Abram continued, “Behold, You have given me no offspring, so a servant in my household will be my heir.”Abram said, “Behold, you have given no children to me: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir.”And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 sermons cite this verse
… great reward. But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless? And the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of the Clippers. And Abram said, You have given me no children, so a servant in my household will be my heir. Then the word of the Lord came to him and said, This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir. And then he took him outside and he said, Look up at the sky and count the stars, if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be. And Abraham believed the Lord and it was a credit to him as righteousness. Write down number two today. Faith waits. Faith has the ability to wait on God. I'm gonna wait on you. I'm gonna wait on you. I've tasted your I can't hear that note either. That's why I didn't sing it. I'm going to wait on you, Lord. …
… Would you help me thank God for those who labor among you, including this music ministry that has ushered us into the presence of God? I want to call your attention tonight to Genesis chapter 15, verses 1 through 6. I don't know what time they told you you were getting out of church tonight, but first night is the longest night of revival. And so ushers have locked the doors and it has just become an all-night prayer vigil. Genesis chapter 15 beginning with verse 1 reading through the conclusion of verse 6 I want to talk to you tonight about writing a new narrative After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid, Abram. We will refer to him in the sermon as Abraham. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. Then Abram said, Look, you have given me no offspring. …
So you heard the gospel lesson. Jesus' lament over Jerusalem is one of the saddest stories in any of the gospels. Right up there with him weeping over the death of his dear friend Lazarus. Or rearing back when Judas leans toward him on the night of his arrest. Judas, is it with a kiss that you betray the Son of Man? There is such sorrow in these stories, such crushing disappointment at the way things have turned out, in spite of Jesus' higher vision of them, his life's labor on their behalf. In the case of Lazarus, Jesus intervenes, bringing his friend back to life. But in the other two, he's more like us, suffering things that he cannot or will not change. He laments over a city that has killed people like him before and seems bent on doing it again. On the night of his arrest, he watches the police push Judas aside. Then he stops his friends from trying to save him by force. No more of this, he says, when one of them pulls out a sword and cuts off a trooper's ear. …
… And then follow that up with a direct complaint like Abraham did. You've given me no offspring and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir. But that's what Abraham said. And God did not strike him dead. Instead, God reassured him, no slave would be his heir, God said. No one but a child of Abraham's own body would be his heir. Then God took the old man outside, which means he was inside before that, I don't know, in a tent, where all he could see up above him was maybe some tarp with holes in it. But outside, Abraham could see a lot more than that. I don't know where you live, but chances are you can't see half of what he saw. At the very least, you have three neighbors who leave their porch lights on at night. At worst, you live where the lights of parking lots and football stadiums and tall buildings and billboards cast such an artificial glow in the sky that you might as well be in a tent for all the stars you can see. …