Well hello here we are back again with our program we call it plain and simple we've been having some problems with our computers and we need some new ones pray about that with us but we're back here limping along hopefully be able to keep on going and we hope you'll pray that we can get some new equipment. Anyway we're going to be looking again in Genesis chapter 13 have your Bible ready if you can. I'm reading in Genesis chapter 13 verse number 1 it says Abram went up out of Egypt he and his wife and all that he had and Lot went with him into the south and Abram was very rich in cattle in silver and in gold and he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Hai, unto the place of the altar which he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord." First of all, we read here in verse number 1 and through 3, he went up, he went out, and he went on. He went up. That's expressing a movement. That is, if you're sitting in a chair, You've got to get up. And it's a change. He's going to go now somewhere. Then it says in verse number 1, he not only went up, he went out. That means he's going to a particular place. If you're sitting in the living room and you say, I'm going out to the garage, then you're heading somewhere. You're going on a definite situation here where you're heading somewhere. And then in verse number 3, it says he went on And of course, that's talking about the course of his journey. Now, he's made some bad mistakes back here in the last chapter, and he ends up down in Egypt, and he makes some mistakes when you start getting involved with the things of Egypt, as we all will. And yet, we read in Genesis 12 and verse number 9, he journeyed going on still. And then here in chapter 13, in verse number 3, we read, He went on his journey. There's a secret. Just keep on going on. Yes, God has nothing but sinners to use. And Abraham has been making some bad mistakes here in this last chapter. But he didn't quit. He went on. And God blessed him because he returned to the place where he was, we read here. He repented of what he had done. He got it right with God. We find that in verse 4, he called on the name of the Lord. He went on. Well, first he went up, he went out, and he went on. Now, in chapter 19 and verse 30, when we get there in this study in the book of Genesis, we'll see that Lot went up. Well, where'd he go? He went up into a cave. Now, there he's going to live with his daughters and have an immoral affair with them. And this was up compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. Yeah, it was too late for him. There was no repenting. There was no returning to God if he was ever with God in the first place. There's no indication that he was walking with God, although it does say in the New Testament that he was just, meaning righteous, that he was a believer, but he was a pretty bad example of a believer. So going up for him was to end up living in a cave. That's not a very good deal, but then he just ignored everything that Abraham would have tried to teach him and others. No, he had his sights on what he wanted to do. And it didn't end up very good. Well, we read in verse 1, Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife. I think that's a very interesting phrase. He and his wife. The Bible talks a lot about the wife of people. Of course, in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 24, we talk about the wife of Adam. Well, the first thing we read about them as a husband and wife is they hid themselves in Genesis 2 and 24, and they were afraid. Why? Because his wife had influenced him to do wrong. A woman has a tremendous influence on a man. You ladies need to be aware of that, an influence for good. There's some ladies in the Bible who didn't, and there's some ladies in the Bible who did. Study chapter 31 of the book of Proverbs and be a virtuous woman. Well, then there was Noah's wife in Genesis chapter 7 and verse number 7, and there was Noah's son's wives in the same portion of Scripture. And what we read about Noah's wife in Genesis 7 and 7 is that she was with him. And then Noah's wives, they were with their husbands. That's a very important thing. They were with him. And Noah's sons had determined to do what was right, and their wives were with them. They said, we're with them. Now, it must have been a hard thing to stand in those days when everybody was ridiculing and laughing at this family of Noah's as they were building this ark. They were just a bunch of ridiculous, ridiculed, religious nut bars as far as the world was concerned. But their wives said, no, we are with them. And as long As your husband is standing firm on the Word of God and doing what God says to do, like Noah was doing, then you need to be with him. And the same thing as we see here is true with Noah's son's wives. Be careful who you marry, because when the going gets tough, you want them to be with you. Well, we come to chapter 13 and verse number 1. And we see that Abraham's wife was with him. Now, if you go back and see how ridiculously he acted in chapter 12 back there in Egypt, you'd wonder why anybody would stick with him. Well, because he repented. That's why he repented. We're all going to make mistakes. And that's not a license to sin. You always pay for our mistakes. Whatsoever a man sow, that shall he also reap. But the thing is, the repented sinner There's very few people these days who will just say, I was wrong, I have offended God, and I am sorry. But Abraham was one of those kind of people, and Sarah said, I'm with Him. Well then, in Genesis chapter 19, verse 26, we read about Lot's wife, and we don't know a whole lot about her. The New Testament says, remember Lot's wife. Yeah, we remember her, alright. There she was, living with her husband in Sodom and Gomorrah, having a family there. Finally, by the grace of God, the Lord comes down and delivers them out of Sodom, and we find that that Lot's wife looked back. Oh, I want to go back there. And God turned her into a pillar of salt. Well, the next thing we read here in verse number 1 is Abraham went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had. All that he had. Genesis 12 and verse 20 talks about all that he had. Genesis 13 and verse 1, all that he had. Interesting, the next time you read that phrase about Abraham, it says in Genesis 25 and verse 5, Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. Why? Because he was dying, and we read in it, in Genesis 25 and verse 8, he died. Well, guess what? He took none of his stuff with him. It's not wrong to have stuff. I'm not saying that the Bible is against having stuff. It's whether or not the stuff has you. I was riding along one time in my car, and I had some young people, and they were looking at some high-rise apartments. And they were asking me this question, who owns those high-rise apartments? Well, I happened to know who owned those apartments at that time. And I said, quite frankly, nobody owns those apartments. Those apartments own somebody. They dictate everything and they bring a lot of pressure and a lot of anxiety into his life. And stuff can do that. Money and what it can buy can be a blessing or it can be a curse. And we read here in verse 1 that Abraham was very rich with cattle and silver and gold. And the next thing you know, we get down in this chapter, and because of the fact that he and Lot both were so wealthy, there was a strife. And there can be a lot of reasons to have strife when it's centered around stuff, around money and the stuff that it can buy. Well, he took none of it with him. We come again to verse 1, and interestingly enough, we have Lot. Now it says here, And Abraham went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him into the south. Lot with him. Now the phrase with him is in the Bible 463 times. We saw concerning Noah, if you look at it, five times it talks about somebody being with him. Genesis 7, 7, 723, 8 and 1, 8 and 18, and 9 and verse 8. Somebody said, I'm with him. Well, the next time we find this phrase is here in Genesis chapter 12, where it says Abraham concerning him that Lot was with him. And then here in chapter 13 and verse number 1, when it says Lot was with him. Now, Lot was not supposed to be with him. You remember back in chapter 11 that God told Abraham to get out and leave all of his family. I want you to leave the region, I want you to leave your relatives." Well, he left the region, and he left the religion back there, but he didn't leave his relatives. His father went with him and Lot, and because of his father, they lost five years of his life in Haran doing nothing for God. But now he's still got this problem of Lot with him. Well, that phrase is also found in the New Testament where it says, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him." What a glorious day that'll be when we come back after the tribulation period and we come back with Him. We won't be ashamed to say we're with Him then. Let us not be ashamed to say that we are with Christ now. Yes, He's not looked on in this world in a positive manner. Well, just understand it and understand it plainly. I was saved when I was 12 years old and I have been with him ever since and by God's grace I will stand and be with him until the day I die and again I say by God's grace for let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall. Well we have a lot with him. We have two men and we have two choices. 200 years ago there was two men in the same family. One name was David Livingston and the other His name was John Livingston, and they were brothers. John had a goal. He was going to make a lot of money, he was going to be wealthy, he was going to get everything that money could buy, and he did. His brother David Livingston was a missionary in Africa, and concerning the things of this world, this is what he said, I will place no value on anything I have or possess unless it is in relationship to the kingdom of God. Well, David Livingston said, whatever I have, I'll use for God. John Livingston said, whatever I have, I'll use for me. Well, if you were in the Westminster Abbey and you were reading the inscription today for the burial place of David Livingston, this is what it says. For 30 years, his life was spent in an unwary effort to evangelize. Interesting, isn't it? If you want to read about John Livingston in the Encyclopedia Britannica, this is what it says. the brother of David Livingston, 1813 to 1873. And that's all it says about John and all the things that he did. Well, we have two men here. We have Abraham and we have Lot, and they're part of the same family. Lot was his nephew. Abraham was a very successful man in the New Testament. We read about Abraham in 69 different places. and all in a positive manner, and concerning Lot, we read about him in two places, in a negative manner, and once we read, remember Lot's wife, of course, in a negative manner as well. Well, we have two men, one was Abraham, one was Lot, both were very wealthy at the beginning of the story, however, Lot ends up in a cave at the end of his self-absorbed life. Lot rejected The influence of his uncle. He rejected everything that Abraham would have to tell him about the Lord, and he went his own way, and it did not turn out well. We see that Abraham worshipped God and was concerned about the will of God, and Lot, he worshipped materialistic things of the world, and he worried about his own will, not the will of God. Turned out not well for Lot. Well, we see seven things here in this first five verses in chapter 13. First of all, number one, Abraham went up out of Egypt. That was a good thing. He and his wife, number two, she was with him. That was a good thing. All that he had it refers to here, number three. We'll look more at that in the next message on how he handled his wealth. And then, number four, lot with him. lot with him. Too bad he ever brought him along. He's caused some major problems for him and will continue to cause some problems for him. The next thing we read is Abraham, verse 3, went on his journey and then he went from where he was unto where he had put his tent at the first place and there he called on the name of the Lord. Well, we'll continue it from here in our next broadcast. Be sure and be with us. We'll try to make it plain and we will try to make it simple.