WEBVTT

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Well, good morning, everybody. For those of you

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who don't know who I am, I am Pastor Nathan,

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and we like to start our Sundays by saying welcome

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to anybody that is visiting us for the first

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time, or if you're watching online for the first

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time, we're so glad you're here to worship with

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us today. Today, we are going to be in Genesis

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chapter 21, talking about a very, very important

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biblical topic. The topic is sanctification.

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Now, if you don't know what sanctification is

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biblically, It's very simply the process of becoming

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holy. That's what sanctification is. It's the

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idea of God setting us apart for his purposes

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in this world. Now, what's involved in all of

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this setting apart and this process is really

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God separating believers from sin and developing

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within us a desire for holiness. That is what

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sanctification is. Now, it's different from justification,

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which is another big biblical word that simply

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means the change of one's status before God.

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So when we come to faith and we put our faith

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in Jesus Christ and we become what we call saved,

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we are justified, which means God looks at us

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and now says, you're not guilty because of the

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blood of Jesus Christ. Now, justification is

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that moment, but sanctification is the change

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of who you are. And that is a process that takes

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our entire life as God works through us through

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the power of the Holy Spirit to change how we

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behave, how we think, change our priorities,

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and all of that. Now, sanctification does require

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an act of participation on our part because God

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wants us to choose to be obedient. And that involves

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us studying his word. That involves us getting

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into prayer and worship and choosing to listen

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to the promptings of God when we're facing decisions

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to do right or wrong. Now, the goal of this whole

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process is to conform us into the image of Jesus

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Christ, that we would bear the image of our creator

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and look like him. Now, biblically, we know that

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this is going to be an incomplete process in

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this life. but it is a process we go through

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nonetheless day by day as we walk with him. Now,

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one of the metaphors that can be used to kind

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of illustrate this process is the polishing of

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stones. I don't know if any of you have ever

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heard of this or done this, but really rock tumbling

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is this process where you take a rough, dull,

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sharp -edged rock, right, or a number of them,

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and you throw them into this thing called a rock

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tumbler, and you throw some grit in there, and

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they tumble. And they grind against each other

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and they smash into one another. And it's this

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whole process of them tumbling that when you

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take the rocks out of this tumbler, they're polished.

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They're beautiful. They go from lacking luster

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to being very shiny and pretty. And so the idea

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of this tumbling of rocks is something that is

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a picture of what sanctification is. As we tumble

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through the rough circumstances of life, tumble

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through the trials, God allows us to go through

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these things. It's the process of polishing our

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soul so that when we come out the other side

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of these things, we're shining brightly with

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the gospel, the glory of God and the gospel of

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Jesus Christ. You know, as a kid, I couldn't

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understand the process of sanding. I never understood

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how scratching things made it shinier and smoother.

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And so I'd always be like, Dad, I don't understand.

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You're scratching all of this, and yet it becomes

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beautiful. Now, the process, though, is exactly

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that. It's a process of refining and refining

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and refining. And it doesn't just work with stone,

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rocks, and wood, but it's a part of our spiritual

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lives as well. You see, there's a common biblical

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motif that we're going to be looking at in today's

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story that simply goes like this. Affliction

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and suffering often leads to beautifully good

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things in our lives. For example, in Romans chapter

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5, verses 3 through 5, it says this. And not

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only that, but we also boast in our afflictions

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because we know that affliction produces endurance.

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Endurance produces proven character, and proven

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character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint

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us because God's love has been poured out in

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our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given

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to us. And then one that's pretty famous as well,

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James chapter one, verse two through four, says,

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consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters,

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whenever you experience various trials, because

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you know that the testing of your faith produces

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endurance, and let endurance have its full effect

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so that you may be mature and complete, lacking

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nothing. You see, it's the Frictions of adversity

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that God uses to polish our soul. It's through

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the adversity and the afflictions and the suffering

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we go through that God knocks off the rough edges

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of our character, knocks off the ugly, dull nature

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that was our old self as he creates a new person

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through the work of his spirit in our lives.

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And this process is not new. It's as old as Abraham.

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It's as old as Abraham's father's father's father

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all the way back to Adam. This is what we're

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going to be looking at today. As we saw in chapter

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20 last week, despite being a towering man of

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faith, the patriarch Abraham was still a man

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with an old nature. He was still somebody that

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would be challenged and tempted with doing things

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the old way and not putting his full and complete

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trust and faith in God. And in chapter 20, we

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saw that he lapsed into his old sinful habits

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of deception and lying with King Abimelech, despite

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the fact that he had been walking with the Lord

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for 25 plus years. You know, so many of us have

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this same experience in our lives. Abraham was

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a man in process. as we all are. We're in the

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process of sanctification. And it's that process

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in our lives where God works through the ups

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and the downs and the good times and the bad

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times, the successes and the failures to polish

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us more and more into the image of Christ, the

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godly people that he created us to be. And then

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most importantly of all of it is this process

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of polishing is simply grace being heaped upon

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grace being heaped upon grace. That's what we're

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going to be looking at today, but first we're

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going to spend time worshiping God because he

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is the polisher. He is the one who puts us into

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the tumbler that we would come out the other

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side bearing his image more and more gloriously.

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And so let's pray and let's worship him. God,

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we're so grateful to you and who you are. We're

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so grateful for the processes you take us through,

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Lord. God, your word tells us that being sovereign,

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being omnipotent, being all -knowing, Lord, you

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allow everything that happens in our lives. And

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Lord, in our lives, sometimes we go through things

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that are the result of our own doing, our own

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disobedience, and still you allow us to go through

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those things, Lord. The greatest hope we have,

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God, is that you don't cast us out when we stumble.

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But Lord, you continue to work. You continue

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to walk through those things with us. You continue

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to use those things to continue polishing us

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that we would shine brighter for you in this

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world. So God, today as we look at this story

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in Abraham's life, God, as we see your promise

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coming to fulfillment and we see him ultimately

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engaging with King Abimelech again, but this

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time as a bold and confident believer in God,

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Lord, that we would be encouraged. Lord, that

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no matter what happens in our lives, God, it

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is you who started the good work and it is you

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who will carry it on to completion until the

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day of Christ Jesus. Lord, we love you. We praise

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you. We thank you for everything. It's in Jesus'

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name we pray. Amen. Chapters 20 and 21 of Genesis

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really are one lesson in two parts. And, you

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know, the lesson is this. As we continue to sin

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in life because we still have an old nature that

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is with us, God keeps working through those lapses,

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polishing us into his image. He never gives up

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on us. He never casts us out. He never says,

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I'm done, you've blown it too much, I'm moving

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on to find someone better than you. He keeps

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working and keeps working. You know, in the previous

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chapter, Genesis 20, we saw Abraham, who's this

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towering man of faith, who's the patriarch of

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Israel. We saw his humanity. We saw him, after

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25 years of walking with the Lord, stumble back

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into his old faithless habit of trusting in himself.

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And some of us read that and we're kind of shocked

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because of who Abraham is. He's the man who was

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considered righteous because of his faith. He

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was the one that had actually spoken with God

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audibly in a number of occasions. He had been

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through so much, and yet he still goes back to

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the sin that he had done over 25 years earlier.

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Now, on one hand, as we read the story of Abraham's

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life and we see what happened in chapter 20,

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We might read it as an unfortunate story, like,

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oh, man, that's terrible that he fell in that

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way. And don't misunderstand me. Anytime believers

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sin, it's a bad thing. But sometimes, Christians,

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we can either admittedly or unintentionally set

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an expectation in our lives that is one where

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we think our goal in this life is to achieve

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sinless perfection. And we come to that for many

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different reasons, or we can come to that for

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many different reasons. Sometimes, you know,

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it's as we're stressing, you know, obedience

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to God. We're like, well, I mean, my goal is

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to ultimately come perfectly obedient, right?

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And we're talking about, you know, wanting to

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do what God wants and follow him. And yet sometimes

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we set this standard such that when we do mess

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up, we beat ourselves up really bad. We sin,

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and instead of going, dang it, you know, my whole

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nature, Lord, forgive me, help me to keep moving

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on, we'll sin and then go, God must not love

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me anymore. I must not be a Christian anymore.

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I can't be saved. And really what that is is

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the devil speaking in your mind condemnation.

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But sometimes we let that condemnation then go,

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you know what, I can't go to church anymore.

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I can't serve in that ministry anymore. I gotta

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isolate myself. I just need to stay away from

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all the believers. And all that does is make

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the problem worse in our life. Well, Abraham,

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you know, he had been walking so long that we

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read the story and we go, how could he do that

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again? How could he lie and deceive and trust

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in himself again after all that he had experienced

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with the Lord? Well, the story... is actually

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a really hopeful and encouraging one in light

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of the reality of our own weaknesses and our

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own sinful nature. Because although we all still

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have an old nature, as we talked about last week,

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an old sinful nature, even after we're born again

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and made alive by the Spirit and the power of

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God, the reality is that we're saved by grace

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through faith. We're not saved by our works.

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We're not saved by how good we are. We're not

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unsaved by how bad we are. We're saved because

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we believe God. We trust God. We put our faith

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in God. We say, God, there is nothing I could

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do to ever be good, and so what you did for me,

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I trust in that. And God's gracious, compassionate,

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loving heart says, great, you do that. I now

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see you through the blood of my son, Jesus Christ,

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who died on the cross. I see all your sins paid

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for. I see you spotless. That's justification.

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But then we have this simultaneous reality where

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like, okay, I'm justified. God sees me spotless.

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Why do I keep doing this stuff that I don't want

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to do? And God will allow us to make mistakes

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and go through things because we are in that

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process called sanctification. Now, our stumbles

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and all of that, no matter how long we're a Christian,

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they never result in us losing our salvation.

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They never result in us being cast out of God's

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family. They never result in us being God to

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no longer love us, anything like that. Instead,

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it's quite the opposite. Because we have to understand

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something very important. Our works didn't get

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us in. Our works don't get us out. Do you understand

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that? Now, some will hear something like that

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and go, oh, so then you're just telling us that

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sin is not a big deal. Quite the contrary. Sin

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is a very big deal. Sin is why God had to come

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to this earth and die the most brutal death ever

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on the cross. Sin is what messes up families

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and relationships. Sin is what causes the blessing

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of God to be delayed or blocked in our lives

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as God wants to do things to bless us, his children.

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But when we're being disobedient, there's discipline

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and chastisement instead. But sin will never

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for the child of God result in you. losing the

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hope of heaven. You have to hang on to that as

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people because the devil is very, very skilled

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at trying to convince us otherwise. Now, the

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reality is that from the time we're saved, we

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start this process called sanctification where

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we are becoming more holy, where we are being

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made more and more like Jesus through the power

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of the Holy Spirit, wherein the rough edges of

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our life are sanded off. The cracks, the dullness

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is polished through this process of tumbling

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and grinding against life and against our own

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sinful nature and against other people and against

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circumstances. And so as we tumble through all

00:13:31.860 --> 00:13:36.340
these things, it's God doing a work. To make

00:13:36.340 --> 00:13:40.639
us shine the way he shines. To polish us to the

00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.100
point where his glory just radiates from our

00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:45.720
lives. And in that polishing, we become more

00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:49.059
and more luminous. Now, bringing this back to

00:13:49.059 --> 00:13:51.620
Abraham, so after his slip back into deception,

00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:55.100
after 25 years of walking with the Lord, back

00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:58.519
to him lying about who his wife was, we saw that

00:13:58.519 --> 00:14:01.299
God still heaped grace upon him by still calling

00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:03.929
him a prophet. He is still my child. He still

00:14:03.929 --> 00:14:07.049
speaks for me. I see him through the blood of

00:14:07.049 --> 00:14:09.169
Jesus Christ, so to speak. I see him perfect

00:14:09.169 --> 00:14:11.950
and sinless because he believes in me. He trusts

00:14:11.950 --> 00:14:14.730
in me. So he's still mine. He's still my prophet.

00:14:14.850 --> 00:14:18.210
He's still serving me. We saw that as he prayed,

00:14:18.309 --> 00:14:21.190
God heard his prayer teaching us that God can

00:14:21.190 --> 00:14:25.629
still use us after we've blown it. And all of

00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:28.690
that is just a picture of God proving over and

00:14:28.690 --> 00:14:32.559
over again that he heaps grace upon grace. Upon

00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:36.460
grace, upon grace. That his unconditional promises

00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:40.259
are unbreakable. They're unshakable by us for

00:14:40.259 --> 00:14:43.080
we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus

00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:46.740
for good works by God. Philippians 1 .6 tells

00:14:46.740 --> 00:14:50.159
us this, I am sure of this, that he who started

00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:52.940
a good work in you will carry it on to completion

00:14:52.940 --> 00:14:56.899
until the day of Jesus Christ. If you trust in

00:14:56.899 --> 00:14:58.879
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior this morning,

00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:05.309
you are his. You are the one that he has started

00:15:05.309 --> 00:15:08.730
a good work in. Notice it said he began the good

00:15:08.730 --> 00:15:13.610
work. And our hope is that he is the one that

00:15:13.610 --> 00:15:17.090
will bring it to completion. So Genesis 21 here,

00:15:17.230 --> 00:15:19.529
this is kind of the midpoint of the story if

00:15:19.529 --> 00:15:22.029
we look at Genesis 20 and 21 together. And it

00:15:22.029 --> 00:15:24.409
opens up on a very, very high note, right? Read

00:15:24.409 --> 00:15:27.830
with me in verse 1. The Lord came to Sarah as

00:15:27.830 --> 00:15:29.669
he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what

00:15:29.669 --> 00:15:32.500
he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore

00:15:32.500 --> 00:15:34.620
a son to Abraham in his old age at the appointed

00:15:34.620 --> 00:15:38.220
time God had told him. Abraham named his son

00:15:38.220 --> 00:15:40.600
who was born to him, the one Sarah bore to him,

00:15:40.740 --> 00:15:43.860
Isaac. When his son Isaac was eight days old,

00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:46.340
Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded

00:15:46.340 --> 00:15:49.879
him. Abraham was 100 years old when his son Isaac

00:15:49.879 --> 00:15:53.059
was born to him. See the background to this,

00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:55.720
God had made promises to Abraham, you know, in

00:15:55.720 --> 00:15:58.860
years past. And Abraham struggled with those

00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:01.320
promises as the years went on, going, God, when

00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:03.360
is this going to come to pass? When is this going

00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.039
to come to pass? And now we're at this place

00:16:06.039 --> 00:16:08.480
here where it reminds us, Abraham was 100 years

00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:12.120
old when Isaac was born. Now, although lifespans

00:16:12.120 --> 00:16:15.539
were longer then, he was an old dude. Having

00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:18.200
babies wasn't really on the menu at that point

00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:21.019
for them, right? His wife was barren, so not

00:16:21.019 --> 00:16:23.139
only was she too old to have children, she couldn't

00:16:23.139 --> 00:16:25.279
have children anyways when she was younger because

00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.980
she was barren. It was a physical, biological

00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:31.879
impossibility for them to have kids. And yet

00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:35.240
we're reminded here. that God fulfilled his promises.

00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:38.980
Now, chronologically, this happens just a handful

00:16:38.980 --> 00:16:42.539
of months after the events of chapter 20 with

00:16:42.539 --> 00:16:45.360
King Abimelech and the Philistines, but I want

00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:47.980
you to notice the repetition here. Abraham went

00:16:47.980 --> 00:16:51.000
south from the promised land. He lied about his

00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:54.940
wife. God showed up to Abimelech, said, you're

00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:57.860
a dead man, give her back. Abimelech objected.

00:16:58.139 --> 00:17:01.720
I didn't know that. They lied to me. God was

00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:03.740
gracious and said, I know that, bro. I kept you

00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:06.839
from violating her. So he gives her back, questions

00:17:06.839 --> 00:17:08.859
Abraham, why did you do this? This whole sour

00:17:08.859 --> 00:17:12.599
picture of Abraham being a man of God just blowing

00:17:12.599 --> 00:17:15.599
his witness to Abimelech. And yet we see God's

00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:17.900
grace come through there where he calls him prophet

00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:19.720
and he does all this stuff. But here at the middle

00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:21.980
point of the story, the lesson is already set

00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:24.039
for us what God is trying to teach Abraham and

00:17:24.039 --> 00:17:26.220
what God is trying to teach us. You notice in

00:17:26.220 --> 00:17:27.980
those first few verses there, there's a repetition

00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:32.690
of a concept. As he had said, speaking of God,

00:17:32.849 --> 00:17:36.910
what he had promised, speaking of God, at the

00:17:36.910 --> 00:17:40.490
appointed time that God had told him. That phrase

00:17:40.490 --> 00:17:43.170
is repeated over and over here to make sure we

00:17:43.170 --> 00:17:47.029
understand a very important lesson. If God has

00:17:47.029 --> 00:17:51.640
spoken, it will happen. 30 years or so prior

00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:55.279
in Genesis 12, right? God spoke to Abram at the

00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:57.819
time. Leave her, leave your family, go to a land

00:17:57.819 --> 00:17:59.599
I will show you. I will make you into a great

00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.160
nation. And this was the beginning of Abraham's,

00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.359
then Abram's relationship with the God of the

00:18:05.359 --> 00:18:08.380
universe. His relationships trusted with, God

00:18:08.380 --> 00:18:12.299
said, and then he trusted and obeyed, right?

00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:16.319
25 years later before the chapter we're in today,

00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:19.940
he left Haran. He started going south towards

00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:22.180
the promised land. And then when he got there,

00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:24.839
God said to your offspring, I will give this

00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:27.799
land. Sometime after that, there's the famine.

00:18:28.140 --> 00:18:31.000
Genesis 12, he goes down to Egypt. That's where

00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:33.640
he lies about his wife the first time, gets into

00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:35.599
all kinds of trouble, but then comes out blessed,

00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.319
even though he was sinning, even though he was

00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:40.400
trusting in himself instead of trusting in God.

00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:44.799
He gets back from Egypt. Around this time, Abraham's

00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:47.539
about 85 years old. He's learned his lesson.

00:18:48.140 --> 00:18:50.319
His nephew Lot wants to split off in Genesis

00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:52.779
13, and he says, you know what? God promised

00:18:52.779 --> 00:18:54.900
me this land, so you take whatever you want because

00:18:54.900 --> 00:18:57.000
God's going to give it to me and my people anyways.

00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:00.079
So just do whatever you want. We read about that.

00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:04.400
And then it was in that time God said, I will

00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:06.119
make your offspring like the dust of the earth.

00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.960
Genesis 15, Abraham's now 86 years old, still

00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:13.799
childless, wondering when is this promise going

00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:17.640
to come? God tells him, God said, your offspring,

00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:19.619
you're going to have the offspring and it's going

00:19:19.619 --> 00:19:23.220
to come from your own body. Abraham at the time

00:19:23.220 --> 00:19:24.839
was like, you know, the servant of my house,

00:19:24.900 --> 00:19:28.059
he's going to be my heir. God said no. And then

00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:32.059
he told him, look up and count the stars. That's

00:19:32.059 --> 00:19:35.099
how many your offspring is going to be. Genesis

00:19:35.099 --> 00:19:38.839
16, Abraham and Sarah are getting older. They

00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:41.059
come up with a plan. Well, God said, I'm going

00:19:41.059 --> 00:19:44.400
to have a child of my own body. This is me speculating,

00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:46.599
but Abraham might have been like, he never said

00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:49.460
it would be with Sarah. So him and his wife come

00:19:49.460 --> 00:19:51.680
up with this plan, sleep with Sarah's servant

00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:54.119
Hagar, and the child that is born of that union

00:19:54.119 --> 00:19:56.559
will be the son of Abraham. So that is how we're

00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:01.400
gonna fulfill God's promise. They did that because

00:20:01.400 --> 00:20:03.619
they had been waiting 16 years at that point

00:20:03.619 --> 00:20:07.039
for God to fulfill his promise. But that was

00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:11.779
a fiasco because in Genesis 17, We now come to

00:20:11.779 --> 00:20:15.019
Abraham who is 99 years old and God shows up

00:20:15.019 --> 00:20:20.660
and says, bro, Nathan translation, the offspring

00:20:20.660 --> 00:20:22.980
that is gonna come from your body is gonna come

00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:28.799
from your wife, Sarah, who's still barren. Abraham

00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:30.920
at this point had learned a lot. Okay, God, whatever

00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:34.599
you say. I don't understand, but sure. Genesis

00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:37.000
18, God visits a short time later to reiterate

00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:39.339
his promise to Abraham, but he does it in the

00:20:39.339 --> 00:20:41.849
hearing of Sarah. Because Sarah needed to hear

00:20:41.849 --> 00:20:44.170
it too. And Sarah laughs, we read. That's ridiculous.

00:20:45.210 --> 00:20:47.109
I'm an old lady who can't have babies anymore.

00:20:47.170 --> 00:20:50.809
Not that I could to begin with. But we read there

00:20:50.809 --> 00:20:53.390
that she is rebuked by God because God says,

00:20:53.470 --> 00:20:59.509
is anything impossible for the Lord? Genesis

00:20:59.509 --> 00:21:03.130
20. Abraham moves his family south, does the

00:21:03.130 --> 00:21:05.759
same thing he did 25 years. earlier in Egypt,

00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:08.099
lies about his wife, lies about her identity,

00:21:08.220 --> 00:21:13.240
instead of trusting in God. Then we come to Genesis

00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:17.680
21. And what does it start with? God had said

00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:20.119
what he had promised. It all happened exactly

00:21:20.119 --> 00:21:24.000
at the point in time that he had told them. Here's

00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:26.960
the question. How long is too long to wait for

00:21:26.960 --> 00:21:28.819
God to fulfill a promise that he has made to

00:21:28.819 --> 00:21:35.119
you? Now, if God's made a promise to you, with

00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:38.680
a timeline, then sure, you know when that promise

00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:40.880
is supposed to be fulfilled. But oftentimes,

00:21:41.019 --> 00:21:42.859
God will make promises and there's no timeline

00:21:42.859 --> 00:21:44.900
attached. And how long is too long to wait? Six

00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:48.039
months? After that, we could start complaining.

00:21:49.180 --> 00:21:54.079
Maybe a year, five years, 10 years? Some of us,

00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:58.119
it's like one whole week. And that's ridiculous,

00:21:58.339 --> 00:22:03.519
God. You made promises. You see, Abraham waited.

00:22:04.250 --> 00:22:09.109
25 to 30 years before God fulfilled the promise

00:22:09.109 --> 00:22:12.970
that he would have a son. And the whole time

00:22:12.970 --> 00:22:15.609
he was waiting, God had never mentioned a time

00:22:15.609 --> 00:22:19.410
frame. He had never mentioned a time frame until

00:22:19.410 --> 00:22:21.509
the final time he showed up when they had their

00:22:21.509 --> 00:22:23.650
dinner and he goes, look, I'm going to return

00:22:23.650 --> 00:22:26.630
in a year and you will have a son from Sarah.

00:22:27.869 --> 00:22:30.609
But like us, through the whole process, he's...

00:22:31.179 --> 00:22:33.380
fearful, he's worrying, he has doubt, he has

00:22:33.380 --> 00:22:35.700
anxiety, and it kept getting him as it gets us.

00:22:35.960 --> 00:22:38.039
When we're waiting for God to fulfill promises

00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:40.940
that he's made us. And we're like, when is it

00:22:40.940 --> 00:22:42.960
going to happen? And we worry and we have all

00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:45.720
this doubt and fear when God has never once in

00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:49.680
all of time in any life failed to fulfill a promise

00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:55.859
that he made. So if God made a promise in your

00:22:55.859 --> 00:22:59.210
life and he didn't give you a timetable, How

00:22:59.210 --> 00:23:03.049
long should you wait before you freak out? The

00:23:03.049 --> 00:23:07.710
answer is until he fulfills it. That's how long

00:23:07.710 --> 00:23:09.690
you wait before you freak out. You wait until

00:23:09.690 --> 00:23:12.289
he fulfills it. In the meantime, we are called

00:23:12.289 --> 00:23:15.549
as his people to faithfully and expectantly wait

00:23:15.549 --> 00:23:18.990
for his promises. But to not get tied up in when

00:23:18.990 --> 00:23:21.130
and how, when and how. It's like, that's God's

00:23:21.130 --> 00:23:23.970
domain. Our domain is today, God. What do you

00:23:23.970 --> 00:23:26.579
want me to do? Today, God, how do you want me

00:23:26.579 --> 00:23:28.900
to glorify your life? Today, God, help me to

00:23:28.900 --> 00:23:30.500
be obedient to you. Help me to live for you.

00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:33.119
Not, dang it, when's that thing gonna get fulfilled?

00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:38.680
And we wait in full trust that he will, some

00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:43.480
way, somehow, sometime, do exactly what he said.

00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.980
The history of this church bears witness to that.

00:23:48.059 --> 00:23:51.210
This building that we are meeting in today. It

00:23:51.210 --> 00:23:53.569
wasn't always the church that we call Hosanna.

00:23:53.650 --> 00:23:56.470
It used to be an old movie theater. And in the

00:23:56.470 --> 00:23:59.029
late 70s and early 80s, it was an abandoned theater,

00:23:59.130 --> 00:24:03.029
just trashed. And one day, Pastor Gary, our founding

00:24:03.029 --> 00:24:05.869
pastor, he lived right back here on Belmont Street,

00:24:05.950 --> 00:24:08.470
and he walked out on an Easter Sunday morning,

00:24:08.569 --> 00:24:11.029
and he looked at the skyline of Bellflower Boulevard,

00:24:11.049 --> 00:24:12.890
and he saw the tower that's in front of our building.

00:24:12.950 --> 00:24:14.349
And the Lord spoke to him and said, I'm giving

00:24:14.349 --> 00:24:19.259
that to you. No time frame attached. And Pastor

00:24:19.259 --> 00:24:24.900
Gary said what I would probably say, cool. And

00:24:24.900 --> 00:24:26.799
then he went to the city because the building

00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:29.420
was for sale at the time. He said, hey, I want

00:24:29.420 --> 00:24:32.759
to buy the tower on the boulevard. God said he's

00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:34.980
going to give it to me. And the city said, under

00:24:34.980 --> 00:24:38.079
no circumstances will there ever be a church

00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:42.240
on the boulevard. No way. That is impossible.

00:24:44.100 --> 00:24:46.119
And for those of you that know Pastor Gary, he

00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.359
went like this. I'm going to paraphrase the moment.

00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:50.960
Well, God told me, so call me when you're ready.

00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:58.339
Eight years later. Eight years. He waited faithfully.

00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.579
And finally got the call one day where the city

00:25:01.579 --> 00:25:03.480
said, hey, can you please come buy this? Because

00:25:03.480 --> 00:25:05.980
the only other buyer is a pornography adult theater,

00:25:06.059 --> 00:25:09.000
and we don't want that on the boulevard. And

00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:10.559
there has been a church on the boulevard in Bellflower

00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:16.640
ever since. It's the picture of faithfully trusting

00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:21.740
and waiting. God said so. It happened. And so

00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:24.980
what we're looking at here in Abraham's story

00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:27.940
is God fulfilling what he said he was going to

00:25:27.940 --> 00:25:32.259
do and doing it despite Abraham's stumble, though.

00:25:32.299 --> 00:25:34.900
That's what the interesting picture of this is.

00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:39.119
Abraham had just sinned. Abraham had just blown

00:25:39.119 --> 00:25:42.210
it. Right? This wasn't like, oh, Abraham had

00:25:42.210 --> 00:25:45.170
been this perfectly faithful Christian for years

00:25:45.170 --> 00:25:47.670
at this point, and of course God's gonna fulfill

00:25:47.670 --> 00:25:49.890
the promise now. No, no, no, no. Abraham had

00:25:49.890 --> 00:25:54.109
just gone back to old habits. Lied, deceived.

00:25:55.990 --> 00:25:58.170
You know, there's so many times in my life I've

00:25:58.170 --> 00:26:01.990
experienced this, where God will answer a prayer,

00:26:02.150 --> 00:26:05.769
or he will open a door, or he will do the impossible.

00:26:07.430 --> 00:26:12.339
Mere. Hours or days after I've blown it. And

00:26:12.339 --> 00:26:15.400
if you've ever experienced that, you know that

00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:18.279
that is the moment where grace stings the most.

00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:21.380
It's like peroxide on a cut. You remember that?

00:26:22.380 --> 00:26:24.420
When I was a kid and my mom wanted to pour that

00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:25.960
on the cut on my thumb, I was sure it was going

00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:29.079
to melt my thumb off. I'm like, I need my thumb,

00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:32.140
Mom. But it just burned and stung and bubbled

00:26:32.140 --> 00:26:37.400
for a little bit. But then it was good. And God

00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:39.940
will do that in our lives at times because that's

00:26:39.940 --> 00:26:42.220
a part of the process of sanctification. That's

00:26:42.220 --> 00:26:43.960
a part of the process of him teaching us what

00:26:43.960 --> 00:26:47.180
grace really is. Grace isn't earned. Grace is

00:26:47.180 --> 00:26:51.440
given freely. And not that he's rewarding our

00:26:51.440 --> 00:26:54.619
sin. Quite the opposite. Because when that grace

00:26:54.619 --> 00:26:58.859
comes out upon our lives, it stings. It grinds

00:26:58.859 --> 00:27:01.299
against us. It serves to be that grit in the

00:27:01.299 --> 00:27:04.720
tumbler that is smoothing off our rough edges.

00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:09.160
Now the promise of the son was not fulfilled

00:27:09.160 --> 00:27:11.359
because of Abraham was perfect in his obedience,

00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:13.920
not at all. The promise of the son was fulfilled

00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:17.259
because God was faithful to his word. God was

00:27:17.259 --> 00:27:19.480
faithful to himself. And so it tells us that

00:27:19.480 --> 00:27:22.279
he named him Isaac as God had instructed them.

00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:24.680
He circumcised him on the eighth day, but you'll

00:27:24.680 --> 00:27:27.480
see the phrase there, right? As God had commanded

00:27:27.480 --> 00:27:32.700
him. Blessing is always found in doing what God

00:27:32.700 --> 00:27:37.079
says. And as we just looked at, God says, A lot.

00:27:38.220 --> 00:27:43.440
And he says repeatedly. And he says over and

00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:46.779
over. He tells us how to live. He tells us what

00:27:46.779 --> 00:27:48.960
he wants for our life. He tells us just everything

00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:51.640
that his intent is, who he is, his character

00:27:51.640 --> 00:27:54.200
and all that. And he just wants us to listen.

00:27:56.619 --> 00:28:01.079
1 Samuel, there's a story of King Saul who was

00:28:01.079 --> 00:28:03.400
commanded by the Lord to go completely destroy

00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:07.029
the Amalekites. And it says in 1 Samuel, go wipe

00:28:07.029 --> 00:28:09.730
out the Amalekites and all their stuff. Like

00:28:09.730 --> 00:28:12.589
destroy everything. They have reached that point

00:28:12.589 --> 00:28:14.890
where God's like, okay, they're done. Judgment

00:28:14.890 --> 00:28:17.029
is coming upon them. Wipe out everything. King

00:28:17.029 --> 00:28:19.470
Saul was like, okay, I'm gonna do that, Lord.

00:28:19.589 --> 00:28:21.650
And instead, what he did is he went and he captured

00:28:21.650 --> 00:28:24.170
the king and said, I'm gonna take him in as a

00:28:24.170 --> 00:28:26.710
trophy. And then he let his soldiers say, you

00:28:26.710 --> 00:28:29.690
know what? Go take all the good stuff from there.

00:28:29.809 --> 00:28:31.309
You know, like all the junky stuff you could

00:28:31.309 --> 00:28:32.809
leave. That's what the Lord meant. But take all

00:28:32.809 --> 00:28:35.759
the good stuff. And then he gets called out on

00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:39.319
it by Samuel, the prophet of God. He says, why

00:28:39.319 --> 00:28:43.440
did you do this? And his justification was, I'm

00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.740
gonna use it as a sacrifice to the Lord. That's

00:28:46.740 --> 00:28:49.319
why, I mean, I disobeyed him, yes, but I'm gonna

00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:51.559
sacrifice for him so it's all gonna be okay.

00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:54.759
And the prophet Samuel says this in 1 Samuel

00:28:54.759 --> 00:28:59.279
15, 22. Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt

00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:03.220
offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying

00:29:03.220 --> 00:29:07.349
the Lord? Look, to obey is better than sacrifice.

00:29:08.130 --> 00:29:12.450
To pay attention is better than the fat of rams.

00:29:16.150 --> 00:29:21.369
Great, you sacrificed something awesome. But

00:29:21.369 --> 00:29:23.630
what I really want is just pay attention to me.

00:29:25.009 --> 00:29:27.269
Read my word, learn who I am, learn what I want,

00:29:27.329 --> 00:29:32.289
and then just do what I say. Don't do your own

00:29:32.289 --> 00:29:35.200
thing. and then come back and say, well, God,

00:29:35.259 --> 00:29:36.900
I did this for you instead, even though as a

00:29:36.900 --> 00:29:41.039
disobedience here, we're good, right? But again,

00:29:41.220 --> 00:29:44.160
God's grace lavishes over all of it. But when

00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:46.680
we read through scripture, God isn't unclear

00:29:46.680 --> 00:29:50.579
on what he wants. God isn't unclear about his

00:29:50.579 --> 00:29:52.359
principles and his character and his right and

00:29:52.359 --> 00:29:54.619
wrong. But you know why some Christians are unclear

00:29:54.619 --> 00:29:57.220
about that? Because they don't read his word.

00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:01.299
They don't spend time in his word every day.

00:30:01.380 --> 00:30:03.940
They don't read and study and memorize. So they

00:30:03.940 --> 00:30:06.640
have no idea. Well, I don't know if God wants

00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:08.599
me to do that or not. Well, of course you don't.

00:30:11.539 --> 00:30:13.920
Men are mostly guilty of this. I was the opposite.

00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:18.500
But you get a piece of furniture from Ikea and

00:30:18.500 --> 00:30:21.799
you go, how hard is this to put together? I don't

00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:25.359
need the stupid instructions. Right? And then

00:30:25.359 --> 00:30:27.259
you're like, why do I have so many leftover parts?

00:30:27.900 --> 00:30:32.819
They must be extra. You got to follow the instructions,

00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:34.599
right? This is what God wants. God says, just

00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:39.599
listen to me. Just endeavor to obey. And we go,

00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:42.140
well, didn't we just talk about that? Like, we're

00:30:42.140 --> 00:30:46.660
going to sin. Yeah. But you see, the whole sacrifice

00:30:46.660 --> 00:30:49.640
thing is, I did a bad work, so let me offset

00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:52.599
that with a good work. And that doesn't work

00:30:52.599 --> 00:30:56.039
in God's economy. God says, how about you just

00:30:56.039 --> 00:30:57.579
do what I tell you to do, and when you mess up,

00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:03.059
you tell me. You trust in Jesus Christ, you're

00:31:03.059 --> 00:31:06.420
forgiven. Let's get up and keep going. Because

00:31:06.420 --> 00:31:07.920
he doesn't want us focused on the, I'm going

00:31:07.920 --> 00:31:09.480
to be perfect one day. It's just, just focus

00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:11.579
on today. Just do what I'm telling you to do

00:31:11.579 --> 00:31:13.500
and stop trying to do this works -based thing.

00:31:14.119 --> 00:31:15.660
And this is kind of what we're going to get into

00:31:15.660 --> 00:31:20.180
as we go through this. We learn every time we

00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:23.140
go through the rock tumbler. That to obey is

00:31:23.140 --> 00:31:26.700
better than sacrifice. And so he named him Isaac.

00:31:26.779 --> 00:31:29.819
That word Isaac means laughter, right? At first

00:31:29.819 --> 00:31:31.539
it was tongue in cheek because we know Sarah

00:31:31.539 --> 00:31:33.140
was the one who laughed. I'm not going to be

00:31:33.140 --> 00:31:35.660
able to have a baby. God's like, boom, you're

00:31:35.660 --> 00:31:37.180
going to, and you're going to name him laughter.

00:31:37.279 --> 00:31:40.680
How about that for the rest of your life? But

00:31:40.680 --> 00:31:45.619
then the laughter of doubt, the laughter of just

00:31:45.619 --> 00:31:48.839
sarcastic, like this is ridiculous. There's no

00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:51.660
way this can happen. It all turns around and

00:31:51.660 --> 00:31:54.660
gets smoothed out by God through the polishing

00:31:54.660 --> 00:31:59.119
of her. Look at verse six. Sarah said, God has

00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:00.900
made me laugh and everyone who hears will laugh

00:32:00.900 --> 00:32:04.099
with me. She also said, who would have told Abraham

00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:06.680
that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have born

00:32:06.680 --> 00:32:11.059
a son for him in his old age. You see, God's

00:32:11.059 --> 00:32:13.460
grace has a wonderful way of turning our incredulous

00:32:13.460 --> 00:32:17.470
laughter into laughter of joy. It goes from incredulous

00:32:17.470 --> 00:32:20.029
laughter to almost shame -filled laughter, right?

00:32:20.150 --> 00:32:23.549
Oh, man, God, I'm so dumb. Right? Grace has a

00:32:23.549 --> 00:32:26.450
way of doing that. Proverbs 13 .2 tells us this.

00:32:26.509 --> 00:32:29.650
Hope delayed makes the heart sick, but desire

00:32:29.650 --> 00:32:33.250
fulfilled is a tree of life. Right? Here's Sarah

00:32:33.250 --> 00:32:38.470
cracking up. I'm a 90 -year -old mama. It's hard

00:32:38.470 --> 00:32:42.529
to believe that I'm holding the baby. And she's

00:32:42.529 --> 00:32:45.150
just overjoyed. It wasn't like, whatever. It

00:32:45.150 --> 00:32:49.220
was now like, Wow, it's impossible, and it happened.

00:32:50.039 --> 00:32:52.200
And there was such joy in her life, and that

00:32:52.200 --> 00:32:56.339
joy brought vitality and exuberance to her. But,

00:32:56.380 --> 00:32:58.480
you know, the waiting can still be hard, though.

00:32:58.599 --> 00:33:00.460
You know, hope delayed makes the heart sick.

00:33:01.700 --> 00:33:05.720
The waiting can be very difficult, even when

00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:07.240
we're like, okay, God, I know it's going to happen,

00:33:07.279 --> 00:33:13.210
but sometimes we get to win. Especially when

00:33:13.210 --> 00:33:15.690
it's an impossible thing. Some of us today are

00:33:15.690 --> 00:33:18.009
praying for what feels like impossible things.

00:33:19.390 --> 00:33:22.150
Some of you might be praying for a reconciled

00:33:22.150 --> 00:33:23.670
relationship and you're like, it's impossible.

00:33:25.450 --> 00:33:27.769
Some of you might be praying for a spouse to

00:33:27.769 --> 00:33:31.349
get saved or to be delivered from drugs and alcohol

00:33:31.349 --> 00:33:34.470
and you're like, it seems impossible. Some of

00:33:34.470 --> 00:33:35.930
you are praying for a friend or family member

00:33:35.930 --> 00:33:37.470
to get saved and you're like, that's definitely

00:33:37.470 --> 00:33:41.359
impossible. And yet you're still praying, but

00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:42.859
you have this seed of doubt in the back of your

00:33:42.859 --> 00:33:47.500
mind. But we can't ever forget that what is impossible

00:33:47.500 --> 00:33:51.759
for man is possible for God. And we need to cling

00:33:51.759 --> 00:33:55.460
on to that. Because when God comes through and

00:33:55.460 --> 00:33:58.180
does the impossible thing, man, what joy is there.

00:33:58.259 --> 00:34:00.880
What life is there. What excitement is there.

00:34:01.839 --> 00:34:05.660
And how it builds our faith. How it polishes

00:34:05.660 --> 00:34:09.739
our soul. How it brings luster to our lives.

00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:12.860
And so now in verse eight, the narrative shifts

00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:16.380
from the promised son being born to Ishmael and

00:34:16.380 --> 00:34:18.780
what happens to him. Now Ishmael was 13 years

00:34:18.780 --> 00:34:21.019
old when Isaac was born. And so verse eight,

00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:23.179
it tells us, the child grew and was weaned and

00:34:23.179 --> 00:34:25.360
Abraham held a great feast on the day Isaac was

00:34:25.360 --> 00:34:28.659
weaned. But Sarah saw the son mocking. The one

00:34:28.659 --> 00:34:31.340
Hagar, the Egyptian, had born to Abraham. So

00:34:31.340 --> 00:34:33.380
she said to Abraham, drive out this slave with

00:34:33.380 --> 00:34:35.519
her son for the son of this slave will not be

00:34:35.519 --> 00:34:39.340
a co -heir with my son Isaac. And this was very

00:34:39.340 --> 00:34:44.019
distressing to Abraham because of his son. Now,

00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:48.159
history and scholars and all that, there's a

00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:50.519
general understanding that the weaning of a child

00:34:50.519 --> 00:34:53.460
typically took place around three years of age.

00:34:53.699 --> 00:34:55.940
There's some debate and people go back and forth,

00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:58.139
but most agree that it was around three years

00:34:58.139 --> 00:35:00.539
of age when a baby was weaned. And that process

00:35:00.539 --> 00:35:03.079
was when the kid was considered to be off milk

00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:06.239
completely and now could eat solid food exclusively.

00:35:06.679 --> 00:35:09.409
And it was a big day. It was a big day because

00:35:09.409 --> 00:35:12.750
in those times, there wasn't a whole lot of certainty

00:35:12.750 --> 00:35:14.630
that a kid would make it to three years old,

00:35:14.769 --> 00:35:17.489
right? It was a difficult way to live. And so

00:35:17.489 --> 00:35:19.849
not only was it like, yay, they're on solid food,

00:35:19.909 --> 00:35:21.949
but what that represented, right? They have a

00:35:21.949 --> 00:35:24.090
greater likelihood of continuing to live here.

00:35:24.150 --> 00:35:26.230
And so there's this big celebration. It was a

00:35:26.230 --> 00:35:28.849
celebration of a child. For Abraham and his culture,

00:35:28.869 --> 00:35:31.010
it was a celebration of God and his protection

00:35:31.010 --> 00:35:33.590
and his provision. But we still see that this

00:35:33.590 --> 00:35:36.340
longstanding on a map. animosity still exists

00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:40.960
between Sarah and Hagar. Now, it says that the

00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:44.000
kid, Ishmael, was mocking Isaac. You can imagine

00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:47.539
that for 16 years at this point, 13 up to the

00:35:47.539 --> 00:35:50.460
birth, and then three more up to that birth for

00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:53.760
sure, Ishmael was the heir of Abraham. Ishmael

00:35:53.760 --> 00:35:56.880
was the firstborn son. And then all of a sudden,

00:35:56.900 --> 00:35:58.739
Isaac shows up on the scene through an impossible

00:35:58.739 --> 00:36:02.380
miracle. And now Isaac is the heir. He's the

00:36:02.380 --> 00:36:04.019
son of the promise. You can imagine how that

00:36:04.019 --> 00:36:07.500
might stir up feelings of jealousy within Ishmael.

00:36:08.039 --> 00:36:10.280
But what's interesting here, when it says Ishmael

00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:14.440
is mocking him, in the Hebrew, the word Isaac,

00:36:14.619 --> 00:36:17.539
laughter, and the word mocking come from the

00:36:17.539 --> 00:36:21.480
same root word. It's laughter, but it's a different

00:36:21.480 --> 00:36:24.969
kind of laughter. Sarah had originally doubting

00:36:24.969 --> 00:36:27.710
laughter. They named the kid joyful laughter.

00:36:28.010 --> 00:36:30.230
And then you had Ishmael who was doing mocking

00:36:30.230 --> 00:36:33.769
laughter. And we just see that there's all this

00:36:33.769 --> 00:36:36.130
twisting of emotion and stuff going on here.

00:36:36.190 --> 00:36:39.650
But Sarah, she flips out. Get rid of him. He

00:36:39.650 --> 00:36:42.809
will not be a co -heir. Get rid of him. I personally

00:36:42.809 --> 00:36:44.670
think there was a little more to it than that.

00:36:44.909 --> 00:36:47.489
That Sarah was like, get rid of him. Get rid

00:36:47.489 --> 00:36:49.769
of him and his mom. Get rid of the reminders

00:36:49.769 --> 00:36:53.269
of our mistake. Get rid of the reminders of my

00:36:53.269 --> 00:36:56.769
faithless failure. Get rid of them who don't

00:36:56.769 --> 00:36:59.449
honor the promised one. Like, I don't want to

00:36:59.449 --> 00:37:01.690
see it anymore. They're disrespectful. How dare

00:37:01.690 --> 00:37:03.869
they? And then quite frankly, I think it was

00:37:03.869 --> 00:37:06.349
just like, he's just like, I don't like her,

00:37:06.409 --> 00:37:09.429
right? Get rid of her. She's just a mean person

00:37:09.429 --> 00:37:12.099
and I want to kick her out. Sarah's actions are

00:37:12.099 --> 00:37:15.000
not good here. She's not doing a noble, honorable

00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:18.260
thing. And later on, when we see how God takes

00:37:18.260 --> 00:37:19.900
care of Ishmael and Hagar in the wilderness,

00:37:20.260 --> 00:37:22.840
we're also going to see later on that Ishmael

00:37:22.840 --> 00:37:24.900
did have contact with his dad's family because

00:37:24.900 --> 00:37:27.099
when Abraham dies, Ishmael comes to the funeral.

00:37:27.900 --> 00:37:29.940
And so I think the fact that God took care of

00:37:29.940 --> 00:37:32.380
them when Sarah wanted them to be cast out was

00:37:32.380 --> 00:37:35.519
polishing Sarah's soul and helping her grow as

00:37:35.519 --> 00:37:38.099
a person who represented God. But we're not there

00:37:38.099 --> 00:37:42.000
yet. It tells us Abraham was distressed. Understandably,

00:37:42.000 --> 00:37:45.099
that was his son. But as we go through this story,

00:37:45.300 --> 00:37:47.940
we're going to see that what happens looks to

00:37:47.940 --> 00:37:51.059
be incredibly harsh, incredibly heartless. And

00:37:51.059 --> 00:37:54.400
we have to go, why would God allow this? This

00:37:54.400 --> 00:37:58.380
must be a picture of a mean God. And we have

00:37:58.380 --> 00:38:00.360
to understand that in the story to follow, we're

00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:02.599
going to get to, there's both a practical thing

00:38:02.599 --> 00:38:04.460
happening here, but there's a symbolic lesson

00:38:04.460 --> 00:38:06.539
that is very, very important for us. So let's

00:38:06.539 --> 00:38:10.000
read on verse 12. God said to Abraham, do not

00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:12.239
be distressed about the boy and about your slave.

00:38:12.840 --> 00:38:15.719
Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her because

00:38:15.719 --> 00:38:17.760
your offspring will be traced through Isaac.

00:38:18.599 --> 00:38:22.280
And I also will also make a nation of the slave

00:38:22.280 --> 00:38:25.539
son because he's your offspring. Early in the

00:38:25.539 --> 00:38:28.000
morning, Abraham got up, took bread and a water

00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:30.059
skin, put them on Hagar's shoulders and sent

00:38:30.059 --> 00:38:32.760
her and the boy away. She left and wandered in

00:38:32.760 --> 00:38:37.019
the wilderness of Beersheba. Now, It opens up

00:38:37.019 --> 00:38:39.340
here with just the practical of what's going

00:38:39.340 --> 00:38:42.739
on here. Abraham's distressed. That's my kid.

00:38:42.900 --> 00:38:45.880
God speaks to him and says, don't worry. He says,

00:38:45.920 --> 00:38:49.280
whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her. Because

00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:51.400
God knows what happens when husbands don't listen

00:38:51.400 --> 00:38:58.719
to their wives. No, just kidding. I'm a single

00:38:58.719 --> 00:39:02.440
guy, right? I can say stuff like that. No. God's

00:39:02.440 --> 00:39:06.699
like, I'm going to take care of this kid. God

00:39:06.699 --> 00:39:08.960
wanted to make sure Abraham knew because he was

00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:11.019
distressed, I'm going to take care of them. I'm

00:39:11.019 --> 00:39:13.239
going to provide for them. It's not only that,

00:39:13.320 --> 00:39:15.320
God says, not only that, but because he is your

00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:18.559
son and he's your kid, I'm going to bless him

00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:21.019
too and make him a great nation. So the idea

00:39:21.019 --> 00:39:23.719
here is God is telling Abraham that although

00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:25.699
Sarah might be wanting to throw them out like

00:39:25.699 --> 00:39:29.880
trash, that's not what's happening. But God is

00:39:29.880 --> 00:39:32.820
going to allow it to happen. And we go, well,

00:39:32.860 --> 00:39:34.820
why would he allow that to happen? That seems

00:39:34.820 --> 00:39:36.780
cruel in those days, right? It wasn't like, hey,

00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:39.300
can you move to the next neighborhood? It was,

00:39:39.300 --> 00:39:40.760
no, you're gonna leave the camp and go into the

00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:42.460
wilderness, and you're gonna have to fend for

00:39:42.460 --> 00:39:44.139
yourself and find your own water and find your

00:39:44.139 --> 00:39:46.380
own food after you run out of what I'm gonna

00:39:46.380 --> 00:39:50.539
give you. Why would God let this happen? Well,

00:39:50.579 --> 00:39:53.199
the symbolic reason God is allowing this to happen

00:39:53.199 --> 00:39:55.900
is that Ishmael was not the son of the promise.

00:39:56.139 --> 00:39:59.039
Isaac was the son of the promise. That's a big

00:39:59.039 --> 00:40:02.980
deal. You see, God is the one who brought Isaac

00:40:03.920 --> 00:40:07.599
through his power alone, literally. Biological

00:40:07.599 --> 00:40:10.280
impossibility for Sarah to get pregnant. Abraham

00:40:10.280 --> 00:40:12.639
and Sarah's own human wisdom and mistrust of

00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:15.480
God or distrust or impatience in his promise

00:40:15.480 --> 00:40:17.860
is what brought Ishmael about. And this is where

00:40:17.860 --> 00:40:21.300
the symbolic lesson of this is understood. Personally,

00:40:21.420 --> 00:40:23.280
I believe that in the context of God allowing

00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:25.300
people to go through things to polish them, that

00:40:25.300 --> 00:40:27.800
one of the physical reasons he let Ishmael and

00:40:27.800 --> 00:40:29.599
Hagar go into the wilderness as we're reading

00:40:29.599 --> 00:40:34.159
is to polish them too, right? But symbolically,

00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:36.840
Isaac, the promised son, is a type of Christ.

00:40:37.000 --> 00:40:39.460
And when we say a type in Scripture, that means

00:40:39.460 --> 00:40:40.840
there's something in the Old Testament that is

00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:43.760
a picture, an image, a foreshadowing of something

00:40:43.760 --> 00:40:46.599
we see in the New Testament. So when we compare

00:40:46.599 --> 00:40:49.059
Isaac and Christ together, both of them were

00:40:49.059 --> 00:40:52.760
specially promised sons. Both of their conceptions

00:40:52.760 --> 00:40:56.099
were miraculous. Both were born after a period

00:40:56.099 --> 00:40:59.380
of delay, right? Isaac, they waited 25 plus years.

00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:03.179
The Messiah? They waited generations for the

00:41:03.179 --> 00:41:05.599
Messiah to show up. Both of the mothers were

00:41:05.599 --> 00:41:08.039
given assurance of God's, or assurance of the

00:41:08.039 --> 00:41:10.920
truth of God's promise. Right, in Genesis 18,

00:41:10.960 --> 00:41:13.400
14, God said to Sarah, is anything impossible

00:41:13.400 --> 00:41:16.820
for the Lord? In Luke chapter one, Gabriel says

00:41:16.820 --> 00:41:19.159
to Mary, nothing will be impossible with God.

00:41:20.480 --> 00:41:22.500
Both of their names were given before birth.

00:41:22.659 --> 00:41:25.280
Both of their names had great meaning. Both of

00:41:25.280 --> 00:41:27.159
their births occurred exactly at God's appointed

00:41:27.159 --> 00:41:30.519
time. Genesis 21 .2, it says that Isaac was conceived

00:41:30.519 --> 00:41:32.960
and born at the appointed time that God had told

00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:36.679
him. Galatians 4 .4, Paul writes, when time came

00:41:36.679 --> 00:41:39.820
to completion, or when it was the right time,

00:41:39.980 --> 00:41:43.699
God sent his son born of a woman. Both births

00:41:43.699 --> 00:41:45.940
were accompanied with great joy, right? We just

00:41:45.940 --> 00:41:48.360
read in Genesis 21 .6, Sarah's like, God made

00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:49.980
me laugh, and everybody that hears about this

00:41:49.980 --> 00:41:52.940
is gonna laugh. There's so much joy here. In

00:41:52.940 --> 00:41:55.760
Luke 1 .46, it tells us that regarding Jesus'

00:41:56.000 --> 00:41:59.460
birth, Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord.

00:42:00.300 --> 00:42:04.340
My spirit is rejoicing in God. And so Isaac is

00:42:04.340 --> 00:42:08.280
a type of Christ, the Savior. Ishmael, however,

00:42:08.300 --> 00:42:11.619
is a type of the flesh or a type of the works

00:42:11.619 --> 00:42:14.820
of the flesh, right? In Galatians chapter four,

00:42:14.900 --> 00:42:19.039
Paul is writing about how the Jewish people were

00:42:19.039 --> 00:42:21.599
telling the Galatian Christians, we are the children

00:42:21.599 --> 00:42:25.289
of Abraham. We're Jews. We're the ones. We're

00:42:25.289 --> 00:42:26.929
the ones that get the blessings. We're the special

00:42:26.929 --> 00:42:29.489
people. And Paul, in the letter, as he's writing

00:42:29.489 --> 00:42:31.349
to the Galatian churches, he goes, yep, they

00:42:31.349 --> 00:42:34.349
sure are children of Abraham, but they're of

00:42:34.349 --> 00:42:38.889
Ishmael, not of Isaac. You see, Paul says Abraham

00:42:38.889 --> 00:42:41.949
may be their father, but who's their mother?

00:42:43.170 --> 00:42:46.250
Right? Those that think that their works and

00:42:46.250 --> 00:42:48.670
their efforts and their own wisdom is going to

00:42:48.670 --> 00:42:51.530
lead to salvation, Paul says they're actually

00:42:51.530 --> 00:42:55.119
of the line of Ishmael. through Hagar. But those

00:42:55.119 --> 00:42:58.300
who trust in Jesus for salvation and trust in

00:42:58.300 --> 00:43:00.820
him and him alone and his promises, they're the

00:43:00.820 --> 00:43:02.579
ones that are actually of the line of Isaac through

00:43:02.579 --> 00:43:04.519
Sarah. They're the ones that are actually the

00:43:04.519 --> 00:43:08.019
children of Abraham. And now, so you have the

00:43:08.019 --> 00:43:12.360
situation, God is saying, get rid of Ishmael,

00:43:12.440 --> 00:43:14.900
get rid of Hagar, or Sarah's saying that and

00:43:14.900 --> 00:43:17.179
God is saying, go ahead and do that. Now it is

00:43:17.179 --> 00:43:18.960
possible that one of the reasons Abraham was

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:21.900
distressed, this is purely speculation, is that

00:43:21.900 --> 00:43:23.500
there was a little seed of doubt in the back

00:43:23.500 --> 00:43:27.860
of Abraham's mind still that, well, maybe Ishmael

00:43:27.860 --> 00:43:30.460
will be my backup plan. If something happens

00:43:30.460 --> 00:43:33.119
to Isaac, whoo, he made it to three, we're good,

00:43:33.239 --> 00:43:35.940
but still, if something happens, maybe I'll keep

00:43:35.940 --> 00:43:38.300
Ishmael around. I'm distressed. I love him. He's

00:43:38.300 --> 00:43:41.360
my kid, and maybe he's a backup plan. That is

00:43:41.360 --> 00:43:43.860
speculation, but either way, the symbolic lesson

00:43:43.860 --> 00:43:48.280
we learn here is that God's solution in his life

00:43:48.280 --> 00:43:51.219
was clear. And this is a lesson for all of our

00:43:51.219 --> 00:43:56.179
lives. Get rid of the works of the flesh. Cast

00:43:56.179 --> 00:44:02.460
them out and trust only in the promise, the promises

00:44:02.460 --> 00:44:05.440
of God. You see, the works of the flesh and the

00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:08.300
work of grace cannot exist together as principles

00:44:08.300 --> 00:44:12.369
in the Christian's life. It doesn't work for

00:44:12.369 --> 00:44:14.150
us to go, oh yeah, I trust in God's promises

00:44:14.150 --> 00:44:16.489
and woo, it's all God and yet you still live

00:44:16.489 --> 00:44:17.929
this life where you feel like, well, if I do

00:44:17.929 --> 00:44:19.630
good things, God is happy. If I do bad things,

00:44:19.710 --> 00:44:22.570
God is mad. You can't live both of those principles

00:44:22.570 --> 00:44:26.889
because they don't work together. God has said

00:44:26.889 --> 00:44:29.090
in my life many, many times and it's a lesson

00:44:29.090 --> 00:44:30.929
that comes up all the time where God just speaks

00:44:30.929 --> 00:44:32.809
to my heart and he goes, you either trust me

00:44:32.809 --> 00:44:39.940
or you don't. There's no middle ground. And every

00:44:39.940 --> 00:44:41.480
time I'm like, well, I don't want to say I don't

00:44:41.480 --> 00:44:43.480
trust you, so I guess I trust you. Okay, God,

00:44:43.639 --> 00:44:48.679
fix me. Help me. But so many want to live this

00:44:48.679 --> 00:44:52.219
dual life. They want to go, Isaac, the son of

00:44:52.219 --> 00:44:54.099
the promise is here, but keep Ishmael close.

00:44:56.400 --> 00:44:58.760
And the lesson here is God wants us to get rid

00:44:58.760 --> 00:45:02.000
of the works of the flesh. It may seem ruthless.

00:45:03.760 --> 00:45:06.599
That Abraham cast out Hagar and Ishmael into

00:45:06.599 --> 00:45:08.699
the wilderness. Here's a water skin, here's some

00:45:08.699 --> 00:45:11.880
bread, good luck. Right, that may seem heartless.

00:45:12.619 --> 00:45:15.099
But the symbolic lesson is this is exactly how

00:45:15.099 --> 00:45:18.719
God wants us to be with the flesh. Right, make

00:45:18.719 --> 00:45:21.739
no provision. Not, I'm gonna move you to the

00:45:21.739 --> 00:45:25.400
outside of the camp. I'll just move you a little

00:45:25.400 --> 00:45:31.210
ways away. No, cast it out. Get rid of it. We

00:45:31.210 --> 00:45:33.329
talk about the practical things God wants us

00:45:33.329 --> 00:45:36.949
to do as we endeavor to be obedient to him. That's

00:45:36.949 --> 00:45:41.429
one of them. So in Galatians 5 .24, it tells

00:45:41.429 --> 00:45:43.630
us, now those who belong to Christ or Christ

00:45:43.630 --> 00:45:46.829
Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions

00:45:46.829 --> 00:45:50.329
and desires. They've crucified it, nailed it

00:45:50.329 --> 00:45:54.989
to the cross, killed it, put it to death. That's

00:45:54.989 --> 00:45:58.480
the activity that we're... in as we're going

00:45:58.480 --> 00:46:01.519
through this process of sanctification. There's

00:46:01.519 --> 00:46:02.860
still that rough edge there. I've got to put

00:46:02.860 --> 00:46:04.599
you through something so that you put that to

00:46:04.599 --> 00:46:07.380
death. I've got to polish that part of your life

00:46:07.380 --> 00:46:11.539
off because it's still gross. Now verse 14, back

00:46:11.539 --> 00:46:13.139
to verse 14, it says, early in the morning Abraham

00:46:13.139 --> 00:46:15.219
got up, took bread and a water skin, put them

00:46:15.219 --> 00:46:17.099
on Hagar's shoulders, and sent her and the boy

00:46:17.099 --> 00:46:20.119
away. She left and wandered the wilderness of

00:46:20.119 --> 00:46:22.719
Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone,

00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:24.559
she left the boy under one of the bushes and

00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:26.679
went and sat at a distance about a bow shot away.

00:46:27.079 --> 00:46:29.059
For she said, I cannot bear to watch the boy

00:46:29.059 --> 00:46:32.440
die. While she sat at a distance, she wept loudly.

00:46:33.159 --> 00:46:35.980
God heard the boy crying and the angel of God

00:46:35.980 --> 00:46:37.960
called to Hagar from heaven and said to her,

00:46:38.059 --> 00:46:40.960
what's wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid for God

00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:42.639
has heard the boy crying from the place where

00:46:42.639 --> 00:46:45.880
he is. Get up, help the boy up and grasp his

00:46:45.880 --> 00:46:48.889
hand for I will make him a great nation. Then

00:46:48.889 --> 00:46:52.030
God opened her eyes and she saw a well. So she

00:46:52.030 --> 00:46:53.849
went and filled the water skin and gave the boy

00:46:53.849 --> 00:46:57.150
a drink. God was with the boy and he grew. He

00:46:57.150 --> 00:46:59.210
settled in the wilderness and became an archer.

00:46:59.510 --> 00:47:02.489
He settled in the wilderness of Paran and his

00:47:02.489 --> 00:47:05.289
mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

00:47:07.630 --> 00:47:10.090
Now it's very interesting here why we're being

00:47:10.090 --> 00:47:12.889
told all this, right? They go out, they run out

00:47:12.889 --> 00:47:15.710
of water. Her boy's going to die. It's very interesting

00:47:15.710 --> 00:47:18.070
that it says Hagar's crying. God shows up and

00:47:18.070 --> 00:47:21.389
says, I heard the boy crying. Right? When Hagar

00:47:21.389 --> 00:47:23.150
was in the wilderness the first time, when she

00:47:23.150 --> 00:47:28.010
fled after Ishmael was born, it says God heard

00:47:28.010 --> 00:47:32.030
her cry. But now he hears the cry of Ishmael.

00:47:33.010 --> 00:47:36.730
He hears the boy crying. Why? That boy is still

00:47:36.730 --> 00:47:41.030
a child of Abraham. God has decided to bless

00:47:41.030 --> 00:47:43.469
Abraham, and he's like, I'm gonna bless this

00:47:43.469 --> 00:47:46.849
kid. He's not the son of the promise, but I'm

00:47:46.849 --> 00:47:49.190
still gonna bless him. And from Ishmael came

00:47:49.190 --> 00:47:52.369
all the Arab nations, or most of the Arab nations.

00:47:53.969 --> 00:47:56.809
And God's blessing was on him here. It doesn't

00:47:56.809 --> 00:47:58.429
mean that they were the source of the promise.

00:47:58.510 --> 00:48:00.730
It doesn't mean that it was through Ishmael's

00:48:00.730 --> 00:48:04.489
line that the Messiah came, and that's what Islam

00:48:04.489 --> 00:48:10.849
teaches, which it's false. It was Isaac and down

00:48:10.849 --> 00:48:13.090
to Jesus Christ that the Savior of the world

00:48:13.090 --> 00:48:17.329
came. But Ishmael was still blessed here. You

00:48:17.329 --> 00:48:19.889
see, again, God's kindness still extends to all

00:48:19.889 --> 00:48:24.469
people. And so here we see that God is not heartless.

00:48:24.489 --> 00:48:28.989
He's gracious to all. The Bible tells us he even

00:48:28.989 --> 00:48:32.519
gives good things to those who hate him. Right,

00:48:32.559 --> 00:48:35.360
Matthew 5 .45, he causes his son to rise on the

00:48:35.360 --> 00:48:38.139
evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous

00:48:38.139 --> 00:48:44.119
and the unrighteous. All who deny Jesus, judgment

00:48:44.119 --> 00:48:49.139
will come. But until that judgment comes, the

00:48:49.139 --> 00:48:50.960
Bible tells us that it's his kindness that leads

00:48:50.960 --> 00:48:54.880
to repentance. And that's a message we get to

00:48:54.880 --> 00:48:59.079
share too. God is the only way, yes. Jesus Christ

00:48:59.079 --> 00:49:03.340
is God, not a prophet, not anything else. He

00:49:03.340 --> 00:49:07.199
is the way, the truth, and the life, yes. But

00:49:07.199 --> 00:49:09.400
we're to carry that with boldness, confidence,

00:49:09.559 --> 00:49:13.460
and compassion and love. And so anyways, we see

00:49:13.460 --> 00:49:17.760
here that God does this wonderful thing in protecting

00:49:17.760 --> 00:49:21.739
them and keeping them safe and honoring Abraham's

00:49:21.739 --> 00:49:27.039
heart. But then we get to verse 22. where the

00:49:27.039 --> 00:49:29.340
story comes full circle, right? Genesis 20 was

00:49:29.340 --> 00:49:31.199
all about King Abimelech, and we have all this

00:49:31.199 --> 00:49:33.239
stuff happening in the middle, and then we get

00:49:33.239 --> 00:49:35.940
to verse 22, where we come full circle. At that

00:49:35.940 --> 00:49:38.599
time, Abimelech, accompanied by Pichol, the commander

00:49:38.599 --> 00:49:41.619
of his army, said to Abraham, God is with you

00:49:41.619 --> 00:49:44.500
in everything you do. Swear to me by God here

00:49:44.500 --> 00:49:45.920
and now that you will not break an agreement

00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:49.840
with me or my children and descendants. As I

00:49:49.840 --> 00:49:51.860
have been loyal to you, so you will be loyal

00:49:51.860 --> 00:49:54.320
to me and to the country where you are a resident

00:49:54.320 --> 00:49:58.400
alien. And Abraham said, I swear it. But Abraham

00:49:58.400 --> 00:50:01.019
complained to Abimelech because of the well that

00:50:01.019 --> 00:50:04.179
Abimelech's servants had seized. Abimelech replied,

00:50:04.460 --> 00:50:06.619
I don't know who did this thing. You didn't report

00:50:06.619 --> 00:50:08.699
anything to me, so I hadn't heard about it until

00:50:08.699 --> 00:50:12.019
today. Abraham took flocks and herds and gave

00:50:12.019 --> 00:50:14.340
them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a

00:50:14.340 --> 00:50:17.940
covenant. Abraham separated seven ewe lambs from

00:50:17.940 --> 00:50:20.280
the flock, and Abimelech said to Abraham, why

00:50:20.280 --> 00:50:23.809
have you separated these seven ewe lambs? He

00:50:23.809 --> 00:50:26.849
replied, you are to accept the seven ewe lambs

00:50:26.849 --> 00:50:29.610
from me so that this act will serve as my witness

00:50:29.610 --> 00:50:32.670
that I dug this well. Therefore, that place was

00:50:32.670 --> 00:50:34.510
called Beersheba because it was there that the

00:50:34.510 --> 00:50:37.070
two of them swore an oath. After they had made

00:50:37.070 --> 00:50:39.389
a covenant at Beersheba, Abimelech and Pichol,

00:50:39.449 --> 00:50:41.469
the commander of the army, left and returned

00:50:41.469 --> 00:50:44.590
to the land of the Philistines. Abraham planted

00:50:44.590 --> 00:50:47.429
a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called

00:50:47.429 --> 00:50:49.429
on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God,

00:50:49.630 --> 00:50:52.269
and Abraham lived as an alien in the land of

00:50:52.269 --> 00:50:57.210
the Philistines for many days. Now, there's debate

00:50:57.210 --> 00:50:59.889
on whether this Abimelech is the same Abimelech

00:50:59.889 --> 00:51:02.960
from Genesis 20. Some of that debate comes up

00:51:02.960 --> 00:51:06.179
because we see King Abimelech in Genesis 20.

00:51:06.300 --> 00:51:08.920
We've seen King Abimelech in Genesis 21. And

00:51:08.920 --> 00:51:11.440
then 75 years later in Genesis 26, there's a

00:51:11.440 --> 00:51:13.739
King Abimelech. During David's time in Psalm

00:51:13.739 --> 00:51:16.739
34, there's a King Abimelech. During the time

00:51:16.739 --> 00:51:18.739
of the judges when Gideon was around, there was

00:51:18.739 --> 00:51:21.980
a King Abimelech. And people go, Abimelech either

00:51:21.980 --> 00:51:24.460
lived a really long time or they're different

00:51:24.460 --> 00:51:28.690
people, right? It's understood by many scholars

00:51:28.690 --> 00:51:31.090
that Abimelech may have started out as a name

00:51:31.090 --> 00:51:34.550
of an individual but became a dynastic title,

00:51:34.730 --> 00:51:37.909
right? That all the kings who rose up to be kings

00:51:37.909 --> 00:51:41.130
within the Philistines were called Abimelech.

00:51:41.190 --> 00:51:44.969
It was more of a title or a reference to an original

00:51:44.969 --> 00:51:47.250
or previous king. We just saw that with the Pope,

00:51:47.369 --> 00:51:50.690
right? The Pope is sworn in and what did he do?

00:51:50.769 --> 00:51:53.250
He took Leo's name. He's Leo the 14th, right?

00:51:53.829 --> 00:51:57.000
It's like there was an original Leo. But then

00:51:57.000 --> 00:51:59.380
it kind of became a name that represented a title

00:51:59.380 --> 00:52:01.880
or represented a position or a character within

00:52:01.880 --> 00:52:04.739
the position. And so a lot of scholars go, Abimelech,

00:52:04.739 --> 00:52:07.920
this couldn't be the same person. I say that

00:52:07.920 --> 00:52:10.480
this chapter is happening within months after

00:52:10.480 --> 00:52:13.679
chapter 20. It's only been three years. Isaac

00:52:13.679 --> 00:52:15.519
is weaned at three years. Hagar and Ishmael are

00:52:15.519 --> 00:52:17.159
sent out of the way. And so, of course, it's

00:52:17.159 --> 00:52:19.710
the same. King Abimelech. And then some of the

00:52:19.710 --> 00:52:21.510
things that are said here. I only bring that

00:52:21.510 --> 00:52:23.670
up because some of you guys are really historically

00:52:23.670 --> 00:52:25.889
interested in those types of things, and if you

00:52:25.889 --> 00:52:27.710
look at King Abimelech, you're going to get swamped

00:52:27.710 --> 00:52:30.090
with all these silly arguments about who he is,

00:52:30.130 --> 00:52:33.650
and that's what I think. So, in this section

00:52:33.650 --> 00:52:35.989
here, we see a very different Abraham than we

00:52:35.989 --> 00:52:39.889
read in chapter 20. In chapter 20, Abraham was

00:52:39.889 --> 00:52:43.250
afraid of the king, right? It told us, I was

00:52:43.250 --> 00:52:45.309
afraid there's no fear of God here, so that's

00:52:45.309 --> 00:52:49.280
why I lied. We saw that in chapter 20, Abraham

00:52:49.280 --> 00:52:52.940
was willing to blow his witness to protect himself,

00:52:53.280 --> 00:52:56.599
to protect his wife. He was willing to go back

00:52:56.599 --> 00:52:59.039
to trusting his flesh, trusting in his own wisdom.

00:52:59.260 --> 00:53:02.539
Let's do this thing that I came up with to rectify

00:53:02.539 --> 00:53:04.780
this situation instead of just trusting God.

00:53:05.400 --> 00:53:07.880
But here we are now a chapter later after some

00:53:07.880 --> 00:53:11.519
polishing, after going through some other difficult

00:53:11.519 --> 00:53:14.699
times, right? He lies, God calls him a prophet.

00:53:15.139 --> 00:53:17.929
I don't know how that made Abraham feel. Abraham

00:53:17.929 --> 00:53:19.849
prays. God answers the prayer. The wombs of the

00:53:19.849 --> 00:53:23.389
Philistine women open. I just sinned and God

00:53:23.389 --> 00:53:26.429
did that. That's pretty graceful. Then God said

00:53:26.429 --> 00:53:28.730
as he had said at the time he said and the way

00:53:28.730 --> 00:53:31.110
he said, the promise came. Wow, that's pretty

00:53:31.110 --> 00:53:35.429
amazing. God's pretty gracious. Three years later,

00:53:35.510 --> 00:53:38.050
child's ready to be weaned. Uh -oh, wife's not

00:53:38.050 --> 00:53:41.570
happy. Right? Catastrophe. What are we going

00:53:41.570 --> 00:53:45.300
to do? She wants to kick out Hagar and my son.

00:53:45.360 --> 00:53:47.800
How do I do that? God, I'm distressed. God said,

00:53:47.860 --> 00:53:51.619
do it to honor your wife, to honor your relationship,

00:53:51.840 --> 00:53:55.159
to honor me and all of that, and know that I'm

00:53:55.159 --> 00:53:58.960
going to take care of him. More grace. More grace

00:53:58.960 --> 00:54:01.380
into his life. And then now he comes to stand

00:54:01.380 --> 00:54:03.760
before King Abimelech again, and he's not afraid.

00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:08.079
He's not cowering. He's not depending on his

00:54:08.079 --> 00:54:10.599
own wisdom now. Through all this polishing that

00:54:10.599 --> 00:54:12.219
he's gone through, despite the fact that he's

00:54:12.219 --> 00:54:14.119
already been walking with the Lord for 25 years,

00:54:14.260 --> 00:54:16.920
he now comes back to the situation of standing

00:54:16.920 --> 00:54:19.079
before the Philistine king, and now he's standing

00:54:19.079 --> 00:54:22.880
there in boldness and confidence. He's standing

00:54:22.880 --> 00:54:26.119
there in a built -up and increased faith in his

00:54:26.119 --> 00:54:28.699
God. I don't need to cower before this king.

00:54:30.019 --> 00:54:32.440
In fact, a few years back, this king cowered

00:54:32.440 --> 00:54:34.460
before my God, so why am I gonna cower before

00:54:34.460 --> 00:54:37.469
this king? And so we have this situation where

00:54:37.469 --> 00:54:43.150
Abimelech shows up and he's like, hey, bro, things

00:54:43.150 --> 00:54:45.449
have been good, right? You've been living in

00:54:45.449 --> 00:54:48.150
my land. I haven't messed with you. I've been

00:54:48.150 --> 00:54:51.230
loyal to you, right? Remember, your God scared

00:54:51.230 --> 00:54:52.889
the bejeebers out of me. And so, you know, we've

00:54:52.889 --> 00:54:56.469
been on good terms. I want to ratify this relationship

00:54:56.469 --> 00:54:59.630
for my kids and my descendants. I would like

00:54:59.630 --> 00:55:02.070
to have this agreement between us that we're

00:55:02.070 --> 00:55:03.590
going to be on good terms. And Abraham says,

00:55:03.670 --> 00:55:07.320
cool, let's do it. You see, it's not the Christian's

00:55:07.320 --> 00:55:11.000
job, per se, to go in and be obnoxious and to

00:55:11.000 --> 00:55:12.880
be like, you know, I'm a Christian. I don't have

00:55:12.880 --> 00:55:14.860
to listen to you, right? Some churches do that.

00:55:14.920 --> 00:55:17.239
They'll go to the city, and don't get me wrong,

00:55:17.280 --> 00:55:18.940
cities can be obnoxious, but they're like, you

00:55:18.940 --> 00:55:20.500
need a permit for this, and you need this, and

00:55:20.500 --> 00:55:23.340
you need this. And sometimes they're like, I

00:55:23.340 --> 00:55:25.199
follow Jesus. I don't need to do your thing.

00:55:26.400 --> 00:55:29.199
That's a bad witness. All it does is create contention

00:55:29.199 --> 00:55:30.579
between people because they're like, I thought

00:55:30.579 --> 00:55:32.679
you're supposed to be good, honest folk, right?

00:55:33.119 --> 00:55:35.500
Anyways. That's a side topic. There's some history

00:55:35.500 --> 00:55:41.239
there. But the idea is, is now when he stood

00:55:41.239 --> 00:55:44.019
before the rulers of the world, he stood there

00:55:44.019 --> 00:55:46.780
confident because he knew who the ruler of his

00:55:46.780 --> 00:55:51.219
life was. He's getting the lesson again that

00:55:51.219 --> 00:55:54.480
God had said, God had said, God had said, God

00:55:54.480 --> 00:55:59.539
had said, God had said, God had said. And so

00:55:59.539 --> 00:56:03.449
now he's going, okay. I get it again. God had

00:56:03.449 --> 00:56:07.130
said that he's going to protect me, that he's

00:56:07.130 --> 00:56:08.369
going to protect my family, that I'm getting

00:56:08.369 --> 00:56:11.889
this land. We've had the kid. So he could stand

00:56:11.889 --> 00:56:14.449
there boldly before this person he had just a

00:56:14.449 --> 00:56:18.230
few years before cowered under. The person who

00:56:18.230 --> 00:56:20.309
stood before him and goes, why did you do this

00:56:20.309 --> 00:56:23.110
to me? I didn't do anything to you. Was able

00:56:23.110 --> 00:56:25.409
to call the Christian the wrong one, which happens

00:56:25.409 --> 00:56:28.369
too many times in this world. When the world

00:56:28.369 --> 00:56:30.230
is able to stand on the moral high ground and

00:56:30.230 --> 00:56:31.829
point the finger at the Christians because we're

00:56:31.829 --> 00:56:33.610
lying and we're cheating and we're stealing and

00:56:33.610 --> 00:56:37.190
we're misrepresenting the Lord. But here, after

00:56:37.190 --> 00:56:40.010
the polishing, God continued to work, continued

00:56:40.010 --> 00:56:42.530
to work in his life. Now he's standing here bold.

00:56:43.750 --> 00:56:45.889
So he's like, yeah, you've been nice, you've

00:56:45.889 --> 00:56:48.130
been loyal, we've gotten along, let's do this

00:56:48.130 --> 00:56:50.469
contract, right? He gives them all these animals

00:56:50.469 --> 00:56:52.190
and stuff, which is a part of the trade and the

00:56:52.190 --> 00:56:54.409
contract, and they make what's called a covenant.

00:56:56.619 --> 00:56:58.880
But here now Abraham is confident enough, it

00:56:58.880 --> 00:57:02.119
says, to complain to the king. That word complained

00:57:02.119 --> 00:57:05.980
actually means rebuke. Like here's Abraham. He's

00:57:05.980 --> 00:57:07.840
a foreigner in this land. He's not even, he's

00:57:07.840 --> 00:57:09.480
not a Philistine. He's being allowed to live

00:57:09.480 --> 00:57:14.559
here. And he still is able to stand and come

00:57:14.559 --> 00:57:17.519
before the king and go, I'm going to rebuke you.

00:57:19.579 --> 00:57:21.920
Now, it's not an obnoxious rebuke, but he says,

00:57:21.940 --> 00:57:25.099
you know, your people stole my well and so on

00:57:25.099 --> 00:57:28.460
and so forth, and so I need you to fix it. What's

00:57:28.460 --> 00:57:30.340
really interesting here is he sets up these seven

00:57:30.340 --> 00:57:31.760
lambs. He goes, I'm going to give you these seven

00:57:31.760 --> 00:57:34.800
lambs. And King Abimelech is like, what the heck,

00:57:34.820 --> 00:57:38.659
what's up with that? Well, it's just a picture,

00:57:38.679 --> 00:57:41.579
and I think it's just... Abraham honoring him

00:57:41.579 --> 00:57:43.360
as a representative of the Lord to say, I'm gonna

00:57:43.360 --> 00:57:45.460
do the right thing here. Three years earlier,

00:57:45.539 --> 00:57:47.940
Abimelech said, here's 1 ,000 pieces of silver

00:57:47.940 --> 00:57:51.579
to prove that I didn't violate your wife. And

00:57:51.579 --> 00:57:53.619
now Abraham is saying, look, I'm just gonna return

00:57:53.619 --> 00:57:56.400
that honest act there. I'm gonna return that

00:57:56.400 --> 00:57:58.800
and say, here's these seven lambs to prove that

00:57:58.800 --> 00:58:02.139
I own this well. So they ratify their agreement,

00:58:02.360 --> 00:58:04.699
they ratify this covenant, and the result is

00:58:04.699 --> 00:58:10.139
peace. Abraham is no longer in fear. He's no

00:58:10.139 --> 00:58:12.940
longer walking in disobedience. He's living in

00:58:12.940 --> 00:58:16.380
peace. He's living in peace in a foreign land.

00:58:17.380 --> 00:58:21.099
He's living at peace in the world of the pagans.

00:58:21.380 --> 00:58:25.980
Do you see the parallel here? We live as foreigners

00:58:25.980 --> 00:58:29.559
in a land of pagans. We are citizens of heaven.

00:58:29.639 --> 00:58:31.460
Our kingdom is not of this world as Christians.

00:58:31.920 --> 00:58:35.889
And yet we live here. We are here to stand boldly

00:58:35.889 --> 00:58:38.530
for our God. We're to stand boldly for righteousness.

00:58:38.789 --> 00:58:41.730
We're to preach what is right. We're to do what

00:58:41.730 --> 00:58:47.210
is good. We're all of those things. And yet,

00:58:47.230 --> 00:58:50.329
until the world comes against us and say, I demand

00:58:50.329 --> 00:58:54.550
you to renounce God, until that happens, we're

00:58:54.550 --> 00:58:56.269
called to live at peace in the place we're at

00:58:56.269 --> 00:58:58.250
because that is a part of the witness we carry

00:58:58.250 --> 00:59:02.150
as Christians. Right? Romans 13. It says God

00:59:02.150 --> 00:59:04.070
put all the authorities in place and so obeyed

00:59:04.070 --> 00:59:05.969
them. And we struggle with that, especially when

00:59:05.969 --> 00:59:10.889
it's an unrighteous authority. But it's a part

00:59:10.889 --> 00:59:13.070
of the witness we're called to live here, to

00:59:13.070 --> 00:59:15.110
preach truth, to stand for righteousness, but

00:59:15.110 --> 00:59:18.389
to live peaceably among all men. And so we see

00:59:18.389 --> 00:59:20.710
Abraham doing this now. He's not afraid. He's

00:59:20.710 --> 00:59:22.550
not cowering. He's not doing all the wrong stuff.

00:59:22.769 --> 00:59:25.110
He's simply saying, look, I'm going to do the

00:59:25.110 --> 00:59:28.130
right thing here. I'm going to do the right thing

00:59:28.130 --> 00:59:30.769
to maintain a good witness here among this foreign

00:59:30.769 --> 00:59:35.070
land. And so Abraham, having grown in faith again,

00:59:35.130 --> 00:59:38.289
having been polished over and over and over by

00:59:38.289 --> 00:59:40.730
God's grace and God's faithfulness, is now experiencing

00:59:40.730 --> 00:59:44.250
the joy and the peace that comes through obedience.

00:59:45.909 --> 00:59:49.110
When we do what God says, blessing always comes.

00:59:50.969 --> 00:59:53.590
And that blessing is often just the peace and

00:59:53.590 --> 00:59:56.519
the joy. I'm doing the right thing. So I'm at

00:59:56.519 --> 01:00:01.039
peace. I could just sit here and trust God. I

01:00:01.039 --> 01:00:03.019
could be at peace in that because I'm doing what

01:00:03.019 --> 01:00:06.820
God wants me to do. And then when you mess up,

01:00:06.820 --> 01:00:09.579
you're like, God, I'm so sorry. God says, great.

01:00:10.780 --> 01:00:13.099
You believe in my blood? Yes, I do. Okay, get

01:00:13.099 --> 01:00:16.639
up. Let's keep going. You're forgiven. No, but

01:00:16.639 --> 01:00:20.340
God, we need to wallow in this for a while. No,

01:00:20.340 --> 01:00:24.739
you don't. Tumble, tumble, tumble, tumble. Shine.

01:00:25.039 --> 01:00:29.039
Okay, let's go. Let's go be a light in this world.

01:00:30.619 --> 01:00:32.800
I've shown you. I said, I said, I said. I fulfilled,

01:00:33.019 --> 01:00:35.019
I fulfilled, I fulfilled. What are you worried

01:00:35.019 --> 01:00:42.320
about? That's the same lesson in our lives. God's

01:00:42.320 --> 01:00:46.059
promises are true and faithful. Now it tells

01:00:46.059 --> 01:00:49.159
us here that At the end of this, it was in this

01:00:49.159 --> 01:00:51.679
place, Beersheba, that they made this oath. Very

01:00:51.679 --> 01:00:53.659
interesting because it was the wilderness of

01:00:53.659 --> 01:00:56.300
Beersheba that Hagar and Ishmael went and wandered.

01:00:57.199 --> 01:00:59.179
What happened in the wilderness of Beersheba

01:00:59.179 --> 01:01:02.719
with Hagar and Ishmael? God took care of them.

01:01:03.599 --> 01:01:05.539
What's happening now with Abram and his family

01:01:05.539 --> 01:01:07.900
as he's walking strong and being a good witness

01:01:07.900 --> 01:01:11.179
of the Lord? God's taking care of him. Now, I

01:01:11.179 --> 01:01:13.239
don't know if the well that God revealed to Hagar

01:01:13.239 --> 01:01:15.519
is the same well that Abraham's claiming here.

01:01:15.579 --> 01:01:18.420
Probably not. But the idea is that after all

01:01:18.420 --> 01:01:20.940
of this stuff, this area becomes a very notable

01:01:20.940 --> 01:01:23.800
place in the history of Israel. He plants this

01:01:23.800 --> 01:01:25.900
tamarisk tree there, and it's kind of like a

01:01:25.900 --> 01:01:29.380
memorial. A tamarisk tree takes generations to

01:01:29.380 --> 01:01:33.440
grow. So it would forever be a symbol in that

01:01:33.440 --> 01:01:36.900
foreign land of God's faithfulness, God's trust.

01:01:37.179 --> 01:01:39.340
And it was also a picture of Abraham going, look,

01:01:39.500 --> 01:01:42.780
this foreign land I'm living in right now, God

01:01:42.780 --> 01:01:46.639
said he's gonna give this to my people, so. Years

01:01:46.639 --> 01:01:48.159
later from now when people come and see this

01:01:48.159 --> 01:01:49.440
tamarack tree, they're going to be like, yep,

01:01:49.559 --> 01:01:55.840
God said. So we're not going to doubt. Now he

01:01:55.840 --> 01:01:57.659
calls him the everlasting God and I want to close

01:01:57.659 --> 01:02:02.139
on that. Everlasting God. That's simply a phrase

01:02:02.139 --> 01:02:05.179
that means God is God. God will always be God.

01:02:05.739 --> 01:02:09.159
God always has been God. See, that's a lesson

01:02:09.159 --> 01:02:14.119
we need to understand. We screw up. God does

01:02:14.119 --> 01:02:16.300
grace in our life. We mess up again. God does

01:02:16.300 --> 01:02:18.619
more grace. We're like, what's going on? I don't

01:02:18.619 --> 01:02:20.260
understand. God, I'm supposed to be punished.

01:02:20.320 --> 01:02:22.019
And God's like, no, I already did that to my

01:02:22.019 --> 01:02:25.559
son. And we live this polishing process, this

01:02:25.559 --> 01:02:29.000
sanctification process, and yet we'll still come

01:02:29.000 --> 01:02:32.000
to places where we'll go, I know God said and

01:02:32.000 --> 01:02:34.219
fulfilled all these promises in my whole life,

01:02:34.280 --> 01:02:35.719
but here I don't know if he's going to do this

01:02:35.719 --> 01:02:41.579
one. I know God said, and he didn't do a timetable,

01:02:41.599 --> 01:02:43.179
but I'm afraid he's not going to fulfill it.

01:02:43.219 --> 01:02:45.199
When has God ever not fulfilled his promises?

01:02:47.840 --> 01:02:50.500
And yet, we have to go through the tumbler over

01:02:50.500 --> 01:02:52.420
and over and over to get that hammered into our

01:02:52.420 --> 01:02:56.260
brain. And that itself is just a picture of how

01:02:56.260 --> 01:03:00.280
gracious God is. You know, I'll talk to somebody

01:03:00.280 --> 01:03:03.079
one time, say, this is what you should do, and

01:03:03.079 --> 01:03:04.679
then they don't do it, and I'm like, I'm done.

01:03:06.269 --> 01:03:07.750
You know, and it's like, God doesn't have that

01:03:07.750 --> 01:03:10.170
type of impatience with me. So I'm like, okay,

01:03:10.190 --> 01:03:13.550
Lord, patience, patience. But there's no reason

01:03:13.550 --> 01:03:16.150
for us to trust. And we have the memorial of

01:03:16.150 --> 01:03:18.769
the cross of Christ that is empty because he

01:03:18.769 --> 01:03:20.269
came down from it. He went into the tomb and

01:03:20.269 --> 01:03:23.590
he's alive. And that stands before us every day

01:03:23.590 --> 01:03:25.010
that we got to look at that and go, his promises

01:03:25.010 --> 01:03:28.059
are true. He is everlasting. He is the same yesterday,

01:03:28.159 --> 01:03:30.420
today, and forever. And if you have trusted in

01:03:30.420 --> 01:03:32.800
Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then his

01:03:32.800 --> 01:03:34.940
promises are yes and amen. That's what the Bible

01:03:34.940 --> 01:03:38.579
tells us. They are everlasting as he is everlasting.

01:03:39.000 --> 01:03:41.500
And yes, in life, you may feel oftentimes that

01:03:41.500 --> 01:03:44.579
you're going through the tumbler. That doesn't

01:03:44.579 --> 01:03:46.340
mean God hates you. It doesn't mean God's done

01:03:46.340 --> 01:03:49.000
with you. It doesn't mean God is casting you

01:03:49.000 --> 01:03:51.039
out. It means he's polishing you because the

01:03:51.039 --> 01:03:54.130
next time you stand before King Abimelech, you're

01:03:54.130 --> 01:03:55.789
gonna be able to stand with a different attitude.

01:03:56.949 --> 01:03:58.849
You're gonna have the testimony of this promise

01:03:58.849 --> 01:04:00.630
fulfilled and this promise fulfilled and God

01:04:00.630 --> 01:04:02.190
saying I'm gonna take care of and I'm gonna take

01:04:02.190 --> 01:04:07.809
care of. And so you could stand boldly. To stand

01:04:07.809 --> 01:04:11.670
for Christ, to preach the gospel and yet to do

01:04:11.670 --> 01:04:14.010
it in compassion and love and peaceable with

01:04:14.010 --> 01:04:16.489
all men that the glory of God would shine so

01:04:16.489 --> 01:04:21.480
bright from your life. Even though you may be

01:04:21.480 --> 01:04:23.159
tumbling from these things, even though you may

01:04:23.159 --> 01:04:25.539
have just recently stumbled back into old sins,

01:04:26.099 --> 01:04:29.780
God is always and will always be and has always

01:04:29.780 --> 01:04:34.039
been faithful when we are faithless. Hold on

01:04:34.039 --> 01:04:37.400
to that. Yield to the process of sanctification,

01:04:37.820 --> 01:04:40.500
right? He throws you back in the tumbler because

01:04:40.500 --> 01:04:44.860
of something you need? Praise Jesus. Count it

01:04:44.860 --> 01:04:46.699
all joy, it said, when you go into those various

01:04:46.699 --> 01:04:50.489
trials because God is doing a work. And at the

01:04:50.489 --> 01:04:52.030
end, you're going to stand before your creator

01:04:52.030 --> 01:04:54.769
in heaven, realizing you're not there because

01:04:54.769 --> 01:04:56.250
of anything you did, and yet you're going to

01:04:56.250 --> 01:04:57.989
look down and see that you are shining the most

01:04:57.989 --> 01:04:59.750
brilliant, perfect, polished shine that could

01:04:59.750 --> 01:05:03.230
ever exist. Why? Because God loves you. Let's

01:05:03.230 --> 01:05:12.010
pray. Father, we are so grateful to you. We're

01:05:12.010 --> 01:05:15.610
so grateful that you created us. We're so grateful

01:05:15.610 --> 01:05:17.750
that we have the opportunity to live, to know

01:05:17.750 --> 01:05:21.619
you. Father, we're so grateful that you sent

01:05:21.619 --> 01:05:24.619
your son to die on the cross. And Jesus, all

01:05:24.619 --> 01:05:30.500
that you endured for us. It is beyond understanding

01:05:30.500 --> 01:05:33.860
and beyond our ability to ever even consider

01:05:33.860 --> 01:05:37.880
paying back. And Lord, I think that's why you

01:05:37.880 --> 01:05:41.579
did it that way. That it was so beyond the possibility

01:05:41.579 --> 01:05:43.820
of us paying it back that we would hopefully

01:05:43.820 --> 01:05:49.639
learn the lesson to just receive the grace. God,

01:05:49.699 --> 01:05:52.679
I'm so thankful, Lord, that although we don't

01:05:52.679 --> 01:05:55.820
want to sin, we want to be obedient, we want

01:05:55.820 --> 01:05:58.960
to be free from sin, God, I'm grateful that you

01:05:58.960 --> 01:06:01.260
remind us that we're in a process of sanctification

01:06:01.260 --> 01:06:05.800
that won't be complete in this life. Lord, it's

01:06:05.800 --> 01:06:09.000
never that we're going to be free from sin in

01:06:09.000 --> 01:06:11.019
this life in the sense of never doing a wrong

01:06:11.019 --> 01:06:14.039
thing again, but we are free from the condemnation

01:06:14.039 --> 01:06:18.079
of sin. We're free from the power of death. And

01:06:18.079 --> 01:06:20.119
that God, as we live this life and as you polish

01:06:20.119 --> 01:06:23.619
us through one circumstance after the other,

01:06:23.679 --> 01:06:25.639
through one trial after the other, one affliction

01:06:25.639 --> 01:06:29.440
after the other, Lord, that each day we would

01:06:29.440 --> 01:06:32.880
shine a little brighter. That our lives would

01:06:32.880 --> 01:06:37.320
reflect you just a little bit more. That God,

01:06:37.380 --> 01:06:39.500
instead of being people that the world may point

01:06:39.500 --> 01:06:41.559
at as hypocrites, Lord, we would be a people

01:06:41.559 --> 01:06:46.710
that the world points at and go, wow. Their God

01:06:46.710 --> 01:06:51.210
is so gracious and so amazing and so patient

01:06:51.210 --> 01:06:55.429
that, Lord, our lives would shine into the darkness

01:06:55.429 --> 01:06:57.150
of theirs that they too would see their need

01:06:57.150 --> 01:07:04.190
for Jesus Christ. So, God, may we not set expectations

01:07:04.190 --> 01:07:06.710
in our own lives that can't be attained, Lord,

01:07:06.769 --> 01:07:10.630
but instead just day by day, wake up, live our

01:07:10.630 --> 01:07:14.639
life to serve you, to honor you. That God, through

01:07:14.639 --> 01:07:16.460
the power of your Holy Spirit, we would obey

01:07:16.460 --> 01:07:19.619
you. That each day, as we're polished more and

01:07:19.619 --> 01:07:23.000
more, we would sin less until the day that we're

01:07:23.000 --> 01:07:27.039
completely free from it with you in heaven. And

01:07:27.039 --> 01:07:29.500
God, before we close today, Lord, I know we're

01:07:29.500 --> 01:07:31.460
all excited and hungry, so I want to pray for

01:07:31.460 --> 01:07:33.420
the food at the barbecue, Lord, right now, so

01:07:33.420 --> 01:07:34.880
we can just start eating when we get out there.

01:07:36.219 --> 01:07:37.920
Lord, I just pray you'd bless our fellowship

01:07:37.920 --> 01:07:40.860
today. that you'd bless all those that prepared

01:07:40.860 --> 01:07:43.400
and put together the event outside, those that

01:07:43.400 --> 01:07:45.579
are preparing the food, Lord. Just pray you'd

01:07:45.579 --> 01:07:47.760
bless it to our body, Lord. But God, to the whole

01:07:47.760 --> 01:07:50.800
thing, I pray, Lord, that the glory that is you

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would shine so bright. Lord, every year you have

01:07:53.699 --> 01:07:55.780
brought people from the community to walk over

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and to participate in what your church is doing

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here, and we pray for that again, Lord, that

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people would come see the glory of God through

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your people, not perfect people, but saved people.

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We thank you for all of it. We love you. It's

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in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, let's worship,

01:08:11.550 --> 01:08:11.730
church.