All right, Genesis chapter 13. We've been going through our study on Abraham and his walk of faith is what we've been calling this. And last week, I know a lot of us were downstairs in VBS and such, but some of us were up here and we looked at, two weeks ago, we looked at Abraham going down to Egypt and talking about how that was a mistake. Abraham, for the most part, was known as a man of faith, great man of God. But he had a couple marks on him and that was one of them. And then we talked about all the bad things that happened because of Egypt. Then last week we talked about him coming up out of Egypt back to Canaan and the picture in that was coming back out of the world back to where God had for him and back into the will of God and back where in a place where God can bless him. All right. Tonight we're going to be look at looking at Abraham's trouble with lot. Abraham's trouble with Lot. And we're going to read verse 5 down through verse 13. Genesis chapter 13, starting in verse 5. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together. For their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren. is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if thou depart unto the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord. like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. And Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Interesting time here in Abraham's life. He's come back to Canaan. He's gotten things right with God. He's once again visited the altar of the Lord and praised the Lord there and gave him glory, offered sacrifices to him. Got things right with God. You know how it always seems though, whenever you seem to get things right with God, The devil has a plan. You know, he's always got something working in the background to throw you off track again. And that's probably, you know, who was behind this whole situation. But tonight we're going to be looking at the decisions that Abram and Lot made themselves, looking at the contrast of their decisions here. Okay, Abram, you know, everything hasn't been smooth sailing for him. You know, his return to Canaan from his disastrous trip to Egypt. There arises a conflict from not the Canaanites, not the Perizzites that were in the land. It wasn't some new enemy that rose up. It was his own family. Between him and Lot. Between him and Lot. It was a conflict that had some serious, and we know the rest of the story. This conflict had some serious ramifications from it. Some serious consequences that came from it. Especially, well, mostly in Lot's life and in Lot's family. But we see here some things that had to be resolved. And how this conflict was settled is going to be the focus of this evening. There's times in life, just like Abram, when conflicts and troubles arise, right? It's part of life. They come along. How we deal with those conflicts and troubles tell us a lot about our character, doesn't it? We're really tested and you can really see who someone really is when they're put under pressure. When they're put into an uncomfortable environment and how they take care of that when the pressure is on, it kind of brings out who they really are. You know, let's take some time to look at these verses, and I want us to notice some aspects of the story that can help us to learn to deal with situations the right way, right? The first thing I want us to look at is the problem that came between them. What was the cause of it? Well, it was very simple. Abraham and Lot both had gained a lot. They were very prosperous people. OK, it talks about them there in the first few verses that a couple of verses that we went that we read. It says in verse five and lot also which went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents and the land was not able to bear them. Would you imagine there was so much between the two of them that the land, the plain or wherever they were, there wasn't enough there to feed their cattle. and their sheep, their oxen, and all their livestock and everything, there just wasn't enough there. They had gained immense wealth and they were also known men of power. And you can see that in Abraham's dealings with other countries and other leaders. But even Lot, when he got to Sodom, pitched his tent towards Sodom and he moved in with them. He became a man sitting at the gate, which was one of the leaders of the city. So both of them had gained respect and power there. But neither, and you think about this, is there anything wrong with that? With having power or having a lot of wealth? No. God never says it's wrong. God never says it's a sin to have all that. It's not inherently wrong as long as the right spirit is controlling them with it. It's not controlling them, but they're allowing the spirit of God to help control their belongings. In other words, when our things control us, that's when we start heading for trouble, right? And it talks about that, we've read it before in Matthew chapter six. But then verse seven there, we don't just see the cause, we also see the course of the problem. It says, and there was a strife between the herdmen. There was a strife between them, between their herdsmen, but also when Abraham confronts Lot about this, evidently there was even causing strife between them two. The course was not going well here. Their problem remained unresolved, and it developed into contention between them. Each of them wanted the best grazing ground for their flocks and their herds. Trouble, you think about this, is always a certainty when the focus of life is removed from the Lord Jesus Christ, and we focus on ourself and on things instead. You think about this, and again, we've read the whole story here, where Lot, he only cared about his things. He saw the plains there. He said, that looks like that's something that I would be good with. That looks like something that would feed well to my flocks and my livestock and I can take care of my family out that way. That looks the best for me. On the other hand, Abram took the other approach. But you know what? Trouble always comes when we start getting our eyes off the Lord and on ourselves. We've got to be so careful with that. We start focusing on self, on our individual right or that we have a right to the things of this world. You notice how Abram and Lot responded to the crisis in the family. It says a lot about their character of each. It's no wonder when you see how Lot reacted and what he chose and the reasons why he chose that, you can see why he ended up in Sodom. It leads towards that. It led him in that direction. If you want to know the true character of any person, like we said a minute ago, see how they respond in a crisis or in a time of conflict. We've all been there, doesn't it? Haven't we? We've all been in that spot where, you know, we were put under pressure or, you know, there was a conflict and we didn't, at first we didn't, we reacted in a way we never thought, we never thought we'd say something like that. You ever say something and then you cover your mouth and think, did I just say that? It brings out our true selves sometimes, doesn't it? How we respond in a time of conflict. We also see here the proposal. Abraham and Lot both saw that they were having strife between them. Abraham approached Lot about this. And he proposed an agreement here. There in verses eight and nine there. He did not want strife between them. Abraham's proposal involved a plea, first of all, for peace, a plea for peace. He displayed a loving and gracious spirit here toward Lot. He didn't come to Lot angry. He didn't come to Lot wanting to settle a score or telling him just flat out, get your stuff and get out of here. He wasn't approaching him that way. You look at how Abraham approached Lot. He came to him peaceably. He said, let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee. Let's put the strife aside. He wanted peace with him. He gives a twofold reason as to why they should live in peace. His reasons, by the way, as we look at these two reasons, they're still valid for us today. Look at what he said at the end of verse eight, the last phrase that's written there. For we be what? Brethren. Brethren. For we be brethren. They should love and respect one another. That's what he's saying. We're brothers. There's no reason we should have strife like this within the family. And he's telling them that's one reason for peace. You know that, like we said, they're still valid for today, right? You know, that's the same for the church today. Even in the best of circumstances, you know what happens sometimes? Trouble is always a possibility. Conflict is always a possibility. Strife is always a possibility. You know why? What are we? We're sinners, aren't we? Saved by grace, amen, we're saved, but we're still sinners. We still fail. We still get angry with one another. We still get mad at one another. Sometimes strife rises up, doesn't it? Trouble comes. However, however, in the church, there should be also peace and love and tenderness between the brethren. Because we're brethren and sistren, right? Is that a word? Okay. We're family. We're part of the family of God. But because we are sinful, sometimes trouble often arises. However, it's never right, regardless of the reason. We never have the right to allow strife or contention to continue on. It needs to be taken care of. Let me just read this to you and listen closely. There is nothing so important that it should be allowed to tear up the work of the Lord in His church. He cannot bless in an atmosphere of discord and trouble. When we allow that to happen within our church, God removes his blessing from the church until it's taken care of. That's just how it works. That's how important this is to God. So the best course of action is what? If needed, forgive and move on, right? You're brothers and sisters in the Lord, there's no reason why we shouldn't. Amen? You know, let's look at a couple verses that deal with this. Look at Matthew chapter 18. Matthew chapter 18. Verse 21 and 22. Here, Peter is confronting the Lord and asking Him, Lord, how many times do I need to forgive someone? You ever found yourself forgiving the same person an awful lot and kind of wondered, do they really mean it? And then your next question is what? Should I really keep forgiving them? Look what Peter asked, and look at Jesus' answer here. Then came Peter to him, verse 21, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Now some of us wouldn't even be so patient to forgive him seven times, would we? Look what Jesus' answer was. Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 times seven. You do the math, how many times is that? 490, right? You're honestly going to forgive somebody 490 times? You probably won't need to. Okay? But what's the Lord trying to prove a point with there? You just keep forgiving one another. You just keep offering forgiveness. And there's many other passages, Luke 17, Ephesians chapter 4, 1 Corinthians chapter 13. There are so many passages in the Bible that deal with this. Why? Because it's so easily, it'll infect even the church, even a church, it'll infect the church so easily. We've got to be so careful with it. They were brethren, but what was the other reason that he gave? Well, you notice back in our text there, the end of verse 7, It says, and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. Now has God already told us that? Haven't we already read that before, in the chapter before, that the Canaanite was in the land? So why did God make sure to have it recorded in here once again when it was talking about this topic, that the Canaanite and the Perizzite were also in the land? We already knew that. But look at the situation and what's going on, and look who's watching. Abraham was a man of God, and I'm sure the Canaanite and the Perizzite knew that, because they served other gods. Abraham wouldn't serve their gods. Abraham wouldn't offer the sacrifices to their gods, but he sure did to his god. and he was very faithful and very outspoken about his God, what would have happened had Abraham and Lot, or just say Abram, come forward with the wrong attitude, kick Lot out, or just take everything from Lot, or something that would not set a good testimony? What would the Canaanite and the Perizzite think about Abraham's God now? You see, the heathen were watching. The lost were watching. This presented a dual problem, not just because of the testimony, but also, you know, if they see Abraham and Lot fighting one another, hey, now's the time to do what? Let's attack. They're not backing each other up, let's attack them. It shows a weak spot. You know, they were warlike people. You know, show an opportunity to take their possessions, take them over. But no doubt there were some who were interested in this God of Abraham. Look how his God is blessing him, taking care of him, protecting him. He could have ruined it all had he done the wrong thing with Lot here, treated the situation in the wrong way. You know, when we fight, Satan has a heyday. Whether it's in the family or in the church family, it doesn't matter. If it's a Christian family, they're trying to serve the Lord together, trying to stay in church, trying to raise their children, nurturing admonition of the Lord, and mom and dad start fighting, you know what Satan sees? There's an opportunity. Let's tear it apart. Let's run it in the ground. Same thing in the church. He has a heyday. and whether it's with the family or the church family and just scatters the flock with it. You know, when we fight also, the world sees our lack of love, our lack of tenderness and forgiveness. You know, and the world sees us as a family, you know, in our individual families I'm talking about. and you go to work, you say, yeah, my wife, she was just, she's been on me the past couple of days, she's such a pain sometimes, and downplaying your wife in front of people at work. And then you say, by the way, today's, this coming Sunday's homecoming Sunday, you wanna come to church with me? What would you say? Your God's no better than, is not leading you to a life any better than my God is, or what I wanna do on Sundays. Why should I take what you have? It also, it involved a plea for peace, and it also involved a price for this peace. You see, Abraham had to sacrifice to make this work. You say, well, how did he sacrifice? Well, who did he give first choice? Lot. Who had the right to first choice? Abraham. He sacrificed that. Passed it on to Lot. Lot, the choice is yours. Which side do you want? Which direction do you want? It was a price he had to pay. He willingly gave up his rights as the elder of the family. He could have chosen first, but he yielded that to Lot. You think about this, what Abraham literally did is he placed lots happiness, lots wishes, lots rights ahead of his own. You know, this is not something that we see too often today, is it? It's a rare thing to see this happen. But it's what we as believers are supposed to do, to put others ahead of ourselves. to esteem others better than ourselves. That's what the Word of God says. I'm not going to take time to read them right now. Philippians 2, verse 4. Romans 15, verse 1. Romans 14, verse 19 through 23. All those references talk about this. How are we supposed to put others' needs ahead of our own? Now we should never compromise the truth to please anyone. That's a totally different thing. That's not what we're talking about here. But there are times when we should give in to the wishes and needs and rights of others because it's the right thing to do. It's the Christian thing. It's what Jesus would have done. There was a price to pay, but then also in verse nine we see a promise for peace. He says, there is not the whole land before thee. Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. Abram made a promise here, said, if you go that way, I promise you, I will go that way. That's yours. I'll take that one, that direction. How could Abram so easily give up the best land, the Lot? Now this goes back to what this whole series is talking about, Abraham's faith. Okay, now think about this. How could he so easily, Lot looked out there and saw the plains of Jordan. By the way, did you see how it was described? It wasn't that, oh yeah, it looks pretty green out that direction. Look at what it says there, what it compared it to. Verse 10, and Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as what? The garden of the Lord. It was compared to the garden of Eden. I mean, this was not just some piece of land that, yeah, you can have that. This was the best of the best. How could Abram give that up so easily? Well, you think about it. Abraham knew that his cause, his life, his legacy, everything was safe with God. Why? The Lord had already promised, if you remember back in, well, it's probably right there on the same page if you're in the same Bible I have, verse seven of chapter 12. And the Lord appeared unto Abram and said, unto thy seed will I give this land. And there builded he an altar unto the Lord who appeared unto him. You see, Abram already knew that, listen, even though if Lot takes that, it still belongs to me. God's promised it to me, to my descendants, to my people, He had already given him all the land. You know, when a believer, listen closely, when a believer's faith truly rests in the Lord, then they can afford to hold their possessions and hold their rights, their wishes, very loosely. Because God always makes up for it. Far more than we ever need. After all, it is God who takes interest in us, who blesses us, who's given us all precious promises. You know, Abram did not get mad or bitter or puffed up when he didn't get the best land. He just simply did everything he could to work out the problem, peaceably, to get it done. Isn't that the way that Christ teaches us even in the New Testament and in the life of Christ? There were times where Jesus could have railed against somebody, or quoted the law and had them stoned, or people come up and attack him. You think of the great example we have when he died on that cross. Did Jesus have a reason to be angry and mad? Did he deserve that? No. But he did. He did, he went through with it, I mean, he was crucified for us. Then we also see a tragic plan, a tragic plan that happened here. I wish we can say they parted ways, Lot went his way, Abram went his way, and they lived happily ever after. But Lot didn't consider, didn't think the situation all the way through, I don't believe. You see, Lot didn't, he was very different than Abram in different ways, but one big difference between Lot and Abraham, Lot lived by sight. Abraham chose to live by faith. That's why we said a minute ago, he can let go of that plane of Jordan so easily. God's already made me a promise. I'm gonna trust that by faith. Go ahead, Lot, take what you want. I'll take the rest. I'll take what's on the other side. But Lot lived by sight. It says there, and Lot lifted up his hands to the Lord and began to pray. Is that what it says? He lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere. Kind of reminds me of the sermon Ethan preached this past Sunday morning, the lust of the eyes. Yeah, there you have it right there. He lived by sight instead of faith. He made his decision based on what his eyes told him. He claimed the land that appeared best for raising his flocks and his herds. Nowhere do we see him build an altar and beseech the Lord and ask him, Lord, which direction should I go? Lead me and guide me. We never see him do that. He just looked until he saw what pleased him, and that's what he chose. He gratified his flesh. Isn't that the same thing that Eve did in the Garden of Eden? And so many people down through the ages have done the same. He allowed his flesh to live for him, to make the decision. I don't know, but this could also be another consequence of going down to Egypt. Maybe while they were down in Egypt, Lot looked around and saw everything they were missing out on and got a taste for that. So when Abraham offered this to him, he's like, oh man, moving out that direction would be like living in Egypt again. Kind of wonder, kind of wonder if it was a consequence of that. He also lived for self. You know, Lot's choice demonstrated a total lack of regard for the needs of Abraham. Nowhere in there, when he saw those planes, nowhere when Abraham said, yes, you go your way, I'll go mine, and he chose that plane, he never turned back and said, oh, but Abraham, where are you gonna feed your flock? If you go that direction, there's not as much out that way. It looks like there's some desert out there. There's not as many rivers and watering holes out that direction. What about you? What are you gonna... Do we see anything recorded in the Word of God where he cared anything about where Abraham went? Or about his flocks, his herds, his family? He was worried about one person, who? Lot. Lot. Lot lived to please one person. That was himself. He's a perfect description. If we're not careful, we could be described this way. Many in our day, you think about this world, how many times have you heard, my rights? I know my rights. I know, what about my wants? What about my needs? It's my life, it's my body. How often do we hear that today? It's everywhere. If we're not careful, it gets into our minds and in our hearts as well. It's not a way of life that's pleasing to the Lord. You know what, you ever notice that people that are always concerned about their rights, their ways, their wants, their desires, their body, it's mine. You ever notice how they're some of the most angry people in the world? That's what it leads to. You're mad at everyone. Why? Because you're only concerned about one person, yourself. We also see eventually Lot lived in Sodom. Lot left the life with a man that was leading him to build altars to God, that was leading him to a land that was promised to take care of him. and he just sought the Lord and gotten wisdom for the Lord on how to handle the situation, Lot's testimony that we see, his legacy that God recorded here in the Bible would have been a whole lot different. But Lot lost everything on this decision right here. He chose to settle down The Bible calls them the sinners in Sodom. He raised his family there. He also lost his family there. He lost his testimony there. Now, I know, and you say, well, 2 Peter 2, it calls Lot was a what? Just man. He was a believer. But I think we all know believers can get caught up out in the world, make the wrong decisions, and this is definitely no way for a believer in the Lord to live if we're not careful. If we're not careful, folks, if we don't seek the Lord and trust the Lord by faith, when we're faced with a crisis or in a situation where there's strife, and if we're not careful, we can end up making the wrong decision, just like Lot did. Maybe not, obviously, not the same exact situation. Every situation's different. But Lot's way of reacting to trouble is the way chosen by a lot of folks in our day. These two men, Abraham and Lot, they needed to separate. Is there anything wrong with that? No. There was a logical solution to it. They needed to solve this. But unfortunately, Lot chose the wrong path. Now he could have maybe, I don't know, he could have maybe gone out into the plain but stayed away from Sodom. He didn't have to go to Sodom. He didn't have to pitch his tent toward Sodom. He did that on purpose. He made that decision. He chose the wrong path and he chose it with the wrong attitude. All he thought about was himself in it. His choice led him down the wrong path and cost him plenty. You read on and we're gonna keep reading on over the next couple of weeks here, several weeks. You read on, Abraham's choice brought him blessings. closer communion with God. So as we close here tonight, let me just ask you this question. You looked at Abraham and Lot, the strife that came together with them and how it was settled and Abraham's attitude versus Lot's attitude about it, how they came to these decisions. Compare yourself to one or the other of these men. Which would it be? Which would you say you're a lot like? I don't mean to use the term lot, but that's not what I meant. Well, which would you say you were like? When you caught up in strife and you get angry or there's contention there that needs to be dealt with, do you find yourself seeking the Lord, putting yourself behind everybody else, putting everybody else first, seeking a peaceable way to try and find a solution, are we up in arms automatically? And all we think about is ourselves. Well, we see where that can go. We can see the results where that would take us. Abram, who took last place so that the other can go first, would that be us? or Lot, who grabbed all that he could for himself without regard to anybody else, not even his own family. You think Lot had thought about, well, if we go that direction, you know, I've got kids. I don't want to take my kids out there near Sodom. Look at what they do to their kids out there. He didn't think about that. All he cared about was Lot. I think we can all use help in the matter of responding to conflict and trouble. My greatest advice is when we are faced with conflict and trouble, what's the first thing we should do? Pray. Pray. Don't make any decisions. Don't say anything before you ask the Lord to help you say the right things, right? To make the right decisions. The way we receive that help is to admit the need. You know, we all face conflicts and troubles in life. We don't have an answer for it. God does. God does. I don't know this. I hope it's not true tonight, but maybe there's someone here tonight you have issues with somebody else here in the church. All I can say is get that settled. Sit down peaceably with one another, forgive one another, and let's move on. Because it can't stay in the church. Matthew 5 tells us God can't bless us or use us for his glory until that's taken care of. You think about where these two men ended up because of the decision they made. Two total opposite decisions, two totally different ways of reacting to the conflict. But you see which direction it took them. Lot chose himself. He paid the consequences. Abraham chose to put others first, let the Lord take care of it. I'm just going to trust him by faith and just go wherever is left, leave it in the hands of the Lord. God bless them for it. A lot we can learn from that here tonight. Let's all stand, heads bowed, eyes closed.