Good morning again. If you have your Bible with you, let me encourage you to open it to Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18, we're gonna flip around a little bit today. We're gonna begin there. Title of the message is The Fellowship of God with Abraham. Now as we begin here, let me remind you of some words that were spoken by the Apostle Paul and written down by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 15 and verse 4. It says, For whatever was written in the former days in the Old Testament was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we would have hope. You know, when you look at the Old Testament, we need to keep in mind that what was written there was for our learning. And though all the Bible is for us, there are things not written directly to us as we have the epistles in this dispensation of the church. But we oftentimes through reading the Old Testament can recognize that there's stories and principles that are communicated that illustrate principles that have already been established in the New Testament. And we're gonna see that as part of our study in Genesis 18 this morning. We're gonna observe some things about Abraham and recognize that what he was doing there was illustrating principles that all of us, God would have all of us to know. So if you think of Abraham's journey thus far, he's made some progress. He's been doing what we as believers in Christ are designed to do and commanded to do, and that's grow in the grace and knowledge of the Savior. He's had some failures. I know that's shocking because we've never had any, right? But through it, he's been strengthened in faith. Romans 10, 17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, and so God has designed the word of God to initiate a response of faith even in our lives and be strengthened by it. And so this is important even as we think a description of biblical faith we've used throughout this series. It includes an admission of our spiritual inability and that's a, we always need to recognize that without Christ we can do nothing and we are helpless not only to work for salvation but even to handle our own life apart from God's grace provision. as revealed in his word. Your faith is necessary for spiritual growth as is mine. If you've attended IBC for some time, you recognize that that is required for spiritual growth and that it's God's will that you grow. We're told in 2 Peter 3.18, but grow, and this is a command, in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever, amen. These are the famous last words of the apostle Peter. And so this is a present tense command. We're not to grow to a point and then stop. It's to be ongoing, it's to be to continue, be continue. Easy for me to say. You know, we see that even in the physical realm. The expectation that when children are born is that normally that they would grow up physically and as they're nourished, they do. In fact, we would think that there's something terribly wrong if we didn't observe that going on. And that's true even emotionally, intellectually, and so forth. And God's expectation for his children is that we would grow as well. That salvation from sin's penalty is not an end in itself. We're to continue to learn and to grow and increase in knowledge and understanding of our Savior. And even understanding grace and our application of grace. This is God's will for you, this is God's will for me. Now like in the life of Abraham and our lives as well, it takes time. It takes time to understand what you have in Christ, who you are in Christ, and the principles and precepts that make up the Christian life. It takes time to understand how they fit and how without Christ they can't be applied. And so that's all part of it. But that's not gonna happen apart from you getting fed the word of God. If you're gonna grow in the grace, knowledge of the Savior, you need to be fed. In fact, we're told here, same epistle, Peter says, as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. And you get a taste of God's amazing grace the moment you get saved, when you realize that the best you had going for you was a filthy rag and that God didn't want it, and it has nothing to do with the removal of your sin. And you begin to taste of the grace of God as you recognize that Jesus Christ tasted death for you and for me. Hebrews 2.9 says, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels. In other words, he became a man for what purpose? For the suffering of death. He's now crowned with glory and honor. But he did it that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. Everyone, and the word taste there means to experience something. You know, when you put food in your mouth and you taste it, you're experiencing that. And that's what Christ did on the cross. I like how 2 Corinthians 8, 9 reminds us of what Christ did for us. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. You know, we can never be worthy of the Savior's love. And yet in grace, he emptied himself of his privileged position in heaven. He became poor so we could become rich in him. I mean, amazing humility on his part to empty himself so that we could freely benefit from his love. Amazing. And so he demonstrated his love on the cross, he died for our sins, he effectively eliminated the very thing that separated us from a holy God. And so when you trusted Christ as your savior, you immediately got a taste of that amazing grace. And that's to be the impetus for further growth. Again, salvation in first tense has never been designed to be an end in itself. And we think of this word desire here. That's in the act of voice. In other words, you are to volitionally choose to desire this. And the pure milk of the word is what you're to desire. The pure, unadulterated living word of God which is able to save your souls. In fact, the word desire carries the idea of lovingly longing for something. And that's interesting, I mean, if you wake up in the morning and you have zero desire for the word of God, just think about that for half a second. This is what we need so we can grow. You know, babies can't grow without milk, and they actively desire it. In fact, when they don't get it, they let you know. They want it, and they want it bad, and they want it now. And so that's to be the mindset of each believer in Christ when it comes to the word of God. And not the watered down stuff, the pure stuff. And again, because you've tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious, that's to be the impetus for you to do it. Because you know this is what satisfies your soul. Just like a baby is satisfied with his mother's milk. In fact, the curious idea of eagerness. And eagerness is a key ingredient when it comes to spiritual growth. And we're gonna see this attitude demonstrated beautifully even by Abraham in the beginning of this chapter. And so God has provided the materials for you to grow. When you got saved, the Holy Spirit took up residence within your heart. He can illuminate your thinking. He has the ability to teach you the word of God so you can understand what the word of God says. He's provided pastor teachers to teach you the word of God. But again, at the same time, learning the word of God is never to be an end in itself. It's a means to an end, an end of doing the will of God for His glory. This is why James 1.22 tells us, but be doers of the word, not hearers only deceiving yourselves. It's easy to be deceived because you understand a principle and know how it works that you're doing it, but you may not be. It needs to be applied by faith. Very important. And this is why God provides trials. You know, we've said many times an easy life teaches nothing. And God is faithful to bring you the trials that we'd rather not have but desperately need into our lives so that we can be in a position where we can understand and take in God's word and see a principle and come to understand a principle, come to understand a promise that we might not learn otherwise. In fact, this was necessary for the Hebrews. The Hebrews were in very dire straits circumstantially. They were under a lot of persecution. And yet, that was part of God's design to draw them to him. And even the writer of the book of Hebrews said, solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Apart from an opportunity to apply the word of God, you're not gonna gain discernment. You're not gonna grow, you're not gonna see exactly how a principle fits. You're not gonna distinguish the good from the best, or good from evil. You need these things, because God wants you to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. This is how you learn to, in a very practical way, wait upon the Lord, to walk by faith, to see how God's word fits whatever situation you might be in. In fact, James makes it clear that without trials, there can't be growth. The IV of James 1, verses 2 and 3 says, consider it pure joy. That is definitely not the normal response to a trial. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, the spectrum is quite huge, because you know something. The test of your faith produces perseverance, and we're to let the trial run its course so God can mature us in him, and we can be more like him. And again, that cannot happen apart from a trial. And this has been taking place over time in Abraham's life. And one thing he's had to learn, and this is the lesson he's learned with regard to an error, is that we're not sufficient of ourselves to think anything is from ourselves. Our sufficiency has to be of God. And God's gonna be faithful to make that very painfully clear to him. But that's the outcome of growth, to understand that I'm not sufficient, that Christ is sufficient. Like John the Baptist said, he must increase and I must decrease. And so Abraham's growing through failures and through taking God by faith, through further revelation that he's received from God. I mean, throughout this study, God is revealed to him, first of all, as Jehovah and then Elohim, the all-powerful, all-sufficient one who called him out of Ur of the Chaldees. Then he came to know him as El Elyon, the possessor of heaven and earth, who's able to do exceedingly abundantly above, who said that since he owns everything, why don't you look to me, Abraham, and not the king of Sodom? Now I was impressed with, I never get tired of reading Daniel 4, 34 and 35. Nebuchadnezzar, He said, at the end of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me. It took him seven years to get humbled, eating grass like a cow. And I bless the most high and praise and honor him who lives forever for his dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Who can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done? It would have been much easier for him to learn that the easy way than the hard way. But like most males, it takes the hard way for him to get it across. And then Abraham came to know God as El Roy through the circumstances that surrounded Hagar. El Roy is the God who sees. In fact, that answers the question, where is God when it hurts? And the answer is He's right there. He's the God of all comfort. He's the God of all grace. He's there to give you the grace and help that you need and the mercy you need in whatever circumstance you're in. And that's, again, why we're told boldly to come to the throne of grace to receive those things that we need. You know, the God who sees doesn't meet a beat. His eyes are not shut. He's not slumbering. He's ever watchful. He's ever faithful. And that's why even through that chapter, we said those that wait for the Lord are never disappointed. I mean, do you see that all these names that we've looked at that God has called and even calls himself are the very things that comprise him as your heavenly father, who sees you, who knows you intimately, who cares above measure, and has got to plan through it all? If you want to have peace in your heart, do that. If you don't, don't. I mean, it seems on a fairly regular basis, every believer's gotta come to a point where they remind themselves that all things are working together for good. Because life has got one curve ball after another. Now last chapter we saw that God introduced himself to Abraham as El Shaddai. The name that stresses God's comfort, displaying his power as almighty God. And we saw that the word Shaddai was derived from the root word Shad, refers to a mother's breast, which sustains a newborn infant. It conveys love and tenderness and mercy. And so all that a mother is to a newborn child, God is to his children. He's the nourisher. He's the strength giver. He's the satisfier. He's there to enrich and satisfy your life. He's all powerful. He can do exceedingly, abundantly above. And these names are there for us to just stop and contemplate who our God is. And that's the place of comfort and hope. And that should increase your faith. It should increase your communion and further trust and devotion to this God who loves you and gave himself for you. You know, if you're growing in the grace and knowledge of your Savior, your capacity to enjoy communion with him should increase. Is your capacity to enjoy communion with your Savior increasing? Are you growing in a close, intimate relationship with him? You know, Abraham was called the friend of God. How did that happen? Because they learned to communicate. They learned to communicate very well. They had communion. that's happening over him. In fact, here in chapter 18, we're going to notice some more attributes about God. You're going to see Abraham's response to this, which is designed to teach us some things as well. Chapter 1 of verse 18 says, Then the Lord appeared to him by the terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. And so he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him. And when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them. He bowed himself to the ground and said, My Lord, if I have now found favor in your sight, do not pass on by your servant. Please let a little water and be brought and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh your hearts. And after this you may pass by, and as much as that you have come to your servant. And they said, do as you have said. And so Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal. Knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a tender and good calf and gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. He took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree as they ate. You know, someone has said that the believer's life can be summed up in four words, sonship, worship, stewardship, and fellowship. Now, all of those things are yours positionally when you enter into a relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ through faith in him. You know, once you trust Christ as your savior, you become a son of God by position. You could worship him as spirit and in truth. and you become his servant in which you can lovingly yield yourself to God and offer yourself in service to him and really become a friend of God's. And so what we have going on here is a picture of fellowship, fellowship. So I have on your handout a question, what is fellowship with God? This is one way of putting it. Fellowship with God carries the idea of a joint participation with God, some interaction going on, a sharing in common or communion with God. It speaks of more than just knowing the Lord, it speaks of an ongoing joint participation or enjoying of that relationship with the Lord. You were created for that relationship. I like how, you know, it speaks of intimacy, it speaks of harmony, of like-mindedness. The ability to share with and communicate with each other. You know, God wants your fellowship. He created you for that. In fact, that's what's going to go on for all eternity. Jesus said this on the eve of his crucifixion with his disciples as he's praying. to his heavenly father, as you have given him authority over all flesh, in reference to himself, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. You know, verse three tells us that they may know you, purpose clause. in the Greek, know you intimately. It's the Greek word ginosko. And so possessing eternal life means coming to know the true God and knowing the one he has sent, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Christ not only came to give you life, but to have an abundant life, a fulfilled life, one that's fulfilled in every way through the spirit of God and the word of God. You know, Psalm 1611 speaks of fellowship with God. He says, you will show me the path of life. Do you want to be shown the path of life? Walk in fellowship, walk in intimacy with God. Do you want to experience fullness of joy? Abide in him, allow his words to abide in you. Christ said this so that your joy might be full. Do you want to? understand and experience pleasures forevermore, stay spiritually connected at the right hand of God. That's where it's all at. And if you're not doing that, you're gonna look for some cheap substitute that might give you a rush, if you will, but will fade quickly and ultimately not deliver the goods. And so here, Genesis 18 opens up with Abraham enjoying community with God, and is enjoying fellowship with him in a place of blessing. And so, as we think of the setting here, three men appear to Abraham at his tent in the heat of the day. Heat of the day. Now we know, as we read further into this chapter, that two of these three men are angels, because if you drop down to verse 22, It says, then the men turned away from there and they went towards Sodom, but Abraham stood still before the Lord. If you go to chapter 19 and verse one, it says, now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. And so two of these men that are with the third one, it says the Lord Jesus Christ were angels. Now, did Abraham know they were angels? I don't think he did because we read in Hebrews 13 verse 2, which I think refers to this, do not forget to entertain strangers for by doing some, by doing, by so doing rather, some have unwittingly entertained angels. Angels when they appear in scripture always look like men. And that was the case here. So who's the third one? Well, this is another appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ pre-incarnate. And notice the word appeared again. This is how it opened up in verse 18. What can we know about the Lord's appearance? It was not like merely a vision. He's had visions where the Lord spoke to him before, but in chapter 17 and here in chapter 18, it's the Lord Jesus Christ in person. So did Abraham know it was the Lord? I certainly believe he did. Now some don't think he did, and so they think he realizes it's the Lord when Abraham calls out Sarah later in this chapter. Because Sarah laughed to herself, though God heard it and called her out on it. But I think he recognized the Lord immediately. I'm inclined to think that whenever the Lord appeared to Abraham, he looked the same way. It's not like he looked different one time and then another. And so Abraham realizes that these are special guests. So he says in verse three, don't pass by. I want to minister to you. And so in verse three we read, and he said, my Lord, if I've now found favor in your sight, do not pass by. Don't pass on. Don't keep going, please. Let a little water be brought. Wash your feet, rest yourselves under the tree. And I will bring you a morsel of bread, that you may refresh your hearts. And after that you may pass by, and as much as you have come to do, come to your servant. And they said, do as you have said. And so Abraham invites the Lord and his two companions to be his guests. To be his guests. But what can we note here about Abraham's mental posture? How does he open up verse three? He said, my Lord, if I've now found favor in your sight, don't pass on by your servant. How do you find favor in God's sight? How do you gain favor with God? It's an interesting idea, right? Well, contrary to popular belief, you don't earn it. You can't earn an audience with God. The only reason we can come boldly to the throne of grace is because Jesus Christ afforded us an entrance into his presence. See, that's the only way to gain favor with God, is to have applied to your life through faith alone and Christ alone and he declares you righteousness. You can't earn God's favor. In fact, that's the whole line of thinking behind religious activity. People that are involved in religious activity are trying to gain an entrance into God. They're trying to earn something. And that's impossible because those things don't remove your sin. I always like this picture. This is your natural heart on display. Do not climb, play on, or around the pipe. Okay. No, that's exactly who we are. When it says wet paints, there's something in us that says, when it says don't touch, we're thinking about it, it's there. And for you it might not be wet paint, but there's something there that incites you to rebel against whatever command you're given. That's how we are earned. Because we're sinners by birth, we're sinners by position, we're sinners by practice. We've been born separated and we've separated ourselves from God because of our sin. And there's nothing you can do to have your sin removed. And one of the big problems today, even giving out the gospels, people don't recognize they're a sinner. Like I mentioned, Jill had a young lady in her class last week who really wasn't exposed to any biblical truth and spent the first day getting her to see that she's a sinner. Because by nature, if someone doesn't expose that to you, you're not gonna acknowledge that you're a sinner. And the spirit of God's in the world today trying to convict men of the fact that they're a sinner and they need a savior, so that they would humble themselves under God's mighty hand. See, the reality is, is that if you're gonna be saved, it's gonna be by the grace of God. For by grace you've been saved through faith, and that now to yourselves is a gift from God, it's not of works, lest any one should boast. If you just dissect these two verses, you see that salvation is by grace, it's through faith, faith is a means of appropriation that's non-meritorious, and it's a gift from God. And we get the contrast in these verses as well. It's not of your, in this case it says not of yourselves, and it's not of works. Otherwise you'd have reason to boast. And so if you're gonna be saved, which you desperately need, it's by grace through faith and a gift of God. You know, we think grace works for salvation. In a lot of people's minds, they think it's a scale situation here. If they think my good deeds somehow will weigh my sin, maybe I'll make it. Well, they don't understand how awful their sin is, and they don't understand that good works don't pay for sin. This system doesn't work. It's not in the word of God. In fact, you know what? All the good works in the world won't even cancel out one sin. One, let alone the thousands that you have under your belt. And so salvation does come by a work, but it's not your work. It's the work of Jesus Christ. He came as the Lamb of God and did something for you to remove your sin that you could never do. He was innocent, you were guilty. He was just, you were unjust. And so the blood of Jesus Christ took care of every sin, and that's mind-boggling if you stop and think about it. And so what an unbeliever needs to come to grips with is he cannot save himself from hell. It's impossible. All the good works in the world won't remove one sin. because they don't count. Isaiah 64.6 tells us we're all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags. And so religion says, you know what, you gotta do your part. You can't put me in the same boat as that guy over there who's never lifted a finger to help anybody. And that's, again, human viewpoint that fails to recognize their own depravity. And so they think that they've got some combination of their own effort. It might be being good, going to church, giving money, getting baptized, obeying mom and dad, praying, making promises. The list is potentially endless. And yet we're told in Galatians 2.21, I don't set aside the grace of God for righteousness would come through my law keeping or my performance. Well, then Christ died in vain. Salvation by grace means Jesus did it all for you. You get it for free. He paid 100% of what you owe God in terms of the penalty of your sins. He came as the lamb of God, innocent and pure and took upon himself the wrath of God. And so since Christ took all of your sins upon himself, He cried out, it is finished, which means paid in full. The only responsibility you have is to put your faith in him alone. That's how it's received. That's why it's not of works. Again, faith is a means of appropriation. You're just picking up a gift that someone put on the table. And so that's the beauty of grace. Grace, God saves according to unmerited favor because you are unworthy. You have no ability whatsoever to save yourself. God can never, never, never, you can rather, can never, never, never earn it in any way. It's totally free with no strings attached. That's how you taste and see that God is gracious. In fact, the ESV version of Romans 4.16 says, this is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all. If you had to do one faithful thing to get it, you'd never get it, because you'd blow it. It's just that simple. And so Abraham's appeal to the Lord is if I fall in favor of your sight and Jesus could say, yeah, you have because you trusted me for your own righteousness. But because of that, notice the impetus for him to want to serve. Notice that posture. He saw it as a privilege to serve and to minister. And so what was the hospitality he displayed? I'll bring you a morsel of bread. You may refresh your hearts. And after that, you may pass by as much as you've come to your servant. Verse four says, please, a little water to be brought. Wash your feet, rest yourselves under the tree. Does that mindset resonate with you? In fact, notice some things we can learn about here, about Abraham and the hospitality he offered. First of all, whoops, he ministered to the Lord. Now, you may say, well, yeah, Jesus was right there. But it was the mindset. And this is such an important mindset. Notice what Colossians 3 says. And this can't be underscored enough. I don't care what you got going on in life. It says, whatever you do, and that pretty much covers everything you do, whatever you do, do it from the heart as to who? the Lord, and not to the person you're seeking to minister to. Knowing that from the Lord you're gonna receive the reward of inheritance, for who do you ultimately serve? The Lord Jesus Christ. And so who the person is physically, humanly, doesn't matter because it's the Lord you're focusing on. It's the Lord you're focusing on. And again, this is a byproduct of this mindset that we've seen several times. I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy toward you, you've tasted the scene that the Lord is good, that you offer yourself as a living sacrifice. It's on to who? Jesus Christ. With a desire to be holy and pleasing to him. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do you have that mindset? The Spirit of God wants to produce that mindset. You see that your life, wherever circumstance you're in, it's a privilege to serve. I thought of Joseph here today. When he was thrown in the clink unjustly, what did he do? He served whoever God put before him. He could have said, are you kidding me? I couldn't have been any more falsely accused and mistreated and you want me to serve? He never thought like that. The goal is pleasing who? God. You know, we minister to the Lord. In fact, we do so because it's him who works in us and through us for his good pleasure. And that's how you effectively minister to someone else, because we're channels only of his love and grace. What else? He ministered personally. Right? He ministered personally. He's 99 years old. He could have delegated all his work to his servants, but he was involved to the degree that he could be personally. He took a vested interest in those whom he was seeking to minister to. It mattered to him on a personal level. He put in what was necessary to see that ministry took place. That's the grateful mindset. He wasn't just putting in his time. He wasn't just going through the motions. This meant something to him on a personal level. You know, that's how all ministry should be. You know, if you're working in the nursery, it could be like, 34 minutes and I'm gonna be out of here, or whatever. Or you can say, you know, you can take a vested interest in those children that's onto Jesus Christ. Or if you're serving in Juana, or Sunday school. Or if you're helping the neighbor. Or if you're just fellowshipping with people. If you see this person as someone that Christ loves, and you're doing it that's onto him, And the Lord, it matters, it changes everything. You know, we talked about the church at Ephesus a couple weeks ago. They were perfunctory in what they were doing. They wasn't motivated by the love of Christ. And Jesus said, this is serious business and I want you to change your mind about your thinking right here. And revisit and realize that love is a key component in all of it. He ministered immediately and speedily. He didn't waste any time here. All right, in verse five, verse six, I forgot to read this, verse six. So Abraham hurried into the tent. 99 years old, that still may have taken a while. But he hurried into the tent and said, Sarah, quickly, make ready three measures, which is a boatload of fine meal. Knead it and make cakes. And he ran to the herd. Again, that may have taken a while at 99. He took a tender, good calf. He gave it to the young man. He picked out the calf. It was a tender and a good one. He hastened to prepare it. And he took the butter and the milk which he had prepared and set it before them. And he stood by them. This is called enthusiasm, baby. You know, God honoring ministry was voluntary and it's enthusiastic. You know, he could have said, you know, we're told it's the heat of the day. And the heat of the day out there is a lot, I mean, up here it's more like it's freezing outside, but there it's the heat of the day. It's too hot, Jesus, why don't you just pass on? No, he ran in the heat. Because it mattered. In fact, he ministered with generosity. He gave him the best he had. Fine meal, a calf that was tender and good. And just to see how this makes a difference to the Lord, put a mark here, go with me, the Old Testament book of Malachi. Malachi for you Italian folk. Notice chapter one, verse six. A son honors his father. A servant honors his master. If then I am your father, where's my honor? If I'm the master, where's my reference? Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise my name. Yet you say, in what way have we despised your name? You offered defiled food on my altar. Well, how have we defiled you? The table of the Lord is contemptible, you said. And when you offer a blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? When you offer the lame and the sick, you're supposed to offer the best of the flock, and they got the lame and the blind ones for the Lord. Is it not evil? He calls it evil. Offer it then to your governor. Would you offer that to the governor? Here, here's my leftover trash. No. Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably, says the Lord of hosts? But now entreat God's favor that he may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, will they accept you favorably, says the Lord of Hosts? Who is there even among you who would shut the door so that you would not kindle fire on my altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of Hosts, nor will I accept this offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun, even the going down, my name shall be great among the Gentiles. In every place incense shall be offered to my name, and pure offering. For my names shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. But you profane it, in that you say the table of the Lord is defiled, and its food is contemptible. And you say, oh, what a weariness. In other words, gotta go through this nonsense. And you sneer at it, says the Lord of Hosts. And you bring the stolen and the lame and the sick, and you bring an offering? Should I accept this from your hand, says the Lord? But cursed be the deceiver who has in his flock a male and takes a vow, but sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I'm a great king, says the Lord of Hosts, and my name is to be feared among the nations. Abraham bring a lame chicken? Or do you take the best of his herd? I mean, do you give the Lord your junk? Or do you give the Lord your best? It's a mindset. I'm after the mindset. What else? He served with humility. Notice again in verse two. So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three members standing by him. When he saw them, he ran from the door, and he bowed himself to the ground. That's humility. He called himself a servant in verse three and in verse five. He says, I'm your servant. He called the feast a morsel of bread. And after he fed them the food, he stood by them, waiting to see what else he could do for them. You know, this is, again, this is the heat of the day. This is afternoon nap time, just like in Ecuador. We went to Ecuador, everything shuts down between one and three in Ecuador, because it's hot out. And they take their siestas. So this is during nap time, these three guys showed up. Abraham says, hey, man, I'm taking a nap. It's probably I would say that. But you know, he served when it wasn't convenient. He had unexpected guests. The heat of the day. Well, I didn't know you were coming, man. You know? It's not like he had any forewarning here. And you know, it's easy if you don't want to serve the Lord to find an excuse. It's super easy. But that's not the issue for him and it shouldn't be the issue for us. Because how much of life falls into your convenience category? I'm sure Andrew and Amanda look at life that way. Four kids under six, twins. I start sweating when I think about it. But he also served cooperatively. He got a lot of people involved. He sought others' help. He delegated where it was appropriate. It was a team effort. They were all in this together. And see, this is what Abraham is modeling for us here is really how we as New Testament believers in Christ are to look at hospitality. You know, think of hospitality. What is hospitality? It's a Greek word we're gonna see here in a minute. I'll let you pronounce it, is showing love for strangers. That's what it means, love for strangers, or love towards strangers. It's showing brotherly love toward others in and out of the body of Christ. In fact, Mortimer Arias says, the ministry of hospitality is becoming an almost forgotten Christian virtue in our style of life today, particularly in big cities with the rampant crime on the streets, their locked-in apartments, and all their affluent urban and bourgeois devices which attempt to create privacy in our homes and in our lives. New Testament, however, teaches that hospitality was a distinctive mark of Christians and Christian communities. Interesting, isn't it? In fact, look at some things about what the Bible, New Testament says about Christianity. Go with me to Romans 12 to begin with. And I gotta cover some ground here. Romans chapter 12. Now in the context of Romans 12 here, again we've already looked at verses one and two, we have a yielded heart here to the Lord, availing himself to him to do his service. And not think like the world thinks, because the world always thinks selfishly. But verse nine says that love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, and there's our word, given to hospitality. So hospitality is an expression of a spirit-transformed life by the individual believer that's already presented himself to the Lord for service. And so this is to be all, this is something we're all to display to each other. You know, if the spirit of God has been hospitable with you, showing love toward you, God desires that you would show that same love toward someone else. And verse 13 says distributing, it's a Greek word that means sharing with the saints, sharing your advantage and your assets toward their disadvantage is the idea there. It says given, the word given is dioko, it means to run after, to pursue, to seek eagerly after, or to seek eagerly after hospitality. It's a present participle, it's an active voice, we need to choose to do it. And so this is practicing the grace of God with enthusiasm toward others. It's something you need to be fired up about, get excited about. And again, in our life where we got the hustle and bustle going on, we got things to do, lawns to mow when it ever dries out, right? Mows to feed, bills to pay. We got things going on, and yet we're to pursue hospitality. This is what God wants, it's a mindset, which means it's not gonna happen by default, you need to think about it, you should pray concerning it, and prepare for it, and seek opportunities to do it. This is how God wants you and I to think as yielded believers to him, and we see it as a privilege to serve. Again, this isn't drudgery here, in fact, our next I forgot to put this up. Believers are to pursue it. That's the word given lended itself to. Given to hospitality means to pursue it. And we're to pursue it gladly. Go with me to First Peter chapter four. You know, Peter's writing to believers that are taking it in the neck for Christ, they're suffering. They've got all kinds of trials in life. And he said, it's okay, you don't have to do it. No, he says in verse seven, the end of all things is at hand. In other words, the Lord can come back at any moment. Therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers, and above all things, this is the most important thing, have fervent love for one another, for love will cover the multitude of sins. And here it is, verse nine, be hospitable to one another without grumbling. Without grumbling. Our memory work for the month, do all things without, Complainings and disputings, oh, that's going over well. We're going to make that the perpetual memory work, no. You know, this is needed because as the end time, 2 Timothy 3.12 says, men will be lovers of themselves and not others. That's the way of the world. The world is increasingly, it's waxing worse and worse in that regard. Men have always been selfish, but that display of selfishness is only going to increase as time goes on. And we're to be the opposite, because we have the Spirit of God living in us. We should be different from the world. So why does God want this? Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. Well, it's the love of Christ. We love him because he first loved us. Romans 5.5 says, the love of God has been shed abroad in our heart by the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is love. And love is the key to doing something without grumbling. Verse nine says there, have fervent love. It means persistent love, loving with resolve, with earnest, with intentionality, going for it with all you've got, which means you need to choose to love even when you don't feel like it. It's not emotional love. This is the love Christ talked about on the eve of his crucifixion. A new commandment I give you that you love one another, well what's the standard? It's I have loved you. Can't get any higher than that. You're to love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples because you know what sets apart a Christian in the mind of an unsaved person is the fact that there's love present, especially to the unlovely. So love is going to involve strenuous effort, self-sacrifice, persistence because there's always obstacles which are going to hinder you. And the thing about love, when you love someone, it's natural to think that it's going to be reciprocated or at least they're going to appreciate it. And you know what? Boy, don't hold your breath waiting for that. You'll die in five minutes. You know, some people simply never appreciate the love they're shown. And you know, Christ loved you, and until you got saved, you had no appreciation for it either. And some believers just don't demonstrate the love of Christ. Not that they can't, they have the same spirit of God we all have. But he says without grudging here. And you know, think about it, he says, love covers them all to their sins. It could be that God wants you to love because someone took a stand for Christ, and because they took a stand for Christ, you're holding a grudge against them, and he says, no, love covers them all to their sins, and they've made your life more difficult because they decided to love Christ, and you wanted to love yourself instead, so now you expect me to help them out? He bugs me. Well, that means it's all about you, not about the Lord. No, it's just one another. We're to one another, one another. There's all kinds of one another commands in the New Testament. But we're members one of another and we're to minister the same love of Christ to one another that he ministered to us. And showing hospitality is being part of the body of Christ. It's part of the dynamic interdependence we're to have with each other. And it's to be a mutual exercise one toward another. Why doesn't it happen? Well, Philippians 2.21 says we all seek our own, so that's part of the problem. But people don't do it because it's hard work. It's costly, it's inconvenient, and it may not be appreciated. But this is why in your mind you say, you know what, I'm doing this because I love my Savior. I'm serving the Lord Jesus Christ, whether it's appreciated or not. That's the beauty of living is unto Christ. You're free. Otherwise you're in bondage to what so and so thought. Or so and so thinks of me. I can't think of a more miserable way to live, to live in the fear of what other people think of you. Mercy. If you're loving the Lord Jesus Christ and doing what you do is unto him, that all takes care of itself. But it says, without grudging, that means without complaint, without murmuring. I mean, grudging and murmuring and complaining promote resentment and disharmony and discouragement. The very opposite of love. And then you get discouraged and say, well, why should I even bother? Well, you're bothering for the sake of Christ. That's why everything comes down to what do I think of Jesus Christ? It all comes down to that. And if you just stop for five minutes and realize he loved you when you were so unlovely, then it all goes away. John said, my little children, let's not love in word or in tongue, but indeed in truth. The idea not word or in tongue only. I love you, man. Can I have your Bud Light? Remember that commercial? Sorry. But you know what, it's gonna cost you something, but did it cost Christ anything? What did it cost him to love you? You know, it's a privilege to just minister. In fact, believers receive personal blessing when they practice it. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 13. Thanks. Verse one, let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers. By doing so, some have unwittingly entertained angels. And then remember the prisoners as if you were chained with them, those who are mistreated since you yourselves are also in the body. That's powerful right there. Again, it starts with loving Christ and then loving the brethren. And the strangers here that he's talking about might be the very ones that are fleeing for their lives because of the persecution that's going on in Jerusalem, and they need love, and they need hospitality. They're hard-pressed to find lodging or whatever, food or whatever it might be. And I think, again, I've mentioned verse two. I think it looks back to what Abraham did. I mean, who knows? God may have put an angel in your path sometime in your past. and you may have ministered to them. You don't know that. And then how about these imprisoned believers? They're undoubtedly jailed because of their testimony for Christ. And this is something that's important to Christ. They're being mistreated and you have an opportunity to minister to them. Are you gonna take advantage of them? Because they're in the body also. They're in the body also. You know, we're a family. God has placed us together. We're members one of another and we're to love one another. It's like me not loving my hand. I hate you hand. It's dumb, right? You know, I think angels, sometimes when you minister, don't expect angels to come over. You know, there's times we've had people over and their kids are like train wrecks, getting into everything. And so parents, let me just admonish you, when you go to someone's house, train your children, this you can touch, that you can't, or whatever, I mean, makes it easier on everybody. Kids are rummaging through our closets. Thank God we had the bedroom doors shut, right? I mean, some kids are stinkers. But God says they're angels, so there you go, at least someone does, right? But you need to keep in mind when you're ministering, this is something the Lord takes seriously. What did he say to the people that were ministered to during the tribulation? This principle is what I'm after here. The king will say to those on his right hand, come you blessed to my father and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. And I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. And I forgot that in the next verse. They said, well, when did we do that? He says, when you did it unto the least of these, you did it as unto me. That's the key. And you know, God wants to let you know that this is not in vain, because he's told these same Hebrews that were taxing themselves trying to minister to someone who's in desperate need, God is not unjust to forget your work and labor, and this is a key here, of love, which you have shown toward his name, and that you minister to the saints, and you do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end. Don't stop now. Let's all get involved. God's writing it down. He's looking forward to rewarding you for your sacrifice to minister to people that maybe not only didn't appreciate it, but told you it was lousy. You know, I think of Zach, Zach, Zacchaeus, Jesus came on and stopped and said, Zacchaeus, I'm coming to your house today. And if the Lord said, Joe Blow, I'm coming to your house today, would you say, well, I don't have time today, Lord, I'm busy. I got things to do, I got lawns to mow. He said, you know what, that's okay, I'll just go to someone else's house. Zacchaeus, it's a privilege. We're running out of time. The church leaders are to practice this, I'll put it up here. This is a faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work, a bishop must be blameless, a husband and one wife, temperate, sober-minded, good behavior, hospitable, and able to teach. We find that the Lord's messengers are to have it shown to them. We're close, let's go to 3 John. We'll just briefly go through this and call it a day. This is itinerant preachers of the gospel. Verse five, beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers who have borne witness to your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well. Because they went forth for his namesake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. We therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers of their truth. In other words, You become a fellow worker with the one, the missionary, when you choose to support them and minister to them and have them in your home. They were to receive them and support them. In fact, Titus says this, sends Zenos the lawyer. It's a positive thing said about a lawyer in the word of God here. Sends Zenos the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with haste that they may lack nothing. Let our people also learn to maintain good works to meet urgent needs so they may not become unfruitful. This is what God wants. It's a mindset that first of all has a love affair with Christ and realize it's a privilege to give. I didn't talk about the blessings, I was going to say some more about the blessings and Hebrews there, but you're blessed. The Lord said it's more blessed to give than receive. So let's bring this back to Abraham here. We're out of time so I'll just review this. Did Abraham pursue hospitality? Yes. Did he do it grudgingly? No, he did it gladly. Did his hospitality provide a blessing for him? Yes, he was thrilled to pieces. Did he display leadership in pursuing hospitality? Yes. Did he use his home and hospitality to support God's messengers? Yes. So how does this apply to us? You and I, we should pursue hospitality enthusiastically. You should expect blessing in pursuit of hospitality now and in eternity as God's going to reward you. And again, it's just a blessing to serve. You should pursue hospitality without murmuring. This is God's will. Those in spiritual leadership should especially practice hospitality, but so should all saints. Hospitality promotes Christian love and ministers to one another in the body of Christ, use their spiritual gifts for God's glory. Hospitality is just one form of support that should be shown in ministry of the gospel. This is a way of thinking that the Spirit of God wants to produce in all of us. And Abraham was a primo example of that reality when the Lord Jesus and the two angels showed up. He gave him his best for the glory of Jesus Christ. Should we do any less? Let's pray. Father, thank you for your grace. We know that we are what we are by the grace of God. Thank you for being hospitable toward us. and loving us when we were unloving and sending your son to go to the cross and die in our place. May we have the mind of Christ through the word of God. May we duplicate what the spirit of God wants to produce in all of us for Christ's glory and being hospitable one to another. What a privilege it indeed is. We know that your calling is your enabling and so your grace is sufficient for these things. So I ask that the spirit of God will work in all of our hearts so we love one another with a pure heart firmly for your glory. Pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.