Shall Not The Judge of all The Earth do What is Just? - The Life of Abraham

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Shall Not The Judge of all The Earth do What is Just? - The Life of Abraham

September 4, 2022 • Vitaly Kunda • Genesis 18:16–33

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Fulfillment of the Promise & Removal of the Threat - The Life of Abraham Genesis 21:1-21

September 18, 2022 • Aleksey Khizhnyak • Genesis 21:1–21

I. The Lord fulfills his promises in his time. V1-7 The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him. 3 Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”[a] 7 She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him[b] in his old age.” Pain of infertility. “Infertility isolates, alienates, and disorients. It is largely unseen, afflicting otherwise healthy men and women, who nonetheless know that “something is wrong.” It is often (devastatingly) misunderstood, prompting sorrow, shame, and even anger as others offer well-meaning but misguided help. It is persistent in its pain, robbing hope from the dreams of would-be parents.” If she cannot be a mom, who then is she? Congrats and confetti fly for a pregnancy; silence and embarrassment envelop infertility. Abraham and Sarah was infertile for many years. For the last twenty five years their long dead hope of having children have been resurrected by the promise given to Abraham, that He will become a great nation. Abraham believed. Abraham struggled and questioned God as years have passed by: “Lord God, What can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? … Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir. Now the word of the Lord came to him: This one will not be your heir, instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 15:2-4 In verse 6 we read: “Abraham believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” In Chapter 18 God visits Sarah and works specifically with her heart, promising her a child with in twelve months. She had three months to respond in faith and receive supernatural strength to conceive against all odds. What was unique about Sarah’s infertility? In her 90’s Sarah was way past her menopause, where she no longer ovulated, produced eggs. In his 100’s, according to Sarah, Abraham was no longer able to please her, meaning his child producing apparatus was expired. It was inconceivable for them two to conceive. For Abraham and Sarah, it wasn’t just their infertility that was with them their entire marriage. In addition, their age was working against them. Their ability to conceive was biologically impossible. But what was working for them was the promise of God. God Himself appeared to Abraham and promised a son. God appeared to Sarah and promises a son that will come through her body. Both Sarah and Abraham considered it sufficient for them to believe God! To trust against all odds! We read what happened to Sarah when she believed: “By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful.” Heb.11:11 What was unique about the birth report? One would expect a lot more ink shed in the announcement of the birth! This is the climax of the last eight chapters! This is a miraculous event in the life of our father of faith! They have been waiting for 25 years after it was promised to Abraham! It was once in a life time when a barren 90 year old woman conceives and births a child! Was it under epidural? Was Abraham present to cut the cord? How long did you push for? Give us a sense of what it was like to see infants skin against a skin of a 90 year old mother? Was there balloons? Was the baby tent decorated blue with plains and boy toys? Nothing! All we read is: “ The Lord came to Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what He had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him.” The focus is on God and his faithfulness, not on the child or the parents. When Jewish people are going to read this event, throughout the ages and God wanted them to take away this very lesson: God fulfills his promises! God keeps his word! God follows through according to what he says! God is able to bring a child in to the world in a miraculous way! Is.7:14 “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you[c] a sign: The virgin will conceive,[d] have a son, and name him Immanuel.” Your life might be found at the cross roads of what you see and feel, and thousand reasons why you should doubt or the promise of God. Sarah chose to believe God and thus received power to conceive since she considered the one who had promised was faithful.” Do you consider God to be faithful? Do you believe your eyes or your God? Do you listen to you reason or the promise of God? Faithfulness of God leads Abraham to obedience and even more trust. He calls his son by the name God prescribed. He circumcises his son on the 8th day as God has said. Sarah laughs, because true laughter comes to those who faithfully trust their God against all odds! II. What ever threatens God’s promise must go. 21:8-14 8 The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son mocking[c]—the one Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham. 10 So she said to Abraham, “Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be a coheir with my son Isaac!” 11 Now this was a very difficult thing for[d] Abraham because of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be concerned[e] about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac. 13 But I will also make a nation of the slave’s son because he is your offspring.” 14 Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. Notice what threatens Sarah: Isaac being mocked, scoffed, laughed at. When Paul in Galatians mentions this event notice the word he used to describe it: “29 But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now.” Gal.4:29 You would think that siblings usually have conflicts on regular basis and there is nothing unusual about that. But the offense was so severe to Sarah, that she decided to drive out the slave woman with her son. Notice her contention with her that she doesn’t even mention her by name. She speaks with Abraham and does not call his son by his name but calls him the son of your slave. Why such enmity? Even if it was ridicule and disrespectful behavior, would simple discipline and heart to heart conversation suffice in this case? Notice what she is asking for. Drive out this slave with her son. Kick her out from our home. She does not belong here with her slave son. They will not be inheriting anything that belongs to my boy Isaac! Now, this was very difficult thing for Abraham because of his son. Yes, having two wives who constantly fought was nothing new, but to drive out your son whom you love as your flesh and blood is not an easy task. Ishmael was about 17 years old at that time. Seventeen years of spending time together, working, traveling, teaching him everything he knows and then to kick him out for good?! What is even more concerning and bizarre is how God responds: “Do not be concerned about the boy and your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your offspring will be traced through Isaac.” Sarah is concerned about inheritance God does not rebuke her, but adds that Abrahams offspring will be traced through Isaac Notice how God preserves the promised seed. It was through Abrahams seed with Sarah, that the whole world will be blessed. The whole world will be blessed including you and me today. It was the lineage through which later Christ the true seed eventually came. God was protecting the seed by protecting every threat in its way. “The real threat” If you would read a chapter earlier, with in the twelve months when Sarah was to conceive and have a child, king Abimelech takes Sarah to be with her. That was a pretty substantial threat to the promise. Both Abrahams life and Sarah’s purity was in danger. Look at how God protects his promise: Gen.20:3-4, 6-7, 17-18 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman. Abimelech said: “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent? God said: “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience.[d] I have also kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore I have not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.” Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children, 18 for the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. God was hovering over Abimelech ready to strike him dead if anything was to happen to Sarah. Entire city was going to be destroyed. The Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah. God made Abimelech sick, most likely impotent so he could not possibly impregnate Sarah. Now that is a threat, but Ishmael laughing at Isaac? “But Isaac’s status as heir is always at risk while “the son of Hagar… who had borne a child to Abraham” is around, so Sarah demands their expulsion.” Gordon As long as another is present in the household, there will always be a threat to the promise. According to Paul, the persecution will always take place when legalism is present. The flourishing of spiritual life will be impossible! I love how the Russian translates the word Ishmael persecuted Isaac “Притеснял” He gave him no room to flourish, to grow, to express himself. He kept him under pressure. If it is hard for you to grasp how God agreed with Sarah to drive out his own son of 17 years, you are not alone. The tension in this story is here for a reason. We must struggle with this question as we read! We are almost set up to disagree with God here. God wants us to have this struggle and wrestle with Him. Everything that has even a slight glimpse of threat to Gods promise must GO! Must be driven out. “Do not be distressed about the boy” literally “let it not be bad in your eyes” Gen17 “17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to You!” – “Alive to you” Gen 22:2 ““Take your son,” He said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Your only son? Gen 25:24 “When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb.” Rm. 9:13 “I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau” God is continually showing us the superiority of the child of promise. The heir of all the promises must be protected, loved in a special way, and every threat must be expelled. Ok, God loves the promised child and protects him in a special way, what does that have to do anything with us? What can we take away from it? Gal 4: 28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as then the child born according to the flesh persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, so also now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? Drive out the slave and her son, for the son of the slave will never be a coheir with the son of the free woman. 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. 5:1 Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. What is small in our eyes is a big deal in God’s eyes. Anything that threatens the life of a promised seed in our life must be taken as a real threat! What persecutes your spiritual life today? What gives no room for growth? We cannot rely on Abrahams judgement of what is safe and not safe for the promise. He just gave his wife up to a king to sleep with her, a second instance, and did not think of it being a threat! Allow God’s judgement to shine light in to what is a threat to our spiritual life that God promised us. Do not be naïve when it comes to the threats to your spiritual life. Be like Sarah when it comes to fighting for the spiritual life. Identify the threat and drive it out! There is a great accountability app: Covenant eyes. If you want to stay pure, you allow the app have access to all of your internet activity and you give access to someone who will keep you accountable. Every concerning website you visit will take a screen shot, blur it and send it to the person keeping you accountable. And sometimes people ask for help, please pray for me, but the report shows that it is coming from the same platform, over and over again. Instead of praying to help you fight it, you must get rid of that platform. Drive it out! There is nothing wrong with Tik Tok, just once in a while something bad pop-up… pop up after pop up, then you notice you are searching more and more, and then you are in a pit. Men often say: I must stand my ground, it is OK if my wife is upset, even cries a little, if I give in now, I will always have to hide behind her skirt… really popular Slavic excuse to be harsh with their wives… Going to be without reconciliation is not a small threat – you know what the bible calls it? You just gave the devil a foothold in to your marriage. Don’t be surprised when you will find yourselves fighting over every little thing, and time spent away more enjoyable than together. What is extra hour at work? What is extra shift? What is extra meeting? Is that a small thing to? Even if it is considered spiritual responsibility? Friends, it is a huge problem, when our life consists of those little hours and shifts here and there and kids grow up without parents! It is a huge threat to our spiritual life! Drive that slave woman with her son out! What about those who thinks that regular consumption of alcohol that increases in volume and regularity is just a small thing. One Presbyterian surgeon asked me at work, what will you do when you come to heaven and Jesus make new wine? I will drink it then, but now, I consider it as a threat, because being from Slavic descent, I am not trained in drinking properly. Notice the urgency: Little threat to Isaac prompted Sarah to drive the threat out without hesitation. Do it while the threat seems just a laughter. Later it will do much damage and it will be more complicated to deal with. Abraham early in the morning got up, got bread and water skin and placed it on Hagar’s shoulders. He was distressed about it, it was his wife, it was his son! Skin of water could hold about three gallons of water, good for couple of days for two people. Kalvin comments that Abraham did not give lavish provision to the going away slave as was prescribed by the law probably because he was hoping for them to soon after return. But that was the last time we see Abraham and Ismael together. He comes only to berry his dad. Driving away threats to your spiritual life is a difficult task! God will not do it for you! It is a matter of faith and obedience. Once you commit, once you obey, God gives his grace to follow through. It is hard to get rid of platforms that are so useful for business and communication, but you will constantly be damaging you spiritual life. It is hard to humble yourself and ask for forgiveness before your wife or your kids, but there is no other way to restore trust and relationship. It is hard to commit to no drinks if you see you begin to struggle, but once you commit, God will walk you trough it! III. God sustains those who obeys Him 21:14-21 14 Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin, put them on Hagar’s shoulders, and sent her and the boy away.[f] She left and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she left the boy under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said, “I can’t bear to watch the boy die!” So as she sat nearby, she[g] wept loudly. 17 God heard the voice of the boy, and the[h] angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What’s wrong, Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is. 18 Get up, help the boy up, and support him, for I will make him a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy, and he grew; he settled in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He settled in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt. Obeying God doesn’t always make sense. It is often hard, but following God requires sometimes to obey even if it seems impossible or unreasonable. Is there life after obedience? We say if I work less and try to be home in the evenings or weekends, I will not be able to pay bills, but if you sense God is calling you home to be a father, test him. Obey him and see what happens. If I limit my entertainment, my life will become boring and miserable, if God is convicting you that your spiritual life is suffering because you worship at the altar of entertainment, Obey God and see. Going to bed on time will all of a sudden improve your health by adding more hours of sleep, your communication with your wife will increase and you will fall in love with her once again. Your children will all of a sudden become more precious to you… If God calls you to drive out slave with her son from your life, obey Him and He will take care of the consequences. Don’t ever let obedience to God be bad in your eyes. Do not be distressed. Yes it will cost you. Yes it will be uncomfortable, but understand that it is all about the promised seed. God is more interested that Christ be resembled in your life than anything you are or what you possess, not even your marriage, your children, or your health! Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for good, all things, so that you will be transformed in to the image of Crist! Because your worth and blessing will be “traced” through Christ and nothing else! Look at how God steps in and encourages Abraham: “Do not be distressed” the word distressed means “let it not be bad in your eyes” we often say what a life, what a misery, but God tells us don’t see it that way. Also notice how God changes the word slaves boy in verse 12 to slaves son in verse 13. If we read it, it doesn’t mean much, but in Hebrew God uses the word lad, which in their days were old enough to be able to sustain yourself as an adult. He was not a child who depended on parents, he was at an age where he could survive. Joseph was a lad… God also tells him I will make a nation of your son, because he is your offspring. Abraham knows what that means, when God sais I will make him great… God hears his cry in the wilderness God provides well of water in the desert God provide a wife from Egypt to Ishmael. Notice that God shows up to Sarah, God shows up to Abraham, God shows up to Hagar… Questions: 1. Do you consider God faithful? Are you able to rest in his promises? 2. Do you value your Spiritual life as much as God? What is the biggest threat to your spiritual growth? 3. Do you believe in life after obedience? Do you see life committed to Christ as misery or true freedom? 4. Do you know the sustaining presence of God when it comes walking in obedience?

God's Salvation Through Judgement - The Life of Abraham Genesis 19:1-29

September 11, 2022 • Andrey Bulanov • Genesis 19:1–29

Main idea: Sin is always more destructive and deceptive than we think. It can only be truly seen against the backdrop of God's total holiness and justice. Yet, even as God unleashes judgement on sin, in his love and covent faithfulness he is seeking to awaken us and save us. Only in his presence does his holiness become our true delight. Main points: 1. Lot, at home in the Sodom. 2. Surrounded in sin city. 3. Clinging to a false home. 4. God's fiery judgement unleashed. Key Themes: • The deceptive and dangerous power of sin in the face of a holy and perfect God ◦ Are you naïve about the power and danger of sin? ◦ Do you find yourself making excuses about things you know aren't right? ◦ Is your daily life a continual practice of seeking and living in the presence of God? • The covenant faithfulness and mercy of God ◦ Has the love of Jesus lead you to love his holiness? ◦ Is God’s righteous truth a source of power and direction in your life? ◦ Do you delight in the power of his love for you? Scripture references: • Genesis 19:1-29 • Ezekiel 16:49-50 • Psalm 27:4 -------- Darkness never sleeps. What is your relationship to sin today? There are generally three categories: • Are you living life, doing whatever you want, completely unaware of the danger of sin and the holiness of God? • Are you living a life that dances on the line with sin - thinking that you are aware of if danger, but not thinking that danger is really close to you? • Are you running daily to the face of God, to walk with him, to delight in his forgiveness and holiness, ever aware of the danger and evil of sin? These three categories describe the characters we will face in the story we read today, a story that will help us to see how - as crazy as this story is - it is much closer to our own lives than we think. READ TEXT - Genesis 19:1-29 Setting the scene: Back in ch. 13 - Abraham's nephew Lot chooses to leave and live in the valley near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - a place that Moses tells us was exceedingly wicked - very evil - but also rich and wealthy. Abraham had distanced himself from the kings of these cities - and Lot already faced trouble down there when he got caught in the middle of a war there and was taken prisoner - Abraham rescued him from that. This story reconnects in ch 18 where God says he has heard a great outcry against this city and its terrible sin, and he will go down to investigate it first hand. The time has come for judgement. Abraham jumps in to question God - of course there is sin there - but what about the good people that live there, the people who don't parttake in those sins? Will God destroy the good people with the evil ones? Here we see God's heart and his patience. He will spare an entire CITY - even if there was as little as 10 people in it that were righteous. Even as this conversation between Abraham and God is taking place, the two angels head down from the hills into the valley to visit the city - the question that is left hanging in the air - what will happen next? What will he find in the city? 1. Lot, at home in Sodom. What became of Lot? Abraham is worried about him. Earlier we read that he moved to set his tents near the cities. Here we meet him sitting at the city gate. He is now PART of the city. He has a HOUSE in the city. and he is probably part of its leadership - the city gate was the place where disputes were settled and leaders were present. Right off the bat, we see the Lot seeks to follow in the right path, he has correct values - he runs to meet the visitors - greet them and invite them into his house. We have noted already that hospitality and welcoming strangers is a major value in the Bible - and disregarding hospitality and mistreating strangers is a major sin in the Bible that God seeks justice for. He wants to welcome them, set a feast before them, take care of them. He is seeking to be a good person and uphold a right standard. But we also get the first hint that something might be off in his own sense of urgency when the visitors say that they want to stay in the city square. His response is very strong. "He urged them so strongly..." "no no no please you CANNOT stay in the city square...." Usually in those days, it was more dangerous to stay outside the city - because of the threat of bandits and robbers. The city was supposed to be a much safer place. But here we see something different. This city that Lot has made himself part of - is a dark and dangerous place at night. After dinner, before they go to bed, we learn clearly why Lot had such urgency in his voice about his own city. 2. Surrounded in sin city. "4 Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population, surrounded the house. 5 They called out to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them!” 6 Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him. 7 He said, “Don’t do this evil, my brothers." What were the sins of sodom? We can break them into two categories: social immorality sexual immorality Ezekiel 16:49-50 49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it. But there is also sexual immorality. This story is one of the clear pictures in the bible that practicing homosexuality is evil and wicked. these men took it to a whole other extreme - seeking to take this two visitors as a mob. We do need to make the point however that homosexual desire is not the same thing as practicing homosexuality. There are many poeple who struggle with same sex attraction who affirm and know its not God's way and vow to follow God in thier lives. We are all broken sexually in different ways. Christians in the past have done a very bad job at differentiating that - treating people who confess to struggling with same sex attraction but who want to follow God and his ways - as vile and disgusting. What we have in sodom is not that. Here we have a prideful, all out celebration of evil and perversion. And the whole city was gathered here for it. Moses makes it clear that this was not just a few bad apples. "the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population" Here, before this perverse crowd - Lot finds himself on this particular night. Here we also see, that Lot was in deeper trouble than he realized. The life he thought he could live - to live among these people and these sins and think that it wasn't going to touch him - is about to come falling apart. "my brothers, please don't do this unspeakable evil" "8 Look, I’ve got two daughters who haven’t been intimate with a man. I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want to them. However, don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection of my roof.” 9 “Get out of the way!” they said, adding, “This one came here as an alien, but he’s acting like a judge! Now we’ll do more harm to you than to them.” They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door." First of all his priority to protect his guests eats up his priority to protect his family. When you think you can live close to sin and not be altered you will always get played. The first thing that goes is your OWN ability to evaluate your problems based on God's standard of truth. Your life will fall apart from the inside first of all because you will start making terrible judgements that you see no problem with - things you never would have done in the past. Lot offers his daughters to this vile abusive crowd to protect the strangers. The second surprise for Lot here is that these people never counted him as their friend. Scripture tells us that friendship with the world is war against God. But it is also true that the friendship of the world is a false friendship based on false promises and false allegiances. Sin makes it so that no one is safe under its kingdom. Again, when you read good stories you see this contrast - among the righteous, there is true love, loyalty and belonging. Among the evil, there is always suspicion, anger - never safety. Lot was a fool to think these people were his brothers. The men are pressing in to break the door. And its the mercy of God that saves him out of it. This is the moment of revelation - the men are not just men. they are angels sent by God. They blind the men and create a moment of safety to reveal their mission. “Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place, 13 for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” In the Hebrew the whole structure of this story peaks at this pronouncement. this is the point towards which everything was headed. This was obvious to everyone except Lot. These are the works that tear his whole world apart. Everything from this moment is filled with a deep sense of urgency and danger. This moment SHOULD have been a moment of shock and awakening for Lot. but its not. 3. Clinging to the city. What is the response of Lot and his household? 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. "went out" - his sons in law were not in the house with him. It is clear that these men who were about to marry Lot's daughters were men who were very much PART of the city. They just laughed at him. "common man, your just mad about the mob at your house, chill out a bit." But its not just the sons in law. Notice the night is passing and dawn breaks, but the family is STILL in the city! 15 At daybreak the angels urged Lot on: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” don't you see the danger you are in?? and here are the words that shock me every time: "16. But he hesitated." The clouds of fire and judgement are gathering above the city - destruction is about to be unleashed - and STILL he hesitates to leave it!! the deceptive and deadly weeds of sin were woven through his heart and his mind MUCH more deeply than he himself realized. Its like that devasting image of a soldier in battle who has been torn up and about to die, but hes still trying to buckle his helmet. Man you are already dead. This is what sin does to us. It rips a whole in your life and you think you can put a bandaid and make it right. it deceives us as it destroys us. it takes away our ability to judge our own lives and situations. When we think we can play with fire and not be burned with will suffer. When we think we can live our lives dangerously close to sin we are already dead long before we know it. In the midst of this picture of blindness and judgement is a picture of the shocking mercy of God. 16."Because of the Lord’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. They brought him out and left him outside the city. 17 As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” As the sky gets ready to rain down fire, in the midst of the choas of this city and the foolishness of Lot and his family - God sends these angels to grab them by the hand like children and pull them out of the danger that they dont fully understand. Dr James Hamilton says, "The God of the Bible is always displaying his glory in salvation through judgement." Where there are sinful people, doing wicked and foolish things. Where there is the judgement of God being called on the world. There is also God, pulling people out of the fire, providing a way of escape. Why does God do this?? Did Lot deserve it? We will answer that in a minute. Some might say - well Lot made some mistakes, but look, God still saved him out of it. God will always have mercy on us! Do i discuss lot and his righteousness here? Move this to summary. Yeah. At what cost??? 4. God's fiery judgement unleashed. 23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. 24 Then out of the sky the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah burning sulfur from the Lord. 25 He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. 27 Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. The only thing that shatters the darkness and foolishness of sin is the holiness of God. God's holiness means that judgement is coming. It means that sin and evil will be held accountable. and that justice that God unleashes against sin is a terrifying justice. Hebrews 12:29 says that "our God is a consuming fire..." Does God delight in bringing destruction upon his creation? No. But neither does he apologize for unleashing his justice against a world of rebellion where he has made his power visible to all. In the Chronicles of Narnia, when Mr. Beaver tells the kids that Aslan is a lion, Susan responds, "Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"..."Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.” God is good. God is abundant in mercy and grace. But God is not safe. To a world of sin and rebellion, to a christian culture than can treat Jesus like a homeboy that will always be soft and give you hugs no matter what - a terrible surprise awaits. Lots wife did not get this. After all warnings. All the yelling and forcing and running. she STILL can't let the city go, she still has to disobey and to look back. And there she stands. yeah there was mercy. but Lot lost everything. His house, all his livelihood. And his wife. In the end he homeless, living in a cave, and the next story - which we don't have time to go in to - show his end was sad and broken. • the deceptive and dangerous power of sin in the face of a holy and perfect God ◦ we are often naive - like Lot. Lot is called righteous by Peter. Moses very clearly presents him in a negative light starting from chapter 13. In what sense was Lot righteous? Clearly not in the same way Abraham was. But also, we do see that Lot wasn't like the people of Sodom. He was disturbed by their sexual immorality. The problem is he wasn't disturbed enough to move away. He really lighted the prosperity and comfort of Sodom. So he stayed, and maybe he thought he could live this close to the evil and not have it enter his own life and his own home. what is your fight on worldliness today? When we speak of worldliness, what do we mean? Obviously - drugs, sexual perversion, orgies, parties, abuse, selfishness But more subtly - worldliness refers to anything in the world that the culture is culturally worshipping. The idols of the day. There can be deep sin and worldliness in healthy things - business, money balance, fitness and health, learning and knowledge. We are not called to physically remove ourselves from the world. We are called to remove ourselves from sin and worldliness. This means that we must live all our lives with a deep diligence, alertness and war against sin in all of life. This is clear in our weekly routines - our entertainment choices, our interests, our passions. Are you living dangerously close and dangerously comfortable with the sins of the surrounding culture? Do you find yourself making excuses about things you know aren't right? • too much drinking • too much movies • jealousy, anger Or do you live a life of vigilance and alertness? How do we do that? In the story there is an interesting contrast. Abraham looks down into the valley where the smoke rises up. The cities lie down in the valley, but Abraham lives up on the mountains - near the Oaks of Mamre - the place where the Lord appeared to him. Key biblical theme - Mountains - places where God meets people, where heaven meets earth. Ezekiel 28 tells us that Eden was on a mountain. The law of Moses was given on the mountain. Abraham was called to give up his on a mountain. Its symbolic of the presence of God. Abraham pursued the presence of God as the place where he built his home, where he lived. Lot went down into the valley to make his home among the sins of Sodom. How do we avoid the corrupting trap of sin in our lives? We must seek to live in the presence of God above all things. Psalm 27:4 I have asked one thing from the Lord; it is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple. The question isn't "do you read your Bible and pray?" The question goes deeper - where is your heart planted all throughout your days? Do you seek out, desire and long to live in the presence of God all your days? Are you talking to him throughout the day? Are you asking for his help and wisdom? Are you thanking and praising him? Or do you live your spiritual life in a naive sense that you can stay clean from the evil around you just because you call yourself a christian? We stay alert to sin when we are learning to live in the presence of God and seeking his faithfulness. or maybe you are like the people of Sodom - livin it up. Someone paid of this life you live. Someone gave you breath today. And it wasn't you. And you will answer to that someone - because this world is his. God is perfect and holy in his justice. All evil and sin will meet a thundering and terrifying end. • The covenant faithfulness and mercy of God Why did God save Lot? 29 So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when he demolished the cities where Lot had lived. God saved Lot because God was faithful to Abraham and his prayers. God was true to his promises. God made a covenant with Abraham - a binding relationship, a promise - that through him all nations would be blessed. That covenant promise is also the reason we are all here today. That covenant promise was expanded through the law God gave through Moses. It was clarified through the promise God made to David - that an everlasting King would come from him. And it was realized in Jesus. We are all born in sin. We all come into the world living in the city. But God in his faithfulness and mercy entered our world personally to come to us, to wake us up, to get us out. Jesus came to get you out - even if it meant he had to face the fires of heaven in your place. God's holiness is not just about burning judgement. Its also about burning love. He has faced judgement for you, so that his holiness may be your delight rather than your death. His perfection, his kingdom, his righteousness can now be your power, your song, your joy, your mission in life. Do you linger in the darkness - or do you run to his light, confessing sin, casting your trust upon him, forsaking everything so that he might wash you clean and make you new? Do you marvel at the power of his love? Do you delight in his holiness?

Is Anything too Difficult for the Lord? - The Life of Abraham

August 21, 2022 • Andrey Bulanov • Genesis 18:1–15

Main idea: The true state of your heart is seen in your automatic heart responses. How we honor and worship God is inseparably tied to how we live our lives everyday and treat others. This is also seen in the subtle ways in which our heart hides in unbelief. We forget God's promises and think we are alone in our battles when we don't see the answers we expected in life. But God comes gently to challenge us and rouse us from our unbelief. Outline: 1. A gracious host prepares a sacred meal 2. A deep sin, unexpectedly exposed 3. A mighty God, and a gentle reminder Scripture References: • Genesis 18:1-15 • Hebrews 13:1-2 • Romans 8:31-39 • Hebrews 11:11-12 Application questions: • Do you limit your expectations to avoid disappointment? • Where does your confidence lie today? Is the main confidence of your life, your expectations and your view of the future rooted in God and his faithfulness? • Does your faith drive your imagination? • Ask God to open your eyes more. Ask him to show himself, to deepen your trust. ------- Read text: Genesis 18:1-15 We are back on the journey of faith with our father in the faith Abraham. And every turn in the story, every scene, every chapter - reveals new things about Abraham and his journey of faith. At the same time, we see ourselves in these stories. The struggles and challenges in these stories are the same things we face everyday. One of the questions that I have been turning over in my mind the last few years is "How do we become people of deep and genuine faith in God? How do we become the kind of people, from whom the life of faith flows like a river, rather than being forced externally?" The answer to this question has many layers and sides. Its not just a simple 3 step process. We tend to be very simplistic in our understanding of our faith. We think that my faith is clearly seen in my ability to give the right answers to questions about God. Do I believe that God is the Creator of all things? Yes. Do I acknowledge that I am a sinner and need his help? Yes. Do I trust in Jesus as the one who died for me, and through whom I receive forgiveness? Yes. The Bible shows us that its not enough to just give good answers. The things that we truly believe deep down in our hearts - are more often revealed in our automatic responses to life situations. We need to learn to pay closer attention to our automatic heart responses - because here we gain real encouragement for the evidence of God's transforming work, AND here we meet the pockets of unbelief that hide in our hearts. Here God shows up to gently confront our unbelief and show himself more clearly to us. These are the lessons we want to see as we look at our story today. 1. A gracious host prepares a sacred meal "The Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre..." Moses gives us this preface so that we know clearly what is happening from the beginning. But notice, the real identity of these mysterious visitors is not so clear to Abraham from the very start. If Abraham was telling the story of this unusual day, he would start with the second part of verse 1.... "http://...while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2 He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him..." Abraham is an old man, he has just finished tending to his daily business and he has just sat down for his midday siesta - it is the hottest part of the day. The part of the day to take a little break in the shade. Everything in this first part of the story is very clearly focused on how Abraham responds to this unexpected interruption. Moses gives many details to emphasize it. He wants to paint a vivid picture because he wants us to see Abraham's character on display here. This whole scene is also set in contrast to the the scenes that will follow in the next chapters about the hospitality that the angels will receive in the city of Sodom. Moses is showing us the massive contrast here between the house of faith and the evil of the world. "he looked up and saw three men were standing near..." Maybe a clue that something about these visitors in a little unusual? They just appeared there when he looked up. "he ran to meet them, bowed to the ground..." "my lord, please stop by, rest, water for your feet, some bread..." Abraham is a man of status. He is a leader of a clan, a wealthy and powerful man. As they agree he springs into action. "hurried to the tent, "Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.” "Ran to the herd and got a tender choice calf...(the best of the best)..." 1 measure was about 7 liters. Fresh baked flatbreads, steak strips and some cheese curds.... And he stands by them as their host - he does not sit with them to eat. Who wouldn't want to be a guest in Abraham's house?? Why is Moses giving us this much detail on the hospitality? • A contrast between the house of faith and the city of evil - how the guests are treated • The fine flour and the calf - allusions by Moses to the sacrificial system of worship to God Abraham out of the goodness and the humility of his heart serves these mysterious visitors - well it turns out he is literally serving God himself. Abraham is truly becoming a father in the faith, a prophetic figure and a model of devotion to God - his life in and out is soaked with real humility and devotion and its reflected in how he serves God and how he responds to people. There's an important point here about hospitality - a point that needs to be made in an age of radical individualism. Hospitality is presented all over the Bible as a characteristic of truly Godly people because they acknowledge that all that they have is given as a gift, and as an opportunity to serve others. Opening your home, your time, your money - in the service of others has always been a key characteristic of God's people. Hebrews 13:1-2 "Let brotherly love abound. Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it." Its always tempting to see our home especially as a retreat from the world. We think that if we serve God in other ways we can afford to me more selfish in this area. Its easy to think that people who always host and show hospitality are just people who are extra social and just like having people over. Hospitality is a lot of work. And it has to be seen as an essential means of loving others in the community of the saints. Also hospitality will cost you your comfort. It’s not just inviting your closest friends over to socialize. It’s opening your home to when there is a need and it’s the last thing you want to do. Moses chooses to highlight the growing faith of Abraham not by telling us how much money he sent to a missionary - but by telling us his humble mindset to serve. 2. A deep sin, unexpectedly exposed As the meal concludes, the identity of these mysterious visitors becomes more and more clear. We see that the main character of the three is the Lord himself. The other two men are angels. Later in the story, the Lord departs and the angels continue on into the valley of Sodom and Gomorrah. There are a number of places in the Bible where God appears to people - these appearances are obviously disguised and veil his full glory. Moses and the bush, Moses and Sinai, Jacob in the night, etc. These are personal intentional encounters where God shields his full glory from people in order to speak or interact more personally with them. We also see the purpose of their visit. "9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered. 10 The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him." Somehow this visitor knows the Sarah's name, and he speaks the same promise the God gave Abraham in the previous chapter. Its interesting to see that there is no new information given. In the previous chapter God gives the same exact promise to Abraham. Why say it again? Well as we read this story we see that the emphasis here is on Sarah - God has come in such a personal situation so that she may here the promise herself from him. And he knows she is eavesdropping on the conversation. We don't know if Abraham told her about what God told him in chapter 17, the time here shows there is not a lot of time between 17 and 18, but her reaction shows the state of her heart. She laughs at the idea. And this is the moment that God is here for. He is here to speak to HER heart in the midst of this struggle. it says she laughed TO HERSELF - a silent chuckle. She wasn't expecting this stranger to be making such silly predictions. But what she REALY wasn't expecting was that this visitor could read her mind. "why did Sarah laugh?" Shes totally blindsided by the question. The closing verse of the story is kind of funny. Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid. But he replied, “No, you did laugh.” How do you respond to a guy who reads your mind? Its a funny situation that highlights the foolishness of our hearts sometimes. We do dumb things when we are caught off guard and try to protect our reputation - when we are afraid. It seems like an innocent enough thing - just a little chuckle at the ridiculousness of God's promise - but God catches it and presses the point. One small sin always leads to another - the joke is on us when we think we can get away with things, when we think that we can do things that God does not see. We are the ones left in a foolish situation. God does not let this "little sin" go - he is here for Sarah - he is here to expose her heart and challenge her unbelief. And he does it so gently - even though it makes her look silly. "No I didn't!" "Yes you did." Isaac's name doesn't come up in this chapter directly - it was stated in the previous chapter - where God told Abraham his sons name will be Isaac - which means "laughter" in Hebrew. So what Moses does here is a play on words as he finishes the story is use the same hebrew word twice. She said " I did not Isaach" and the Lord said, "Yes you did Isaac" Its like if the sons name would be mark and she said, "I did not miss the mark!" and he said "yes you did miss the mark" 3. A mighty God, and a gentle reminder Moses makes sure to clearly show us WHY this situation was funny to Sarah. "11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing." Not only do we know from previous chapters that Sarah was unable to have children even when she was a younger woman. in that phase of life - it was EXTREMELY unlikely that she would have a child. And God called then and said they will have children. He was promising to overturn her barrenness. But here the situation is even more clear. "She is passed the age of childbearing..." literally in Hebrew - "the way of the woman had ceased with her" - she was past menopause - it was not impossible for her to get pregnant! Her own thoughts give us a deeper view of the situation: "“After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?”" they are both really old, and this word delight can mean one of two things: • the delight of becoming a mother and having a child • the delight and pleasure of physical intimacy - this is the side the most commentators seem to lean to because of the meaning of the word Moses uses - shows that she is at an age where she is no longer physically intimate with her husband. God needed to drive this situation to the point of impossibility - so that in doing this he can expose their hearts more clearly AND to show HIMSELF. Its exactly what Jesus did when he heard that his friend Lazarus was sick - he stayed a few days until he was dead - and THEN he showed up. This exposes a common tendency in us - we always have our own "common sense" limits on what we think God will and will not do in our lives. On things he CAN and CAN'T fix. On things that we CAN and CAN'T hope for. Jesus can heal Lazarus. But he can't raise him from the dead. God can take away Sarah's barrenness but he can't give her body the ability to have a child when she is past old age. All this leads to the central question in the story. THIS IS THE LINE that the whole story hinges on. This is why God appeared as a man to come sit under a tree and eat steak with Abraham - to confront Sarah's own unbelief and ask: "IS ANYTHING TOO DIFFICULT FOR THE LORD?" this question is meant, not just to show us that God can do anything - but that NOTHING is DIFFICULT for him! He spoke a word, and the universe burst into existence. Do you think its difficult for him to answer your prayers??? Everything that for us is such a painful toil, all the things that we scrape by with all our efforts - to him its no effort at all. Why then do we limit what we think he can or cannot do? It's because we want to protect our hearts from disappointment. Sarah has been on a loooong journey of hoping against the odds. Of hoping against hope. And she had settled in her heart because its easier that way. God made the promise to Abraham but its the wife that has to conceive and birth the child. Yes God made a promise. But obviously the son wont come through me. I will leave nothing behind in this world. Abraham's son will be from someone else. Its easier to just set a limit on HOW you think God will answer the prayer so that your heart doesn't have to be broken or discouraged again. Maybe you are struggling through a difficult relationship in your life. Maybe you are praying for a loved one. Maybe an illness. Maybe a continual sin and temptation in your life. Maybe you look at the world around and you say its too broken its hopeless. And you are tempted to just throw in the towel and say - this will never change. We can make all kinds of excuses - that its the situation, etc, etc - but deep down its our view of God. We stop believing that God can work redemption and power in our lives. Here is where the prosperity gospel gets it wrong - they say, "God can do ANYTHING! And he WILL, if only you keep believing!" Here is where we get it confused - we think, "If God isn't answering or fixing this situation in the way that I envisioned it, it means that he has abandoned me." Here's the important point: God can do anything. And he WILL do everything that he has promised. The reason we loose hope and faith is that we loose faith that he is actually present in our struggles to work in powerful and beautiful ways - ways that make it all worth it. Can things change? YES. Will they? I don't know. But What I DO know is that God is HERE, and he is working through my struggles, he is working through my prayers, he is present, he cares, and he is all powerful, none of this is difficult for him - his kingdom is being built even through this struggle even if I can't see it. You hinge yourself - NOT on the fulfillment of a specific thing - but on the unshaking confidence that God WILL do everything that he has promised - and MORE. Where is your confidence today? Are you confident in the things that God says he will do? Are you confident in the things that God HAS done?? How do I know that God will come through? How do I build my faith and hope in him? Notice how God came to build Sarah's faith. He came down as a man - to sit under the tree next to the tent, to gently challenge her unbelief, and to ask the question - is there anything too difficult for the Lord? this is how he teaches us to believe as well. He came down and became a man. Not just that time he went to talk to Sarah. He did it again a few thousand years later. He came to speak to every single one of us - he came to confront our unbelief - to shock us with his knowledge of our hearts, and with his gentleness and love. Is anything too difficult for the Lord? There was one thing that was really difficult. He struggled and cried out in fear alone in the garden - but he did because of his love for us, foolish sinners who think we can hide from him. He did it to prove that there is NOTHING too difficult for the Lord, not even saving lost sinners. Romans 8:31-39 31 What, then, are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He did not even spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? 33 Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. 34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. 35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Application: • Do you limit your expectations to avoid disappointment? • Where does your confidence lie today? Is the main confidence of your life, your expectations and your view of the future rooted in God and his faithfulness? If you follow Jesus today, no matter how long and slow your challenges are - do you know that you are loved, that you are redeemed, that you are adopted, that you are glorified, that you are essential to his kingdom, that your Father cares for you every day and he is working in your life in ways that are GREATER than anything you can ask or think? Because we are confident in what he HAS done, we have the power to stand in difficult situations that make us question what he will do - as we stand firm, hoping in him and his goodness - we are a testimony to his greatness. • Does your faith drive your imagination? As you stand in faith in him - are you excited by the imagination of the possibilities of what God CAN do? Or are you safely wrapping your heart in doubt about what he CAN'T do? Healthy faith has limitless imagination. Healthy faith is excited by the possibilities. Even in our suffering, there is victory. For some God seems distant. Your dreams are wrapped up in silly worldly things that will disappear tomorrow. Here's what you need to know - repent and follow Jesus - not because he is going to limit your life - but because he holds the keys to the universe. His love will make you a different person. His love will transform the way you see all of life. • Ask God to open your eyes more. Ask him to show himself, to deepen your trust. What happened to Sarah in the end? Hebrews 11:11-12 11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful. 12 Therefore, from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore. This is the call to all of us. Consider him who promises - consider his love, his cross, and his power for you today.