From Greenville, South Carolina, we present Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of Faith Free Presbyterian Church, preaching Christ in all His fullness. Welcome to this broadcast of Let the Bible Speak. Our speaker is Dr. Alan Cairns, Minister Emeritus of Faith Free Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina. Today, Dr. Cairns continues a series of studies in the life of Abraham as he brings the conclusion of a message entitled, The Heir of Faith Walking According to the Flesh. Although Abraham is known as the father of the faithful, he failed at that very point when he and Sarah, impatient at waiting for God to fulfill His promise of a son, took matters into their own hands. It's often at the place of our greatest strength where we as Christians fail God. Worn down by Sarah's desperation to have a son, Abraham became desperate as well and acted according to the flesh rather than waiting upon God. The steps to failure included weakness, unbelief, lack of prayer, and finally, yielding to the desire of the flesh. May the Lord enable us to learn from Abraham's failure. Dr. Cairns will conclude the message shortly. First, we invite your attention to a devotional thought from Faith Checkbook, a collection from the pen of C.H. Spurgeon. Today's devotional bears the title, Mercy to the Undeserving. The text is Psalm 32 and verse 10. He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. O fair reward of trust, my Lord granted me to the full. The truster above all men feels himself to be a sinner, and lo, mercy is prepared for him. He knows himself to have no deservings, but mercy comes in and keeps house for him on a liberal scale. O Lord, give me this mercy, even as I trust in Thee. Observe, my soul, what a bodyguard Thou hast. As a prince is compassed about with soldiery, so art Thou compassed about with mercy. Before and behind and on all sides ride these mounted guards of grace. We dwell in the center of the system of mercy, for we dwell in Christ Jesus. O my soul, what an atmosphere dost thou breathe! As the air surrounds thee, even so does the mercy of thy Lord. To the wicked there are many sorrows, but to thee there are so many mercies that thy sorrows are not worth mentioning. David says, Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart. In obedience to this precept, my heart shall triumph in God, and I will tell out my gladness. As Thou hast compassed me with mercy, I will also compass Thine altars, O my God, with songs of thanksgiving. The mercies of God, what a theme for my song. Oh, I never could number them all. There more than one stars in the heavenly throne. For the sands of the way we endure. For mercy so great, what return can I make? For mercy so constant and true, I'll love Him, I'll serve Him with all that I have as long as my life shall endure. His goodness and mercy will follow me still, even on to the end of the way. I have His sure promise, and that cannot fail. that His mercy is mine every day. For mercy so great, what return can I make? For mercy so constant and true, I'll love him, I'll serve him with all that I have as long as my life shall endure. I'll love him, I'll serve him with all that I have as long as my life. You're listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. We'd like to say that we're greatly encouraged by the response of you, our listeners, to these broadcasts. We appreciate the letters, emails, and phone calls we've received from so many of you. Some wanting to say thank you and telling us how much the Lord has blessed your heart through His Word. Some speaking of life-changing experiences found through the preaching of the gospel. Some have written to ask for the literature that we offer here on the program. We want to remind you of the LTBS audio magazine. This is available in CD format only and is similar in content to the LTBS quarterly magazine containing articles of great spiritual interest as well as sacred music that will point you to the Lord Jesus Christ. You may have a free copy of LTBS Audio Magazine simply by writing to LTBS 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. That's LTBS 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. You may email us at ltbs at freepres.org. That's ltbs at freepres.org. Or you may telephone us toll free at 866-877-ltbs. That's 866-877-5827. Also, if you enjoy the broadcast, you may like to visit us on our website, LetTheBibleSpeakRadio, or ltbsradio.com. Don't forget the word radio, ltbsradio.com. In this connection, we'd like to call your attention to a new feature on the website. During recent months, Dr. Cairns has been receiving questions from both believers and non-believers regarding various issues. The LTBS radio website now contains video clips of Dr. Cairns providing answers to these and many other questions. He'll be dealing with such subjects as, did God create evil? What does it mean to call no man father? What is the unpardonable sin? Does Hebrews teach that Christians can lose their salvation? These video portions are listed under Q&A with Alan Cairns. You're sure to find these presentations to be informative and enlightening. Q&A with Alan Cairns is found on ltbsradio.com. you. Now, when we read the book of Genesis, we know Abram is married to Sarah. God promises Abram a son. So, therefore, we believe it's a son. And, of course, we know this is true from what happens later for Abram and Sarah. But Sarah, I am sure, would not have failed to say to Abram, the Lord has promised you a son. But my name hasn't appeared, and you read the record, and neither it had." Perhaps this is the way the Lord wants us to do it. And so they began to persuade themselves that they could help fulfill God's promise Put it in New Testament language that they could do the work of the Spirit in the power of the flesh. They talked themselves into the position, we have waited long enough, now it is time to do something. Now, this is always a powerful temptation. And this temptation is particularly powerful against people who are spiritually sincere. People who desire to experience God's promise, you've waited and you've prayed. Then there's the thought, well now, this isn't enough. I must do something. And that's absolutely true, you see. as long as it's something the Lord has commanded you to do. Spurgeon spoke of Moses and the command of God through him to Israel at the Red Sea. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Stand still. Now, that's easy to read. Just put yourself in this position. There's an army coming, and they're not coming to celebrate the 4th of July with us. There's an army coming, and they intend to wipe out as many as they need to and take the rest back into slavery. There's a sea behind us if we face the army. There's a sea here if we face the sea. There's an army there. And there's wilderness here and there. What on earth are we to do? Now, when people are driven to that desperate situation, they normally do anything but the right thing. And the Lord said to them, stand still. What? Stand still? The last thing in the world. And they jive around in fear, but no, he says, stand still. Spurgeon talked about the opposites, what the Lord didn't tell them to do. He didn't tell them to lie down in defeat. He didn't tell them to turn back to where they'd come from. He didn't tell them to give up, nor did he tell them to do something. When you look at the story of modern compromise, what is cursing American evangelicalism today? It is, and there are very few preachers who will put it in these words, but it's the truth. It is the feeling. Well, we have waited and we have prayed and it's not working. It's time that we did something. And the things that they have been doing. That's why you have churches that now have rock concerts. This is how you reach young people. You have a rock concert because that kind of music speaks to them. Sure it speaks to them. In whose name? With whose message? I don't care what branch of compromise, be it the promise keepers, or any other movement like that, what are they doing? They're simply saying, look, it's time we did something. I'm all in favor of doing what this Bible tells us to do. But when people are driven by this deception that we can do the work of God in the power of the flesh, we can bring in the techniques, the philosophy, the psychology, the methodology of the world to do the work of God. When we come to that position, we have reached the place Abram reached. We are trying to beget the seed of the Spirit through Hagar the flesh. It can't be done. It can't be done. Paul says, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. We do have weapons. We do have weapons. And they're mighty and powerful, but they're not the weapons of the flesh. Jesus said in John 6, verse 63, the flesh profiteth nothing. Abram had to learn that. And my, he learned it the hard way. He acted according to the flesh. Quickly let me point out that he acted according to the flesh for very obvious reasons, and I'm only going to list these. First was weakness. When Sarah pressurized him to do wrong, he didn't stand for what he knew to be right. Listen, there's a place to draw a line in the sand and say, beyond that we don't go. And I've often liked quoting to you the philosophy of my great hero, Bernard Montgomery. Montgomery used to tell, as he was teaching in the Staff College in England, teaching the upcoming generation of British Army officers, he had to teach them How to make a decision as to when to draw the line to fight. But the basic argument was this. You draw the line as soon as you can when it will enable you to fight that battle on your terms and not the enemy's. That's why I've often said I got more pastoral theology reading that than reading all the so-called pastoral theology books. How true it is. You draw the line early when you can fight the battle on your terms and not on the enemy's terms. Abram should have drawn that line at the beginning and said, I know this in my heart to be wrong, unworthy of my God, unworthy of His promise, and unworthy of my testimony. But he didn't do it. It was weakness. It was also unbelief. He lost sight of the promise. And he did not act according to what he believed. And whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Then there was a failure to pray. Do you notice this? And this is true in all these great biographies, where these great characters suddenly came in to defeat. There's one thing that's missing. And that's real heart communion with God. This is the man who was able to speak to the Lord face to face. This is the man who had such deep and wonderful communion with God. One of the mightiest prayer warriors the world has ever seen. And yet, at this critical time, there's not a word of him even lifting a word heavenward. Not a word of one petition. What's wrong? Prayerlessness. Failure to pray will always lead to fleshly action. And I think there's one other element that seems strange in the life of Abram, and that was unyieldedness. The more he yielded to Sarah, the less was he yielded to the Lord. In New Testament terms, he was not at this stage controlled by the Spirit. Paul says to the Ephesians, Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. The idea is, be under the control of the Spirit. That's God's command to the child of God. That's utter yieldedness to the mind and will of God. And at this stage, Abram proved you can't serve two masters or a mastress and a mistress. Listen. Listen. He gives us the message. If you husbands would ever really love your wives, never let them come between you and the Lord. If you wives would ever love your husbands, never let them come between you and the Lord. If you would ever love your children, never place them between you and the Lord. It is only as you are yielded to Him that you can evaluate their requests, their desires, their needs, and respond in the way you ought to respond. He acted according to the flesh for obvious reasons. And finally, I mark this. Abram could have avoided this disaster. But he didn't. And he suffered the consequences. Oh yes, the means were at hand for him to avoid it. And I think forever afterwards, Abram was the sorry man that he didn't employ them. He grieved his own soul. He introduced friction into his home for years to come. He created a bitter legacy for Isaac, for Israel, and for Ishmael. And all this, this is the telling thing, all this, by a great man of faith who momentarily gave way to the flesh. The lesson is simple and it is profound. Galatians 5 verse 16 sums it up perfectly. Walk in the Spirit. and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh." The air of faith walking according to the flesh. Terrible picture. But remember, these things are here for our guidance. God includes the failures of great saints to give instruction to lesser saints that we don't repeat the folly. Men and women, walk in the Spirit. Walk in submission to the Spirit and His Word. The Spirit will always conduct you to the cross. If tonight you have followed Abram down that path of disobedience, the Spirit will lead you back to cleansing. If you are faltering on the edge of folly and wickedness, the Spirit will lead you back to the cross and to sanity and to victory. Walk in the Spirit. You've been listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. We hope that you've enjoyed and benefited from today's program. We are here as your servants for Christ's sake. If we can be of any further help to you in the things of God, we invite you to contact us. If you would like to receive our booklet, A New Beginning, a booklet that sets forth God's way of salvation in clear, concise, and biblical ways, you may have it free of charge simply for the asking. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. That's Let the Bible Speak. 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina 29615. If you wish, you may call us toll-free at 1-866-877-LTBS. That's 1-866-877-5827. You may email us at faithfpc at freepress.org. That's faithfpc at f-r-e-e-p-r-e-s.org. Also, we invite you to visit our website at www.freepres.org. If you would be interested in considering the establishment of a Free Presbyterian Church in your area, by all means let us know. Once again, you may call us toll-free, 1-866-877-5827. On behalf of Dr. Alan Cairns, this is Charles Kelch saying thank you for listening and inviting you to join us once again as we Let the Bibles Speak.