Praise the Lord. Oh, for grace to trust him more. You know, I often say I don't pray more, I don't read my Bible. I don't go to church because I'm so spiritual. I do it because I'm so unspiritual, amen? And I'm so full of, prone to sin, and I need the sanctifying, washing of water by the word. I need the encouragement of other believers. We need the help of God, amen? So we don't, you know, get spiritual when we dress up or when we conclude a verse. No, no, we go to the Bible, we go to the Lord because we need Him, not because we're so great. Amen? And so praise the Lord for His precious Word. Just wanted to check if there's any birthdays or anniversaries that I may not be aware of. I don't have any that I know. But if we don't want to miss yours, let me know. So with that, we like to dismiss the children. They can go downstairs into their Sunday school class. And we want to turn our Bibles to the book of Genesis. And as you know, we are working together as a church family through our 13-month Bible reading plan. And I've just checked, there's still some more laying out there on the side table there as you exit. And so I want to encourage you, if you haven't yet, pick yours up. You should have one in your email inbox as well. If not, let me know and I'll get it there. And so I want to encourage you. Even if you've gotten behind in your three chapters a day, get back in the saddle. Amen? And, you know, try to catch up if you can. But at the same time, there's no law that says you have to read three chapters a day, right? If you read one chapter a day, that's better than none. Amen? I need the Word of God daily. We all do. Amen? And like I said, not because we are such great Christians, but because we're such terrible sinners that need the Lord, amen? And so, don't give up yet, amen? We've just started and I really want to encourage you. Keep reading the Word of God daily. And this is just a track to run on, amen? This is just something for us to hold one another accountable in the sense that we do it together and we want to do it from the start to the end of the Bible together, amen? And so, before we get into any of the highlights and the verses of our weekly reading, I want to encourage you. Maybe there's a blessing this week that the Lord has given you that you would like to share and thank Him for. Or there's some nuggets of truth that the Lord fed you with in your reading this week, and you'd like to share that this morning. Anyone would like to go ahead? Any blessings the Lord has given you this week or anything you've been learning from your Bible reading? Yes, go ahead, Linda. I was reading yesterday about his brothers. Esau? Yeah. Oh, Joseph, yeah. He had still had mercy on his brothers and he forgave them. Yeah. What an example for us, right? That is the grace of God, right? To be able to do that. And of course, the Lord is our biggest example of forgiveness, isn't He? We can't forgive because He's forgiven us so much, right? Amen. Yeah, that's a great truth to learn there. Anyone else? Any blessings? Anything you'd like to share? Or if you've learned anything from your Bible reading this week? Yes, Brother Glenn. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in Genesis 22, I was blessed when God asked Abraham to take up Isaac and to offer him up. That's the picture foreshadowing the time of Jesus Christ on the top of Mount Moriah. So I'm blessed by that. Amen. I was also reading that God asked Abraham to offer him up. In other translations, it says sacrifice, which is That's a great point. Praise the Lord for our preserved King James Bible, right? Indeed, that we can trust in. Yeah, if that doesn't bless you, chapter 22, your blesser is broken, Amen. I mean, what a beautiful foreshadowing, what a picture of the Lord, Amen. And, you know, what I'm so amazed at is, yes, it was Abram's plan, what he was doing there in obedience to the Lord, but, I mean, Isaac just went right along with it, it seems, right? I mean, he didn't have to wrestle him down or knock him out or any of that sort from anything we can tell, right? Just like Lord Jesus Christ who humbled himself and went to the cross willingly for us. Amen. Wow. Anything else you'd like to share? Yes. Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen. That's a great way to start out your day, Kevin. Exactly. Praise the Lord. Don't ever want to take that for granted, right? That He'd love us so much. Anyone else? Yes? I don't understand some things why, like one of them, I forget his name, his wife was there and so she gave him her maid, and she gave him their seat, and then how they just kicked her out, you know, how do you do that? Well, you're talking about hate. Sure, I believe, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That is very hard to understand. I think, in part, there's a lot of cultural context, you know, that we're all unfamiliar with. And, I mean, even the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans, he picks up the story of Hagar and Ishmael and with Abraham and Sarah as well, right? and really relates it to God's relationship with Israel versus his relationship with Gentile nations, right? So good to see everyone this morning. And I think maybe one of the best explanations we could look at there, Linda, is that Sarah really did what everybody else did. you know, she kind of copied the cultural norms, right, especially well-to-do patriarchs, you know, well-to-do tribal leaders, that was very common, that, you know, they would get a maid or whatever, and that was just a matter of of politics, of family politics, so to speak, you know, the personal feelings of individuals, unfortunately, weren't really considered much. And so obviously, you know, Sarah really acting in the flesh there, you know, and the issue was that God had promised her a son. And so, but, you know, God took his sweet time, right? He had his plan. And so, she figured, well, she needs to help God a little bit. And that's the flesh, you know. And she tried to accomplish God's will her own way and ended up not very good at all, right? Yeah. Does that give a little bit of context there, maybe? Yeah, that's a good point. I want to bring out a few thoughts about that here in maybe a minute and explain that a little bit more as well. But yeah, that's a very difficult point to consider, yeah. Paul explains that Isaac was the child of promise and Ishmael was the carnal or the worldly. And I was going to say before you left, that it showed the lack of faith in Abraham and Sarah. And Sarah laughed when it was first announced to her. So they, as you said, helped God out. But Isaac was the child of promise, and Ishmael led to the other Arab nations and enemies of Israel. Correct, yeah. So it was a whole spiritual thing, too. Yeah, and so in that sense, there's consequences more or less to this day of that decision to try to help God out and do things in the worldly way. You know, the way everybody else was doing it too. Amen. Indeed. No, we shouldn't. Amen. It is. Yeah, great things you're pointing out here. And I'll maybe elaborate on that here a little bit as well. Because we really see that in a lot of these heroes of the faith, right? And many of these names are mentioned, of course, in Hebrews chapter 11, right? And are being picked up by the Holy Ghost in the New Testament. and commended in that sense. You know, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so forth. And so, I want to reference a few other verses there to maybe put that a bit in context there. But before we do that, any other blessings? Any other things that you gleaned from your reading you want to share before we move on? Right, well let's Let's look into Genesis chapter 20 then. In Genesis chapter 20, we see there, we won't be able to read the whole story here, so I hope that you're familiar with the context and either read it this week or you are familiar with it. We see there Abram lying about the identity of his wife. And he ended up doing that twice, actually. And again, there we see that Abram, the great hero of faith, right? He was not perfect, neither. Lying has always been wrong, amen? God is a God of truth. And so, interestingly enough, his son Isaac repeated the same mistake. Isaac, too, lied about who his wife was. And really, they did that out of fear, right? They did that out of the instinct to preserve themselves, and really, very little consideration for their wives, to be honest. And again, it shows a lack of faith. They didn't rely upon the Lord to protect them from any people that would be after them. In these foreign places they were sojourning in. But it reminded me of a truth that God teaches us later on through Moses. In Exodus 20, verse 5 and verse 6, we read the Ten Commandments there, and the Lord says, And it's interesting as we read these historical accounts of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and then the twelve sons of Jacob and so forth. We see a lot of generational progressions there in context and it's very fascinating to see that we see the blessings and the acts of faith often repeated or learned from the children, and they learn that from their parents. But likewise also, their missteps and their sins or bad habits, if you will, they copy a lot of those as well. You know the old saying, what parents do in limitations, their children do in excess. God help us, amen. And so, you know, that was just as a father, maybe I'm reading that through a certain lens, but that is something, you know, the Lord spoke to me about there, a pattern I could notice. But that brought me to your question, Linda, in general. It's like a lot of these Great men of God, they were really messed up in many ways. And it was interesting, actually our children, they were asking some of these questions too. Oh, isn't that a bad thing what they did? Yeah. Oh, you know. And I was thinking of David. What do you think about when you think about King David? What are some of the first things that come in your mind? King David. David and Goliath killing the giant. Yes. What else? What's that? Shepherds? Yes. Adulterous. Very true. Oh, great King David. Probably the greatest king Israel ever had. Of course, Jesus Christ, according to the flesh in that sense, was a descendant of King David. He was of the house and lineage of David. And David was an adulterer. He was a murderer. You know, we would call that a terrible person. And yet, there's also no doubt that he did love the Lord in his heart. And I want to go to the New Testament here to help us understand the Old Testament a little bit better. And so many times that really helps us out. Acts 13 verse 22. I want to read there in Acts 13 and verse 22. It's referring there to how King Saul was removed by the Lord. It says that when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king. To whom also he gave testimony and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. I find that interesting. Because, I mean, we have no doubt that David committing adultery with Bathsheba was not part of God's will, of course. We know that God wouldn't endorse his murder of her husband. And yet, nevertheless, God calls David, the chief psalmist of Israel, a man after mine own heart. In verse 36 of Acts chapter 13, he continues and says, In other words, he died, right? He passed on. What we see here is that even despite of David's great missteps, his terrible sins, that he committed throughout his life, he nevertheless was able to still, overall, fulfill God's will for his life. And it seems there that the key was his heart towards the Lord. Notice, the Lord is not commending David for being a perfect, obedient follower of God's word. He is commending him there for having the right heart. And I think that is the huge difference, by the way, between King David, who sinned, and King Saul, who sinned. Saul sacrificed and did a priestly duty that he was not permitted to do, and took that into his own hands and disobeyed the clear commandment of the Lord. He also disobeyed the Lord in in destroying all the spoil of war as well. And so eventually the Lord removed him from His throne. But why didn't He do that with King David? I'll tell you why. Because David had a different heart. David had a heart that truly loved the Lord even when he failed and sinned. And so David was always quick and willing to repent. David was willing to humble himself. And David was willing to get back right, confess his sin and restore that relationship again and move forward in obedience. And so I find this interesting how there in the New Testament we see this contrast looking back in the Old Testament on King David and Saul. So I started doing a little bit of a deep dive into that. What kind of heart is the Lord looking for? And how does this affect what we know about Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and so forth? And I find folks that throughout the Bible, God made quite a big deal out of people's heart. Whether they were doing right or whether they were doing wrong, That mattered, of course. But what also mattered in all that was their heart towards the Lord, and with that, their response to Him. For example, King Solomon, he did a lot of right things. In Wisdom, the book of Proverbs, was written by King Solomon, well, by the Holy Spirit, of course, but through King Solomon, as well as Ecclesiastes, which means preacher, by the way, as well as a lot of Psalms and so forth that we know King Solomon wrote. He had a lot of things right. But at the end of his life, We see in 1 Kings 11 how it came to pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart after other gods. Now that's interesting because he followed his father David's and married several wives, which he shouldn't have, and he disobeyed the Lord in God's concept of marriage there, and ended up having some terrible consequences for him. Notice it says there in 1 Kings 11 verse 4, So, once again, we see a contrast there between David's heart and his son Solomon's heart towards the end of his life. Solomon did start out right and did right for a long time, but eventually his heart was turned away from the Lord. When the Lord says a perfect heart, He's not talking about somebody who is a perfect Christian. In the Bible, this concept of being perfect refers to something that is complete. A perfect heart is a heart that's wholly given to the Lord. And I found that very helpful and very encouraging, folks, as I studied that. And we see all throughout Israel's history, for example, about King Asa. There were some faults that he had that the Bible mentions, but it does say that his heart was perfect with the Lord, though. And then we see about King Amaziah, for example, in 2 Chronicles, how he did a lot of right things, but it says there that his heart was not perfect with the Lord. So, you know, today we live in a world where oftentimes it's kind of like, oh, it's either or. Oh, it's just about doing right. Or it's just, well, God knows my heart and I can do all sorts of wickedness but as long as I got a sweetheart towards the Lord. Alright? And so, we find throughout the Bible, it's not a question of either or, right? But even when we fail and fall, there's a difference in our heart's attitude in our response to the Lord. David was willing to humble himself and repent. He truly did love the Lord. He truly did trust in the Lord. And the Lord ultimately had his heart. And that was different than Saul. and many others as well. And so that's where, that was helpful for me to see a little bit more biblical context there. That I believe that's what we see in Abram's life as well. Or, you know, many of these other men that we read there in Genesis. Yes, they had a lot of things way off, but don't we as well? I've yet to ever meet the perfect Christian, the perfect church, the perfect pastor, anybody. But we can't... Oh, absolutely. We most certainly should. We most certainly should. We ought to obey the Lord in all things, right? I mean, even the New Testament is clear in that. And so I'm not excusing one or the other. I'm saying this modern idea that it's like one or the other doing right or having a right heart It's not an either or. It ought to be both, right? And matter of fact, all the doing right usually starts with a heart that's willing to get right. And so that heart of faith, of trust ultimately in the Lord, that even would continue with the Lord even after failings. You know, we see in Abraham and a lot of these other guys as well that You know, I always chuckle a little bit. God used these heroes of the faith, not because of them, but many times despite of them, amen? And somehow that's quite relatable, to be honest, you know? Does that help a little bit, maybe? Yeah, I have a friend right now, she's very Christian, she says, but she does such dumb things. She thinks it's okay to continue, you know? I don't understand it. No, it's never to continue in sin, especially if you... Absolutely. Absolutely. And, you know, I think we see the Lord pointing that out very, very clearly. You know, for example, in regards to some of these multiple marriages that we see in these first few chapters here in Genesis. The Lord makes it very clear that that's not a good idea. I mean, it's just all this family drama, this politics, all of the disasters we see here are ultimately rooted in people violating God's concept of marriage, for example, right? Which He already made very clear there in Genesis chapter 2, you know, that a man and a wife shall become one, right? One flesh. And so, it's one man and one wife. Sorry, got off track from your question. Oh, yes, of course. I would say it's always right to get right, Linda. It's always right to get right. And if we know that we're living in sin towards the Lord, you know, we can be sure He wants us to get that right. Yeah. Does that help you a little bit, maybe, to put this some more into context? It helped me, amen, when I compared that with other individuals throughout the Bible, like King David as well. I want to I want to look into one more of the events that is happening in our past reading here. Of course we notice in Genesis chapter 19 the very infamous story of Sodom. in Gomorrah. I have a whole list of other things, folks, that we can learn. For example, in Jacob, we see an example of, whatsoever a man soweth, that will he also reap. It's interesting to see. Jacob was the deceiver. He deceived everybody around himself, and then he wondered why he was constantly getting deceived by others. He sowed what he reaped. Excuse me, he read what he sowed. Get my language right there. But in Genesis chapter 19 we read about God's judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah. And I wanted to read verse 7 there in Genesis 19 verse 7. God very clearly declares there that what they were doing was wickedly. It was wickedly. You know, the word, to know them, there in Genesis 19, verse 5, where the men of the city wanted to get to know these visitors that Lot had sheltered in his home. This is not just, oh, we like to chat a little bit and talk about the weather. This is the same word that the Lord used to describe when Adam knew Eve and she conceived her children. And so there's a lot of sin and a lot of terrible wickedness going on. And it's interesting, the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 3 verse 9, he said that, you know, the terrible sins in Sodom, they were proud of that. They went ahead and didn't hide their sexual perversions. and in so many ways reminds me of today, exactly. In Ezekiel, the Lord compares Samaria, and especially Jerusalem, spiritually to Sodom, and points out that first and foremost, Sodom's sin was pride. And it's interesting how much that fits with some of the agendas, spiritually and morally, that we see in our day and age, amen? And how the Lord very clearly called that abominations in Ezekiel chapter 16 there in verse 2. Once again we turn to the New Testament to understand the Old Testament even better. And in Jude there in verse 7 and verse 8, this is how the Holy Spirit refers to what happened there in Sodom. He says, So fornication is first and foremost any sexual behavior outside of God's design. God's design is one man and one woman married for life, right? And so anything outside of that ultimately would fall into fornication. And going after strange flesh, again, that's referring to sexual perversion. It says, they're set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. So I hope this maybe gives us a little bit more context there. That unfortunately is way too applicable to our day and age. How God felt about the things that were going on there in Sodom. And I really want to close though with 2 Peter chapter 2, where we see even further how the Lord uses this judgment upon Sodom there in Genesis 19 as a object lesson, if you will, as an illustration to teach us many things. And And I want to encourage you, if you have any more thoughts or questions there to Genesis 19 to 40, please feel free to chat with me. I'd be happy to address that next week if we can. But there's so much in these chapters, folks, especially in Genesis, because it's beginnings. It's hard to pick and choose what to highlight, amen? Because we're so short on time. 2 Peter 2 verse 6, So the Lord is very clear there. This is a warning. "...and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked." Now this is a stunning statement. Because we know some things about Lot's life, especially towards the end, that are just terribly wicked. And yet, nevertheless, the Holy Spirit here says that he was a just man and a righteous man. The word in Greek there is dikaios, which means just, righteous, innocent, or holy. It's the same word that the Holy Spirit uses to describe Joseph in Matthew chapter 1, who was a just man. And so, we see here that Lot, obviously, just like Abraham, must have been a saved individual, believing in the Lord, but he obviously got way too close for comfort to a great, great wickedness. He lived in a very evil place. And yet, notice verse 9, 2 Peter 2 verse 9. And I believe here we see how Lot and his family is a very clear picture of The rapture that, Lord willing, you and I will experience, or at least, you know, at some point in the church age, the Lord will take out His bride before He, just like in Sodom, rained down fire from heaven, you know, and brought His judgment on this earth. Notice, the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. It makes a clear distinction there between the righteous who are vexed, who are frustrated and agonized with the wickedness that they're living amongst. But God knows how to deliver them out of that. But those who will remain unto the day of judgment which were ultimately accumulating there in the Great Tribulation period, those he reserves for that judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ in Luke chapter 17 as well warned us that as it was in the days of Noah and as it was in the days of Lot, that is how the people will live in that wickedness, in that just ignoring of God and just living their daily lives. And one day, though, the Lord Jesus Christ will bring down his judgment and he will ultimately return again. And so that we read about there in Luke chapter 17. So folks, the reason why I went a lot to the New Testament today is because I want us to see the connections of the puzzle pieces a little bit. Sometimes we read some of these Old Testament stories and they seem a bit foreign to our modern minds. I find it so helpful when we connect it, though, with the New Testament explanations, and we see a lot of things that the Lord teaches us all of a sudden, all the way there in the beginning. Amen? Brother Shields, would you close us in prayer?