Abraham - Blessing your Family

Abraham was a channel of blessing to his wife. And because of Abraham and Sarah, power was released, resurrection power that was serving the Lord.

Let's talk to our Father now. Gracious Father in heaven, we're grateful that You are on the throne, that Jesus Christ is King of kings, Lord of lords. And that You have our times in Your hands. And You do make all things beautiful in Your time. Give us patience to wait for that beauty to come, even when we're going through times of difficulty. Help us now as we study Your Word. Remind us of what we have learned, teach us something new, convict us, and most of all, make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ. I ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

Abraham is teaching us how to live in the school of faith. Genesis 12 and 13, how to walk by faith. We saw that faith brings us out, and faith brings us in. And if we stumble and fall, faith brings us back, and faith brings us through our problems, and then faith brings us on, that we might walk and make progress with the Lord. That's Genesis 12 and 13. Genesis 14 and 15, we've learned how to war by faith. As Abraham took his stand and claimed his ground for the Lord. Genesis 16 and 17, how to wait by faith. Abraham and Sarah ran ahead of the Lord. Ishmael was born of Hagar, and there were problems in the home. Genesis 17, the Lord said, I am the Lord Almighty. I am Almighty God. I am El Shaddai. I am the God who is sufficient. And therefore, just wait, I'll take care of everything. Well, the key idea in Genesis 18 is that Jesus Christ is Lord. 14 times you find the Lord in this passage, in Genesis 18. And that Abraham is His servant and His friend. Not just His servant, but His friend as well as His servant. And Abraham is being a blessing. That's one of the greatest things in life to be a blessing to others. Not just to be a channel of blessing, but to be a blessing. And you know, when you are a blessing, you get a blessing, and that just multiplies it all the more.

In verses 1 through 8, we find that Abraham is a blessing to the Lord. He spends time with the Lord. He serves the Lord. He gives the Lord his very best. Oh, I hope you do that. I hope you are serving the Lord, not people, not some church or some ministry. You're serving the Lord. That keeps your conscience clear. It keeps your heart right. It keeps your motives right when you know you're doing it for the Lord. He was a blessing to the Lord. I want to be a blessing to the Lord. I want to bring joy to the heart of my Father in heaven. I want that my Savior should be able to look upon our ministry and say, well done. That's the greatest reward that anybody can have. Not the praise of men, not to have our names heralded around the world, but just to hear Him say, well done. But the blessing goes out. You see, if we are a blessing to the Lord, then we're bound to become a blessing to other people.

In verses 9 through 15, we find that Abraham is a blessing to his wife Sarah. Genesis 18:9. Then they said to him, where is Sarah your wife? And he said, here in the tent. And He said, and this is the Lord Jesus speaking, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age, and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself saying, after I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also? And the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh, saying shall I surely bear a child since I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. And He said, no, but you did laugh. Now here's Abraham being a blessing to his home. In fact, the Lord Jesus is going to make this statement about Abraham and his home. Genesis 18:19, He says, I know that he will command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice. So Abraham was a blessing to his home.

We must keep in mind that Abraham and Sarah had to be in this together. Sarah was a part of God's plan. That question in Genesis 18:9 is an interesting question: Where is your wife? Have you ever noticed the three key questions in the book of Genesis? Now they are easy to remember because in each case it is verse 9. Genesis 3:9, God says, Adam, where are you? Genesis 4:9, He says to Cain, where is your brother? And now in Genesis 18:9, He says, where is your wife? Those are three good questions. Where are you? Where is your brother? Where is your wife? Now if you are the wife, you could almost substitute in there, where's your husband? Where's your sister? Where are you? Are you in Christ or out of Christ? Are you saved or lost? Are you on the broad road that leads to destruction or the narrow road that leads to life? Where are you? In the darkness or in the light? Where are you? Are you in the kingdom of Satan or in the kingdom of Christ? Where are you?

That's a good question. If you're not in Christ, then you're outside of Christ, and that means you're lost and you're condemned. And you can become a Christian by trusting the Lord Jesus. You can be in Him. And then the Lord says, where is your brother? And of course, many times we like to reply, well, am I my brother's keeper? Who am I that I should take care of my brother? But God says, no, you do have an obligation to your brother. We forget that. You see, as Christians, we belong to each other and we need each other and we affect each other. And we dare not try to escape each other. We have an obligation to our brother. Where is your brother?

Now that could be applied personally in your home. Where is your brother as far as your family is concerned? Is he saved? Is he lost? I read that Andrew went and got his brother, Simon, and brought him to Jesus. That's what the Lord wants us to do. Where is your brother? Maybe you ought to write a letter to your brother and talk to him about the Lord, make a phone call. Where is your wife? That's a good question. Some men say, well, what do you mean where is my wife? She's home. No, he's not talking about that. Where is your wife spiritually? Where is your wife as far as prayer is concerned?

I think one of the greatest needs in our home today is for Christian men to be spiritual leaders in their own home. Now if I'm talking to a Christian man, I want you to listen to me. The greatest privilege you have is to be the spiritual leader in your home, to be the priest in your home, as it were. To teach your children the Word of God, to pray with your wife, to read the Word of God together. When I think of the years that people have wasted who could have been spiritual leaders in their home, and you ask them, where is your wife? Well, I don't know.

Why is it that in the Christian home so often it's the wife who is the spiritual leader and not the husband? Oh, you say they have more time for reading the Bible. I don't know that they do, raising children, taking care of a home. I think that anybody can do anything he wants to do if he really wants to do it. Men have time for golf and baseball, they have time for fishing, they have time for all these things, but no time for the Word of God. I read a little poem many years ago that kind of made me chuckle, then it broke my heart. In the world's broad field of battle, in the bivouac of life, you will find the Christian soldier represented by his wife. Where is your wife? Well, Abraham knew where his wife was. She was a part of God's plan.

Now Sarah was a woman of faith. No question about that. Sarah in Hebrews 11:11 is named as a woman of faith. By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age because she judged Him faithful who had promised. What a wonderful thing it is for a man to have a wife who is a woman of faith. And she could believe God with him. It's interesting in Genesis 18:12 that Sarah calls her husband Abraham my Lord. You don't find much of that going on today. My Lord. Now she wasn't talking about subjugation or slavery. Abraham didn't push her around and tell her what to do. In fact, in Genesis 16, she told him what to do. No, the phrase here has to do with reverence and humility and submission to the Lord. To the Lord.

In 1 Peter 3, Peter has a word to say about this. Likewise, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives. What kind of conduct? 1 Peter 3:2 tells us, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Now fear doesn't mean dread. It means devotion. It means reverence. It means respect. Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that the man as the leader in the home, the head of the home, is to be a dictator. Nobody's going to love and follow a dictator very long. Rather, he is to be a leader. It's a matter of working together, both submitted to the Lord.

1 Peter 3:6 talks about Sarah. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. Then he gives a word to the husbands. He says that every husband, every Christian husband has a four-fold obligation to his wife. Number one, there's a physical obligation. Likewise, you husband, dwell with them. There's a physical obligation. Be there. Be in the home. Be to your wife all that she needs physically. And then there is a mental obligation. Dwell with them with understanding. Understand your wife. Understand her feelings, her moods. Understand her needs. Oh, how we need that today.

And then there's an emotional obligation. Giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel. Doesn't say she is the weaker vessel. My guess is that every wife is stronger in many areas than is her husband. God balances these things. But he says, treat her that way. You have an emotional responsibility. Love her and treat her like a a very expensive porcelain cup. Treat her like a princess. That's what Sarah means, princess.

And then there's a spiritual obligation as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers may not be hindered. He assumes that husbands and wives are praying together. I don't know how many times in conference ministry, men or women have come to me. Sometimes it's been the young people in the home and said, we don't have a family altar. One man came to me at a Bible conference telling me about his own need. He said, I'm convicted because I do not pray with my children. I said, how old are your children? And they had been in the home for a number of years. He'd not prayed with them. Oh, what a tragedy.

Now here we have Abraham being a blessing to his wife. What did God give to Sarah because of Abraham? Number one, He restored her youth. Because of Abraham and Sarah's faith, her youth was restored at 89, she was young. In fact, later on we're going to find that one of the kings wants to capture her because she's so beautiful. You see, if the Christian husband creates the right atmosphere in the home, it helps the wife to be beautiful. I have seen some wives decay because of the atmosphere in the home. I'm thinking of one wife now who was a a beautiful lady and a lovely person, but her husband got cranky and difficult and bitter and critical, and we watched this lady, this dear lady lose her beauty because of the awful atmosphere in the home. And so because of Abraham, Sarah was blessed, her youth was restored, her beauty.

Secondly, she was given the promise of a son. God said to Sarah and to Abraham, I'm going to bless you beyond anything you could ever dream up. You're beyond the age of bearing children, but I'm going to give you a son. He gave her the power to be able to conceive and bear a son. And I like what is said in Genesis 18:14, Is anything too hard for the Lord? There's a whole series of verses that connect with that statement. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Of course. Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

In Job 42:2, Job says, I know that You can do everything and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. How much can God do? Everything. God can do anything. God can do anything but fail. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Job said, I know You can do everything. We read in Jeremiah 32:17, and you know these words so well. Jeremiah 32:17. Ah, Lord, behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? Jeremiah says there is nothing too hard for You. That word hard means difficult. Nothing's too difficult for God. Luke 1:37, we read the Word of God as follows, for with God nothing shall be impossible. How much is impossible with God? Nothing. The only thing God cannot do is fail.

And so Abraham was a channel of blessing to his wife. And because of Abraham and Sarah, power was released, resurrection power that was serving the Lord. We see here a beautiful picture of a model home. Quite a contrast to Lot. When you turn to Genesis 19, you find just the opposite. You don't find Lot being a blessing to his home, or a blessing to anybody else. He barely escaped Sodom with his own life. He'd lost his witness. We don't find Lot praying, we don't find a tent, we don't find an altar. We don't find that Lot gets a message of blessing. The angels come and give him a message of judgment. They say, Lot, everything you lived for is going to be burned up. You've been living here in Sodom and making a name for yourself. The whole thing's going to be destroyed. Get out. And Lot lingered, and they had to take him by the hand and drag him away from the worldly city. And instead of Lot's wife getting blessing and joy, she was lost. She was destroyed because of her unbelief when she turned and she looked back. What a contrast.

I wonder, is our home in Genesis 18 or Genesis 19? We have a beautiful picture of a model home. Here's a godly father who serves the Lord. Here's a godly father who knows how to pray. Here's a godly father who listens to the Word of God, and then obeys the will of God. Here's a trusting wife who is faithful and obedient and submissive. And then in Genesis 18:19, God talks about the obedient children. Genesis 18:19, for I have known him, that means I've chosen him, I've elected him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him that they keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him. Now God had said to Abraham, you are going to be a blessing to the whole world. But it starts in your home.

I think of Mary of Bethany, who in John 12, brought her offering to the Lord Jesus, that expensive ointment that she poured on the Lord Jesus. It was worth a year's wages. And she was criticized for doing it. The apostles criticized her, especially Judas, who wanted the money. But the Lord Jesus defended her, and He said, what she has done is going to be spoken of throughout the whole world. Can you imagine that? She came and served the Lord Jesus. She was a blessing to the Lord Jesus. She was a blessing to her home. The house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment, and she was a blessing to the whole world. So with Abraham. If you're going to be a blessing to the whole world, it starts by being a blessing in your own home.

Now it may be that you don't have your own personal devotional time. I'm going to be very practical now. It may be that you do not spend time daily in the Word of God. Every husband, every wife, every mother, every father needs to spend time daily alone in the Word of God and prayer. Praying for your children, being a good example to your children. And husbands and wives need to get the children together daily for Bible reading and prayer. It doesn't have to be a long service. It doesn't have to be something boring. We used to have some very exciting, interesting times in our family prayer time when our children were home around our table. We need to be praying together, teaching the children how to have their own devotional time, so that they will know how to lead their families.

Oh, what a privilege we have as Christian husbands and wives to be a blessing to our own home, to bring the fragrance of the Lord Jesus Christ into our home. Father, when you get home at the end of your work day, are people glad to see you there? When you get up in the morning, are people glad that you are awake? Are you a blessing to your own home? I think that we need to follow the example of Abraham and be a man of prayer, a man of devotion, a man who is a channel of blessing to his own loved ones.