WEBVTT 00:00:01.969 --> 00:00:04.190 I couldn't agree more that short -term trips 00:00:04.190 --> 00:00:06.870 are well worth it, and I hope that some of you 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:09.750 who have thought about it will think some more 00:00:09.750 --> 00:00:13.230 and pray about it and be a part of the next opportunity 00:00:13.230 --> 00:00:18.489 to one of these foreign lands. By the way, some 00:00:18.489 --> 00:00:20.829 of you may have heard, if you have not, let me 00:00:20.829 --> 00:00:23.670 tell you that the elders have decided that it 00:00:23.670 --> 00:00:26.230 would be wise for us not to send our youth to 00:00:26.230 --> 00:00:29.089 Guatemala this summer because of the current 00:00:29.089 --> 00:00:31.829 situation there. And so our youth are working 00:00:31.829 --> 00:00:35.670 on another opportunity for missionary service, 00:00:35.750 --> 00:00:38.429 and we'll be making a decision about that shortly. 00:00:40.750 --> 00:00:42.969 Let's open our Bibles together, please, to the 00:00:42.969 --> 00:00:51.210 book of Genesis and the 12th chapter. Am I coming 00:00:51.210 --> 00:00:54.850 across loud and clear to you? Okay, good. It 00:00:54.850 --> 00:00:58.289 doesn't sound that way to me, but I'll wash my 00:00:58.289 --> 00:01:04.689 ears better next week. Among the idol worshipers 00:01:04.689 --> 00:01:11.250 of Ur, God chose Abram to know him. He called 00:01:11.250 --> 00:01:16.629 Abram to go forth from his civilized but pagan 00:01:16.629 --> 00:01:21.750 past and gave Abram promises to believe. God 00:01:21.750 --> 00:01:26.870 would give him a land and a great name. God would 00:01:26.870 --> 00:01:30.629 make him a great nation. and through him God 00:01:30.629 --> 00:01:35.549 would bless all the families of the earth. In 00:01:35.549 --> 00:01:38.890 taking this action, God was initiating a new 00:01:38.890 --> 00:01:42.829 beginning, while continuing to fulfill his promise 00:01:42.829 --> 00:01:47.810 to Adam and Eve to bring about a seed who would 00:01:47.810 --> 00:01:52.810 be the savior of their race. The promises to 00:01:52.810 --> 00:01:55.909 Abram, as initially stated here in chapter 12, 00:01:55.930 --> 00:02:00.239 verses 1 through 3, may be viewed as a suzerainty 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:05.579 treaty, that is, an arrangement whereby the powerful 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:11.659 feudal lord provided protection with stipulations 00:02:11.659 --> 00:02:16.120 and promises for a particular family or community. 00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:21.120 In this case, the sovereign god is providing 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.599 protection and promises for Abram and his descendants. 00:02:27.069 --> 00:02:31.009 God would divinely care for him and for his interests 00:02:31.009 --> 00:02:36.830 in response to Abram's obedient faith. Abram 00:02:36.830 --> 00:02:39.629 therefore left his past, although partially at 00:02:39.629 --> 00:02:44.210 first. That cost him delay and heron as we saw 00:02:44.210 --> 00:02:47.930 last week. But after his father's death, Abram 00:02:47.930 --> 00:02:51.250 resumed his journey and came into the land of 00:02:51.250 --> 00:02:56.199 God's promise and blessing. Our friend John Sailhammer, 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:58.819 writing for the Expositors Bible Commentary, 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:02.620 points to a recurring theme in the narratives 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:07.340 of Genesis. That theme, he says, is the threat 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:12.599 to God's promise in verses 1 through 3. In nearly 00:03:12.599 --> 00:03:15.699 every episode that follows, the promise of a 00:03:15.699 --> 00:03:19.280 numerous seed blessing to all peoples on earth, 00:03:19.379 --> 00:03:23.460 or the gift of the land, is placed in jeopardy. 00:03:23.949 --> 00:03:27.129 by the actions of the characters of the narrative. 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:31.669 The promise looks as if it will fail. In the 00:03:31.669 --> 00:03:33.870 face of such a threat, however, the narratives 00:03:33.870 --> 00:03:38.530 show that God always remains faithful to his 00:03:38.530 --> 00:03:42.150 word, and that he himself enters the arena and 00:03:42.150 --> 00:03:45.689 safeguards the promise. Man's failure cannot 00:03:45.689 --> 00:03:50.689 stand in the way of God's promise. Not even Abram's 00:03:50.689 --> 00:03:56.300 failure can foil what God has promised him. I'm 00:03:56.300 --> 00:04:00.599 going to begin reading in verse 10 of Genesis 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:04.580 12. Now there was a famine in the land so Abram 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:07.680 went down to Egypt to sojourn there for the famine 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:11.520 was severe in the land and it came about when 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.900 he came near to Egypt that he said to Sarai his 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:19.339 wife, see now I know that you are a beautiful 00:04:19.339 --> 00:04:22.540 woman And it will come about when the Egyptians 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:26.000 see you, that they will say, this is his wife, 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.439 and they will kill me, but they will let you 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:33.600 live. Please say that you are my sister, so that 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.060 it may go well with me because of you, and that 00:04:36.060 --> 00:04:39.740 I may live on account of you." And it came about 00:04:39.740 --> 00:04:42.920 when Abram came into Egypt. The Egyptians saw 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:45.339 that the woman was very beautiful, and Pharaoh's 00:04:45.339 --> 00:04:47.500 officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:50.920 and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 00:04:51.480 --> 00:04:54.139 Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:57.519 and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:03.000 and female servants and female donkeys and camels. 00:05:03.800 --> 00:05:06.959 And the Lord struck Pharaoh in his house with 00:05:06.959 --> 00:05:10.019 great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 00:05:10.660 --> 00:05:13.779 Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this 00:05:13.779 --> 00:05:16.500 you have done to me? Why did you not tell me 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:20.810 that she was your wife. Why did you say, She 00:05:20.810 --> 00:05:23.689 is my sister, so that I took her for my wife? 00:05:24.129 --> 00:05:27.370 Now then, here is your wife, take her, and get 00:05:27.370 --> 00:05:31.709 out." And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning 00:05:31.709 --> 00:05:35.649 him, and they escorted him away with his wife 00:05:35.649 --> 00:05:38.889 and all that belonged to him. So Abram went up 00:05:38.889 --> 00:05:41.470 from Egypt to the Negev, he and his wife and 00:05:41.470 --> 00:05:43.870 all that belonged to him, and Lot was with him. 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.360 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:50.079 and in gold, and he went on his journey from 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:53.199 the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.819 his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel 00:05:55.819 --> 00:05:59.199 and Ai, and to the place of the altar which he 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:02.600 had made there formerly. And there Abram called 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:07.560 on the name of the Lord. We note in our text 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:10.319 today that Abram the believer became Abram the 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:15.639 schemer. Spiritually, Abram slid backward or 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:21.920 downward. He stopped walking by faith and began 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:26.899 walking by sight. It leads me to a message today 00:06:26.899 --> 00:06:30.660 regarding this matter of backsliding and to say 00:06:30.660 --> 00:06:32.939 for the learning of all of us that backsliding 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:38.540 is costly and the only escape from it is to turn 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:44.399 back from whence we came. No one is immune to 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:47.240 backsliding, not even the man here who was the 00:06:47.240 --> 00:06:51.519 friend of God. We need to examine what happened 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:55.100 here so that we can avoid making the same mistakes 00:06:55.100 --> 00:06:59.660 that Abram made. So let's look first at the cause 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:03.639 of the backsliding. The cause of backsliding. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.740 To boil it down to one simple idea, the cause 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:10.139 of all backsliding really is a wrong choice in 00:07:10.139 --> 00:07:15.870 response to a test. making a wrong choice in 00:07:15.870 --> 00:07:18.829 response to a test that comes into our lives. 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:23.589 Tests or trials are a part of the spiritual pilgrim's 00:07:23.589 --> 00:07:28.709 experience. God brings them to us to try the 00:07:28.709 --> 00:07:32.930 quality of our faith and to help us build our 00:07:32.930 --> 00:07:37.829 faith strongly. That's why James says in the 00:07:37.829 --> 00:07:40.810 first chapter of his book, Consider it all joy, 00:07:41.009 --> 00:07:44.269 my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 00:07:45.610 --> 00:07:48.550 knowing that the testing of your faith produces 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:52.449 endurance. And let endurance have its perfect 00:07:52.449 --> 00:07:55.769 result that you may be perfect and complete, 00:07:56.050 --> 00:08:02.949 lacking in nothing. Tests are points of uncertainty 00:08:02.949 --> 00:08:09.019 or stress or opportunity. that come into our 00:08:09.019 --> 00:08:13.160 lives. Undoubtedly, most of us this morning are 00:08:13.160 --> 00:08:18.100 involved in some test, be it an uncertainty, 00:08:18.420 --> 00:08:20.800 a stress, or an opportunity that God has brought 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:26.720 to us. To this test, we can respond positively 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:33.600 or negatively. We can face this test by faith 00:08:34.669 --> 00:08:40.649 or we can face it by the flesh. For Abram, the 00:08:40.649 --> 00:08:44.769 test was the famine that was in the land. It 00:08:44.769 --> 00:08:49.909 was a severe famine. He chose to do what was 00:08:49.909 --> 00:08:53.570 actually normal and reasonable from a merely 00:08:53.570 --> 00:08:57.210 human perspective. The ancient Egyptian border 00:08:57.210 --> 00:09:01.649 records show that it was customary for Asiatics. 00:09:02.029 --> 00:09:07.309 to be given refuge in Egypt in times of famine. 00:09:08.429 --> 00:09:11.210 This was a very normal thing that Abram did, 00:09:11.269 --> 00:09:15.110 but God had not called Abram to the land of Canaan, 00:09:15.269 --> 00:09:20.710 the place of blessing. In the midst of the trial 00:09:20.710 --> 00:09:26.789 in the land, Abram did the pragmatic thing. He 00:09:26.789 --> 00:09:29.730 forsook the place of God's blessing, however, 00:09:29.830 --> 00:09:35.210 in doing so. How easy it is for you and me, in 00:09:35.210 --> 00:09:38.570 the midst of a test, to do what seems right, 00:09:39.230 --> 00:09:42.470 what seems normal, because everyone responds 00:09:42.470 --> 00:09:46.909 this way. Or to choose the route that is pragmatic 00:09:46.909 --> 00:09:52.889 for us. But how careful we must be that we not 00:09:52.889 --> 00:09:55.769 lose the place of God's blessing in our lives 00:09:55.769 --> 00:09:59.929 in responding that way. What is your famine this 00:09:59.929 --> 00:10:03.529 morning? What is the place of test you are facing? 00:10:05.049 --> 00:10:07.470 Donald Gray Barnhouse in his book on Genesis 00:10:07.470 --> 00:10:10.529 says the enemy will always oppose us and the 00:10:10.529 --> 00:10:13.710 famine will teach us that the land is a land 00:10:13.710 --> 00:10:19.429 of promise and not a land of present contentment. 00:10:20.269 --> 00:10:23.529 Notice how he says that. At times the walk with 00:10:23.529 --> 00:10:25.870 God will be such that even faith will hardly 00:10:25.870 --> 00:10:29.500 know where to turn. yet such is the path. For 00:10:29.500 --> 00:10:34.220 the question is, can we be satisfied with God? 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:39.419 And many a weary step is trodden before we have 00:10:39.419 --> 00:10:45.759 made this attainment." Let me repeat what he 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:50.200 says again. The famine will teach us that the 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:55.980 land is a land of promise and not a land of present 00:10:55.980 --> 00:11:02.259 contentment. W .S. Griffith Thomas writes, Abram 00:11:02.259 --> 00:11:06.019 went outside of the path of God's will. He was 00:11:06.019 --> 00:11:10.480 occupied with circumstances instead of with God. 00:11:11.379 --> 00:11:16.460 He only saw the famine, not the divine faithfulness. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.100 I don't know about you, but that describes me 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:25.679 too often. In the midst of the test, I see the 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:30.500 circumstances and not God. But, oh, how we need 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:33.019 to learn to answer that question positively. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:39.139 Can we be satisfied with God? The writer of Proverbs 00:11:39.139 --> 00:11:42.779 says, He that trusteth his own heart is a fool. 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.500 How prone we all are to trust our own hearts 00:11:48.500 --> 00:11:52.340 in the midst of a test. And so I encourage all 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:55.519 of us to remember this, that every test in my 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:59.759 life and yours can draw us to God or away from 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:07.480 God. It depends upon how we respond to that test. 00:12:08.919 --> 00:12:13.059 The cause of backsliding is a wrong choice in 00:12:13.059 --> 00:12:17.460 response to a test. Now looking at Abraham's 00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:19.720 experience, secondly notice with me the cost 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:24.700 of backsliding. The cost of backsliding. It is 00:12:24.700 --> 00:12:29.210 an expensive thing. to backslide and to leave 00:12:29.210 --> 00:12:32.690 the place of God's blessing and fellowship. Notice, 00:12:32.690 --> 00:12:35.649 first of all, that a backslider compromises his 00:12:35.649 --> 00:12:41.309 own integrity. Abraham did. He lied. Now technically, 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:45.629 yes, it was a half -truth regarding Sarai, but 00:12:45.629 --> 00:12:50.570 a half -truth is also a half of a lie. What Abraham 00:12:50.570 --> 00:12:53.509 did here actually was very acceptable in that 00:12:53.509 --> 00:12:57.960 culture of that day. Again, Abram yields to the 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:01.440 cultural influence in which he had grown up. 00:13:03.259 --> 00:13:06.279 In fact, he even may have rationalized this act 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:10.200 as necessary in order for him to live and to 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.120 have the descendants that God had promised to 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.500 him. Can you track with him in that kind of rationale? 00:13:18.259 --> 00:13:20.919 If we don't do something, I'm going to be killed 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:23.139 and God's promise isn't going to be fulfilled. 00:13:23.629 --> 00:13:26.029 And so we've got to do something, and here's 00:13:26.029 --> 00:13:29.629 what we will do. But it was a self -centered 00:13:29.629 --> 00:13:35.750 scheme. Here Abraham exposes a lack of understanding 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:39.250 of the high position that God gives to marriage. 00:13:40.629 --> 00:13:43.710 Thom Hopler, writing in a book newly entitled, 00:13:43.970 --> 00:13:46.909 Reaching the World Next Door, says many people 00:13:46.909 --> 00:13:50.090 read the book of Genesis with their 20th century 00:13:50.090 --> 00:13:53.679 morality in mind. But we have to recognize that 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:57.320 God plucked out of savage, alienated mankind 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:01.899 a family that he chose to redeem. Keeping this 00:14:01.899 --> 00:14:06.000 in view, we can see how God taught Abraham's 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:09.059 family a second principle that is the sanctity 00:14:09.059 --> 00:14:12.080 of marriage. Abraham and Sarah's relationship 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:14.580 was typical for the culture they came out of. 00:14:15.019 --> 00:14:19.679 Marriage was important, but not sacred. Since 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:23.629 he does not know any better, that is Abram, God 00:14:23.629 --> 00:14:29.250 intervenes to teach him something new. Abram 00:14:29.250 --> 00:14:32.309 needed to learn how sacred and special marriage 00:14:32.309 --> 00:14:36.269 is. And so God took him through this experience 00:14:36.269 --> 00:14:39.149 and positively wrote that upon his heart. Now 00:14:39.149 --> 00:14:41.690 unfortunately he didn't entirely learn the lesson 00:14:41.690 --> 00:14:45.950 because he repeats it again in Gerar in chapter 00:14:45.950 --> 00:14:51.120 20. But what we see here is that a backslider 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:57.000 lives a lie. A backslider lives a lie denying 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:02.600 some aspect of his own identity as God's pilgrim. 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:07.740 Secondly, I noticed this cost, that a backslider 00:15:07.740 --> 00:15:12.539 loses his testimony. Abram's failure left him 00:15:12.539 --> 00:15:15.320 unable to communicate a positive message about 00:15:15.320 --> 00:15:20.860 his God to Pharaoh or to the Egyptians. In fact, 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:27.200 pagan Pharaoh rebukes Abram. And Abram leaves 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:32.159 Egypt in disgrace. Again, Barnhouse summarizes 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:34.600 it well when he says, when God intervened and 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:37.360 plagued the house of Pharaoh, Abram suffered 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:41.980 the shame and humiliation of a man who, having 00:15:41.980 --> 00:15:45.649 been an ambassador for God, was sent away like 00:15:45.649 --> 00:15:52.629 a dog with his tail between his legs. Abram left 00:15:52.629 --> 00:15:58.809 Egypt disgraced and in shame. And so we see that 00:15:58.809 --> 00:16:01.570 one of the costs of backsliding is that a backslider 00:16:01.570 --> 00:16:07.389 dishonors the name of the Lord. A third cost 00:16:07.389 --> 00:16:10.590 of backsliding is that a backslider causes consequences. 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:15.600 A backslider causes consequences. Notice the 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:19.240 consequences in Pharaoh's life. All kinds of 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:23.100 problems and plagues that he experienced. He 00:16:23.100 --> 00:16:28.059 caused consequences for Egypt. I think without 00:16:28.059 --> 00:16:30.759 reading very much into the text we can say that 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:33.120 Abram caused consequences in the life of his 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:37.419 nephew, Lot, who was with him on this journey 00:16:37.419 --> 00:16:40.539 and who seems to have developed a heightened 00:16:40.539 --> 00:16:45.679 taste for a lifestyle that will eventually destroy 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:53.740 his own life and divide Abram's family. And then 00:16:53.740 --> 00:16:58.059 we see another consequence, and that is that 00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:01.600 Sarai returned from Egypt apparently with a handmaiden 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:05.819 whose name was Hagar, who not very long from 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:10.660 now will become an issue for them. and whose 00:17:10.660 --> 00:17:14.940 descendants through Abram still molest the sons 00:17:14.940 --> 00:17:20.839 of Isaac and Jacob. The consequences of what 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.619 Abram did in going down to Egypt, friends, are 00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:26.519 still being played out in the Middle East today. 00:17:28.619 --> 00:17:30.700 And so it is when you and I backslide, there 00:17:30.700 --> 00:17:33.440 are consequences that we bring upon ourselves, 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:40.759 our families, the people who know us. the people 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:43.059 who are involved with us in our backsliding. 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:47.339 We bring consequences on all of that. And when 00:17:47.339 --> 00:17:50.099 we begin to tally up the cost of backsliding, 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:53.920 we see that it's not a very good thing to do. 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:59.339 But yet there is another cost that I see in backsliding, 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:01.839 and that is a backslider wastes his own life. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.619 Nothing positive came out of this time in Egypt. 00:18:05.950 --> 00:18:09.329 How long Abram was there we are not told exactly, 00:18:09.410 --> 00:18:14.750 but it was a period of time in which he was enriched 00:18:14.750 --> 00:18:21.089 materially. Sometimes we imagine that if we are 00:18:21.089 --> 00:18:23.809 gaining materially then God must be pleased with 00:18:23.809 --> 00:18:25.930 us. I would have you notice that Abram came out 00:18:25.930 --> 00:18:28.670 of Egypt a richer man, but God was not pleased. 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:34.700 In his time in Egypt, Abram did not fellowship 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:37.500 with God. He did not serve God's purpose in his 00:18:37.500 --> 00:18:40.420 life, although God accomplished his purpose despite 00:18:40.420 --> 00:18:47.200 Abram's backsliding. A backslider squanders opportunities 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:51.440 for life significance because every day that 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:54.380 I spend in backsliding is a day that I have wasted 00:18:54.380 --> 00:18:57.460 that might have been used in significance for 00:18:57.460 --> 00:19:02.660 God's kingdom. Now look at those four costs of 00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:05.380 backsliding and tell me if it's worth it. If 00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:09.740 it's worth the brief pleasure that we might receive 00:19:09.740 --> 00:19:14.700 or the riches that we might gain by going down 00:19:14.700 --> 00:19:19.099 to Egypt. And by the way, Egypt symbolically 00:19:19.099 --> 00:19:22.960 in the scriptures always represents the world. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:29.420 Going to the world. Abram was called out of the 00:19:29.420 --> 00:19:34.210 world. of err by God, but now backslides again 00:19:34.210 --> 00:19:40.289 into the world in this time of test. Well thirdly, 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:42.450 let's go on to the correction of backsliding 00:19:42.450 --> 00:19:44.250 because that's an important thing for all of 00:19:44.250 --> 00:19:47.549 us to know about. How do we recover from backsliding? 00:19:48.269 --> 00:19:50.509 Because it may be that some of us today have 00:19:50.509 --> 00:19:54.130 begun to weigh the costs of where we have been. 00:19:56.060 --> 00:19:59.460 We've begun to see how our lives have begun to 00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:02.380 deteriorate and others around us influence badly 00:20:02.380 --> 00:20:07.180 because of our disobedience to God. Maybe we 00:20:07.180 --> 00:20:09.880 began this backsliding thinking it was the right 00:20:09.880 --> 00:20:12.220 thing to do, the pragmatic thing to do, and now 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:16.279 we're beginning to see this is wrong. How do 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:20.640 we recover from that? Well, I notice Abram gives 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:24.240 us an example. He tells us by his example in 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.170 the first place, that we recover from backsliding 00:20:27.170 --> 00:20:31.430 by returning to our calling. Abraham here had 00:20:31.430 --> 00:20:33.589 to return to where he had left off walking with 00:20:33.589 --> 00:20:37.670 God. To recover from your backsliding, return 00:20:37.670 --> 00:20:40.390 to your calling. For Abraham it was to go back 00:20:40.390 --> 00:20:42.789 to the land of promise. For you it means going 00:20:42.789 --> 00:20:47.950 back to that place where you left God. Going 00:20:47.950 --> 00:20:51.029 back to that place where you departed from the 00:20:51.029 --> 00:20:57.220 pilgrimage to go into the world. being honest 00:20:57.220 --> 00:21:01.559 with yourself about it and with others. Secondly, 00:21:01.700 --> 00:21:05.980 it means to recover your identity. To correct 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:08.559 the backsliding in your life, you must recover 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:12.140 your identity as a pilgrim and begin again walking 00:21:12.140 --> 00:21:18.559 by faith, not by sight. Abram went back to the 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:22.559 tent. The tent is not mentioned in the time he 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:26.599 was in Egypt. But when he comes up out of Egypt, 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:29.640 he begins again, it says, living in the tent. 00:21:31.299 --> 00:21:35.180 He saw himself as a pilgrim. You and I need to 00:21:35.180 --> 00:21:40.900 do the same. Instead of living for this world, 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:45.599 we need to live for another world. Instead of 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:49.920 adopting the values of our culture, we need to 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:56.650 live by the values of God's kingdom. and recover 00:21:56.650 --> 00:22:02.329 our identity as pilgrims. Third, to recover and 00:22:02.329 --> 00:22:05.710 correct the backsliding in your life, renew your 00:22:05.710 --> 00:22:10.809 fellowship, worshiping the Lord. Abram went back 00:22:10.809 --> 00:22:13.170 to the altar that he had constructed, and there 00:22:13.170 --> 00:22:18.029 he called upon the name of the Lord. You and 00:22:18.029 --> 00:22:20.710 I can only recover from backsliding when we have 00:22:20.710 --> 00:22:23.730 renewed our fellowship with God. We have come 00:22:23.730 --> 00:22:27.079 to the altar And there we have acknowledged our 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:29.339 sin to the Lord and we have offered ourselves 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:33.799 afresh as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:36.539 to Him. And we have called upon the name of the 00:22:36.539 --> 00:22:39.740 Lord and proclaimed His name as being the Lord 00:22:39.740 --> 00:22:45.200 of our lives. Then and only then can we safely 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:51.460 say that we are out of Egypt. For some of us 00:22:51.460 --> 00:22:53.900 today who may not be in backsliding, how can 00:22:53.900 --> 00:22:59.519 we avoid getting there? What can we build into 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:04.400 our lives to keep us from failing in the time 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:06.759 of test and making the wrong choice that will 00:23:06.759 --> 00:23:10.240 lead us into the world? I like the way that Griffith 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:13.160 Thomas just boils it down to two simple words, 00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:19.579 trust and truth. You and I will keep from backsliding 00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:23.140 when we walk in faith, when we are trusting God, 00:23:23.220 --> 00:23:27.099 when we keep our eyes on Him and on His promises 00:23:27.099 --> 00:23:32.180 and not on the circumstances of our trials. We 00:23:32.180 --> 00:23:35.119 need to keep our focus on the Lord. That's trust. 00:23:35.940 --> 00:23:41.920 But secondly, it's truth. We will build a a barrier, 00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:44.759 a protection in our lives against going to Egypt 00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:48.920 if we learn to walk in truth. To be honest and 00:23:48.920 --> 00:23:51.859 truthful in our actions and to guard our hearts 00:23:51.859 --> 00:23:57.299 against the compromise of deceit. This is a New 00:23:57.299 --> 00:24:01.880 Testament message. To walk in faith and to walk 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:06.819 in truth. As long as you and I do that, then 00:24:06.819 --> 00:24:11.099 we will deliver ourselves by God's grace. from 00:24:11.099 --> 00:24:15.480 going into Egypt. I like what we learn here about 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:20.000 God though. When we have blown it, God is still 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:25.380 the God of new beginnings. The God of Abraham 00:24:25.380 --> 00:24:32.359 is the God of new beginnings. If you and I indulge 00:24:32.359 --> 00:24:37.619 in backsliding, it will cost us. The only escape 00:24:37.619 --> 00:24:40.259 that we have from backsliding is to turn back 00:24:40.259 --> 00:24:43.140 to God and to meet God at the place where we 00:24:43.140 --> 00:24:47.359 left Him. And frankly, I don't know what that 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:51.279 might mean for you this morning. But God does. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:56.400 And if you don't know, God can tell you. My plea 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.160 to you is to come back to that place where you 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:02.099 may have left Him. Because that is the place 00:25:02.099 --> 00:25:05.579 where God is waiting. waiting for you to come 00:25:05.579 --> 00:25:08.660 back to the altar, to come back to call upon 00:25:08.660 --> 00:25:13.059 His name. You say, can't God use my backsliding? 00:25:13.099 --> 00:25:17.700 Of course He can. God is bigger than all of our 00:25:17.700 --> 00:25:23.779 problems. God can forgive us of our backsliding. 00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:27.759 But you notice that God doesn't always deliver 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:30.160 us from the consequences of our backsliding. 00:25:32.940 --> 00:25:35.240 So the point that I'm making is that we need 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:37.339 to get back to that place of fellowship with 00:25:37.339 --> 00:25:40.480 God, back to the altar. We need to see ourselves 00:25:40.480 --> 00:25:43.359 as pilgrims walking by faith with God, living 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:48.539 in tents as it were, in this world. That is where 00:25:48.539 --> 00:25:54.160 God wants to meet you this morning. Will you 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:58.720 come back to that place and bow the knee? I hope 00:25:58.720 --> 00:26:06.440 you will. Let's pray. You know, we sing that 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:09.559 song that says, I have decided to follow Jesus. 00:26:11.079 --> 00:26:17.079 No turning back, no turning back. But the fact 00:26:17.079 --> 00:26:19.819 is that all of us who are believers have at some 00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:22.799 time in our lives and maybe even right now turned 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:29.759 back. May God help us. May God be gracious to 00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:35.819 us to give us hearts of repentance. If you find 00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:41.140 yourself this morning in an Egypt of your life, 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:47.240 will you come back to the altar? Will you come 00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:49.740 back to the place of blessing? Will you come 00:26:49.740 --> 00:26:54.759 back to fellowship with God and let your life 00:26:54.759 --> 00:26:57.680 be invested in what is significant for eternity? 00:27:02.829 --> 00:27:05.630 If that is the desire and the prayer of your 00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:07.690 heart this morning and you're humbled before 00:27:07.690 --> 00:27:12.730 God, I want to invite you simply to lift your 00:27:12.730 --> 00:27:16.130 hand and say, Pastor, that is my prayer this 00:27:16.130 --> 00:27:19.450 morning. I want to walk with Abraham back to 00:27:19.450 --> 00:27:22.869 the place of blessing. I've been in Egypt too 00:27:22.869 --> 00:27:26.690 long. Would you lift your hand and put it down? 00:27:29.150 --> 00:27:33.410 God bless you. Yes. God sees your hands. God 00:27:33.410 --> 00:27:39.809 knows. Thank you for being honest. That's where 00:27:39.809 --> 00:27:51.789 it begins. Tell the Lord about it. Repent of 00:27:51.789 --> 00:27:57.069 it. Recover your identity. Renew your fellowship 00:27:57.069 --> 00:28:03.099 with Him. Do it today. Let's stand with our heads 00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:07.200 bowed, please. Would you sing with me the second 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:50.140 verse of that song? Father, I pray that we today 00:28:50.140 --> 00:28:53.299 will put into place in our lives, if we've not 00:28:53.299 --> 00:29:00.440 done so already, both trust and truth. that these 00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:04.119 might be a barrier to keep us from going into 00:29:04.119 --> 00:29:12.420 Egypt. Father, if we are in Egypt and don't know 00:29:12.420 --> 00:29:15.660 it, we're not convicted of it, would you please 00:29:15.660 --> 00:29:19.420 deliver us from that lie and that deceit? For 00:29:19.420 --> 00:29:22.480 no deceit is perhaps greater than self -deceit. 00:29:26.039 --> 00:29:29.960 Open our eyes to see where our walk is this morning. 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:33.640 And may these who have honestly lifted their 00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:38.779 hand come back to the place of blessing. Lord, 00:29:38.920 --> 00:29:41.759 draw them back with your cords of everlasting 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:46.240 love and let today be a new beginning in their 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:50.259 lives. And bless them in their renewed walk as 00:29:50.259 --> 00:29:55.660 pilgrims for God in this world. And this week, 00:29:56.059 --> 00:29:59.579 Father, as we seek to be Your faithful pilgrims, 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:04.200 may we walk by faith and walk in truth, for Your 00:30:04.200 --> 00:30:07.460 glory and honor, in Jesus' name, amen.