We're gonna be back in Genesis chapter 12 tonight, continuing our study on the Father of Faith. Father Abraham had many sons and many sons had Father Abraham. Not what we're talking about tonight, but that might be where you were first introduced to him. Genesis 12, and I invite you, if you would, stand together with me out of respect for the reading of God's Word. And tonight, we're gonna be in the back half of the chapter, verses 10 through 20. And the Bible says, beginning in verse number 10, and there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when he was come near into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee. And it came to pass that when Abram was coming to Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman, that she was very fair. And the princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he entreated Abraham well for her sake and he had sheep and oxen and he asses and men servants and maid servants and she asses and camels and the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with a great plague because of Sarai, Abram's wife. Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why sayest thou she is my sister, so I might have taken her to my wife? And now, therefore, behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. Tonight, we're going to be considering this thought in regards to Father Abraham, when faith meets failure. When faith meets failure. Failure. Father, I pray, have your way tonight. Help us as we look at your words. Speak to us, I pray, make us more like Jesus. We ask these things in his name. Amen. You may be seated. We've got to establish something from the get-go. It is impossible to live the Christian life without faith. It is impossible to please God without faith, Hebrews 11, verse number 6. Faith is not made great, though, by its amount. Sometimes we want to pray, Lord, give me great faith. Lord, I want great faith, great faith, great faith, great faith. And great faith is a wonderful thing to have. But I think what we've got to understand as we go through this, that faith is not made great so much by its amount as it is by its aim. And the aim and object of our faith should be the Lord and His Word. I'm going to tell you, church, if we would just stop chasing all the other stuff and just put our faith in the Lord, we would find a lot of things just fall into place. Why? Because God is good. Period. No caveats, no asterisks. God is good. God's will is good. God's word is good. I'm going to tell you there is no better life that we can attain than a life of faith following the Lord Jesus. Now Abraham, we know him as the father of faith. Last week we began to look at Abraham's story. We saw the feet of faith and Abraham set out following the Lord. But I love that the Bible is real, right? It paints a very real picture. We have this tremendous hero of the faith. And if you know anything about heroes, they wear capes and they can do no wrong. Well, Abraham does wrong. And I'm grateful for a Bible that shows me the warts and the humanity of the heroes of the faith because, friend, we all have warts and clay feet, amen? Metaphorically speaking, I don't have warts in the physical sense. I just wanted to make that clear. Moving on. And so we find, at the beginning of chapter 12, that God calls Abraham. God makes a covenant with Abraham. And Abraham, in courageous faith, sets out to follow the Lord. But by the end of chapter 12, this courage of Abraham turns into the compromise of Abraham. Because sometimes on the heels of worship comes weariness, amen? On the heels of triumph comes trials. And so tonight, we want to learn some things about what happens when faith meets failure. Look with me at verse number 10. There was a famine in the land and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there for the famine was grievous in the land. Number one, we all face famines. We all face famines. How many of us understand this is certainly not what Abraham expected? God called Abram, leave your country, leave your kindred. Where are we going, Lord? I'll show you along the way. Okay, we pack up, we hit the road. Boy, if I'm making a big time decision like that, what do I expect? I expect for things to go pretty good, right? I mean, I'm already sticking my neck out. I'm already walking by faith. I'm already trying to do right. And so Abraham did not expect for by the end of the first chapter when the covenant was made that the famine was already upon him. Certainly not what Abram expected. It's certainly not what we expect. Honestly, we don't vocalize it this way because we understand that the world is full of trials and tribulations, but if we're honest, something inside of us really has the idea that as long as I'm following God, my problems should be manageable at best. I mean, when stuff really comes my way, I'm like, well, why? Abram was caught off guard by the situation. Abram was taken aback by the season. Don't you wish that when trials and tribulations came our way, we could get some sort of advanced notice? Like UPS tracking, right? Not USPS tracking, not FedEx tracking, because that's not real good for anything. But UPS typically does all right. And I can say, OK, next Tuesday the trials are coming. Well, honey, we can be ready. That's not how it works, is it? And the problem is we operate with an underlying notion that so long as we follow God that we should find plenty. But the Christian life is not always easy, is it? In fact, would it be fair to say sometimes the Christian life is downright hard? Sometimes. But as we look at God's Word, what do we find? We find that God has not promised to keep us from trials, but rather God has promised to walk with us through trials. Isaiah chapter 43 and verse number 2, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. And when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Psalm 33, verses 18 and 19, Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. To do what? To deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. John 16, 33, we find what? These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace, Jesus said. In the world, you're going to have tribulation. But be of good cheer, Jesus said, I have overcome the world. We all face famines. God has not promised to keep us from trials, but to walk with us through trials, to grow us through trials, to better equip us through trials. And so we do. We find famines. We find famines in relationships. We find famines in finances. We find famines spiritually. We find famines physically. We find famines all along the way. We find that we run into want and we feel the lack. So why does God send trials to us? You know, God does not send trials to us that he might learn something about us. Rather, God sends trials to us to grow us, like I said, and so that we would come to know something about ourselves. Because friend, we are weaker than we realize. And guess what? We don't really know it until we're tested. I'll give you a couple of personal examples. So the 5K for the school was last Saturday. Guess what I haven't done in a long, long time? Anything remotely resembling exercise. Now, I couldn't breathe all winter, and yada, yada, yada. That's my story. I'm sticking to it. And so don't judge me, OK? Judge not that you be not judged, right? So I'll bring it back. Don't worry. So I walk about two miles of this thing, and I'm pushing the stroller, and then Timothy from inside the stroller goes, run, Dada, run. So I start jogging. This time last year, and the year before, and the year before, man, I could do 5K no problem. I was doing pretty good, especially for a man in my age bracket. Like, I'm doing all right. But I'm like, oh, oh, oh, oh. Why? I was a lot weaker than I realized. So then I thought, you know what? Saturday didn't go so well. I'm going back to the gym. I'm going back to the gym next week. So Monday rolled around, and guess what I didn't do? I didn't go to the gym. Tuesday I went to the gym, and I was like, all right, I'm going to jog a little bit to warm up. I ain't go any better than Saturday. I was like, I'm going to do some exercise. I'm going to lift some weights. Now, this time last year I was lifting. You can fill in the blank, bench press, all right? Give me at least three digits, OK? Let me tell you, I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna warm up. I put half of that on the bar, and I'm like, and I've been sore ever since. I did not think things had gotten this bad, but they have. See, here's the thing. I only really found out how weak I had become when I got put to the test. You see, friends, God allows trials in our lives, not because He needs to learn something about us, but oftentimes we need to learn something about ourselves. We're not as strong as we think we are. And when I realize I'm not as strong as I think I am, it ought to drive me back to God. But here's the problem. Not only do we all face famines, but number two, We are prone to flight over faith. While my problems ought to drive me back to God, very often we are prone to flight, to run away, rather than faith to run to. Look how Abram responds. Verse 11, And it came to pass that he was come near into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold, I know you're a good-looking lady. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, they shall say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they will save thee. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee. Number one, we all face famines, amen? Number two, we are prone to flight over faith. Now let me ask you from last week, do we remember Abraham's one responsibility? What was the one thing Abraham had to do? Follow. All he had to do, the Lord said, I will take you to the land, I will show thee, Genesis 12, 1. All Abraham had to do was follow God. And yet, what we don't see happening is Abraham seeking God. Rather, Abraham concocts a plan to seek his own well-being. Did you notice that at the end of verse number 13? He says, Say I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be, what? That it may be well with me. Whoa! Rather than seeking and following God, Abraham concocts a plan to seek his own well-being. And so Abraham went down geographically and spiritually into Egypt, which is typically a picture of the world. And I'm going to tell you this was easy to justify, because after all, he had to eat, right? Careful. Because we can easily excuse things for ourselves that God never authorized. Do you know never once in the scripture are we justified in using our circumstances as an excuse to disobey God? Let me ask you, had God forsaken Abraham? Would God have let Abraham starve? No, God had not forsaken him. And friend, no matter what comes your way, God has not forsaken you. You see, the greatest famine that we face is not a lack of food, it's not a lack of money, it's not a lack of acceptance, it's not a lack of this, that, or the other. The greatest famine we face is not a lack of food, but a lack of faith. Hebrews 13 and verse number 5, the Bible says, let your conversation, your lifestyle be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have. For he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Friend, he hasn't forsaken you. The thing we lack is not food, it's faith. And the problem is unbelief is always the first step towards greater problems. Think, for instance, of the children of Israel in the wilderness wanderings. Their unbelief did not save them from dying. No, rather, all of those who rejected God died in the wilderness. Hebrews 3.19, they were not allowed to enter in because of unbelief. We are prone to flight over faith. So let's talk for a minute about coping mechanisms. Rationalization. After all, Abraham said, I gotta eat, right? So he looked around and said, well, where's the food? He didn't say, Lord, where would you have me go? He didn't say, Lord, would you give me something to eat? He said, I've got to eat, and so I'm gonna look around, where's the food? Friend, it may look like there's greener grass over there, but greener grass still has weeds and still has to be mowed, amen? We rationalize. Well, God understands, does he? Nowhere in the scriptures are we justified in using our circumstances to disobey God. Rationalization is a coping mechanism we use. Deception. See, lying was kind of Abraham's go-to. But it's not that big of a lie. I mean, it wasn't really a lie, right? I mean, Sarai was his half-sister after all. So, I mean, it was kind of true. Deception. What about retreat? You know, some of us are prone, when the going gets tough, to just flat run away. We run from relationships, we run from problems, we run from taking responsibility for our actions. When the going gets tough, what do we do? We run, run, run, run, run. Coping mechanisms, what about emotions? Emotional outbursts? Emotional manipulation? What about sinful strongholds? The going gets tough, so people run to drugs, or their drug of choice, or to alcohol, or pornography, or social media, and we find these sinful strongholds. Why do people run to them? Because they run and they hide in these things. By the way, friends, all of these coping mechanisms are selfish. All of them are fleshly. and all of them are sinful when we choose to follow them over the Lord. I just can't hardly get over that. Abraham looks at his wife in verse number 13 and says, lie for me that it might be well with me. When trials come, we ought to fly to God in faith. But many times like Abraham, We are prone to flight over faith. We're talking tonight when faith meets failure. So number one, we all face famines. Amen. Number two, we are prone to flight over faith. Look at verses 14 through 20. And it came to pass that when Abram was coming to Egypt, he was right. The Egyptians beheld the woman. She was very fair. And the princes also of Pharaoh saw her and commended her before Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he entreated Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why sayest thou she is my sister? So I might have taken her to me to wife. Now therefore behold thy wife, take her and go thy way. Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him and they sent him away and his wife and all that he had. So number one, we all face famines. Number two, we are prone to flight over faith. Your coping mechanism may be different than mine, but friends, we all have them. Number three, when faith meets failure, number three, consider this, we underestimate the effects of failure. When we leave the walk of faith, when we begin to walk according to our own self-will and our flesh, I think we have to understand, if it's not of faith, it does not please God. And if it is not of faith, it is sin. The problem is we underestimate the effects of failure, of sin, in our lives. Consider a couple of thoughts. Number one, sin leaves you unfulfilled. Abram saved his life, sure, but he lost his wife. I wonder how empty that tent that night. I wonder the emptiness of his heart as those hours passed. Selfishly, when we stop and think about it, sin is never worth it. Oh, there is a short-lived pleasure in sin for a season, but it quickly turns bitter. Isn't it interesting that in exchange for Abraham's wife, the Pharaoh gave Abraham all sorts of stuff? Pharaoh gave him sheep and donkeys and menservants and maidservants and camels. Man, Abram got paid well for lying and giving up his wife. Can we testify tonight to the truth that bounty does not equal blessing? And a big bank account does not equal true happiness. What did Jesus say, Luke 9, 25? He said, For what is man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? Proverbs 28, verse 6, mentions this, Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich. Friend, I guarantee you, Abraham's soul may have been safe, as he said, But I guarantee you his soul was empty, burdened, convicted for what he had done. We underestimate the effects of failure. Number one, sin leaves you unfulfilled. Number two, sin compromised and harmed those that Abraham loved. We talked about Abraham. What about Sarah? Sarah was put in an absolutely terrible situation. You know, sin never just affects the one who commits it. Consider the fact of Sarah. The fear she faced, the betrayal she experienced, the loneliness and uncertainty as she was taken into Pharaoh's harem. Sin affects those you love whether you want it to or not. I think bitterness is a prime example of this. I won't forgive. I can't forgive. I will not forgive them. Well, what did the writer of Hebrews have to say about bitterness? Hebrews 12 and verse number 15. Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, read it with me, and thereby many be defiled. You see, sin will affect those you love whether you want it to or not. Sin has a terrible way of affecting the innocent. Sin leaves you unfulfilled. Sin will compromise and harm those you love. Sin will destroy your testimony. Consider this. By the end of the chapter, pagan Pharaoh has become the moral superior, scolding Abraham for his sinful deceit. What a shame. That the world had to look down on the child of God and say, what in the world is wrong with you? If that's how you're going to act, get out of here. Destroyed Abraham's testimony. But at the end of the chapter, Pharaoh wanted nothing to do with Abraham. Pharaoh wanted nothing to do with Abraham's God. Why? Because of Abraham's sin. Boy, we underestimate the effects of failure, don't we? It'll leave you unfulfilled. It'll compromise and harm those you love. It will destroy your testimony. What about this? We've heard it before. It'll take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you're willing to pay. I didn't give you this verse, but David, go to Genesis chapter 16 for me if you would. I want you to notice something in verse 16. You can read it with me while David goes to chapter 16, that he, Pharaoh, entreated Abraham well for her sake, He had sheep and oxen and donkey and menservants and maidservants. Genesis chapter 16 and verse number 1. The Bible says this, Now Sarai, Abraham's wife, bare him no children, but she had a handmaid, an Egyptian whose name was Hagar. You know anything about the story of Hagar, you know that's the mother of Ishmael, who begins the lineage of the Arab people. Where did Hagar come from? She came from Egypt. You see, friends, we underestimate the effects of our failure. We think, oh, it's no big deal. I have to eat. And so we walk away from the path of faith. We follow our self-will. We seek self-fulfillment or we seek self-protection, however we justify it. But sin always costs us. It leaves us unfulfilled. It harms and compromises those we love. It destroys our testimony. And it creates ripple effects that time can only tell. the damage it actually causes. When faith meets failure. That's kind of a bleak end of chapter 12, isn't it? We all face famines, amen? You with me? We're all prone to flight over faith. Can we agree on that? Amen? Can we agree from an objective standpoint that we tend to underestimate the effects of failure, the effects of sin? Can we agree to that? Amen? Aren't you glad, though, Abraham's story doesn't stop there? Because here's what we find. Number four, God is faithful even when our faith falters. I want you to notice a couple of things. First of all, aren't you glad God's faithful? First of all, look back at chapter 12, verse 17. The Bible says this, and the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. God is faithful. And God was faithful to protect Sarah and Abraham from the full force of the natural consequences for his actions. What do you mean by that? Well, first of all, can I point out verse 17 is the first time the Lord is mentioned in this passage at all. And by the way, folks, that's the problem. I mean, in verse number 10, if it read instead, there was a famine in the land, so Abram sought the Lord, guess what? Verses 11 through 20 would be a whole lot different, amen? But verse 17 is the first time we see the Lord mentioned in this particular account. Now let me tell you about God protected Sarah. So in that historical context, new wives, as they were taken into the harem, they were not officially taken into the harem until a certain amount of time had passed where they could show that they were not already pregnant. And so God protected Sarah. No hand was laid on Sarah. Aren't you grateful for the mercy and grace of God? So, but let me ask you this, on Abraham's account, what was Abraham afraid they were going to do to him? Kill him. They were afraid they were going to kill him. Why? Because he had a good-looking wife. Now let me ask you, are you more prone or less prone to kill somebody after they've lied to you and caused your whole house to suffer great plagues? Friend, if I was going to flippantly kill somebody before, if they caused my house to have great plagues because they lied to me, you better believe I'm going to kill them now. And yet God protected Abraham from the full force of the natural consequences that his actions deserved. Boy, I'm grateful for the mercy and grace of God. Psalm 116 verse 5 says this, Gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. I am grateful that we serve a God of grace and mercy. I am grateful that I don't get what I deserve. I am grateful that I don't experience the full force of God's justice. Next time the famine hits and you're afraid and you're tempted to think life's not fair, you better thank God it's not. God is faithful. God was faithful to protect Sarah. God was faithful to protect Abraham. I want you to see what happens next. Chapter 13. Let's look at the first couple of verses together. And Abram went out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had and lot with him into the south. And Abram was very rich in gold and silver and cattle and 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 Ai, unto the place of the altar. which he had made there at the first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord." Boy, I'm grateful that God is faithful. That I don't get everything that I deserve, but I am faithful, praise God, that he doesn't throw the clay away. Abraham messed up. Abraham's faith had failed. Abraham had brought great pain to his family. Abraham had brought great shame on his God. But God doesn't throw the clay away. And God keeps working. And God allows Abram to return to Him. The Bible says Abram came back to Bethel, which means the house of God. Abraham came back to the place both physically and spiritually. He returned to that place. And his return is representative of repentance. And Abraham again called on the name of the Lord. Praise God. He is a God of second chances. We all face famines. We are all prone to flight over faith. Boy, we all tend to underestimate the effects of our failure, but I am so glad that God is faithful even when my faith falters. He's not the one who left, amen? He doesn't leave when we do. He's not the one who changed. He is faithful. Praise God, He's faithful to receive. James chapter 4, number 8, draw nigh to God, and you can say it with me, and He will draw nigh to you. He's faithful to receive. He's faithful to forgive. David put it back up, verse John 1, 9. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He is faithful to restore. Praise God that He is faithful even when our faith falters. And so tonight, the Father of Faith provides a great lesson for us when faith meets failure. Christians, tonight if you're facing a famine, choose faith, not flight. Run to God. Because no matter what Egypt looks like, God is the only way of true blessing. And friend, if your faith has faltered, if you have wandered away, turn around. Abraham came back to the first altar. He returned to the spot. It's kind of like if you miss your turn in the car and the GPS will say redirecting. Take a U-turn and turn around. Tonight, if you'll turn around, I promise you this, the God of grace and the God of second chances will meet you when you come. When faith meets failure.