Salvation and Judgment for the World

WEBVTT 1 00:00:09.910 --> 00:00:28.780 Let's turn to Genesis Chapter Eighteen, and we will continue reading here God's word 2 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:42.490 about his dealings with Abraham. It's your God's word now. Genesis chapter eighteen 3 00:00:47.170 --> 00:00:52.920 and Yah Way, the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of mammory. 4 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:56.439 As he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 5 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:00.200 He lifted up his eyes and looked and behold, three men were standing 6 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:04.269 in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent 7 00:01:04.469 --> 00:01:08.590 door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, O Lord, 8 00:01:10.109 --> 00:01:12.150 if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your 9 00:01:12.230 --> 00:01:17.670 servant. Let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves 10 00:01:17.709 --> 00:01:22.340 under the tree while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves, 11 00:01:22.739 --> 00:01:26.459 and after that you may pass on, since you have come to your 12 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:32.299 servant. So they said, do as you have said. And Abraham wind 13 00:01:32.299 --> 00:01:37.290 quickly into the tent to Sarah and said quick, three seas a fine flower, 14 00:01:37.730 --> 00:01:41.530 need it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took 15 00:01:41.569 --> 00:01:45.209 a calf tender and good, and gave it to a young man who prepared 16 00:01:45.250 --> 00:01:49.879 it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had 17 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:53.079 prepared and said it before them, and he stood by them under the tree 18 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:59.840 while they ate. They said to him, where is Sarah, your wife, 19 00:02:00.959 --> 00:02:05.109 and he said she is in the tent. The Lord said, I 20 00:02:05.430 --> 00:02:10.030 will surely return to you about this time next year and Sarah, your wife, 21 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:15.189 shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind 22 00:02:15.229 --> 00:02:21.020 him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way 23 00:02:21.099 --> 00:02:24.139 of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, 24 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:30.169 saying am I worn out and my Lord is old. Shall I have pleasure? 25 00:02:30.449 --> 00:02:35.370 The Lord said to Abraham. Why did Sarah Laugh and say, shall 26 00:02:35.409 --> 00:02:38.610 I indeed bear a child now that I am old? Is Anything too hard 27 00:02:38.689 --> 00:02:44.919 for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you about 28 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:50.240 this time next year and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it, 29 00:02:50.520 --> 00:02:55.240 saying I did not laugh, for she was afraid. He said no, 30 00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:00.870 but you did laugh. Then the men sent set out from there and 31 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:06.069 they look down towards Sodom, and Abraham went with them to set them on 32 00:03:06.189 --> 00:03:10.349 their way. The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am 33 00:03:10.389 --> 00:03:15.099 about to do? Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation 34 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:20.099 and all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him, for I 35 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:23.939 have chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to 36 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:29.530 keep the way of the Lord by Doing Righteousness and justice, so that the 37 00:03:29.650 --> 00:03:34.689 Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. Then the Lord said, 38 00:03:35.569 --> 00:03:39.969 because of the outcry against Sodom and go Morah is great, or because 39 00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:45.360 the outcry against Sodom and go Morah is great and their sin is very grave. 40 00:03:46.039 --> 00:03:49.599 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the 41 00:03:49.719 --> 00:03:53.719 outcry that has come to me, if not, and if not, I 42 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:58.310 will know. So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom, but 43 00:03:58.469 --> 00:04:03.870 Abraham stood still before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, will 44 00:04:03.909 --> 00:04:09.710 you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous 45 00:04:09.750 --> 00:04:13.180 within the city? Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it 46 00:04:13.300 --> 00:04:15.779 for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to 47 00:04:15.899 --> 00:04:19.899 do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with with the wicked, 48 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:25.089 so that the righteous fair as the wicked. Far Be that from you 49 00:04:25.730 --> 00:04:29.689 shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just. And the 50 00:04:29.810 --> 00:04:33.009 Lord said, if I find it Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I 51 00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:39.879 will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered and said, behold, 52 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:43.879 I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust 53 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.439 and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty are lack are suppose five of the 54 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:53.790 fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy of the whole city for lack of 55 00:04:53.949 --> 00:04:58.389 five? And he said, I will not destroy if it it if I 56 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:02.550 find forty five there. Again he spoke to him and said, suppose forty 57 00:05:02.629 --> 00:05:05.910 are found there. He answered, for the sake of forty, I will 58 00:05:05.910 --> 00:05:11.300 not do it. Then he said, Oh, let the Lord Ben Let 59 00:05:11.740 --> 00:05:15.300 oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose 60 00:05:15.379 --> 00:05:19.819 there are thirty found there. He answered, I will not do it. 61 00:05:19.939 --> 00:05:24.889 If I find thirty there, he said, behold, I have undertaken to 62 00:05:24.970 --> 00:05:29.769 speak to the Lord. Suppose there are twenty are found there. He answered, 63 00:05:29.850 --> 00:05:31.649 for the sake of twenty, I will not do it. Then he 64 00:05:31.769 --> 00:05:35.759 said, Oh, let the Lord not be angry and I will speak yet 65 00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:41.600 again, but this once more. Suppose ten are found there and he answered. 66 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:45.040 For the sake of ten I will not destroy it. And the Lord 67 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:48.519 went on his way, but he had when he had finished speaking to Abraham, 68 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:56.149 and Abraham returned to his place. My God bless his word to us. 69 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:11.740 So here in Genesis Chapter Eighteen, we learned something about the promise of 70 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:17.810 judgment that is attached to the promise of grace. At first that might seem 71 00:06:18.009 --> 00:06:23.889 odd to speak in that way, because the grace of God is in the 72 00:06:23.970 --> 00:06:30.370 Covenant of Grace is for judgment to pass by, judgment particularly to pass by 73 00:06:30.009 --> 00:06:36.519 and the judgment of Christ for us. But judgment is attached to grace, 74 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:45.360 not only in the Lord's taking on judgment for us and becoming a sacrifice for 75 00:06:45.480 --> 00:06:49.990 our sins, but judgment is attached to this grace in this way, in 76 00:06:50.189 --> 00:06:55.990 that those who do not belong to Abraham, those who do not belong to 77 00:06:56.149 --> 00:07:00.670 those promises, who have not believed in what the Lord has said, judgment 78 00:07:00.870 --> 00:07:05.500 will fall upon them. There is a reminder that it's not as though that 79 00:07:05.660 --> 00:07:11.899 the Lord has established things in such a way that it's not as though Abraham 80 00:07:11.980 --> 00:07:15.170 and his people and his family and those who believe in all of the rest 81 00:07:15.250 --> 00:07:20.129 that we've been speaking of. Are are given these extra blessings and everyone else 82 00:07:20.290 --> 00:07:26.410 is neutral. Everyone else to sort of lives life outside of God. Know, 83 00:07:26.730 --> 00:07:30.959 to live outside of the Lord, to live outside of the Covenant Promises, 84 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:38.199 is to fall into judgment. There is the standard which the Lord holds 85 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:43.199 all men to. It's the reason why Abraham and all of us need grace. 86 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:47.829 The Lord holds us to his law. There is judgment for those who 87 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:54.829 are not righteous, and there are. There is salvation for those who are, 88 00:07:55.750 --> 00:08:01.459 or blessing for those who are. Sodom and go mora of I'm sure 89 00:08:01.620 --> 00:08:07.620 you all know, or soon will know, the story about these two cities. 90 00:08:07.620 --> 00:08:16.850 They become paradigms or models of God's judgment. This has happened so strongly 91 00:08:16.009 --> 00:08:22.689 in scripture that we even have it in culture and in our culture, even 92 00:08:22.689 --> 00:08:26.850 in people that don't know the Bible very well, many of them still know 93 00:08:26.129 --> 00:08:33.159 about Sodom and Gomorah. And this is God's intention. It's his intention to 94 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:41.870 use these cities in their great wickedness to show forth his justice, to show 95 00:08:41.029 --> 00:08:46.990 that he is, as Abraham says, a just judge. These ECHELOS, 96 00:08:48.070 --> 00:08:50.590 six hundred and forty nine says, behold this was the guilt of your sister 97 00:08:50.789 --> 00:08:58.340 Sodom. She and her daughters had pride at excess of food and prosperous ease 98 00:09:00.100 --> 00:09:05.659 and did not aid the poor and the needy. They were haughty and did 99 00:09:05.779 --> 00:09:11.929 an abomination before me, so I removed them when I saw it. Now 100 00:09:13.009 --> 00:09:16.929 we have not yet got to what happens. They are to Sodom and Gomorrah, 101 00:09:16.009 --> 00:09:22.009 but we begin to have the anticipations of it here in Genesis Eighteen. 102 00:09:24.210 --> 00:09:28.399 It happens in two ways, of course, in the Lord's telling Abraham of 103 00:09:28.519 --> 00:09:31.600 what he is going to do in Sodom, but also in a contrast that 104 00:09:31.720 --> 00:09:37.870 we will see Abraham's hospitality, his quickness to serve, to bless, to 105 00:09:37.950 --> 00:09:43.590 be generous, to care for these travelers that are on their way. We 106 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:50.509 see on the opposite happening and happening in Sodom. We see the concerns that 107 00:09:50.590 --> 00:09:54.980 are expressed there and Ezekiel and other places in scripture about Sodom on display in 108 00:09:56.059 --> 00:10:05.139 a full way. Abraham's righteousness that's on display here in genesis eighteen is contrasted 109 00:10:05.539 --> 00:10:13.289 with Sodom's some great wickedness. This includes Abraham's own pleading for Sodom and their 110 00:10:13.370 --> 00:10:20.409 salvation for the sake of the righteous. We might sum all of us up 111 00:10:20.799 --> 00:10:24.559 and say that one of the things that God is telling us here in Genesis 112 00:10:24.600 --> 00:10:31.919 eight teen is that salvation is through Abraham. Not through Abraham as a replacement 113 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.950 of Christ, but it was one who will bear forth the Christ as one 114 00:10:37.029 --> 00:10:41.789 who is a pattern of faith, is the one to whom the promises were 115 00:10:41.870 --> 00:10:46.710 made. So let's think about that a little bit this evening. But this 116 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:52.659 salvation comes through Abraham, and what what that means? Well, to elaborate 117 00:10:52.659 --> 00:10:56.100 a little bit more on what I've already said, the first thing to note 118 00:10:56.139 --> 00:11:00.820 is that the promise is for Abraham and his children, as has been reiterated 119 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:05.769 in genesis seventeen most recently. And remember that Abraham has been promised not only 120 00:11:05.850 --> 00:11:11.570 to be the father but the father of multitudes, in the blessing to the 121 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:16.450 nation's blessing, to the nation's in other words, what God does in this 122 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:22.279 world matters very much to this family. Through the people are, though, 123 00:11:22.399 --> 00:11:26.399 the people of God. Though, the people of God may hate the things 124 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:33.230 of this world, may hate its sinfulness, hate its destiny and judgment, 125 00:11:33.350 --> 00:11:37.909 just as the Lord shows compassion on the world. So do his people. 126 00:11:37.909 --> 00:11:43.470 Abraham recognizes that the world will be blessed through him, and in a way 127 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:48.820 we see him exercising faith in that promise even now, as he stands before 128 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:56.500 the Lord and pleads the Lord's own promises to treat the righteous well. And 129 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:03.049 this should be our our attitudes and actions as well. When we go into 130 00:12:03.090 --> 00:12:07.850 the world to make disciples, we do so proclaiming the just judgment of God, 131 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:13.049 but not so in smugness and rejoicing over what will come, but with 132 00:12:13.169 --> 00:12:16.840 compassion and pity, knowing that we have been saved from the world, we 133 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:22.720 have been rescued out of Sodom and go mora, but also to know that 134 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:28.879 the Lord has more there that he might yet save. And so when we 135 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:31.509 go and we preach and we warn people about the coming judgment to come, 136 00:12:31.629 --> 00:12:35.710 we also woreant, we also promised to them and invite them in the salvation 137 00:12:35.830 --> 00:12:41.590 of these promises. It's interesting that here the story is set up at the 138 00:12:41.909 --> 00:12:46.980 oaks of memory. That's important because this is the place where Abraham and lot 139 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:50.820 separated, or the place rather, where Abraham established himself as lot separated. 140 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:56.820 It's a reminder again that to not be connected to Abraham. To not be 141 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:03.409 connected to these promises is to be in a dangerous place. If it should 142 00:13:03.570 --> 00:13:09.169 make us ask the question over and over again, do I belong to this 143 00:13:09.370 --> 00:13:13.480 covenant? Do I belong to these promises? Am I established with Abraham in 144 00:13:13.559 --> 00:13:20.080 the places where he is and if not, how do I get there? 145 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:28.029 Another way in which the Lord reveals the Salvation through Abraham is expressed in a 146 00:13:28.149 --> 00:13:33.269 quote that we find an Amos three seven. But the prophet rights. Surely 147 00:13:33.429 --> 00:13:39.590 the surely the sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, 148 00:13:41.110 --> 00:13:46.179 the Prophets. It's an interesting it's an interesting verse. Surely the sovereign Lord 149 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:52.940 does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants, the prophets, and that's 150 00:13:52.980 --> 00:13:56.409 what we see here. Abraham acting as a prophet in a way, and 151 00:13:56.730 --> 00:14:01.610 and that's important to us. Why? Because we, in order to be 152 00:14:01.690 --> 00:14:07.009 saved, must hear and know the word of the Lord. And if Abraham 153 00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:11.120 is acting as a prophet, if he is revealing the word of the Lord, 154 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:16.600 if he is functioning in that capacity, we ought to listen. We 155 00:14:16.759 --> 00:14:24.509 ought to listen notice what happens here in the story. After these men move 156 00:14:24.789 --> 00:14:28.870 on, the Lord says, and we hear the inner thoughts of the Lord. 157 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:33.990 In verse Seventeen, he says, shall I hide from Abraham what I 158 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:39.580 am about to do? It's a rhetorical question given for us to hear and 159 00:14:39.700 --> 00:14:45.019 the answers. Of course know why, though? Why will the Lord Not 160 00:14:45.220 --> 00:14:48.860 Hide from Abraham? We all AIMOS expresses it, and we have it here 161 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:54.009 as well, verse eighteen, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great, 162 00:14:54.169 --> 00:14:58.090 in mighty nation and all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him. 163 00:14:58.769 --> 00:15:01.889 I have chosen him, for I have chosen him that he may command 164 00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:05.289 his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by 165 00:15:05.370 --> 00:15:11.039 Doing Righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he 166 00:15:11.159 --> 00:15:16.360 has promised him. Let's read on, then. The Lord said, because 167 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:20.799 of the outcry against Sodom and go Mora is great and their sin is very 168 00:15:20.879 --> 00:15:24.710 grave, I will go down to see whether they have done all together, 169 00:15:24.389 --> 00:15:28.070 according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I 170 00:15:28.230 --> 00:15:33.750 will know. So this is what we first have have in verse seventeen is 171 00:15:33.789 --> 00:15:41.340 the Lord's inner thoughts. Then the verses I just read, in versus Verse 172 00:15:41.460 --> 00:15:46.299 Twenty One or Twenty and twenty one. This is what God then says to 173 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:50.009 Abraham. So first we have the Lord saying, will I tell him these 174 00:15:50.169 --> 00:15:52.850 things, and he says yes, I must for these reasons. And then 175 00:15:52.929 --> 00:15:56.610 he tells him though things. He says, because of this, I am 176 00:15:56.690 --> 00:16:03.519 going down to destroy this city. But then notice what happens in verses twenty 177 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:10.679 two, in verse twenty two in particular. So the men turned from there 178 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:15.360 and went towards Sodom. And we will later, those scriptures will later make 179 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:21.389 clear that these two are angels and Yah Way and the form of a man 180 00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:29.590 is left behind D or we might say, stays behind. He's not abandoned 181 00:16:29.750 --> 00:16:34.860 by his servants, he stays there. The men turned from there and went 182 00:16:34.940 --> 00:16:42.539 toward a sodom, but Abraham stood before the Lord. There must have been 183 00:16:42.620 --> 00:16:48.210 some distance between him, at least relationally, because in the next verse it 184 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:55.210 says that Abraham drew near and said and if not, and perhaps it was 185 00:16:55.330 --> 00:16:59.570 even more than that, perhaps there was some actually physical space. I am 186 00:16:59.649 --> 00:17:04.200 not sure, but either way it was clear that Abraham needed to approach the 187 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:08.480 Lord in order to do what he was about to do. And it's also 188 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:15.200 clear that the Lord was inviting him to do that. Abraham didn't run and 189 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:18.829 catch the Lord and say hey, I want to talk to you about this, 190 00:17:18.910 --> 00:17:22.950 this isn't fair, we need to have a discussion. Abraham didn't Lord 191 00:17:22.990 --> 00:17:26.670 it over the Lord. In other words, he didn't come to the Lord 192 00:17:26.710 --> 00:17:33.700 and his pride. Know the Lord himself invited him into this discussion. The 193 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:38.220 Lord did not move on, and it's possible that this text is even stronger 194 00:17:38.339 --> 00:17:44.849 than it is here in our bibles. There are some textual issues that might 195 00:17:45.410 --> 00:17:49.569 suggest that the original would have read and said that the Lord remained standing before 196 00:17:49.690 --> 00:17:55.690 Abraham, and in that case this argument that I'm making would be even stronger. 197 00:17:56.809 --> 00:18:00.480 But even without that, I think it's clear that the Lord chose to 198 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:06.480 remain where he was after announcing this to Abraham, after these other two men 199 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:15.670 went on, and in response to that, Abraham drew near this Lord remaining 200 00:18:15.950 --> 00:18:22.150 standing. In some ways is is parallel to the men who to the three 201 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:29.059 men that Abraham initially sees. Remember at the very beginning how this begins. 202 00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:33.819 The Lord appeared to him at the oaks of memory, as he sat at 203 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:37.660 the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up 204 00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:41.650 his eyes and looked and behold, three men were standing in front of him. 205 00:18:42.930 --> 00:18:47.609 When he saw them, he ran from the tent, of tent door 206 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:53.369 to meet them. So the details here are important. What you don't want 207 00:18:53.369 --> 00:18:57.039 to imagine is that Abraham sitting there and then all of a sudden, Whoa, 208 00:18:57.319 --> 00:19:03.039 there's three men right because he ran to meet them. There was some 209 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:08.799 distance, in other words, between them. What's more likely, a hundred 210 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:15.829 percent I'll say, is that Abraham is sitting there and it's hot, hot 211 00:19:15.869 --> 00:19:18.309 time of the day. He's sitting in the door of his tent, he's 212 00:19:18.349 --> 00:19:22.029 getting some rest, he's getting some air, some cool breezes, and he 213 00:19:22.190 --> 00:19:27.539 looks up and he sees three men, not moving along their way, but 214 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:37.380 standing there. One scholar put this is this is essentially ancient near eastern way 215 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:41.170 of knocking on a door, and that makes sense to me. This is 216 00:19:41.210 --> 00:19:45.809 a way that they're standing off, they're standing at a distance, they're making 217 00:19:45.849 --> 00:19:49.210 it clear that they're they're they're not just traveling through, they need something, 218 00:19:49.890 --> 00:19:55.759 but they're not just approaching them him, approaching Abraham and forcing him on him, 219 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:00.960 on forcing themselves on him. We have some customs going on here, 220 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:08.470 and so Abraham then responds to their presence in this way and he responds with 221 00:20:08.670 --> 00:20:15.549 this wonderful hospitality which I don't know if we'll go in tonight, but we 222 00:20:15.630 --> 00:20:18.230 definitely go, will go into, and we contrast it with the lack of 223 00:20:18.309 --> 00:20:22.859 hospitality that we have in Sodom. The point here is that, in a 224 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:27.539 similar way, as the men are leaving, we have this the sandwiched events 225 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:33.059 in which, as they leave, these two men lead leave, but the 226 00:20:33.220 --> 00:20:41.210 Lord, who begins this passage, is their standing. He is inviting Abraham 227 00:20:41.329 --> 00:20:47.609 in a way, and the most recent thing he said was that he was 228 00:20:47.809 --> 00:20:55.400 going to judge this city now that their outcry has come up to them, 229 00:20:55.559 --> 00:21:02.400 that their actions are outrageous. Is something that Shirley Abraham would have known about, 230 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:08.509 living so close and the public nature of their sins. Abraham of course 231 00:21:08.670 --> 00:21:14.269 knows that law is there, but notice how Abraham pleads with the Lord. 232 00:21:15.990 --> 00:21:21.299 Abraham pleads not merely for the sake of his relatives but for the sake of 233 00:21:21.420 --> 00:21:30.740 the righteous. A question then, is is he challenging God in an inappropriate 234 00:21:30.859 --> 00:21:37.170 way or is he doing something else? I think he's doing something else, 235 00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:41.009 and partly for the reasons that we've already given. The Lord is inviting him 236 00:21:41.009 --> 00:21:47.759 to this, to talk about this, to discuss this with him. The 237 00:21:47.880 --> 00:21:52.160 Lord's making him into a prophet. He has delivered his words to him, 238 00:21:52.440 --> 00:22:03.150 and Abraham will now act and intercede in some ways like prophets do. We 239 00:22:03.349 --> 00:22:07.950 also know that in the way that Abraham speaks to him, Abraham is humble. 240 00:22:10.549 --> 00:22:12.950 How does he speak? Even as he asked the Lord these questions? 241 00:22:14.630 --> 00:22:18.660 Notice he he asks little by little. Notice he says, I will ask 242 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:22.539 but one more at the end. But notice he says. Notice he appeals 243 00:22:22.900 --> 00:22:27.140 not to his own sense of justice and righteousness, but God's. He says, 244 00:22:27.180 --> 00:22:32.690 are you not the judge of all the world? Will you not be 245 00:22:32.970 --> 00:22:37.490 just? He never's accuses God of doing wrong, but he simply asks, 246 00:22:38.210 --> 00:22:45.640 will you do what is right? He presses the Lord and in this he 247 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:52.880 is of course not getting something out of God, but God is training Abraham 248 00:22:52.920 --> 00:23:00.470 and God is displaying for us the righteousness of Abraham. He's showing us what 249 00:23:00.630 --> 00:23:04.430 Abraham's heart is, as well as God's own heart. As we will see, 250 00:23:04.549 --> 00:23:12.099 God is more than just, and he does rescue lot and and his 251 00:23:12.259 --> 00:23:18.740 family from this place. Might put it this way. Abraham is not challenging 252 00:23:18.940 --> 00:23:25.740 God from a position above him. But I hope this makes sense to you. 253 00:23:25.940 --> 00:23:30.089 But the way I think about it is the Abraham is praying and interceding 254 00:23:30.130 --> 00:23:36.730 and taught praying. He's talking to the Lord in a theological way, as 255 00:23:36.809 --> 00:23:40.210 God has given to him, in his knowledge, as he understands these things 256 00:23:40.250 --> 00:23:45.519 about God. He is speaking to him in that way. Abraham is certainly 257 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:48.519 not above doubting. He's not about above other sins and we've seen that here. 258 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.599 But that doesn't seem to be the point. What God is doing in 259 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:56.349 this passage is he's holding up Abraham as an example, not as something for 260 00:23:56.470 --> 00:24:00.069 us to say, Oh, is Abraham doing there? That's we've seen that 261 00:24:00.190 --> 00:24:06.509 in other places, but not here. What Abraham is doing is he's pleading 262 00:24:07.069 --> 00:24:12.220 the character and the promises of God in a situation he perhaps does not fully 263 00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:21.380 understand, and that's something God invites us to do. This is a pattern 264 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:25.289 the Lord invites us to do. He gives us his plans, which we 265 00:24:25.410 --> 00:24:29.809 may not fully understand, and he calls us to respond to him in prayer, 266 00:24:30.890 --> 00:24:34.009 not prayer that lords it over the Lord, which we ought never to 267 00:24:34.130 --> 00:24:40.880 do, but prayer that speaks to him on his own terms, humbly, 268 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:45.880 even if directly, a prayer that calls up to the Lord and says, 269 00:24:47.240 --> 00:24:51.839 what's going on? Who will deliver me from this body of death, like 270 00:24:52.039 --> 00:24:56.190 Paul says, or day that says, will you turn your face towards me? 271 00:24:56.190 --> 00:25:00.309 Will you deliver me from My Enemies? Where are you, a God? 272 00:25:02.069 --> 00:25:06.430 Why are you forsaking me? These words we find on the lips of 273 00:25:06.950 --> 00:25:17.099 the Lord himself and as we pray, as God himself is working in and 274 00:25:17.299 --> 00:25:25.569 through the prayers of Abraham, we see the revelation of God's plan, we 275 00:25:25.690 --> 00:25:30.490 see the revelation of God's self. We begin to understand more and more the 276 00:25:30.609 --> 00:25:37.000 judgment of the Lord, and what we see in this judgment is that the 277 00:25:37.079 --> 00:25:45.440 wicked will perish and the Lord will save the Righteous. Abraham is indeed a 278 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:52.470 righteous man, and this encourages us in this particular way, and I'll end 279 00:25:52.509 --> 00:25:57.349 with this, not only do we see that the Lord protects those who come 280 00:25:57.549 --> 00:26:03.670 into this covenant and come into this covenant of Grace Through Faith, and the 281 00:26:03.789 --> 00:26:10.339 Lord preserves those who are children of Abraham, but we see that he works 282 00:26:10.460 --> 00:26:15.380 in us, his very works. Not only does he clothe us with righteous 283 00:26:15.380 --> 00:26:19.769 not only does he justify us, but he sanctifies us as well, and 284 00:26:19.970 --> 00:26:26.609 we see that here in Abraham. We see Abraham becoming this man of God. 285 00:26:26.930 --> 00:26:33.400 We see him acting and being concerned about good and holy things, as 286 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:37.480 he pleads with the Lord, and we see, of course, Abraham's righteousness 287 00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:44.920 and his goodness in his treatment of these visitors. He's running right is as 288 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:51.549 old man running around, running to the cows, runing to Sarah, asking 289 00:26:51.670 --> 00:26:56.589 for the fine flower. In his generosity and his care and all of these 290 00:26:56.710 --> 00:27:03.220 things we see Abraham's righteousness. He does not see the poor and needy and 291 00:27:03.339 --> 00:27:11.099 say AH, not my problem, these men aren't of my household. He 292 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:15.569 takes care of them as best he can and from the wealth that God himself 293 00:27:17.250 --> 00:27:22.250 has provided him with. These are good things. And in the way he 294 00:27:22.369 --> 00:27:26.690 pleads with the Lord and his humility, in his care for the Justice of 295 00:27:26.809 --> 00:27:30.640 God, in all of these things we see Abraham's righteousness. Where does this 296 00:27:30.759 --> 00:27:36.720 come from this man who formerly used to, with his family, worship idols? 297 00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:42.200 It comes from the Lord, it comes from His grace, and all 298 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:47.349 these things, beloved, we see what it means to be children of Abraham. 299 00:27:48.549 --> 00:27:52.470 It means to be rescued out of judgment. It means to be brought 300 00:27:52.670 --> 00:27:56.150 into life. It means to be changed in a way that we become obedient 301 00:27:56.309 --> 00:28:00.740 to the Lord and care about the things of the Lord from the heart. 302 00:28:03.059 --> 00:28:07.740 May We all belong to the Lord through his promises, through the forgiveness that 303 00:28:07.900 --> 00:28:11.059 is ours, through Jesus on the Cross, and may we live our lives 304 00:28:11.259 --> 00:28:17.690 in obedience to the Lord through that faith. Let's pray