The Ministery of a Prophet (Abraham - Part II)

By Odon Bulamba (summary only)

3. The spiritual beauty

Remember what Jesus told His mother and brothers, “My brothers and my mother are those with whom I share the Word of God.” People can rubbish you, but because of Jesus Christ, you have accepted that your brothers and sisters, your parents are those with whom you share God’s Word. Because we are all God’s family, we are a holy family. Remember that Jesus came as a second Adam, and remember that Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” So it’s up to us to choose now.

When you are called by God to be a prophet, you must submit and turn your eyes to God.

Abraham left his country and stopped along the way because it was getting dark and he had to spend the night. He thought, “If these people see you with me, Sarah, they will condemn me or even kill me if they know that you are my wife” because the Bible says that Sarah was really beautiful both physically and spiritually.

So where is your spiritual beauty? Most Christians want to be pretty on the outside but inside their hearts, it is a mess. The Bible says that we must have beauty inside to attract our lover who is Jesus Christ. Most young men know how to attract young girls, likewise with young girls with their make up and other things, but they don’t know how to attract Jesus Christ with their spiritual beauty. Sarah had this beauty, not a beauty depending on make-up and not a beauty according to Isaiah 3:16-24.

16 ¶ Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: {wanton...: Heb. deceiving with their eyes} {mincing: or, tripping nicely}
17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts. {discover: Heb. make naked}
18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, {cauls: or, networks}
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers, {chains: or, sweet balls} {mufflers: or, spangled ornaments}
20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings, {tablets: Heb. houses of the soul}
21 The rings, and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,
23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

The verse 24 says that instead of beauty, there will be humiliation. One day, God will humiliate those who wear make-up on the outside but are spiritually ugly. God wants us to have spiritual beauty to please Him and attract Him.

Sarah was in that country and as the people said to the king “Someone beautiful has come” the king asked to have her. God didn’t let the king touch Sarah because God was jealous of Sarah for Sarah’s beauty attracted God too. Sarah’s personality attracted God too and so did Abraham’s personality. It’s like a wife who has two husbands. If one husband sees her with the other husband he will be jealous, a discussion or even a fight might follow while the woman keeps looking quietly; maybe one of them will lose some teeth during the fight because of the woman, because of her beauty, because of the love he has for this woman; and that’s what God did too.

God told the king “Don’t touch Sarah, if you touch Sara, you’ll be in trouble.” How many times has God told Satan “Don’t touch Hayley!” or “Don’t touch Brenda!”? “This is my wife and this is my beloved one!” Do you know how much God is jealous of you? Do you know that God loves you? Each Christian must know that God loves them, and God’s love is really great. If someone loves you, why wouldn’t you love them the same? Why wouldn’t you be faithful to your faithful husband? I cannot say that I love Jesus Christ a lot and I like drinking. I cannot say that I love Jesus Christ and I love lying. I cannot love Jesus Christ and be into sorcery, it’s not possible.

On that day, God did something, because the king humiliated himself and he knew how God loved this woman. He went to Abraham very early in the morning and said “Why did you lie to me, you knew she was your wife but you said she was your sister, why?” It was true that Sarah was Abraham’s sister, but the king was upset because a wife belongs to her husband. God asks us tonight, “What do you want to be called my sister, my wife, my brother or my husband?” Many Christians don’t know exactly where they are up to. When the situation is difficult, they change their version. Instead of admitting they belong to Christ they change their version:

For example, a pastor might not admit he is a pastor while he is with Muslims because he is afraid they will ask him questions that he will not be able to answer. A Christian might deny they are Christian so they can get a job in the pub.

This is what Abraham did! He tried to manage with the situation and he forgot that God was leading him. He forgot that God told him to leave where he was. He also forgot God is more powerful than this king. And that’s what happened the first time. The second time God gave the same test and Abraham made the same mistake. God watched Abraham and saw how much He loved Abraham. He said “Because I chose him, I must therefore fulfil what I have prepared for him.

SUMMARY
- A prophet must be spiritually beautiful
- A prophet must belong to God (the wife of God)
- A prophet must not be afraid to admit they belong to God

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