Original Publication November 2005

Keeping the Promise Holy

"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 my 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 heaaven, 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." Genesis 15:1-6

The LORD made a promise to Abram (later changed to Abraham). However, in all too typical human fashion, logic got in the way of what God was going to do. Abram and his wife Sarai were old and instead of relying on the faithfulness of God and His power: Sarai came up with a plan to "help the LORD" fulfill His promise to her husband. 

"And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hager, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes." Genesis 16:3-4

The child borne of this union between Abram and Hagar was named Ishmael. It was from this line that the Arab nations would come. True to His Word, the promise to the "seed of Abram" came to be. They would be great and greatly blessed. But because the birth of Ishmael was contrary to the perfect will of God, the blessing came with a high price not only to the posterity of Ishmael, but to the whole world.

"And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren." Genesis 16:11-12

The Arab nations sit on approximately 8% of the Earth's oil reserves and their worldly wealth is legendary. It is also this line that spawned the false prophet Muhammad. From the twisted mind of Muhammad came Islam - the religion of the sword.

Since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, the LORD had a plan for the redemption of  mankind.

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15

The LORD made it crystal clear to Abram what His plan was.

"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." Genesis 17:1-4 

"And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be 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 many 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 to him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old bear? And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear 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." Genesis 17:15-17; 19

God re-emphesized the Promise He made to Abraham!

"...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."

The LORD answered the prayer of Abraham. A son would be borne to him and his wife! An heir! And so many wonderful blessings were promised for the son of Abraham and Sarah. Indeed, Isaac was brought forth into this world.

"And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac." Genesis 21:1-3

With the birth of Isaac, Abraham now had two sons. But Sarah and Hagar did not get along at all and neither did the brothers.

"And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac." Genesis 21:9-10 

"And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed." Genesis 21:11-13 

So Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away.

By all accounts, approximately 25 years later, the LORD asked something of Abraham.

"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Genesis 22:1-2 (emphasis mine)

God had greatly blessed Abraham and his family. And all of those wonderful promises made about Isaac, how glorious! But NOW, the LORD was asking Abraham to place the promise on the altar!

How many of us would have responded in such immediate obedience as Abraham?

"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him." Genesis 21:3 

3 days later, Abraham and Isaac came to the place designated by God.

"And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." Genesis 22:9-10 

Abraham was going to sacrifice the very Promise that God had given to him. Then a voice came from heaven and revealed why the LORD had asked such a thing from him!

"And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." Genesis 22:11-12 

According to the Apostle Paul;

"...Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Galations 3:6b 

The writer of the Book of Hebrews states:

"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." Hebrews 11:17-19 

Because Abraham believed God and did not place the promise's of God above his relationship with the Almighty, the LORD was able to stop the slaying of Isaac.

From Isaac came Jacob (later changed to Israel by the LORD). From Israel came the 12 tribes; one of which was Judah. From the tribe of Judah came the one known as Yeshua (or Christ) - the Son of God, Redeemer of mankind!

How many followers of Christ have been given promises from God? They may have been given talents in leadership, worship etc. They may even have been called as an apostle or prophet or evangelist or pastor or teacher (Ephesians 4:11).

How many people had talents in the world, but when they come to a saving knowledge of the Lord; simply applied a "Jesus band-aid" over it to make it acceptable to the religious community? 

Just a couple of examples:

Stephen Baldwin, a well known actor and involved in some pretty morally deficient flims has now made a confession of Christ and is envolved in the TBN ecumenical gospel film industry.

Amy Grant, once the darling of the "Christian" music industry, made the switch to worldly pop music years ago. 

The Apostle Paul, trained as a Pharisee and well versed in the Old Testament Law of Moses, revealed how much he "valued" those things he knew and had before his conversion.

"Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ." Philippians 4:3-7 (emphasis mine)

This is a fundamental flaw in modern "Churchianity" . Some rationalize the neccessity to sacrifice "the promise" on the altar of the Lord, or believe that because they have "prayed" and "said the words" offering promises, gifts, talents, etc that it was a genuine sacrifice.

But it was as he grabbed the knife that the angel of the LORD stopped the hand of Abraham. It is imperitive that every true follower of Christ offer the promises, gifts, talents, etc we have or have been given on the altar of the LORD. This encludes relationships, ministrys, EVERYTHING!

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23

Without this kind of sacrifice to keep everything before the LORD, you will have compromise! The Lord may or may not choose to allow you to use the gift; or even to return it back to you!

There are ALWAYS choices that those that claim to follow the Lord Jesus have to make to keep their will and guidence under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  

ALL of the errors in modern Christianity can be traced to someone, somewhere making the wrong choices.

The accounts of Abraham and Sarah can be of great importance to those that will heed.

Sarai came up with a plan to "help God", and her husband didn't seek the LORD! The result is a conflict that has been raging for thousands of years. God promised to Abraham and Isaac the land now known as Israel. The Lord Jesus came from the lineage of Isaac, and according to the Apostle Paul, gentile Christians have been "engrafted" into the people of Israel through Christ.

"Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee." Romans 11:12-18 

Because of the deception loosed into the world by the decendent of Ishmael (namely Muhammad), Muslims believe the promise to the "seed" of Abraham belongs to them.

"...in Isaac shall thy seed be called." Genesis 21:12c

Because true Christians have been grafted into the holy branch of Israel; Hebrews and followers of Christ are at enmity with the adherents of Islam.

"Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise." Galatians 4:28

Standing in the absolute Truth of the scriptures will bring persecution.

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12

"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." Phillipians 1:29

"If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." John 15:19-20

But modern "Christian" leaders in their efforts to "spread the Gospel" now call followers of Islam and other false religions "brothers".

"But [Jesus] answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matthew 12:48-50 

It is up to every person that claims to follow Christ to make absolutely sure that we are not allowing "vain reasonings" and "rationals" to influence our walk with the Lord, and to keep everything on the altar of the Lord that His Will be done in our lives.

 All scriptures listed are from the King James Version.