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Voddie Baucham - Abram and Lot Separate · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Well, in our examination of the life of Abraham, we
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  Speaker 1: have come to Genesis chapter 13, and we have watched
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  Speaker 1: Abraham go down to Egypt in order to avoid a drought,
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  Speaker 1: a famine, and have an experience there in Egypt that
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  Speaker 1: gives us a glimpse into perhaps the principal weakness of
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  Speaker 1: in Abraham's life. Either his great fear that caused him
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  Speaker 1: to misrepresent his relationship with his wife, or just lying
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  Speaker 1: in and of itself. Take your pick. But either way,
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  Speaker 1: we see this great weakness in the life of Abraham.
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  Speaker 1: And we come out of this picture of the great
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  Speaker 1: weakness in the life of Abraham not to what one
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  Speaker 1: would expect. Now, again, I'm not talking about what we
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  Speaker 1: expect because we know the Bible. I'm not talking about
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  Speaker 1: what we expect because we know the story. I'm talking
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  Speaker 1: about what we would expect if we'd never heard it before.
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  Speaker 1: If you'd never heard it before and you begin in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 12 and God makes this incredible promise to Abraham. Well,
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  Speaker 1: first of all, you'd probably assume God's making this incredible
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  Speaker 1: promise to Abraham because he's better than anybody else God
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  Speaker 1: could find. And after that, you'd assume that God's making
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  Speaker 1: this incredible promise to Abraham, a promise that God says
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  Speaker 1: is going to come to pass, that you would probably
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  Speaker 1: see Abraham live an exemplary life. Now, you then come
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  Speaker 1: to this portion in chapter 12 where he goes to
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  Speaker 1: Egypt and not only lies about who his wife is,
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  Speaker 1: but actually gives his wife away to another man. So
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  Speaker 1: what you would probably expect in chapter 13 is for
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  Speaker 1: God to come back and say, you remember that stuff
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  Speaker 1: I told you I was going to do with you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to find somebody else. Thank you very much.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, that's what you would expect to find in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 13. But we don't find that in chapter 13.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, we find a reiteration of the promise in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 13. Quite unexpected, is it not? I want you
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  Speaker 1: to understand something. As we read about Abraham in the
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  Speaker 1: New Testament, we find his name 72 times in 69
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  Speaker 1: verses in the New Testament, over and over and over
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  Speaker 1: again in the New Testament. The father of the faithful,
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  Speaker 1: he is referred to over and over and over again.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to understand that as you find that
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  Speaker 1: in the New Testament, it is not as much about
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  Speaker 1: the righteousness of Abraham as it is about the glory
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  Speaker 1: of God. And we'll see that here in chapter 13,
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  Speaker 1: that with the glory of God and the righteousness of
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  Speaker 1: Abraham here in chapter 13. And so as you'll look
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  Speaker 1: with me, let's look here and we'll look at it
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  Speaker 1: in sections here. There are four things that we're going
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  Speaker 1: to see. We're going to see the grace of God
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  Speaker 1: in that first verse, the goodness of God in two
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  Speaker 1: through seven. the providence of God in 8 through 13,
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  Speaker 1: and then the plan of God, again, reiterated there in
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  Speaker 1: 14 and following. But let's look at the grace of
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  Speaker 1: God here, beginning verse 1 of chapter 13. Again, remembering
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  Speaker 1: what has come before. Look at verse 17. Let's back
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  Speaker 1: up and look at verse 17 of chapter 12. But
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  Speaker 1: the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues
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  Speaker 1: because of Sarai, Abram's wife. So Pharaoh called Abram and said,
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  Speaker 1: what is this you have done to me? Why did
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  Speaker 1: you not tell me that she was your wife? Why
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  Speaker 1: did you say she is my sister? So that I
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  Speaker 1: took her for my wife. Now then, here is your wife.
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  Speaker 1: Take her and go. And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him,
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  Speaker 1: and they sent him away with his wife and all
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  Speaker 1: that he had. Chapter 13, verse 1. So Abram went
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  Speaker 1: up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that
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  Speaker 1: he had, and lot with him into the Negev. we
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  Speaker 1: see the grace of God in verse one. Not only
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  Speaker 1: did God not get him, but Pharaoh didn't get him.
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh didn't get him. Not only did Pharaoh not get him,
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh let him leave with all of his stuff. The
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  Speaker 1: grace of God. The grace of God in Abram not
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  Speaker 1: being wiped off the face of the earth right there
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  Speaker 1: immediately in that moment. So here's what we learn about
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  Speaker 1: Abram or Abraham. What we learn is that the righteousness
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  Speaker 1: that we see in the life of Abraham is actually
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  Speaker 1: a result of the grace of God. that God is
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  Speaker 1: going to fulfill this promise, but he's not going to
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  Speaker 1: fulfill it because Abram is inherently righteous, but because of
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  Speaker 1: the goodness of God, but because of the grace of God.
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  Speaker 1: It is unmerited favor being shown to Abram. He is
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  Speaker 1: not worthy of it. It is not because he is
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  Speaker 1: a sinless man. And as we have followed the seed
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  Speaker 1: from Genesis chapter three, when the seed was first announced,
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  Speaker 1: On down to when the seed came through the line
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  Speaker 1: of Seth. On down through when the seed was revealed
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  Speaker 1: as being protected in Noah. On down to the flood
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  Speaker 1: where the seed was protected on the ark. Now down
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  Speaker 1: to Abram where the seed is protected and continues to
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  Speaker 1: be promised. Further ahead in the future, as we see this,
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  Speaker 1: we recognize that whether it's Adam or Seth or Noah,
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  Speaker 1: or Abraham. None of them is in this line through
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  Speaker 1: which God will bring the promised seed because of any
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  Speaker 1: inherent righteousness in themselves. It is because of the grace
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  Speaker 1: of God. Therefore, right after the promise is made, in
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  Speaker 1: case there was any confusion, In case you were thinking, oh,
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  Speaker 1: wait a minute, God tried with Adam, but Adam sinned.
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  Speaker 1: So then God's going to try again with Seth. Then
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  Speaker 1: God's going to try again with Noah. Now God's going
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  Speaker 1: to try again with Abram. And of course, Abram's going
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  Speaker 1: to succeed because he is going to be the righteous one. Immediately,
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  Speaker 1: right after he is introduced, his sin is unveiled for
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  Speaker 1: all to see. There is none righteous. No, not even one.
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  Speaker 1: That's why this promised seed is promised. Because it's this
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  Speaker 1: promised seed that's going to do away with man's unrighteousness.
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  Speaker 1: It's this promised seed that's going to bring about righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: It's this promised seed who is going to actually impute
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  Speaker 1: righteousness because of his righteousness. He is going to keep
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  Speaker 1: the law perfectly and be able to impute righteousness to others.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, newsflash. In case you thought, okay, we
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  Speaker 1: missed it. We missed it. The promised seed wasn't Cain
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  Speaker 1: or Abel. Okay, the promised seed was Seth. No, we
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  Speaker 1: missed it. Promised seed wasn't Seth. Maybe the promised seed
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  Speaker 1: was Noah. No, we missed it. Maybe the promised seed
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  Speaker 1: was Abram. Okay, no, we missed it. Now Abram's going
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  Speaker 1: to have the promised seed and the promised seed is
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  Speaker 1: going to be Isaac. No. The promised seed is Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: All of the stops in between are just means to
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  Speaker 1: an end. Because every last one of these individuals has
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  Speaker 1: the same problem. And that problem is that the first
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  Speaker 1: Adam was their federal head. We've talked about this before.
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  Speaker 1: And as their federal head, this first Adam sinned. And
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  Speaker 1: we find in Romans chapter five, that because of the
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  Speaker 1: sin of the first Adam, that all men sinned in him.
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  Speaker 1: And death reigned because of the sin of Adam. And
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  Speaker 1: death would continue to reign because of the sin of Adam.
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  Speaker 1: There is this problem, and you'll see the problem over
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  Speaker 1: and over and over again. When you get men who
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  Speaker 1: are born, who are the seed of the first Adam,
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  Speaker 1: they're all born in sin. So it's not until we
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  Speaker 1: get to the person of Jesus Christ, who's born as
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  Speaker 1: the seed of the woman, but not as the seed
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  Speaker 1: of man, that finally We have the second Adam and
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  Speaker 1: a new federal head. That's the promised seed. So we
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  Speaker 1: see this picture of the grace of God, even though,
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  Speaker 1: look with me if you will, several passages of Scripture.
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  Speaker 1: Go with me to Romans chapter 4. Let's look at
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  Speaker 1: several passages here in Romans chapter 4. Look at those
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  Speaker 1: first three verses. What then shall we say was gained
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  Speaker 1: by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if
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  Speaker 1: Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about,
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  Speaker 1: but not before God. For what does the scripture say?
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  Speaker 1: Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: It was credited to him as righteousness. He wasn't righteous,
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  Speaker 1: but it was credited to him as righteousness. Now go
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  Speaker 1: with me, if you will, down to verse 9. Is
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  Speaker 1: this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for
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  Speaker 1: the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham
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  Speaker 1: as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was
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  Speaker 1: it before or after he had been circumcised? It was
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  Speaker 1: not after, but before he was circumcised. So we see,
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  Speaker 1: not because of works. Go with me down to verses
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  Speaker 1: 12 and 13. And to make him the father of
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  Speaker 1: the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also
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  Speaker 1: walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father
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  Speaker 1: Abraham had before he was circumcised for the promise to
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  Speaker 1: Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of
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  Speaker 1: the world did not come through the law but through
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  Speaker 1: the righteousness of faith. Abraham was not righteous. because of
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  Speaker 1: anything that he did, it was by faith. Look with
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  Speaker 1: me if you will now at Galatians. Galatians chapter three.
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  Speaker 1: Galatians chapter three. And this is an important paragraph. We'll
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  Speaker 1: read this whole paragraph. Galatians chapter three, look at one
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  Speaker 1: through six. Oh, foolish Galatians. By the way, that's a
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  Speaker 1: very kind translation. That word foolish there, that's a very,
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  Speaker 1: very kind translation of the word there in the Greek.
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  Speaker 1: You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before
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  Speaker 1: your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
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  Speaker 1: Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the
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  Speaker 1: Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? No.
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  Speaker 1: Are you so foolish having begun by the Spirit? Are
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  Speaker 1: you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer
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  Speaker 1: so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain?
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  Speaker 1: Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works
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  Speaker 1: miracles among you do so by works of the law
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  Speaker 1: or by hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God
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  Speaker 1: and it was counted to him as righteousness. as righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: So what do we see coming off of chapter 12
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  Speaker 1: into chapter 13? The first thing we see is the
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  Speaker 1: grace of God. The righteousness of Abraham is about the
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  Speaker 1: grace of God. And he demonstrates this for us by
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  Speaker 1: showing us in stark relief Abraham's faith in obeying and
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  Speaker 1: going when God said go and Abraham's sinfulness the first
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  Speaker 1: time out of the gate when something goes wrong. We
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  Speaker 1: see the grace of God. Why is this so important?
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  Speaker 1: This is incredibly important because we've talked about this before.
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  Speaker 1: Oftentimes when we look at the Old Testament and we
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  Speaker 1: look at character studies in the Old Testament, we go
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  Speaker 1: back to the Old Testament and we look at it
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  Speaker 1: from a moralistic perspective. They did this and good things happened.
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  Speaker 1: They did this and bad things happened. Therefore, this passage
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  Speaker 1: is about not doing the bad thing, but doing the
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  Speaker 1: good thing. And usually in Genesis chapter 13, what's Genesis
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  Speaker 1: chapter 13 about? Genesis chapter 13 is about these two
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  Speaker 1: men who had a choice. One chose to go over
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  Speaker 1: near Sodom and And the other one chose to go
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  Speaker 1: to the promised land. And so the lesson learned is
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  Speaker 1: be like Abraham and not like Lot and don't choose
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  Speaker 1: to go live by the sinners. Newsflash, Abraham is one
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  Speaker 1: of the sinners. That's not the lesson in the passage.
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  Speaker 1: It's not the lesson in Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter
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  Speaker 1: 13 is not trying to teach you that you need
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  Speaker 1: to choose like Abraham and not choose like Lot. Genesis
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  Speaker 1: chapter 13 is trying to teach you that even Abraham,
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  Speaker 1: the father of the faithful, is only righteous because of
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  Speaker 1: the grace of God. So don't you dare think that
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  Speaker 1: you're more like Abraham and less like Lot because of
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  Speaker 1: a choice that you made. You need to throw yourself
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  Speaker 1: on the grace of God Throw yourself on the mercy
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  Speaker 1: of God. That's what we see here in Genesis chapter 13.
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  Speaker 1: We see the righteousness of Abraham is all about the
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  Speaker 1: goodness of God, first and foremost, because of the grace
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  Speaker 1: of God. Secondly, because of the goodness of God. Look
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  Speaker 1: at the goodness that God showed him. I told you
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  Speaker 1: he left with all of his stuff. Look back with me,
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  Speaker 1: if you will, in Genesis chapter 13. And look there
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  Speaker 1: at that first verse again. So Abram went up from Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: he and his wife. By the way, that's the goodness
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  Speaker 1: of God. He didn't have to leave with his wife.
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh took her as his own wife. It could have
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  Speaker 1: been done right there. And Pharaoh could have just said,
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  Speaker 1: you were wrong for what you did. You get to die.
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  Speaker 1: But number one, we see the goodness of God because
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  Speaker 1: Abram left. Amen? He got to leave. Secondly, he got
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  Speaker 1: to leave with his wife. And thirdly, he got to
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  Speaker 1: leave with his stuff. Didn't deserve one of those three things.
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  Speaker 1: Didn't deserve to leave. Didn't deserve to leave with his wife.
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  Speaker 1: And didn't deserve to leave with his stuff. But in
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  Speaker 1: the goodness of God, he got all three. None of
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  Speaker 1: them he deserved. But look at this. Look at verse 2.
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  Speaker 1: Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and
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  Speaker 1: in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negev as
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  Speaker 1: far as Bethel to the place where his tent had
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  Speaker 1: been at the beginning. By the way, you also see
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  Speaker 1: the goodness of God because where did God allow him
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  Speaker 1: to go? This is where he left. And he's going
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  Speaker 1: back to the place where he left. God calls him
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  Speaker 1: out and he goes to the place where God calls him.
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  Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, there is a famine that comes,
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  Speaker 1: a drought that comes. So he leaves this place where
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  Speaker 1: God had promised him and God had called him. And
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  Speaker 1: he goes into Egypt and goes into sin. Not only
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  Speaker 1: does he come out, not only does he come out
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  Speaker 1: with his wife, not only does he come out with
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  Speaker 1: his stuff, but he gets to go back to the
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  Speaker 1: place God promised him. Between Bethel and Ai, to the
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  Speaker 1: place where he had made an altar at the first place.
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  Speaker 1: And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and
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  Speaker 1: herds and tents, so that the land could not support
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  Speaker 1: both of them dwelling together. For their possessions were so
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  Speaker 1: great that they could not dwell together. And there was
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  Speaker 1: strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen
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  Speaker 1: of Lot's livestock. At that time, the Canaanites were and
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  Speaker 1: the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. God was so
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  Speaker 1: good to them that the land could not contain both
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  Speaker 1: of them. God was so good to them that they
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  Speaker 1: had so much abundance that they overwhelmed this place where
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  Speaker 1: God had promised. And as a result, they had to separate.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to what Calvin says to this. In the commencement
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  Speaker 1: of the chapter, Moses commemorates the goodness of God in
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  Speaker 1: protecting Abram. Once it came to pass that he not
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  Speaker 1: only returned in safety, but took with him great wealth.
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  Speaker 1: This circumstance is also to be noticed that when he
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  Speaker 1: was leaving Egypt, abounding in cattle and treasures, he was
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  Speaker 1: allowed to pursue his journey in peace. For it is
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  Speaker 1: surprising that the Egyptians would suffer what Abram had acquired
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  Speaker 1: among them to be transferred elsewhere. He went to Egypt
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  Speaker 1: and sinned and God increased his wealth. Because he deserved it? No.
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  Speaker 1: Just the goodness of God. And by the way, anyone
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  Speaker 1: who's offended by that, let me help you real quick.
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  Speaker 1: Because you're sitting there talking about, well, that's just not right.
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  Speaker 1: That doesn't seem right. If you are anywhere around average
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  Speaker 1: income as an American. Just anywhere close to average income
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  Speaker 1: as an American. If you have a household income of
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  Speaker 1: somewhere around $ 35, 000, $ 40, 000, your entire household income, somewhere around $ 35, 000
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  Speaker 1: to $ 40, 000, you are more wealthy than 70% of the
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  Speaker 1: rest of the people on the planet. Over a billion
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  Speaker 1: people on this globe live on less than a dollar
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  Speaker 1: a day. God's been as good to you as he's
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  Speaker 1: been to Abraham. You don't even know it. You don't
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  Speaker 1: even realize it. You eat two, three meals a day.
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  Speaker 1: Most of the world knows nothing of that. We live
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  Speaker 1: in such peace and prosperity and abundance that We sit
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  Speaker 1: around and have arguments and debates about, you know, for
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  Speaker 1: whom we're going to vote. Not even recognizing that most
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  Speaker 1: of the people in this world don't have that privilege.
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  Speaker 1: Let alone the privilege of eating multiple meals a day.
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  Speaker 1: God's been good to you. And you don't deserve it.
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  Speaker 1: You thought, said, and did things on yesterday for which
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  Speaker 1: you deserve death and hell. And yet, you're going to
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  Speaker 1: eat two, three times today. God's been good to you.
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  Speaker 1: God's been good to you. He has shown you mercy,
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  Speaker 1: and you do not deserve the mercy he has shown you.
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  Speaker 1: And let me say this, when you look at this
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  Speaker 1: wealth that Abraham has accumulated, here's the other thing that
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  Speaker 1: you learn. Let's just get this right out there once
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  Speaker 1: and for all. This just completely negates that whole idea
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  Speaker 1: that somehow if you do all the right things, then
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  Speaker 1: you get wealthy. You do all the wrong stuff, then
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  Speaker 1: you won't get wealthy. That's not true. God gives wealth
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  Speaker 1: to whom he will give wealth. There are evil wealthy
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  Speaker 1: people and there are people who love God with every
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  Speaker 1: fiber of their being, serve God with every fiber of
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  Speaker 1: their being, have more faith in their little pinky than
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  Speaker 1: you have in your whole body and they live on
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  Speaker 1: less than a dollar a day. And yet the word
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  Speaker 1: of faith movement would have us believe that it's all
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  Speaker 1: about knowing the right formula and naming and claiming the
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  Speaker 1: right stuff. works righteousness people would have us believe, that
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  Speaker 1: it's all about us doing those right things. And if
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  Speaker 1: you do those right things, then you'll end up in a, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: absolutely not. Abraham and Lot had this great wealth because
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  Speaker 1: of the goodness of God. But here's what I want
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  Speaker 1: you to see as well. You don't believe that this
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  Speaker 1: is about the goodness of God? The guy who chose
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  Speaker 1: to go and pitch his tent near Sodom also had
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  Speaker 1: wealth like Abraham. The guy who chose to go and
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  Speaker 1: live with the unrighteous, he was blessed beyond measure as well.
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  Speaker 1: The goodness of God. Not just the grace of God
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  Speaker 1: and that we didn't get what we deserved, that Abram
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  Speaker 1: didn't get what he deserved, but the goodness of God
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  Speaker 1: as well. He didn't just not get what he deserved.
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  Speaker 1: He also got a whole lot of other stuff that
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  Speaker 1: he didn't deserve. You and I need to understand that
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: that's what we see in our relationship with God through
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. That it's not only, God could have said, listen,
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: you get to be saved. Period. End of discussion. That's it.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: You get to go to heaven when you die. Be
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: happy with that. The rest of it's going to be nasty.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: But not only did we get saved, but in God's goodness,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: He has given us more than we could ever ask for.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: More than we ever deserve. And for most of us,
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: more than we ever appreciate. God's been good to us.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: And if we're not careful, what will begin to happen
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: is we'll begin to sit back and say, because here's
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: the game that people play. The game that people play is,
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: I have more stuff than that person, therefore God likes
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: me more. Or I have more stuff than that person,
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: therefore I must be more righteous. Or I must be
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: more diligent. Or I must be whatever. I must have
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: figured out The secret biblical formula. And as a result
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: of me having figured out the secret biblical formula, I
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: have more stuff than other people have. Nothing could be
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: further from the truth. You got stuff because of the
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: goodness of God. But here's another thing you need to understand.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: Abram's got all this stuff. Because that's what God determined
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: he needed in order for him to be and do
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: what God intended for him to be and do for
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: God's long-term redemptive plan. You better believe Abram's got no
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: more stuff than he needs in order to carry out
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: the plan that God intends to carry out. That's what
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: he's got. That's what he's got. And that's what you've got.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: And that's what I've got. By the goodness of God,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: that's what we've got. We also see the providence of God.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: Here's what I want you to see. Go back to
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: verse 1 here. And it's interesting. In the Hebrew, there's
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: a prepositional phrase here. So Abram went up from Egypt,
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: he and his wife and all that he had. Then
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: there's a prepositional phrase there. And the prepositional phrase is,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: and lot with him. Now, here's why that's so important.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: There is a separation that takes place. If you notice
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: there in chapter 12 in the sojourn in Egypt, you
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: didn't see Lot. But there's a separation that takes place
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: in chapter 13 between Abram and Lot. And that's much
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: of what this chapter is about. This separation, this necessary
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: separation between Abram and Lot. By the way, you could
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: argue that one of the reasons God gave both Abram
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: and Lot so much was so that they had to separate.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: But God had to separate Abram and Lot. Why is
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: it important that God separates Abram and Lot? Here's why
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: it's important. From Lot, you get the Moabites and the Ammonites.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: And if you know your Bible, you know that sometimes
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: they're a problem. If Abram and Lot don't separate, you
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: got the Isbarites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites all mixed
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: up together. And you got both of them in the
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: promised land. So in the providence of God, God separates
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: not Abram and Lot, but he separates the Israelites from
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: the Moabites. That's what's happening here. God separates his people
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: through whom the promised seed will come from another people
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: group through whom the promised seed will not come. That's
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: what you see here in the separation between Abram and Lot.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: You see the providence of God. But not only do
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: you see the providence of God in that they separated,
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: but in how they separated. Look with me, if you will,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: next paragraph, beginning at verse 8. So Abram said to Lot,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: let there be no strife between you and me, and
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. He should have said,
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: and between your descendants and my descendants. Anyway, for we
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Separate
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: I will go to the right. Or if you take
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: the right hand, then I will go to the left.
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: Wait a minute, time out. Abram's putting the decision about
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: who gets the promised land into Lot's court. He doesn't say,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: God promised me this land, so I'll take this. And you...
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: Since you're not part of that promise, you go take
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: the land that's not the promised land. Abram didn't say that.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: He looked at Lot and said, you choose. Now, newsflash.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Here's what God was not doing in heaven. And Lot
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zoar.
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. Abram settled
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: cities of the valley and moved his tent as far
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: sinners against the Lord. Folks, that is the providence of God.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: That's God protecting the promised seed. That's God working out
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: your salvation in Christ long before you were ever born
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: and long before Christ was ever incarnate. That's the providence
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: of God. That's the providence of God God said what
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: he was going to do. And he saw to it
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: that he did it in his providence. By the way,
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: let me just share this with you as well. When
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: you look at this picture of the providence of God,
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: this is not the only time that you see this
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: picture of the providence of God. There is a famine
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: in the land, so Abraham goes to Egypt. Egypt. There
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: is a famine in the land. So Jacob sends his
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: boys to go buy grain in Egypt. They stay in Egypt.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: By the way, they're not happy while they're staying in Egypt.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: It comes time for Abram to leave Egypt. How is
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: Abram going to leave Egypt? His wife has been taken
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: in by Pharaoh. Somehow, God's got to get Pharaoh to
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: let Abram's people go. Later on, his descendants are in Egypt,
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: and how are they going to get out? God's got
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: to get Pharaoh to let his people go. So what
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: does God do to get Sarai, later Sarah, out of Egypt?
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: A plague against Pharaoh. What does God do to get
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: his children out of Egypt in Exodus? A plague against Pharaoh.
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: Abram leaves Egypt with his pockets filled to overflow. Later on,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: his descendants leave Egypt the exact same way. That is
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: the providence. By the way, there was another seed who
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: had to escape to Egypt as well. His name was Jesus.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: And he went to Egypt to escape the wrath of
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: King Herod. And then he came back out to that
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: very same land of promise. Don't you think for a
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: moment that that's a coinkydink. That's the providence of God
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: and the salvation of his people. That's what this is.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: This is not about Abraham. Abraham didn't even make the choice.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: And so if we go here with our moralistic lenses on,
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 13 is about making the right choice in
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: where you go and choose to live. Abraham didn't even
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: make the choice. And he's a sinner from the word go.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: He gave away his wife. You think he wouldn't have
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: gone to live in Sodom? He gave away his wife.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: You think he wouldn't have been influenced by the immorality
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: in Sodom? And yet in the providence of God, Abram
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: puts the choice on Lot. And Lot goes to Sodom
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: and not Abram. And the seed is protected once again.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: By the way, the first time Abram believes God and
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: he separates himself from his people and God makes a promise. Now,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Abram believes God and he separates himself from Lot. Therefore,
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: God reiterates the promise after the separation. Look at what happens.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: Here we see the plan of God or the promise
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: of God. The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: separated from him, lift up your eyes and look from
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: and westward. For all the land that you see, I
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: will give you. and to your offspring forever. I will
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: that if one can count the dust of the earth,
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: length and the breadth of the land, for I will
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: give it to you. So Abram moved his tent and
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: at Hebron. And there he built an altar to the Lord.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: Here's what's interesting. God makes this promise to Abram. And
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Abram has done absolutely nothing to deserve the promise. Do
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: you realize that? He goes to Egypt and he sins.
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: And as a result of him going to Egypt and sinning,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: he comes out with more stuff that he went in with.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: God separates him from Lot. And then God reiterates his promise. Why?
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: Because this is not about Abraham's righteousness. This is about
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: the goodness and the greatness of our God. And oh,
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: by the way, whomever God chose to work in and
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: through was going to be a sinful man. How do
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: I know that? All have sinned and fallen short of
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: the glory of God. So whatever God does, from Adam
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: to Jesus, he's going to be doing it with sinful
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: individuals whom he uses in spite of their sinfulness. Well,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: wait a minute though. So, I mean, how do we
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: handle that? How do we work that out? I'll go
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: back to Romans again. This time Romans chapter 3. Let's
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: begin there in verse 9. What then? Are we Jews
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: any better off? No, not at all. For we have
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: as it is written, none is righteous, no, not one.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: No one understands, no one seeks God. All have turned aside,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: together they have become worthless. No one does good, not
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: even one. Their throat is an open grave. They use
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Their feet are swift to shed blood. In their paths
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: are ruin and misery. And the way of peace they
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: have not known. There is no fear of God before
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says,
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: it speaks to those who are under the law, so
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: may be held accountable to God. For by works of
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: the law, no human being will be justified in his sight,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: since through the law comes knowledge of sin. So nobody's
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: going to be justified through the works of the law.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: Now look beginning at 21. But now the righteousness of
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: God has been manifested apart from the law, although the
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: of God. So the law and the prophets bear witness
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: to it. By the way, we're in Genesis. That's part
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: of what? The law. So it bears witness to this
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: righteousness that is spoken of in Romans chapter 3. What
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: we're reading in Genesis chapter 13 bears witness to this
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: righteousness that is spoken of here in Romans chapter 3.
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: all who believe. For there is no distinction for all
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: and are justified by his grace as a gift through
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: forward as a propitiation in his blood to be received
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: by faith. Now that word propitiation means that he satisfies
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: the righteous requirements of God. He satisfies the indignation and
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: the wrath of God. Here's what's important. Because we look
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: back at Abraham in Genesis chapter 13 and we say, well,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: wait a minute. That's just not right. How's God going
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: to use Abraham when he's sinful? And in his sinfulness,
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: God turns around and he reiterates the promise. Because it's
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: not about Abraham. It's about God. Okay, okay, fine. I
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: get that. It's not about Abraham, but it's about God.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: But what about Abraham's sin? He doesn't know Jesus. I'm
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: glad you asked. God put forth as a propitiation in
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: his blood to be received by faith. Doesn't say in
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: which direction, does it? Jesus paid it all, all to
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: washed it white as snow. But look at this. This
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance,
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: He had passed over former sins. So here's what happens
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: in Christ. People are looking and they're going, you know what, God?
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: You justified that Abraham character. And I saw what he did.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: How could you work with him? Well, because he had faith.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: And oh, by the way, in case you were wondering
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: how I could work with him and how I could
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: justify him, here's my son, the spotless, sinless lamb of God.
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: I'm going to crush him who knew no sin. I'm
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: going to kill him who had done nothing wrong. And
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: his righteousness that was achieved by him keeping the whole
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: law will be imputed to those who did not keep
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: the law through his active obedience and through his passive
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: obedience In dying on the cross, he will pay the
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: penalty for their disobedience. Now, does anyone think, God would ask,
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: that that's anything other than sufficient? Not that it's fair,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: because it's not. That the godly would die for the ungodly,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: not fair. That the righteous would die for the unrighteous,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: not fair. But God didn't have to be fair. He's God.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: Did you hear me? God doesn't have to be fair.
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: He's God. By the way, that's good news. Because fair
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: is death, hell, the grave. Praise God that God does
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: not have to be fair. But he does have to
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: be just. And back in this passage here in Romans,
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: look at what he says. It was to show his
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: righteousness at the present time so that he might be just,
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: because he's got to be just, and the justifier of
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: the one who has faith in Jesus. Did Abram know Jesus? Nope.
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: But he knew that there was a promised seed and
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: he had faith. He believed the promise that was to come.
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: Did he understand that promised seed fully? Nope. Newsflash. Neither
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: do you. That's why by grace are you saved. Through faith.
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: And that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: Not as a result of works. So that no man.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: can boast. Not Abraham, not you, not me. You see,
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: in Genesis chapter 13, we see the unbelievable glory of
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: God and the righteousness of Abraham because his righteousness is
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: not inherent in himself. We see the grace of God
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: in that he did not get what he deserved. We
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: see the goodness of God in that God lavished upon
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: him what he didn't deserve. We see the providence of
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: God in that God protects him and in him the
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: promised seed through which not just he, but all of
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: those who would be justified would ultimately be saved. And finally,
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: we see a reiteration of the promise of God. And
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: it's that promise of God that's important. Abraham's no better
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: than you. Abraham's no better than me. It's not about Abraham.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: If we learn anything from the life of Abraham, let
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: us learn to trust the Lord our God because if
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: he can use a man who would give away his wife,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: he can use you and me. Amen? He can use
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: you and me A couple of things to take with us.
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Number one, Genesis chapter 13 ought to crush once and
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: for all any reliance we have on works righteousness. It
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: ought to crush once and for all any reliance we
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: have on works righteousness. Maybe because we look at this
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: righteousness in Abram coming out of Genesis chapter 12 and
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: there is no way we can attribute it to works righteousness.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: He doesn't do anything in chapter 13. There's nothing. In fact,
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: there's not even a hint of repentance. We don't see
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: a picture of repentance from what he did in Egypt
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: to what we see in chapter 13. Now, does that
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: mean it didn't happen? I don't know. But the Bible
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: does not put forth a picture of Abram coming out
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: of Egypt saying, oh God, please forgive me for what
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: I've done. How could you use me to bring forth
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: this promised seed after what I've done? That doesn't happen
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: in chapter 12. It doesn't happen in chapter 13. And yet,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: God reiterates the promise that on a crush in you
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: and in me, all reliance on works righteousness. You can't
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: get there from here, folks. This is not about works righteousness.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: And that's the Old Testament. Do you catch that? Even
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: in the Old Testament, you don't get this picture of
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: works righteousness. Not only that, you don't even get this
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: picture of somehow this sacrifice-based righteousness. We see that he
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: builds an altar. We can assume that perhaps there was
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: a sacrifice on the altar. We don't have it here,
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: do we? This ought to crush in us once and
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: for all, this idea of works righteousness. Secondly, this sort
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: of crush in us once and for all, this idea
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: that you and I deserve the wealth that God bestows
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: upon us. That's a very Americanized idea. That somehow our
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: wealth is somehow equated with our righteousness. In fact, listen
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: to words that we use. If a man, two men
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: come into church, and you know I'm telling the truth.
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Two men come into church. You have two friends coming
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: to visit you at church. And your one friend that's
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: coming to visit you at church is a man who's,
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: you know, he just, he doesn't have much at all.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: But he's a great guy, great friend. You love him.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: Works hard, works with his hands. Got calluses that he's earned.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: Kind of a rough, scraggly fella. But he's just good people.
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: Salt of the earth kind of folks. He lives in
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: a trailer home. That person comes in and you're probably
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: going to say, hey, you know, that's my buddy, so-and-so.
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: Good guy, salt of the earth. Now you have a
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: friend who comes in, he's filthy, stank, nasty rich. Not
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: just rich. Filthy, stank, nasty rich, okay? Beyond rich. He's
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: just rich, rich, rich, rich, rich. A multi, multi, multimillionaire.
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: When that guy comes in, you know what we're going
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: to say? The Lord has really blessed him. You know,
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: it's the truth. That's what we say. The Lord has
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: really blessed him. That's American slang for he's got more
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: money than most people. Blessings equal money. That's how warped
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: our thinking is in this regard. Unless you've learned how
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: to be broke and blessed, you don't know how to
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: be blessed. And if you want to learn what it
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: looks like to be broke and consider yourself blessed, next
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: time we go on one of our trips, if we
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: go to Romania, if we go back to Zambia, you
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: just come with us. You just come with us. Just
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: spend a week in a third world country. You will
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: never again equate being blessed with having a lot of
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: money because you'll meet some of the most blessed people
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: you've ever met in your life. Some of the most
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: content people that you've ever met in your life and
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: they have nothing. That is a very Americanized idea. That
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: somehow the evidence that God is blessing you is that
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: you have a lot of financial wealth. That's not necessarily
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: the case. This ought to crush that in us once
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  Speaker 1: and for all. Here's a third thing. Here's a third thing.
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  Speaker 1: And not only should it crush any reliance on works righteousness,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: and not only should it crush once and for all
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: this idea that somehow You know, blessing is about the
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: accumulation of tangible wealth. But here's the third thing. This
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: ought to crush once and for all the idea that
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: you and I struggle with that somehow God can't use
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: us because of something we've done. You need to just
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: let that go. Right here, right now, henceforth, now, and forevermore.
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: Let that go. That idea that God can't use you
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: because of something you've done. That there's something in your
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: past that's bigger than a dead Jesus. That there's something
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: in your past that somehow just puts a red X
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: on you. And that somehow God can't bless you. Somehow
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: God can't use you. Nothing could be further from the truth.
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: By the way, that ties back into this mentality of
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: works righteousness. I don't care who you are. I don't
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: care what you've done. All have sinned and fall short
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: of the glory of God. You give God your today.
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: You give God your right now, and you let him
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: take care of your tomorrow. God can use you. Does
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: that mean that there's nothing from which you can disqualify yourself?
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: I didn't say that. You don't believe me? You ask David.
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: David disqualified himself from the privilege of building the temple. Absolutely, unequivocally, irrevocably,
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: he disqualified himself. He did not get to do that.
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  Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean that he didn't get to be
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: used by God. Amen? Even if there are things from
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: which you've disqualified yourself, that does not mean that you
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: can't be used by God. Just let that go. Right here,
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: right now. Forever. Forever. Let it go. Because you and
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: I have but one hope. And that one hope is
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: that we are seen by God through the lens of
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: the finished work of Jesus Christ. That's it. God made
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: him who knew no sin to become sin for us
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: in order that we might become the righteousness of God
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: in him. In Jesus. In Jesus. Your works will never
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: allow you to stand before God as justified. But the
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: finished work of Jesus Christ and His righteousness imputed to
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: you will never allow you to stand before God as
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: anything other than justified. Amen? It's Christ and it's Him alone.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: It's the work of Christ and His work alone. It's
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: the blood of Christ and his blood alone. We have
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: no other hope. And we need no other argument, as
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: the hymn writer writes. Would you bow with me? Father,
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: as we bow, We thank you for your goodness, the
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: goodness that you have shown us in your son, Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And thank you for walking us through this incredible picture
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: of your providence. As you, long before we were born,
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: long before the incarnation of your son, were working out
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: our salvations. through flawed and fragile men like Abraham. Thank
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: you for allowing us to see your grace and your
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: goodness and your providence and your promise again. And I
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: pray that as we continue to journey through Abraham's life,
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: that we would continue to understand the great work that
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: you've done in and through him, but that it ultimately
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: comes to fruition in the person and work of Jesus Christ,
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: who is the promised seed, who is our only hope,
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: who is our source of justification, sanctification, adoption, righteousness, glorification,
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: And I pray for those under the sound of my
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: voice who have trusted in anything else. That your word
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: would ring true in their lives, in their hearts and
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: in their minds. And that they would come to a
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: place of repentance and faith. Laying down all dependence on
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: works righteousness. And taking up only the finished work of
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. This we pray. This we ask. This we believe.
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: This we desire. In that name that is above every name.
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: That name at which every knee shall bow in heaven
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: and on earth and under the earth. The name at
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: which every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: to the glory of God the Father. In that name
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: we pray. Amen.