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Disobedience-Deja-Vu-Msg-15-22 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: There is perhaps no more beloved section of scripture in
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Speaker 1: all the Bible than the twenty third Psalm. If you
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Speaker 1: were like me as you were growing up, you were
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Speaker 1: taught to memorize the Psalm, and through the years I
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Speaker 1: have made a number of observations about it, one of
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Speaker 1: which is that the Psalm is written from the viewpoint
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Speaker 1: of a sheep, and if you can think of the
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Speaker 1: author as standing on all fours, if you will, the
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Speaker 1: Lord is his shepherd, and we therefore have no want,
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Speaker 1: no need. One quaint expositor, addressing the last part of
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Speaker 1: the Psalm, which says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow
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Speaker 1: me all the days of my life, made the statement,
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Speaker 1: are God, sheep dogs, goodness and mercy that follow us
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Speaker 1: all the way to glory? I so want you to
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Speaker 1: know our Savior. I so long for you to have
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Speaker 1: in your heart the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 1: and not to be led into thinking that by simply
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Speaker 1: being around people who know and love the Lord that
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Speaker 1: automatically gets you ready for eternity. I could spend four
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Speaker 1: days in a garage filled with beautiful cars, but it
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Speaker 1: doesn't make me a car. And you can sit in
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Speaker 1: a gathering like this half your life. But that doesn't
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Speaker 1: make you a Christian. It's a decision you must make
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Speaker 1: on your own as you trust him as your own Lord,
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Speaker 1: your own savior. Please do that. Please don't leave alone,
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Speaker 1: but leave with him as your inner, inner savior and Lord.
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Speaker 1: There's an outline in the worship folder which will guide
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Speaker 1: you and me as we make our way through this
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Speaker 1: section of Genesis chapter twenty. She's a very interesting part
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Speaker 1: of Abraham's life, the life we are currently studying. What
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Speaker 1: makes it interesting is because Abraham turns around and does
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Speaker 1: the very same thing in this place called Urrar that
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Speaker 1: he did in that place called Egypt where he lies
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Speaker 1: and tries to cover it up through rationalization. And so
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Speaker 1: that's why call it disobedience. De ja vu. Here we
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Speaker 1: are again, same same ugly song sung still off key.
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Speaker 1: If you found the chapter, please stand to your feet
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Speaker 1: as we read the Word of God, because it's lengthy.
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Speaker 1: I'll read excerpts from the twentieth of Genesis. Now, Abraham
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Speaker 1: journeyed from there toward the land of the Negative and
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Speaker 1: settled between Kadesh and Sure. Then he journeyed in Jerrar.
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Speaker 1: Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister.
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Speaker 1: So Abimelech, king of Jurar, sent and took Sarah. But
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Speaker 1: God came to a Bemelek, and a dream of the
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Speaker 1: night said to him, behold, you are a dead man
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Speaker 1: because of the woman whom you have taken, for she
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Speaker 1: is married. Verse six. Then God said to him in
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Speaker 1: the dream, yes, I know that, in the integrity of
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Speaker 1: your heart you have done this. I also kept you
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Speaker 1: from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you
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Speaker 1: touch her. Now, therefore, restore the man's wife, for he
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Speaker 1: is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and
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Speaker 1: you will live. But if you do not restore her,
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Speaker 1: know that you shall surely die, you and all who
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Speaker 1: are yours. Verse nine. Then a Bemelec called Abraham and
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Speaker 1: said to him, what have you done to us? And
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Speaker 1: how have I sinned against you that you have brought
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Speaker 1: on me and on my kingdom a great sin. You
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Speaker 1: have done to me things that ought not to be done.
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Speaker 1: And bele said to Abraham, what have you encountered that
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Speaker 1: you have done this thing? Abraham said, because I thought,
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Speaker 1: surely there is no fear of God in this place,
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Speaker 1: and they will kill me because of my wife. Verse fourteen.
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Speaker 1: Abemelech then took sheep and oxen, and male and female
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Speaker 1: servants and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife
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Speaker 1: Sarah to him. Abemelek said, behold, my land is before
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Speaker 1: you settle wherever you please. To Sarah, he said, behold,
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Speaker 1: I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold,
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Speaker 1: it is your vindication before all who are with you,
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Speaker 1: and before all men you are cleared. Abraham prayed to God,
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Speaker 1: and God healed Abmelech and his wife and his maids
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Speaker 1: so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed
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Speaker 1: fast all the wombs of the household of Abmelech. Because
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Speaker 1: of Sarah, Abraham's wife, you may be seated. It was
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Speaker 1: a number of years ago that evangelist songwriter of George
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Speaker 1: Beverly Shay put words into music that many Christians have
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Speaker 1: song for these fifty sixty or more years. I'd rather
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Speaker 1: have Jesus than a silver or gold. I'd rather be
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Speaker 1: his than have riches untold, and on and on the
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Speaker 1: song goes. And then he compares it than to be
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Speaker 1: a king, and to have all the things that kings offer.
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Speaker 1: There is nothing to be compared to having Jesus, it's
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Speaker 1: possible that if you do not have this one living
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Speaker 1: in your life, that you have relied on other things
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Speaker 1: to bring you happiness, and you've begun to realize about
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Speaker 1: now that that's never going to happen. Solomon writes of
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Speaker 1: Silver and Gold that it flies as an eagle toward heaven.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that descriptive? Silver and gold will never satisfy? Things
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Speaker 1: will never bring you peace. Travel will never take the
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Speaker 1: place of trust. And therefore the only one worth knowing
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Speaker 1: is the one named Jesus. And so our Father, as
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Speaker 1: we pause in the quiet and solitude of your presence,
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Speaker 1: enable us to picture in our minds this one. You
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Speaker 1: are one and only son, And because of your great
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Speaker 1: love for us, you gave him to this world. We
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Speaker 1: didn't understand. We didn't treat him well. We in fact
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Speaker 1: denied him and nailed him to a cross and left
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Speaker 1: him to die, never understanding that as we did, even
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Speaker 1: that your plan was unfolding. We come to live. He
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Speaker 1: came to die. We come often to make a name,
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Speaker 1: or to make a dent in our world. He came
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Speaker 1: to touch the hearts those who could never otherwise have peace.
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Speaker 1: Whom have we, Lord, but these soul thirst to satisfy
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Speaker 1: exhaustless spring. The water is free. All other streams are dry.
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Speaker 1: Standing near this well watered spring. Thank you for all
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Speaker 1: he brings to us, for the purpose he gives us
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Speaker 1: in living, and for the joy he provides even in
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Speaker 1: the midst of trials, For strength when we are weak,
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Speaker 1: for hope when life seems dark and fearful. Thank You
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Speaker 1: for these dear people who come today, your people, the
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Speaker 1: sheep of your pastor. May we all together as sheep,
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Speaker 1: enter into your gates with thanksgiving and into your courts
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Speaker 1: with praise. We sit before you in awe and wonder, Lord,
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Speaker 1: and we give you our praise for all you do
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Speaker 1: for us, the way you meet our needs, the way
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Speaker 1: you keep our country free, the way you protect us
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Speaker 1: when we are in dangerous places, the way you show
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Speaker 1: us care when we are weak and unable to carry
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Speaker 1: on in our own strength. Surely goodness and mercy follow
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Speaker 1: us all the days of our lives. And for this
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Speaker 1: and a thousand other reasons, we would rather have Jesus
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Speaker 1: than anything the world affords today. Because of Him we
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Speaker 1: give these gifts, and in his name we pray. Everyone
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Speaker 1: said amen, wouldn't it be great if we could suddenly
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Speaker 1: become instantly mature and completely perfect. I mean, all we
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Speaker 1: have to do is trust in Jesus. And even though
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Speaker 1: we've been sinners from birth or sinners by nature by choice,
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Speaker 1: when we come to Christ, all of that changes and
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Speaker 1: we are instantly mature, completely perfect. Try do we imagine,
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Speaker 1: Just imagine it. No more battles and struggles with pain
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Speaker 1: or losing of our temper, or greed or lust or
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Speaker 1: some other selfish, self serving act. All of that's gone
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Speaker 1: because now we have come to complete maturity. In an
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Speaker 1: instant we become a model of integrity. No complaining, no
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Speaker 1: more gossip, nothing like trying to control people's lives. We
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Speaker 1: have reached a level in that great moment where all
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Speaker 1: of this has changed. Think of the difference it would
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Speaker 1: mean in the church. You wouldn't fuss anymore about somebody
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Speaker 1: getting your seat, because you wouldn't care. You're mature. Those
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Speaker 1: selfish people want to get there first, it's their call,
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Speaker 1: and you don't have to worry about it, or somebody
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Speaker 1: taking your parking place as if you owned one of them,
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Speaker 1: because you realize, when you're mature and you're now perfect,
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Speaker 1: the only thing you have to claim is the Lord Jesus,
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Speaker 1: and what a difference he has made transform your life.
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Speaker 1: Think of what an evangelistic tool that would be. You
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Speaker 1: could tell someone I know, all your life you've struggled.
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Speaker 1: You're really a center by birth and by nature and
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Speaker 1: by choice. But you can know freedom from all of
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Speaker 1: that if you just trust in Christ, not trust in
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Speaker 1: him right now. And a person trusts in Christ, zip
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Speaker 1: everything is all different. You don't have another alien thought
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Speaker 1: that never again looks out for himself and doesn't know
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Speaker 1: something like selfishness or lust or greed. Now let's come
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Speaker 1: back to reality. Good luck. If that's what you're hoping for,
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Speaker 1: it won't happen. Even though you may trust in the
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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart and none other,
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Speaker 1: believe in him and him alone, by faith alone, because
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Speaker 1: of grace alone, you still carry with you the rest
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Speaker 1: of your life on this earth that old bag of
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Speaker 1: bones called your flesh, your carnal nature. That's what unbelievers
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Speaker 1: don't understand. They think, if you are a Christian, therefore
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Speaker 1: you are fully mature and you're absolutely perfect. Not so
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Speaker 1: not so. Thankfully, as a result of Christ, you have
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Speaker 1: a power that you didn't have four, so that sin
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Speaker 1: doesn't have to dominate your life. You can deal with
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Speaker 1: it and learn from it and get beyond it. But
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Speaker 1: that'll always be with you. I love the way the
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Speaker 1: late Alan Redpath put it in his book The Making
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Speaker 1: of a Man of God. He writes this, the conversion
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Speaker 1: of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but
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Speaker 1: the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that true? The birth of a newborn is a
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Speaker 1: matter of some time, a few minutes, some time, even
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Speaker 1: a few painful hours. But it's over, it's done with,
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Speaker 1: and there's a birth. And now to grow up. Ah
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Speaker 1: me so much to learn as we bring a child
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Speaker 1: from infancy to a young woman or young man on
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Speaker 1: his or her own. You must learn how to be courteous.
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Speaker 1: You must learn how to share. You must discover how
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Speaker 1: to be vulnerable and honest and tell the truth and
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Speaker 1: not lie. You must learn from those mistakes and not
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Speaker 1: keep doing them. You must understand that commitments are commitments,
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Speaker 1: and when you give your word, it's your bond. You
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Speaker 1: learn that as you grow up. Now, truth be told.
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Speaker 1: We may learn it and learn it well, but we
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Speaker 1: never reach the state of complete perfection. Not only are
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Speaker 1: we plagued by sin, or, as we sing in the song,
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Speaker 1: stalked by sin. Not only do we commit things that
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Speaker 1: are wrong, we commit them over and over again. Therein
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Speaker 1: lies one of the most regrettable parts of the Christian life.
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Speaker 1: We sin, and we repeatedly commit the same sin. We're
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Speaker 1: not alone in this. In fact, when you go back
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Speaker 1: to Biblical days, you find that Moses, if he lived today,
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Speaker 1: would have to go through anger management. He was so
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Speaker 1: angry when he was in Egypt before the age of
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Speaker 1: forty that he murdered an Egyptian and tried to hide
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Speaker 1: the evidence. That's what drove him out, and he winds
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Speaker 1: up in the Median desert, keeping his father in law
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Speaker 1: sheep for another forty years, until finally, at age eighty,
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Speaker 1: he returns to Egypt and he leads the exodus, and
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Speaker 1: he moves the people of the Hebrews out into the
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Speaker 1: wilderness on their way to the land of Canaan. And
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Speaker 1: wouldn't you know it, one time after another he gets angry.
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Speaker 1: He hasn't resolved his anger problem just because he's Moses
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Speaker 1: grew up looked like Charlton Heston. I mean he could
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Speaker 1: do everything but walk on water. It looked like he
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Speaker 1: had life made. But do you realize that he struck
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Speaker 1: the rock rather than spoke to it, and God said, Okay,
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Speaker 1: that's the last straw. You're not going into the land.
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Speaker 1: He had an anger problem. How about Samson? Been a
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Speaker 1: while since we mentioned Samson, that old lustful man. He
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Speaker 1: had a real addiction with sex. In fact, if you've
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Speaker 1: not studied his life lately, you may have forgotten that
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Speaker 1: his first words recorded in the Bible are I have
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Speaker 1: seen a woman, and she looks good to me, Get
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Speaker 1: her for me. In fact, he falls in the lap
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Speaker 1: of another woman, and that leads to his demise. Never conquered,
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Speaker 1: his lust repeatedly returned to it. Eli the priest is
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Speaker 1: a passive father. He knew his sons were disobedient and
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Speaker 1: bringing shame to the work of God and the temple
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Speaker 1: and the Tabernacle of God, and he didn't do anything
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Speaker 1: about it. Repeatedly passive. And the list goes on and on. Peter, Lord,
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Speaker 1: if all the others deny you, I will never deny you.
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Speaker 1: Within a matter of hours, he denies him, not once,
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Speaker 1: not twice, but three times, repeatedly denies him, and you
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Speaker 1: know in your own life, don't answer out loud. But
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Speaker 1: look back over the last couple of three weeks. There
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Speaker 1: you are again. There I am again, coming back to
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Speaker 1: the Lord, saying here I am, and I'm bringing before
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Speaker 1: you Lord this which I have done yet again, whether
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Speaker 1: it's impatience or profanity, or perhaps talking behind someone's back, revenge,
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Speaker 1: holding a grudge, There you are again. And what if
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Speaker 1: I spend my time on this, because when we get
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Speaker 1: to Genesis twenty and we come to our friend Abraham,
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Speaker 1: he is doing the very same thing he did twenty
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Speaker 1: five years earlier, when he was in Egypt. He stood
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Speaker 1: before the Pharaoh and said, this is my sister. This
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Speaker 1: isn't my wife, this is my sister. So Pharaoh took
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Speaker 1: Sarah into his own harem. Then he suffered for it
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Speaker 1: and realized it and confronted Abraham. You would have fought,
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Speaker 1: wouldn't you that Abraham learned his lesson? Well, I would
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Speaker 1: have thought you would have learned your lesson about patience,
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Speaker 1: or about temper, or about profanity or obesity, whatever it
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Speaker 1: may be. But repeatedly we return to these things because
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Speaker 1: we are sinful to the core. Weren't for the grace
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Speaker 1: of God, we wouldn't live to adulthood. And so we
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Speaker 1: come to Abraham, and I don't want anybody clucking their
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Speaker 1: tongues at this man as he turns around in a
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Speaker 1: completely different setting with a completely different leader. This man's
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Speaker 1: name is a Bemelech. He's not the Pharaoh of Egypt.
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Speaker 1: He's the king of Jerrar. Abraham, by now should have
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Speaker 1: been a good student of himself and told himself, I
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Speaker 1: know wherever I go there's going to be a king.
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Speaker 1: I know that whoever I face, I'm going to face
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Speaker 1: the same thing that I did in Egypt with Pharaoh.
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Speaker 1: And I need to trust God to protect me and
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Speaker 1: to protect my wife. But Abraham falls into the same
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Speaker 1: old line. She isn't my wife, she's my sister. That's
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Speaker 1: why I call it disobedience, deja vu, DejaVu, all over again,
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Speaker 1: all over again. So Abraham journey, Now, why did journey?
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Speaker 1: He was settled pretty well up in the oaks, among
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Speaker 1: the oaks of Mamory. They're at Hebron, removed from Sodom
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Speaker 1: that has just been destroyed. Maybe the destruction of Sodom,
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Speaker 1: maybe the wind currents carried some of that into the
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Speaker 1: pasture land and made it toxic so that his flocks,
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Speaker 1: his cattle, could not survive, and he had to escape
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Speaker 1: to go to a place with better pastures. So he
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Speaker 1: moves down towards you are. Now wait, stop right there,
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Speaker 1: right there. He knew when he went down there he
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Speaker 1: was going into enemy territory. It's owned and operated by
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Speaker 1: the Philistines, and these cities, these areas are divided into kingdoms.
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Speaker 1: This happens to be the kingdom of Jerar, and it
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Speaker 1: has a king named Abimelech. Abraham, Abraham, think, think, remember
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Speaker 1: what happened twenty five years earlier. Remember Pharaoh. Now, when
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Speaker 1: you go into the land, put your thinking cap on,
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Speaker 1: be aware your weakness, and don't go there. But he
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Speaker 1: doesn't do that. We read that he went south, which
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Speaker 1: is the word negev. He settled between kardashan Shur, and
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Speaker 1: he journeyed in Jerrar. And look at the next verse.
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Speaker 1: Here we are same old Abraham, same old sin. Abraham
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Speaker 1: said of Sarah, his wife, she is my sister. So Abimelech,
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Speaker 1: king of Jerar, sent and took Sarah by the way. Ladies,
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Speaker 1: give you a little encouragement. Sarah is around ninety years old.
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Speaker 1: There's hope. There's hope. When she was back at age
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Speaker 1: about sixty five, I have the Pharaoh saw her and
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Speaker 1: as she was gorgeous and here, Abmelech gets worried that
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Speaker 1: this beautiful woman has come. Her age isn't important. He
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Speaker 1: sees only her physical beauty. Obviously, He says, get her
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Speaker 1: from me, add her to my harem. Abimelech's already married,
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Speaker 1: and he's got a harem of women, but he wants
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Speaker 1: this one. So we bring Sarah in. Now falls asleep
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Speaker 1: that night, and God has other plans. Look at the
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Speaker 1: consequences right now. Look at verse three. This is where
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Speaker 1: the consequences of sin are introduced. God came to a
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Speaker 1: Beimelech in a dream of the night and said to him, behold,
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Speaker 1: you are a dead man. Now that is not a
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Speaker 1: good dream. If you're looking for dreams, that's not one
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Speaker 1: you want to have. We of fur As we know,
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Speaker 1: Abmelek is lost as a lizard. He is the king
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Speaker 1: of Jerrar. He is a philistine. He doesn't know the Lord,
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Speaker 1: but he has integrity. Never think that because a person
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Speaker 1: who is lost they don't have integrity. Many of them
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Speaker 1: have more integrity than we Christians. Bimelek has more than Abraham.
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Speaker 1: So if Bimelek is asleep and the Lord knocks on
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Speaker 1: his dream door and says, you're a dead man because
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Speaker 1: the woman whom you have taken she's married, understand that
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Speaker 1: Bimelek didn't know that. He didn't know that. So if
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Speaker 1: Themelec had not come near her, and he said, Lord,
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Speaker 1: will you slay a nation? Even though blameless, I haven't
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Speaker 1: touched her, did he not himself, meaning Abraham, say to
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Speaker 1: me she is my sister, And she herself said, he
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Speaker 1: is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and
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Speaker 1: the innocence of my hands, I have done that. And
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Speaker 1: God said to him, and the yes, I know that
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Speaker 1: in the integrity of your heart you have done this.
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Speaker 1: And I also kept you from sinning against me. Therefore
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Speaker 1: I did not let you touch her. Now, therefore restore
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Speaker 1: the man's wife. Look at the next line, for he
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Speaker 1: is a prophet. First time in all the Bible the
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Speaker 1: word prophet appears, and it's applied to Abraham, who has
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Speaker 1: just been lying, which lets you know preachers are not perfect.
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Speaker 1: Prophets still lie the still deceived. Why we have an
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Speaker 1: old nature. When we do not rely on our new nature,
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Speaker 1: we fall back on our old nature. And that's exactly
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Speaker 1: what Abraham had done. But it doesn't make him less
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Speaker 1: than a prophet. But how interesting it must have sounded
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Speaker 1: in the ears of a memelech. He is a prophet,
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Speaker 1: this man that just told me she's my sister. Yes,
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Speaker 1: he's a prophet. He will pray for you, and you
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Speaker 1: will live. But if you do not restore her, know
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Speaker 1: that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.
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Speaker 1: So Abimelech rose early in the morning. I would imagine
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Speaker 1: after having a dream like that, I would imagine this
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Speaker 1: man did not hang around very long in the horizontal position.
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Speaker 1: He called all of his servants and he told all
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Speaker 1: these things in their hearing. Look at that, isn't that great?
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Speaker 1: It's completely vulnerable. Let me tell you what's happened. I
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Speaker 1: want all of you to know this. And he describes it,
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Speaker 1: and he says this in the presence of those who
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Speaker 1: were listening, and the men were greatly frightened. So a
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Speaker 1: bimelect called Abraham, this is is this an interesting mess
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Speaker 1: that Abraham gets himself into all because he's trying to
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Speaker 1: protect himself he's afraid that if the word gets out
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Speaker 1: that she is his wife, that this king is going
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Speaker 1: to kill him brother and sister. We'll get to that
28:01
Speaker 1: in a moment. Let me show you something here. Bimelech
28:04
Speaker 1: called Abraham, and so he decides to confront him. It's
28:08
Speaker 1: a great moment where a pagan king confronts a man
28:13
Speaker 1: of God. Look, he says to him, what have you
28:19
Speaker 1: done to us? How have I sinned against you that
28:25
Speaker 1: you have brought on me and on my kingdom a
28:28
Speaker 1: great sin? You have done to me things that ought
28:32
Speaker 1: not to be done? Another sidebar, I wonder how many
28:37
Speaker 1: unsaved friends of ours say that about us, or have
28:41
Speaker 1: said it, you did to me what ought not to
28:44
Speaker 1: have been done? And they're all the more shocked because
28:49
Speaker 1: they're under the misunderstanding that because we're Christians, we don't fail,
28:54
Speaker 1: we don't deceive, we don't take advantage, but we do
29:00
Speaker 1: if we operate in the flesh. So Remelek is confused.
29:04
Speaker 1: He says, what have you done? In fact, I love
29:08
Speaker 1: the question in verse ten. Look at it. Amemelech says
29:12
Speaker 1: to Abraham, what have you encountered? You have done? This thing?
29:17
Speaker 1: Isn't that insightful. What is it about your background that
29:23
Speaker 1: it caused you to do this? In fact, the message says,
29:26
Speaker 1: whatever were you thinking? The new living translation, whatever possessed
29:32
Speaker 1: you to do such a thing. Isn't that a great question?
29:36
Speaker 1: In other words, why why did you do this? This thing?
29:42
Speaker 1: To me? I simply met you, saw your your companion,
29:49
Speaker 1: and I thought, what a wonderful addition to my hair.
29:54
Speaker 1: And bring her in because I heard that she's your sister.
29:58
Speaker 1: Now look at Abraham as he begins, if you will
30:02
Speaker 1: to sort of waffle and justify, he says, because that's
30:08
Speaker 1: in answer to the question what have you done? What
30:12
Speaker 1: have you encountered? He says, because one I thought, surely
30:18
Speaker 1: there is no fear of God. False assumption. And it's
30:25
Speaker 1: funny how we think about other people and come to
30:27
Speaker 1: conclusions that aren't true. I thought, many, I'm here in drawer,
30:31
Speaker 1: I'm here in flicting country. Why he's gonna wipe me out?
30:37
Speaker 1: There's no fear here. This is a place of brutality.
30:41
Speaker 1: So he assumed something that isn't true. Look at what else?
30:46
Speaker 1: And they will kill me because of my wife? Look
30:48
Speaker 1: at his imagination. Isn't it interesting when we panic? How
30:53
Speaker 1: our imagination races. You've had this happen the other night.
30:59
Speaker 1: I'm in a d sleep, sound asleep, and for some
31:03
Speaker 1: reason I woke up and I have a pain here
31:06
Speaker 1: in my left side. It's pretty sharp pain. And I'm
31:10
Speaker 1: laying there in the dark Cynthia, sound asleep, and I'm
31:14
Speaker 1: feeling down here to see if I can feel a
31:16
Speaker 1: big lump. The first thing I think is I got cancer.
31:21
Speaker 1: That's the first thing I thought of. And I'm gonna
31:22
Speaker 1: be operated on day after tomorrow. They're gonna pull out
31:25
Speaker 1: this big chunk and I'm gonna die next week. Wait,
31:29
Speaker 1: wait a minute, Probably just gas, you know, as I
31:33
Speaker 1: laying there, or maybe I've turned the wrong way. That's
31:36
Speaker 1: a nerve. I haven't had anything come back. And so
31:39
Speaker 1: if your doctors don't worry, everything's fine. But for me panic.
31:45
Speaker 1: I mean, I've got myself pretty well six feet under
31:48
Speaker 1: in a matter of a couple of months. Why because
31:51
Speaker 1: I raced ahead and I let my imagination get the
31:54
Speaker 1: best of me. How true of all of us, It's
31:57
Speaker 1: exactly what Abraham did. He's into your He hears about
32:00
Speaker 1: the kingdom. He knows that Abmelech has a harem. He
32:04
Speaker 1: looks at his wife and he says, Okay, here we're going,
32:07
Speaker 1: and I look at this. Besides, he's still answering the question. Besides,
32:13
Speaker 1: she actually is my sister. She's the daughter of my father,
32:18
Speaker 1: but she's not the daughter of my mother. And she
32:22
Speaker 1: became my wife. Okay, got that figured out. She's his
32:26
Speaker 1: half sister, but he presented it as though she's altogether
32:32
Speaker 1: his sister, and Sommelek is led to believe, not that
32:38
Speaker 1: she's a wife. But Abraham plays up that one part.
32:43
Speaker 1: My sister Lucy and I often have fun sharing stories
32:47
Speaker 1: about our experience when we often are in places where
32:51
Speaker 1: people don't know about us like you do here, and
32:57
Speaker 1: they'll say to Lucy, oh, I really, I've listened to
33:00
Speaker 1: your husband on the radio for twenty years or whatever.
33:04
Speaker 1: My sister say, he's not my husband. No, no, I'm talking
33:07
Speaker 1: about Chuck. I listen, and I really appreciate your husband's ministry.
33:11
Speaker 1: He's not my husband, he's my brother. And they do
33:15
Speaker 1: that with me. Hey, I met your wife. She was
33:17
Speaker 1: with Women of Faith. Boy, she does a great job.
33:20
Speaker 1: Actually she's not my she's not my wife, she's my sister. See,
33:24
Speaker 1: we don't want people to think we're husband and wife.
33:27
Speaker 1: We won't understand her brother and sister. Had we been
33:31
Speaker 1: husband and they'd have been a homicide. And so we
33:34
Speaker 1: are not married, but we get along great because we're
33:38
Speaker 1: brother and sister. They got the opposite problem. This guy
33:42
Speaker 1: thinks their brother's sister and in fact their husband and wife.
33:45
Speaker 1: And that's the whole reason God stepped in. Instead of intellect,
33:51
Speaker 1: you know, don't plan ahead. You're about history. And so
33:56
Speaker 1: Abraham says, actually, you know, if you look at it
34:00
Speaker 1: certain way, she is she's really my sister, although I
34:05
Speaker 1: didn't marry her. Funny how he risnalize and we get
34:13
Speaker 1: good at it. We tell part of the story, but
34:16
Speaker 1: not all of it to protect our hide or to
34:21
Speaker 1: keep from embarrassment. Right now, Abram's got egg all over
34:25
Speaker 1: his face as he's looking into the face of a
34:28
Speaker 1: man with integrity, realizing he's got him. And so he says,
34:37
Speaker 1: she really became my wife. Besides, that's the whole truth
34:45
Speaker 1: that I never I never told you. Look closely. It
34:53
Speaker 1: came about when God caused me to wander from my
34:55
Speaker 1: father's house. Think about this way back when they left her.
35:00
Speaker 1: The Kaldians, remember when we're there when they left her
35:03
Speaker 1: to go to Harron, and then they're on their way
35:05
Speaker 1: to the land God would show them way back then,
35:08
Speaker 1: I said to her, this is the kindness which you
35:11
Speaker 1: will show to me everywhere we go, say of me,
35:14
Speaker 1: he is my brother. Look at that. He set it
35:16
Speaker 1: all up long before they got to Egypt or they
35:20
Speaker 1: later got to Gerar. He put a plan in motion
35:26
Speaker 1: to protect himself. When they took off on their journey
35:31
Speaker 1: out of her the Kaldians, he already gave her the script. Hey, Sarah, listen,
35:37
Speaker 1: you're a one gorgeous babe. And I realized when we
35:40
Speaker 1: are out there in no man's land, they're going to
35:44
Speaker 1: be people that are gonna be from another belief entirely,
35:47
Speaker 1: and they're gonna want to take you. So tell him
35:49
Speaker 1: you're my sister. What did that do for Sarah? I
35:53
Speaker 1: mean it puts her in harm's way. He's not protecting
35:56
Speaker 1: his wife, he's taking advantage of her. Would have been
36:00
Speaker 1: a good time for Sarah to look at Abram and say, uh,
36:05
Speaker 1: you know, you're nuts. I'm not gonna do that for you.
36:10
Speaker 1: I'm your wife. I'm not gonna lie for you. But
36:16
Speaker 1: she took the script and that's exactly what she did.
36:19
Speaker 1: And and Bemelek doesn't even take the argument any further.
36:22
Speaker 1: It doesn't make a lot of sense to him. There's
36:25
Speaker 1: no integrity in that. Now, for a moment, put yourself
36:32
Speaker 1: on the throne of Gerar, and you are the king
36:35
Speaker 1: named Abmelech. What would you do? Don't look so pious.
36:43
Speaker 1: You would have said, get out, get out of my sight,
36:50
Speaker 1: you and that woman and all the stuff you brought
36:53
Speaker 1: with you. I don't want to see your face again.
36:56
Speaker 1: But he doesn't. Here the story is a pagan king.
37:03
Speaker 1: Look at what Amelech does talk about applying grace in
37:08
Speaker 1: spite of disobedience Verse fourteen of Themelech took sheep and
37:14
Speaker 1: oxen male female servants and gave them to Abraham and
37:19
Speaker 1: restored his wife Sarah to him. The Bemelech said, behold,
37:26
Speaker 1: my land is before you settle wherever you please. Isn't
37:35
Speaker 1: that something? Isn't that interesting? That there is more grace,
37:43
Speaker 1: more greatness in the life of a king named Abmelech
37:48
Speaker 1: than there is in our hero the story so called
37:52
Speaker 1: named Abraham. You know why because Abraham has been for
37:57
Speaker 1: a period of time operating in the flesh let me
38:03
Speaker 1: shock you, but you'll need to hear this. When you
38:06
Speaker 1: or I operate in the flesh, we look exactly like
38:11
Speaker 1: an unbeliever, exactly. Think of how confusing that is for
38:19
Speaker 1: those who don't know Christ. The bim Molech shows great maturity.
38:24
Speaker 1: He says, you know, Abraham, I'm just grateful that I
38:28
Speaker 1: didn't go any further. I'm grateful that your God stepped
38:33
Speaker 1: in and stopped all of this. I'm grateful that I'm
38:37
Speaker 1: getting it all cleared up. You need land. I got
38:40
Speaker 1: lots of land. Help yourself set over wherever you please.
38:49
Speaker 1: I found verse sixteen. Look at it in your Bible.
38:52
Speaker 1: I found it very intriguing. I've taught this several times,
38:56
Speaker 1: but I never saw this particular word until this past week.
39:00
Speaker 1: Look to Sarah. He said, behold, I have given your
39:04
Speaker 1: brother a thousand brother. I've given your brother a thousand
39:10
Speaker 1: pieces of silver. You got it a little sarcasm here.
39:15
Speaker 1: You guys told me he was your brother, So I'm
39:18
Speaker 1: given to your brother the money. It must have stungn
39:22
Speaker 1: for Sarah to hear that Abimblek exposed the kernality of
39:28
Speaker 1: their lives, not in any way trying to manipulate but saying,
39:34
Speaker 1: you realize how stupid your actions were, how you put
39:41
Speaker 1: me in danger. Your wife isn't in danger. My whole
39:46
Speaker 1: family has been in danger because of this. I've given
39:50
Speaker 1: in pieces of silver, and behold, it is your vindication.
39:54
Speaker 1: Before all who were with you, and before all men.
39:56
Speaker 1: You are cleared. You've never had relations with anyone outside
40:01
Speaker 1: your marriage. You and Abraham are one. I've never touched you.
40:05
Speaker 1: And now Abraham prays to God, how gracious of the
40:10
Speaker 1: Lord to take time to hear him, And God heals Alec.
40:15
Speaker 1: He has closed up the wounds of all those in
40:18
Speaker 1: a Bimelek's household, and now he opens it. And the Lord,
40:26
Speaker 1: because of all that had happened, the Lord graciously provided
40:31
Speaker 1: Amelec with a larger family. Now you know what this
40:37
Speaker 1: reminds me of. It reminds me of a discordant song.
40:45
Speaker 1: For the most part. It has lyrics that are confusing
40:49
Speaker 1: if you don't figure out right away the whole issue
40:53
Speaker 1: of cardinality. It is lyrics that are confusing, and there
40:57
Speaker 1: are words spoken that don't make sense, and there's all
41:00
Speaker 1: kinds of activity going on that makes you scratch your
41:04
Speaker 1: head wondering what who's the believer here in the first place.
41:08
Speaker 1: It's all sort of confusing anyway. Anyway, when you get
41:13
Speaker 1: to the end, you go, I got it, I got it.
41:16
Speaker 1: I see. Everything was topsy turvy because Abraham was operating
41:21
Speaker 1: in the flesh, and it always goes topsy turvy when
41:24
Speaker 1: you do that. Carnality yields a terrible hand and makes
41:27
Speaker 1: others around you very very miserable and confused. And then
41:32
Speaker 1: it's turned and there's a beauty at the end. Let
41:38
Speaker 1: me show you this in a psalm just occurred to me.
41:41
Speaker 1: This fits. Go to Psalm one thirty seven. Okay, turn
41:45
Speaker 1: with me, Psalm number one thirty seven. Okay, keep in
41:50
Speaker 1: your mind everything we've we've heard, and look at the psalm,
41:54
Speaker 1: at least the first part of it. Background context is everything.
41:58
Speaker 1: The context of Psalm one seven. The people of the
42:02
Speaker 1: Jews had been overrun by their captors, and they are
42:07
Speaker 1: now being taken into exile. Stay with me, These Jews
42:11
Speaker 1: that have loved living in their beloved home and near Jerusalem,
42:17
Speaker 1: which is called Zion. Here, these people are the people
42:21
Speaker 1: of Zion. And they've sung their songs, and they've reared
42:24
Speaker 1: their children, and they've played their games, and they they've
42:27
Speaker 1: gotten their jobs, and they've worked there until all of
42:30
Speaker 1: a sudden there is an invasion of an alien force
42:33
Speaker 1: that has come in and wiped out the city. And
42:36
Speaker 1: now they're marching them to the land of Babylon, where
42:41
Speaker 1: they'll go into captivity. This is where the Psalm picks
42:45
Speaker 1: up the story. Look at it, by the rivers of Babylon.
42:52
Speaker 1: There we sat down. The Psalmist is one of the
42:55
Speaker 1: people in the group, as he identifies with the exiles.
42:59
Speaker 1: By the rivers of Babylon. There we sat down and
43:03
Speaker 1: wept when we remembered Zion. Oh, we're here, so far
43:12
Speaker 1: away from home, and we remember how wonderful it was
43:17
Speaker 1: in Zion, and we no longer have it. Next verse,
43:23
Speaker 1: upon the willows in the midst of it, we hung
43:28
Speaker 1: our hearts. Jews are known for carrying with them their
43:33
Speaker 1: instruments of music, many of them wonderful musicians, and this
43:37
Speaker 1: is no exception. Here are these little handheld harps, stringed instruments,
43:42
Speaker 1: unfamiliar to us today, but so common in those days.
43:45
Speaker 1: And so many of them had their harps, and they
43:47
Speaker 1: brought them, thinking perhaps we could when we get there,
43:51
Speaker 1: we could sing the songs we sang back home. But
43:54
Speaker 1: when we came to Babylon, we realized what there will
44:00
Speaker 1: be no songs, so we hung our harps on the willow.
44:06
Speaker 1: I love the way that reads. This is soul of
44:09
Speaker 1: picturesque for Abraham and Gerrar. There's no word until he's
44:16
Speaker 1: confronted with it, of prayer. There's no time alone with
44:20
Speaker 1: Sarah before they enter. He knew he was going into
44:23
Speaker 1: Philistine territory, or he knew exactly where he was going.
44:26
Speaker 1: None of that. It was just plow in and go
44:29
Speaker 1: back to the old script, Sarah, you gotta watch out
44:33
Speaker 1: for me, rather than saying, Lord, you know I learned
44:38
Speaker 1: way back in Egypt, A valuable lesson. Don't let me
44:41
Speaker 1: drop into that that same scene again. A note carefully
44:46
Speaker 1: look at the sarcasm of verse three. For there our
44:50
Speaker 1: captors demanded of us songs and our tormentor mirth, saying, hey, Jews,
45:03
Speaker 1: sing us one of those songs of Zion. How about
45:07
Speaker 1: blessed assurance? How about a mighty fortresses our God. Let's
45:11
Speaker 1: hear that do it in harmony, Oh God, our help
45:15
Speaker 1: and ages passed our hope for years to come. Sing
45:18
Speaker 1: one of those songs of Zion. They're taunting them. They're
45:24
Speaker 1: tormenting them next versus eloquent. How could we sing the
45:33
Speaker 1: Lord's song in a foreign land? The foreign land by
45:41
Speaker 1: application is life lived in carnality. You know what I've noticed.
45:47
Speaker 1: Anytime I move into the carnal corral in my life
45:51
Speaker 1: and I operate in the flesh, I don't sing. I
45:57
Speaker 1: have no song. And I love to sing, and I
46:02
Speaker 1: love the hymns, and I love the songs of Zion,
46:07
Speaker 1: but there's something about carnality that silences my song. Laughter
46:20
Speaker 1: is gone. There is remorse, regret, sadness until we make
46:31
Speaker 1: things right. If you choose to traffic in the flesh,
46:38
Speaker 1: to rely on the old nature, be sure of this,
46:42
Speaker 1: there will be no song on your lips. There's no
46:49
Speaker 1: joy in Genesis twenty because it's a story of a
46:55
Speaker 1: man who returned to this regrettable same sin as before. Now,
47:04
Speaker 1: what do we have to say about our lives today?
47:08
Speaker 1: I want to keep it simple and brief and clear.
47:13
Speaker 1: I want to offer three nevers that I learned from
47:16
Speaker 1: what we have just been in Genesis twenty. First, never
47:21
Speaker 1: presume on your own weaknesses. Never presume on your own weaknesses.
47:31
Speaker 1: And what do I mean by that? Well down deep inside.
47:35
Speaker 1: Abraham had a weakness for lying, not only as it
47:39
Speaker 1: was it so prominent in his life. His own son
47:43
Speaker 1: Isaac lied. If you check the story, and Isaac's son
47:49
Speaker 1: Jacob lied, Abraham knew when he went to Gerar that
47:58
Speaker 1: the same temptation would be there. You have to fall
48:02
Speaker 1: back on that old lie that he put together when
48:04
Speaker 1: they left er. He's got no business going down there.
48:09
Speaker 1: Go somewhere else. There's a lot of pasture land where
48:14
Speaker 1: there isn't a king of Felictia. But when you go there,
48:18
Speaker 1: you're flirting with your weakness. If you're an alcoholic, you're
48:23
Speaker 1: not wise to rent an apartment above a bar. It's foolish.
48:31
Speaker 1: You stay away from even the smell of alcohol, and
48:35
Speaker 1: you spend time with those to whom you become accountable,
48:39
Speaker 1: so that you can live your life free of the addiction.
48:45
Speaker 1: If you're given to lust, you're wise if you block
48:49
Speaker 1: off your Internet the possibility of getting into pornographic sites
48:54
Speaker 1: because you can't handle it. You'll go there, and you'll
48:59
Speaker 1: go there again and again. If you're obese, you're foolish
49:05
Speaker 1: to spend your meals at one buffet after another. It's
49:10
Speaker 1: a good time to add fellow Christians today, if you're overweight,
49:16
Speaker 1: it isn't funny. It isn't something we laugh at anymore
49:22
Speaker 1: than if you're a drunk and you tell us about
49:25
Speaker 1: drinking too much the night before. It isn't funny. It's
49:30
Speaker 1: an addiction, and you play into your witness if you
49:37
Speaker 1: joke about it. So we learn from this. Never presume
49:47
Speaker 1: on your own weaknesses. If you know you have a
49:51
Speaker 1: weakness in that, stay away from it. Learn one of
49:54
Speaker 1: those simple words you learned as you began to talk. No, No,
50:02
Speaker 1: I don't care who you're with, The answer is no.
50:05
Speaker 1: I have friends in business who often when they're on
50:08
Speaker 1: the road with the force, the salesforce, that evening is
50:13
Speaker 1: usually spent with a number of things going on that
50:16
Speaker 1: he said, I've come out of and I've learned to say,
50:18
Speaker 1: very graciously, you guys, go ahead. I think I'll just
50:21
Speaker 1: turn in early tonight. Smart man. He won't struggle with
50:28
Speaker 1: his addiction with drink if he says no on the
50:32
Speaker 1: front end. Never presume on your own weakness, and you'll
50:36
Speaker 1: not have anything to regret. Second, never rely on your
50:41
Speaker 1: own crutches. Never rely on your own crutches. Abraham concocted
50:47
Speaker 1: this phony story about Sarah being his sister. He set
50:52
Speaker 1: himself up for one fall after another bad plan, and
50:56
Speaker 1: if I may so state it, Sarah should never have
51:00
Speaker 1: cooperated with it. You know, Abraham, I love you. I
51:05
Speaker 1: love you too much to lie for you. We're not
51:08
Speaker 1: gonna do that as a couple. We're not gonna We're
51:12
Speaker 1: not gonna rely on that old cardinal crutch. And I
51:17
Speaker 1: could use other illustrations. I simply want to say, get
51:20
Speaker 1: rid of the well worn crutches. Stop relying on phony
51:25
Speaker 1: excuses to get yourself around. Out and out sin, call
51:29
Speaker 1: it what it is, claim God's forgiveness, and ask for
51:33
Speaker 1: strength to get beyond it the next time. Here's a third.
51:39
Speaker 1: Never lean on your own understanding. Never lean on your
51:46
Speaker 1: own understanding. Ibraham had a sharp mind. He allowed it
51:52
Speaker 1: to work against him. If you're bright, you can devise
51:56
Speaker 1: all kinds of things, and they will work against you
51:59
Speaker 1: if they are against the word of God. There's a
52:03
Speaker 1: great proverb that you could quote back to me. Trust
52:08
Speaker 1: in the Lord with all your heart, and what lean
52:12
Speaker 1: not on your own understanding. That means the things that
52:17
Speaker 1: come natural to you, don't lean on that, the things
52:22
Speaker 1: you've done most of your life. Don't lean on that.
52:25
Speaker 1: Those are all habits you need to break, and by
52:29
Speaker 1: breaking them, you find you're able to talk to Amelech
52:33
Speaker 1: in your life about Christ. And he's not confused because
52:38
Speaker 1: he's seen the outworking of integrity in your life. You
52:45
Speaker 1: know what's at the heart of all of this. It
52:48
Speaker 1: just dawned on me late this past week. We are
52:52
Speaker 1: our own worst enemy. We are our own word. I
52:56
Speaker 1: have no greater enemy in all of my life than
52:59
Speaker 1: the beast that lives within me, the carnal nature within
53:04
Speaker 1: my own system. And if I'm not careful, it'll bring
53:10
Speaker 1: me down, It'll ruin my reputation, It'll lead to all
53:17
Speaker 1: kinds of embarrassing things. Remember the words to Moses, stand
53:22
Speaker 1: still and watch the deliverance of the Lord. For the Egyptians.
53:26
Speaker 1: You see now, you will not see them forever. There
53:30
Speaker 1: was a red sea here, there was a mountain range here,
53:32
Speaker 1: there was a desert here, and there were Egyptians coming
53:35
Speaker 1: on horses. And the Lord said to stand still, stand still.
53:41
Speaker 1: Then he opened the sea and they walked on dry land. Moses,
53:45
Speaker 1: at that moment stood tall. He told the people the
53:48
Speaker 1: same thing, we won't panic, we'll watch God work If
53:53
Speaker 1: we learn nothing through this of a positive nature. Besides
53:56
Speaker 1: this one point, we will have learned a lesson. Well,
54:00
Speaker 1: that is, God is a plan that's far better than
54:02
Speaker 1: one we could ever devise, and we need to stop
54:07
Speaker 1: leaning on our own way of thinking. While thinking on this,
54:13
Speaker 1: I came across a fascinating story. Maybe you've heard it,
54:18
Speaker 1: perhaps you haven't. It's how many Eskimos kill wolves listen
54:24
Speaker 1: to this. They realize what an appetite wolves have for
54:30
Speaker 1: fresh blood, so they found a way to excite that appetite.
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Speaker 1: Animal blood is applied to the long blade of a
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Speaker 1: sharp knife. Coat after coat is rushed on that knife
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Speaker 1: and left to freeze as layer and layer of blood
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Speaker 1: covers the blade of the knife, and then at the
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Speaker 1: right moment, they stick the handle of the knife in
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Speaker 1: the snow, leaving exposed the blade. The wolf quickly discovers
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Speaker 1: the bait and begins to lick it. The taste of
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Speaker 1: the fresh blood excites his desire for more and more,
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Speaker 1: and he insatiably repeats licking the blood without feeling the
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Speaker 1: razor sharp edge of the knife, and without realizing it,
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Speaker 1: the sharp blade of the knife is cutting his own
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Speaker 1: tongue as his blood mingles with the blood and the knife,
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Speaker 1: and the licking frenzy doesn't stop until he drops dead
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Speaker 1: in his own blood on the snow. Pretty gruesome, isn't it?
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Speaker 1: And I read that and I thought, yep, that's how
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Speaker 1: it works. Something becomes very appealing. And if I am
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Speaker 1: not keenly aware of the peril of feed on it,
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Speaker 1: and I'll repeat it, and it'll come to the place
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Speaker 1: that that leads, if not to an addiction, it leads
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Speaker 1: to the embarrassment of my own life and that of
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Speaker 1: my family and our church. Let's learn a lesson from Abraham,
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Speaker 1: rather than judging him. Let's remember here we are on
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Speaker 1: the page with three nebors that we want to remember forever.
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Speaker 1: Maybe bout together serious words, these serious thoughts. And I
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Speaker 1: appreciate your undivided attention. Abraham simply isn't an old man
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Speaker 1: who lived in an ancient day whose story unfolds and
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Speaker 1: we yawn and go back to sleep. This is a
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Speaker 1: life filled with meaning. It applied to our lives to day.
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Speaker 1: I don't know who a Mamelecht may be in your life.
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Speaker 1: I don't know where you are may be. I don't
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Speaker 1: know what thing you're relying on, but I need to
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Speaker 1: warn you it is a peril. It is a peril
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Speaker 1: that will take its toll if it isn't stopped. Thank you, Lord,
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Speaker 1: for us speaking to day in ways that we can understand.
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Speaker 1: Thank You for guiding us through treacherous times where the
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Speaker 1: flesh would love to take charge and take over. I
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Speaker 1: pray that you would be especially near and dear to
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Speaker 1: those at this very moment who are nurturing something that
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Speaker 1: is terribly wrong, and they must stop it. Speak to
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Speaker 1: them in a remarkable way through the power of your word,
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Speaker 1: and teach us the value of confronting wrong in our
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Speaker 1: own lives and learning to say no over and over again. Lord,
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Speaker 1: we confess to you that we are creatures of habit.
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Speaker 1: We are by nature weak even when we try to
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Speaker 1: look strong, and age doesn't work for us. Here are
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Speaker 1: two people, one almost one hundred and one almost ninety
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Speaker 1: doing the same thing they did twenty five years before.
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Speaker 1: And we learned from this, Lord that not only is
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Speaker 1: age no help, our nature will never get even a
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Speaker 1: little bit better. Lord, we have no one but you
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Speaker 1: whom have we Lord, but these soul thirst to satisfy
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Speaker 1: exhaustless spring the water's free, all other streams are dry.
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Speaker 1: And we come to the fount of life and to
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Speaker 1: the refreshing waters of your fellowship, and we ask that
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Speaker 1: you will catch us up short, grow us up in
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Speaker 1: this area, so that we become before you, before family
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Speaker 1: members and friends, before the lost people of authenticity and integrity.
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Speaker 1: May these words linger, we pray for long time. We
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Speaker 1: ask it in the name and power of Christ. Everyone
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Speaker 1: said amen.
1:00:13
Speaker 2: The preceding message, Disobedience deja Vu, was copyrighted in twenty
1:00:18
Speaker 2: thirteen and twenty fourteen, and the sound recording was copyrighted
1:00:22
Speaker 2: in twenty fourteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights
1:00:27
Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
1:00:32
Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited.