I personally am apprehensive about the chapter we're about to study in Genesis. I don't want to believe that people can be this bad, because I don't know the heart of man like you do. But you wrote this chapter to teach us something, that apart from the grace of God, we can say that's where we are too. That's the direction we would all be, apart from your mercy and your grace. And I am grieved about the country into which you put me, the United States of America, as we see more and more in our big cities the things described here in Genesis 19. May our heart go out to people who are trapped by their own will into a system of depravity that is absolutely awful. May your will be done through us to help somebody. to be rescued. I pray in Jesus' name and for His glory. Amen. Genesis 18, 23. Abraham came near that is to God, and said, Wilt thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? I got the message, Lord, you're going to wipe out this whole area. I see it doesn't say that God told him he would, it just, you have to assume God told him it was going to happen. Lord, you're not going to wipe out this whole area, because I know somebody who's there who's a righteous man, and he was. You say, really? You mean Lot was a righteous man? Well, friends, the point is that in 2 Peter, we're told in chapter 2, verse 7, well, let me read verse 6. And he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter. And if he rescued righteous lot oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men, for by what he saw and heard that righteous man while living among them felt his righteous soul tormented day and night with their lawless deeds, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment." Now, three times it says he's a righteous man. Now, careful here, that doesn't necessarily mean he was a good man, a moral man. He was simply a justified man. He was born again. That's all. Now, many born-again people are in very serious condition morally, ethically, spiritually. That will have to be faced at the judgment seat of Christ, where many will suffer loss. They'll be saved, yet so as by fire, the skin of their teeth, as it were. So Lot, of course, was not, as we'll see, a good man. He got worse and worse and worse and worse. in the horrible environment in which he deliberately brought himself. But he was still a born-again man. That's the point. Abram is probably reasoning here, you know Lot is a born-again man. I led him to the Lord myself. And surely by now, he's established the first Baptist Church of Sodom. And he's probably got a youth department, he's got an outreach, you know, door-to-door evangelist. He's probably got, you know, several hundred people there by now that are believers. So Lord, you're not going to wipe out the whole city, are you, if there are, just suppose there are 50 righteous people there by now. Surely by now, by now, he would have led 50 people to the Lord. Will you indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of fifty righteous who are in it? In other words, he believed the remnant, the righteous, are indeed the salt of the earth, and because of the presence of a remnant, this is Isaiah chapter 1, God will spare a whole city? Sure. That's the Old Testament promise, you know. Oftentimes. Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are indeed treated alike. Far be it from thee, now watch this, shall not the judge of all the earth deal justly? Now this is somewhat arrogant, I think. I mean, can you imagine him telling God, now Lord, just listen to me. Are you available now for a moment of counseling? You are righteous, and since you are, let me tell you what you should not do. Well, of course, dear friends, God will deal justly, but he doesn't always deal mercifully. See? Mercy is not something you deserve. It's something that God can do if he pleases to under certain circumstances, but he doesn't have to. It's not a legalistic, enforced response to people's situations. So the Lord said, well, if I find 50 righteous men, I'll spare the whole place for their account. You're right. I will. Thank you. Then you see it was that Abraham got a little suspicious. Well, maybe there aren't 50. Hard to believe. But behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes. I'm glad he's a little bit humble here now. Suppose that the 50 righteous are lacking five. I mean, maybe there's only 45 believers. Verse 29, maybe there's only 40. Verse 30, maybe there's only 30. Verse 31, maybe there's only 20. In fact, verse 32, Oh, may the Lord not be angry. I shall speak only this once. Suppose ten are found there. And God said, I will not destroy it on the account of ten. He didn't pray enough. He didn't realize how depraved people could become. He stopped praying before God stopped answering. I mean, here's some principles of prayer. God always, always wins when it comes to your prayers and mine and His answering. In the light of eternity, we'll all look back and say, Lord, you answered prayers that are hardly even uttered by faith. And you did overwhelmingly more, abundantly more than I could have imagined possible. In fact, all things work together for good to them that love the Lord, who according to according. Lord, I just can't imagine how much more gracious you could have been. That's what we'll all say in eternity forever. Yes, yes, my son, I will spare the city for ten, not good men, but justified men, who just simply believe in me, surely through the witness of Lot." Okay? Now, he didn't know what Jeremiah was told. The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it, not even I mean, it is God only who searches the heart, who knows how awful people can actually become. See? Especially if you're in a bad environment, with bad examples, see, and bad role models. Maybe your mom and dad, or your people who raised you, or your brothers and sisters, or friends that you go with, see, could lead you down, down, down to destruction. Okay? Well, let's find out how bad it was in Sodom. Verse 33, As soon as he had finished speaking to Abraham, the Lord departed, went back to heaven. He didn't go to Sodom. The two angels were down there. And Abraham returned to his place, went back to Hebron. Doubtless saying to Sarah, Sarah, you can't believe what happened. I was out there looking at Sodom and Gomorrah where, you know, my nephew is and I talked to God. I actually got him to agree that if there are ten righteous men, he'd spare the city and therefore a lot is safe. Praise the Lord. Now, in the meantime, the angels came to Sodom. How do you think they got there? Well, since they're only appearing to be men, and aren't men, but are really angels, I think they could have gotten us out of them like this. They're way up in the mountains, you see, and a long, hard climb down along Dead Sea, those steep cliffs. I think they got there like this. Angels can do things you can't do. The angels are not omnipresent, they're ubiquitous. That means they can get almost anywhere like real fast. There they are. 19-1. They got there in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. In the what? The gate of Sodom? Now look. He was looking to Sodom, and then he moved to Sodom, and now he's in the gate. What's the gate? A gate in an ancient city was like a little tunnel, you see, in the wall. And it was the place where you would check people coming in, like merchants or diplomats or visitors, and see if they're okay or if they're terrorists or something. And the city officials would meet there in that little gate area. And if you're sitting in the gate, that means you're one of the big guys in the city council. the municipal government. So now he has been promoted. I'd like to give you a reason why I think that's true. I mean why that's logical. He was the only person in town who had even a modicum of honesty about him. And sort of people said, well we sure don't like certain things about you, you don't act the way the rest of us do, but we want you to be kind of like up here high and handling what? Issues that could affect the destiny of our city? Maybe financial issues? We like an honest person up there, okay? So there he sits. Maybe he was a wealthy man. I mean, look how much wealth he inherited. from his uncle. See? And after he came back from captivity that Abraham had rescued him from, maybe, you remember, all the goods that were rescued came back to Sodom with him. Remember? Abraham wouldn't touch any of it. Maybe he's the wealthiest man in town. I don't know. And so, when Lot saw these men, these angels, He rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. He could tell also, these are just not ordinary guys coming into town. There's something about them that speaks of dignity I have rarely seen. So he bows down before them, not in worship, pardon, careful here, not worshiply. And he said, Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, spend the night, wash your feet, that you may rise early and go your way. They said, No, no, we're going to spend the night in the square. We're going to the center of town and we're going to be there all night. Why? That's why they went, to see what life was like in Sodom at nighttime. So he urged them. I mean, he knew that they were in deep trouble in that kind of a city. So he urged them strongly and so they turned aside and entered his house and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread and they ate just like they had eaten in Hebron with Abraham and his servants. Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house. Now watch this. Both young and old, all the people from every quarter, the whole city is represented here in the way these men are going to be treated. They said to Lot, where are the men who came to you tonight? In other words, we are going to overpower them. I mean, I don't even want to read these verses, folks. And he went out knowing what they were intending to do to his guests and shut the door behind him. Now this is one of the most ridiculous Irrelevant, worthless prayers ever recorded in the Bible. Verse 7. Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. You don't talk to Satan like that, folks, or demons, or depraved people. Don't be bad. That's moralism. These people need infinite help. These men have two choices. Either you repent totally on God's terms or you'll be destroyed forever in the lake of fire. I mean, that's the way John the Baptist preached. You generation of vipers, who has warned you to escape the damnation of hell, for the axe is the root of the tree, and if you don't bring forth fruit appropriate for repentance, you'll be chopped down and thrown into the fire. You've got two choices. You'll either be baptized by the Holy Spirit, or you'll be baptized in fire. And the fire baptism is not the little tongues that look like fire on the day of Pentecost, no. That's the fire of hell. Because it goes on and says so. The grain is going to either go into the barn or into what? Unquenchable fire. So he is supposed to do what John the Baptist did. Shock these people into a recognition, look, your eternal destiny is like one invisible thread removed from destruction. By the way, so is the human race today. The only thing that keeps the human race functioning a little longer each day, you know, I wake up each morning saying, Lord, I can't believe that the rapture hasn't happened, that you're still going to use your church another day, because the only thing that holds this planet together is that invisible thread between earth and heaven called the mercy of God and his long suffering. And he doesn't have to do anything to destroy the world with fire, just stop doing what he is doing, namely holding it together a little longer, just a little longer. You people are on the verge of total, eternal destruction. No! Oh, please don't act so wickedly. Please be nice to my guests. Now, I will not read openly, outwardly, audibly, verse 8. You read it. Unbelievable! I say, Lord, why did you put this in here? That's what I mean when I say you think Lot was a nice guy. Read verse 8. But the wicked people gathered in front of the door said to him, Stand aside. This one came in as an alien. Lot, you came in as an alien. You're a foreigner. And already you're acting like a judge. Now we'll treat you worse than them. So they pressed hard against Lot and came near to break the door. But the men, that's the angels, reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. And they struck the men who were at the doorway with blindness, both small and great. So they weary themselves, what, trying to find their way home? No, trying to find the doorway to break through anyhow, even though they're blinded. You say, this is impossible. I can't imagine people being this bad. Well, start imagining. God says, trust me, I'm not telling you a fable. This is the way people can become under Satan if they long enough follow the path of depravity. And so, verse 12, the angel said to Lot, well, whom else do you have here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of this place. Well, of course, as a matter of fact, he didn't have any sons, and he didn't have any sons-in-law either. All he had were what? Two daughters, not yet married. Why are you saying that to me, as Lot is saying to these men? Because we, verse 13, are about to destroy this place because their outcries become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law. Now, notice they're not sons-in-law. They're sons-in-law who were to marry his daughters, potential sons-in-law. And he said, up, get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city. And they appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting. Sir, you're out of your mind. We never heard you talk like this before. What do you mean, the Lord will destroy the city? Who's the Lord? You've never told us about Him before. I mean, I'm just guessing. They didn't have the faintest idea what he's talking about. So instead of having ten righteous men, see, in the city that were meeting for Bible study or something, he had nobody. And as we shall attempt to show, not even his daughters were believers. And as we shall attempt to show, not even his wife was a believer. In fact, there was only one righteous man in town, and that was Lot. And until he got out, God decided not to destroy the city because He wanted Lot to know, even if there's one righteous man, I won't destroy the city. So I've got to get him out. Verse 15, And when the morning dawned, The angels urged Lot, saying, up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city. But he hesitated. Oh, no. I don't want to leave. This is inconvenient. He said, Lot, wake up. Did you understand what these meant? They're supernatural. They showed you they were. They blinded these people. They're from God. They said, get out of here. They are going to destroy the city. Did you understand? Well, he's become so numb, see, so incapable of response to God and God's messengers and truth that he just says, I just don't feel like it. So what did the angels do? They seized his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hands of his daughters. See, the angels have four hands, and there are four people they grab. Because God is so merciful, see? Look, the compassion of the Lord is upon him, and they brought him out and put him outside. They just dragged them out of town. Screaming and kicking, I guess. But what about our property? What about our furniture? What about our toys? You know, an interesting thing happened. I shouldn't use the word interesting. A horrible thing happened in California last month. 2,700 houses went up in flames. You know that? And you know, it was a big challenge. When you see the fire coming, see, toward your house, you've got some choices to make. Did you know that? Like, what do I get out of this house before it's all burned? Well, number one, I'm getting out. Number two, I'm getting my family out of here. Then what? Oh, I want my photo albums. I want my dog. I want my bank account. But do you have a list? If my place is about to be destroyed, what comes out first? And many people, not necessarily in California last month, but many people have died in their own home in fires because they went back to get something else. Don't do that. Get it all figured out ahead of time. Hey, something's important here. And it's not my things. Oh, but don't drag us out of Sodom because we have some things back there we don't want to lose. You say, I can't imagine such stupidity. What do you think the Lord thinks of us? And it came about, verse 17, where they had brought them outside. One said, one of them said, escape for your life. Don't look behind you. Do not stay anywhere in the valley. Escape to the mountains, lest you be swept away. That's a loving statement, by the way. God is so concerned about you, Lot, just because you're not only know me, but you're related to somebody that's my friend, Abraham, for his sake, because he's been praying for you. Did you know that? Up there in the mountain and back there in Hebron. You said, is Abraham praying for Lot? Oh, yeah. Look, jump ahead to verse 29. And it came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley and that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of their midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived. O Lord, remember now, you told me, if there's ten righteous men in the city, you'll spare the city, won't you? Lord, I pray, I pray for those ten. And God knew there was only one, not ten, and spared the city anyhow. for Lot's sake. Okay? Now, don't look back. Don't look back behind you. By the way, what did Lot's wife do? She looked back. You say, really? Yeah, look at verse 26. But, his wife from behind him looked back. And instantly became a pillar of salt. God struck her dead. Just like that. And there's just, you know, like a statue made of salt. Those mountains down there are very salty. See? The salt sea. Just a pillar of rock made up mostly of salt. God killed her. Now what did Jesus say about her? Remember? Anybody remember what he said about her? Remember Lot's wife! That's what he said. What does that mean? It means, don't you ever have a deep longing for material things of this world? When you follow God's direction, don't look back. Now, careful here. This wasn't just sort of an accident. You see, this is silly. I mean, maybe she just happened to look. No, that isn't the point. The point is, her heart was there. See? Everything she owned, everyone she knew, every environment. I mean, she was a sodomite. Okay? And her heart was there. The angels dragged her body out, but her heart was there. She looked back. That's the point. Well, of course, the daughters were sodomites, too. And we'll see what happens to them. Verse 18. They said, Escape! But Lot said, O no, my lords! Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life. But I can't escape to the mountains, lest disaster overtake me and I die. It's too far and too dangerous and God can't take care of me up there. So here's a little town right here, right nearby. And it's small. Please let me escape there. Isn't it small that my life may be saved? So God answered his prayer. See? What incredible patience and long-suffering God. And he didn't overthrow the town that Lot wanted to stay in. Now we'll see what town was that. Well, it's going to be a little town, verse 30, called Zoar, which means little. It had been known as Bella. And he prayed for this little town. And God spared it. Verse 22, hurry, escape there, said the angels, for I cannot do anything till you arrive there. Therefore, the name of the town was called Zoar, little. You know something? It doesn't matter how worldly or inconsistent or unspiritual you may be. You can never cancel your relationship to God as his child. You're his child forever. And when you are His child, you have an access to the third heaven that nobody has in the unsaved world at all. Because you see, Lot was covered, are you ready? By whose blood? Jesus' blood. You say, but Jesus hadn't died yet. Oh, but Romans 3.25 says that when Jesus died, His blood covered all the sins that were committed beforehand from centuries and thousands of years back. In other words, people like Lot were saved on credit. They believed God and it was counted to them for righteousness on the basis of the fact that God knew ahead of time that His Son would pay the price, so they were saved on credit. That's why when Elijah and Moses were raised from the dead to meet With Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration, all they could think about was the exodus that Jesus would accomplish in Jerusalem on the cross, because then the blood price would be paid for their redemption. So, I mean, a lot was purchased by the blood of Christ in advance, see? And so were you, if you're a born-again believer. And therefore, you have infinite privileges to come to the throne of grace and make your request known. Now here's Lot's request. Oh Lord, can I just live in this little village here, Vela? It's just too inconvenient and too threatening for me and uncomfortable to think about going up in the mountains. Can I stay here? And God said, yes. I'll spare that fifth town just for you. Verse 23, And the sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. And the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities. It became an inferno. And all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities and what grew on the ground. But his wife from behind him looked back and she became a pillar of salt. not just a timely accident. It wasn't that there was a landslide and the dirt covered her, folks. It was a miracle. And so Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord there, you know, at the edge of the southern Dead Sea region, and he looked down on Sodom and Gorah, the whole land of the valley, and saw, behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace, like the pit of Hades, smoke coming up, like in Revelation 9 too. So God remembered Abraham and his prayer, see, just like first by a sword he had rescued Lot. And now by supplication God, you know, rescues Lot for Job's sake, for Abraham's sake. Well then what happened? Then Lot went up from Zohar and stayed in the mountains. Now wait a minute. I thought he wanted to stay in Zohar because he didn't want to go to the mountains. Well, guess why he wants to go to the mountains now? Think about it. All the other surrounding towns have now become a furnace of fire. He is saying, I'm uncomfortable here. I'm apprehensive. I'm not liking this environment very much now. I want to go out of here to the mountains. You know what? The final verses of this chapter are so unspeakable that I'm not even going to read them for you. He found himself and his two daughters in a cave in the mountains. I mean, this is where all the caves are. The Dead Sea Scrolls are found in caves nearby. And he found a cave there and becomes the father of Moab and Ben Ami through his daughters. And so what happens here, having sounded the depths of shame, he passes into an oblivion that was his due. You never hear of him again in the book of Genesis. I don't know what Abraham must have thought. He must have thought, well, I prayed for Lot, but where is he? Where are these ten righteous men God said he would spare? And he never saw him again, I don't think, evermore. And you know what, the Moabites, here, look at this, Moab. You know what that word means, don't you? Moab, I am from my father, see? Don't have a real mother. And the Ammonites living up here, in this region, Ammon, became the eternal enemies of Israel. Now, one good person came from Moab hundreds of years later. What was her name? Ruth. God may curse a whole nation, but that doesn't mean they're hopeless. The Canaanites were cursed too, but you remember, Rahab came from there and believed. So as long as life continues, there's hope. Well, I guess that Abraham sort of felt the same way. As he looked at this awful smoke coming up, you know, he thought, I'm going to get out of here. I don't know what's going on down there. I don't want to find out. I'm getting out of here. So he takes his family down here over to the land of Philistia. Chapter 20. Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur and then he sojourned in Gerar. That's about 50 miles southwest of Hebron, down in this area. Okay? Sorry. And Abraham said of Sarah, his wife, she is my what? Sister. Wait a minute. I thought he had learned a lesson when he went down to Egypt and tried that trick. See, of deceiving people into thinking that she's really not his wife, so they won't kill him to get her. Well, you know, friends, all through here we begin to realize that Abraham was sort of like the rest of us. The sin nature just doesn't evaporate and go away, no matter what God does to teach us and to save us and to rescue us and to reveal Himself to us. The sin nature is here as long as we live. And 1 John 1, if any man says, I have no sin, I have, you know, not sin, he has made God a liar and is deceived himself. So the answer is not I'm sinless, but Lord, I just want to remember some more things that I didn't know before. And I want to act a little more wisely day by day and year by year. But Abraham had this terrible, terrible commitment to lying about his wife. And here it comes out again. So Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. He's a powerful chieftain here in this area. And he knew that Abraham was a wealthy man. All his herdsmen and his helpers and over 300 servants. So he's very anxious to Let me put it this way, to bind an alliance with this other chieftain who came his way here, Abraham. And the way in the ancient world you often did that is what? You married the daughter. of the other chieftain, and thus you confirm a treaty. That, by the way, is what Solomon was doing. When he married, quote, unquote, these hundreds of wives, what they really were were diplomatic living confirmations of a treaty with a foreign king. You didn't likely break the treaty if the destiny of your own daughter is at stake here. So we've got now an alliance here. And God came, however, to Abimelech. By the way, that's his dynastic title. That's not his real name. It's like Pharaoh. There are all kinds of pharaohs all the way down through history. See, just like president or king, Abimelech means in Hebrew, Avi, my father, Melech, is king. So, in other words, the particular name of this king, we don't know, but the king, in other words, the ruler of Philistia at this time, God came to him and said in a dream, Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken for she is married. And Abimelech said, Lord, wilt thou slay a nation even though blameless? I mean, how was I supposed to know? Did he not himself say to me, she's my sister? You know, Lord, I mean, can you imagine this unbelieving king talking to God like this? He told me, and I thought he was a very dignified man, and he said she's my sister. In fact, she herself confirmed it and said he's my brother. So in the integrity of my heart, in the innocence of my hands, I've done this." Now that does not mean Abimelech was sinless. It means in terms of this particular crime that God's about to destroy him for, he is innocent of this crime. And God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you've done this, and I also kept you from sinning against me, therefore I did not let you touch her. Now, therefore, restore the man's wife, for he is a... Oh, God is so embarrassed. to tell this pagan king, he is a prophet. He's one of my spokesmen. So please, please give him back his wife. You know what I think? I think God is so embarrassed by most of us most of the time. You're my representative on earth. You're the only person, you, you, you, I, the only person some people ever meet that knows the Lord. Do you come across effectively for God? Are you really an attraction, a light to illumine the dark places where you go? Is something about your demeanor, your response, your reactions, the way you talk, the way you treat people, something that makes them want to say inwardly, this person's like different, it's kind of special, I want to know more about you. Or is God ashamed and embarrassed? The rare occasions I get to sit next to somebody in an airplane and talk, You know, I may never see him again. In the light of eternity, will that person say, well, Lord, you had me set next to your ambassador in that plane for an hour, and he never told me a thing about you. You ever think about that? Well, I do. He's a prophet. Help him out. Give him his wife back to him, not his sister. And you know what he's going to do for you? He's going to pray for you. Hey, wait a minute, who's praying for who? I would think Abimelech should be told to pray for him, for Abraham, wouldn't you? But the problem would be that Abimelech didn't know how to pray. Abraham did. So he's going to pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours. So Abimelech arose early in the morning and called all his servants and told all these things. And the men were greatly frightened. And Abimelech called Abraham and said, What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin you have done to us? Get out of here. Sounds like a repeat of what? The Pharaoh's statement in Egypt. Here, take all these toys. Get out of here. You lied to me. Wait a minute, isn't it about time that Abraham begins to act like God's special, unique servant, ambassador, once in a while? Verse 11, now here's Abraham's excuse. Because here's what I did, and here's why I did it, sir. Because I thought, surely there's no fear of God in this place. If I talk about the Lord, maybe I'll get killed. Maybe people won't like me. And they will kill me because of my wife. And besides, I just want to explain, sir, one thing. She really is my sister. But let me tell you a further minor point. She's my sister in the sense that she's the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. She's a half-sister and she became, what? My wife. Oh, then she is your wife. That's the main thing. She is your wife. I mean, who cares whether or not she's a half-sister or what? I want to know, is she your wife or not? So, you know, a half-truth becomes, what? A total lie in that situation. And it came about when God caused me, sir, to wander from my father's house. I said to her, this is the kindness which you, Sarah, will show me, Abraham, everywhere we go. You say of me, he's my brother. 25 years they have been doing this. I mean, he's 100 now. And they came into Canaan when he was 75. Everywhere they went, they lied to everybody. She is my sister. Yes, sir, and he is my brother. Now, that would be a little bit suspicious for the average observer. You don't often see a brother and a sister going along together everywhere, you know, like that. Okay? What do you mean, she's your sister? Come on. Yeah, she really is. Okay, you said so. Total lie. So Abimelech says, all right, here's what I'm going to do to you people. I'm going to give you, verse 14, I'm going to give you sheep and oxen and male and female servants. Sounds like the same old story. And I'm going to give them to Abraham and restore his wife, Sarah, to him. And Abimelech said, behold, my land is before you. Settle wherever you please, which is a very nice way of saying what? Get out of here. Choose anywhere you want except not here. Get out. And furthermore, I'm going to say something to Sarah, your wife. Behold, I have given you, I have given your brother, quote unquote, A thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is your vindication before all who are with you and before all men you are cleared. A propitiation price. In case anybody thinks evil of what I've done to you, Sarah. I'm going to give a thousand pieces of silver to your brother, so that when he looks through that silver veil, he'll see me in a better light. I'm going to bribe you into thinking well of me. Just please go away." So, verse 17, Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so they bore children. For the Lord had closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. A public vindication, see? but in private. Now, wouldn't you like to hear Abraham's prayer? Oh Lord, you know this wicked, pagan, idolatrous nation, don't you? And thank you for sending me here as a missionary to be a wonderful testimony for you among the Philistines. I'd like to hear that prayer, wouldn't you? And I say, Lord, please I now know what Romans 8 means when it says the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. To do what? To edit our prayers, to make them acceptable on that altar in the third heaven. Lord, when you finally hear my prayer, it really isn't very worthy, it's not intense, it's not fervent, it's not effectual, it's not Christ-centered, it's not really biblically you know, informed. I just sort of, in desperation, started the day saying, Lord bless me. Then gulped down my breakfast. And the Holy Spirit agonizes, friends, over the prayers of blood-bought saints. They don't really amount to very much in the sight of God. I mean, Jesus prayed all night to his Father before he chose the twelve apostles. See? He's praying everywhere. He didn't need to pray. You do. I do. And I say, Lord, help me to realize right now, right here, the awful responsibility of standing before God in a right standing positionally, see, we're in Christ, and praying fervently, affectually in the light of what you've revealed and what you've done to me through my life that I might be a servant for you that you're not ashamed of. That's what John said. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He shall appear, we shall not be ashamed before Him at His coming. And that's a very great probability for most Christians. When He comes, we'll be ashamed before Him. We'll not lose our salvation, but we'll be ashamed instead of rejoicing. Now the Apostle Paul was like different. He said, I have finished my course. I have fought a good fight. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." Don't you want that crown, folks? Jesus paid a big price for you and me. Don't you think it will please him if we do things that will bring a crown of honor that we can present to him? Chapter 21, the Lord took note of Sarah as He had said, as He had promised, and she had a boy at the appointed time. And so Abraham called him Isaac. I wonder why, because God had told him to. And so when he was eight days old, Isaac became visibly a member of the covenant community. Abraham's a hundred years old. Sarah said, God has made laughter for me Everyone who hears will laugh at me. In other words, I want to put a new twist on this name Isaac. It's not just to haunt me that I disbelieve God, but I want to laugh with joy now because I have a son. I have a son. And she said, who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children, yet I have borne him a son in his old age? And when the child grew and was weaned, Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned." Now weaning is something we don't even do in our culture anymore in America. The idea is that after the child no longer is breastfed, there's a great celebration in Israel, and maybe other nations too, I'm not sure, that this child is now in a new way detached from mother. At birth, the umbilical cord is cut, you're detached from your mother. You're a separate individual now, in a visible way. But now, when you're maybe two or three years old, you make one step farther away from mother. You're not any more dependent on her for nourishment either. So you have a great celebration, see the weaning. Okay. Now what happened? A near disaster on this happy occasion. Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian. Who's that? Ishmael, who's now how old? 17. She saw Ishmael mocking. Now Galatians says, Persecuting. I mean, Ishmael is so enraged at this new attention away from himself to somebody else. You know, that's often a struggle with siblings. When a new baby comes, better be careful, better have taught the older children to receive the child, the new child in the home and honor the child and thank God for the child and love the child. And so if we don't take anything for granted here, folks, jealousy. Somebody else is in this house who who's getting the attention now and apparently I think what this means is Ishmael tried to murder Isaac Just in time Sarah saw it and She said to Abraham drive out this maid That's Hagar and her son Ishmael for the son of this maid shall not be an heir with my son Isaac Well, wait a minute here, Sarah. Didn't you trust the Lord when He told you you would have a son? And didn't you believe when God told Abraham that He was going to bless Ishmael also? And the matter distressed Abraham greatly because of his son. He loved Ishmael. And God said, don't be distressed. Whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named." On this point, Abraham, although you're in agony over what's happening, you do what Sarah, she's right now, you follow what she said, and you just say farewell to Ishmael and Hagar. Because what? Here's the big one. Because in Isaac, your seed, your descendants, shall be called and named. Father in heaven, I just thank you for this passage. It doesn't cover over the sins of your saints at all, but tells us that you have a plan that will be worked out in spite of us, year by year, century by century, through all the history of the world and forevermore. Help us to now begin to focus on Isaac, your chosen one, through whom ultimately Jesus came to be our Savior from the penalty of sin. For in Jesus' name I ask this, and for his glory. Amen. Friends, have a good day. God be with you.