1 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:11,800 If you have your copy of God's Word, go and make your way to 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:16,280 Genesis chapter 13, Genesis chapter 13. 3 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:21,120 And as we prepare to dive into this chapter, I want to share 4 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:27,040 with you several quotes that are from a variety of sources, but 5 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:30,680 as you're going to be able to tell, are essentially saying the 6 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,120 same thing. All right, so who knows who 7 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,720 originally said or what the original saying was, but check 8 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:38,720 these out. Here's the first one on the 9 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,720 screen. Life is a matter of choices, and 10 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:50,840 every choice you make makes you. Our lives are fashioned by our 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,200 choices. First we make our choices, then 12 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:58,680 our choices make us. There's a choice you have to 13 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,320 make in everything you do, so keep in mind that in the end, 14 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:09,360 the choice you make makes you. Life is about choices. 15 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,040 Some we regret, some we're proud of, some will haunt us forever. 16 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,200 The message We are what we choose to be. 17 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:27,000 Finally, we are our choices. To say in a sentence what I 18 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:33,600 think Genesis 13 is trying to say is that life is a choice and 19 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:40,040 our choices make our life. Life is a choice and our choices 20 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:44,840 make our life. Listen to verse 1. 21 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,880 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he 22 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:55,160 had, and Lot went with him into the Negeb. 23 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:59,440 Now you remember, Abraham's been called by God to leave house, to 24 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,000 leave home, to leave country, and to leave kindred. 25 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:08,520 And Abraham's been promised land, nation, name, offspring, 26 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,840 blessing, protection, and on and on it goes in the covenant that 27 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,920 God has made and will make with Abraham. 28 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:19,800 There was a famine in the land, and so for a short period of 29 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,800 time, Abram takes the hiatus from that land in the land of 30 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,720 Egypt. And while they're on the way in, 31 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:32,360 a fear overcomes Abram that due to the beauty of his wife Sarai, 32 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:35,720 that the people of the land are going to want to take her for 33 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,960 their wife and kill him. And so they make a plan to 34 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,520 pretend that she's only his sister. 35 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:44,560 Sure enough, Pharaoh of Egypt takes Sarah into his house. 36 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,800 And based on this decision, driven by fear instead of faith, 37 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:53,040 Abram's now put into jeopardy all that God has promised him. 38 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,200 By not believing that God would be good to his promises, by 39 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,240 believing that the beauty of his wife was going to overcome God's 40 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,600 goodness, Abram's now threatened all the promises, land and 41 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:06,360 nation and name and offspring and blessing. 42 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,120 Now his wife's in the House of another man. 43 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:09,600 He's between a rock and a hard place. 44 00:03:09,800 --> 00:03:12,640 Unless God intervenes, this is all going to end well. 45 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:14,960 Guess what God does even in the midst of our unfaithfulness? 46 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:18,560 Praise God. He intervenes, does he not? 47 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,320 Praise God, He is still faithful despite our unfaithfulness. 48 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,560 Even when we mess up, God still in His grace shows up. 49 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:29,280 Hallelujah. So he does so, for Abram sends 50 00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:32,720 him out of Egypt with extra blessings than what he came 51 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:34,960 with. We pick up in verse 2 through 4. 52 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:39,080 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in 53 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:43,200 gold, and he journeyed on from there, from the Negeb as far as 54 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,240 Bethel, in the place where his tent had been at the beginning 55 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,120 between Bethel and AI, to the place where he had made an altar 56 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,320 at the 1st. And there Abram called upon the 57 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:58,040 name of the Lord. Abram makes it back to where his 58 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:01,440 journey had begun, and here is where God had appeared to him, 59 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,600 and here is where Abram had made an altar from which to worship 60 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:06,160 God. Remember, an altar was a place, 61 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,960 a physical thing. They built a platform, if you 62 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,600 will, on which they would offer sacrifices and offer prayer and 63 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,360 where they would worship. All right, praise God, we no 64 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,640 longer need to show up with our dead animals to put on an altar. 65 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:21,160 Amen. You know what you want to know? 66 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:23,840 Why? Because Jesus is the final and 67 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:29,320 full physical complete sacrifice for the sins of the world, The 68 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,280 Lamb of God who takes away the sin of what? 69 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:35,440 Every sacrifice before Jesus just pointed forward to Jesus 70 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,400 that one day Jesus would eliminate all those sacrifices 71 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,240 because he would be the one final one. 72 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,080 Jesus is the final and full sacrifice. 73 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,440 Therefore, we no longer need to alter on the altar offer like 74 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,440 what Abraham did. Abram had a place though where 75 00:04:52,440 --> 00:04:55,400 he called on the name of the Lord. 76 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,400 He was making a deliberate choice to worship is what I want 77 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,440 you to see because again, life is a choice and our choices make 78 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:08,920 our make our life. So Abram is making choices that 79 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:12,720 are making his life here. It's the same for us today. 80 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,720 Every day you have an opportunity to make a deliberate 81 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:21,840 choice whether you are going to worship God or not. 82 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:23,560 In fact, I want you to write this down in your notes. 83 00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:26,680 The first thing I think we learned here is life's greatest 84 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:34,360 choice is who you will worship. Life's greatest choice is who 85 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:38,560 you will worship. Listen, in one sense, every 86 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,640 single human being is worshipping every single day. 87 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,120 Whether you realize it or not. You were actually made to 88 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:48,160 worship. You were designed by God to 89 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:51,720 worship. You are worshiping whether you 90 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,120 realize it or not. Now, typically what happens is 91 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,040 if we're not worshipping God deliberately, I can kind of go 92 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,880 ahead and kind of break the news to you. 93 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:09,440 Most likely human beings worship who themselves every day. 94 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,600 What I mean by you worship is you're giving your life and your 95 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:15,720 loyalty and your love and your allegiance to something or 96 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,400 someone. You're going to do that. 97 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:21,160 That's worship. The only question is, who are 98 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,280 you really giving that first love, that first loyalty, that 99 00:06:24,280 --> 00:06:27,000 first allegiance, that first of your life, too? 100 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:30,200 All right. And ever since the fall of sin, 101 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:33,720 ever since sin entered the world and infected our lives, we as 102 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,760 human beings default to worshipping ourselves all right, 103 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,240 because our hearts have been infected by a virus called 104 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,200 idolatry that turns us to worship anything and everything 105 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,240 but the one true God. Which is the reason why the 106 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:54,560 Bible says we must be born again, made new, saved, given 107 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:58,560 new life, made a new creation, forgiven of our sin, joined with 108 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:02,840 Jesus and set free so that we can say no to that virus of sin 109 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:06,200 that's infected us and be filled with the Holy Spirit made alive 110 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:08,240 in Christ and live by worshipping him. 111 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:11,280 If you've never experienced that new birth, that forgiveness, 112 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:14,840 that salvation, what you need to realize is that your sin 113 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,520 separates you from God, your sin personally. 114 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:20,280 We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 115 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,400 This is why Jesus came. This is why He lived a sinless 116 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,120 life. Can you imagine living a sinless 117 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,800 life? Just wrap your mind around that. 118 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:31,000 That's what Jesus did. Never thought, spoke, or did 119 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:32,520 anything that would dishonor God. 120 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:34,680 Why did He do it? Why did He come to earth to do 121 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:36,960 it? To do it in your place and in my 122 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,800 place so that he could go to the cross, the perfect, qualified, 123 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,400 spotless Lamb of God for the sins of the world, to pay for 124 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,760 your sin and to pay for mine, so that he could go to the grave, 125 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,360 be laid in that grave, and rise on the third day. 126 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:53,560 Defeating death, defeating sin, defeating hell, defeating Satan 127 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,600 the enemy, and offering us forgiveness and life. 128 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:59,480 And the Bible says when you call on the name of the Lord to be 129 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,240 saved, When you hear that your sin separates you from God. 130 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:04,800 And when you hear what Jesus has done for you to bring you back 131 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:07,600 to God. And you call on Jesus to ask Him 132 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:09,360 to say you and forgive you and be your Lord. 133 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,280 The Bible says you're born again, you're made alive, you're 134 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,400 forgiven, you're rescued, all the things, a new creation in 135 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,880 Christ so that you now live to worship Him. 136 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:22,440 Abram's making a deliberate choice to worship every day. 137 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,400 God calls us those who've chosen to follow Christ, to make a 138 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,080 deliberate choice to worship Him. 139 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,080 Let me just give you some of those scripture references to 140 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,880 specify what I'm talking about. Luke 923 If anyone would come 141 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:40,520 after me, let him what? Deny himself, and take up his 142 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,720 cross, and follow me. Romans 12/1 I appeal to you, 143 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,800 therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you offer 144 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,320 yourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable 145 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,040 to God, which is your spiritual act of worship. 146 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:54,920 John 15. Five. 147 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:58,560 I am the vine, Jesus says, and you are the branches, and 148 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:01,760 whoever abides in me and I in him, here it is. 149 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,200 That bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 150 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,960 Every single day. You must make the most life 151 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:10,640 determining choice you can make it. 152 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:12,760 I want to break that choice down into three things you're going 153 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,000 to see in your notes there. If you're going to deliberately 154 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:19,320 choose to give God your life, your loyalty, your love, and 155 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:22,200 your allegiance, it's going to look like this number one, 156 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,160 You're going to intentionally have to choose to die to 157 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:30,800 yourself. Jesus, this day is not mine. 158 00:09:31,680 --> 00:09:37,520 Jesus, my body is not mine. Jesus, my money is not mine. 159 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:39,800 My job is not mine. My family is not mine. 160 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:44,360 Jesus, all I got you've given me, and all the life I have is 161 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,840 you've given me. And I'm dying to my way and 162 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,200 living it the way I want so that I can say yes to what you want. 163 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:56,000 Step #1 #2 this is a daily thing #2 is to offer yourself as a 164 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,320 living sacrifice. Again, God's not asking you to 165 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,400 bring a dead animal. He's asking you to bring a 166 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,040 living surrendered, submitted you. 167 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:06,960 Why? So that through your life and 168 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:09,400 your living, Jesus can live through you. 169 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,960 So you got to say no to yourself and then you got to say yes to 170 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,520 Jesus, right? And then thirdly, you are going 171 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:19,400 to live by abiding in Jesus. What does that mean? 172 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,000 Abiding in Jesus, right? It means that when you go to 173 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,640 work or when you go to school and how you do marriage and how 174 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,000 you do parenting and how you do your hobbies is in this way, not 175 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,160 the way you want to do them, but constantly you're walking, 176 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,160 you're living aware of God's presence. 177 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,200 You're praying without ceasing, you're asking God for wisdom and 178 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,080 direction, saying God, as I go here, as I do this, as I say 179 00:10:39,080 --> 00:10:42,280 this, as I respond to this, God help me do this in a way that's 180 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,280 dependent on your way, your wisdom, and your power and not 181 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,360 mine. This is a moment by moment 182 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,880 reality of a mentality for a Christian that we're not just 183 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:55,040 out there on our own doing this by ourselves and our strength. 184 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:57,440 So you got to say no to yourself. 185 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:01,320 You got to say yes to the living sacrifice and you got to say God 186 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:03,720 help me every moment along the way. 187 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:07,000 That's what it looks like. That's the Christian life in a 188 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,640 nutshell. Is daily death to you, daily yes 189 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:13,640 to Jesus and God, daily help me moment by moment. 190 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:15,880 That's it. That's how we walk by the 191 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:16,880 Spirit. That's how we die. 192 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:18,600 That's how we live. That's how we abide. 193 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:21,960 Right now, let's pick up verse 5 through 7. 194 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:27,480 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and 195 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:31,600 tents so that the land could not support both of them dwelling 196 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,040 together, for their possessions were so great that they could 197 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,040 not dwell together. And there was strife between the 198 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,920 herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's 199 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:45,800 livestock, and that at that time, the Canaanites and the 200 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,720 Perizzites were dwelling in the land. 201 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,960 You know, Abram is choosing to worship God. 202 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,040 But if you remember, and here's what I love about the Bible, the 203 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:58,480 Bible doesn't sugarcoat anything. 204 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,600 The Bible just tells you how it went down and how it happens. 205 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,120 And one of the things the Bible has told us is that Abram has 206 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:06,000 made a decision. Even as someone who's seeking to 207 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,760 walk with God and worship God and honor God, Abraham's made a 208 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:13,560 decision that it seems pretty clear may not have been exactly 209 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:16,760 what God had in mind. Because if you go back to God's 210 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:19,520 instructions to Abraham, he said leave house, home, country and 211 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:21,160 kindred. But guess what Abram does? 212 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,280 He takes a little kindred along with him. 213 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:29,080 All right, Guy named Lot, that's going to cause him lots of 214 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:34,360 problems, right? So will that decision come back 215 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,040 to haunt him? If life is a choice and our 216 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:41,240 choices make our life, is that decision going to have impact on 217 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,360 his life? You better believe it, right? 218 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,880 So here, how does this go? All right, well, the problem is 219 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,800 they both accumulated so much stuff. 220 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,720 Now their people can't get along, right? 221 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:55,800 I mean, now they got a first world problem on their hands, 222 00:12:55,800 --> 00:12:57,400 they've gotten rich and nobody can get along. 223 00:12:57,400 --> 00:12:59,920 Does that not sound right? Anyway, that's a different 224 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:01,520 sermon. Yeah. 225 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,760 In North Georgia, from what I understand, a couple acres can 226 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,720 sustain a cow. If you're going to have cattle, 227 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:10,760 you're going to have a couple acres per cow. 228 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,480 All right, because North Georgia grows pretty good grass. 229 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,720 Go to the Middle East. Couple acres won't support half 230 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:19,000 a cow. All right? 231 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,440 You have a dead cow on 2 acres after about a day, All right, 232 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:24,360 you need more. All right, So this is what the 233 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,960 herdsmen are fighting about. They need more room to feed 234 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:28,840 their animals. The animals are stressed because 235 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:30,320 they can't get enough food, not finding enough. 236 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,840 The herdsmen are stressed. There's physical, there's 237 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,480 relational problems, but there's another problem in the land that 238 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:38,440 you know what, if you're not paying attention, it'll just 239 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,840 slide right past you because God says something here in the midst 240 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:45,080 of this physical, relational conflict, there's a bigger 241 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,600 conflict going on, but you might not notice it. 242 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:49,400 Did you see what it said at this time? 243 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,480 The Canaanites and parasites were dwelling in the land. 244 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:55,560 There is a spiritual danger that's going to lead that's 245 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:58,000 bigger than physical conflict. That's going to lead to a 246 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:04,440 spiritual conflict. God goes out of His way to say 247 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,600 that the reality surrounding this problem that Abram and Lot 248 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:13,080 are having is a bigger problem caused by the inhabitants of the 249 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,560 land being wicked people. Now I know it doesn't say 250 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:19,760 they're wicked there yet it's going to in verse 13. 251 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:21,840 And then it's going to come even more obvious if you know your 252 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,200 Bible just how wicked these people in the land were. 253 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:28,480 All right, so how wicked are we talking? 254 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:33,200 Well, Leviticus 18, verse 24 and 25 says this. 255 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,680 God speaks this to his people to help give them understanding of 256 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:38,760 what's going to happen in this land. 257 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:44,600 He says, Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, 258 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:49,760 for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have 259 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:53,240 become unclean. And the land became unclean so 260 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:58,080 that I punished its iniquity and the land vomited out its its 261 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,240 inhabitants. A lot of times you'll hear 262 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:04,680 people in kind of attacking the Bible, they'll talk about maybe 263 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:08,840 quote how God, you know, in the conquest of Israel in this land, 264 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,840 God kicked out, God wiped out peoples that were living in this 265 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,440 land as if God did that for no reason, which is not true. 266 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,160 What's true is that the people inhabiting this land, their 267 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:22,640 wickedness and rebellion against God is coming up before God in 268 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,480 such proportions that God does what he does as a holy God. 269 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,560 God is not mean, but God is holy, holy. 270 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:34,560 He is so holy He knows He does not associate with sin outside 271 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,920 of the right way of judging sin and then giving mercy in the 272 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,640 place where we can choose to trust God and have our sin 273 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,960 forgiven when we choose to have faith in God and His provision 274 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:47,960 out of His Holiness for our sin. So God is telling, He's giving a 275 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,240 heads up that this sin is a problem. 276 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,400 In fact, the problems are specified in Luke 18. 277 00:15:53,400 --> 00:15:56,400 I mean, not Luke, Leviticus 1819 through 23. 278 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,760 I'll let you read that on your own time, but God specified what 279 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:03,200 are some of these things that God is going to remove the 280 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:07,160 inhabitants of the land for? Let me just mention some of 281 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,640 them. This isn't culturally popular. 282 00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:12,120 This isn't politically correct, but this is what the Bible says, 283 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:14,240 and that's what my commitment is to tell you. 284 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,720 These things included in that passage are adultery, child 285 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,320 sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality. 286 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,200 And God says because of the rampantness of these things that 287 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:32,480 don't honor him, that go against God's design, God says I'm going 288 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,920 to judge sin because of the rebellion of mankind against me. 289 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:38,800 And so wicked people are living in the land. 290 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,480 There's strife between the families of Abram and Lot. 291 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:43,840 Where will they go? What will happen? 292 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,320 Let's keep going. Listen to verse 8 through 13. 293 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,400 Then Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife between you 294 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,680 and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we 295 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,480 are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you 296 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:04,440 separate yourself from me? If you take the left hand, then 297 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:07,200 I'll go to the right. If you take the right hand, then 298 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:10,079 I'll go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes and 299 00:17:10,079 --> 00:17:12,720 saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere, like 300 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,480 the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt in the direction 301 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:18,160 of Zoar. This was before the Lord 302 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:22,040 destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, so Lot chose for himself all the 303 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:26,560 Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed E Thus they separated from each 304 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:30,200 other, and Abrams settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot 305 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,720 settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far 306 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,520 as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked 307 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:41,760 great sinners against the Lord. Abram, if you notice, takes the 308 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:45,040 lead in seeking to solve this conflict. 309 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:46,560 He says lot. We're family man. 310 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,680 We ought not be fighting. You choose take first choice, go 311 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:53,080 the direction you want to go and I'll choose second. 312 00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:56,440 I'll go last, right. And but from their location 313 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,200 geographically on the hills and arid kind of mountain area of 314 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:03,640 Judea, they could look down, if you will, on a clear day and see 315 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,560 the entire Jordan Valley that is following the river that flows 316 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,080 down to the Dead Sea. They could see how well all 317 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,760 watered, how lush, and how fertile that land was. 318 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:15,080 All right? It mentions it like it was 319 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,160 compared to the Garden of the Lord, that's the Garden of Eden. 320 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,280 It talks about it as if it was like the Nile Delta, well 321 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:25,800 watered by the river, right? So Lot looks around and makes a 322 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,640 massive life decision. Remember, life is a choice, and 323 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,640 our choices make our life. And though the Bible doesn't 324 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,200 come out and say this directly, I want you to notice you can't 325 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,920 miss the two factors that are driving Lot's decision to go 326 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:43,480 this direction #1 one is material prosperity. 327 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:49,080 Lot looks around and says, where could I go to maintain my 328 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:52,920 standard of living? What's going to make me richer? 329 00:18:53,360 --> 00:18:55,120 What's going to sustain my riches? 330 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,920 Where can I go and experience greater material prosperity? 331 00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,160 But then Lot makes the decision about where he's going to live 332 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:08,200 based on a second factor that we'll call moral neutrality. 333 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,920 Lot makes a decision about his address, regardless of the 334 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:17,560 spiritual consequences it's going to have on his life. 335 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,200 So Lot looks around. Life is a choice. 336 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:25,040 Our choices make our life, and material prosperity and moral 337 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:29,000 neutrality are driving Lot's decision here. 338 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,560 He looks around and he doesn't call on the name of the Lord. 339 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,520 It says he doesn't pray and ask God for direction. 340 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:40,040 He doesn't ask Abram, who he knows really has been trying to 341 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,880 worship and walk with God. He doesn't ask Abram for advice. 342 00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:46,880 Lot sees what appears to be the greatest material advantage, 343 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,440 regardless of the spiritual risk, and he takes it. 344 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,640 And listen, I'm not up here trying to say Lot was a bad guy. 345 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,880 The Bible doesn't say that. But the Bible presents Lot as a 346 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:01,080 guy who would not yet learned to make wise life decisions. 347 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,840 Do you see the difference? You don't have to be a bad 348 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:10,040 person to end up in a bad place, right? 349 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:15,160 All it takes is making a decision or two, not according 350 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:19,200 to God's wisdom, and next thing you know you make it based on 351 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,560 material prosperity or. Moral neutrality. 352 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,800 And it's like, whoa, I didn't, I didn't mean to end up in such a 353 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,000 bad position, but I didn't follow God's wisdom. 354 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,360 And guess what? A not bad guy is going to end up 355 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:35,680 in a terrible situation. Life #2 can mark this down in 356 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,720 your notes. Life choices are determined by 357 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:44,040 the wisdom you choose, by the wisdom you choose lots. 358 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:47,120 I don't want you to miss this. Lot's decision of where to live 359 00:20:47,120 --> 00:20:52,320 was based on wisdom. It was just the wrong wisdom. 360 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:57,480 Did you realize you are living by a wisdom right now? 361 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:00,720 You're choosing to operate by wisdom. 362 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:05,680 The question is not if, but what? 363 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,040 What wisdom are you? Are you choosing to operate by 364 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,240 your own wisdom as if and all the universe you know best? 365 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:14,920 That's a pretty arrogant place to be. 366 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:17,600 Are you operating by your friend's wisdom? 367 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,400 That's a pretty foolish place to be typically. 368 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:22,560 Are you operating by the world's wisdom? 369 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:24,880 By the culture? Listen, I've had a sentence 370 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,120 resonating in my heart and mind based on different situations 371 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:31,600 I've been encountering pastorally, personally, and it's 372 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:32,640 this. It's that. 373 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,200 It's not that the Word of God is not clear. 374 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:38,480 It's that the world we live in is so loud. 375 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,080 We struggle sometimes with what to do, what to say, where to go. 376 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:49,240 As if the word of God is not clear, right? 377 00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,160 As if God's will and God's best is not obvious. 378 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,560 The problem is, it's not that God's word is not clear. 379 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,080 It's that the world we live in is so loud, it's all we hear. 380 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,960 And so often that's the only wisdom we choose to walk in and 381 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:03,720 never question it. Because guess what? 382 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:06,840 This is the water we live in. It's the air we breathe. 383 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:11,880 We're blind, by the way. John Newton was too in 1779. 384 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,440 He said I once was blind, but now I see I once was lost. 385 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:18,200 But now I'm. I've changed the wisdom I'm 386 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,240 living by. My eyes have been opened. 387 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:26,560 There's another wisdom, and it's God's his choices. 388 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:31,120 Lots are spiritually careless. Have you ever made a bad choice 389 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:33,480 based on bad wisdom and paid a terrible price? 390 00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:40,640 Yeah, young people in the room. I want you to, I want you to 391 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,160 hear me. I'm going to tell you about four 392 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:47,760 choices just very quick that you've got to have God's wisdom, 393 00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:50,480 all right? I don't mean these are the only 394 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,200 choices you need God's wisdom for, but I mean you better have 395 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:54,520 them for these four. Are you ready? 396 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,800 Number one is your choice of the church that you attend. 397 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,720 By the way, I sure hope you choose to attend even beyond 398 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:04,120 your days under your parents roof. 399 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:08,760 All right, but the choice you choose, the choice of your 400 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,920 church matters because whether or not you choose a place that 401 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:18,480 stands and believes the word of God or not is going to impact 402 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,080 you and your thinking and the wisdom you choose to live by. 403 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:23,880 The church you choose better stand on the Word of God. 404 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:27,000 Regardless of what the world says, what the culture says, 405 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,880 what politics say, you better choose one that stands on the 406 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:33,040 word of God. All right, number 2 is your 407 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:37,520 choice of friends. If your friends don't love 408 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:40,360 Jesus, you are headed for trouble. 409 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:43,120 You are just headed for trouble. It's coming. 410 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,560 All right, you've got, I know this is hard, but it would be 411 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,000 better off to walk alone for a little while if you have to than 412 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,760 friends that don't. With friends who don't love 413 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:56,160 Jesus. OK, God has promised you never 414 00:23:56,160 --> 00:23:58,160 to leave you nor forsake. You'd be better off alone for a 415 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,520 little while if you have to. Number 3 is your spouse. 416 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,480 You better choose to marry someone who loves Jesus, not 417 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,200 that you think loves Jesus, not who says well, I'm a Christian, 418 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,360 not who starts going to church with you because you ask them 419 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,840 no, because you found them following Jesus. 420 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,840 I'm not saying there's some situations that don't work out. 421 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,080 Praise God that weren't that Hallelujah for God's grace, but 422 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,120 that's not the normal, it's not the normal. 423 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,440 Choose a spouse by God's wisdom. And then finally, fourthly, 424 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,680 choose your career by God's wisdom. 425 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,360 Now, I don't mean that there are better or worse careers. 426 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:37,640 There's so many options out there. 427 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,560 I'm just saying that you don't want to choose that randomly. 428 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,480 God built you and made you for a purpose, like He gave you gifts 429 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:48,000 and talents and a calling. And so God knows where He wants 430 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:49,560 to put you and how He wants to use you. 431 00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:53,520 Ask God to guide you by His wisdom to be doing with your 432 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,040 life something that He made you to do. 433 00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,200 Let me tell you what a blessing that will be. 434 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:02,880 Those four things you need God's wisdom for every decision, but 435 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:04,920 those four, you better mark it down. 436 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:07,920 You got to make a decision that I'm not going to make those 437 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,800 without God's wisdom. Verse 11, let me go back to it. 438 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:15,440 It says thus they separated. That's Lot and Abram separated 439 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,080 from each other. Verse 12, Abram settled in the 440 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:21,720 land of Canaan while Lot settled among the cities of the valley 441 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:23,600 and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 442 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:25,960 You ought to hear some like danger music in the background 443 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,760 right there. All right, now the men of Sodom. 444 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:31,200 Here's where the Bible just comes out and tells you the men 445 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,960 of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. 446 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:40,280 Part of part of God's call y'all on Abram's life involved a 447 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,120 separation. Do you remember? 448 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:46,520 God calls Abram to leave, to be separate from house and home and 449 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,000 country and kindred. Why? 450 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,600 Because God's calling, God's calling our lives, doesn't 451 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:54,720 always call us out of all of those things, but God's calling 452 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:59,200 our lives always calls us out of something so he can call us into 453 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:04,320 what he's calling us into. All right, so Abram's call had a 454 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:09,560 separation involved. Lot, on the other hand, also had 455 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,480 a separation, but a wrong kind. He separated himself from Abram 456 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:19,600 and joined himself with who the Bible calls great sinners. 457 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,920 This again, young people. He chose friends, He chose 458 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:26,560 neighbors that we're not going to lead in the right direction. 459 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,600 He separates himself from the promised blessings of God, and 460 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,280 he puts himself and his family in the path of the judgment of 461 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:36,120 God. In fact, the famous reformer 462 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:41,240 John Calvin writes this. He says let us learn from Lot's 463 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:45,480 foolishness that our eyes are not to be trusted. 464 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,680 We must rather be on our guard lest we be ensnared by what we 465 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,200 see. Lot fancied he was dwelling in 466 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:57,080 paradise, but it was a place that nearly plunged him into the 467 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:01,720 depths of hell. Listen, one of the greatest 468 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:07,120 lessons you can learn is you got to learn to decide what you're 469 00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:11,680 going to trust, because you're either going to trust in what 470 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,680 you think and what you feel and what you want. 471 00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:19,080 And you're going to Plumb line your life by that and you're 472 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:20,440 going to walk in your own wisdom. 473 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:22,800 Are you going to say, you know what? 474 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:28,520 If there is a God and you believe in Him and if he has 475 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:32,760 spoken and if what he speaks is true and if what he says is 476 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,320 true, then I got a different Plumb line by which I got to do 477 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,280 life. And you may not like the Plumb 478 00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:42,200 line, you may not like it, but guess what? 479 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,120 God didn't ask you and He didn't ask me. 480 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,320 He just said this is how I made you. 481 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:50,840 This is how I've designed you to operate. 482 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,720 You can go off and do it yourself, your way, if you want 483 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,760 to. God gives us choices and life is 484 00:27:56,760 --> 00:27:58,840 a choice and our, our choices make our. 485 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:04,920 And God in his love invites you, invites you to his wisdom and 486 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,360 way to be called out separate to Him. 487 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:13,880 So #3 life choices are determined by the separation you 488 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,680 choose. Life choices are determined not 489 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:18,840 just by the wisdom you choose, but by the separation you 490 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,400 choose. Listen to what the word of God 491 00:28:21,400 --> 00:28:22,840 says. John 1519. 492 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:26,520 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, 493 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,920 but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of 494 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:34,440 the world. 2nd Corinthians 616 and 17 Paul writes for where the 495 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,720 temple of the living God. And God said, I'll make my 496 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,000 dwelling among them and walk among them, and drop down to 497 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:41,520 verse 17. He says therefore go out of 498 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,360 their midst and be separate from them. 499 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:48,320 First, Peter 29 but you're a chosen race, a royal priesthood, 500 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:51,120 a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may 501 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:52,760 proclaim the excellencies of him. 502 00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:55,240 What's this? Who called you out of darkness 503 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,120 into his marvelous light? God calls us out. 504 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,520 This is the separation. I mean, that is the right 505 00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:03,360 separation of out of the world, out of the ways of the world, 506 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:06,160 the wisdom of the world, and to walking in the ways and wisdom 507 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,440 in the will of God. It's going to make you look 508 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:09,520 different. It's going to make you sound 509 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:10,720 different. It's going to make the world 510 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:13,960 hate you, as Jesus said, and reject you because you know 511 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:15,200 what? You don't look like, you don't 512 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:16,680 sound like. You don't talk like what the 513 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:18,840 world looks like, sounds like, and talks like. 514 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:23,240 I've heard it said that those who are citizens of heaven ought 515 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:27,080 to have the accent of heaven, not the accent of earth. 516 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,000 But the problem is when you live somewhere long enough and guess 517 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,240 what you tend to do? Adapt the accent. 518 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:41,680 When I was in South Georgia, where I was born and raised, I 519 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,120 said a few words different than I now say them. 520 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,200 I've been through Mississippi, I've been through Texas, I've 521 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:52,480 been through Alabama, Back to Georgia, right? 522 00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:58,840 One of the words I used to say was for H2, Oi would say water. 523 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,760 Why are you laughing at me? That's what I said, water. 524 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:06,800 Hey, were you going to go water skiing? 525 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,520 That's how I would say it. I got to Mississippi my 9th 526 00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,320 grade. The comrades looked at me and 527 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,160 was like, what, what, what, what, what, what is that? 528 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:22,440 Do you mean water? I was like, yes, that's what I 529 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,640 mean water. Well, it took me about two weeks 530 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,600 and guess how I said water? The way, the way I just said 531 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:30,080 water. I, I lost a little bit of my 532 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,880 South Georgia accent getting to a new place. 533 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:37,880 How often the temptation is in our lives to lose the accent of 534 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,800 heaven on earth, because you're going to be called out for the 535 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:44,760 accent of heaven. You're not going to sound like, 536 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:47,440 talk like, look like. It's going to be different. 537 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:52,120 And this is the separation that God calls us to. 538 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:56,560 I've heard it said like this. A ship is all right in the sea, 539 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:00,560 but the sea is all wrong in the ship. 540 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,520 The church is all right in the world, but the world is all 541 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:08,920 wrong in the church, right? Are you living separate? 542 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,320 I don't mean in a commune in a neighborhood that says 543 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:16,920 Christians only at the gate. Jesus says be in it, but not 544 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:22,160 what, but not of it, right? So let's pick up and keep 545 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:24,680 reading. In Genesis 13, beginning in 546 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:29,040 verse 14, the Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from 547 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,840 him, Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are 548 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:36,080 northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all 549 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,040 the land that you see. I will give you in your 550 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:41,280 offspring forever. I'll make you make your 551 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,400 offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count 552 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:46,960 the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 553 00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:49,800 Arise and walk through the length and the breadth of the 554 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,840 land, for I will give it to you. So Abram moved his temp and came 555 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:57,200 and settled by the oaks of Monterey, which are at Hebron, 556 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,040 and there he built an altar to the Lord. 557 00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,600 I want you to notice how Abram responded to conflict. 558 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:07,040 This is so practical because we walk into conflict all the time. 559 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,680 I want you to notice how how Abram handled it here. 560 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:13,400 The source of conflict in our lives is typically when 561 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:19,800 something we like, love, want, or care for is endangered and we 562 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:22,200 go into protection mode, we go into fight mode, we go into 563 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,320 that's mind mode. We going to, you're not going to 564 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:26,760 touch that mode, right? And in this case, it's the 565 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:30,040 physical space and provision for their livestock and their 566 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:32,160 possessions. And the strife that begin with 567 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,760 the herdsman could have worked its way up the chain and even 568 00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:37,640 spoiled Abram and Lot's relationship, right? 569 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:39,520 But that's not what happened. Why? 570 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:41,520 Because of the way Abram responded. 571 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:44,160 How did Abram respond? I think you could say Abram 572 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:50,440 responded generously, graciously, selflessly. 573 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:56,000 Why? Because Abram's life was 574 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,360 anchored in believing the promises of God. 575 00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,400 And when your life is anchored in believing that you're going 576 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,120 to receive and be blessed by the promises of God, you realize you 577 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:08,720 can't give yourself out of the blessings of God, right? 578 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,440 Abram's like, listen, I'm free to let Lot choose first. 579 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,040 God has promised me more than I could have ever imagined. 580 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,000 How could you not live generously when God has promised 581 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,760 you all things He didn't? He didn't choose first because 582 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,560 he believed the promises of God. He didn't stress in the midst of 583 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:26,760 conflict because he believed the promises of God. 584 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:30,200 He didn't fight for his own, protect his turf, or alienate 585 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,240 lot because he believed the promises of God. 586 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,360 Can I just ask you, are you believing the promises of God? 587 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,360 Can I ask you based on specific promises, right? 588 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:41,440 Just kind of run these through your heart and mind. 589 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:43,640 Are you ready? Let me name some Hebrews 13 590 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,880 five. Keep your lives free from the 591 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:51,040 love of money and be content with what you have because God 592 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:54,280 has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. 593 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,960 How many times do we quote the second part of that verse but 594 00:33:56,960 --> 00:34:01,200 never the 1st? It's so true that we love some 595 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:03,480 parts of the Word of God and we don't like others, right? 596 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,720 But again, whose wisdom? Whose Plumb line are we living 597 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:10,120 by? Are you believing that promise? 598 00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:13,600 Luke 1224 Consider the Ravens. They do not sow A reap. 599 00:34:13,719 --> 00:34:16,639 They have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. 600 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:20,960 How much more value valuable are you then birds? 601 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:26,400 Philippians 419 And my God will meet all your needs according to 602 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:29,000 the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 603 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,120 How many needs has God promised to meet in your life? 604 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:36,840 How many wants, just just in case you're listening? 605 00:34:38,639 --> 00:34:43,080 Matthew 633 But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, 606 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,840 and then what? Then all these other things that 607 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,040 you need will be rightly and appropriately added. 608 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:54,719 Romans 832 This is so good. He who did not spare his own 609 00:34:54,719 --> 00:35:00,800 Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him 610 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:07,600 graciously give us all things? You can't give yourself out of 611 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:11,160 the generosity of the promises of God. 612 00:35:11,720 --> 00:35:14,760 You're free when you believe the promises of God to be a 613 00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:16,640 blessing. You're free to be selfless. 614 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,280 You're free to be gracious. You're free to be generous. 615 00:35:19,520 --> 00:35:24,440 Yet you know what dries up? Generosity and graciousness, not 616 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:28,040 believing the promises of God's generosity to you. 617 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,400 Then you start fighting for your own and protecting your turf and 618 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,640 choosing not to share and choosing not to give because 619 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:35,120 guess what? You got to fight for what you 620 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,720 got as if it depends on you clawing and hanging on. 621 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:41,280 You don't live like that when you realize God has given you 622 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:45,240 everything. Abram is believing the promises 623 00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:49,640 of God. Life is a choice, and our 624 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:52,480 choices make our lives. Write down #4 in your notes 625 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:54,840 here. Life choices are determined by 626 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:58,440 the promises you believe. Life. 627 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:03,680 Life choices are determined by the wisdom you choose, the 628 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:07,520 separation you choose, and the promises you believe. 629 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:09,720 You see, Lot went after what he saw. 630 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:12,920 Abram waited for what God promised. 631 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,840 A lot walk by sight. Abram walked by faith. 632 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,480 Such faith honored God. And guess what God did in 633 00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:20,720 response to Abram's faith and generosity? 634 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,880 God shows up here at the end of the chapters like, hey Abram, I 635 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:26,200 just want you to look up, man. I want you to survey the 636 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:29,440 horizon. Look at all I'm going to give 637 00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,240 you in your offspring. Abram, go take a walk, tread the 638 00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:35,880 land. Go scout out all that. 639 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:37,320 I'm going to bless you and provide you. 640 00:36:37,760 --> 00:36:40,480 Just go check it out. Abram honored God, he put his 641 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,280 faith in God and God just happens to show up and hit 642 00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:46,760 refresh on all the promises says, hey, let's just review 643 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:53,240 Abram, just to encourage you. I love that life is a choice and 644 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:55,320 our choices make our life. I'm going to ask you to bow your 645 00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:58,320 head and close your eyes. John and praise team are going 646 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:03,040 to come out. Before I ask you to stand and 647 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:07,360 sing and respond this morning, I want to ask some questions that 648 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:10,680 you might want to use to respond to and maybe the way God has 649 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:15,000 spoken to you this morning. The first one is this. 650 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:23,440 Who are you worshipping? Who are you worshipping for? 651 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:26,520 Whom are the altars in your life built? 652 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:30,720 Who's getting your life, love, loyalty, allegiance? 653 00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:33,120 Is it God? Is it something else? 654 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:37,600 Let me ask you, secondly, what wisdom are you living by? 655 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:41,720 Are you living from the wisdom of heaven, from the wisdom of 656 00:37:41,720 --> 00:37:44,080 God? Are you living from the wisdom 657 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:48,920 of this world? What separation have you chosen? 658 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:52,680 Separation from the world for God, or separation from God for 659 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:56,040 the world? And finally, whose promises are 660 00:37:56,040 --> 00:37:59,280 you believing? Are you believing the promises 661 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:06,000 of the world of the enemy or the promises of God says Abram built 662 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:07,480 an altar and there he worshipped. 663 00:38:07,480 --> 00:38:11,640 These steps might be this morning, a physical place where 664 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:15,960 you need to make decisions in regard to the things that I just 665 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:19,120 mentioned. As I stand here, I stand here to 666 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,160 receive you, to pray for you, to talk to you about following 667 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:26,080 Jesus, to receive him as your Lord and Savior if you need to 668 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:28,280 make that decision. Or maybe you seem to come here 669 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:31,560 and kneel or stand and talk to God about whom you're worshiping 670 00:38:31,600 --> 00:38:35,360 or what wisdom separation are promises you're choosing and 671 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:37,320 believing. Maybe you need to leave 672 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,160 something here and say, God, I got something I need to trade 673 00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:45,560 out for what you've promised, for what you've offered, and I'm 674 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:48,560 choosing that today. I'm going to pray and I'm going 675 00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:50,840 to ask you to stand and we're going to sing and worship and 676 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,160 you come. Heavenly Father, I want to pray 677 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:58,080 right now, the Lord Jesus. Then these next moments that 678 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,680 your way would be had in our lives, that nothing would hold 679 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:04,880 us back from saying yes to you. God, help us choose your wisdom, 680 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,200 even as unpopular as it is in the world. 681 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:10,600 God, we just want to be people who say we believe. 682 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:14,400 We believe you. We're aligning our lives with 683 00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:16,800 your will and your way. So have your way in US. 684 00:39:16,800 --> 00:39:18,440 God help. Would that be the cry of every 685 00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:20,840 heart? In Jesus name I pray and all 686 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,160 God's people said Amen. Would you stand with me as John 687 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:26,280 and praise team lead us? I'm going to wait for you. 688 00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:29,920 These steps are open. Our encouragers are close. 689 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:30,400 You come.