WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:00.980 I'm going to invite you to Genesis. 00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:05.520 Chapter 20 is where we're at together today, Genesis chapter 20. 00:00:05.560 --> 00:00:08.460 And I'm going to be honest and tell you, this is a this is a messy chapter. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:10.570 I'm actually going to be honest all the way through this. 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:14.430 But this is a this is a messy chapter of Scripture. 00:00:14.700 --> 00:00:15.870 It's not good to lie as a pastor. 00:00:17.020 --> 00:00:24.080 uh, Genesis chapter 20 is a messy passage of Scripture we're going to find in this chapter, Abraham is, really 00:00:24.080 --> 00:00:28.740 living out a sin that he's we've already seen him do in Genesis chapter 12. 00:00:28.880 --> 00:00:35.260 And, he's has this habitual problem in the sin that he falls in and the struggle in his life. 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:42.520 And, for Abraham, you think about his story that he went on this journey, that God called him out of the Chaldeans to go to 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:46.520 this promised land, to pursue God and all the dreams in front of him. 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:53.680 And yet Abraham finds in this journey the same old struggles with his life and some of the struggles he encounters and going to 00:00:53.680 --> 00:00:54.590 a foreign land. 00:00:55.020 --> 00:01:02.320 You know, last night I had one of the a beautiful privilege of going down to downtown Salt Lake to speak to an international community that had gathered 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:04.900 for celebration of Christmas. 00:01:04.900 --> 00:01:12.080 These were Christians that want to honor the Lord, having this common interest of coming from an international location to 00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:19.340 America in order to, see their lives improved and to pursue God and are thinking about not just themselves, but their generations 00:01:19.340 --> 00:01:20.250 to follow. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:27.840 And I couldn't help but think as we're worshiping the Lord last night and they're honoring Christmas and they're having this celebration, just how much 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:34.860 of their lives are pictured with Abraham and seeing the struggle that Abraham had, you had all this 00:01:34.860 --> 00:01:36.700 anticipation of what could await. 00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:40.930 But even when you get there, you can't fully understand some of the struggles you're going to be experiencing. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:47.450 And no matter how many times you might move in your life, you still are dealing with you and the battles that you have within yourself. 00:01:47.740 --> 00:01:54.900 But, one of the beautiful things that we find as Christians is that, God relates to us in that he 00:01:54.900 --> 00:02:02.300 left his throne in heaven to become the servant of servants and the most humble of forms as a child 00:02:02.300 --> 00:02:03.120 in a manger. 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:10.160 You got to think, if you're the King of glory and you had to picture your arrival into this world, I don't know about you, but in the time of Jesus, I would have 00:02:10.160 --> 00:02:16.540 picked interior plumbing with heating, and some something a little more fancy than what he did. 00:02:16.540 --> 00:02:23.820 But the path he chose to walk was to demonstrate the idea of the servant of servants to be here for our 00:02:23.820 --> 00:02:31.080 need to help us in the midst of our struggle to become flesh as we are to relate for us and ultimately give his life for us. 00:02:31.420 --> 00:02:38.480 Christmas is a the idea of Christmas, and what it represents for us is a beautiful story of hope. 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:46.000 And I find it particularly important this time of year because at the end of the year, I notice as 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:51.760 a pastor, I tend to get an increase of phone calls and people that are struggling. 00:02:52.380 --> 00:02:56.450 it's something about this season of year going into winter when there's more darkness. 00:02:56.660 --> 00:03:00.010 And sometimes you think about family and friends getting together. 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:04.780 And maybe this Christmas doesn't look like last Christmas for you because of some struggles in your life. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:07.320 And it becomes a difficult time of year. 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:11.980 And if I'm being frank for my family, this year was this past week was not easy. 00:03:12.260 --> 00:03:14.100 Wife's down with sickness for a few days. 00:03:14.100 --> 00:03:21.240 A kid is having surgery and then I'm entering into this season getting phone call after phone call with people that are struggling, which I'm happy 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:22.020 to get phone calls. 00:03:22.060 --> 00:03:27.320 Just so you know, if you struggle and if you got something going on and you just want to share some of that burden, that's fine with me. 00:03:27.320 --> 00:03:32.120 But in that there's also just you get this sense of weightiness. 00:03:32.500 --> 00:03:32.720 Right. 00:03:33.380 --> 00:03:39.480 But at the same time, there's also a tremendous amount of joy because people are tends to be, especially this time of year. 00:03:39.480 --> 00:03:42.300 They're more mindful that sometimes it's just difficult for people. 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:50.000 And so while on one end of the phone, you'll get calls of people struggling, on the other end, you have people that want to be a part of moving forward and 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:52.680 encouraging people and coming alongside of them. 00:03:52.680 --> 00:03:59.840 And so you get these really high highs and these really low lows and Genesis chapter 20 I think is a chapter much like that you're 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:02.520 seeing in this mess, the struggle of Abraham. 00:04:02.600 --> 00:04:09.880 But it turns out to be a really a beautiful mess because the Lord enters into it and God's involved, and he doesn't abandon Abraham 00:04:09.880 --> 00:04:16.920 where he's at, but he desires for him to grow in the Lord and to live out what God has called him 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:17.470 for. 00:04:18.100 --> 00:04:24.480 I mean, could you imagine in this world if we all walked faithfully with Christ what that would look like? 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:32.020 I mean, you just take the beautiful way Jesus taught what he desired for his people to do and the way that he wanted them 00:04:32.020 --> 00:04:32.820 to live in this world. 00:04:32.900 --> 00:04:39.950 If we all just grabbed a hold of that and trusted in him and live the kind of life that God called us to, how beautiful this world would be. 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:46.220 In fact, Charles Swindoll in his book One Nomad's Amazing Journey, he says it like this. 00:04:46.260 --> 00:04:49.540 He postulates that idea, and he says this in page 159. 00:04:49.540 --> 00:04:56.660 He said, wouldn't it be great if we could suddenly become instantly mature and completely perfect? 00:04:56.840 --> 00:05:00.350 Imagine how different the world and our churches would become if trusted. 00:05:00.500 --> 00:05:06.190 And Jesus Christ made us intellectually astute, morally flawless and spiritually wise. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:10.370 Sinners from birth and sinners by nature immediately transformed. 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:18.600 No more struggles with impatience or greed or lust or other selfish, self-serving motives. 00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:19.400 No more complaining. 00:05:20.080 --> 00:05:20.640 No more gossip. 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:22.590 No more passive aggressive politics. 00:05:23.400 --> 00:05:26.000 No one trying to control other people's lives. 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:31.910 The instant we trusted in Christ, we become a model of flawless integrity. 00:05:32.400 --> 00:05:33.520 Wouldn't that be great? 00:05:34.460 --> 00:05:35.480 And yes, it would. 00:05:35.580 --> 00:05:36.040 That would. 00:05:36.080 --> 00:05:37.530 I think we're going to have to call that heaven. 00:05:37.960 --> 00:05:45.000 But it would be wonderful if we could turn our lives to Christ, and we would be so transformed that by faith we would forever follow Jesus faithfully. 00:05:45.760 --> 00:05:49.240 But in recognizing that's just not reality. 00:05:49.340 --> 00:05:55.140 there's another man by the name of Chad Bird who wrote a book called limping with God, and that sounds like more like my style. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:56.200 Limping with God? 00:05:56.220 --> 00:05:56.360 What? 00:05:56.620 --> 00:05:57.530 What does that look like? 00:05:57.560 --> 00:05:58.410 Well, he says this. 00:05:59.520 --> 00:06:06.780 Show me a church and I'll show you a hotbed of hypocrisy, self-interest, many political parties, 00:06:06.980 --> 00:06:12.140 the jockeying for power, the flexing of holiness, and all manner of unscrupulous activities. 00:06:12.820 --> 00:06:19.820 In other words, show me a church and I will show you a truckload of sinners pastored by a sinner, usually tottering on 00:06:19.820 --> 00:06:21.050 the brink of implosion. 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:28.600 And yet there, Sunday after Sunday, in the middle of that congregation of disciples, the Lord drives up, walks into 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:36.180 the church, gets to work doing what he does best forgiving, cleansing, discipling, helping, loving, 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:40.850 and through it all, making sure his good and gracious will is done. 00:06:41.780 --> 00:06:44.670 I love the truthfulness, the candidness of that statement. 00:06:45.420 --> 00:06:51.880 It's saying to us when it comes to your walk with Jesus, there is no game to play and there's no facade to put up. 00:06:52.760 --> 00:07:00.280 And God, he really wants to meet you where you are, and God wants to walk with you on this journey of knowing what it means to follow 00:07:00.280 --> 00:07:05.360 after him and mature in the Lord as you come into relationship with Jesus. 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:13.280 But here's what we find in Scripture is that there are some struggles in our lives that tend to just beat us down, 00:07:13.320 --> 00:07:16.300 like we tend sometimes to be prone to certain temptations. 00:07:17.400 --> 00:07:24.440 And in fact, it doesn't take long to read through Scripture that you'll often see these great saints of the Bible falling victim 00:07:24.440 --> 00:07:26.300 to the same thing over and over again. 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:30.930 They give up to the to these certain sins in their lives repeatedly. 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:36.700 In fact, in the book of Exodus, in chapter two, you find in chapter two the story of Moses. 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:44.670 And Moses gets angry at this Egyptian soldier that is attacking the Hebrew people to the point that he takes 00:07:44.700 --> 00:07:47.460 matters into his own hands and he kills the soldier. 00:07:48.260 --> 00:07:56.040 And then Pharaoh finds out about it, and he goes after Moses and Moses out of that anger, now having led to murder, 00:07:56.040 --> 00:08:00.710 Moses has to run away from the Pharaoh, and he goes into hiding for 40 years because of it. 00:08:00.900 --> 00:08:08.160 And you would think that Moses had learned from his anger issue that would have been enough from him after having to go into the wilderness 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:09.960 for 40 years. 00:08:10.140 --> 00:08:17.280 But all of a sudden, when you get to the book of judges and excuse me, numbers, chapter 20 and numbers chapter 20, it tells a story again of Moses who 00:08:17.280 --> 00:08:20.310 gets angry at the children of Israel, and he acts out of that anger. 00:08:20.760 --> 00:08:27.680 And then acting out of that anger, God tells Moses that you won't go into the Promised land, that Moses becomes this repeat offender. 00:08:28.260 --> 00:08:31.790 Even in other stories of the Bible, like the idea of Samson. 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:36.190 Samson in the Book of Judges, if you remember Samson. 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:40.299 Wonderful, beautiful hair, very strong and impressive. 00:08:40.500 --> 00:08:44.640 But Samson had this temptation in which he would give in to women. 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:51.310 In fact, the very first words that Samson is quoted as saying in Scripture, he comes off more like a meat head than anything else. 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:53.000 And he talks about a woman. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:59.180 He's like it says in judges chapter 14, a young Philistine woman caught my eye. 00:08:59.180 --> 00:09:00.140 I want to marry her. 00:09:00.140 --> 00:09:01.080 Get her for me. 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:04.740 That's Samson's opening line in Scripture. 00:09:04.900 --> 00:09:11.980 And you see, he's prone to that, to the point that what leads to Samson's demise is that he finds later on 00:09:11.980 --> 00:09:19.420 another woman, and he and he eventually she's she gives him over to authorities, betrays him, 00:09:19.420 --> 00:09:20.240 and his hair is cut. 00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:21.680 He loses his strength. 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.320 And so it leads to Samson's downfall. 00:09:25.040 --> 00:09:26.220 Even King David. 00:09:26.740 --> 00:09:30.420 King David, referred to as a man after God's own heart. 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:37.270 but when you look at King David's life, this is kind of an uncouth way of saying this, but he collected women like trading cards. 00:09:37.980 --> 00:09:45.400 And we find in the book of Samuel that David gives into the temptation with Bathsheba and second Samuel, chapter 11, 00:09:45.900 --> 00:09:50.900 that here we are, this individual described as a man after God's own heart. 00:09:50.900 --> 00:09:58.120 But his career becomes soiled by this scandal with Bathsheba and even in the New Testament. 00:09:59.220 --> 00:10:06.300 And if you were to read through the Gospels this time of year, people typically like to read the Christmas story and the book of Matthew and Luke, 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:08.500 and we start the book of Matthew. 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:15.960 It's a glorious unfolding of Jesus juxtaposed against King Herod, King Herod, a tyrannical king, 00:10:16.400 --> 00:10:20.560 and Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords, just born in a stable, beautiful story. 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:23.560 The way he pursues people gives his life for people. 00:10:24.520 --> 00:10:31.820 And then at the end of Matthew, after he's chosen these particular followers and Matthew chapter 26, you see, as Jesus goes on trial, 00:10:32.520 --> 00:10:39.660 Peter betrays Jesus to the point when Peter curses about Jesus and betrays Jesus, he denies Jesus 00:10:39.660 --> 00:10:40.380 three times. 00:10:40.420 --> 00:10:42.120 And finally, at the third time, when he denies Jesus. 00:10:42.560 --> 00:10:43.200 The story. 00:10:43.220 --> 00:10:45.720 The way the story is told is if he makes eye contact. 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:49.980 In that third denial of Jesus, he makes eye contact with Jesus when he's on trial. 00:10:50.900 --> 00:10:57.900 And Jesus looks back at Peter and Peter realizes what he's done and he runs away weeping, and you think that would have been 00:10:57.900 --> 00:11:00.240 enough for Peter to be like, I'm never doing that again. 00:11:01.100 --> 00:11:08.640 But when you get to Galatians chapter two, it tells you in Galatians two that the apostle Paul had to oppose Peter to his face again 00:11:08.640 --> 00:11:10.960 because Peter was denying the gospel. 00:11:13.180 --> 00:11:20.920 Throughout Scripture you see this picture of repeat offending that we are prone to temptations 00:11:20.920 --> 00:11:23.760 and to repeat sins over and over. 00:11:23.760 --> 00:11:31.440 And Alan Redpath is a British pastor and he says this the conversion of a soul is 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:32.860 the miracle of a moment. 00:11:34.880 --> 00:11:39.500 But the manufacturing of a saint is the task of a lifetime. 00:11:41.020 --> 00:11:44.160 It's a beautiful work that God does when you put your trust in him. 00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:49.980 I mean instantaneously, not not because of what you do, but because of what Jesus has done for you. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:51.880 You have this new identity in Christ. 00:11:51.880 --> 00:11:53.260 You belong to God forever. 00:11:53.500 --> 00:11:56.020 The Bible tells you you're adopted in him. 00:11:56.020 --> 00:11:59.660 You have this new position in the way that you're to live your life. 00:11:59.780 --> 00:12:05.040 And second Corinthians five, you're an ambassador in Second Peter chapter two, you're a royal priesthood. 00:12:05.560 --> 00:12:12.760 That nothing the Bible tells you in Romans chapter eight can separate you from the love of God in John chapter ten, that he holds you in his hand, that you belong 00:12:12.760 --> 00:12:13.470 to him forever. 00:12:13.520 --> 00:12:15.820 Nothing will ever rip you away from the Lord. 00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:21.780 So that is your position in Christ forever, a beautiful, instantaneous transformation in your life. 00:12:22.500 --> 00:12:26.680 But then to live that out, that's where the struggle is. 00:12:27.340 --> 00:12:34.520 How to, as Colossians three says, to put off the old self and to put on the new self, to live in light of now who you are, because 00:12:34.520 --> 00:12:37.960 you're in Christ, that that's where the struggle takes place. 00:12:38.140 --> 00:12:45.220 And this is exactly where we find ourselves in Genesis chapter 20, that Abraham once again is in 00:12:45.220 --> 00:12:46.840 this position of struggle. 00:12:47.380 --> 00:12:48.760 In fact, as a repeat offender. 00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:50.140 Point number one in your notes is this. 00:12:50.520 --> 00:12:54.340 And we're going to keep these points simplistic today that Abraham flees. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:56.160 Abraham flees. 00:12:56.180 --> 00:12:57.860 In Genesis chapter 20. 00:12:57.940 --> 00:13:02.360 As we start this story, Abraham has gone through some significant change in his life. 00:13:02.380 --> 00:13:06.300 If you remember, chapter 19, Sodom and Gomorrah has just been destroyed. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:10.210 This is the next town over for Abraham and Abraham. 00:13:10.900 --> 00:13:18.040 Rather than see this as an opportunity for ministry, rather than run literally to the fire, rather than to counsel and console 00:13:18.040 --> 00:13:25.310 people as they're dealing with this struggle and point people to the Lord in this Abraham, the way that he deals with it is to walk away. 00:13:26.060 --> 00:13:32.260 Now, it's a little bit speculative as to whether or not Abraham's intentions are godly in Genesis chapter 20, when he moves. 00:13:33.140 --> 00:13:40.360 But let me say this when you read Abraham's about Abraham's journey in the book of Genesis, starting in chapter 12, you see, there's times where God very clearly 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:43.900 told Abraham to go, to move, to go to a new destination. 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.800 And there are other times where Abraham just simply did it. 00:13:48.160 --> 00:13:51.660 And any time God said to Abraham, you should do it was for godly reasons. 00:13:51.740 --> 00:13:52.800 And Abraham obeyed. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:57.910 But any time Abraham just ups and packs and moves, and there's no indication that God has told him, told him to do so. 00:13:58.280 --> 00:14:02.520 Abraham, in those moments, he falls, he sins, he does something wrong. 00:14:02.680 --> 00:14:06.080 And that's what we see in Genesis chapter 20, the Abraham. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:13.740 Rather than step into the adversity to help people in their struggle to counsel people through this, to face his own concerns, Abraham 00:14:13.740 --> 00:14:20.760 moves away from what he's experiencing, and it ultimately leads to challenges in Abraham's relationship with 00:14:20.760 --> 00:14:21.180 the Lord. 00:14:21.180 --> 00:14:23.180 And it impacts people around him. 00:14:23.180 --> 00:14:25.440 And so in Genesis chapter 20, verse one, it says this. 00:14:26.140 --> 00:14:32.880 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev, and in between Kadesh and Shur. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:38.810 For a while he stayed in Garar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, she is my sister. 00:14:39.160 --> 00:14:42.810 Then Abimalek, king of Girar, sent for Sarah and took her. 00:14:43.180 --> 00:14:48.020 Here we are again, Abraham doing the same thing that he did in Genesis chapter 12. 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:55.220 If you remember in Genesis 12, that's the story where God told Abraham to move from earth, the Chaldeans, which is in modern day Iraq, to 00:14:55.220 --> 00:14:56.720 go to the land that he had promised him. 00:14:56.980 --> 00:15:02.010 Abraham didn't know where he was going, but he followed God faithfully, ended up in the Promised Land. 00:15:02.040 --> 00:15:03.830 As soon as he got there was a famine. 00:15:04.380 --> 00:15:05.960 And Abraham, out of concern for the famine. 00:15:06.180 --> 00:15:08.850 Rather than listen to God, he packed up and moved, and he moved to Egypt. 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.110 And as soon as he got there, he shared the same story with Pharaoh. 00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:15.980 That Sarah was not his wife, but rather his sister. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:20.280 And in sharing the story, the Pharaoh took Abraham's wife. 00:15:20.280 --> 00:15:26.120 And you would think in Genesis 12, Abraham learned from this story God had to intervene, rescue Abraham. 00:15:26.160 --> 00:15:33.420 But here you find again in Genesis chapter 20, Abraham repeating the same sin, the same exact thing that 00:15:33.420 --> 00:15:35.970 Abraham was tempted and fell victim to. 00:15:36.060 --> 00:15:36.780 In chapter 12. 00:15:36.820 --> 00:15:39.420 It's the same thing in Genesis chapter 20. 00:15:39.420 --> 00:15:41.340 What is it going to take for this guy to learn? 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:46.760 And when you when you see this kind of thing taking place, I mean, there was a serious thing for Abraham to do in chapter 12. 00:15:46.760 --> 00:15:47.940 He almost lost his wife. 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:50.480 God had to rescue her in order to bring her back. 00:15:51.040 --> 00:15:52.440 Abraham, what are you thinking? 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:54.870 Is this really how God's people behave? 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.140 Can you even call yourself a follower of the Lord? 00:15:58.900 --> 00:16:01.360 Do God's people really repeat sin? 00:16:01.680 --> 00:16:03.040 Is that for a Christian? 00:16:03.980 --> 00:16:11.190 If you if you are given over to the same kind of temptations, if you have struggles in your life that you repeat over and over again, 00:16:11.580 --> 00:16:13.220 can you really call yourself a Christian? 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:16.360 Are you even a Christian? 00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:18.850 How do you know? 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:28.000 Well, one of the most encouraging texts, I think, in Scripture, there's a, there's a few I could point to, but one that I want to highlight is 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:29.770 Romans chapter seven. 00:16:31.260 --> 00:16:32.240 Romans chapter seven. 00:16:32.260 --> 00:16:37.260 This is the Apostle Paul writing about the struggle that he finds within his own life. 00:16:38.300 --> 00:16:39.640 Romans chapter seven, verse 21. 00:16:39.760 --> 00:16:47.100 Listen to what Paul says, for I find this law at work, although I want to do good, evil 00:16:47.100 --> 00:16:48.680 is right there with me. 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:51.880 For in my inner being I delight in God's law. 00:16:52.020 --> 00:16:59.260 But I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law 00:16:59.260 --> 00:17:01.450 of sin at work within me. 00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:03.480 What a wretched man I am! 00:17:03.900 --> 00:17:06.740 Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 00:17:07.260 --> 00:17:11.640 Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord. 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:16.319 Here's the apostle Paul, the Christian of Christians. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:20.680 We might declare him who refers to himself in this passage as the chief of sinners. 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:28.800 And here's the relief for us as believers is not necessarily the Apostle Paul is sinning, but he's saying to you, if the Apostle Paul can 00:17:28.800 --> 00:17:30.860 struggle, so can we. 00:17:31.460 --> 00:17:38.580 And in fact, I would say that the most important part in the midst of our struggle as believers is understanding 00:17:38.580 --> 00:17:40.800 the motive within our heart. 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:44.420 Like what happens to you once once your sin is found out? 00:17:44.500 --> 00:17:46.080 How do you respond to that? 00:17:46.080 --> 00:17:49.540 Once you realize the mistake that you've made or the sin that you've conducted? 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:51.370 Like what is your typical reaction? 00:17:51.700 --> 00:17:54.800 Are you are you just mad or upset that you got found out? 00:17:55.300 --> 00:17:58.580 Are you embarrassed that your friends and family might know? 00:17:58.900 --> 00:18:03.060 And so you change your behavior in order to look better to someone else? 00:18:04.980 --> 00:18:06.300 Are you genuinely broken? 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:09.580 Because you understand the heart of God. 00:18:10.860 --> 00:18:16.260 And then so understanding the heart of God, your heart is to draw near to his heart and to honor him. 00:18:17.260 --> 00:18:21.300 In either case, someone's someone's behavior might change, right? 00:18:21.300 --> 00:18:27.890 If you're if you're upset because, well, other people found out and it was embarrassing to you, your behavior can change and look good. 00:18:28.680 --> 00:18:32.860 The religion teaches you that this outward facade of performance. 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:39.560 Or is it is it something that led to a certainly an alternative behavior as well? 00:18:39.560 --> 00:18:40.700 Your life has changed. 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:45.200 But it wasn't because simply because of what other people thought it was, because of what the Lord thought. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:47.790 And you carried the heart of God towards it, and you grieved. 00:18:49.260 --> 00:18:55.600 The motive of your heart in those moments are ultimately what matters, because it determines why you're doing what you do. 00:18:56.380 --> 00:19:03.500 And the Apostle Paul and reflecting this in Romans chapter seven, he's grieving over the fact that his life is in conflict with what God 00:19:03.500 --> 00:19:04.360 desires. 00:19:04.360 --> 00:19:09.020 And rather than live out the desire, he longs to live what God desires for him. 00:19:11.500 --> 00:19:12.620 What is the motive of your heart? 00:19:14.040 --> 00:19:19.360 You know, often I get to have conversation with people as we struggle to live the Christian life. 00:19:19.360 --> 00:19:22.550 And immediately what I want to discover. 00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:27.400 Is why do you feel broken over the things that happen? 00:19:29.420 --> 00:19:34.900 What makes it a struggle for you is because your heart desires to reflect God's heart. 00:19:36.060 --> 00:19:43.100 Or is it simply because you did something and now regret that other people look, look at you and maybe think less of what 00:19:43.100 --> 00:19:43.660 you've done? 00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:52.200 The motive of your heart is an important reflection of the health and the direction in which you 00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:53.020 are to pursue. 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:55.260 And God. 00:19:55.500 --> 00:20:02.640 God knows that we as people, we aren't perfect, but God's desire is to continue to walk with us in the struggle of our life. 00:20:02.700 --> 00:20:03.140 That's why the. 00:20:03.340 --> 00:20:09.720 In Philippians chapter one verse six, the apostle Paul says to us, he who began a good work in you will bring it about to completion. 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:17.680 It's as if Paul is saying, look, you might feel like giving up on you because, well, you just you just can't seem to get where you want 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:18.180 to be. 00:20:18.180 --> 00:20:24.260 But God still wants to continue to move in your life in order to produce what it is that he desires. 00:20:26.280 --> 00:20:30.360 And Abraham is really pointing out something that all of us struggle with. 00:20:31.340 --> 00:20:38.380 Our tendency when we face adversity is to deal with the temptation of taking convenience over what 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:39.060 is right. 00:20:40.060 --> 00:20:46.560 And when integrity and convenience are opposed to one another, it's important that we take integrity every time. 00:20:47.340 --> 00:20:51.380 I mean, all that Abraham is doing by taking what is convenient is he's punting his problem. 00:20:51.420 --> 00:20:54.600 And what he's going to discover is that his problem is simply going to snowball. 00:20:55.640 --> 00:20:58.490 And in so doing, he's going to have a greater issue to deal with down the road. 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:06.980 And it's possible in this passage, verse two, that the reason Abimelech is taking Abraham's wife is because he's recognizing who. 00:21:07.240 --> 00:21:07.240 Abraham. 00:21:07.700 --> 00:21:09.100 Who Abraham is. 00:21:09.700 --> 00:21:16.980 If you remember, in past chapters, we've read how Abraham went to battle with just a little over 300 people, and he was able to defeat five 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:20.160 kingdoms with an army of a little over 300 people. 00:21:20.600 --> 00:21:27.800 Abraham, no doubt, is recognized in this land as a powerful man, and it was customary during those days to intermarry between different groups 00:21:27.800 --> 00:21:32.440 of people in order to have peaceful relationships between kingdoms. 00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:39.060 And so it's possible that Abimelech is doing this, but nevertheless, Abraham, in the steps he's taking, he's fleeing from God. 00:21:39.060 --> 00:21:39.890 He's being dishonest. 00:21:40.180 --> 00:21:42.870 He's putting his family in a compromising position. 00:21:44.120 --> 00:21:46.460 And what God does here is incredible. 00:21:47.060 --> 00:21:49.210 Point number two in your notes is this that God pursues. 00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:51.700 God hasn't given up on Abraham. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:57.360 He's interested in continuing that good work that he brought as Philippians chapter one, verse six. 00:21:57.400 --> 00:21:58.450 He wants to bring it to completion. 00:21:59.760 --> 00:22:03.080 And the way that God pursues Abraham is very humbling. 00:22:03.840 --> 00:22:05.160 And you see it in verse three. 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:12.200 It says, But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, you are as good as dead, because the woman you have 00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:13.620 taken, she is a married woman. 00:22:14.360 --> 00:22:20.640 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:22.900 Did he not say to me, she is my sister? 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:25.800 And did she also say he is my brother? 00:22:26.260 --> 00:22:29.510 I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:31.350 Here's what's incredible. 00:22:32.220 --> 00:22:34.560 Abraham is considered the man of God. 00:22:34.900 --> 00:22:41.940 If you remember how Abraham was chosen in Genesis chapter 11, you had the Tower of Babel where people had turned against God again, and they 00:22:41.940 --> 00:22:43.960 were building something for their own glory. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:48.820 And God comes down and confuses the people there and produces different languages. 00:22:48.820 --> 00:22:50.860 And out of that the nations are born. 00:22:50.940 --> 00:22:58.140 But from those people groups that had rejected God, God chose one person, this one person, to be the way that God would work 00:22:58.140 --> 00:23:00.360 for the future, to bless all nations. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:03.070 This was the person that was supposed to be the godly person. 00:23:04.060 --> 00:23:08.820 This is the person that people in this land were supposed to listen to hear what God desired for the people to know. 00:23:09.760 --> 00:23:11.490 But what does God choose to use instead? 00:23:12.660 --> 00:23:13.420 A pagan man. 00:23:15.220 --> 00:23:21.020 God chooses to work through a pagan man, because the one that he had chosen had moved away from him. 00:23:22.080 --> 00:23:25.520 Abraham was walking in sin and so God works through someone else. 00:23:26.460 --> 00:23:33.780 How humbling this would have been for Abraham to hear that it was the man who doesn't follow after God who 00:23:33.780 --> 00:23:36.120 is choosing to still honor God. 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.890 And I think for you, sometimes when we fall. 00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:45.120 How humbling it is sometimes when the people around you may be able to call it out. 00:23:46.380 --> 00:23:52.510 I got to tell you, and this is just me being totally truthful as a father. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:57.160 Sometimes some of the hardest things to see are your own faults played out in your children. 00:23:58.340 --> 00:24:04.440 They become these parrots of reproducing your imperfections, sometimes mimicking your behaviors. 00:24:04.860 --> 00:24:12.020 Some of the most humbling things I've had as a parent is when your own children, even at young ages, can see things for the way they are and 00:24:12.020 --> 00:24:13.160 just call you out on it. 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:22.000 And here you see Abraham in this story and a pagan man, this guy doesn't know God, and yet 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:23.800 he's speaking honestly for the Lord. 00:24:23.800 --> 00:24:26.710 And look at this, these next, these next few verses, how it unfolds. 00:24:26.820 --> 00:24:33.880 Then God said to him in a dream, yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning 00:24:33.880 --> 00:24:34.500 against me. 00:24:35.580 --> 00:24:37.480 This is why I did not let you touch her. 00:24:38.140 --> 00:24:42.670 Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. 00:24:43.060 --> 00:24:48.680 But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die. 00:24:49.460 --> 00:24:57.920 Early the next morning, Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he had told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid when 00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:00.060 it comes to the Christian life. 00:25:01.080 --> 00:25:08.160 really, to be faithful in the Lord, it doesn't take much other than the idea of I'm going to surrender my life to 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:10.100 the Lord, and I just want to do what he says. 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.710 If you want to know what it means to follow Jesus, let me just give you the best advice. 00:25:15.780 --> 00:25:17.710 Read the Bible and just do what it says. 00:25:18.420 --> 00:25:19.120 That's it. 00:25:19.120 --> 00:25:21.060 Just read the Bible and just follow the Lord. 00:25:21.060 --> 00:25:21.820 Do what it says. 00:25:22.140 --> 00:25:23.160 It's that simplistic. 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:27.220 And here you have a man that God has poured into Abraham. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:31.120 He's likely been a disobedient to God for months. 00:25:31.260 --> 00:25:32.170 You're going to see in a minute. 00:25:32.260 --> 00:25:39.680 And some of these verses, it likely indicates that Abraham gave Sarah over to Abimelech, and he let Sarah be in Abimelech's 00:25:39.680 --> 00:25:42.020 kingdom for several months. 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:47.640 For several months he's walking in disobedience to God and being like, Sarah, let's just keep playing this story. 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:49.780 Please tell people you're my sister. 00:25:49.780 --> 00:25:50.890 You don't let them know we're married. 00:25:50.980 --> 00:25:52.660 I'm really afraid for me, right? 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:54.500 Several months he's been walking in this. 00:25:56.120 --> 00:25:56.820 And yet. 00:25:57.080 --> 00:25:57.860 Abimelech. 00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:06.540 Abimelech in just one night of God confronting him, immediately wakes up early the next morning to address 00:26:06.540 --> 00:26:08.450 what God called him to address. 00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:15.480 How humbling that must be for Abraham to see God working through a pagan king. 00:26:17.060 --> 00:26:18.480 As you think in your own life. 00:26:18.800 --> 00:26:24.640 There are times that I can think what God had to use in order to awaken my soul to my need for him. 00:26:25.900 --> 00:26:33.000 God used some of the most interesting things in my faith journey for me one to put my trust in Jesus and then to follow after him with my 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:33.300 life. 00:26:34.920 --> 00:26:40.500 And to hear this from a source that you wouldn't expect. 00:26:40.500 --> 00:26:43.240 I mean Abraham this would be his place to boast. 00:26:43.260 --> 00:26:44.490 Don't you know who I am? 00:26:45.220 --> 00:26:48.860 You know, I've got the all the theological degrees in comparison to you. 00:26:48.940 --> 00:26:52.480 Look how great I am and all the things I've accomplished and all the wealth I have. 00:26:52.540 --> 00:26:54.360 It's because God has been with me. 00:26:54.380 --> 00:26:54.480 Who? 00:26:54.680 --> 00:26:55.990 Who am I to listen to you? 00:26:58.060 --> 00:27:05.160 But yet, in the midst of this horrible situation, it's Abimelech that God uses to speak to the heart of 00:27:05.160 --> 00:27:05.840 Abraham. 00:27:07.320 --> 00:27:10.160 Because can I just encourage you to maybe ask you? 00:27:11.540 --> 00:27:17.000 Is there anywhere in your life where your heart's been hardened against the things of God? 00:27:18.340 --> 00:27:25.800 Where he just kind of excuse the sin that you've been involved in, as if like, okay, God, I've given you 80%, but I'm just going to keep this 20% 00:27:25.800 --> 00:27:26.380 for me. 00:27:27.740 --> 00:27:29.520 That God's just been prodding you about. 00:27:31.240 --> 00:27:35.240 It's this place of God bringing you to a situation of humility. 00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:41.500 To recognize God doesn't call you just for you to give half of yourself to him, or a portion of yourself to him. 00:27:43.120 --> 00:27:45.960 God's heart is that all of you would be given over to him. 00:27:47.080 --> 00:27:49.930 And what you find in point number three in your notes is that Abraham excuses. 00:27:51.560 --> 00:27:52.960 Abraham excuses. 00:27:53.760 --> 00:27:59.560 He makes excuses for what he's doing in Genesis chapter 20, verse nine. 00:27:59.560 --> 00:28:01.980 Abraham's lie is discovered. 00:28:02.660 --> 00:28:03.300 And here it is. 00:28:03.460 --> 00:28:08.340 Abraham took convenience for the moment, and he thought this convenience was going to bring him pleasure. 00:28:08.340 --> 00:28:12.280 And temporarily it did, but all it really did was avoid the situation. 00:28:12.560 --> 00:28:15.340 And he punted the problem down the road. 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:17.120 And it snowballed and got bigger and bigger. 00:28:17.120 --> 00:28:21.390 And verse nine, then Abimalek called Abraham and said, what have you done to us? 00:28:21.420 --> 00:28:25.920 How have I wronged you, that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:29.620 You have done things to me that should have never been done. 00:28:30.580 --> 00:28:31.640 Could you imagine that? 00:28:32.700 --> 00:28:36.040 I mean, hearing that kind of a statement from someone that doesn't even know the Lord. 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:39.230 You have done things to me that should have never been done. 00:28:39.560 --> 00:28:43.540 Like not even the not even the pagan world treats other pagans as what you could have said. 00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:44.490 And who are you? 00:28:44.500 --> 00:28:51.500 This person claiming to be a man of God to bring this compromise to my kingdom that could have brought the destruction of all people and 00:28:51.500 --> 00:28:53.440 guys, I hope you've seen this in the book of Genesis. 00:28:53.580 --> 00:29:00.680 I've I've repeated this idea to us multiple times, but any time you live for your glory in this world, you will 00:29:00.680 --> 00:29:02.940 destroy relationships and people around you. 00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:07.740 But when you live your life for God's glory, it becomes a blessing to the people around you. 00:29:08.280 --> 00:29:11.980 When you live for your glory, you treat other people like they're tools in order to serve yourself. 00:29:12.120 --> 00:29:17.040 But when you live for God's glory, you take the tools that God has given you in order to bless those around you. 00:29:18.320 --> 00:29:21.950 And here you see in this sin struggle, this is exactly what Abraham has chosen for his glory. 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:30.040 And through living for his glory, it's brought not only compromise to his relationship with his wife, but compromise to relationships all around him and ultimately 00:29:30.040 --> 00:29:31.680 could lead to the destruction of the people. 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:35.880 And so for Abraham, very humbling statement. 00:29:35.880 --> 00:29:42.120 Could you imagine, being told this and in verse ten, And Abimelech said to Abraham, what was your reason for doing this? 00:29:43.020 --> 00:29:43.600 Abraham? 00:29:43.600 --> 00:29:45.130 Why would you do this? 00:29:45.700 --> 00:29:53.160 And in verse 11 you get Abraham's reply, now I'm going to I'm going to be a little bit frank here and let you know, some commentaries 00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:57.380 in verse 11, when Abraham starts to give his response, they're very critical of him. 00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:00.920 They say Abraham is actually not he's not confessing his sin. 00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:02.460 He's simply making excuses for it. 00:30:02.520 --> 00:30:03.060 That could be true. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:10.400 but I tend to think the more and more I read it, I think Abraham is a little reluctant, but starting to be honest with what he did. 00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:15.160 And in bringing it to the light, that's where God brings healing. 00:30:16.600 --> 00:30:22.000 And in Genesis chapter 20, verse 11, Abraham replied, I said to myself. 00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:29.500 There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. 00:30:30.260 --> 00:30:34.680 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father, though not of my mother. 00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:36.090 And she became my wife. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:43.260 And when God had made me wonder for my father's household, I said to her, this is how you can show your love to me everywhere 00:30:43.260 --> 00:30:44.160 we go. 00:30:44.280 --> 00:30:45.600 Say of me, he is my brother. 00:30:47.340 --> 00:30:49.060 there's a couple ways you could look at this. 00:30:49.760 --> 00:30:52.100 One is when you think about Abraham making excuses. 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:53.850 This is what Abraham is doing when he makes an excuse. 00:30:54.100 --> 00:30:55.300 If you think you go that trajectory. 00:30:56.120 --> 00:30:58.700 Abraham first starts off by insulting the people. 00:30:58.700 --> 00:30:59.900 There's no fear of God in you. 00:30:59.900 --> 00:31:01.900 You guys are just terrible people, right? 00:31:01.900 --> 00:31:03.290 That's what Abraham is saying. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:10.820 And because of that, when he's saying there's no fear of God in them, what Abraham is also saying is because there's no fear of God in you, I'm actually afraid of you. 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:13.000 And Abraham reacts out of his fear. 00:31:13.560 --> 00:31:20.230 Can I tell you in your faith journey, God tells you in first Timothy chapter one, God doesn't call you to a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. 00:31:20.740 --> 00:31:25.820 Anytime you're making a decision, what God desires for you based on fear, you're making a poor choice. 00:31:26.320 --> 00:31:28.260 God desires you to be a people that live by faith. 00:31:28.380 --> 00:31:32.940 Sure, it acknowledges things could be difficult, but we walk by faith, not by fear. 00:31:33.560 --> 00:31:39.540 And so Abraham, first he insults the people and then he tries to justify the situation. 00:31:40.060 --> 00:31:41.740 Well, she's my sister. 00:31:41.740 --> 00:31:43.280 And technically Abraham's right. 00:31:43.280 --> 00:31:48.320 She is his half sister, which I'm not going to touch with a ten foot pole right now, but she is his half sister. 00:31:48.380 --> 00:31:49.560 But more than that. 00:31:50.820 --> 00:31:51.570 She is his wife. 00:31:54.040 --> 00:31:54.960 And God. 00:31:54.960 --> 00:31:57.360 Abraham is being he's being honest. 00:31:57.360 --> 00:32:01.080 He's being truthful to a degree by saying he's she is my half sister. 00:32:01.460 --> 00:32:02.420 He acknowledges that. 00:32:03.300 --> 00:32:05.660 But he's not being truthful in the spirit of the law. 00:32:06.620 --> 00:32:07.020 Abraham. 00:32:07.020 --> 00:32:08.120 She's more than that. 00:32:09.080 --> 00:32:09.900 She is your wife. 00:32:11.180 --> 00:32:18.380 And there is a responsibility as her husband to provide, to care, to protect, 00:32:19.060 --> 00:32:21.680 to nurture the relationship that God has given you. 00:32:21.860 --> 00:32:24.240 And what you have done is not honoring. 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:30.840 So Abraham, he tries to justify where he's what he's done with his wife. 00:32:30.900 --> 00:32:38.170 And then he says, and to be honest, in verse 13, Abraham says, this is something we have just decided to do from day one. 00:32:39.080 --> 00:32:41.420 Abraham is telling us all the way back from the ur of the Chaldeans. 00:32:41.760 --> 00:32:46.780 Before they left, he told Sarah, Sarah, look, we're going to go to some scary places and I don't want to die. 00:32:47.180 --> 00:32:48.050 I don't care what happens to you. 00:32:48.340 --> 00:32:48.910 I don't want to die. 00:32:48.980 --> 00:32:50.420 And if you don't want me to die, right? 00:32:50.560 --> 00:32:51.390 This is what he says. 00:32:51.560 --> 00:32:52.240 Just lie. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:52.460 Right? 00:32:52.460 --> 00:32:53.090 Let's just lie. 00:32:53.340 --> 00:32:56.460 And so Abraham is saying, this is the decision I made. 00:32:57.700 --> 00:33:04.700 And so you can look at this and say Abraham is excusing by just simply saying this, but this narrative doesn't really tell us if the 00:33:04.700 --> 00:33:08.120 motive and Abraham is saying this is if it's a confession or it's an excusing. 00:33:09.320 --> 00:33:16.360 But I happen to believe that Abraham, by coming clean in this story, he's being honest and he realizes where he's 00:33:16.360 --> 00:33:16.800 messed up. 00:33:17.860 --> 00:33:22.560 In fact, Abimalek identified that for him directly, and he knows he can't hide it anymore. 00:33:23.780 --> 00:33:29.210 And so Abraham shares everything, even the thoughts that he had from the beginning. 00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:35.090 And I think Abraham, in this passage, I think he most likely comes to this place of repentance. 00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:40.520 And when it comes to repentance, there's a there's a beautiful thought. 00:33:41.980 --> 00:33:45.380 in James, in dealing with repentance and what it does for us. 00:33:46.360 --> 00:33:50.500 There's a there's a way in religion that we think about repentance that is not healthy or good. 00:33:51.120 --> 00:33:53.940 Typically when we use the word repentance, we think penance. 00:33:54.760 --> 00:33:56.120 That's not biblical or healthy. 00:33:56.820 --> 00:34:04.060 Penance is you have to go through this stages of feeling shame and guilt and 00:34:04.060 --> 00:34:09.639 carry feeling bad enough long enough to where you think all of a sudden God might become happy with you. 00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:15.400 Like if you go a number of months because you've done something wrong, just feeling enough guilt and shame, maybe God will start liking you again. 00:34:15.600 --> 00:34:23.020 And so you pay this penance, or you do this amount of work in order to try to make God happy so that you can be good again with your relationship 00:34:23.020 --> 00:34:23.889 with the Lord. 00:34:24.440 --> 00:34:28.219 like you can do something more than what Jesus has done for you on the cross. 00:34:28.520 --> 00:34:30.199 Penance is not biblical, healthy, or good. 00:34:31.400 --> 00:34:35.350 The Bible tells us that when Jesus died for you on the cross, he died for all of your sins. 00:34:36.219 --> 00:34:42.940 And in Hebrews chapter ten, verses 12 to 14, it reminds us he died for past, present, and future sins. 00:34:43.739 --> 00:34:50.760 And so to think there's anything that you can add to that is to undermine what Jesus has done for you and to say, you may not understand the 00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:51.210 gospel. 00:34:52.699 --> 00:34:59.040 and to carry guilt and shame is to recognize that you don't understand what Jesus did for you. 00:34:59.580 --> 00:35:01.080 What the gospel is. 00:35:01.540 --> 00:35:03.980 Jesus bore your guilt and shame. 00:35:05.120 --> 00:35:11.040 And so repentance isn't this idea of penance, but rather repentance is agreeing with God. 00:35:12.260 --> 00:35:16.120 It's turning your heart to the Lord and seeing things the way God sees them. 00:35:17.260 --> 00:35:24.770 And when we do that as people, I think God not only brings healing to our relationship with him, but he brings healing to our relationship with others. 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:29.290 Sin has this nasty way of creating distance in our relationships. 00:35:30.040 --> 00:35:33.080 It can affect your relationship with God though your position in him. 00:35:33.080 --> 00:35:38.700 You're always a child of God adopted in his kingdom if you belong to Jesus, but it can impact your fellowship with the Lord. 00:35:39.580 --> 00:35:41.590 The same thing is true with your relationships in this world. 00:35:41.680 --> 00:35:43.800 Sin will impact your relationships around you. 00:35:44.760 --> 00:35:47.930 But when we're willing to confess our sins, there is healing. 00:35:48.980 --> 00:35:54.860 In fact, in James chapter five verse 16, it says, therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. 00:35:54.920 --> 00:36:01.980 The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective, and some people read this verse and say, well, what James is actually saying is, if you go 00:36:01.980 --> 00:36:03.520 around, just confess all your sins. 00:36:03.520 --> 00:36:10.540 If you have some kind of ailment in life and you just go around just confessing all your sins, magically, your ailments just go away, right? 00:36:10.540 --> 00:36:13.220 And maybe, I mean, God's a miraculous God. 00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:14.270 Like, he can heal. 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:15.580 He can do things like that. 00:36:15.980 --> 00:36:21.220 But I think James is really saying more than just go confess your sins to people. 00:36:21.240 --> 00:36:22.840 In fact, that may get messy. 00:36:22.940 --> 00:36:24.440 It may not be the wisest thing to do. 00:36:25.140 --> 00:36:32.260 but what James is saying is when we identify where we struggle and where we've sinned to people, it brings this place of humility 00:36:32.260 --> 00:36:35.300 and opportunity for the restoring of relationship. 00:36:36.300 --> 00:36:41.740 What I what I mean is, as a father, I like to think that I have been the best at I could possibly be. 00:36:41.780 --> 00:36:43.340 But I could tell you, I've not been a perfect dad. 00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:47.600 And there are times I mess up, but I and I want the best for my boys. 00:36:48.460 --> 00:36:55.560 And one of the things that God has given me the opportunity to do in the middle of my mess up is not run away from that like Abraham does in the story, but run to 00:36:55.560 --> 00:36:58.740 it and go to my kids and say, look, boys. 00:37:00.450 --> 00:37:02.600 This is who God calls me to be. 00:37:03.700 --> 00:37:05.110 And this is what I just did. 00:37:05.940 --> 00:37:09.770 And I ask for you to forgive me because this is what I want to strive for. 00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:12.200 And it does a few things. 00:37:12.200 --> 00:37:13.430 One, it helps my boys. 00:37:13.940 --> 00:37:20.940 In my home, I got four boys to understand what the target is like, what God desires of me as a father, what God desires for them as 00:37:20.940 --> 00:37:21.910 young men as they mature. 00:37:23.200 --> 00:37:27.660 But it also helps them see dad's not perfect and dad's willing to confess when he messes up. 00:37:27.680 --> 00:37:30.580 And we can reconcile that and move forward. 00:37:30.800 --> 00:37:31.920 And the same is true for them. 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:33.520 It gives them an opportunity to do the same. 00:37:33.640 --> 00:37:37.160 You ever been in a situation where someone has wronged you or someone has done something wrong? 00:37:37.300 --> 00:37:40.100 Maybe not to you directly, but you think, are they are they crazy? 00:37:40.320 --> 00:37:42.200 Like, what's wrong with these people? 00:37:42.220 --> 00:37:42.380 Right? 00:37:42.420 --> 00:37:43.910 Oh, that looks a little weird. 00:37:44.040 --> 00:37:48.430 I'm just going to take a note of that and maybe not be near this person because they got some issues. 00:37:48.520 --> 00:37:49.080 Right. 00:37:49.100 --> 00:37:56.180 But then if that person comes to you and they're humble about it and they confess it, then you realize, oh, they're not as crazy as I thought 00:37:56.180 --> 00:37:56.760 they were. 00:37:56.840 --> 00:37:58.220 I mean, everybody's a little crazy, right? 00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:02.780 But they understand that that's not who God wants them to be. 00:38:03.940 --> 00:38:05.260 And they're showing the target. 00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:09.960 And it just it brings this endearment in that moment of humility that maybe there was some trust broken. 00:38:09.960 --> 00:38:13.080 Maybe there has to be some some work towards rebuilding that trust. 00:38:13.260 --> 00:38:19.140 But now there's this drawing back together because you've just acknowledged before each other the elephant in the room. 00:38:19.560 --> 00:38:25.310 And because the elephant has been acknowledged, you can address it and figure out the healthy way to move forward and be able to do that. 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:32.460 I think this is exactly what James is saying in James chapter five, that when we confess those sins to one another, when we've had those struggle and relationship, and we're willing 00:38:32.460 --> 00:38:36.360 to come to this place of humility for the benefit of each other, God does a beautiful work in that. 00:38:37.140 --> 00:38:44.360 In fact, in another verse in first John chapter one, verse eight says, if you say you have not sinned, the truth of God is not in you. 00:38:44.780 --> 00:38:48.060 So to think you're going to be perfect as a Christian, like you're not even a Christian. 00:38:48.060 --> 00:38:50.320 If you think that that's a possibility, you can't do that. 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:50.780 Right. 00:38:50.800 --> 00:38:57.920 But then he goes on in first John chapter one, verse nine, it says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all 00:38:57.920 --> 00:39:02.420 unrighteousness, a beautiful work that God desires to do. 00:39:02.540 --> 00:39:03.630 And so here's the last point in your notes. 00:39:03.780 --> 00:39:05.160 Then God heals. 00:39:06.620 --> 00:39:08.000 God heals. 00:39:08.640 --> 00:39:11.960 You think with Abraham if he's giving an excuse, what a pathetic excuse. 00:39:12.120 --> 00:39:14.080 And you would maybe ask the question how? 00:39:14.300 --> 00:39:15.470 How should a abimalek respond? 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:17.480 I mean, he just put the whole kingdom at risk. 00:39:17.960 --> 00:39:20.980 How should Abimalek respond to Abraham and historians like this? 00:39:21.040 --> 00:39:26.960 And Abraham or Abimalek, excuse me, brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham. 00:39:27.140 --> 00:39:28.800 And he returned Sarah his wife to him. 00:39:29.380 --> 00:39:33.200 And Abimalek said, my land is before you live wherever you like. 00:39:33.280 --> 00:39:36.590 To Sarah he said, I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. 00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:38.440 This is to cover the offense against you. 00:39:38.500 --> 00:39:41.940 Before all who are with you are completely vindicated. 00:39:43.120 --> 00:39:45.700 Hear what Abimalek does is he actually blesses Abraham. 00:39:46.280 --> 00:39:52.920 Let me just say he's not blessing Abraham in his behavior, but rather I think he's blessing Abraham as a person. 00:39:53.800 --> 00:39:58.620 I mean, God has already told told Abimalek the position of Abraham. 00:39:58.620 --> 00:40:00.660 He is a man of God that God wants to work through. 00:40:01.300 --> 00:40:08.960 So Abimalek desires to honor the God of Abraham because Abimalek already had an interaction with him and honoring the God of Abraham 00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:10.860 the way he does it is by honoring Abraham. 00:40:11.720 --> 00:40:16.400 So he's not he's not blessing the behavior of Abraham, but he's blessing the position of Abraham. 00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:20.030 And the same is true for us in this world. 00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:21.420 People may wrong you. 00:40:21.420 --> 00:40:25.860 People may be difficult to get along with, but we're never to degrade another human being. 00:40:25.900 --> 00:40:30.760 And the reason is because everyone's made in the image of God, doesn't mean people can't be accountable for what they do. 00:40:30.760 --> 00:40:31.780 They certainly can be accountable. 00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:39.900 But it also means we don't stoop to the level of degrading another human being, because everyone is made in the 00:40:39.900 --> 00:40:42.000 image of God, and Jesus gave his life for us. 00:40:42.000 --> 00:40:44.660 There's no greater value that can be placed on us than what God has placed on us. 00:40:45.200 --> 00:40:49.780 And so the way that we honor God is seen in how we treat others, even in adversity. 00:40:51.040 --> 00:40:53.600 And Abimalek demonstrates this, and God brings healing. 00:40:53.600 --> 00:41:00.840 It goes on from there and says, verse 17, Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimalek his wife and his female slaves so that they could have 00:41:00.840 --> 00:41:01.720 children again. 00:41:01.720 --> 00:41:07.240 And for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelech's household from conceiving because of Abraham's wife, Sarah. 00:41:07.520 --> 00:41:14.600 This is how we know, verse 18, that most likely Sarah had been with Abimalek for some time because people started to notice that of all Abimelech's wives, none 00:41:14.600 --> 00:41:15.640 of them were getting pregnant anymore. 00:41:16.620 --> 00:41:20.780 And for that to take place, you need you need some months to transpire for everyone to realize, wait a minute. 00:41:21.140 --> 00:41:21.770 No one's pregnant. 00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:23.780 In the in the castle, something must be happening. 00:41:24.420 --> 00:41:26.820 And so Sarah had been there for a while. 00:41:26.860 --> 00:41:30.340 But here's what's incredible is that God wasn't done with Abraham. 00:41:31.340 --> 00:41:34.900 The Abraham in the end comes and prays for Abimelech, and God blesses it. 00:41:35.680 --> 00:41:37.500 And here's the encouragement for you and for me. 00:41:38.320 --> 00:41:45.660 God uses crooked sticks that just because you mess up, God's not finished with you, that God wants to continue 00:41:45.660 --> 00:41:48.460 to do a beautiful work within you. 00:41:49.420 --> 00:41:52.560 If we as God's people would be humble before him. 00:41:53.200 --> 00:42:00.460 You know, one of the most powerful psalms in all of the Bible comes in the in the midst of the most broken 00:42:00.460 --> 00:42:01.040 position. 00:42:01.040 --> 00:42:08.320 I think we find someone in Scripture in second Samuel chapter 11, when David has his sin with Bathsheba and his child dies, 00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:15.400 he writes Psalm 51 and Psalm 51 is a psalm that just pierces right to the heart, because here you find a 00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:17.940 man in the midst of his sin coming before God and confessing. 00:42:18.840 --> 00:42:23.730 Because can I tell you, in the midst of our struggle, one of the closest hearts to the Lord is a heart of repentance. 00:42:24.060 --> 00:42:28.330 The Bible says in Psalm 51, A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 00:42:30.300 --> 00:42:36.920 So rather than see God as being distant to me when I'm broken, what Psalms actually tells me is God is right there with me. 00:42:38.080 --> 00:42:39.940 That what God wants is that heart. 00:42:39.940 --> 00:42:40.710 More than anything. 00:42:40.920 --> 00:42:43.200 God wants the rawness of your heart. 00:42:43.960 --> 00:42:49.220 And David in that psalm confesses God against you and you alone have I sinned. 00:42:50.560 --> 00:42:57.260 You have a place to go before the Lord and not to try to perform to earn his love, but just to be honest with the struggles that you face. 00:42:57.580 --> 00:43:00.040 Because sometimes those demons, they reoccur. 00:43:00.920 --> 00:43:02.260 But God is for you. 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:05.090 And a broken and contrite heart he will not despise. 00:43:05.240 --> 00:43:05.460 Let me. 00:43:05.760 --> 00:43:07.030 Let me end with this illustration. 00:43:07.220 --> 00:43:14.340 I think one of the most beautiful pictures, maybe, of what it is to live the Christian life is the idea of a footprint, and 00:43:14.340 --> 00:43:17.540 a footprint communicates a few things when you when you see it. 00:43:17.540 --> 00:43:20.160 One it demonstrates where someone is going. 00:43:20.720 --> 00:43:27.800 It reminds us they weren't where they once were, but it also declares to us they're not where they used to be that 00:43:27.800 --> 00:43:28.690 they're on a journey. 00:43:29.620 --> 00:43:31.800 And the same thing is true with your relationship with the Lord. 00:43:31.860 --> 00:43:35.660 We can look at the idea of the footprint as if to say before the Lord God, thank you. 00:43:35.660 --> 00:43:39.380 I'm not who I used to be, and God, thank you. 00:43:39.380 --> 00:43:46.680 I'm not where you have fully called me to be, but rather you desire to continue to walk with me in this journey as I as I seek to 00:43:46.700 --> 00:43:47.240 honor you. 00:43:47.960 --> 00:43:49.120 A broken and contrite heart. 00:43:49.240 --> 00:43:50.330 God, you do not despise. 00:43:50.980 --> 00:43:52.120 What a beautiful thought to think. 00:43:52.120 --> 00:43:58.140 In this Christmas season, God would pursue you for relationship, even in our sin that he would give his life.