I couldn't agree more that short -term trips
are well worth it, and I hope that some of you
who have thought about it will think some more
and pray about it and be a part of the next opportunity
to one of these foreign lands. By the way, some
of you may have heard, if you have not, let me
tell you that the elders have decided that it
would be wise for us not to send our youth to
Guatemala this summer because of the current
situation there. And so our youth are working
on another opportunity for missionary service,
and we'll be making a decision about that shortly.
Let's open our Bibles together, please, to the
book of Genesis and the 12th chapter. Am I coming
across loud and clear to you? Okay, good. It
doesn't sound that way to me, but I'll wash my
ears better next week. Among the idol worshipers
of Ur, God chose Abram to know him. He called
Abram to go forth from his civilized but pagan
past and gave Abram promises to believe. God
would give him a land and a great name. God would
make him a great nation. and through him God
would bless all the families of the earth. In
taking this action, God was initiating a new
beginning, while continuing to fulfill his promise
to Adam and Eve to bring about a seed who would
be the savior of their race. The promises to
Abram, as initially stated here in chapter 12,
verses 1 through 3, may be viewed as a suzerainty
treaty, that is, an arrangement whereby the powerful
feudal lord provided protection with stipulations
and promises for a particular family or community.
In this case, the sovereign god is providing
protection and promises for Abram and his descendants.
God would divinely care for him and for his interests
in response to Abram's obedient faith. Abram
therefore left his past, although partially at
first. That cost him delay and heron as we saw
last week. But after his father's death, Abram
resumed his journey and came into the land of
God's promise and blessing. Our friend John Sailhammer,
writing for the Expositors Bible Commentary,
points to a recurring theme in the narratives
of Genesis. That theme, he says, is the threat
to God's promise in verses 1 through 3. In nearly
every episode that follows, the promise of a
numerous seed blessing to all peoples on earth,
or the gift of the land, is placed in jeopardy.
by the actions of the characters of the narrative.
The promise looks as if it will fail. In the
face of such a threat, however, the narratives
show that God always remains faithful to his
word, and that he himself enters the arena and
safeguards the promise. Man's failure cannot
stand in the way of God's promise. Not even Abram's
failure can foil what God has promised him. I'm
going to begin reading in verse 10 of Genesis
12. Now there was a famine in the land so Abram
went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine
was severe in the land and it came about when
he came near to Egypt that he said to Sarai his
wife, see now I know that you are a beautiful
woman And it will come about when the Egyptians
see you, that they will say, this is his wife,
and they will kill me, but they will let you
live. Please say that you are my sister, so that
it may go well with me because of you, and that
I may live on account of you." And it came about
when Abram came into Egypt. The Egyptians saw
that the woman was very beautiful, and Pharaoh's
officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh.
and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake
and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male
and female servants and female donkeys and camels.
And the Lord struck Pharaoh in his house with
great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this
you have done to me? Why did you not tell me
that she was your wife. Why did you say, She
is my sister, so that I took her for my wife?
Now then, here is your wife, take her, and get
out." And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning
him, and they escorted him away with his wife
and all that belonged to him. So Abram went up
from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and
all that belonged to him, and Lot was with him.
Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver
and in gold, and he went on his journey from
the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where
his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel
and Ai, and to the place of the altar which he
had made there formerly. And there Abram called
on the name of the Lord. We note in our text
today that Abram the believer became Abram the
schemer. Spiritually, Abram slid backward or
downward. He stopped walking by faith and began
walking by sight. It leads me to a message today
regarding this matter of backsliding and to say
for the learning of all of us that backsliding
is costly and the only escape from it is to turn
back from whence we came. No one is immune to
backsliding, not even the man here who was the
friend of God. We need to examine what happened
here so that we can avoid making the same mistakes
that Abram made. So let's look first at the cause
of the backsliding. The cause of backsliding.
To boil it down to one simple idea, the cause
of all backsliding really is a wrong choice in
response to a test. making a wrong choice in
response to a test that comes into our lives.
Tests or trials are a part of the spiritual pilgrim's
experience. God brings them to us to try the
quality of our faith and to help us build our
faith strongly. That's why James says in the
first chapter of his book, Consider it all joy,
my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces
endurance. And let endurance have its perfect
result that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing. Tests are points of uncertainty
or stress or opportunity. that come into our
lives. Undoubtedly, most of us this morning are
involved in some test, be it an uncertainty,
a stress, or an opportunity that God has brought
to us. To this test, we can respond positively
or negatively. We can face this test by faith
or we can face it by the flesh. For Abram, the
test was the famine that was in the land. It
was a severe famine. He chose to do what was
actually normal and reasonable from a merely
human perspective. The ancient Egyptian border
records show that it was customary for Asiatics.
to be given refuge in Egypt in times of famine.
This was a very normal thing that Abram did,
but God had not called Abram to the land of Canaan,
the place of blessing. In the midst of the trial
in the land, Abram did the pragmatic thing. He
forsook the place of God's blessing, however,
in doing so. How easy it is for you and me, in
the midst of a test, to do what seems right,
what seems normal, because everyone responds
this way. Or to choose the route that is pragmatic
for us. But how careful we must be that we not
lose the place of God's blessing in our lives
in responding that way. What is your famine this
morning? What is the place of test you are facing?
Donald Gray Barnhouse in his book on Genesis
says the enemy will always oppose us and the
famine will teach us that the land is a land
of promise and not a land of present contentment.
Notice how he says that. At times the walk with
God will be such that even faith will hardly
know where to turn. yet such is the path. For
the question is, can we be satisfied with God?
And many a weary step is trodden before we have
made this attainment." Let me repeat what he
says again. The famine will teach us that the
land is a land of promise and not a land of present
contentment. W .S. Griffith Thomas writes, Abram
went outside of the path of God's will. He was
occupied with circumstances instead of with God.
He only saw the famine, not the divine faithfulness.
I don't know about you, but that describes me
too often. In the midst of the test, I see the
circumstances and not God. But, oh, how we need
to learn to answer that question positively.
Can we be satisfied with God? The writer of Proverbs
says, He that trusteth his own heart is a fool.
How prone we all are to trust our own hearts
in the midst of a test. And so I encourage all
of us to remember this, that every test in my
life and yours can draw us to God or away from
God. It depends upon how we respond to that test.
The cause of backsliding is a wrong choice in
response to a test. Now looking at Abraham's
experience, secondly notice with me the cost
of backsliding. The cost of backsliding. It is
an expensive thing. to backslide and to leave
the place of God's blessing and fellowship. Notice,
first of all, that a backslider compromises his
own integrity. Abraham did. He lied. Now technically,
yes, it was a half -truth regarding Sarai, but
a half -truth is also a half of a lie. What Abraham
did here actually was very acceptable in that
culture of that day. Again, Abram yields to the
cultural influence in which he had grown up.
In fact, he even may have rationalized this act
as necessary in order for him to live and to
have the descendants that God had promised to
him. Can you track with him in that kind of rationale?
If we don't do something, I'm going to be killed
and God's promise isn't going to be fulfilled.
And so we've got to do something, and here's
what we will do. But it was a self -centered
scheme. Here Abraham exposes a lack of understanding
of the high position that God gives to marriage.
Thom Hopler, writing in a book newly entitled,
Reaching the World Next Door, says many people
read the book of Genesis with their 20th century
morality in mind. But we have to recognize that
God plucked out of savage, alienated mankind
a family that he chose to redeem. Keeping this
in view, we can see how God taught Abraham's
family a second principle that is the sanctity
of marriage. Abraham and Sarah's relationship
was typical for the culture they came out of.
Marriage was important, but not sacred. Since
he does not know any better, that is Abram, God
intervenes to teach him something new. Abram
needed to learn how sacred and special marriage
is. And so God took him through this experience
and positively wrote that upon his heart. Now
unfortunately he didn't entirely learn the lesson
because he repeats it again in Gerar in chapter
20. But what we see here is that a backslider
lives a lie. A backslider lives a lie denying
some aspect of his own identity as God's pilgrim.
Secondly, I noticed this cost, that a backslider
loses his testimony. Abram's failure left him
unable to communicate a positive message about
his God to Pharaoh or to the Egyptians. In fact,
pagan Pharaoh rebukes Abram. And Abram leaves
Egypt in disgrace. Again, Barnhouse summarizes
it well when he says, when God intervened and
plagued the house of Pharaoh, Abram suffered
the shame and humiliation of a man who, having
been an ambassador for God, was sent away like
a dog with his tail between his legs. Abram left
Egypt disgraced and in shame. And so we see that
one of the costs of backsliding is that a backslider
dishonors the name of the Lord. A third cost
of backsliding is that a backslider causes consequences.
A backslider causes consequences. Notice the
consequences in Pharaoh's life. All kinds of
problems and plagues that he experienced. He
caused consequences for Egypt. I think without
reading very much into the text we can say that
Abram caused consequences in the life of his
nephew, Lot, who was with him on this journey
and who seems to have developed a heightened
taste for a lifestyle that will eventually destroy
his own life and divide Abram's family. And then
we see another consequence, and that is that
Sarai returned from Egypt apparently with a handmaiden
whose name was Hagar, who not very long from
now will become an issue for them. and whose
descendants through Abram still molest the sons
of Isaac and Jacob. The consequences of what
Abram did in going down to Egypt, friends, are
still being played out in the Middle East today.
And so it is when you and I backslide, there
are consequences that we bring upon ourselves,
our families, the people who know us. the people
who are involved with us in our backsliding.
We bring consequences on all of that. And when
we begin to tally up the cost of backsliding,
we see that it's not a very good thing to do.
But yet there is another cost that I see in backsliding,
and that is a backslider wastes his own life.
Nothing positive came out of this time in Egypt.
How long Abram was there we are not told exactly,
but it was a period of time in which he was enriched
materially. Sometimes we imagine that if we are
gaining materially then God must be pleased with
us. I would have you notice that Abram came out
of Egypt a richer man, but God was not pleased.
In his time in Egypt, Abram did not fellowship
with God. He did not serve God's purpose in his
life, although God accomplished his purpose despite
Abram's backsliding. A backslider squanders opportunities
for life significance because every day that
I spend in backsliding is a day that I have wasted
that might have been used in significance for
God's kingdom. Now look at those four costs of
backsliding and tell me if it's worth it. If
it's worth the brief pleasure that we might receive
or the riches that we might gain by going down
to Egypt. And by the way, Egypt symbolically
in the scriptures always represents the world.
Going to the world. Abram was called out of the
world. of err by God, but now backslides again
into the world in this time of test. Well thirdly,
let's go on to the correction of backsliding
because that's an important thing for all of
us to know about. How do we recover from backsliding?
Because it may be that some of us today have
begun to weigh the costs of where we have been.
We've begun to see how our lives have begun to
deteriorate and others around us influence badly
because of our disobedience to God. Maybe we
began this backsliding thinking it was the right
thing to do, the pragmatic thing to do, and now
we're beginning to see this is wrong. How do
we recover from that? Well, I notice Abram gives
us an example. He tells us by his example in
the first place, that we recover from backsliding
by returning to our calling. Abraham here had
to return to where he had left off walking with
God. To recover from your backsliding, return
to your calling. For Abraham it was to go back
to the land of promise. For you it means going
back to that place where you left God. Going
back to that place where you departed from the
pilgrimage to go into the world. being honest
with yourself about it and with others. Secondly,
it means to recover your identity. To correct
the backsliding in your life, you must recover
your identity as a pilgrim and begin again walking
by faith, not by sight. Abram went back to the
tent. The tent is not mentioned in the time he
was in Egypt. But when he comes up out of Egypt,
he begins again, it says, living in the tent.
He saw himself as a pilgrim. You and I need to
do the same. Instead of living for this world,
we need to live for another world. Instead of
adopting the values of our culture, we need to
live by the values of God's kingdom. and recover
our identity as pilgrims. Third, to recover and
correct the backsliding in your life, renew your
fellowship, worshiping the Lord. Abram went back
to the altar that he had constructed, and there
he called upon the name of the Lord. You and
I can only recover from backsliding when we have
renewed our fellowship with God. We have come
to the altar And there we have acknowledged our
sin to the Lord and we have offered ourselves
afresh as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable
to Him. And we have called upon the name of the
Lord and proclaimed His name as being the Lord
of our lives. Then and only then can we safely
say that we are out of Egypt. For some of us
today who may not be in backsliding, how can
we avoid getting there? What can we build into
our lives to keep us from failing in the time
of test and making the wrong choice that will
lead us into the world? I like the way that Griffith
Thomas just boils it down to two simple words,
trust and truth. You and I will keep from backsliding
when we walk in faith, when we are trusting God,
when we keep our eyes on Him and on His promises
and not on the circumstances of our trials. We
need to keep our focus on the Lord. That's trust.
But secondly, it's truth. We will build a a barrier,
a protection in our lives against going to Egypt
if we learn to walk in truth. To be honest and
truthful in our actions and to guard our hearts
against the compromise of deceit. This is a New
Testament message. To walk in faith and to walk
in truth. As long as you and I do that, then
we will deliver ourselves by God's grace. from
going into Egypt. I like what we learn here about
God though. When we have blown it, God is still
the God of new beginnings. The God of Abraham
is the God of new beginnings. If you and I indulge
in backsliding, it will cost us. The only escape
that we have from backsliding is to turn back
to God and to meet God at the place where we
left Him. And frankly, I don't know what that
might mean for you this morning. But God does.
And if you don't know, God can tell you. My plea
to you is to come back to that place where you
may have left Him. Because that is the place
where God is waiting. waiting for you to come
back to the altar, to come back to call upon
His name. You say, can't God use my backsliding?
Of course He can. God is bigger than all of our
problems. God can forgive us of our backsliding.
But you notice that God doesn't always deliver
us from the consequences of our backsliding.
So the point that I'm making is that we need
to get back to that place of fellowship with
God, back to the altar. We need to see ourselves
as pilgrims walking by faith with God, living
in tents as it were, in this world. That is where
God wants to meet you this morning. Will you
come back to that place and bow the knee? I hope
you will. Let's pray. You know, we sing that
song that says, I have decided to follow Jesus.
No turning back, no turning back. But the fact
is that all of us who are believers have at some
time in our lives and maybe even right now turned
back. May God help us. May God be gracious to
us to give us hearts of repentance. If you find
yourself this morning in an Egypt of your life,
will you come back to the altar? Will you come
back to the place of blessing? Will you come
back to fellowship with God and let your life
be invested in what is significant for eternity?
If that is the desire and the prayer of your
heart this morning and you're humbled before
God, I want to invite you simply to lift your
hand and say, Pastor, that is my prayer this
morning. I want to walk with Abraham back to
the place of blessing. I've been in Egypt too
long. Would you lift your hand and put it down?
God bless you. Yes. God sees your hands. God
knows. Thank you for being honest. That's where
it begins. Tell the Lord about it. Repent of
it. Recover your identity. Renew your fellowship
with Him. Do it today. Let's stand with our heads
bowed, please. Would you sing with me the second
verse of that song? Father, I pray that we today
will put into place in our lives, if we've not
done so already, both trust and truth. that these
might be a barrier to keep us from going into
Egypt. Father, if we are in Egypt and don't know
it, we're not convicted of it, would you please
deliver us from that lie and that deceit? For
no deceit is perhaps greater than self -deceit.
Open our eyes to see where our walk is this morning.
And may these who have honestly lifted their
hand come back to the place of blessing. Lord,
draw them back with your cords of everlasting
love and let today be a new beginning in their
lives. And bless them in their renewed walk as
pilgrims for God in this world. And this week,
Father, as we seek to be Your faithful pilgrims,
may we walk by faith and walk in truth, for Your
glory and honor, in Jesus' name, amen.