1 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,000 Good morning church. Thank you John and praise team 2 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,800 for leading us in worship of the one true God this morning. 3 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,800 And as we continue in our worship, I would ask that you 4 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:24,560 turn in your Bible to Genesis chapter 20. 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,160 You know that we're continuing in worship when Pastor Kyle gets 6 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,560 up here or anybody else. It's a continuation of worship, 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,120 right as we open God's Word to look at it. 8 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,040 For the last several months, we've been in this sermon series 9 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:43,240 answering the call. We began the with the account in 10 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:46,320 Genesis. When God calls Abraham to leave 11 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:52,480 his home, his family, his country, to go to a land that 12 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:56,080 God will show him. God tells him that he will make 13 00:00:56,080 --> 00:01:00,360 him a great nation, descendants without number, that he will 14 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:04,280 bless him, that he will make his name great, that he will be a 15 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:08,480 blessing to all the families, all the nations of the earth. 16 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,320 And these are all God's vow, his promise to Abraham. 17 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:15,760 These things are going to happen. 18 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,200 You can count it and Abraham's initial response in Genesis 19 00:01:20,200 --> 00:01:23,760 chapter 12 is to obey the Lord and go forth. 20 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,640 But answering God's call did not eliminate difficulty. 21 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:30,720 We've seen this. Part of the difficulty came 22 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:34,360 because Abraham took his his nephew Lot with him. 23 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,160 Remember, part of the difficulty came simply because of the 24 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,000 nature of God's promises to Abraham. 25 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,720 And part of the difficulty became came in because of the 26 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:52,520 fulfillment of the promise. The faith becoming sight did not 27 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:54,920 happen immediately, no, far from it. 28 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:58,840 But the question at each stage of the journey was whether 29 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:05,640 Abraham truly trusted in God's promises in spite of all that 30 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,199 made the pathway difficult and messy. 31 00:02:08,199 --> 00:02:13,040 At times. God's ways are higher than man's 32 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:18,440 ways, and he was. God was making a plan of 33 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,960 redemption, a way for redemption, a way for salvation. 34 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:29,160 And what we see is the unfolding of God's solution to everything 35 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:34,080 that has taken place since the Garden, when the first man and 36 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,840 woman chose to rebel, disobey God, rebel against him, and 37 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:45,920 bring in disruption, disharmony, futility, curse, and death. 38 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,640 And this redemption would ultimately be fulfilled in the 39 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:54,960 offering of God's own Son, Jesus Christ, many generations down 40 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,600 the line. And for this redemption to take 41 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:03,520 place, God was working in and through the call upon Abraham's 42 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:08,800 life. But this story, this story of 43 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:14,400 God and his call to Abraham, is actually our story too. 44 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,960 Because through it God is revealing all sorts of things 45 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:26,400 about himself, revealing more about who he is, His character, 46 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:32,880 His Holiness, his righteousness, his faithfulness, and so much 47 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,640 more. But He's also revealing more 48 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:39,760 about who we are as His creatures. 49 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,560 He made for His glory, not for our glory. 50 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:49,560 He wants us to see Him just as He is, and He wants us to 51 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,040 understand who we are just as we are. 52 00:03:53,360 --> 00:04:00,000 And through understanding who He is and who we are, our call to 53 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,880 follow Him becomes more and more clear. 54 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:09,080 Notice I didn't say easier clarity. 55 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:16,880 Simplicity does not mean easy clarity. 56 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:21,320 And simplicity does not mean we're not affected by the chaos 57 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,840 and the confusion and the complexity that surrounds us. 58 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,080 But we're citizens of another Kingdom, right? 59 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:33,760 So this brings us to our text for today, Genesis 20. 60 00:04:34,280 --> 00:04:38,400 Now you may notice that we're skipping a little bit at the end 61 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:46,000 of chapter 19, verses 30 to 38. This Hallmark ish story account 62 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,000 of the daughters of Lot scheming to take things into their own 63 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:53,200 hands to preserve their family. I heard a few chuckles. 64 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,080 Maybe you don't get the Hallmark reference I've got. 65 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:01,640 I've got ladies in my house that love Hallmark, but this is not a 66 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,880 Hallmark story. But when Pastor Kyle asked me to 67 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,840 preach a couple months ago, he said I'm going to be in at 68 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:12,680 Genesis 20. So that's what I study for. 69 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,560 Well, in the weeks, the past few weeks, it's taking him a little 70 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,200 longer. So he's going to get up here 71 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:22,560 potentially and tell you next week I offered to Pastor Steven 72 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,760 to preach that wonderful story at the end of Chapter 19. 73 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:30,360 I mean, he just said no. But actually that's not the 74 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,880 case. However, he will return us back 75 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:39,160 to he's got a word from the Lord to give us next week at the end 76 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:42,640 of chapter 19 and then we'll move forward to chapter 21. 77 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,960 But we're we're in chapter 19 this week and before reading the 78 00:05:46,960 --> 00:05:52,240 passage, I want to us to reflect upon our own lives for a moment 79 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,440 as we enter our our study of this passage. 80 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,760 If you are a believer in here, you've answered God's initial 81 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:03,800 call on your life to die to yourself and follow him. 82 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:09,880 But I want you to think about how God has called you into 83 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,960 something in your life, maybe recently, maybe not so recently, 84 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:20,040 that has become for you somewhat of a faith journey through His 85 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,440 Word perhaps, and through the counsel of godly friends and 86 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:28,040 family members, you became convinced that God was directing 87 00:06:28,040 --> 00:06:34,520 you down a particular path into a particular relationship to a 88 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:38,320 particular job or career or educational journey. 89 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,600 And maybe to devote much of your time and resources and energy to 90 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,720 something, maybe to an area of service in the church or in the 91 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:52,280 community, maybe to a move, geographical or otherwise. 92 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:59,320 And you feel or felt that God has promised a blessing of some 93 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,920 kind if you follow that particular path in obedience to 94 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:11,240 Him. However, as you wait and wait 95 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:19,560 and wait, not only for the blessing, not merely for the 96 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:24,440 blessing, but as you wait for clarity on the journey, as you 97 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,640 walk the path and encounter various obstacles, you know 98 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,920 what? You you become distracted, you 99 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:37,960 doubt, you fear, man. You live in your own thoughts. 100 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:40,800 I call that you live in your own head. 101 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,040 Anybody else have that problem? I do that. 102 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:48,400 I live in my own head sometimes, and you wonder as a result of 103 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:54,200 those things, you wonder if God is really faithful, if what you 104 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:58,120 think He called you to is truly the way. 105 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,760 I ask you to put yourself in this place because I think 106 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:08,400 that's where Abraham has been in these chapters we've been going 107 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:12,680 through. So let's read Genesis chapter 108 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:14,000 20. I'm going to read the whole 109 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:15,880 passage. I'm not going to make you stand. 110 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,560 I usually do that, but I'm not going to today. 111 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,160 We still have a while earlier and it's a long passage, but I'm 112 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:23,720 going to read through the whole passage. 113 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,080 Genesis chapter 20, starting in verse one. 114 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:32,080 This is the word of the Lord. Now Abraham journeyed from there 115 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:37,000 toward the land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and 116 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,480 Shur. Then he sojourned in Garrar. 117 00:08:41,039 --> 00:08:44,680 Abraham said of his wife. She is my sister. 118 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,120 So Abimelech, king of Garrar, sent and took Sarah. 119 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,200 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night and said to 120 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:59,480 him, Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman you have 121 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:05,320 taken, for she is married now Abimelech had not come near her. 122 00:09:05,680 --> 00:09:08,840 And he said, Lord, will you slay a nation? 123 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:12,760 Even though blameless? Did he not himself say to me, 124 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,520 She is my sister? And she herself said, He is my 125 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:20,200 brother? In the integrity of my heart and 126 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,200 the innocence of my hands, I have done this. 127 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:29,760 Then God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the 128 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:34,200 integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you 129 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:38,080 from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you 130 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,800 touch her. Now therefore restore the man's 131 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:46,760 wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you 132 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,200 will live. But if you do not restore her, 133 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:55,640 know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours. 134 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,680 So Abimelech arose early in the morning and called his servants 135 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:02,600 and told all these things, and they're hearing, And the men 136 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:07,000 were greatly frightened. Then Abimelech called Abraham 137 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:09,880 and said to him, What have you done to us? 138 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,840 And how, if I sinned against you, that you have brought on me 139 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:17,560 and my Kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that 140 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:21,800 are not to be done. And Abimelech said to Abraham, 141 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:26,520 What have you encountered that you have done this thing? 142 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:31,840 Abraham said, Because I thought surely there is No Fear of God 143 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:35,520 in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. 144 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:39,000 Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my 145 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,560 father, but not the daughter of my mother. 146 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:46,200 And she became my wife. And it came about when God 147 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:48,400 caused me to wander from my father's house. 148 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,560 And I said to her, This is the kindness which you will show to 149 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:54,920 me everywhere we go. Save me, he is my brother. 150 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,800 Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female 151 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,280 servants and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife 152 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,240 to Sarah. To him Abimelech said, Behold, 153 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:10,000 my land is before you, settle wherever you please. 154 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:17,040 To Sarah he said, Behold, I have given your brother 1000 pieces 155 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,160 of silver. Behold, it is your vindication 156 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,280 before all who are with you and before all men. 157 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:28,440 You are cleared. Abraham prayed to God, and God 158 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:33,200 healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids so that they bore 159 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:38,880 children, for the Lord had closed fast all the wombs of the 160 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,640 household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. 161 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:49,800 This is the word of the Lord. You may recall that Genesis 20 162 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:54,920 is not the first time that Abraham has concealed that Sarah 163 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,960 is his wife. I mean, he actually said that is 164 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,360 the case. But back in Genesis 11, you 165 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:08,360 recall Abraham's father takes him and his family away from the 166 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:14,120 ancient Mesopotamian town of ER, modern day Iraq toward Haran. 167 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:18,400 And this begins a 13 mile journey between the events of 168 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,240 chapter 12 and where we are in chapter 20. 169 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:22,400 Look at that. I got you a map. 170 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,200 Y'all like maps? I got you a map this morning 171 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:29,520 mapping it out. So between those events, this 172 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,200 long journey in chapter 12, God's promise comes to Abraham 173 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:37,120 for the first time. Abraham with his family and Lot 174 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,200 with him, take all their possessions to set out for the 175 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:45,440 land of Canaan all the way to Shechem, right under #3 There he 176 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,320 proceeds from Shechem further to the mountain of Bethel, before 177 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:52,560 continuing on to the Negev or the South country. 178 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:55,400 And remember, a famine comes on the land. 179 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:58,600 Here we are in Genesis 12. Famine comes on the land. 180 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:03,120 So Abraham and his caravan go further South Down to Egypt to 181 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:10,080 sojourn there and to find food. And this is where we see Abraham 182 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:14,120 deceiving Pharaoh and the Egyptians by saying that Sarah 183 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:17,840 is his sister. Abraham fears that the Egyptians 184 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:22,080 will see how beautiful Sarah is and will kill him many years 185 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,280 earlier. So in chapter 20, here we are 186 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:26,440 again. Same movie. 187 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:32,200 We've seen this before, with an eerily similar scheme to conceal 188 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:39,440 that Sarah is Abraham's wife. But a lot has happened since 189 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,920 that time, no pun intended. A lot. 190 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:47,160 A lot has happened lot, a lot happened with a lot, but much 191 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:49,320 time has passed since that first time. 192 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,880 First lie about Sarah, and it's this point. 193 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:59,120 It's this point that is of utmost import as we seek to 194 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:01,680 understand the events of chapter 20. 195 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:05,680 More about that in a moment, but let's just walk through the text 196 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,520 together starting back in verse one and make some observations. 197 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,920 The 1st 2 verses give the background for the whole chapter 198 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,600 as we had, as he has been doing for years. 199 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,560 Abraham, I got another map for you I think in a moment. 200 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:25,200 But Abraham journeys once again from the oaks of Mamre near 201 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,000 Hebron. This is where he had looked down 202 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:31,240 upon Sodom and Gomorrah couple of chapters earlier, and they 203 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:34,040 were they were destroyed by the Lord. 204 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:38,840 And he travels S toward the Negev again and settles in the 205 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:43,080 Philistine city of Girar, located between Kadesh and Shur. 206 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:47,000 Now we're not exactly sure where Girar is, it's somewhere in that 207 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,480 location, but in chapter 10, we actually learned that Girar is 208 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,400 the southernmost border of Canaan. 209 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:58,880 So he is down the southernmost part of of the promised land. 210 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:03,720 In verse 2, we're told that Abraham begins saying that Sarah 211 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:06,640 is his sister. He actually has been saying this 212 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:12,400 for a while, but undoubtedly he's saying this many times as 213 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:19,240 he comes into the city of Gerar. And ultimately word gets to the 214 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,840 king. So what does the king do? 215 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:25,000 Well, the king takes Sarah into his household. 216 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:28,160 We're not told the reason that he takes Sarah in. 217 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,800 We are told back in 12 it we're explicitly told she was 218 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,760 beautiful. But this is probably about 1520 219 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:37,920 years later, something like that at least. 220 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,000 So we don't know what the real reason is. 221 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,280 Maybe it was just to form an alliance with Abraham and his 222 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,200 clan. Regardless, Sarah is again, she 223 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,720 finds herself in the household of someone who's not her 224 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,960 husband. And as we move into verses 3 to 225 00:15:54,960 --> 00:16:01,000 7, we see God once again intervening to show grace to 226 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,560 Abraham and Sarah and preserve His promises to them. 227 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,720 This is another butt of the Bible, verse 3. 228 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:16,160 But God, OK, but God, he always comes in and intervenes by His 229 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,360 grace. God first reveals here the truth 230 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:23,960 that Abraham has hidden from Abimelech, and then he shows his 231 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,440 grace and his mercy to Abimelech. 232 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:30,880 The text doesn't tell us how much time passed between 233 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,880 Abimelech taking Sarah into his household and this dream that 234 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,520 comes from God. But it can't be very long 235 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:44,640 because remember back in chapter 17 and 18, God reveals both to 236 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:50,160 Abraham and to Sarah that in one year he's going to return and 237 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,560 she is going to have a child, right? 238 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,560 So it can't be long. But in verses 3 to 5, God speaks 239 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:03,520 to Abimelech and Abimelech answers starting in verse 6, God 240 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,280 responds to Abimelech's words. And I want you to look at the 241 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:10,319 nature of this conversation. Not a color there. 242 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:14,040 Y'all like color. Hopefully this is helpful and 243 00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:18,720 not distracting for you, but notice the mirror like structure 244 00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:22,880 where concepts are repeated in reverse order. 245 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:27,839 In literary terms it's called a chiasm, but they're repeated in 246 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:31,840 reverse order. See how God in His grace answers 247 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:36,640 Abimelech's concern here. OK, so you've got God coming in 248 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:40,360 verse 3 to Abimelech in a dream of the night and then jump down 249 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:43,000 to verse 6. If you can see it about midway 250 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,400 down, then God said to him in the dream. 251 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,800 So all this is being communicated to Abimelech in 252 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:53,640 this dream. But look at the red. 253 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:58,120 God starts off and he says behold, you're a dead man. 254 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:01,960 And then you go to the end to the red. 255 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:06,160 You're matching up colors here. Verse 7 the universe 7 he says 256 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:14,480 you and you and your family will live you and I think it says in 257 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:20,960 your family I got a typo there but and he will pray for you and 258 00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,960 you will live no typo. He will pray for you and you 259 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:27,840 will live. You're a dead man, but you will 260 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:29,920 live. God answering by grace. 261 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:33,080 Look at the purple the woman whom you have taken she is 262 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,840 married. This is why you're a dead man 263 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,840 Abimelech cause the woman you have taken into your household, 264 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:40,680 she's married. Then jump down to the purple 265 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:46,920 below in verse 7, restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet 266 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,760 and this is the way that you're going to live. 267 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,120 How do you reverse this woman who you've taken you restore the 268 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:57,480 man's wife, the green. Now Abimelech had not come near 269 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,680 her. What is God's response to 270 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:07,080 Abimelech Now Abimelech saying like he, he's saying I didn't 271 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:10,640 come near her and and that's part of his defense. 272 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,800 But God says I, I didn't let you touch her. 273 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,600 And then the blue is what Abimelech says, Lord, I hadn't 274 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,240 even come near her. We all know what that means, 275 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,280 right? I didn't come near her. 276 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,880 Lord, will you slay a nation even though blameless? 277 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,880 And God's response in his grace and in his mercy, he says, I 278 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,520 kept you from sinning against me. 279 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,640 So Abimelech here presents himself as one with a clear 280 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:45,640 conscience. And the Lord agrees with his 281 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,360 assessment. But we also see how God is in 282 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:52,160 control here. We've seen this throughout the 283 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:55,600 whole narrative of Abraham's journey. 284 00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:00,280 He is sovereignly working. God is to bring about His 285 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:05,280 purposes for Abraham and for Sarah and for the redemption, 286 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:07,680 His redemption plan for the whole world. 287 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:12,320 But we see in verse 7 that God gives the choice to Abimelech. 288 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:14,240 I've got it under underlined here. 289 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:16,720 He gives the choice to Abimelech. 290 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,480 He says that there's a possibility of avoiding 291 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,880 judgment. If he would restore Sarah to 292 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:29,480 Abraham and if Abraham, God's prophet, intercedes on his 293 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:34,560 behalf. When verse 8 we see Abimelech 294 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:39,440 response to the dream, what does he do early the next morning? 295 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,240 He calls his servants and tells them all these things. 296 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:47,280 What are all these things? The whole dream, the, the 297 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:51,480 scheme, everything. Everybody knows, OK, the truth 298 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,160 about Abraham and Sarah, all that God is revealed in the 299 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:57,440 dream. This is like getting a call at 300 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,080 your workplace, getting a call when you show up. 301 00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:04,400 Everybody's called to a meeting in the meeting room, right? 302 00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:07,400 Nobody likes that call. You don't know what in the world 303 00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,600 is taking place. But early the next morning he 304 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,440 calls this meeting. And notice the response of the 305 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,800 men. Now, perhaps they know they've 306 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:21,920 heard about God's judgement up the road on Sodom and Gomorrah 307 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,520 that recently happened. Regardless, they are terrified. 308 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:29,760 They're terrified about what, about what's going to happen if 309 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:34,440 restoration does not take place, what this God of the Israelites 310 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,560 would do to their king and to their nation in judgement. 311 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,360 So God has brought the truth into the light. 312 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:47,520 That's a whole nother sermon. But you know, God always brings 313 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,920 the truth into what? The light. 314 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:53,920 And he brings the truth into the light. 315 00:21:54,120 --> 00:21:58,760 In verse 9, Abimelech calls Abraham and begins interrogating 316 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,600 him. His first question, What have 317 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:05,880 you done to us? It's probably rhetorical, as 318 00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:08,480 everyone knows, all parties know what's been done. 319 00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:12,200 OK, it's like you. When I tell Melinda, my sweet 320 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,320 Melinda, I think she's back there somewhere. 321 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,280 What have you done? I know exactly what she does. 322 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,520 She put grass in the lawn mower gas tank. 323 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:24,600 That's what she did. I love you, honey. 324 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:30,560 That was 2 days ago. I know exactly I'm looking at 325 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:33,400 it. This is the same thing Abimelech 326 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,560 says. What have you done to us? 327 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:41,280 Resembles God's question to Adam and Eve in the garden, right? 328 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,800 He says, what is this you have done? 329 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:47,000 Does he know what they've done? Yeah. 330 00:22:47,600 --> 00:22:52,320 Well, Abimelech goes on. He goes on to ask what he had 331 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:55,640 done to Abraham, that this would be done to him, that this whole 332 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:57,840 Kingdom would be put in jeopardy. 333 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:03,920 What is clear here, that is that Abimelech believes that Abraham 334 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:09,320 has sinned against him and his whole Kingdom, and he clearly 335 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:12,000 denounces the sin. Did you see what he said? 336 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:18,520 You, Abraham, have done things to me that ought not to be done. 337 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:25,040 But verse 10, verse 10 is Abimelech's most important 338 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:26,800 question. This is why I entitled the 339 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:32,600 sermon this. He says, Abraham, what have you 340 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:35,040 encountered that you have done this thing? 341 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:40,360 Your translation of God's word may say something different. 342 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:44,120 It may say something like what was your reason for doing this? 343 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:48,560 What made you do this? Abraham, what did you have in 344 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:53,000 view that you've done this thing literally from the Hebrew, the 345 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:58,520 the Hebrew term means see. So some translations, some of 346 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:04,200 yours may say, what did you see, Abraham, that you would do this? 347 00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:07,240 I love the King James Version. In this case, it said, what 348 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,920 sawest thou that thou has done this thing? 349 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,520 Young people in the room, this is not about wood and an 350 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:18,360 instrument to cut wood, OK. It's about seeing what sawest 351 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:20,560 thou that thou has done this thing. 352 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,680 It's believed by many scholars and historians that wife 353 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:30,400 stealing was common in ancient times and This is why Abraham 354 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,600 lied about Sarah being his sister. 355 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:38,160 Perhaps that that's the case, but what seems clear by 356 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:43,200 Abimelech's questions is that he genuinely does not understand 357 00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:47,400 why Abraham has acted in the way that he does. 358 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,600 From his perspective, he might merely be asking Abraham if he 359 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:58,280 had an experience that he didn't lie about his wife and his wife 360 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,720 was taken and he was killed. Well, obviously that didn't take 361 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,280 place 'cause he's still alive. But have you, Abraham? 362 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,320 Maybe Abimelech's thinking, maybe you haven't lied about and 363 00:25:08,320 --> 00:25:10,840 you've been punished or persecuted for this. 364 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:16,160 Maybe that's Abimelech. But I believe this question that 365 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:19,520 Abimelech's asking to Abraham is a hard question. 366 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:25,160 And, and it's not merely from Abimelech, king of Gerar, it's 367 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:30,840 from the king of kings, the Lord himself, from God himself. 368 00:25:31,120 --> 00:25:36,280 Abraham, what have you encountered that you've done 369 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:40,320 this thing? And as readers of God's Word, 370 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,480 which we are, we should ask what Abraham has encountered. 371 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:48,200 And we go back to all that has happened, all that has been 372 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:52,840 revealed to us since Genesis 12 and God's initial promise to 373 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,840 make Abraham into a great nation and bless him. 374 00:25:56,200 --> 00:26:00,120 Remember, after that first lie about Sarah, God sends plagues 375 00:26:00,120 --> 00:26:04,080 upon Pharaoh's house and ultimately expels Abraham and 376 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,360 his household. Then in God's Providence, he 377 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:12,000 text Abraham from settling in the land of Sodom, which Lot 378 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:16,920 chooses, and God restates to Abraham his promise of land to 379 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:21,920 at the end of chapter 13. In chapter 15, God promises 380 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:26,400 Abraham a son that's going to come actually from his own body, 381 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,360 even though he's really, really old. 382 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:33,600 And, and I just thought of my brother who's here, he's a lot 383 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:34,920 older than me. That's what I thought. 384 00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:37,600 Sorry brother, I just thought of it. 385 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,720 You know, even though Abraham is really old and his sister's 386 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,960 really old, God tells him in Genesis 15. 387 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:51,480 Got me off track. God tells me in Genesis 15, I'm 388 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:53,720 going to give you a son from your own body. 389 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,920 And he makes a covenant with Abraham that that further 390 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,160 ensures the promises he's already given him. 391 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,760 God gives military victory to Abraham with his 318 trained 392 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,600 men. He rescues his nephew Lot from 393 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,480 the wicked kings. God blesses Abraham's son 394 00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,160 through Hagar when he and his wife take matters into their own 395 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:21,760 hands in the midst of these events in chapter 1713 years. 396 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:29,600 In chapter 1713, years after Ishmael is born, 13 years, God 397 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:32,800 changes Abraham's name to Abraham. 398 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:39,320 Abraham means exalted father. Abraham means father of a 399 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:43,960 multitude and Sarah's name to Sarah, both of which have the 400 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:48,000 basic meaning of Princess, but the latter probably signifies A 401 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,800 broader, more universal Princess, a mother of nations. 402 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,680 Abraham, what have you encountered? 403 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:02,960 In chapter 18, God promises Sarah that her womb is going to 404 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:08,120 be opened and she'll have Abraham's child and his name's 405 00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:11,080 going to be Isaac. And we know her response. 406 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:17,000 What was her response? You're funny, God, she laughs. 407 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:19,800 And Isaac's name, What does it mean? 408 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:24,480 He laughs another sermon. But God always gets the last 409 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:28,800 laugh. By the way, this is a high point 410 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,160 in the journey in chapter 18 when God asks Abraham, Hey 411 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,920 Abraham, is anything too difficult for the Lord? 412 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,720 Abraham, what have you encountered? 413 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:45,520 Abraham, have you encountered anything too difficult for your 414 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,280 God? In chapter 18, also verses 17 to 415 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:53,600 19, we hear of God's secret deliberation within Himself, the 416 00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:58,320 Holy Trinity, about whether to reveal to Abraham his impending 417 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:02,320 judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. This is what it says, the Lord 418 00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,080 said. Shall I hide from Abraham what 419 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,360 I'm about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and 420 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,000 mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be 421 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:17,000 blessed. For I have chosen him so that he 422 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,960 may command his children and his household after him, to keep the 423 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:24,080 way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so 424 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,160 that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what he has spoken about 425 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:32,120 him. Well, God does tell Abraham 426 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,240 about his judgement, and he reminds him that he's his 427 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:37,920 prophet. And Abraham intercedes for the 428 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:41,480 cities. Throughout all of this, God 429 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,800 continually over and over and over again blesses Abraham. 430 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,120 He blesses his house. He gives him possessions. 431 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,440 He gives him servants, He gives him men, He gives him wealth. 432 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:57,360 Yes, it's been a long time, around 25 years, since that 433 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:00,360 original promise. We've not arrived to the 434 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:05,920 fulfillment of the promise, but all that Abraham has seen and 435 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,800 encountered is God's faithfulness. 436 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,240 That's it. Throughout all of this, what 437 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:18,640 have you encountered, Abraham, that you have done this thing? 438 00:30:18,720 --> 00:30:22,240 What have you seen that you have done this? 439 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:27,880 After reflecting on all that God has taken Abraham through, we 440 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,680 may not have much compassion for Abraham and this second lie in 441 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:36,360 chapter 20, but we haven't let him respond yet. 442 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:41,280 So look again at verse 11. I'll give you a hint. 443 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,120 What he says in verses 11 to 13 doesn't help. 444 00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:49,760 Rather than looking inward, he actually puts a charge against 445 00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:54,320 the king and his Kingdom. His first problem in verse 11 is 446 00:30:54,320 --> 00:31:00,440 Abraham said, because I thought his first problem is what he 447 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:04,200 thought. Sure, yes, you're in my first 448 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:08,880 problem too, Kyle Smith. That's your first problem in 449 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:11,400 situations. I only pick on you because Danny 450 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,440 Hobbs sat right there and I just wanted to keep it right there. 451 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,880 You know, he sat right there in the first service. 452 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:19,880 That's our first problem. His thoughts are his own. 453 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:24,080 They don't reflect the reality of what has happened. 454 00:31:24,320 --> 00:31:27,800 And in these thoughts, he assumed, incorrectly that the 455 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:32,800 king and his Kingdom have No Fear of God and he would have 456 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,320 him killed. Are you catching the irony here? 457 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:44,120 Abraham's fear that the men of Gerard don't fear God actually 458 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:48,160 evidences his own lack of fear of God, and that he doesn't 459 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,920 trust God. I'll say that again because some 460 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:57,400 of you are still asleep. Abraham's fear that the men of 461 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:03,520 Gerard don't fear God evidences his own lack of fear of God and 462 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:08,040 that he doesn't trust God. In verse 12, it sounds like 463 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,440 Abraham's trying to argue on a technicality, A loophole. 464 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:16,840 After all, they share a father and hence she is his half 465 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:20,360 sister. Now, there's a longer discussion 466 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,600 about whether Mosaic law and later Jewish tradition and 467 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:30,960 writings actually allowed this. But regardless of that, what's 468 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:35,800 clear is that Abraham is attempting to absolve himself of 469 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:40,480 guilt, and his words reveal that he's right in his own eyes 470 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,840 before Abimelech. Now in verse 13, look at it. 471 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:47,960 I have to be honest, I'm not even sure. 472 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,560 I'm not even sure how to take this third excuse that Abraham 473 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,600 gives. He seems to be saying, this has 474 00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,320 been my modus operandi for a long time. 475 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:02,240 Look, Abimelech, I didn't simply just decide to do this when I 476 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:06,520 got to Garrar, which actually is not true because he's already 477 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,040 said he greatly, he feared that they didn't fear God. 478 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,200 He thought that they assumed that they didn't fear God. 479 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:16,560 But anyway, Abimelech, I didn't simply just decide to do this 480 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:21,320 when I got to Garrar. This is a scheme that we decided 481 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,080 way long ago. A long time ago, we decided 482 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:26,440 this. Don't you understand? 483 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:31,680 I told Sarah to do this. I lied now to you because that 484 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,640 was our plan from long ago. Would any of you accept that 485 00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,480 from your children, mom and dad? You don't understand. 486 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:43,720 I didn't just decide to lie to you me and sis I3 days ago we 487 00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,840 came together and decided to lie to you and that was just best. 488 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,560 It's been the way we've operated the whole time. 489 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:55,320 You know in verses 14 to and following we see Abimelech's 490 00:33:55,320 --> 00:34:01,640 response to God and his command back in verse 7 to restore Sarah 491 00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:03,800 to Abraham. Remember back in verse 7 says 492 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:08,800 God gives him the choice and not only does Abimelech restore 493 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:13,520 Sarah to her husband, he offers sheep and oxen and servants to 494 00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:16,080 Abraham. Further, he offers land to 495 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:19,880 Abraham whatever land he chooses in the Kingdom, something 496 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:22,400 Pharaoh didn't offer back in chapter 12. 497 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:28,080 Abimelech also tells Sarah in verse 16 that he's given 1000 498 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:32,239 pieces of silver to Abraham to vindicate her or cover any 499 00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,840 offense and clear of her of any guilt or culpability. 500 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:41,000 Interestingly, he says he has given it to her brother, and I 501 00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:46,000 don't know if that's a final jab at the scheme or it's a sign of 502 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:52,400 partial acceptance of Abraham's somewhat bad excuses of his his 503 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:56,159 defense. But regardless, Abimelech's 504 00:34:56,159 --> 00:35:01,360 response is clearly one driven by fear of Israel's God and a 505 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:04,840 desire to honor this prophet of God and his wife. 506 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:09,680 And then finally, in verses 17 to 18, Abraham intercedes on 507 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,200 behalf of Abimelech and his wife and his maids, and they bore 508 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,680 children. And these verses again recall 509 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:20,800 back to verse 7 that restoration is going to happen through this 510 00:35:20,800 --> 00:35:24,840 prophet. The irony of the story is that 511 00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:28,560 Abraham's actions bring about both the curse and the blessing 512 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:33,200 for the Philistine curse for obtaining Sarah, resulting in a 513 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:37,320 barren household, and blessing by Abraham's intercessory prayer 514 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,920 for Abimelech resulting in the healing of the women in the 515 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:43,840 King's household. The implication is that the 516 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:46,920 King's family will multiply greatly. 517 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:51,080 The preservation of Sarah and the blessing on the families of 518 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:57,480 Gurar illustrate again the surpassing grace and mercy of 519 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,920 God, and He ensures His promises will come to pass. 520 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:04,480 Look at one other thing, chapter 21, verse one. 521 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,120 We'll get there in a couple of weeks, but all this sets up 522 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:10,760 what's going to happen in chapter 21 when what God has 523 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:14,680 promised to Abraham back in chapter 12 comes to pass. 524 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:18,880 Verse 1 of chapter 21. Then the Lord took note of Sarah 525 00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:24,000 as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had promised. 526 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:28,200 So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, 527 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:34,880 at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him. 25 years 528 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:39,320 of waiting, being tested, failing at times, but growing 529 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:43,720 into obedience as they experienced God's provision and 530 00:36:43,720 --> 00:36:49,080 faithfulness at every encounter. Don't turn me off at this point 531 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:52,480 finishing up. But this is where we come back 532 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:56,000 around to the reality that this is our story. 533 00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,640 Church. The Lord is faithful. 534 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:05,600 He will bring about what He said, what He promised. 535 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:10,480 It will be according to his time frame, exactly according to his 536 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:15,440 plan, with no detail left out, nothing that's out of place. 537 00:37:15,560 --> 00:37:20,320 The best of all possible plans to bring himself glory like no 538 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,360 other plan would do, and the best of all possible stands for 539 00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:28,000 His children. You see, He never forgot His 540 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,720 promises to Abraham and Sarah. Things never slipped out of his 541 00:37:31,720 --> 00:37:34,320 hand. He never absconded control. 542 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:38,520 He never left them. He was there, He was faithful. 543 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:43,960 He was, He is because He is the same yesterday, today, and 544 00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,200 forever. He is the great I am. 545 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:53,040 He is the God over all creation and He is the same to you and to 546 00:37:53,040 --> 00:37:59,320 me and He always has been. Every step of the journey of 547 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:05,080 your journey. So wherever you are in your 548 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:09,200 journey that you thought about earlier in the sermon, and 549 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,680 wherever you are in the journey at this moment, the question 550 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:16,240 comes to you from the one who called you, from the one who 551 00:38:16,240 --> 00:38:18,840 knows you, from the one who loves you. 552 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:21,880 And he's carrying out his plan for you. 553 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:30,720 And he says to you and to me, what have you encountered? 554 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:37,840 And I would love to be so bold to you to proclaim this morning 555 00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:41,320 that what you and I have encountered at every step in the 556 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:49,240 journey is the faithfulness of God we've encountered. 557 00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:53,760 What we've encountered is only that which should give us full 558 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:59,400 confidence that God is working, that His promises are true, that 559 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:04,360 He's good, that He's faithful to bring about that which He has 560 00:39:04,360 --> 00:39:07,800 called us to. As John and Praise team come up, 561 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:11,400 I want to give you the opportunity to voice your answer 562 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:15,040 to this question to God himself. You might do it where you are. 563 00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,320 You might come down to the altar. 564 00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,240 I don't know. But the question comes to you 565 00:39:19,240 --> 00:39:22,720 and me this morning. What have you encountered from 566 00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:26,480 me? And again, I'd be so bold to 567 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:31,160 proclaim this morning, God has never been unfaithful to you and 568 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,000 to me. He never has. 569 00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:37,360 What have you encountered? And maybe you need to voice that 570 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:41,840 answer this morning. And you know the answer from all 571 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:46,280 of us who are as children, we should come and get on our knees 572 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:52,040 and answer by saying not like Abraham did and and provide 573 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:54,960 excuses. No, our answer should be I'm 574 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,000 sorry, Lord, you've only been faithful. 575 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:03,000 That's it. And I realize that this sermon 576 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,080 has been directed primarily at believers in the room this 577 00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:09,240 morning. But I know that there are people 578 00:40:09,240 --> 00:40:14,400 here, young people, people of all ages, who've never accepted 579 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:18,960 the initial call to follow God, to come to God through Jesus 580 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:23,560 Christ, his Son, who he gave. To die on the cross for our sins 581 00:40:23,560 --> 00:40:26,760 in our in our place. He paid the death penalty for us 582 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,040 through his Son Jesus. And I'd encourage you, if you've 583 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:32,520 never made that decision, do it today. 584 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:35,560 Don't wait. We don't know how much longer we 585 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:37,880 have. Do it today. 586 00:40:37,880 --> 00:40:40,720 Don't leave here. I'll be out there. 587 00:40:40,720 --> 00:40:43,720 If you don't feel comfortable coming to me up here, I'll be 588 00:40:43,720 --> 00:40:46,520 out there. But let's do, let's do business 589 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:48,320 with the Lord answering that question. 590 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:50,680 What have you encountered from God? 591 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:51,840 What have you encountered?