Hello and welcome back to the Potter's House
Seminar Podcast. This is a special series from
our Prescott Conference that just recently occurred.
The theme of the conference was Into the Unknown
and the scripture for the theme was Romans 15,
20 -21. I have made it my aim to preach the gospel
to whom he was not announced. So this is a powerful
series of... sermons from leaders in our fellowship
to include Greg Mitchell, Joe Campbell, Richard
Ruby, Sergey Golubev, and others along with that.
So please enjoy and listen along these powerful
sermons from leaders in our fellowship. Thank
God. God bless you. God bless you. Amen. Turn
in your Bibles. Let's go to the Word of God.
Turn in your Bibles right now to the book of
Genesis chapter 12. science, there have been
men, they had theories they believed that could
help people, but the problem was it was dangerous
because it hadn't been tested. So there have
been men that first tested their theories on
themselves. Have a man, they're going to put
up a photo, this man, Wernher Forsman, he performed
the first heart catheterization. What that meant,
Werner Forsman, he believed that you could access
the heart through the vein in your arm, but no
one had ever done that. And so he personally
inserted a catheter in his arm, threaded it up
until he believed it was in the right atrium
of his heart, got up. climbed two flights of
stairs, went to the x -ray department, had an
x -ray taken of his chest to prove that he had
reached the heart. He proved that you could reach
the heart through the veins. That was in 1929.
Absolutely unheard of. He wasn't even a surgeon
yet. Just out of curiosity, how many of you here,
you have had stents put into your heart? You
have. Okay. Some of you are alive today because
Werner Forsman went into the unknown. That is
what we're going to read in our text. God shows
us a pattern of having relationship with him.
That always involves going into the unknown.
And I want to preach a sermon called Into the
Unknown, Genesis 12. One through four. Now the
Lord had said to Abram, get out of your country,
from your family, from your father's house to
a land that I will show you. I will make you
a great nation. I'll bless you and make your
name great. You shall be a blessing. I will bless
those that bless you. I'll curse him who curses
you. And in you, all the families of the earth
shall be blessed. So Abram departed as the Lord
had spoken to him. And Lot went with him. Abram
was 75 years old when he departed from Haran
into the unknown. I want to talk about the voice
of God. Our story here, Abram's story, begins
with the voice of God. Verse 1, Now the Lord
had said to Abram, I want you to know this. Listen
to me clearly. God can speak. God will speak.
220 times in the Bible it says the Lord said.
46 times God said. 144 times the Lord spoke.
13 times God spoke. 424 times in the Bible tells
us about God speaking. And in our text, God speaks
as a pattern. When God speaks, he reveals his
will for our lives. Now, he may do that in many
different ways. Sermons, prayer, need, gifts
of the spirit. He may speak through a pastor,
opportunities, offerings. I believe that God
just spoke through Pastor Campbell in the offering.
But however it is, absolutely all through the
Bible, God speaks. And everything changes when
we hear from God. Abram heard from God. It began
his relationship with God. He became the father
of the faith when he heard from God. A man named
Saul was saved when he heard from God. Every
person here who is born again, you are saved
because you heard the voice of God. whether that
was witnessing, preaching, or an altar call.
Peter, his ministry to the Gentiles began when
he heard from God through a vision. Martin Luther
was a Catholic priest and he heard God speak,
the just shall live by faith. And that triggered
the Protestant revolution that affects us today.
We are Protestants. protest the doctrines of
the Catholic Church, but that happened by a miracle.
He heard God speak. In our text, God is revealing
Abram's destiny, God's plans for him to make
impact in the earth. Verse 2, I will make you
a great nation. I will bless you and make your
name great and you shall be a blessing. In verse
3, in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed. His future was triggered when he
heard from God. Mark 1 17, Jesus said to them,
follow me and I will make you become fishers
of men. I am here preaching tonight. That is
a miracle because I never wanted to be a preacher.
I had no plans of being a preacher. But in a
discipleship class in Perth, West Australia,
my father was doing, he was teaching how to put
together sermons. And God spoke to me and said,
that's what I want you to do. Alter the future
of my entire life. We have a fellowship today.
A church exists in Prescott because my father
was called to preach. God spoke, called to come
to Prescott, called to go to Australia. Now there
are Christians, whether they're Calvinists or
some of them, they call themselves cessationists,
which means to stop. They do not believe that
God can speak today. In fact, They say God does
not speak. The only way that God speaks is the
Bible. He will never say anything outside the
Bible. Those are cessationists. One of these
cessationist pastors was talking to a Pentecostal
pastor. He was arguing and he said, we have the
Bible. God does not speak today except for the
Bible and that wise. Pentecostal pastor said,
then tell me how was it that you were called
to preach? Abraham is called the father of the
faith. His life forms a pattern for us to follow.
Everything in serving God and doing the will
of God depends on us. hearing from God. We must
contend for a dimension where God can speak.
The Old Testament, there was a tent, a fancy
tent called the tabernacle. It housed the presence
of God that was contained in the Ark of the Covenant,
but the tabernacle was called the tent of meeting.
You could go there and meet with God. That is
what must happen in our churches. This is why
we have prayer meetings before church. Because
we want... God to speak to us. We want God to
speak to others. No doubt there are pastors here.
You have experienced where a dimension of God
was there. Someone comes to you afterwards and
they say, that sermon was just for me. And the
next person in line, that sermon was just for
me. How can it be for you if it was? Because
God was speaking a dimension of God. That is
why I need you to pray tomorrow morning. I need
you to pray before the services because God must
speak. This is what conference is all about.
It is not just getting to meet up and have meals
with friends. It is not just about getting to
dress up on a Thursday night. We are here to
hear from God. How many of you came? To hear
from God. I'm curious, how many of you, you were
called to preach in a conference? Lift up your
hand. In a conference you heard from God. Thank
God. Yes. January of 2021, a number of Marines,
they were coming to a conference from 29 Palms.
One of their fellow Marines, he asked, what are
you doing? They said, we're going to Prescott
for a conference. And a young man named Brady
Raina wasn't even saved. He said, can I go? And
so they, I don't want you to do this, but they
snuck Brady into their room. Didn't tell the
check -in ladies. Brady, who was unsaved, came
on a Monday night. He heard from God, got saved
on Monday night. The next night he got filled
with the Holy Spirit. Later in the week, a call
was made for those who are called to preach.
And Brady came up to Pastor Jake Snyder and said,
I want to go. Will you send me? He heard from
God and thank God later on. Now Brady and Alicia,
they're pastoring in Lake Havasu City because
he heard from God. Thank God. How many of you
were called? to be missionaries in conference.
Lift up your hand. Amen. Thank God. That's what
happened to Lisa and I. We were teenagers in
a conference watching a conference video that
almost exclusively dealt with the Philippines.
All the footage was from the Philippines. And
in that conference video, God spoke to both of
us and said, I want you to go to Africa. We heard
from God. It changed the course of our lives.
pastors here do not miss this first Peter 4 11
says if anyone speaks let him speak as the oracles
of God what that literally means is that when
you preach God is speaking through you a preacher
comes from a word a herald one who declares the
message from the king that is the miracle when
you are faithful to the word of God and you declare
the message From the king. Then I have people
who come. I had no idea what was going on in
their life. And they say that is exactly. What
I'm going through. Exactly what I needed to hear.
Because preacher. You speak for God. God speaks
through you. That is why. Don't take this lightly.
We must cry out to God. To give us revelation.
In his words. In his will. That is why when I
pray and read my Bible, I am attracted to a word
or a verse. I know like Moses being attracted
to the burning bush, God has a message for me
in there. And then if I will obey God and...
mind the truth so that I can hear from God. Like
it says, Proverbs 2, verse 4 and 5, if you seek
her as silver, search for her as hidden treasures,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God. Listen to me,
pastor. Do not get your sermons off the internet.
Do not simply step into the pulpit with something
you got off sermoncentral .com. Don't just borrow
someone else's sermons. And God forbid I have
heard pastors be excited about AI. Did you know
AI? You just say, I want a Bible study on righteousness.
It'll do it for you. Shame on you. You need to
hear from God so the people can hear from God.
Listen, our future, your people's future. The
church's future depends on us hearing from God.
Do you know that hearing from God is a measuring
stick? Because hearing from God must be a current
condition. Hearing from God must be up to date.
God forbid if the only time God spoke to you
was back 30 years ago. I ever tell you about
that time God, I'm glad, but this is 2025. In
our text, Abram is hearing from God, but then
if you follow his life, there is a progressive
revelation. God's speaking again and again and
again. Hearing from God is a measuring stick.
Don't rest on past voices. Don't assume because
you heard from God one time in the past, you're
set for life. We're here in conference. What
does God have to say to you this week? That is
what is crucial. What attitudes does God want
to deal with? Habits, approaches in ministry,
giving. What does God want to say to you this
week? You came to conference. Does God want you
to do something different in ministry? Or some
of you, you're going through problems. You do
anything different. Does God want you to stay
and fight it out? You need to hear from God.
How long has it been since God spoke to you?
First Samuel 3 .1. Now the boy Samuel ministered
to the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord
was rare in those days. There was no widespread
revelation. You know what happens to people who
are not doing well spiritually? They stop hearing
from God. Now they will try to put it on the
pastor and the church. I'm not being fed. You
used to be fed. Same church, same pastor. That's
not a good sign. You're in danger. If we stop
hearing from God, our churches are in danger.
Our ministries are in danger. I declare to you,
we live or die by hearing the voice of God. Photo
they can put up, you know, earlier this year
in February, a Black Hawk helicopter. into a
passenger jet in Washington, D .C. One factor
in why these aircraft collided, the tower was
speaking, giving a warning of the approaching
jet, but they had their thumb on the button speaking,
and so they missed a crucial part of the message.
And because of that, 67 people died. Because
they didn't hear what they're supposed to hear.
Let's talk secondly into the unknown. When God
speaks to Abram, he's living in a city called
Haran. Haran was a city in the area called Mesopotamia.
This city was absolutely filled with idolatry.
The worship of idols and just... of minor interest,
one major God was the moon God called sin. Idolatry.
One mark of idolatry is the desire for control.
Literally, this is what idol worshipers do. You
choose a God to worship based on what you feel
that you need. What do you need? I need money,
then I worship. A money God. I need power. Then
you worship the God of power. You need children.
Then you worship the fertility God. On and on.
The sex God. Whatever it is that you feel. But
you're the one who decides. And you're the one
who picks. The God. And so worshiping idols.
If you fulfilled. Some element. Of worshiping
the idol. then the idea is that God will give
me what I think is best. So you're worshiping
a God, but you retain control. That is what was
going on in Haran. The problem is that is how
many people approach Almighty God. They approach
God the same way. I will worship God because
I want him to give me what I want and what I
think best. And I want to retain control. Manoah
and Jacob both met the angel, the Lord, literally
God in visible form. And they asked God the question,
what is your name? Because this was an ancient
belief. If you knew the name of the God, then
you could make that God give you what you wanted.
You could control that God. And there's something
in the human heart that we crave security, free
from danger, free from threat. Some people hate
the feeling of not being in control. They hate
feeling out of control. Maybe that was their
past. Maybe you suffered abuse, abandonment,
poverty, relationship breakdown. A point in time
when your world was in chaos and there was nothing
you could do. So there are people, they hate
not having security or control. In a photo in
France, They had huge protests. Actually, this
has happened a number of times because they will
try to pass a law saying if you're under 26,
we can fire you in the first two years of your
contract if you're not working well. Millions
of Frenchmen protested in the streets holding
signs that said against precariousness. That
sign said kill. precariousness, killed job insecurity.
But this is how people are. I want to serve God,
but I want to kill insecurity. I want to make
sure that I stay in control. We want God to operate
on our desires. We want God. All right, God,
if you want me to do something, I want you to
clearly spell out what's going to happen. Every
step of the way, God, you have to get pre -approval
from me. Our idea of blessing. God, use your
power to give me what I think is best, what I
want, what I'm comfortable with. As a matter
of fact, people get offended with God when he
doesn't do things the way that they think. is
best. Some people come to church and they are
angry at God because God, I had it all worked
out. I told you what you should do and you didn't
run the universe the way that I thought best.
John 6 verse 66, after Jesus said this, many
of his followers left him and they stopped following
him. So back to our text, God called Abram to
leave Haran, the city of idolatry or controlling
the gods. Listen, built into having relationship
with God is this element of the unknown. Genesis
12, one. Now the Lord had said to Abram, Get
out of your country, from your family, your father's
house, to a land that I will show you. I wish
I had a video of this conversation with his wife.
Honey, God spoke to me today. Oh, what did he
say? He wants us to move. Move where? He said
he'd tell us later. Do you think that she just,
wow, don't she smell his breath? Like, what have
you been drinking? Like, you want to move without
knowing where we're going? Listen, there are
things in life, if you're going to serve God,
they're not meant to be in your control. God
wants us to do things, and he doesn't tell us
every detail. He's telling us to leave. Abram,
leave what is familiar. What will it be like
if I do the will of God? And God says, I'll tell
you later. Leave what is comfortable. What are
the conditions like there? And God says, I'll
tell you later. Because built into serving God,
we are called to risk. That's a risk. He leaves
family and friends. everything that is comfortable
and familiar. We don't even know where we're
going. That is risky. Psalm 107, 23 and 24, those
who go down to the sea and ships, who do business
on great waters, they see the works of the Lord
and his wonders in the deep or in deep water.
1 Samuel 14, 6, Jonathan said to his armor bearer,
let's go to the camp of the uncircumcised. Maybe
the Lord will help us. That is powerful. There's
no guarantee. Maybe we might win. We might not.
But we're going to risk. So really, what our
text is actually saying then, serving God is
all about surrender. Surrender means to give
up or to hand over control. to another, which
means we hand over control to God. Abraham and
Sarah, they were surrendering their lives and
their futures to God. God, we will go where you
lead, wherever you decide. We'll do what you
say. I pray that tonight in the offering, you
said, God, I'll give what you want me to give.
Moses and Joshua, they were told. Take off your
shoes. But God, if we do that, we'll be vulnerable.
God is saying, leave the future with me. Philip
was carried away by the spirit. It was beyond
his control. You know, the old story, a man was
just stirred and he wanted to show God how much
he loved him. So he wrote on top of a piece of
paper, he wrote, things I'll do for God. He started
listing prayer and getting involved. He made
quite a list at the bottom. He signed it. He
was feeling pretty good. He started praying,
kind of showing that to God. He felt God speak
to him, tear that up, get out another piece of
paper and write things I'll do for God, leave
it blank and sign it. And God said, I'll fill
it out for you. That's called surrender. To a
land I will show you. That is the issue we have
to face on the first night. Will you go? Will
you pioneer? Will you go overseas? Will you stay
if that's what God wants? Will you send? Will
you release? Will you give? Because to surrender
is trust that involves faith. Hebrews 11, 8,
by faith, Abraham obeyed God's call to go to
another place. God promised to give him. He left
his own country, not knowing where he was to
go. To surrender means you have to have the faith
that God loves you. Listen, God has your best
interest at heart. He is not dreaming up ways
to make you miserable. You got to trust his love.
You have to trust that God is wiser. I know you've
told God again and again how to run the universe.
Why don't you let him run your life? Because
he is wiser. He knows what will be best. Next
photo. James Calvert and his wife Mary, they
went as missionaries to the cannibals of the
Fiji Islands. On the way there, the ship captain
tried to turn him back saying, you will lose
your life and the life of those with you if you
go among such savages. James Calvert said to
the ship captain, we died before we came here.
That's surrender. We died before we came. We
already settled that issue. They spent 17 years
and James Calvert and his wife who were surrendered,
the most powerful chief in the islands was converted,
changed the course of Fiji because they were
willing to go into the unknown by surrender.
Let's look finally at leaving Haran. Our text
says the Lord had said, you understand that God
apparently had spoken before they started the
journey and they stopped at this place called
Haran. Haran means crossroads. Scholars say it
was located at the crossroads of different trading
routes of Mesopotamia. Haran was a good place
to secure your financial future. Crossroads cities
on trading routes. That's a good place to make
money. But Haran was a crossroads city. There
were roads going in many optional directions.
You could go in many directions from Haran. But
the Bible says, Abram left Haran. Verse four,
he was 75 years old when he departed from Haran.
He left, which means he obeyed God. Verse four,
Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.
I am praying and I'm believing that God is gonna
speak tonight and God is gonna speak this week.
But if God speaks and we don't do what he says,
It does no good. But he acted on what God said.
He did what God told him to do. Some of us this
week, it has to be a week of obedience. God,
I'm going to do what you're telling me to do.
The Bible says he left, which removed his options.
Verse four, he departed from Haran. He departed
from the crossroads. You know what that means?
He chose. One road. That means he left other
possible roads. Let me ask you a question. Is
the will of God just one possibility for your
life out of many other options? Are you keeping
your options open? Just in case the will of God
doesn't work out. Abram left Haran. He chose
one. That is what releases destiny. What happens
when you leave Haran and obey God? The first
thing is that the will of God will unfold for
you. Some of us, we would love to have all the
details. One year from now, you'll go and you'll
turn left on it. There is so much that God did
not tell Abram on the day he said, leave Haran.
Later, God would tell him the dimensions of the
land. Later on, he would learn of the nature
of God, the God of the ages, God of fruitfulness,
God our provider. But God's will is only revealed
by Matthew 25, 29, to everyone who has, more
will be given and he will have abundance. That
word has. It's talking about using or acting
on what you have right now. You will never have
more of God than you will obey. But if you will
obey, God will unfold his will for you. Second
thing is you become the friend of God when you
leave Haran. You know, God is pleased when people
obey him enough to obey, believe him enough to
obey. James 2 .23, Abraham believed God and it
was accounted to him for righteousness and he
was called the friend of God. You know, there
are people... Here tonight, you're watching online.
You are not seeing all that you want to see,
but you are obeying. You have left Haran. Can
I tell you something? You are the friend of God.
God is pleased. Please don't think that the pleasure
of God is related to numbers, noise, and nickels.
Yes, that may come in time, but there's something.
God is pleased with their people. You are battling
it out. But you're doing it in obedience to God.
You are the friend of God. Third thing is you
release the blessing of God. The Bible is an
honest book. He speaks here about curses. People
who curse you. You do the will of God. It's not
going to be smooth sailing. There are going to
be problems. But at the same time that God is
honest about problems. He gives four words, four
promises. He says, I will show, I will make,
I will bless, I will curse. Verse two and three,
two times God says, I will bless you. It's a
picture of prayer. It is adding something supernatural
to your life. We see a good picture of it when
Jesus broke the bread and the fish and he blessed
it. He added something supernatural and suddenly
it was more than enough. God is saying, if you
will obey, if you're willing to leave Haran,
God said, I will supply whatever is necessary
to help. It was Hudson Taylor's that all God's
giants have been weak men who did great things
for God because they reckoned on his being with
them. What happens when you leave Haran, the
fourth thing, it has to do with what you can
become. And I am speaking about the significance
of your life. Abram's life, if he stayed in Haran,
his entire life likely would have revolved around
caring for animals. Like a shepherd. That would
have been the sum total of his life is animals
that are not going to live forever. Earning money
that will not last. But if he stayed in Haran,
he and Sarah would have no wider impact. Scholars
say very likely Haran was only 20 ,000 people
max. It was probably a few thousand up to 20
,000. If they stayed in Haran, they would have
lived, made money. died and have been forgotten.
But when you obey, you connect your life to the
purposes of God, eternal purposes in heaven.
Verse 3, in you all the families of the earth
shall be blessed. When you obey, you connect
your life to what Almighty God is doing in the
entire earth. Think about this, Abram and Sarah,
he's 75. His wife wasn't a spring chicken as
they leave here. When people saw this older couple
traveling by, they probably were not impressed.
They're just an older couple traveling through,
but what they didn't know Abraham and Sarah,
that was the most significant couple in the entire
world. They didn't realize that couple would
determine history. Some of you saw news today
that is playing out because of the lives of Abraham
and Sarah. Their lives became significant. There
are people here, I don't know what you do for
a job. I don't know what you plan on doing in
life. But there are people, it may be that God
is going to call you. He's going to tell you
his plans. And if you obey that call and cooperate,
it may be that people in other cities, in other
nations. their lives will be transformed. They
will be saved from hell forever. And then you
could make disciples that would impact the world
simply by leaving Haran and obeying God. And
every single person, not every person here is
called to preach. But every single person here
and watching online, if you are born again, when
you got saved, God saved you in a local church.
And please, I want you to understand something.
You became part of changing the world. Listen.
I want them to put a photo up. I want you to
see this photo. This photo was taken last year.
This is not everyone who happened to be there
on a Wednesday night, but these people were in
the church saved in 1978 in Prescott, and they
are still in the church today. Amen. Okay. It's
wonderful longevity. You can stay safe. That's
great. But let me tell you why that is powerful.
Because by the time this photo was taken in 1978,
we had already from Prescott planted a church
into Mexico, into Holland. And in 1978, we planted
a church in Perth, West Australia. Many of the
people in that photo, they gave in offerings.
They tied. They were faithful. They prayed. Just
those three churches. Let me tell you the impact.
Mexico now has 436 churches in 16 nations. Holland
has 124 churches in 21 nations. From Australia,
there have come 432 churches in 34 nations. that
group of people, their lives are as of tonight,
there are 992 churches in 71 nations. Amen. Thank
God. Next photo. Here is 1985 and now you see
more people. God has saved them, added them to
the church. And the reason why I'm showing this
is by, 1985, in addition to all the churches
planted in the three that I just said, we planted
churches in the Philippines. And the reason why
that is important is as of tonight, there are
now 927 churches in 10 nations from the Philippines.
Thank God. When you commit yourself to a local
church, that is reaching the world. I can be
a Christian in another church. Yeah, you could.
And do what? Help with a soup kitchen? Knit blankets
for homeless people? That's fine. I'm not against
it. God bless. I want the homeless to be warm.
But I want to reach the world. Be back. That's
what it takes. That's why it's powerful. And
every local church, every local church comes
under assault. Every local church has ups and
downs, but thank God there are people who say,
God saved me. I'm leaving Haran. I'm leaving
the options. God called me. I'm going to commit
myself to the will of God. And then there are
people, God has called me and I'm going to fulfill
the call of God. I will leave Haran. And I want
to be a part of reaching the world. How many
of you, that's what you want to do in the will
of God? Let's bow our heads. Thank God all across
this place.