses went through in those forty years. Being raised, he was a Hebrew, but being raised as an Egyptian. There was nothing lower, and today is still applying. There is nothing lower in an Egyptian's mind than a shepherd or a herdsman. This is about the lowest job or the lowest position that you can have. And so God took Moses, he says, all right, Moses, he's given a ten sheep for forty years.
God took Moses and for forty years he trained him to be somebody. He took Moses and for forty years he taught him to be nobody to prepare him for the forty years of ministry that he had in mind of him. Oh, friends, we should all take high. We should all rejoice that our God is using people, and especially in this day. And then also God prepared David. Do you remember David? God called a little shepherd boy, called him to do an impossible task to sway a giant. And he threw this giant, and oh, he kind of rose up to great high. But he wasn't ready for the responsibility. He wasn't ready for the great responsibility to be king of Israel. to be God's man for the hour to bring Israel back in the path where she belongs.
And so God says, all right, David, I'm going to send you up in the mountains and Saul's going to find you. David, as David hit, he was going to be trapped. As he looked down to the living God, he cried, Lord, provide. And the Lord would provide time and time again. This is what made David that great king. This is what gave David the insight to write those tremendous ferns. Oh, yes. The school of a witching. Our dear brother over in Jamaica, what's his name?
Wildish. Brother Wildish. I'll never forget back some time ago I was going through quite a trial. And all I could see no end. And the pressure was tremendous and I was ready to give up. And Brother Wildish and I were at a conference together. And we were let out and sat under the trees one afternoon to share some thoughts back and forth. And so I opened my heart to Brother Wildish. I said, Brother Wildish, why in the world is God allowing these pressures to cut into our lives? And he smiled, you know, his typical fashion. He says, let me tell you a little story. He says, you know, over in England, he says, there was a blacksmith right outside the city of London. And this blacksmith was preparing a piece of steel. And a man was standing there watching him, and he'd take this piece of steel, and he'd put it in the fire, and he'd get it red hot, and he'd take it out of the fire, and he'd pound it and pound it and pound it on his anvil, and he'd plunge it into the water.
Then he'd put it in the fire again, and he heated it up, and then pound it, and pound it, and plunge it in the water. And this kept on for hours, and finally the man, his curiosity couldn't be held in one. And he went on to the blacksmith, and he says, Terry, he says, why are you pounding that piece of steel so hard? Oh, the blacksmith looked up and he smiled and he says, oh, he says, this is a special piece of steel. He says, this piece of steel has to be tempered just right because it's going to be used as if for a spring, one of the leaves of the springs, in Her Majesty's carriage. It's got to be soft enough to give her a gentle ride and it's got to be strong enough to give her a safe ride. That piece of steel had to go through a lot of pounding and preparing it before it was ready for use. And Brother Wildish looked at me and smiled and he says, yes, Brother Garley.
And God has to prepare us to. By how long it's to go through trial and go through trouble. Oh, yes. God prepares his man. God was preparing Abraham. God was working on Abraham and preparing Abraham, even in here. Preparing him for that wonderful title that one day he'd be known as a friend of God. What a tremendous title that is. So what took place? How did this all begin? It began, as I say, that Abram was faced with a decision. You've been faced with a decision. Maybe you hadn't been quite confronted with a decision this morning. Maybe you're in the audience here this morning, and you've sat, you've heard the gospel time after time after time, and you've never come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
And I have learned in my ministry to never worry about age, to never worry about people, only to proclaim the good news. I don't know if I told you, but it bears repeating. Of a barber up north that was pinch hitting in a barber shop. He was a retired man. And I went to the barber shop and he was taking the place of my regular barber. And I was ready to walk out, but God had an appointment. And this dear man, he was so friendly and so nice, I thought, well, I'm in a hurry. I might as well stay and get my hair cut. And he cut my hair while cutting my hair, we start talking about things of the Lord. Oh, he says, my father was a minister. He says, my mother was a great godly woman. And I said, that's wonderful, but how about you? And he kind of dropped his face and he says, well, he says, you know, he says, I've fooled my dad.
My dad has gone. My dad thought I was a Christian. He says, I fooled my mother. She's gone. She thought I was a Christian. But she says, he says, you know, he says, I've come to the reality that I can't fool God. And so I said, sir, it's never too late. It's never too late to come to God. Would you like to bow your head and confess the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior? And he looked at me and he says, do you really believe it's not too late? I said, no, it's not too late. I said, dear sister over in our chapel, she was down to Palm Beach, Florida. Visiting her children, she's seventy-five years old. And down there she came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. And she's a radiant Christian rejoicing in Jesus Christ. To make a long story short, this dear man bowed his hand and confessed Jesus Christ as his Savior in the barbership.
And after he confessed the Lord and Savior, he only did, he sat with his head down and he kept shaking his head back and forth. Then I said, what's the matter, sir? You know what his time it was? He says, it was so easy. It was so easy. Seventy-some years of holding out on God. But the moment he comes to the point of decision, he said, Oh, it was so easy. And friend, it is so easy. It was very hard for our Savior. He had to die on that cross for every one of us. He had to die for you and he had to die for me. All by himself. That's the right of Hebrews. And when he had purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Praise God.
But Abraham now, Abram is faced with a decision. He is faced with a call. He hears a call. God calls us. We're told in the first verse of the twelve chapters, Now the Lord has said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. Oh, friend, he's got a land that he wants to show us. We've all heard that call. We've heard the call to accept Jesus Christ as Savior, and we started out on a journey. He told us to forsake all and follow him, and he'll lead us to a land. He'd provide our needs. And it's the land of glory. And it's going to be a thrill when we get there. But as we consider calls, He was called of God. He was called to make a decision, called to step out for God.
And I'm reminded that many calls take place in our life. There's a call of the flesh. Did you ever think of the call of the flesh? A young person hears a call. The call is to go out and conquer the world. Hear these astronauts talk about their trips up to the moon. And most of them, as young men, they heard a call in their hearts. They had a desire to launch out in the outermost parts of space. That's why they could do it. Because they had that driving motivation. And I praise God for this motivation. This is what made America the great country it is. This is why we have a labor day where we stop and we honor labor. Because men had a call. Men had a vision to go out and carve a great country out of a wilderness.
Yes, young people, they hear the call to conquer the world. And then I'm reminded of the middle-aged man. When a man reaches about the age of forty, he hears a call also. All of a sudden he becomes panicking in his heart. He wants security for his family. He hears that call for security. He wants to know that his children are going to be able to finish their university training. He wants to know that there's going to be provisions made for his whole family. And he hears that call and that desire for security. These are things of the flesh. Yes, and there are many folks here. You've heard the call of retirement. You've worked hard all your life. You've come to the point of your life now where you want to retire and you want to sit back and say, it's been a good life and rejoice and enjoy yourself.
A call to retire. And so there's many calls. We could go on all day talking about calls that enter into our lives. But my friends, I want to share with you three calls that are very important. Three calls mean calls come from God. The first call is the call of salvation. And as I mentioned, I trust that everyone in this room has heard that call. I trust that you haven't closed your ear and said, no, I don't want to hear it. Take it away. But I trust that every one of you that have heard the call have responded to it. Because I've never talked to a person yet that has said they were sorry. They accepted Jesus Christ. The call of salvation. Paul tells us in Romans the tenth chapter, the thirteenth verse, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
It's that simple. to call upon the name of the Lord, say, Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. And I know that you died for me, come into my life and be my Savior. Oh, it's a thrilling call. You remember when you heard the call? You remember when you responded to it? I think too often times we Christians become stale. We Christians become complacent in our life. And it's good to go back to Calvary and remember that moment, that call, the thrill. The Lord says, oh, he says, you've left your first love. You'll never leave your first love. We'll go back to Calvin and remember that moment that you're heard the call. Then also there's a call of dedication. And I believe this is an area in many Christians' lives that's left out.
The call of salvation first and the call of dedication. And I'm reminded that the psalmist tells us in the thirty-seven psalm, the fifth verse. He says, Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in him and he shall bring us a path. A point of dedication. A point when we come to say, Lord, thou art Lord of all. I believe Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. He is the Lord at all. This is why the church today is losing us. This is why Islam is sweeping Africa like a tidal wave. Islam is the greatest growing religion in the world today. Yes, it's by far outstripping Catholicism and all the others. Islam is like a tidal wave coming across the world. You talk to some Muslims and you'll find out what dedication More than once in the far east I had to step over Muslims, men that were down prostrate on the sidewalk in the rain or wet sidewalk praying to Allah.
No. I asked him, I said, what assurance do you have that Allah heard you? None. What assurance do you have that you're going to go to heaven, that you're going to be with Allah when you die? None. But I'm trying. Oh, dedication. They have dedication, but they're wrong. And if we could just get Christians dedicated, as we saw that ship, that ship didn't happen by accident last night. That ship came into being the logos because of dedicated young people. It said, Lord, almost like the mother of sin. They said, Lord, give me a child or I die. These young people said, God, answer our prayer. We'll die. Dedication. Commit thy way into the Lord. And then also service.
We're told in Proverbs the third chapter, the fifth verse, to call the service. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and he'll direct your path. That's the call that Abram heard. He looked at him, the Lord, and he said, I will trust the Lord with all my heart, and I won't lean under my own understanding. If I lean under my own understanding, why? He says, I'd be crazy to leave Heron here. Here, my dad's got a nice little ranch, and we've got some cattle, we've got a nice thing going here. Why should I launch out to a place that I've never even seen? a call to circle. Yes, he trusted the Lord and the Lord provided.
But though Abram heard the call and was faced with a decision, the next thing he had to do was obedience. Abram had to obey God. And we're told in the fourth verse in the twelfth chapter, so Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Heron. Yes, he heard the Lord call. He said, Lord, all right, I'll obey you. I'll step out. I'll step out in faith. We're told in Hebrews the eleventh chapter, the sixth verse, without faith, it's impossible to please him. You know, the book of Hebrews, to me, is one of the most thrilling books in the Bible. It's so majestic.
It tells of the Lord Jesus Christ as the high priest. And it goes into that great eleventh chapter and talks about the great people of faith. And did you ever start to think There's only two ladies mentioned in that book of faith. There's only two ladies mentioned. Sarah and Rahab. Sarah, the wife of Abram, the lady that believed God should do the impotence. Rahab, the woman that was the woman on the street, that believed that because of a little shred was hung in her window, that her family in her home would be saved. She believed. And she came in the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, Rahab. Two great women in a great book of faith. But as I say, Abram, he heard the call. And he obeyed God.
He said, all right, Lord, I'm going. And he stepped out and he obeyed him. You know, he didn't only obey God, but he believed God. Do you believe God this morning? Do you believe God can turn this world upside down? Do you believe that God wants to use you tomorrow and the next day and all of this week? I do. God has many uses for all of us. There's a group of Christians down here in Florida. You know what they're doing? They're writing letters over to churches. Turkey is almost an impossible land to witness in. I've been in Turkey and I've walked the streets and I've had the police knocking on the door. I had the privilege of baptizing the first church to take a stand for Jesus Christ in the city of Istanbul. And so I know what it is over there in that language.
And so the young people said, well, we're having so much trouble making contact with people here. We're going to send names, telephone books back to Christians in the United States and ask them if they'll write to the church here in Turkey and put in a little gospel track with them. The foreigners are always thrilled to receive a letter from America. And so they receive a letter from America. They open it. They read it. And they hear the word of God. People are being used. Some are being used to write letters. Some are being used to pray. Some are being used in another category. But praise God. He's calling people to serve him. And so Abraham. He believed God. And he believed God. And as Paul said in first Corinthians. The second chapter of the ninth verse. But as it is written.
I have not seen. nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men the things which God hath prepared for those that love him. Did you ever stop to think of that verse? Isn't it truly? That's the thing that was in Abram's heart. That's the motivation that Abram had when he stepped out for God. Because he believed God. He says, but as it is written. You believe it is written? I believe this word. It's the word of God. And I trust you do too. And he says, that I hath not seen and hath not heard the wonderful things that God had prepared for. I was talking to Brother Alan Redpath one time in Chicago before he went to England. And we got talking about heaven. He said, you know, Brother Jack, why God doesn't tell us what heaven is going to be like?
He says, if God ever told us what heaven would be like, that we'd be so dissatisfied we wouldn't want to live on this earth anymore. But, oh, I hath not seen. An ear has not heard the great and wonderful things that our God has prepared for us. And this is what Abraham claimed. He says, Lord, he says, I'll launch out for you because I know you know the best. But you know, can I add a sour note now? I told you we're going to go to the heights with Abraham and we're going to go to the depths with Abraham. Abraham heard God's call and he made a decision to follow him. Abraham also obeyed God and he launched out for God. But Abraham made a terrible mistake. If you remember the first verse, what the Lord said, the first verse of chapter twelve, Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee.
From thy kindred he obeyed God but only partially. Who did Abram take along with him? He took along Lot, his brother's son. Lot always reminds us of the flesh. Lot reminds us of dreams. Lot reminds us of everything negative from the Lord Jesus Christ, from God. And Abram would live to regret the time that he took off. And all friends, I think this is so important. If God speaks to you and gives you some specific directions, don't compromise on God. Move out for him. I believe today that some of our Christian works today are failing. They're going down fast simply because they're not obeying the Word of God. We have some groups that are getting so big now.
They've got such big buildings and they've got so many people working that they become money mad now. They need money, more money, more money. I could go on and tell you all day of Christian groups that you'd be shocked at, but this isn't my ministry. Shocked to hear how they're spending money. Shocked to hear how their men are traveling around the world. Shocked to hear how their men are living. Oh, they're serving God. Sure they are, and I wouldn't take a thing away from them. But there, again, there's a little bit of lot dragging along with all of them. And we have to pay the consequences. God gives us directions. God gives us orders. And we're going to carry them off in a letter. But you know, he heard God call, and he obeyed him.
And now he worshiped God. And this was the secret. This is the thing that helped Abraham through all the trials and all the troubles. He learned the secret of worshiping God. Have you learned that secret, my friend? I don't mean at nine-thirty in the morning here. And I praise God for the morning meeting of that time of worship. But I mean that time of worship in your closet by yourself. Have you learned the art of real worshiping God? When the goings tough, we have a brother in our assembly, and he's a very fine, godly brother. Oh, I praise and thank God for this man. And to me, he was always a spiritual giant. I thought nothing could shake that dear brother. One day his wife had a pain, and she went to the doctorate.
And she had a lump in the back of her throat. And the doctor's diagnosis was a tumor. And they said, we must operate immediately. It may be no evidence. And I saw this dear brother almost collapse under depression. Down, down, down. He thought his loved one would be taken away from him. But you know, he knew the art of worship. And he knew who to turn to. And he came back to the assembly. He said, friends, he says, will you pray? My dear wife is to be operated on. Let's pray that God will intercede. in God and receive it. And they're going on together. Oh, yes, the art of worship in a time of trouble. Abram worship, we're told, in the seventh verse of the twelfth chapter, and the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, Under thy seed will I give this land?
And there built he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him. There built he an altar to the Lord who appeared unto him. Yes, he learned the secret of worshiping God. Abram did three things in this portion of the Scriptures. Three things of worship that we have to enter into. First of all, we're told that he went up in the eighth verse, and he removed from hence under a mountain on the east of Bethel. He went up into a high place. My friend, are you in a high place? Maybe you say, well, Jack, my worship, my worship life just doesn't work. I just can't seem to get off the ground. I can't seem to communicate with God. Well, maybe you're trying to communicate with him down in the doldrums of trouble.
You can't communicate with God in the gold room to trouble. You can't worship God when you're depressed and discouraged. You've got to rejoice. You've got to have a heart full of praise and thanksgiving when you come to God rejoicing and worshiping. And that's what Abram did. He went up into a high place. And when he got up into the high place, what did he do? The scriptures tell us and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west. He went up into a high place And we got up there. He didn't say, well, great, I'm going to be here for fifteen minutes. And I'll see you later, Lord. I'm going to go down to my troubles, down to the world again. Oh, no. The scriptures say that Abram pitched his tent.
And where did he pitch it? West of Bethel. He pitched it in a place where he could look under Bethel. And Bethel is always a place of blessing, my friend. Oh, Christians, don't be discouraged. Look under Bethel. Look under Calvary. Rejoice and praise and thank God that you've been redeemed. There is nothing that should hold a Christian down. We should be able to press on. And that's what Abraham learned. He says, oh, he says, as long as I'm in the high spot, and I pitch my tent so I'm facing Bethel, I can rejoice in the great things that my God has done. Yes, he looked. He went up into a high place. He pitched his tent. And then what did he do? It says he built an altar. Tell me, my friend, do you have an altar in your life?
Do you have a place to where you can come together and meet with God every morning and say, Oh, Lord, it's so good to meet you. I've been amazed as I've traveled around and I've talked to Christians. I've been amazed to see how many Christians don't have an organized quiet time, a devotion time, a time of worship. I know a man in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He's a big steel man, a very wealthy man. He got saved. He found Jesus Christ as his Savior. And the first thing he did, he went back to his home, and he got the carpenters out, and he built himself a little room. And it's a room that isn't big enough for a couch. It isn't big enough for any big comfortable chairs. All there is is a little table in the middle of it. And that's what he worships God.
That's when he meets God every morning. And the proudest thing of the day is, come on, let me show you my secret place where I go and meet my Lord. And that is just a plain, simple little room, a very small room. But all you can send. But the presence of God is there. I'll never forget the thrill I had when I had the privilege of meeting His Imperial Majesty, Haile Selassie. Mr. McCauley and several other men were with me. And as we talked to His Majesty, we talked about devotions. And we asked him, do you ever pray? Do you ever read the scriptures? And I'll never forget what this great man said. An emperor, if you please. A ruling emperor. He said, gentlemen, he says, I would never believe it was starting my day until I had my time of worship with God. until I spend time in my knees praying until I open his word and read it that I'm prepared to go out and face the world a time of worship yes Abram he was faced with a decision he heard a call he obeyed that call and then he went and worshiped the living God this is the start of a great man's life one of the milestones in his great life he had hundreds of milestones but one of the four milestones that we're going to consider and tonight of the Lord Jesus Christ should turn We're going to consider Abram as his faith with a great deception.
Oh, yes, now he goes womaning down to the bottom. Does he come to the top again? Oh, praise God, he does. Not in his strength, but in the strength of God. Shall we, in closing, turn to him number two, three, seventy-nine. See him that I haven't heard song in some time. Under his wing, I'm safely abiding. Though the night deepens and the tempest are wild, Still I can trust him. I know he will keep me. He has redeemed me. And I am his child. My friend, I trust that you're his child this morning. I trust that you know Jesus Christ is your Savior. If you don't, even while we're singing this little hymn, you can cry out to the living God. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
We'll sing the first and the third verses. Under his ways I pray through the mighty. Oh, thy gifts and gifts are one. Till I can come in, my Lord, he will keep me. He has created me, and I have been now. Under His way, under His way, under His way, was not His love and sorrow.
Under His way, I could have a life, saving a life forever. and don't think you're dead. When you are dying, I'll die on my own. You have heard the legend, so he will get by me, where will you be. Wonder in me, wonder in me, put down in love and treasure.
Wonder in me, I know how long I, greatly am I. Shall we pray? Our Father and our God, we praise and thank you for this morning. Thank you for thy word. We thank you for the testimony of thy great servant Abraham. And oh, Father, I pray that you'll speak to each one of our hearts. As we're faced with decisions, decisions whether to follow thee, decisions whether to obey thee. And oh, Father, I praise and thank you that we can be faced with a decision to worship thee. Be with us now the rest of this day and bring us back this evening at the Lord Jesus Christ at hearing for another time of fellowship and looking to thy word. So we will just commend and commit one another to the email in our Savior's name.