"FROM HALF-WAY TO PERFECT"
MF Blume
MARCH 21, 1999 am
Gene 17:1-4 And when Abram was ninety years
old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the
Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make
my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And
Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold,
my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Colo 1:27-28 To whom God would make known
what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which
is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man,
and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect
in Christ Jesus:
Colo 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which
is the head of all principality and power:
God's Word to Abram after many years of first speaking to him was "BE
PERFECT."
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Perfect means complete.
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So He told him to be complete.
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Don't be half-way.
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Don't be incomplete.
We are going to discuss Abram's life quite a bit, now, because his life
is very important in the Christian walk.
Roma 4:12 And the father of circumcision
to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the
steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which [he had] being [yet] uncircumcised.
The true believers are the ones who truly walk in the steps of faith of
Abraham.
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Let us see how Abraham walked, for this will let us know if we are of the
people of Abraham.
Gene 11:28-29 And Haran died before
his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And
Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife [was] Sarai;
and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father
of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Gene 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son,
and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law,
his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees,
to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
He started out in a region called Ur of the Chaldees.
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This was Babylon.
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And Babylon means CONFUSION.
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He was going from confusion into the Land of Canaan.
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Now, if he was leaving "confusion," then that means he represented someone
who is given understanding, for understanding is the opposite of confusion.
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Confusion is not being complete but is being mixed with various different
things.
The trouble was that God told Abram to leave his kinfolk.
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The following verse in the next chapter seems to convey that God did not
call Abram to leave his household until after Terah, his father, died in
Haran (Charron).
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But upon careful reading, and noting the wording in the verse, we see that
God "had" already called Abram out, before Terah died.
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And Acts 7:2-3 explains this very thing.
Gene 12:1-2 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 shew thee: And I will make of thee
a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou
shalt be a blessing:
But Abram let his father lead him!
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This is precisely what happens to many people.
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They get a call from God to leave Adam.
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Adam is mankind's father.
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When you are without God, you are in the race of Adam.
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And in Adam all shall die.
1Cor 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even
so in Christ shall all be made alive.
If you want to have anything to do with God you must leave Adam.
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Adam is the beginning of humanity, and is humanity gone bad.
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When Adam sinned he made the unborn humanity sinners.
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So God called Abram to get out of his country and away from his kinfolk.
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This is like God calling you to salvation, and saying you must be born
again.
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You must leave Adam and be in Christ.
But Abram does not follow that word perfectly.
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He does part of it.
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He leaves Ur and his country, but he lets his own father lead him, whom
he was also supposed to leave.
From the start Abram had a problem with being a half-way man.
Going from Ur of the Chaldees into Canaan is a very important picture
in the christian walk.
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The land of Canaan was the promised land.
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And this place of full promise speaks to us today of the fullness of Christ.
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It is going to a place of fullness.
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Christ is all, not PART.
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And this fits with what God wanted in Abram: to be complete, or full and
perfect.
We leave confusion and go into completion.
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We leave a life of half-way living and a life of confused ideas, and go
into a life of Christ only.
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So many have a bit of Jesus here and bit of the philosophy there and tradition
here and plain old opinions there.
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They are mixed up in their faith.
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They have a bit of faith for some things and a bit of doing everything
in their own works for others.
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They are in confusion.
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But we are on our way to faith in Christ alone.
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I heard of some people who mix tarot cards, horoscopes, the zodiac
and psychics with christianity, and call themselves "christians," when
the bible forbade such things and called them witchcraft!
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Talk about confusion!
Jesus died to get us out of confusion and get us into the place of being
perfect and aware that we are complete in Jesus Christ.
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We need "pure Jesus" faith.
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Proverbs said that understanding is the principle thing!
Acts 7:2-4 And he said, Men, brethren,
and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham,
when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him,
Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land
which I shall shew thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans,
and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed
him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.
Ur was called Mesopotamia.
The wilderness is a place of no direction and wandering.
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But look at what happened, after Israel wandered so long!
Psal 107:5-7 Hungry and thirsty, their
soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, [and]
he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the
right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
After they wandered, not calling upon God, they hungered and they thirsted.
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And then they cried to God, and when they cried to God He led them!
Do you know what all people hunger and thirst for?
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The body and blood of Jesus Christ.
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But many do not know it.
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Only Jesus can satisfy you, for He created you and fitting into His plan
is the only place you truly belong.
So many have started what they thought was a proper christian walk and
then found out that things did not go right.
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They became stressed out.
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Miserable.
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Israel was DISTRESSED.
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And they have tried figuring things out for themselves.
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But you cannot make it that way.
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You need to call upon God in your confusion.
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The wilderness is confusion.
When they called upon God, He led them to a City.
Deut 6:23 And he brought us out
from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware
unto our fathers.
Call upon God when you're in trouble and stop trying to figure it out alone!
God brought us out to bring us in.
Another thing to note is that "Haran" means "dryness" or "mountainous."
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If you follow that old man of flesh you will wind up in a dry barren place.
Terah died in Haran, also known as "Charron."
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Finally Abram saw his father's death.
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Folks, your old man died with Christ when you were baptized into Christ's
death.
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You need to realize that and stop following the flesh.
Gene 12:5-7 And Abram took Sarai his
wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had
gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth
to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. And
Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain
of Moreh. And the Canaanite [was] then in the land. And the LORD appeared
unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded
he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
You see that Adam is dead and you were never supposed to follow that flesh
anyway.
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You were supposed to leave it.
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Be complete.
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God appeared to Abram there.
And he went to a mountain.
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You go to mountains of glory when God gives you understanding.
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On one side was Ai and on the other Bethel.
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And he built an altar there.
But we read that not only did God speak to Abram about getting the land
of Canaan, but we also read, "AND THE CANAANITE WAS THEN IN THE LAND."
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Doubt hit Abram.
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As Israel was ready to go into Canaan, they saw the Canaanites and doubted
they could go in.
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So their doubt caused them to go backwards.
Gene 12:9-10 And Abram journeyed, going
on still toward the south. And there was a famine in the land: and
Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine [was] grievous
in the land.
But Famine came, and Abram became scared.
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He went into Egypt.
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This represents going back into the world, since God took Israel out of
Egypt to got to the same place God was taking Abram.
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Where do you think Hagar came from?
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When did Sarah and Abram pick Hagar up for a handmaid?
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It was during this time of unbelief in Egypt.
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When Abram left Egypt, he took with him many possessions and HAGAR, the
woman who would give birth to the counterfeit son, Ishmael.
Gene 13:1-2 And Abram went up out of
Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the
south. And Abram [was] very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
Gene 13:6-7 And the land was not able to
bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great,
so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the
herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite
and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
Possessions caused trouble amongst the two, Abram and Lot.
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So they must divide, and finally Abram fully obeys God to separate from
his family.
Gene 13:11 Then Lot chose him all the
plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves
the one from the other.
Abram moved on.
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Abram lived in tents.
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That means he was moving.
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He was not settling down anywhere.
Hebr 11:9-10 By faith he sojourned in
the land of promise, as [in] a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked
for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker [is] God.
This is a journey, folks.
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You cannot plant your roots and be satisfied that you are baptized and
filled with the Holy Ghost.
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You must grow and journey into ALL TRUTH.
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Abram was going to Canaan.
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We are journeying to all truth.
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You need to learn more.
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You are leaving confusion and going into understanding.
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The Holy Ghost is a teacher.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.
And after we read He is truth, we read:
John 14:26 But the Comforter, [which
is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit
of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for
he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall
he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Abram's entire goal was to come to a place and beget a child of promise.
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Did you know that your entire purpose is to be a vessel of God so that
Jesus might come out of your life?
(Genesis 14) Lot was taken captive and Abram took 318 of his servants and
defeated four armies.
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Melchisedek comes and blesses him.
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Melchisidek has bread and wine.
Gene 14:18-19 And Melchizedek king of
Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most
high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed [be] Abram of the most
high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
And Sodom's king tries to reward him.
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But Melchisedek said, "God is the possessor of heaven and earth."
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Abram refuses Sodom's rewards and stand on faith.
Then a miracle occurs after this point of taking bread and wine.
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Abram takes the word and stands on it by faith.
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And in the next chapter, chapter 15, God gives Abram a vision.
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And God shows him the stars and says his seed will be as innumerable as
the stars are.
Gene 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad,
and said, Look now toward heaven (A VISION), and tell the stars, if thou
be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
Look what the bible says about Abram's body at the time God spoke this
to him:
Roma 4:18-19 Who against hope believed
in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to
that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body now dead, ...
His body was dead, and after he saw the vision, we read in the 16th chapter
that he had a son, Ishmael.
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He was rejuvenated.
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He received a miracle from God.
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But yet, he still went halfway.
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His body was now no longer dead, as far as being a father was concerned,
but Sarah's womb had to also be alive.
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Her womb was dead.
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So Sarah reasoned and told him to take Hagar and have a child.
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If God could resurrect Abram's body, could he not resurrect Sarah's womb?
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Jesus was going to come forth from a place of death: a tomb.
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But Isaac was going to come forth from a place of death, too: a dead womb.
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Abram was halfway.
Ishmael is born.
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Abram acted in halfway faith.
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13 years passed until God spoke to him again.
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(You mess up and you lose the word of God to you.)
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And we wind up where we began in our text.
Gene 17:1-4 And when Abram was ninety
years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am]
the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will
make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me,
behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many
nations.
A rebuke!
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I AM GOD ALMIGHTY!
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I CAN DO ANYTHING.
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But you doubted.
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Be complete.
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Go all the way.
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Stop being half-way.
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Believe me all the way!!!
Let us JOURNEY and LEARN.
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When you read the New Testament, it says Abraham staggered not but was
strong in faith.
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I found where he staggered.
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I found where he was halfway and weak.
The good news is that when you get on track and repent for your half-way
spirit, God forgives and forgets.
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And he does not remember your halfheartedness.