THE RESURRECTION FAMILY
December 9, 2001 pm
MF Blume
Romans 4:19 And being not weak
in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:
Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when
he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered
up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy
seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from
the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Abram, Sarai and Isaac all experienced a resurrection from death, so
to speak, in figure.
-
Abram's body was past the age of begetting children.
-
But God raised his reproductivity from the dead!
-
Sarai's body was also dead as far as being able to conceive and birth a
child.
-
But her system was also resurrected.
-
And Isaac was laid on an altar by his father at God's command, and in figure
was resurrected from the dead.
This family is the RESURRECTION FAMILY!
The members of this family experienced a kind of resurrection at different
times.
-
First Abram had the experience.
-
Then Sarai.
-
And finally Isaac.
This series of resurrections seems to portray a sequence of events that
the child of God must experience in order to fulfill God's will in our
lives.
-
Let us discuss the relevance of each of these experiences for the child
of God today!
ABRAM
After Abram met Melchisedek and received bread and wine from him after
the battle against the four kings, we read that God's promise to him was
renewed.
Genesis 15:1-6 After these things
the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram:
I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord GOD,
what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house
is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given
no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word
of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he
that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and
tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So
shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him
for righteousness.
Paul commented about this event and said Abram's body was in a state of
death as far as reproduction was concerned.
Romans 4:19 And being not weak
in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an
hundred years old, ...
He simply was too old to be able to naturally father a child.
-
But when God told him that he would have a son from his own bowels regardless
of the state of his body, we read that Abram believed God!
-
He accepted the Word of God, for he knew God does not lie nor cannot lie.
-
Paul noted that and explained how God counted that faith to Abram for righteousness.
Romans 4:20-22 He staggered not
at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he
was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
After the bread and wine, Abram was resurrected!
This aspect of Abram's life represents the experience we require in
order to accomplish a work for God.
-
Everybody has a work for God to do.
-
And only those serving Him and born again can do it, though!
-
But there are many believers who do not believe they can do a work for
God!
-
Their faith is dead in that area.
-
They require a resurrection!
When we look at our circumstances and our personalities and consider that
for those reasons we cannot do God's will, then we are not walking by faith.
-
Abram considered not the physical reality of his dead body when God said
he would father a son.
-
The lesson is that if physical circumstances contradict God's word, then
God's word will CHANGE physical circumstances.
Many people feel to shy to be able to testify or to sing boldly and worship
God freely.
-
They attribute their lack to their personalities.
-
When I was first called to preach, my father told me that I was too backwards
and shy to be a preacher.
-
I worked at a small store during ministerial studies, and the manager noted
by shyness and asked how I would ever preach to people.
-
But although I am personally shy and quiet, the Holy Ghost within me is
not!
-
And when I minister, its not me, but its Christ in me doing the works!
-
One friend of mine saw me ministering after having known me for many months.
-
He said I was a different person when I preached than from what he knew
me to be.
-
I told him that the reason for that was Jesus living in me and me letting
Him flow forth through me during my preaching.
-
So, take it from a naturally quiet person.... shyness is no excuse for
not doing the will of God.
-
I am living proof!
-
There is a God who can change physical circumstances!
The first lesson to learn is that when God calls you to do a work for Him,
You can do it, no matter what the circumstance.
SARAI
Next, Sarai had to become pregnant.
-
And Hebrews tells us that her body was likewise dead so far as becoming
pregnant was concerned.
-
She was too old!
-
However, Abram was already resurrected by this time.
-
But although Abram was convinced he could now father a son, the question
was through what "mother" would it be done?
Sarai should have realized that if God could raise Abram's system to father
a son then He could do the same for her.
-
However, after God raised Abram's body up from death in Gen 15, Sarai recommends
him to beget her son through her handmaid Hagar.
-
It was customary for this to be done.
-
This was the case with Leah and Rachel's handmaids, when they could not
bear children, as well.
-
Notice that Sarai fell in the same error that Abram did, himself!
-
Abram recommended God to allow him to call Eliezer, his servant, his heir.
-
But God said not so.
-
Abram would father a child from his own bowels.
-
And similarly, Sarai tells Abram to use her servant to mother his child.
Sarai's need resurrection tells us a lesson about HOW TO ACCOMPLISH GOD'S
WILL after we have confidence that we can do His will.
-
Turning to Hagar, instead of believing God for Sarai to become pregnant
is REASONING FORTH God's will and the means to fulfill it, rather than
lean upon God's Spirit.
-
Abram and Sarai figured and reasoned out that the will of God could be
fulfilled using fleshly reason and fleshly and natural abilities.
Genesis 17:15-10 And God said unto Abraham,
As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall
her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her:
yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people
shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and
said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years
old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham
said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said,
Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name
Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,
and with his seed after him.
Many people have the confidence that they can fulfill the will of God for
their lives.
-
However, they do not rely upon the power of God to be able to do it.
-
Some do not even think of relying on God's power to do it!
-
Did Sarai even consider that God could resurrect her system?
-
Seems not.
It reminds me of how David copied the plan of the Philistines in order
to return the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.
-
They sent it away on an ox cart.
-
So David burned it and sacrificed the oxen, and made a brand new ox cart.
-
They sanctified the ox cart to carry the load.
-
But when the cart leaned over on a rough piece of ground, and Uzzah reached
out to steady it from falling, God struck Uzzah dead!
-
David's plan brought death!
-
So he consulted the Law of God and discovered that the ark was to be carried
on the shoulders of the priests, not on an ox cart.
-
So the PEOPLE had to sanctify THEMSELVES and carry the ark.
-
This represents carrying the right message the wrong way.
Just because the world does things a worldly way there is no reason for
us to utilize their means to do God's will!
-
Some churches run on more more extrabiblical programs that they should
be called computers!
-
We need to do what the Word of God states for us to do.
-
Let's go by the due order of the Bible's recommendations, and not reason
the accomplishment of God's work through with some fleshly contrivance
and scheme.
The same power that gave Abram hope and confidence to do God's will, is
the power that Abram must rely upon in order to carry it out!
-
We get a confidence and calling from God to do His will.
-
But we do not stop to think of letting that same power of God do it through
us!
I've heard many Gospel Music singers who can sing like canaries!
-
However, I felt absolutely no anointing and presence of God and blessing
of His Spirit in it.
-
That does not mean we should not be skilled musicians and singers.
-
If the Old Testament priests in David's Tabernacle had to be skilled musicians,
then how much more should we?
-
However, it does mean that human skill is not enough.
-
We also require the moving of the power of the Holy Ghost in our ministries!
-
Otherwise all the skill and ability is only a HAGAR birthing an ISHMAEL.
-
And Ishmael shall not be the work that God desires to use.
Lesson One is to believe God to give you confidence that you can do His
will.
Lesson Two is to carry it out through the power of the Spirit, once
you have confidence you can do it. Do not fulfill it through fleshly
means.
ISAAC
Lesson three is seen in Isaac.
Abraham later offered Isaac on the altar after God told him that through
Isaac would come millions of descendants.
-
Think about this.
-
What was the Lord doing?
-
First, He told Abraham that through Isaac would come many many descendants.
-
And then before Isaac was even a father, himself, God told Abram to sacrifice
him on the altar.
-
How could Isaac be father of many descendants if he was dead?
-
Did physical appearances and circumstances contradict God's promise?
-
Yes sir!
-
So, then, why did Abraham not argue with God and ask what on Earth God
was thinking?
-
It is because Abraham knew that God cannot lie.
-
And if God allowed circumstances to occur which seemed to contradict God's
word, then God was simply going to have to change the circumstances!
-
So Abram raised his knife into the air expecting God to resurrect Isaac
from the grave, because God would simply have to raise Him from the dead
if He requested Isaac be killed, since God's word that cannot lie said
that God will raise up seed through Isaac!
The lesson is that when we do bring forth a work of God through spiritual
means and the power of the Holy Ghost upon our lives, and refuse to bring
forth His will through the power of fleshliness and reasoning, THAT MINISTRY/WORK
OF GOD CANNOT DIE.
-
God called us to do a work for Him, and that means we can see it occur
and see it fulfilled.
-
But here is the dilemma many face in their ministries.
-
THEY WATCH THEIR MINISTRY DIE, and think its all over now.
-
But had Isaac died, God would have resurrected him!
-
In fact, in figure, God did resurrect Him, Paul said!
Any true ministry of the Spirit may actually die in one's life.
-
However, IT WILL NOT STAY DEAD.
It doesn't matter what the situation looks like.
-
These ministries can not remain dead.
Jonah was called to go to Ninevah and preach.
-
Jonah backslid and ran away from God's calling.
-
A whale swallowed him and he died in a figure!
-
Jesus used the sign of Jonah's time in the whale of three days and nights
to indicate the only sign He would give of His own veracity in ministry
-- three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and then resurrection!
-
Some claim Jonah did indeed die and was raised again!
-
Nevertheless, Jonah repented and the whale spewed him out of its mouth.
-
Did God have to call someone else to preach to Ninevah?
-
NO.
-
Jonah's ministry could not die!
-
Backsliding could not keep it dead, if Jonah repented and turned back to
God!
If there is a backslidden preacher reading this study, then the Lord is
telling you to repent and to know that your ministry cannot remain dead
if you repent and get back on track!
-
Someone may be reading this who still serves God, but has felt that something
in their past has ruined any opportunity for them to fulfill a ministry
God once called them to do.
-
WRONG!
-
Ministries cannot remain dead even if they do die!
Many people's ministries have died and they have been moping and discouraged
ever since and suck their thumbs for years, pitying themselves.
-
Its time to stop sucking our thumbs, and to see new life come once again
in resurrection power into our ministries!
-
While we mope about our self-pity, there are souls who are needing your
revived ministry.
-
While you think of yourself, the small picture, the multitudes of souls
to minister to, the larger picture, is never realized!
-
Stop thinking about yourself, and think of other needy souls who are not
receiving your ministry!
-
Many times we as pastors feel like quitting and not even coming to church,
due to hurts and hardships in ministry -- however, we come anyway, because
the larger and more important picture is our ministries for which we are
responsible to fulfill for God.
-
Take the insults and hurts in the chin, and get up and go on and work for
God anyhow!
-
If you think you'll not be hurt in God's work, then think again!
Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men
shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against
you falsely, for my sake.
Acts 14:22 Confirming
the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith,
and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
God never promised you a rose garden.
Matthew 8:19-20 And a certain scribe
came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou
goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of
the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
Matthew 24:9-13 Then shall they deliver
you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all
nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall
betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets
shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end,
the same shall be saved.
People, take it from the RESURRECTION FAMILY!
YOU CAN DO THE WILL OF GOD!
-
Abram's resurrection speaks of a confidence and faith to be able to personally
do a work for God.
-
Sarai's resurrection speaks of a work of God that is only to be done through
the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost and not through human skill and reason
and ability.
-
Isaac's resurrection encourages us that a true God-born ministry may die,
but it cannot remain dead. Your ministry will rise again.
HIS WORD SAYS YOU CAN!