All right, thank you again so much for being here. I think I got a microphone on. I did see, I believe, some visitors. Do we have any visitors with us, any first-time visitors? All right, we got a couple down here. Want to get a visitor card in your hand? I thought so, yes. I told Brother Stephen, I was like, man, that's quite the, we got one up here next to Marcy here as well. It's quite the weight loss program. You just kind of grow out a big, full beard and then shave it all off. But thank you so much for being here with us tonight. If you'll fill that out and then catch me or one of the men out here afterwards and hand that in to us, we'll get you a coffee mug, a Bible Baptist Church coffee mug. We got some candy in there. It's just a gift from us. Thank you for visiting with us tonight. And so glad that you're here. Looking forward to the young adult volleyball tonight and watching. And I did bring tennis shoes in case they need me. Please, please, please don't need me. But anyways, glad for that and had a great turnout last week. When I say great turnout, it means there was enough that I didn't have to play. That's all that means. But no, it was a good turnout. It was enjoyable. And man, some of these folks can really play some volleyball. I know there are some among us who maybe don't fit the young adult profile who think that they could give those young adults a run for their money and maybe some of you could, I would not put myself in that category. Genesis chapter number 13, I'm gonna stop babbling here. And we started last week into a, we've been going through Bible characters and we started last week on Abraham and we've got tonight and then one more lesson on Abraham. And so obviously there's a lot about him in the Bible. And so this week is on Abraham, is Abraham on the verge of greatness. And in our previous lesson about Abraham, we saw several lessons that he had to learn in God's school of hard knocks. And those lessons that we talked about last week was the devil can use loved ones to thwart God's will. As we saw him, he was called to come out of Ur of the Chaldees and leave his family, but he took family with him and he ended up in Haran for quite a while, and that's not where God wanted him to be. And another lesson is that he, Abraham, he learned that he was an object of God's grace. He learned that God's plan or God's way, if you will, is always the best way or the best plan. He learned to worship God, we saw as he built several altars there in Genesis chapter number 12 and 13. And he also learned that God will test his people. If you remember, a famine came into the land and there's a great opportunity for Abraham to... to lift up God in front of his family and his servants and say, hey, we're going to trust God. God called us here and we're going to stay here. But yet he went into Egypt instead. He went down to Egypt to sojourn in a lack of faith there. And so he also learned the backslidden Christians can do the same things in life that a lost person can do. And that's where we find him there in Egypt. And he told his wife, Sarah, he said, hey, you're very pretty. and this is a heathen nation, and when we travel, he didn't say just about Egypt, he just said, as we go around these heathen nations, they're gonna look at you, and you're real pretty, they're gonna kill me so that they can have you. And he said, so, I'm gonna ask you to lie for me. Remember that? He said, so it will be well with me. And so he said, yeah, this is my sister, and so Pharaoh took her, was gonna marry her and have her as one of his wives, and anyways, God worked all that out, But that's just one of those amazing things. Again, I know it's a different culture, but that's one of those things that's hard to fathom that somebody would do that. But then he also learned that God is only an altar away. And when I say an altar, I mean an altar of obedience. And then with that, he also learned that to obey is better than to sacrifice, as the obedience to God is what reopened the line of communications with God, when the sacrifice on the altar would not do that. Abraham had had the sacrifice, he had built the altar, and what are you going to do? You build an altar, you're going to have a sacrifice, but these altars, these sacrifices, and Abraham calling out to God did not open the door of communication until he obeyed in the first thing that God had told him to do, leaving his home and leaving his family. In this lesson, Abraham is displaying a great deal of spiritual maturity while still experiencing lapses of character that show that he's not quite arrived at being a great Christian. Of course, we all are human, but this can be another lesson for us on giving grace, and I want to add to that, to a degree. Remember that since Noah, if you read these passages here in the Bible, we're not very far in, we're only in the 13th chapter of the Bible, but if you read the Bible here, you can remember that since Noah, no one else has been called out by God in Scripture to do something specific. until Abraham. It has been some time since Noah. Noah is Abraham's great times nine grandfather. Great, great, great, great, great, all the way to nine times. And so it's been quite a while since God called Noah to build the ark, and now we're way down further to Abraham, and we've not seen any instances where God specifically gives someone a task to do or somewhere to go. Last week we also referenced Joshua chapter number 24, verse number 2, but this week I'm actually going to read for you what it says in Joshua 24, 2 and 3, and Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nacor, and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood and led him throughout all the land of Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave him Isaac. And so Abraham comes from a family that, you know, come out of the flood and they served false gods, they served other gods. And God called Abraham out of that, understanding that we are to give grace according to where someone is and where they're coming from. And it can be very difficult sometimes for someone who in, who grew up in church, grew up reading the Bible, to fail to give grace to someone in their journey towards Christ. What I mean by that is we become very judgmental. This is where I believe you should be in your life. And we don't know what their background is many times, we don't know how they grew up, we don't know the false doctrine that may have been fed into them from a different religion or from a different, other books even, and that they are, that's a burden that they're trying to come out of, and maybe they're a new Christian, maybe they've been saved for five years, but they're still growing. And so I believe it's important that we understand these things and give grace according to where someone is and not where we expect them to be. Now, when I say give grace to a degree, because that's kind of what we see modeled from God. God didn't just come and whack Abraham over the head every time there was a setback in his spiritual development. But He, God, also did not excuse Abraham's disobedience or excuse his lack of faith. There were consequences at times for those things. And again, this is a delicate balance, that of giving grace, and I don't mean that tongue-in-cheek. This is an important attribute of God. His grace is very important. We should all be grateful for the grace of God. It is a very important attribute of God, and if we're going to reflect or mimic this attribute, it needs to be done so in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, I will end up being a respecter of persons, saying to one, sit thou here in this lofty place, and saying to another, sit thou here under my footstool. And that's what happens whenever we get outside of the Holy Spirit power and the Holy Spirit's guiding us, and we're trying to judge who should be where in life. We become respecter of persons. We need the Holy Spirit fullness. Anyways, let's have a word of prayer, and then we'll notice a mixture of good and bad happenings in this spiritual life of Abraham's. Heavenly Father, we do thank you, Lord, for the word of God and the lessons we can learn. I am so grateful for your grace. And Father, the fact that I have a hope or expectation of one day being with You in Heaven is all due to Your grace. The riches, God's riches at Christ's expense, I don't deserve it but yet You're giving it to me anyways because I am a child of God, I am a believer in Jesus Christ. Lord, I thank You so much for Your grace. Lord, Your grace is apparent in our lives, Your grace is apparent In our country even and in our church and Lord if there's anybody here who has not experienced the saving grace of Jesus Christ Lord may tonight be the night of their salvation. They might be also a child of God a redeemed Born-again believer who with a with a relationship with the Heavenly Father and a home in heaven Lord I pray that you would help us as we study this life of Abraham to apply the lessons that you teach to us tonight in Jesus name Amen number one Abraham was satisfied. You're there in Genesis chapter number 13, look at verse number 12. Abraham was satisfied, the Bible says in verse number 12, Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. And the Lord said unto Abram after that Lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever. You know, there's two good key words, I think, that we should mention in relation to Bible characters and their willingness to follow the will of God in their lives. One word is sojourn. It means to pass through as on a journey. In Genesis 12, verse 10, we talked about this just a little bit ago, we talked about it last week, there was a famine in the land and Abraham went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land. So when Abraham, when he panicked because of the famine, he headed into Egypt with the intent of only staying there temporarily, knowing that I'm just going to outlast this famine and I'm going to go back where God told me to be. Another word is dwell. Dwell means to settle down in a place permanently. And this is the word that is used to describe both Abraham and Lot. When Lot decided to dwell in the cities of and around Sodom, even though it was known to be filled with men who were wicked and sinners before the Lord, the Bible says, exceedingly, Lot was seemingly satisfied to live or dwell, if you will, here the rest of his life. Abraham, on the other hand, chose to dwell in Canaan, which was the promised land, it's where God told him to go. I believe Abraham was satisfied with all that God had done for him and promised him, and was ready to dwell anywhere God would guide him. Listen carefully, church, in regard to our spiritual journey, this is a decision that we make daily. Often we are making this decision several times a day. Am I going to dwell with God in how I respond to, let's just say, crude or vulgar language that I hear at work? Am I gonna walk away from it? Or am I gonna minimize my opportunity to have a godly influence by laughing along? Or even participating, thus taking steps towards Sodom? Am I gonna walk with God throughout my day with prayer and scripture, allowing the word of God to be my deciding factor? Or am I gonna pitch my decision-making ability towards Sodom and go with, yeah, just whatever feels good in the moment? There are a whole lot of people who live that way. They don't have principles, they don't have Bibles, some people just don't know the Bible, they're not church, they don't know the Bible, and they don't live by principles, just whatever feels good. Okay, whatever my friends are doing, yeah, I'll go do that too. Not thinking of any consequences, not thinking of what's this going to do to me down the road, and that we make decisions that way. Say, man, pastor, you talk a lot about decisions. And that would be a correct statement, because everything is or involves a decision. The decision to get up this morning, the decision whether or not to comb your hair, brush your teeth, what clothes to wear, whether or not to go to work, what path you're gonna take to work. All those things, every little thing is a decision. You're deciding or have decided whether or not you're gonna listen to the sermon tonight. You will decide whether or not you will listen to God if he speaks to you about something in your life to either add or to remove. You say, well, I just won't make a decision. Well, of course, we realize that deciding not to decide is a decision in and of itself. If God directs in your life and you decide to make no movement, you are deciding to disobey God. Well, I didn't go backwards. Yeah, but you didn't go forward either. You made a decision to stand still and disobey God. Abraham here, he was learning to be satisfied with God. And that is where we will need to be if we're going to allow him to have control over our path forward and where we are going to dwell, remain permanently spiritually. We too will have to be satisfied with God, with who he is and what he's doing in our lives. Number two, Abraham was compassionate. Look over in chapter number 14 now. It's probably maybe just one page over. You may have to turn a page. Chapter 14 and verse number 12. The Bible says, And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, the brother of Eschol, and the brother of Aner. And these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother, talking about Lot, was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people." So I see here, even though Lot had made a terrible mistake in choosing to move to Sodom, it's interesting to see that when Lot got in trouble, Abraham didn't hesitate to help him out, but rather immediately risked his own life to rescue Lot. I don't believe that Abraham would have been in agreement with everything in Lot's life. As Abraham grew to trust the Lord more and more, and knowing what the people were like in Sodom, I believe that Lot's choices would have been a source of grief to Abraham, who had been a father figure to Lot. However, that did not diminish Abraham's compassion for this man with whom he did not agree. This man who Abraham perhaps, maybe at this point, did not even want to fellowship with, but he still had the compassion. This is a great picture of God and His compassion for all of mankind. But it's also an example to us, to me and to you, to have compassion for others, even if we don't agree with them on all points. You've heard me say this, you probably agree with it in your own life. I don't even agree with myself all the time. But it's a great picture. After all, we're not going to agree with everyone on every item. And I don't mean enabling or even encouraging sinful behavior or false doctrine. That's not what I'm talking about at all. I simply mean having compassion. For we know not how the Spirit of God may work through the genuine compassion of a follower of Christ. Let me say that again, I simply mean have compassion for we know not how the Spirit of God may work through the genuine compassion of a follower of Christ. That one who's away from God, maybe it's a fellow believer but they're away from God and you've not had much to do with them because their influence is a negative influence on you now, because they're living for the flesh, they're living for sin, they're living for the devil and you're trying to live for God. That one, when you have compassion on them when they're in need, even though they know that you disagree with them, even though that you know that maybe you've had very stern arguments or discussions with them about certain topics, but yet you have compassion on them, who knows what the Spirit of God may do with that? Or even with someone who is lost. Abraham was compassionate. Number three, Abraham was grateful. You're still there in chapter number 14, look at verse 17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings that were with him at the valley Sheva, which is in the Kingsdale. And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said, blessed be Abraham of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he, talking about Abraham, gave him, talking about Melchizedek, tithes of all. So when Abraham was granted this victory in the battle, even though greatly outnumbered, he wanted to give credit where credit was due. And Abraham knew that it was God who brought forth that victory. In order to demonstrate his appreciation as well as a debt that he owed, he gave a tithe of all the spoils that had been taken. I want you to notice that this giving of tithes was established before the law was given to Moses, well before. This was to be done also out of a heart of gratitude and that's still the case today. God loves a cheerful giver. And sometimes we need to be reminded, just as Abraham was reminded, that God is, as he says here in the verse, the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth. What does that mean? It means it all belongs to God anyway. You give 10%, maybe you give above that in offerings, that doesn't mean that the rest of that, the rest 90% or 80, whatever it is that you leave in the bank, that doesn't mean it's yours, it's all God's. And as His children, we ought to honor Him with everything that He gives us. Not just money, that's just the thing that kinda always pops into our mind, but guess what else He's giving you that's more valuable than money? He's giving you health, He's giving you a voice. to tell people about Him. These are important things that God is the possessor of heaven and earth and everything in them. It all belonged to Him and God delivered the victory. I am fully convinced that people who do not tithe and do not give offerings either have a very low opinion of God, take little to no consideration of God, or think that they know better than God. And perhaps all three. And these would result in a very, in a lack of proper gratitude to God. Number four, moving along, Abraham was childlike. Abraham was childlike. Look at chapter number 15, and we'll read a few verses here, starting in verse number one. It says, after these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eleazar of Damascus? And Abram said, behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. Behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. As we see the spiritual growth here of Abraham, it's fantastic to see this quality growing in him as well. He was willing to take God at His word just like a child would. But you know what it took? It took a little reassuring. As God delayed giving Abraham a son, for whatever reason, again we learned last week, God's ways are the best ways, His ways are perfect. Abraham though seemingly began to doubt that it would ever happen. Remember, we have been saying that Abraham's hunger for God is growing and he wants to believe, he wants to know God's path, but he has no, remember, he has no Bible to turn to. And even if he did, at this point, there would be very little that would have encouraged Abraham in this, even though many centuries have passed since creation, there is not a great deal written about God's dealings with mankind up to this point. Again, we're only in chapter number 13, 14, 15. So even if scripture had been written up to this point, there wouldn't have been a lot for him to look back on. So we gotta remember, Abraham didn't have the scriptures as we did. I think it's important to remember this fact, as we can see Abraham's fully recorded, we can, we can see his fully recorded story, and we can wonder, why would Abraham doubt God? Well, Abraham didn't have what we have. He wouldn't have the scriptures to read from. Anyway, Abraham is asking God about this, noting, God, I still don't have a son of my own. And at this point, if something happens to be, my heir is gonna be a servant that's been born under my watch, under my care. However, the Lord then clarified the prophecy, pointing to an actual son that would be born to Abraham. Man, Abraham here, he didn't balk or dismiss the promise as an impossibility, but he grabbed hold of this truth, just because God said it. Man, would to God that all his children would have this childlike faith, a willingness to trust the master, even when we can't for the life of us see the end or sometimes even see the next step. I don't think Abraham was wrong in calling out to God and asking his questions. Thankfully, when he received clarification, though, he responded correctly with belief in the Lord. The Lord's going to take care of this. However, we have to follow that up with number five, Abraham was impatient. Abraham was impatient. Look at chapter number 16. I know I keep saying Abraham, and you're reading Abram, his name is going to be changed to Abraham, and Sarai, his name's gonna be changed to Sarah, so I'm using Abraham and Sarah because that's one of the most familiar with, but we're reading it, their earlier names. Chapter 16, verse number one, now, Sarai, Abram's wife, bear him no children. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold, now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid, that it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And again, this is a weird point to transition to after we just saw Abraham gain clarity from God and then believe in the Lord. But here we are. I'm not sure how much time has passed, but Abraham and Sarah are still without a child, and their patience is running out, and they devise a plan of their own to make God's promise come true, as though God didn't know how to keep His promises. Sarah gives her handmade Hagar to Abram as a second wife. Again, I understand that this was not uncommon in these times, but from the beginning, man was to cleave unto his wife, not wives, and they too were to be one flesh. That's from the beginning. We don't know if, now we don't, here's one we don't know that sometimes people get adamant about. We don't know if Hagar came to be with Sarah, Abraham and Sarah when they sojourned in Egypt. But that is the common belief. Many like to make a point of it, you know, see what happens when you step out of the will of God. But again, I don't like being dogmatic where the Bible is silent. Again, this is another reason for you to read your Bible for yourself. In the Church of the New Testament, they would hear the Word taught and preach, and then they would search the Scriptures daily. Why? To see if those things were so. Is it actually true what these people are telling me? And they would search the Scriptures themselves. It's very important. Some of you have heard, and perhaps will hear in the future, someone preach on this passage, be adamant that Hagar join them when they sojourn in Egypt, and we just don't know. I won't break fellowship with anybody about that, but it doesn't tell us that. However, knowing that God's plan for marriage is one man with one woman for as long as they both shall live can still get us to the same lesson of there being consequences for stepping outside of the will of God, but with actual scripture to back it up. The point of this commercial break is, read your Bible. Read your Bible. So we see Abraham here hearkened to the recommendation by Sarah, his wife, and with all the growth that we are seeing in Abraham, compassion dictates that we remember that he is still growing and he is bound to make mistakes. One of the most difficult traits to develop is patience. I've heard pastors tease, I don't pray for patience, because I know what it takes to get it. But I do, I pray for patience, because I need it. But Abraham knew that God had promised him a son. Abraham would have also known, even though when God said, we're gonna give you a child from out of your bowels, he didn't say from Sarah specifically, but he would have known that Sarah being his wife, that the son would have been through Sarah, but they got impatient. Patience is probably one of the most frustrating virtues to develop in the Christian life, for it only comes through trouble, and who wants trouble? Any takers? I've got some. No, nobody wants it? Romans chapter five, verse three, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also. Why? Knowing that tribulation worketh patience. James 1.3, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Trials, tribulations, this is what God uses to work patience in us. Patience, which at this point Abraham is not showing an abundance of, is a wonderful virtue that comes as we face adversity. So I would say the sooner we get it, the happier we'll be. Instead of having to, oh, you failed that test, you're gonna have to learn that one over. No, learn that patience. Learning to be patient, it is an important part of spiritual growth as well. If we're going to go, we are going to go through trials anyway. We live in a fallen world. We live in a sinful world. You and I, we're gonna go through trials. If you're not going through a trial now, guess what? One's a coming. One's a coming. If you're just coming out of one, there's another one coming. We live in a fallen world, so we might as well learn the patience along the way. It will benefit you and those that you come across who try your patience. It will benefit them as well as you learn the patience. Number six. Abraham loses ground. We're still there in chapter 16, let's pick up in verse number 4. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress," talking about Sarai, was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid into thy bosom. And when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes. The Lord judged between me and thee. And Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand. Do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. So this is certainly a disappointing event, I would say, in Abraham's life. He's acting rather cowardly, I would say, in front of his wife, allowing Hagar to take the punishment that really wasn't hers. It would have been much nobler for him to have resisted Sarah's suggestion that he receive Hagar as a second wife in the first place, but he didn't. And I believe it would have been a great deed of character had he insisted to protect Hagar right now, but he did not. And you know, this is unfortunately an all too commonplace happenstance in homes even today, as we look for ways around marital difficulties instead of confronting them. You know, avoiding conflict is not always the best solution. So what can a Christian do to prevent their marital relationship from hurting them spiritually? I would say one thing you can do is keep your own spiritual condition as the number one priority in your marriage. You cannot help your spouse if you're backslidden from God. If God's not hearing your prayers because you're harboring iniquity in your heart, how are you gonna pray for that spouse? See, another thing is to resist temptation to give in to compromise on clear spiritual issues. If you have a conviction that, hey, no, this is what the Word of God says, it's the standard of the Word of God, this conviction that I have, don't compromise on those things in order to appease your spouse. Never compromise spirituality in hopes that your spouse will grow spiritually. It usually doesn't happen that way. You give on one thing, they're gonna ask you to give on another, and you're gonna continue to compromise until you're completely out of the will of God. Another thing I say is get help. Don't be afraid to seek godly guidance, because your marriage is worth it. Oh, but it's embarrassing. Your marriage is worth it. And let's be real, we're gonna have times in our spiritual journey in which we lose ground. This point isn't necessarily about marital problems, but this is where Abraham was losing ground here, it was in that relationship, but we're all gonna have times in the spiritual journey in which we lose ground. This happens in war all the time, but it doesn't mean that we concede the contest to the enemy. Rather, we should redouble our efforts to regain the ground that we lost and then push ahead into previously unconquered territory. That's what the Christian life's about. Onward, Christian soldiers! Marching as to war, guess what happens in war? Sometimes there's setbacks. Sometimes you're trying to conquer that hill, and you get pushed back off the side of it. Well, you don't, oh, let's give up, let's just go home. No, you push on, and you redouble your efforts, and you take the hill, and you go past the hill. Why? Because God is our refuge, God is our help, God is our fortress, God is our high tower. He's the one that gives the victory anyways, and if our faith and our hope is in Him, we can push on with Him. So we're gonna have setbacks. We're gonna lose ground sometimes. That's not the end of the war. Fight on with God. Number seven, Abraham was wavering in his faith. Look at chapter number 17. Chapter 17, verse number 15. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her. Yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings of people shall be of her. Look at verse 17. And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee. If you don't know, Ishmael is the son he had with Hagar. That should never have been because he never should have taken her as a second wife, but that's who Ishmael is. Again, we're looking at a man that God is transforming him into a spiritual giant, but here we see him falling short of where God wants him to be. Now, why is the Lord, sometimes you think, well, man, Abraham, he was, like I said, a spiritual giant. He's the father of the nation of Israel. I mean, why would God reveal such weaknesses in Abraham's life in the midst of such great steps of spiritual strength that we've been looking at? I submit that one reason is to remind us that in any spiritual journey is gonna have its ups and downs. and to be a source of encouragement to us, showing that even the greatest of saints don't always act that way. Not that this is an excuse for a lack of faith, this is not an excuse for disobedience, because it's not an excuse for that, but it's rather to highlight the grace of God, to highlight God's forgiveness, to highlight God's patience and His longsuffering. Notice, too, what a lack of patience did to Abraham's faith. Again, we don't know how long it was from chapter 15 when Abraham believed God, but his faith was wavering as God chose to make him wait. Again, why did God make Abraham wait? He does not tell us that. And He doesn't let you always know why He tells you to wait when you're praying, God, I gotta have an answer, I gotta have an answer. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I gotta have an answer, wait. He doesn't tell us. He'll tell us why His ways are perfect. And our job is to not lose faith. Our job is to not stray from Him and say, well, God failed me, so I'm just gonna have to do it on my own. And with that strength that He gave you and that understanding that He gave you and that ability that He gave you. Number eight, we're almost done, I believe. Abraham's, we're gonna see Abraham's Christ-likeness in his intercession. Chapter 18, verse number 20. Abraham's Christ-likeness in his intercession. So we've seen some good things happen, good positive steps in Abraham's life in this message, and we've seen some setbacks and things like, oh man, I can't believe he did that. But now we're gonna end on this one, Abraham's Christ-likeness in his intercession. Verse 20 of chapter 18, and the Lord said, because of the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me. And if not, I will know.' And the men turned their faces from thence and went towards Sodom. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near and said, Will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? If you know this story, his nephew Lot is still there in Sodom, and God's going to destroy it. He was going to hide it from Abraham. He said, should I hide this from Abraham? But he ended up telling him, and this is what Abraham said, will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? And if you read down through the story, he says, what if there's 50 righteous? God says, I'll spare the city if there's 50 righteous. And Abraham says, well, what if there's five lacking? What if there's 45? And he gets them all the way down to 10. What if there's 10 righteous in this city? God said, I'll spare it for the 10 righteous. What a marvelous conclusion to this mixture of good and bad steps on Abraham's spiritual journey here. Of course, he's not done with his journey at this point, but in this part of his life, it's good to conclude today's message with this point. Abraham has already saved Lot's life once, and now he stands before God in hopes of sparing the entire city where his nephew was living. In this role of interceding, Abraham takes upon him a great likeness to Jesus Christ. whose primary role at this time is that of our high priest. What a great role. Christ is our high priest, and he's interceding on behalf of his people. This then should be a great lesson to us to intercede on the behalf of one another, on the behalf of others as well. Notice that Abraham chose a different path than Lot, but it did not stop him from praying for Lot, for interceding for Lot. Note as well that Christ's primary interceding on our behalf is for the payment of our sin debt. As our high priest, he applied the blood that he himself had shed as the Lamb of God, and then as our high priest, ascended up into heaven and applied that blood that he had shed to the mercy seat in heaven, thus satisfying the wrath of God. Romans 8, verse 31, in the verses following says, and what shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, listen to this, who also maketh intercession for us. who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall tribulation, remember that tribulation that works patient in us, is that tribulation gonna separate us from his love? No. Or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword. As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us, for I am persuaded. that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Just as Abraham's path differed drastically from Lot's path, so does the sinless path that Jesus walked and walks differ even more drastically from the sinful path that you and I walk in this mortal flesh. Therefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." Satan may go up to God and say, hey, did you see that, Jason Goodman, did you see that sin? And Jesus says, wait, covered, covered by the blood. What sin are you talking about? I don't remember it anymore. Takeaways tonight from our lesson on Abraham. Learn to be satisfied with God. Now listen carefully to this part. I'm not talking about being satisfied with how close you currently are to God, because we ought to be seeking to always be closer, but with God himself, which would then cause you, should cause you, to want to draw even closer to him as you learn that he does satisfy. Man, I tell you, I gave this to God, this burden to God, and man, he's satisfied. Man, I just had the peace of God, God's got hold of this. Well, what about this area of your life? Well, no, I can't give Him that. No, as we recognize He satisfies, we'll understand He satisfies them all. Another lesson to learn or take away is to learn to have compassion, even with those with whom you have an obvious disagreement. Learn to be grateful. Learn to trust God and believe God like a child led by the hand who has little to no idea of the destination, but walks in faith that the one guiding has all in control. You walk through the stores, that little one holding your hand, they're just walking, right? They have no idea. Our youngest used to like to get out front. Anybody have one of those that like to get out front and leave, had no idea where they were going? Any of you were that child? Anybody? Okay, Eric with that. Yeah, she'd get out in front and we'd just kind of stop and watch her. And she'd get a few aisles down, she'd turn around, it's like, what are you doing? It's like, we're going right here, oh, you know. But you lead them by the hand, they're not, they just follow along. Man, what did God, we had that kind of trust in the Lord, that childlike faith. Learn to be patient, and it's tough. Pray for it, pray God to help you. Learn to fight back when you lose ground. Don't be satisfied just being better than you used to be, or being better than so-and-so. Jesus is the goal, and you haven't reached that yet. As we lose ground at times, it can also come with a delay in God's blessing, or a delay in an answer to prayer, or God may just choose to make us wait. Don't forget the lesson of patience, for when we do, we too will be prone to lose faith as Abraham did. And then make intercession a regular part of your day. It's a Christ-like thing to do. it takes your thoughts off of yourself, and it will help you see your own spiritual deficiencies that can then be corrected as you intercede for others. Lots of lessons tonight. The Holy Spirit has something for all of us if we will listen. If He has touched your thoughts, touched your heart in regards to one or more of these lessons, or maybe the Holy Spirit's, you know, He's God, maybe He talked to you about something we didn't even talk about tonight. Won't you jot it down? and schedule some focused time to meditate and pray on what the Lord would have you to do. We're gonna stop right there. Let's have a word of prayer and we'll have our offering. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for the lessons that we can learn from Abraham. And Lord, it's encouraging to know that, yes, he had some missteps, but he kept on plowing through. And Lord, that's something we should all do. I pray that you give us a stick-to-itiveness. I pray that you give us some fortitude, some steadfastness in our Christian life, Lord, that when bumps in the road happen when or even major missteps or major losses of ground or that it's not something that's going to push us out but may we be satisfied in our God and may we have patiently endure in gratitude with compassion, and learn to fight back when we lose that ground. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be interceding on the behalf of one another. Lord, I think of those who, Miss Bonnie, Lord, with her surgery today, Lord, and in recovery, Lord, that you would bless her, and Lord, we're trying to, we're interceding on her behalf. Lord, I think of those who used to attend Bible Baptist Church, and maybe they don't go to church anywhere right now, But Lord, may we intercede on their behalf, Lord, that you would bring them back to the fold. Lord, I pray that you would help us to be a people that are growing in our walk with you. Not stagnant, not disobedience, but seeking to give all to you, as we sang earlier today, all to Jesus I surrender. Lord, may we do that gratefully and consistently. We ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.