1 00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:04,360 What's going on? Port City family and friends. 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:07,320 How are we doing? Good. 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:09,320 My name is Tanner. I'm one of the pastors here. 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:11,360 So pumped You're with us. We're going to start a new 5 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,840 sermon series in the life of Isaac, and we're pumped. 6 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:16,920 These are things we skip over in our reading plan. 7 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,720 Amen. Buying of caves and what not, 8 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,160 but it is loaded with the illogical significance and I am 9 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,080 excited to dive into it with you. 10 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:27,960 Y'all here at Port City we just want to help you walk with 11 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:29,120 Jesus. That's what we want to do. 12 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:30,920 We want to help you learn the scriptures. 13 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,080 We want to help you learn the value of the church and 14 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:35,600 belonging to 1 not just attending one. 15 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,400 And then we want to help you learn about God's mission and 16 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:42,120 what are you still doing all over the earth and included in 17 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,600 our great city of Norfolk, saving people. 18 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,520 And your next step if you're wondering about groups, about 19 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,360 giving, serving, all the things here is to go to starting point. 20 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:53,680 Our next one is next week, and you'll hear more about that in 21 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,800 our announcements. OK, so I want to pray one more 22 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,400 time for our time and God's word, and then we will dive in. 23 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,520 Our Father, we're so grateful for your word. 24 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,080 Lord, if you did not make yourself known, we wouldn't know 25 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:08,440 you. We didn't go looking for you. 26 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,000 You came and found us. You came to seek and save the 27 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,720 lost. We praise you God that this is 28 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:19,680 not a game that this is real and God, we we find ourselves as you 29 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,240 find us. So Lord, reveal yourself to us 30 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,640 now by your word, we pray in Christ's name, Amen y'all I love 31 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,440 a good highlight video. I love them. 32 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:34,880 YouTube came out in O five OK high school. 33 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:40,360 Tanner loved this one video, a Kobe Bryant compilation. 34 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,600 The songs, the highlights. It just was, I mean, just, I can 35 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,960 hear the music. So powerful. 36 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:47,480 I remember this video like crazy. 37 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,920 Highlight videos are incredible. They cut out the millions of 38 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,600 times they missed shots and they just show you all the amazing 39 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,400 things in a row. It's incredible. 40 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,520 That's literally the definition of a highlight video, right? 41 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:02,440 They're amazing. They cut out all the boring 42 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:03,920 stuff and just show you the highlights. 43 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:06,720 Here's the problem, they're not real. 44 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:10,639 Like what we love about them is what's wrong with them? 45 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:16,640 They're not real. Life is not a highlight video. 46 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:22,760 Amen, somebody Amen somebody. Our, our, our brother and sister 47 00:02:22,760 --> 00:02:25,320 Andrew and I are learning that right now with a newborn, Amen. 48 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,000 That's why we just prayed for him, because life is not a 49 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,520 highlight. But y'all, what we do, what all 50 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:35,360 of us do, is we take the highlight mentality into our 51 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,720 walk with Jesus. And what could be very dangerous 52 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:43,400 is to think that what God wants is just give you unending 53 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:46,400 highlights. It's not true. 54 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,960 I listen to a sermon on patience and I still hate my roommate. 55 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:55,680 I feel motivated to love my enemy, but I don't love my 56 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,000 enemy. I hear a sermon about the 57 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:01,520 nations and I like that, but I don't. 58 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:02,800 I don't want to be uncomfortable. 59 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,360 I I listen to this really cool worship song in the car and then 60 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,520 I get out and I just want to please my boss. 61 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:15,160 That's life. Now, what I'm not saying is 62 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:17,640 following Jesus really isn't possible. 63 00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:22,880 What I am saying is is not going to feel like a highlight reel. 64 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:25,760 Hey, it's not going to feel like that. 65 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:30,040 It is going to be a pilgrimage, a journey. 66 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:36,040 It's going to be a step by step journey rooted in promises, but 67 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:40,120 it's going to feel mundane. And thankfully, the Bible is not 68 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,080 a book of highlights. Praise the Lord, and none more 69 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:49,120 real than the story of Abraham. Now long stretches of time go on 70 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,320 in between verses at times, but it is our reading into it 71 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,640 highlights, not what it is communicating to us. 72 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,720 Are y'all tracking with me? So in the story of Abraham and 73 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:01,560 into Isaac, as we get into Isaac's story, my hope for us is 74 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:06,480 that we learn to live with God in a promise based pilgrimage 75 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,280 and not highlight certainty. Are y'all with me promise based 76 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,360 pilgrimage, promise based journey and not a highlight 77 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,720 certainty. Does that sound good? 78 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:18,760 That sounds good to me. So today we're going to talk 79 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:22,160 about knowing our promise history, living the promise in 80 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,640 the present. And then I got 3 promise lessons 81 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:26,960 for you. OK? 82 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,280 Know your promise history, Live in your promise present. 83 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:31,920 And I got 3 lessons for you. If you're ready, let me hear you 84 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,480 say I'm ready. OK, let's talk about knowing the 85 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:38,120 promise history. We got to know who this dude 86 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,080 Abraham is before we can talk about Isaac. 87 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:41,200 We got to know. OK? 88 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:45,160 So I invite you to turn with me to Genesis Chapter 11. 89 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,760 OK? This is arguably one of the 90 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,120 biggest moments in Scripture. If you had a list of 10 most 91 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,880 important verses in the Bible, I hope you know Genesis 12/1 is 92 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:57,880 there. It's in the top ten. 93 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:03,360 OK, it's when God calls Abraham. But before he calls Abraham, we 94 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:07,280 got a scene at Babel that epitomizes the problem. 95 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,720 You know, every good saga story starts off with the hero, right? 96 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:13,840 The first Star Wars starts with Luke Skywalker. 97 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,440 They're showing you the solution to the problem. 98 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,280 You don't yet know. OK, when Genesis 11, we meet 99 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,000 Darth Vader. OK, we meet the problem. 100 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,720 And then Genesis 12 is the calling of the hero. 101 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:27,600 Does that make sense? But we're going to see that the 102 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,240 hero has problems. It's it's an awesome story all. 103 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:35,160 OK, so the in Genesis 11, just look at the the titles of the 104 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,400 the your Bible is giving you some headers to let you know 105 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,520 kind of what's happening. The original authors of the 106 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,960 Bible and scholars agree. Tradition tells us is Moses 107 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,120 compiled this for us. It says the tower of Babel. 108 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:51,560 Then you look down, it says Shem's descendants, then Tara's 109 00:05:51,560 --> 00:05:54,280 descendants and then chapter 12 it says the call of Abraham. 110 00:05:54,280 --> 00:05:58,680 Do y'all see those? OK, those descendants lists have 111 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:03,120 another name called genealogies. Genealogies are lists of names 112 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,120 and anytime you see a list of names, you should be thinking 113 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:07,600 something new is about to happen. 114 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,960 The biblical authors are trying to send you send you a message 115 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,800 that something new is coming. So notice it goes Tower of Babel 116 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,160 names, names Abraham, Babel names Abraham, y'all with me? 117 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:22,320 So something new is starting in Abraham. 118 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,800 He's he's the the guy that God is going to use to do something 119 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,000 new, which makes Babble a big deal. 120 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,120 OK, so Babble is bad. It's really bad. 121 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,840 And I want to show you what is so bad about it. 122 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:36,680 And just two verses. I can't walk through the whole 123 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:40,600 story, but look at Chapter 11 verses four and five chapter is 124 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,640 the big number versus the little number. 125 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:49,440 So big 11, little 4. Then they said, Come, let us 126 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:54,320 build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the 127 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:59,280 heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be 128 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:01,200 dispersed over the face of the whole earth. 129 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,880 Verse 5. And the Lord came down to see 130 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:09,280 the city and the tower which the children have of man had built. 131 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:13,720 Did you notice the prominence of the word ourselves? 132 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:17,800 Underline that word. Even if you reason reading our 133 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:19,720 our copy here you know just underline it. 134 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,000 Next person who opens that will see it ourselves. 135 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,840 Y'all The epitome of what was wrong was ourselves. 136 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:32,240 Sin is self. God created things good. 137 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,400 He created Adam and Eve full of potential to Co labor in the 138 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,800 world and cultivate it with God and to walk with God in the 139 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,200 garden day after day. And this was God's good 140 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:44,000 intention. We were naked and unashamed. 141 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:48,160 We were married, we had jobs. And then the fall comes. 142 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,000 The curse comes. It's fractured, it's broken, and 143 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,440 God has to, in His love, kick them out of the Garden of Eden. 144 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,800 And there's something about the human soul that is trying to 145 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:00,480 find our way back to God's place under God's rule, with God's 146 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:02,880 purpose. We want him, we want his place, 147 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:09,520 we want purpose, we want safety. But what sin is it is instead of 148 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,840 going to God to get what only God can give, it is going to 149 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,360 something else. It's going to yourself to give 150 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,440 what only God can give. So instead of going to the 151 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:20,560 source of life to get life, instead of going to the author 152 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,800 to get a story, instead of going to God to get security, we say 153 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,200 we got it. And Babel represents the epitome 154 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,360 of we got it. I got this. 155 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,640 That's sin. Sin is self, by the way, I like 156 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:35,919 to think of it is in your sin and my sin. 157 00:08:35,919 --> 00:08:38,240 What we do is we are both dead in our sin. 158 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:39,600 That's the doctrine. Quite literally. 159 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,440 You're dead and you're dying. You're quite literally killing 160 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:44,200 yourself. And that's what they were doing 161 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:45,640 at Babel. They were trying to build a name 162 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,440 for themselves, quite literally building a tower up to heaven. 163 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:51,360 How stupid does that sound to our modern ears, right? 164 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,000 But y'all, it's, it's what we do in a number of different ways, 165 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:57,240 day after day after day as we are trying to make a name for 166 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:00,600 ourselves. So what is God going to do about 167 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,600 the sinful humanity? I'll tell you what he's going to 168 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,120 do. Chapter 12, verse one. 169 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,680 Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your 170 00:09:08,680 --> 00:09:11,000 kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show 171 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,000 you, and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless 172 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:20,480 you and make your name great. Y'all, the God of the Bible 173 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,400 wants to make you great. Like it's crazy. 174 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,040 Like he says I'm going to make a great name of you. 175 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,440 They're trying to do it for themselves at Babel and Yahweh 176 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:31,480 Elohim, he says I will bless you. 177 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,240 You don't have to go get it. I give it. 178 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,800 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, 179 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,960 I will curse. And in you all the families of 180 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:46,120 the earth shall be blessed. So naturally we're thinking this 181 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:50,360 Abraham guy must be special. He must be a St. well, as we 182 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,160 find in his story, he is quite the scoundrel. 183 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,960 So God is choosing to do this of his own prerogative, not because 184 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,720 Abraham is special. We see in verse 4. 185 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,240 So Abram and by the way, if you're like why you keep saying 186 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:04,600 Abraham, He goes by Abram. I'm not walking through all of 187 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:06,480 Abraham's story today. I'm trying to catch you up. 188 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:10,400 He gets renamed in Genesis 17. Abraham, which means father of 189 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,720 many nations. So Abraham went as the Lord had 190 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,840 told him and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he 191 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,480 departed from Haran. And hopefully even that when you 192 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,440 say Haran, that's a, that's a, he's leaving from there to go 193 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,640 into what is known as the promised land where God was 194 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:30,080 telling him to go. And there's, there's a lot 195 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,680 there. So what happens is God says we 196 00:10:33,680 --> 00:10:35,680 got a problem. We got a Death Star, we got a 197 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:37,680 Darth Vader. It's us, it's ourselves. 198 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,840 I need to hear. I need a plan to save them from 199 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:43,840 themselves. So he calls somebody who's 200 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:45,920 themself broken and busted a scoundrel. 201 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,800 So how's that going to help? This is the God of the Bible. 202 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:51,840 He says, I'm going to I'm going to do something about it. 203 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:56,160 And I'm going to call a barren 75 year old man with no kids and 204 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:58,400 tell him through him a bunch of nations going to come and you're 205 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:04,680 like, huh, this guy, this is the guy, This is your guy. 206 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,720 He's a 75 year old man with no kids. 207 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:13,480 And then for the next 25 years, he does not have a kid of his 208 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,720 own with his wife Sarah. They are barren still. 209 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,120 They try to force it. They try to have him have a kid 210 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,920 with another woman, so he is a scoundrel. 211 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:24,040 They struggle with trust and faith. 212 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:30,000 But after 25 years of waiting, struggling, believing, trusting, 213 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:34,000 not believing, losing hope, but still trusting, God gives them 214 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,360 the promised son, Isaac. And there's so many other 215 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,360 stories I could go through, but the last before we jump to to 216 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:44,520 their deaths in the, the The Cave story that we read, I want 217 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:46,720 us to just kind of be thinking, how does this work? 218 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,520 Like how did their dynamic work? If he's such a scoundrel, why 219 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:52,960 did God keep operating within? Why did he choose them? 220 00:11:52,960 --> 00:11:55,600 What is going on? How does this, how could it work 221 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,200 that a sinful man like Abraham is able to be the chosen one 222 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,400 through whom we're going to solve the Death Star problem 223 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,360 that happened at Babel? Y'all, there's one really 224 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,560 important story in Genesis 15 that I just want to kind of 225 00:12:07,560 --> 00:12:11,640 narrate for you, Y'all. In Genesis 15, God establishes a 226 00:12:11,680 --> 00:12:15,040 covenant with Abraham. Somebody say covenant, y'all? 227 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:18,320 A covenant is not a contract, OK? 228 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:22,760 What becomes very clear is this is not a business partnership 229 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,200 between Abraham and God to save the world, OK. 230 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:29,600 And the way God demonstrates this is back in the old days, 231 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,840 the way you would initiate or institute a covenant is you 232 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,920 would take some animals and RIP them in half and you would kind 233 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,080 of make like a dance wall. Like imagine like at a wedding, 234 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,400 like it's time for the percolator, like that type 235 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,600 moment. Come on, somebody. 236 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,000 But what is lining it is not your friends and family. 237 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:52,400 It's like dead birds and you're like, and it stinks and it's 238 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:54,160 bloody. They're ripped in half. 239 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:58,000 The idea was we're in a covenant together. 240 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,560 Let's walk through these dead, ripped apart animals and if 241 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:06,720 either of us breaks our end of the covenant, let it be to us as 242 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,160 it was to these animals. So you don't enter a covenant 243 00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:13,720 Willy nilly, right? And something incredible happens 244 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,200 in Genesis 15. This is what happens at the 245 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:18,960 moment. They're about to walk through 246 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,560 the percolator line together of ripped up animals. 247 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:28,720 God puts Abraham to sleep and the Bible says a smoking torch 248 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:34,200 and a flame of a pot go through what is happening there, y'all? 249 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,920 It is so important to every story we read about Abraham and 250 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:41,480 Isaac for the next six weeks with Isaac y'all, what is 251 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,960 happening in that moment is God is making it abundantly clear 252 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:49,840 I'm going to do this. You are sinful. 253 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,040 We can't both walk through this or the person who doesn't do it 254 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,720 will be ripped apart because you'll be ripped apart before we 255 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:57,920 get through it. Because you are a scoundrel. 256 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:01,440 The point of the covenant is to show God is going to do it from 257 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,360 beginning to end. He didn't choose Abraham 'cause 258 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:05,520 he's of a special stock that won't mess it up. 259 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,480 He is going to do it despite Abraham messing it up, even at 260 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,360 the cost of him being ripped apart, which makes Jesus on the 261 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:15,080 cross not just him dying in the place for your sin. 262 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,280 It is covenant fulfillment of what He promised to Abraham. 263 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:23,680 He is ripped apart to fulfill everything promised starting in 264 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:26,640 Genesis 12/1. Jesus dying on the cross is the 265 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:28,360 solution to what happened at Babel. 266 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,840 He is ripped apart to make our name great, to bless us. 267 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:37,360 So you could be in the lineage of Abraham, not by blood, but by 268 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,760 faith. See, all that is how this works. 269 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,680 That's how this is possible. God is faithful, not you. 270 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:48,360 So if you don't know Jesus, probably what you would tell me 271 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,080 if I took you out the coffee, which I pray gets to happen at 272 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:52,240 some point. He's like, I don't want to go to 273 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:54,160 coffee with this guy, go with somebody else. 274 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,040 What we're going to tell you is that God has plans for your life 275 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:00,320 and you just have to sign on the dotted line of Jesus blood and 276 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,720 trust him and follow him. And you're going to tell me you 277 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,280 don't think you can follow Jesus and we're saying I don't think 278 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:11,120 you have it in you following Jesus about God, He was ripped 279 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,680 in part so you could follow him. He is the covenant making, 280 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,320 covenant keeping God. You are not signing a business 281 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,040 contract where you do 50 and God does 50. 282 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,480 He is the covenant making covenant keeping Yahweh whose 283 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:28,640 blood was ripped shed for you. So just know if you don't want 284 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,240 to opt in at poor city, it ain't because you ain't good enough. 285 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,280 None of us are we all scoundrels. 286 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:37,000 There aren't some Saints, some scoundrels. 287 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:41,040 God makes scoundrels into Saints by his blood. 288 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,720 Amen, somebody. That's how this works. 289 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,960 Now let's zoom up to chapter 23, verses 1 and 2. 290 00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:51,600 Sarah is dying. She dies. 291 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:57,240 Sarah lived 127 years. These were the years of the life 292 00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:59,720 of Sarah. And Sarah died at Curiath Arba, 293 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:01,920 that is Hebron in the land of Canaan. 294 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:04,600 And Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to wheat for her. 295 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:09,840 So y'all just want to give you a couple of clues both of time and 296 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:13,320 location, Time and location. Cause a lot is going on here and 297 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,240 it's not just highlights, OK? When they were called, they were 298 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,240 called in the land of Haran. We want to show you a map real 299 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,320 quick, OK? This is modern day. 300 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,200 This is modern day like Syria, Middle East, Turkey, these 301 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:27,960 different dynamics. So they started in the land of 302 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:29,760 Erb, bottom right of your screen. 303 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,240 OK Haran is where they were called. 304 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,760 So like Abraham's family's originally from Erb, they were 305 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:37,640 called when they were in Haran, they traveled down into the 306 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,800 promised land. And then you you've been here in 307 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,680 the term Hebron, OK, This is where The Cave scene is going to 308 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:48,120 go down is in Hebron. Hopefully you see that in the 309 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,680 red in the bottom left under Jerusalem. 310 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:54,080 Y'all see that? OK, so that is where this scene 311 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:59,760 goes down, where Abraham goes to the Hivites and he says hey, my 312 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:03,640 wife is dead, OK. And by the way, this is point #2 313 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:05,119 living the promise present, My fault. 314 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:13,240 So she is 127 when she dies, OK? She was 65 when they called her 315 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,839 up in Haran, OK? She was 90 when she had the 316 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:19,920 Promise kids. So 25 year gap right? 317 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:24,079 She finally has the kid and then for 37 years she gets to be 318 00:17:24,079 --> 00:17:28,640 Isaac's mom and then she dies. OK they were promised you will 319 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,960 be the the you know through you all families on earth will be 320 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:33,720 blessed. But at the end of their days 321 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,080 they had nothing. And I just want to be clear, God 322 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,880 had promised them stuff. They had the kid but no no 323 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:43,400 actual land was theirs. Are y'all tracking with me? 324 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:46,560 They have been faithful to the God of this covenant and they 325 00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:48,400 trusted him. But she dies. 326 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:52,800 So what Abraham does and this this chapter 23 is one of those 327 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:53,960 where you read it in your reading plan. 328 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,640 You're like, why is this here? What is this? 329 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:01,040 Can I just where's the next highlight when Lord is a good 330 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:02,560 story coming? OK, I get this one. 331 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:05,320 I'll read this one y'all. It's all there on purpose. 332 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,720 Think about this. God promises them the promised 333 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:10,320 land. They own none of it. 334 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:13,080 And another thing you'll notice as you go back and read Genesis 335 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,720 23, God's name is not mentioned by Abraham. 336 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:18,880 Abraham didn't tell him directly to buy The Cave that we know of. 337 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:21,760 But at the end of his wife's life, he mourns for her and he 338 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,360 gets up. He's been promised this thing, 339 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:27,280 all this land through him, all the nations on earth will be 340 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:28,600 blessed. He's been given the kid. 341 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:33,240 I'm gonna buy land for where my wife's going to be buried. 342 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:36,600 So he has to go to the power holders of that day, the 343 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:38,560 Hivites. And you'll notice in their 344 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:40,920 little dialogue, it feels very like Ruth 4:00-ish. 345 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,680 For those of y'all that know your Bible, like this purposeful 346 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,440 actual ceremony of buying something legally, they want to 347 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,320 say you can use it. What they're trying to do is say 348 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:51,680 we'll loan it till you use it. Do what you need to do, but it's 349 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:53,400 ours. And he said no, no, no, no, no, 350 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,800 Let me buy that thing. I want to put my stamp on this 351 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:58,520 land that God gave me. Do you get that? 352 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:00,240 He's buying land. God already gave him. 353 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,520 Y'all track with that. He's purchasing promised land. 354 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:08,160 So it's an anchor of faith that God gave us this and I need 355 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,120 somewhere to lay down my wife. And so I'm going to do it here 356 00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:13,360 where God gave me the land. So he goes to the power holders 357 00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:17,480 of the land in Hebron, which if you notice is in the heart of 358 00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,200 the promised land. He says, let me hide that cave. 359 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,160 They do a little cat and mouse. And the guy basically says, I 360 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,320 can't give you The Cave. I'll give you the, the, the, the 361 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,720 field. And he expands it even more, 362 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:29,240 gives him more than he asked for. 363 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:31,480 And he charges them a big price for. 364 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:36,920 And Abraham says, I'll take it. So what's happening right under 365 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,520 our nose is that part of the promised land is now legally 366 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:43,480 his. He has legally bought some of 367 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:45,640 it. And for future generations to 368 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:47,960 come, others will be buried here. 369 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:51,160 Not only does Sarah get buried here, we're about to see Abraham 370 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,480 gets buried here. We're going to see later in 371 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,800 Genesis, Isaac will, Jacob will, Rebecca will, and Leah will. 372 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:02,000 It becomes a symbol of God's faithfulness to this family that 373 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,600 they get to keep coming back to this land no matter who lives 374 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:06,880 there, though they are vulnerable and they could get 375 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:09,000 some armies and tell them you don't own this land no more. 376 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:11,720 It's like God is doing something right under the nose of the 377 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,120 nations that he's going to do in fullness later. 378 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,440 Y'all track with me. So this is a massive moment in 379 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,680 Abraham's life. And what I really like about it 380 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:25,040 is like the promise God gave him, gave him some like. 381 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:29,760 Promise filled creativity, like I didn't get directly told to 382 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,120 buy this field, but God told me all of it's mine, all of it will 383 00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:36,640 be my family's. And he just kind of, he's like, 384 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,640 hey, I'll walk in that and like he didn't have certainty of how 385 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,520 it would go. So there's a lot of fear here. 386 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,560 So I don't know who needs to hear this, that if you're 387 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,120 following Jesus, like we don't get highlight certainty. 388 00:20:48,120 --> 00:20:51,440 God is not going to tell you how every single risk is going to 389 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:53,640 go. He told us that His glory is 390 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:56,760 going to cover the earth as waters cover the sea, so we 391 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:58,160 bring future signs of the Kingdom. 392 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,360 He told us He's going to have a Worshipful celebration of His 393 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:03,640 name from every tribe and tongue. 394 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:05,960 So we share the gospel with people from every tribe and 395 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:08,240 tongue, but we don't know how it's going to go. 396 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:12,120 Or y'all track it with me, but we have enough of a promise to 397 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:13,720 buy The Cave. Or y'all track it with me. 398 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:18,560 We have enough of who God is to walk in what He's called us to 399 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,160 in the Great Commission and in all of the promises of 400 00:21:21,160 --> 00:21:22,800 Scripture. But it does doesn't mean you get 401 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:24,960 a highlight certainty of how it's going to go. 402 00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:29,000 This was a risky faith filled faith creative move based on the 403 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,320 promises of a covenantly faithful God. 404 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,240 Are y'all with me? OK, now let's skip up to where 405 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:44,160 Abraham dies in chapter 25, Genesis 25, Big 25, Little 7. 406 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:47,400 These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. 407 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,200 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old 408 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,320 man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 409 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,760 Isaac and Ishmael. His sons buried him in The Cave 410 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:58,120 of Machpelah in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar, the 411 00:21:58,120 --> 00:22:01,040 Hittite east of Monterey, the field that Abraham purchased 412 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:03,720 from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried with 413 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:05,960 Sarah, his wife. After the death of Abraham, God 414 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,960 blessed Isaac his son, and Isaac settled at Beer Lahi Roy. 415 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:16,440 Again, if you are in Israelite hundreds of years later in 416 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:20,360 slavery in Egypt, a story like that is going to fill you with 417 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:22,360 faith. Though we might be slaves now in 418 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:25,840 Egypt, we own some of that land and God is doing it. 419 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:29,040 It may not feel like it right now while I'm a slave, but God 420 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,120 is in the midst of setting us free and taking us back. 421 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,600 Y'all, What God is doing is He is fulfilling what He said He's 422 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,280 going to do. And even when it doesn't feel 423 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:44,040 fully fulfilled yet, you get to live in that future world of 424 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,400 fulfillment in the present. Does that make sense? 425 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,000 It's already not. Yet it is not that different 426 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,200 than a present day believer who knows Jesus Christ knows one day 427 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:56,080 all things will be made new. But you live in a busted broken 428 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:58,760 world where your Mama can't stand you because you follow in 429 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:00,720 Jesus, where you got friends who push back on you. 430 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,160 You've got a lot of tension between what God has said is 431 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:08,240 true and your experience. So we have a model for how to 432 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:11,680 live as if things are what God says in the midst of a reality 433 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:15,080 that says it's not that way and something crazy happens when we 434 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:18,760 trust God anyways. He is writing His story. 435 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,880 Even if you feel controlled by other people's story. 436 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:26,360 Amen, somebody. So Isaac settles in beer la Hi 437 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:28,520 Roy. And in that, that is right there 438 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:30,000 in the heart of the promised land. 439 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:34,720 So here's what I want to do. The the the torch is passing to 440 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:36,480 Isaac. Him and Ishmael get together to 441 00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,560 bury the dad, which is full of theological significance. 442 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,080 The son of the promise, the son of the slave woman come together 443 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,000 to bury the father, but only one goes forward with the promise. 444 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,680 Oh take me to coffee. I wish I could give you more, 445 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:52,160 but what I want to do is give you 3 promise lessons that we 446 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:56,320 learn from the life of Abraham as things pass on to his son. 447 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,200 I got 3 lessons. It's going to come in like 2 448 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,160 sides of a coin, something about God and then what we learn about 449 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,520 life of promise, pilgrimage in light of that. 450 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:07,920 Y'all ready? First thing Abraham and Sarah 451 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,960 know as they die is this. God is. 452 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,320 I don't know if you ever heard that phrase before. 453 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:16,360 God just is. You know what that means? 454 00:24:16,360 --> 00:24:19,920 You know what is means? It means he's self-sufficient, 455 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:24,000 non contingent. OK, you are dependent. 456 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,920 God is independent. God is. 457 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,480 He existed before all things were created. 458 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,600 He is triune, father, son and spirit. 459 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,760 He creates all things ex nihilo out of nothing. 460 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,520 And before he called Abram, he was God. 461 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,240 After called Abram, he was God. He didn't call Abram because 462 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,200 Abram was looking for him. He called Abram because he 463 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,600 wanted to call Abram. God is God, doesn't react, God 464 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,520 acts. I don't know if you notice, God 465 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:51,120 is God and you are not God is God. 466 00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:53,960 He's patient. He makes a promise when he's 75 467 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,840 and then the kid comes at 100. So the whole time they were 468 00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:58,480 whining like God, what are you going to do? 469 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,760 Do you ever do that? And he did exactly what he said 470 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,920 he was going to do. He's God. 471 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,200 He ain't dependent on nobody. He's self-sufficient. 472 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:08,440 He's eternal. He's God. 473 00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,640 He's so big. He's author, he's patient, he's 474 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:16,840 provider, he's covenant maker. So what do we do with that? 475 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:26,000 Pilgrims embrace being human. To be a Pilgrim is to embrace 476 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:29,240 being human. Remember at Babel they were 477 00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:36,120 trying to be God. To be saved is to joyfully re 478 00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:41,600 enter being a human and not be God is to say I'm not God is to 479 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:47,240 joyfully say I'm not in charge. In our sin we D God God and we 480 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,080 try to be God. We try to be the author of our 481 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,160 own story, the captain of our own fate. 482 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:53,880 We try to live like we're not going to die. 483 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,960 But y'all, to be saved, to know God, to trust Christ is to give 484 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,520 up on being God is to give up on being. 485 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:03,960 The author of your story is to hand the pin back. 486 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:04,960 Amen. Somebody. 487 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:05,880 So just go. You know what? 488 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,360 I'm sorry. Like I'll, I'll, I will enter 489 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:12,880 your story now. I'll stop living ignorantly. 490 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:18,200 Ignorance is not bliss. Actually, a story with you as 491 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,560 the author where my circumstances get worse is 492 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:22,720 better than one where I continue to hold this pin. 493 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:26,240 To know God is to just say you got it man. 494 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,720 And for some of y'all you are exhausted of being God. 495 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,920 I remember the first time I heard the gospel at 18 years 496 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:35,880 old. That was part of what was 497 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:38,760 happening in my soul. I didn't really understand is 498 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:43,400 you are a created being created to submit to a God who is who 499 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:48,320 has unlimited resources. He is mysteriously big and good 500 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,320 and like you can know him. So he's like the perfect blend 501 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,440 of like unknowable mind blowing, this God of Genesis and also 502 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:58,160 like intimate and near promise giver. 503 00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:00,880 That's what your soul was created for and what it does. 504 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:03,520 It just makes you relax. Just relax. 505 00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,880 You were created to be a child with the father. 506 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,760 You were created to be rescued by the Prince. 507 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:12,360 You were created to live in an adventure. 508 00:27:12,360 --> 00:27:16,480 And in this God, you can just handle the pen and rest a little 509 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:18,760 bit. And for some of you, I just want 510 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:21,760 to invite you because you know, you don't know that rest, 511 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,520 because when you hold the pen and you're trying to be God, 512 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:28,280 it's exhausting, isn't it? It fills your life with anxiety 513 00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:30,240 and paranoia. You got to build your Kingdom 514 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:32,920 and protect it. That's what you got to do. 515 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:34,720 You got to take more land and defend the land you got. 516 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:36,120 That's what the kings of the earth do. 517 00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:37,840 And in your sin, that's what you got to do. 518 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,160 And when you're holding the pen, you know it's on you. 519 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:48,240 So one of the things salvation does is it just and then walking 520 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,720 with Jesus every morning you get up or whenever you you know you 521 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,520 get in the word and do your quiet time is hopefully you re 522 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,120 giving the pen like not in a salvific way because you've been 523 00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:00,920 saved by grace through faith and the spirit indwells you, but 524 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,160 it's just taking your flesh and saying flesh. 525 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,360 We are more at home when we give them the pen and when we control 526 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:07,760 the story. So let's relax again. 527 00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:09,280 Let's do it again. Give it to them. 528 00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,600 Y'all. There's more joy in having a 529 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,520 king than trying to be 1. And some of y'all know you still 530 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,080 trying to be a king. You're not a king, and what's 531 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,440 causing the misery in your life is your continued attempt to be 532 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,200 God. Pilgrims embrace being human #2 533 00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:30,560 God is promise giver. God gives promises, so he is. 534 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:32,600 He chose Abram. Boom. 535 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,680 Abram may choose God first. Facts. 536 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:38,040 He just does. He chose Abram. 537 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:40,240 Why did you choose Abram? Because he did. 538 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:46,840 God is promise giver. There's nothing in Abraham. 539 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:49,920 Abraham that made it like it. Just that's, that's who he is. 540 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:54,000 Why did he pick a 75 year old bum who was going to do some 541 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,800 wicked stuff? Because he's God, that's why. 542 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,920 That's who God is. So pilgrims trust and obey. 543 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,320 Y'all Pilgrimage is like a journey towards a place. 544 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:08,040 I'm going to go to this thing and do this thing. 545 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,680 You know, I got to go there. I got to get there. 546 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:14,680 I'm on a journey, y'all, the the pilgrimage for the believer, the 547 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,840 follower of Jesus. The difference is we're not 548 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,400 really aiming for a place. We're just aiming for God 549 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,440 himself. We're trusting and obeying him. 550 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:29,560 And yes, we will enter fully into the full expression of that 551 00:29:29,560 --> 00:29:33,080 trusting and obeying in heaven, where his, you know, his glory 552 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,480 is so present that the Son is not needed. 553 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,560 But it's not altogether a different reality than the 554 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:41,760 current one. When you trust and obey, it's 555 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,560 just a fuller extent of it. But trusting, obeying is the 556 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,640 destination, y'all. It's a stumbling destination, as 557 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:50,600 Abraham and Isaac will model for us. 558 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:53,480 We mess it up like we struggle to trust them. 559 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,200 We're like, what are you doing? You know I don't trust you. 560 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,320 How could you? It's a life of him splitting a 561 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,320 Red Sea. And then y'all got some food and 562 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:05,600 you go, is God even real? It's constantly. 563 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,600 Like it's just constantly. You're going to struggle, you're 564 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,280 going to stumble, but you're given a purpose, you're given an 565 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:14,000 identity. Every step Abraham took for the 566 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:16,240 rest of his life had purpose and identity. 567 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:20,760 Hebrews tells us that Abraham died not having received what 568 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,120 was promised. Friend, we look at it like 569 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:27,080 Abraham had some great life. You have more technology in your 570 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,840 pocket right now that Abraham. I mean, he would have killed to 571 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:34,040 have an iPhone, man. He was so vulnerable at all 572 00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:36,320 times. He was a stranger, a wanderer. 573 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,560 He had a son, but he was vulnerable all the time. 574 00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:41,800 Him and Sarah were constantly vulnerable. 575 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:44,880 They were Wanderers. They didn't get, in a lot of 576 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,400 ways, what was promised to them. They got a son, but other than 577 00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:51,160 that, their life was chaotically difficult. 578 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:56,440 But they got God, they got Yahweh, they got the God. 579 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:01,120 Who is to y'all? I don't know what you think you 580 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:05,720 need today, what it is, What is it you think you need to have 581 00:31:05,720 --> 00:31:10,160 full joy? So what the Bible presents is 582 00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,640 that when you get God, you get everything. 583 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,080 And if you have everything without God, you really have 584 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,360 nothing. And So what many of us do is we 585 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:20,040 play this cat and mouse game where you're like, well, how 586 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,880 much of everything can I get and get God? 587 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:29,840 What if I can do both? Hey, y'all, all of us have done 588 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:31,040 it. All of us think like that. 589 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:32,360 All of us do it. I've done it. 590 00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,320 I do it. But listen, y'all, the Bible, 591 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:39,520 the story of Abraham, the story of Isaac is a testament to get 592 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:41,680 God. The pilgrimage is to trust and 593 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:45,480 obey, and obedience becomes the litmus test of if you're 594 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,560 trusting. If you trust, you obey. 595 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:49,200 They're two sides of the same coin. 596 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,000 You can't say I trust and not obey. 597 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:53,240 That's how it works. I trust them. 598 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:57,080 I just don't do nothing. You know, it just don't work 599 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:00,400 like that. The way you exemplify your trust 600 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:05,840 is to walk in the steps, right? So I don't know what it is you 601 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,120 think you need today. You need God. 602 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:10,960 I want better circumstances for you. 603 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:12,600 Don't hear me saying I don't want your circumstances to 604 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:14,080 change. I'm just telling you, you have 605 00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:17,040 to have God. You have to have the God who is 606 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,640 third thing. God is gracious. 607 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:25,760 God is so gracious, man. Abraham a bum. 608 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,040 Isaac a bum. I'm a bum. 609 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,000 You a bum. I'm a bum. 610 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:32,840 She's a bum. He's a bum. 611 00:32:33,240 --> 00:32:36,720 Because we're all bums. Heck, my man, you watch some 612 00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:38,360 good burger. That's my guy. 613 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,320 Keenan and Kel. Oh, man, you know Kel's a youth 614 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:43,800 pastor, y'all. This is my brain. 615 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,760 It's fun. Kills the man, Y'all, They're 616 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:49,200 scoundrels, y'all, they are scoundrels. 617 00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:53,520 Scoundrels need grace, y'all. Genesis is about God. 618 00:32:54,240 --> 00:32:58,240 It is all about God. God's grace takes prisoners and 619 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:01,640 makes them into pilgrims. Y'all in your sin, in my sin. 620 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:03,960 We are prisoners. We are prisoners of our own 621 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,120 making. We build the cell that we then 622 00:33:06,120 --> 00:33:09,680 live in and lock ourselves in. That's what we do. 623 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:11,800 We got nobody to blame for our misery. 624 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:14,360 Now don't hear me saying nothing bad has happened to you. 625 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:17,520 I don't know your story and I would love to sit down and talk 626 00:33:17,520 --> 00:33:20,240 with you. But what causes our misery isn't 627 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:22,960 what's happened to us as much as it is us. 628 00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:25,600 It's our sin, it's our attempts to solve it. 629 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:28,840 It's our holding the pen. We create the jail cell and then 630 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:30,640 we live in it. We get comfortable in jail. 631 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,320 Then the gospel comes and tells you you're in a prison of sins, 632 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:39,280 making your own making, and God offers to take the jail cell for 633 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:41,680 you to go in and take your punishment and let you go. 634 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:44,640 He says I'll live in here, I'll take the penalty of all this. 635 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:47,520 You get to go free, but you aren't just free to just walk 636 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:49,600 out the cell and do your thing. You're given a purpose, a 637 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:51,360 journey. You're a Pilgrim making 638 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,880 progress, OK. You're a Pilgrim making progress 639 00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:57,680 in the presence of God with a lot of promises from God. 640 00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:01,000 You have purpose from God. That's the gospel. 641 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,440 The gospel is that you are a scoundrel. 642 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:10,000 You are in a lot. And listen, we're complicated 643 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:11,920 scoundrels. We're wicked and weak where 644 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,440 stuff has happened to us, right? Like there there are things are 645 00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,679 things been said to you that would break my heart and I would 646 00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:19,639 cry with you if I could talk with you right now. 647 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:24,280 So you are weak like things have happened that are not your fault 648 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:27,920 that I would weep with you over. But you are also a scoundrel. 649 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:31,080 You are and you need radical grace. 650 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:35,080 You need help, you need grace, you need mercy and that's the 651 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,360 gospel. The gospel is not that you are 652 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:40,120 good and you need a little bit of coaching. 653 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:42,520 The gospel is that you're dead and your sin. 654 00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:49,159 You need radical intervention by God to save you, to help you, to 655 00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:54,639 wash you in the blood of Jesus. The cross is a symbol of God's 656 00:34:54,639 --> 00:34:57,280 great love for you and your great need for God, y'all. 657 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,640 We needed that much help. Do you agree with God's 658 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,000 testament to you that you need saving? 659 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:05,000 Or do you still just think you need some help? 660 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,080 You need some coaching, y'all. I just want to invite you to 661 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:13,240 acknowledge you need grace. Pilgrims throw themselves upon 662 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:15,600 grace. I mean just throw themselves on 663 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:17,280 it. Uncalculated. 664 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:20,280 Just utter jumping in on grace of God. 665 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,720 This God has saved me. Radical mercy. 666 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,400 We get uncalculated. I want to invite some of y'all. 667 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,000 If you've been walking with Jesus for awhile and you're 668 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,480 still just calculated, think about what God's done and lose 669 00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:34,320 the calculations. You with me like God has saved 670 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,680 you. Lift up the cup of salvation. 671 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:38,640 Call on his name. Trust him. 672 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:42,440 The beautiful part is He died to save you, so you would need him. 673 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:45,080 He didn't die to save you, so you wouldn't come to him and 674 00:35:45,080 --> 00:35:47,520 bother him. He purchased you to bring you to 675 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,680 himself, not to get you away from him. 676 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:52,640 He purchases you, so you'll need him. 677 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,840 I've been studying in Psalm 116 it says I will lift up the cup 678 00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:58,920 of salvation. I will call upon his name and 679 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,120 Thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, 680 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:04,440 meaning I will need him. You honor him by needing him. 681 00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,360 He died for you, so you'd need him. 682 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:12,480 He brings you into his story. I just want to say this man like 683 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:17,800 what we see in the story of the the the early Genesis story with 684 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:21,920 Isaac, with Abraham, y'all on their deathbed. 685 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,400 Would Sarah and Abraham have said they had God figured out? 686 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:27,880 No. They'd be like God. 687 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,520 He's crazy. Maybe wait 25 years. 688 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:34,120 Do you know enough? Yes. 689 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:36,400 Do I know everything to have God figured out? 690 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:38,200 No. Do I know enough to know he's 691 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,280 really good? He goes the distance and I can 692 00:36:40,280 --> 00:36:41,560 trust him? Yes. 693 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:46,720 Y'all First Corinthians 13 says that we see now dimly, meaning 694 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:49,960 we don't see everything about Christ, We don't see reality 695 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:53,160 fully as it is. We're even on our best day 696 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:55,720 looking at the cross, begging God for eyes to see. 697 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:59,520 It's blurry, it's blurry, but you see enough. 698 00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:01,760 You see dimly. Dimly is plenty. 699 00:37:01,960 --> 00:37:05,640 If you've seen Christ, if you've seen the cross, if the Holy 700 00:37:05,640 --> 00:37:08,160 Spirit indwells you, if you have God's word, if you have the 701 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:12,840 church, if you have his mission, you've seen enough, you've seen 702 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:14,120 enough. Trust Him. 703 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:17,720 I want to close with this. There's a one of my favorite 704 00:37:17,720 --> 00:37:21,480 images of what following God is. Again, it's not highlights. 705 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,680 It's not like boom, like it all just makes sense. 706 00:37:24,680 --> 00:37:26,280 Now I'm perfect. I don't see any more like it 707 00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:29,360 doesn't work like that. The way it was explained to me 708 00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,320 is kind of like a dog chasing a scent. 709 00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:34,840 You ever watch a dog just sniffing for stuff? 710 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:36,640 They know they're looking for something. 711 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:39,280 They've got the scent or they wouldn't be sniffing. 712 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:42,000 They're not just sniffing the sniff like you watch them really 713 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,800 good. One of my neighbors has a one of 714 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:47,960 them dogs where like this joker is trained like a duck hunter or 715 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:49,000 something like that. I don't know. 716 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:51,320 He he tells me these terms like, I don't know, man, I don't do 717 00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:52,680 dogs. But he's got the little weren't 718 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:55,520 whistles and all that stuff. But what's incredible about 719 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,240 these dogs is they got a nose on a man, like they could just 720 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:01,440 sniff stuff down. He'll give it a little sniff and 721 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:04,120 then go hide it somewhere. And then he'll be like, wait, 722 00:38:04,720 --> 00:38:07,520 you know, like just, he'll sit there unchanged, just listening. 723 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:11,080 But when they get unleashed, they take off #1 and they're 724 00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:13,720 searching for something. They've already sniffed. 725 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:15,960 Are you with me? So it's not a wild goose chase 726 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:17,760 where they bring, well, it kind of is. 727 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:19,320 But you, you get what I'm saying? 728 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:21,400 They're they're looking for something. 729 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:24,360 They've already found you with me. 730 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:31,760 Y'all, You have the gospel sent, you've been saved by grace 731 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:33,920 through faith. The Holy Spirit indwells you in 732 00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:36,920 the pilgrimage. The journey is a promise based 733 00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:40,680 sniffing for something that's already found you is trusting 734 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,440 Christ is taking a step day by day under the promises, under 735 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,560 the shed blood of Christ, not to build your dream come true, but 736 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:51,200 to see Kingdom come. And it's good even if your 737 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:53,720 wildest dreams don't come true. You get God, you've got the 738 00:38:53,720 --> 00:38:56,440 scent, and it's coming in his fullness. 739 00:38:56,480 --> 00:39:01,160 Amen. Not a burden we bear, not a 740 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:04,560 sorrow we share, but our toil He doth richly repay. 741 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:08,160 Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross, but is blessed 742 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:11,880 if we trust and obey. But we never can prove the 743 00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:15,680 delights of His love until all on the altar we lay For the 744 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,200 favor He shows and the joy He bestows are for them who will 745 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,160 trust and obey. Then in fellowship suite we will 746 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:23,640 sit at His feet, or we'll walk by His side in the way. 747 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:25,920 What He says we will do. Where He sins we will go. 748 00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:30,160 Never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's no 749 00:39:30,160 --> 00:39:33,320 other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. 750 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:37,720 Let's pray our Father, we love you and we declare you are the 751 00:39:37,720 --> 00:39:39,440 covenant making, covenant keeping God. 752 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,040 God, you have done it all. This is not about us, it's about 753 00:39:43,040 --> 00:39:43,720 you. God. 754 00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:46,360 Would we respond with trust and obedience? 755 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:48,520 We pray in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.