Turn now in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 20. This is on page 14 of your few Bibles. And we're going to hear the sermon text for this morning, which is chapter 20, verses one through 18. Please stand as you're able out of respect for the reading of God's inspired word. From there, Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur, and he journeyed in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister. And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you've taken, for she is a man's wife. Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, she is my sister? And she herself said, he is my brother. In the integrity of my heart, in the innocence of my hands, I have done this. Then God said to him in the dream, yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart. And it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore, I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.' So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, what have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done. And Abimelech said to Abraham, what did you see that you did this thing? Abraham said, I did it because I thought there is no fear of God at all in this place. And they will kill me because of my wife. Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, though not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, this is the kindness you must do to me at every place to which we come. Say of me, he is my brother. Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and male servants and female servants and gave them to Abraham and returned to Sarah, his wife, to him. And Abimelech said, behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you. To Sarah he said, behold, I have given your brother. a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you and before everyone you are vindicated. Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God abides forever. O man, you may be seated. Oops, I did it again. Those are the words of a pop star from the 90s. But they're also, I believe, words that epitomize this episode here with Abraham. Oops, I did it again. And you know exactly what I'm talking about, because if you remember from Chapter 12 of the Book of Genesis, Abraham did this exact same thing before, didn't he? You were hearing this, you said, wait, I forget. I know this is in the Bible somewhere, but I thought we already covered it. Yes, we did. It happens twice. This exact same thing where Abraham passes off his wife, Sarah, as his sister, first in order to protect himself from pagan men in Egypt, and now, it was bad enough the first time, but 30 years later, after so much discipleship, after growing so much closer to God, Abraham does it again, this time in the country of Gerar. It's ridiculous, Abraham. You should know better. How could you do this again after you went backtracking from Egypt back to Bethel, repenting, and here you are doing the same thing in the same way, why? And yet, when we're honest, I think we would admit how frustratingly true to life this episode is. All of us struggle with sin. And we often struggle with the same sins again and again and again. And so before we start coming at Abraham, we need to realize, we need to look at ourselves and say, how often I, return as a dog to its own vomit. How often I say, oops, I did it again. And what we need to see as we look at this passage is that God's grace, his wonderful, glorious grace is better, is greater, is more powerful than our besetting sin. So we need to look at our besetting sin and then God's greater grace. And we see in this passage, a reminder that we do indeed have besetting sins. What do I mean by that? That phrase is an old phrase, one that was used by Christians who have come before us. Besetting sin speaks to sins that are repetitive and habitual and ingrained. All Christians struggle with sin generally. We know this. None of us is perfect. Until we come to glory, we must confess and repent daily and turn from sin. But most of you can also identify a unique area of weakness where you are particularly susceptible to give in when tempted. And this is what we're talking about when we speak of besetting sins. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 1, you heard it, spoke of sin which clings so closely. And this is the idea, there are some sins which Feels like they are deep channels driven into our sin nature. The old man just does them. It's what he turns to. It's what we turn to. It's a habit. As habitual it is to chew our nails, right? Some sins are that readily accessible and available to us that when we're tempted in a particular way, we turn to anger, lust, anxiety, Manipulation, what are your go-to strategies to deal with the frustrations of life? What are your go-to sinful strategies that feel like, well, you put me in a certain place under certain conditions and I'll be running to this sin? Do you know you're besetting sins? We're talking about sin that is so suited to your personal struggles that it appears time and time again, even after great gaps in time, you say, wow, I thought I was long past that, but apparently this is sticking to me, this is. This is habitual. Now, I want you to think of saints throughout the scriptures who had this struggle, the struggle of sin that clung so closely that it felt like they just could never get away from these things, that their whole lives were spent fighting habits of sin. I want you to think of Moses's temper. Right? Think of how he exploded on that young Egyptian man in the desert, and then how later on he explodes against the people of Israel and strikes the rock. And I want you to think of Saul's jealousy, which just haunted him throughout his entire life. And I want you to think of David's lust, which reared its head again and again. And I want you to think of Peter's impulsiveness. And then you'll start to see, wow, besetting sin, sin that clings so closely I have to be on guard for this. For if the great heroes of the faith were haunted by sins, Abraham amongst them, then I too need to be on guard. Careful, Christian. Know yourself. Know your sin. Know your propensity to sin and then to sin again. Genesis chapter 20. You say, why does God give this to us twice? Some scholars have wrestled over this and tried to come up with some theory that it was accidentally left. It's the same story that got reduplicated. No, it's here twice for a very obvious reason. It's because Christians sin, and then Christians sin again. And there are sins which cling so closely that we must confront them and deal with them. And if you think, oh yeah, that's just a struggle of my youth, that's gone, and you don't realize it can come back in different places and different ways under certain circumstances, then you fool yourselves. Take heed lest you too fall. What was Abraham's besetting sin? we were to identify it. What is this thing that appears in his youth and in his old age that appears in Egypt but also in Gerar? Well, his besetting sin, if we could put a word to it, is this, self-trust, self-reliance. When things got tough, Abraham tried to fix things rather than rely on God. And sure, he believed in God, he acknowledged God's promises, But sometimes Abraham wondered whether God would really come through on his promises without some assistance. Here's the question that must have haunted Abraham throughout his life. Can God keep his promises without any help from me? He wondered whether God was really going to provide him a son through his wife Sarah in her old age. So he took matters into his own hands and he bore a child through Hagar, the slave woman. And this, of course, we saw weeks ago, was a ridiculous and sinful shortcut, which amounted to nothing less than this, that he did not trust God and take him at his word. He said, I guess God needs some help. He's not coming through. He doesn't see me. He doesn't hear me. He doesn't know my affliction. Then I guess I have to do this myself in my own way. And he turned to shortcuts. He turned to sin. And then twice now, he wondered whether God was really going to protect him from his pagan neighbors. So what did he do? He told his wife to lie and to say she's just his sister. And he says in this passage that he had made a habit of this. He says, wherever we go, listen, Sarah, wherever we go, if you really love me, just tell them that you're my sister. Don't tell them that you're my wife. You say, that's absolutely ridiculous, Abraham. Why are you doing this? Well, yes, it's a half truth. because Sarah is indeed his half-sister. One of the amazing things that the Lord takes someone who is in such a strange situation, strange marriage, and uses him as a hero of the faith, despite his setbacks, despite his shortcomings. But here we have this instance where here he is, and he's saying habitually, just wherever we go, tell them that this is the case. He is living in this ongoing, besetting sin that clings so closely Self-trust, self-reliance. Perhaps a pattern of self-trust clings to you, Christian. You know all too well what it means to turn to shortcuts when you start to lose your patience. You get tired of waiting around for God to act, so you take matters into your own hands And then you make things so, so much worse in your sin. Have you ever seen this? Have you ever felt the frustrations of life? You're saying, God, you're not listening. It feels like my prayers are hitting the ceiling. Are you even getting this, God? Why aren't you acting? And then what do you do? You deal with loneliness or you deal with anxiety through sinful measures. You want relationship, you want love, you want romance, and so you turn to a relationship which is not approved or accepted by God. You're bored and you're lonely in life, and so you turn to debauchery, sinful forms of entertainment. God calls you to repent of this. God has put This besetting sin of self-trust, right here in Genesis chapter 20, and also in Genesis chapter 12, as bookends, as it were, to Abraham's life, to show you that even those who think they are strong, even those who are mature in the faith, can be blinded to something that's right in front of them. It's pride, it's self-trust, it's self-reliance, and he calls you to repent of this. Perhaps this is a besetting sin for you. It is for many of us. How do we deal with besetting sins, whether it's self-trust or anger or manipulation tactics? How do we deal with these sins which feel so ingrained that they're almost a part of us and they feel like they are the most natural way to respond to the tough things in life? Well, there's something you need to know about all sin, but especially about this kind of sin, the sin that clings so closely. The only way to really and truly deal with sin is to go to the root of the problem. Besetting sin has deep roots. That's why it appears again and again and again and again. It becomes this go-to way of dealing with life's troubles. It's because the real issue is never really lying or deception or jealousy or self-trust. It's something deeper with roots which reach down to our hearts and to our deepest desires. And until we go there, until we deal with it, we're not really dealing with the root of the sin problem. Now, I have an illustration here to try to bring out what I'm talking about. I'm into gardening, especially this time of the year. And one of the things I've noticed over the past few years is this strange plant that I didn't plant that keeps coming up in my garden. And I researched it and found out it is an invasive plant. It is a chameleon plant, if you've ever heard of it. I hope you never do. In fact, I heard of someone who didn't know what it was and they brought it into a garden center and said, do you know what this is? And they said, leave immediately. Do not get that anywhere near our other plants. The chameleon plant is an invader and it is a master of popping up again and again and again. Here's why. It has a pesky and particular way of spreading its root. Now, I started dealing with this chameleon plant just every time I'd see it, I'd pick it up and I'd throw it in the trash. Pick it, pick it, pick it, get a big pile of it, throw it in the trash. But it just kept coming back and it seemed like it was getting stronger and stronger. And indeed it was. The reason why is because this plant grows through roots underneath the soil. And unless you go all the way down and scoop deep and get every bit of that root up, it will come back. And when it comes back, it'll throw all of its energy into coming back. That's what was happening is I was just scratching at the surface of the plant. I was just plucking it off by its leaf and its stem, but I was never getting down to the root. And so it is with our sin, Christian. Don't be surprised if you're just doing cosmetic work with the sin in your lives, if you're just shifting your habits around or staying away from a particular sin for a time. Don't be surprised if it comes rearing back with all of its force and energy. It's because unless we go down to the root and confront it, well, it's still alive and well and thriving in our hearts, in your heart. What's underneath your anger? What are the roots which reach down into your heart beneath your lust? What's below the surface of your manipulation, your half-truths, your lies? When you go below your self-trust and your habit of self-reliance, what's there? What's at the deepest level? What are the roots which reach down and tap into your heart? You see, when we sin, and this is true of Abraham, it's true of us, when we sin, we sin because we believe something. What does Abraham believe that is causing him to engage in such self-trust? Well, we realize really sin at its deepest level is just a rerun of the first sin in the garden, which says this. I don't believe that God is good. I don't believe that God can really do what he needs to do for me. I don't believe that God, when he gives me this, is giving me a good thing. And so when God puts suffering in our lives and allows us to suffer, we say, there's no way that this is good. And when God gives us a spouse who we thought was a wonderful spouse, but then after time, it's like, oh boy, this is hard. We say, I don't believe that God is good in this. Or when God, is making us wait and saying, wait, Christian. You say, well, that can't be good. If God was really good, he'd give me what I want right now. And this is the truth for Abraham. He doesn't believe, at the very root of his sin, he doesn't believe in God's basic goodness. He doesn't believe in a God who does everything and controls everything in Abraham's life for his very good. I would challenge you, Christian, to identify this, when you sin, when you have a besetting sin, what is the basic lie about God's goodness that you are telling yourself over and over and over and over again, even if it stays beneath the surface and you never actually look at that lie? If you were to confront it today, what is that lie? What is that doubting of God's goodness that you, even this morning, are questioning? Can you identify it? I challenge you over the upcoming weeks to see if you can identify some of the lies that Satan has told you and you believe regarding God's basic goodness. This is the start to uprooting, besetting sin in our life. Because God is wonderfully good, graciously good, amazingly good, and we see that in our passage. As this counter to our besetting sins, we see the greater grace of God. God proves himself over and over and over again to be better than we could ever deserve. And you see this here with God's goodness first to Sarah. What did God do to Sarah when she went along with her husband's scheme and told his lie and went to Abimelech's house? Well, God, in his exceeding goodness, protected her from violent men, preserving her from the hands of men so that she might finally give birth to the promised seed, to Isaac, in the very next chapter. That's coming up. And God brings her back to Abraham in such a way that no one doubts that the child she is about to conceive is God's gift to her and her husband, that he is opening a closed womb, that he is giving this child to Abraham and to his wife and to the promised seed forever. That's God's goodness to Sarah here, that God hasn't forgotten her doubting laughter and he's about to turn that into joyful laughter. in Genesis chapter 21. And now I want you to notice God's goodness, not just to Sarah, but also to Abimelech. You see, God spared this king from the disaster that was about to fall upon his household because of Abraham's wickedness. Abraham was supposed to be this witness. He was supposed to be a witness who inspired good works among the nations. He was supposed to inspire kings like Abimelech rather than drag them down and distort them. And then here's Abraham being this awful witness. And you see this king, Abimelech, very well could have seen the end of his kingdom. Why? Because of Abraham's failure. But God intervenes and God intercepts and God says, I'm the one who's held you back from all of the worst things that could come upon you. So God showers this king with his goodness. And then did you notice God's basic goodness, not just to Sarah and Abimelech, but also to Abraham? Here is lying, self-sufficient Abraham, who once again has made a royal mess of things by trusting in himself. And what does God do with him? What does God do with this doubting figure? He blesses him. He blesses him. And I want you to notice two basic ways in which God blesses him. First of all, he blesses him by exposing his sin. Good deal of public humiliation here for Abraham, right? Which first of all, he's confronted, well, he's confronted by God, but he's also confronted by this king of Bimelech who brings him forward and says, you tricked me, didn't you? Why did you do this? And Abraham has to answer these questions and be put on trial before Abim. Like, you see, at first you say, well, I would never want that. That is so embarrassing. But do you see God's goodness in exposing his sin? He exposes it to a watching world in such a way that he forces Abraham to repent and he pulls Abraham away from trust in himself to a deeper dependence upon God. See, I wanna speak to all of you here who have ever had to own up to your sin before your spouse, before your parents, before a church leader. And I want to remind you that even church leaders, especially church leaders, often have to be called out for sin just as Abraham was called out here. This is a goodness of God. When you are confronted because of a sinful pattern in your life, because of a besetting sin, you ought to say, praise God for his goodness. I have a God who loves me so much that he intercepts me, he stops me from being the worst that I can be, he calls out my sin, he calls me to change. Praise to a Lord that is like that, who doesn't let me just go on wallowing in my besetting sins, letting the roots of my sin grow deeper and deeper and deeper. And then notice what God does as well. He sends Abraham, sinful, guilty Abraham, out of Gerar with more than he left, with money, with possessions, with his wife, with land that's been gifted to him by this king, this innocent king whom Abraham fooled. This is not an encouragement, Christian, for you to wallow in sin and say, well, I guess God will just bless me. But it is a reminder of this, that Jesus loves me when I'm good, when I do the things I should. Jesus loves me when I'm bad, though it makes him very sad. Those are the words from Jesus loves me, this I know, right? Jesus loves us, even when besetting sin rears its head. Now, that is no excuse to wallow in it. But it is an encouragement to say, even when I am at my worst, God is there for my good. He loves me, he's working in me. Working in me to overcome this sin. See, brothers and sisters, the story of Abraham and Abimelech shows us the danger of besetting sin, but it also assures us of the goodness of God. The more we become convinced of this goodness of God, the easier the fight against these sticky sins, these besetting sins that cling to us, the more easy our fight against those sins becomes. You see, because being convinced of the goodness of God goes to the very root of our sins. Why do we doubt God? Well, because we don't think he's really good. When we see his goodness, when we're convinced of it, so convinced of it that it seeps down and puts new roots in our lives, well, then we have the very power in our hearts to overcome the sin which clings so closely. And is that goodness of God anywhere clearer than in the gospel? The good news of Jesus Christ is that God sent his son to take the eternal disaster of our self-reliant sins upon himself on the cross, so that we might instead have God's eternal blessing. And yes, walk into newness of life with blessings which we did not deserve, nor did we earn. That Jesus loved us when we were bad. And he loves that so much to call us into a life of goodness and joy in him. That is the truth of the gospel, that we are worse than we think, but praise God, He is more gracious than we ever deserved. If you are convinced of that, Christian, convinced of that to your core, and you realize that there's nothing you could do to earn that goodness, and there's no position of badness that could lose that goodness, when you are convinced of this, well then, brothers and sisters, do you realize that you have within you the seed of eternal life which cast out and kills the root of sin. And as this good news forms deep roots in our lives, we will see the fruit of the Spirit replace our besetting sins. Are you convinced of the goodness of God? So convinced that you would choose God over your besetting sins? Go, Christian. Go this week, put sin to death. Why? Because of the goodness of God in the gospel. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, how amazing it is we see in this text that you are good to us even when we don't deserve it. Lord, we pray that this truth would seep deep into our lives, not to be taken advantage of, but to be embraced and loved so much that it changes us from the inside out, from the root up, from the heart, and into the actions of our lives, we pray that we would be so convinced of your basic goodness and your glorious goodness, that we would stop our sin, that we would repent, and that even the sin that clings so closely that it feels habitual would lose its power by the glorious light of the gospel, and the work of the Spirit in our lives. We pray all this in Jesus' name, amen. Let's respond by singing together a song in your songbook.