Well this morning as we come to the end of Genesis chapter 21 here we once again see the interaction between Abraham and between Abimelech. And I don't think that it's too much of a stretch to note here that once again Abraham is acting as a representative of the church and as we see Abimelech in this section we see that he is acting as a representative of the world or of the nations. And so kind of the driving or overarching governing theme of this section is the church in the midst of the world or in the midst of the nations and how it is that the church conducts herself in the midst of where she finds herself living. Now if you were with us last week you noted there about halfway through Genesis chapter 21 that we focused on the way in which Abraham was commanded to cast out the son, Ishmael, who was not the promised inheritor of the covenant blessings. It was a scene, a hard scene, a hard narrative where Abraham had to cast out from amongst the church and amongst his household this illegitimate son, as it were, lest he inherit the promised inheritance with his son of promise, Isaac. Well, if the idea of casting out is what drove the idea there in the scene that we looked at last week, what we come to at the end of chapter 21 is that now Abraham, rather than casting out, is in some measure cooperating with the world or with the nation around him. Now undoubtedly as we come to consider this morning this relationship or this interaction, if you will, between the church and between the world, Christians throughout history have taken different perspectives on how it is that the church and the world ought to relate to one another. Some of you who have been within the church long enough, particularly you older saints, are perhaps familiar with the well-known work by Nibor on Christ and culture. A well-known book that was written in the middle of the 20th century as Nibor was trying to grapple with how is it that Christ and how is it that more broadly the church ought to relate to culture. And there in that well-known book, Christ and Culture, he lays out his well-known five typologies, if you will. That he speaks in one sense of how Christ could be against culture, how Christ could be of the culture, how Christ could be above culture, how Christ could live in paradox with culture, or how Christ could transform culture. And at least as modern theology goes, this has been a groundwork, that this has been a staple, as Christians have tried to struggle with and go back and forth with understanding how are we to relate to the culture and to the world around us. There are varying and vying opinions and perspectives on it. And yet despite this continuing challenge that we face on a daily basis, what we note here at the end of chapter 21 is the relative simplicity by which Abraham, who is acting as a representative of the church, interacts with Abimelech, with this godless king, and how it is that he confronts him, how it is that he relates with him. Now if you've been with us as we've been going through our series on the life of Abraham, you remember a number of weeks ago that we were introduced to this character Abimelech. That back in chapter 20 we actually see that it is this worldling, that it is this pagan king who rebuked Abraham. that Abraham here had deceived Abimelech, that he had lied to him and said, well, Sarah is my sister, and that Abimelech had almost taken Sarah into his harem there in order that she might be his wife, and God warned him in a dream, and Abimelech comes and he rebukes the patriarch. We saw the way in which there are times and seasons when the world duly rebukes the church, when we are not living up to our profession or our confession, and we are not orchestrating our life in the way that God has commanded that we ought to. Now, we might think that at the end of chapter 20, as Abraham has dealt so sorely with Abimelech, and as Abimelech has given Abraham this type of tongue lashing, we might think that moving forward, neither of these men would want anything to do with each other again. Perhaps some of us know what it is to be rebuked by somebody in our sin, and even if they were justified in rebuking us, we often kind of cower and we hide our face and we think, oh, I don't know that I want to go in front of that person again and I'm going to sidestep them. And very easily this could have been the response of Abraham to say, who's this pagan king that dares to call me out for my deception even though he lives in his idolatry? I want nothing more to do with this man. Certainly, we would understand if a Bimelech said, well, I want nothing more to do with this Patriarch, with Abram, who tried to deceive me, and I almost took his wife to be my own wife and almost brought death upon myself and my house. We might think, after chapter 20, that these two would part ways, that they would want nothing to do with each other going forward. And so it is striking that here at the end of Genesis 21, we see that they have not abandoned each other, but that in many regards and respects they come together and they form this cooperative relationship with each other. What I submit to you this morning is that as we come to look at Abraham dealing with Abimelech, as we come to this representative of the church dealing with this representative of the world, that in the very least what we have here is an ideal picture of how these two spheres, the church and the world, or the nations, are to engage in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise. Remember that all the way back in Genesis chapter 12, that as God called Abraham out of the world and out of darkness, out of the land of the Chaldeans, that he promised him that Abraham, I am going to bless those who bless you and those who curse you, I am going to curse and I am going to bless all the families of the earth. through you. And so we see the way in which Abraham comes now to bless the nations in this godless nation amongst which he finds himself. At the start I need to admit and in full disclosure that Genesis 21 is not the only biblical paradigm that we have of how the church ought to relate to the world or to the nations or to the culture around us. There are a number of paradigms throughout the scriptures and yet again in full disclosure I do find that the way in which Abraham relates with the world here, this is one of the more normative paradigms that scripture gives us. Because we see this imagery played out and lived out on many other occasions whether it's Israel in the wilderness wandering as they were making their way to Egypt, whether it's the people of Judah as they were exiled amongst the Babylonians, even if we think of our Lord and his earthly ministry and the way in which he related to the Roman nation around him, and we see many glimmers of this even in the New Testament letters as the New Testament authors commend to us the way in which we ought to live. So this morning we want to look at this idea of how is it that the church relates with the world. Now the first thing that I wish you to observe this morning is the influence that the church ought to have among the nations. The influence that the church ought to have among the nations. Now as Moses records for us this next story in the life of Abraham, we get the distinct impression that it is largely Abimelech who initiates the scene with Abraham. We read there in verse 22 that at that time Abimelech And Veichel, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, that at least here we get the impression that it is Abimelech who is approaching Abraham, that it is Abimelech who is initiating this and coming to Abraham in order to make his request known to him. Now, we are left with wondering, well, why is it that Abimelech decided to initiate this? Why is it that of all the people that were living here in the ancient Near East, why does Abimelech decide here to rub shoulders with Abraham? Well, it may be that Abimelech is aware of God's promise to Abraham, knowing that here is God's man, that here is the one who has the blessings of God, and that to bless this man means that my nation is also going to be blessed. It could be that Abimelech here has a theological reason, that he understands something of the promises of God. At the same time, it could be that Abimelech simply has a pragmatic agenda, that the reputation of Abraham has gone forth, and that he thinks, well, I'm just trying to form all the alliances that I possibly can in order to secure my borders, or there might be some sort of economic practical things, and then forging this relationship with Abraham. We don't know the specifics of why it is that Abimelech initiates the scene with Abraham, but we do see here that Abimelech is the one who approaches, that Abimelech is the one who comes to Abraham. Here, if we want to take a step back, a broader perspective, we see that the world is coming to the church. I think there is an important point that needs to be made here. To understand that the Bible does not condemn outright a centripetal movement in missions. You do think of the Great Commission where Christ places this burden upon the church that we are to go out in type of centrifugal force that the church is called to scatter amongst the nations in order to make known the excellencies and the glories of God. And yet what we also see with this from a biblical perspective is that the church doesn't only fulfill its mission as it goes out, but that there is a place for the world and for the nations to come to the church, to be drawn by the worship of the church, to be drawn by the life of the church, to be drawn by the glory of the church such that the nations come to us in order to be evangelized and to be witnessed to. You know, there are many people in the missiological sphere today who want to say that if the church isn't going, going, going. That if you're not finding every occasion to evangelize and to witness to people in your life. As some have said, that if you step into an elevator, that by the time you get out of that elevator, you better have made sure that you have presented the gospel to those elevator riders with you. Now I understand, as you do, that that's always spoken with very good intentions, and perhaps there's a place for that to rebuke those of us who are a little more introverted, who like to stick our earbuds on and try to tune out the world around us. But we can't escape notice here that it is the world that comes to the Church, that it is Abimelech who ultimately comes to Abraham to be blessed by Abraham. And so we see here that he comes, that he is drawn, as it were, to Abraham. Now what is it about Abraham that draws somebody like Abimelech to him? What is it that Abimelech sees? Why is it that Abimelech comes and he decides that he's going to try and enter into this agreement with Abraham? One would think that this earlier scene of Abraham where he deceived Abimelech would mean that Abimelech would want nothing more to do with this man. And yet what we note here is that Abimelech speaks some very important words to Abraham. You note there At the end of verse 22, that Abimelech confesses that God is with you in all that you do. And that as Abimelech approaches Abraham, that he asks Abraham, that he tells him here, I want you to swear to me that you're not going to deal falsely with me or with my children or with my posterity after me. I think these two things that Abimelech speaks here give us clues as to why it is that Abimelech came to Abraham, about what it is that shone out of Abraham that Abimelech, this godless and this pagan king, would come to him in order to enter into this relationship. And here what we see in these words that Abimelech confesses that God is with you, and as he pleads with Abraham, swear to me that you're not going to deal falsely with me. And what we see is that it was largely Abraham's life of integrity. that it was Abraham and the way in which he conducted himself in the midst of the nations, that it was in knowing that God was prospering him, that it was the life that Abraham was living that drew this pagan king to see something in Abraham, to come to him, to approach him, that it was through a life that was being conformed by communion with God that Abraham was exerting this influence over the nations to draw people to hear the excellencies of God. And what we see here working is that as Abraham exerts this influence, that it is an influence of his life. That it is the influence of the way in which he largely conducted himself in integrity amongst the pagan nations in which he lived. What we see of Abraham here isn't wholly unlike the apostles of Christ. Think of the way in which Christ ascended into heaven and as he continued, as he poured out his spirit and the apostles went forth in order to declare the gospel to the nations. We read that wonderful verse in Acts chapter 4 verse 13, that as the apostles went amongst the people and particularly amongst the religious elite, Luke records for us there that these religious elite, that they recognized that these men had been with Jesus. Remember about 20 years ago, reading a sermon by Charles Spurgeon on this verse alone, that they recognized that they had been with Jesus. And that Spurgeon, in the only way that Spurgeon can, gave the call to all Christians, when the world sees you and when the world interacts with you and as you conduct yourself in the midst of the world in which you live, do you leave this indelible impression upon people that they recognize that you are one who has been with Jesus. that you are one who is living in communion and in fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that you are one who has been born again and that you are one who is holding unswervingly and uncompromisingly to the truths that we profess. You see, we ought not to overlook this very simple and yet this very profound point that we see in Abraham. One of the greatest influences that he had, and one of the greatest influences that the church and the Christians of all ages continue to have on sinners in this world, is by walking in integrity. It's by walking in oneness with the Lord. It's by living a life that has been conformed by our communion and our fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that never, as the Church engages with the world, is the Church called to influence the world through brute or coercive or manipulative power or force. Rather, the way in which we are called to influence the world is through our integrity, that it is through the principle of persuasion. You think of the Apostle Paul as he wrote this to the Church there in Corinth. That as he extolled his ministry, even as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, as one who could have come with firm and demanding words, and yet as he speaks of the ministry that he had by the mercy of God, he notes what? But he says, well, we persuade others. This is the influence that the church has, not one of brute power, but one of a beautiful persuasion, where through our lives and through the words that we speak, that we persuade others to behold the glories and the beauties of God. Some of you may be familiar with Aristotle's well-known work on rhetoric. It used to be a staple within the schools, and unfortunately in most schools it has perished today. And yet Aristotle, the Grecian philosopher, as he spoke of rhetoric, of the power to persuade others, And what is it that Aristotle said? That the way in which we persuade others is through ethos, pathos, and logos. It is ethos that we do it through an exemplary life, that we do it by living out that which is beautiful and that which is virtuous in the course of life, that we do it through pathos, that is that we appeal to people's emotions and to their passions, and that we do it through logos, through a demonstration of the truth. And Aristotle said that when we conduct ourselves in this way, with this ethos, this pathos, and this logos, this is where we persuade others. Whether or not you want to baptize as Grecian ideal, I do think that there is warrant to do so. That as Christians, we are called to live above reproach, that we are called to live in the simplicity of holiness, that we are commanded a particular ethos in the way in which we ought to conduct ourselves. That we do have a calling to appeal to people's emotions, to the pathos, to their feelings of love and of fear, and ordering these loves rightly, and that we do have a place to persuade by contending for the logos and for the truth. And what we see of one like Abraham is that largely as he has conducted himself, not perfectly in the course of his life as we have seen, the overall picture is that here is one who is walking in integrity, here is one who is walking in conformity to God and that this is how he was the salt of the world and he was the light of the earth, that this is how we illuminate this world in this darkened generation with light, and how it is that we seize in this world that we go out and that we do our good works, as Jesus said, in order that others might see them and give glory to our Father who is in heaven. And so we see this particular influence. The influence that the Church is to have on the world is one of persuasion where we live in integrity before God and before the world. And isn't this in many ways, at least anecdotally, why it is so lamentable? when either the Church's or the individual Christian's integrity collapses. Why it feels like such a black eye to our witness or to the influence that the Church has when those who ought to be light and salt illuminating the world and and showing the world a better way through our works and through our holiness and through the words that we speak. And it's unmasked that the shepherds and pastors are hypocritical liars or embezzlement strikes at churches as they're trying to amass fortunes for themselves or the sexual immorality that is all too prolific, even from amongst the church and Christians. These things deteriorate the influence that we are called to have upon the world. And so you note first here the influence that Abraham has. That Abimelech comes to him, this godless, this pagan king comes to Abraham, commends him as it were, I see that God is with you. And so swear to me that you will not deal falsely with me. We must maintain our integrity. But you note that the story doesn't end here. but that we also see not only the influence that Abraham had over this pagan king and this godless nation, but we also read within these verses a rather strong interrelationship that is forged between Abraham and Abimelech. And in some regards, this is the real startling part of this whole story or this narrative here. This interrelationship that is created between the godly Abraham and the ungodly Abimelech. And we have to understand the interrelationship that is revealed to us here in a biblical way. We must understand something of this interrelationship through the promise of God. Again, remember that Abraham, all the way at the beginning of his story, that God had promised that Abraham, you're going to be a blessing to the nations. that it is through you that I'm going to make your name great, that I'm going to build you up, that you're going to have these offspring, those who bless you I'm going to bless, those who curse you I am going to curse, that you are going to be a blessing to all the nations. And we do well to remember that this promise doesn't simply belong to Abraham or to his descendants, to ethnic Israel, under the Old Testament, but it is a promise even for the New Testament church. Like Abraham, we are still called to be a blessing to the nations. We see it in not the least of which places in the Great Commission, as Christ there commissions his church and says, go therefore into all the nations. Christ's commission there, that his plan of bringing forth his excellencies and his glories as his church goes forth in order to bless the nations. What a reminder this ought to be to us, even as undoubtedly it was to Abraham, that we cannot remove ourselves from this world. I know as well as many of you the experiential temptation that that is. To look out at this world, to look out at the godlessness that seems to reign and the idolatries and all of the immoralities and the darkness that seems to pervade our nation and our culture and our society and that there is a strong pull within many of us To think, well, because this world is going to hell in a handbasket, because of the prolific nature of all of its sins, what I want to do is I want to isolate, that I want to close off, that I want to go and live, as it were, in a monastery, or withdraw, or to sever all of my connections with this world. It's been the temptation of many Christians in the past, and it continues to be a temptation for many Christians even in the present. And yet what we ought to note is that to be a blessing to the nations means that in some measure we must live in the midst of the nations, that we must live in the midst of the culture, that we are not called to form our own little societies, our own little communities that are annexed from the rest of this world, that we are not called as Christians to go into self-preservation mode at all costs. that we have been called to go forth and to be a blessing to the nations, and therefore, in some measure, we must be in the world, that in some measure, we must relate to the world, that in some measure, we must interact even with the people of the world. And strikingly, that's what we see Abraham doing here in this story. that Abraham, who in many regards is the father of the faith and the recipient of the glorious promises and the inheritance, and yet what do we see of Abraham that he is living in the midst of this world? and more than living in the midst of this world we see the interrelatedness between Abraham and Abimelech that we read there in verse 27 that Abraham takes these sheep and these oxen and he gives them to Abimelech and then we read these astounding words and the two men made a covenant And then we read again down in verses 31 and 32 that the name of this place was called Beersheba because there both of them swore an oath so they made a covenant at Beersheba. What you observe here in this interrelatedness is that Abraham covenants with Abimelech. Now if you've been with us as we've been going through the life of Abraham, you know how important the covenant is. A very simple definition of a covenant is that it is a relationship that is established and built on promises. And what we've seen of the covenant in the life of Abraham is that this is how God interrelates with his people. That God forges and forms covenants, and that this is what he did with Abraham there in Genesis chapter 12, reaffirmed in Genesis chapter 15, given the sign of this covenant in Genesis chapter 17, that God interrelates with his people through covenant, this relationship of promise, And now what we read in this account of Abraham and Abimelech is that Abraham now in turn interrelates with Abimelech by entering into a covenant relationship with him. That he enters into a covenant with a godless and a pagan king. Now in order to do history justice, we ought to be careful here. To observe that though Abraham makes this covenant with Abimelech, we don't see this interrelationship that Abraham and Abimelech are forming as a conflating of the church and the state. You know your history well, you know that that is another grievous error that the church has often made. And that the state all too often is willing to assume authority over the church. That the church and the state must remain as two distinct spheres. But what we note here of these two spheres of Abraham as a representative of the church, of Bimelech as a representative of a godless and pagan nation, is that yet there is cooperation. That there is a covenant relationship that is forged here. But we do well to note what this covenant relationship focuses on, at least two important issues. That it is not an absolute conflation of the church and the state, but two important issues. And the first reason is that we see that Abraham and Abimelech enter into this particular covenant because both of them are pursuing peace with each other. You see that there in verse 23 as Abimelech makes his appeal to Abraham and he says, Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned. that here this is a plea and a petition for peace, that in many regards this is at the very heart of this interrelationship, of this covenant relationship that Abimelech forms with Abraham, that he can say to Abraham, listen, I've dealt kindly with you, and because I've dealt kindly with you, just remember chapter 20, I've dealt kindly with you, Abraham. I'm imploring that you deal kindly with me. That we have this mutual respect, that we have this amiableness, that we have this type of relationship that is forged where we deal with one another kindly. And of course you see the way in which Abraham responds. But Abraham doesn't come to Abimelech and say, what have I to do with you, you son of perdition? What do you mean you want me to deal kindly with you? You're a pagan. You're an idolater. You stand for everything that I disagree with from a religious and spiritual perspective. Abraham doesn't do that. But what do we read in verse 24? That Abraham simply says, I will swear. That Abraham agrees to this. That Abimelech implores him for peace. That Abraham says, yes, this is going to be advantageous. We ought to observe from this interrelationship and this covenant relationship first and foremost. So we must remember, brothers and sisters, that it is good. It is good for both the state and the church to coexist in a relationship of peace. That it is a good thing for the church and the state to coexist in a relationship of peace. Now undoubtedly, this seems very self-evident when it comes to the state. That we can look at the nations, that we can look at the governments around us, and we can say, yep, it is going to be in your interest to deal very kindly and very friendly with the Church of Jesus Christ. Because we know that if the nations try to usurp this authority, that if they persecute the Church, that if they try to stop the public worship of God, they're going to have judgment on the day of judgment from the just judge of all the earth. It seems incredibly self-evident, at least to me, that it is in the best interest of the state to deal peacefully and to deal kindly with the church. But we must bear in mind as well, brothers and sisters, particularly in the political climate in which we live, that it is also a really good thing for the church to dwell in peace with the state. Indeed, in some regards, this is one of the highest ideals of the Christian life. Christ himself could say, in the Beatitudes, blessed are the peacemakers. That it's the peacemakers for they are the ones who shall be called the sons of God. And that Paul, later on, as he deals with the Christian's relationship to the state, even as we've already acknowledged and noted in 1 Timothy chapter 2 this morning, Paul commands the church, you ought to pray for the governing authorities. You ought to pray for the kings and for those who are in positions of authority that you need to make intercessions for them. Why? And Paul tells us the reason we do this is that we might lead a peaceful and a quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. That it is a blessing and a grace of God, not only when the state realizes it's to our benefit to deal kindly with the church, but for the church to realize that in as much as we are able to, to be at peace with the culture, with the nations, with the governments around us, so that we can lead these peaceful and these quiet lives. As a matter of fact, later on, Paul tells us that this ought to be one of the driving ambitions of the Christian life is to aspire to live quietly, to mind our own affairs, and to work with our hands. That this peace is beneficial not only to the state, but also to the church. And so Abraham, discerning this and knowing this, even looks at this godless king who implores him for peace, and Abraham says, I'll swear it. You've dealt kindly with me, I'm going to deal kindly with you. And we see, secondly, that what governs this covenant relationship is not only peace, but also justice. And we do well to remember that justice is the consequence of peace. That where peace reigns, justice reigns. That where peace does not reign, injustice flourishes. And as a matter of fact, what we note here in this particular story is that as Abraham and as Abimelech have agreed to pursue this peaceful relationship through this covenant with one another, we actually read that Abraham immediately objects. And he says, but you're doing something that is disturbing this peace. And we read that there in verse 25 when Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized. Now we don't know too much about this story, we don't know too much about how that all transpired. What we do know here is that Abraham acknowledges that as we're entering into this covenant, and the heart of it is that we want to deal kindly with one another, that he doesn't shy away from calling Abimelech out and say, okay, I'm all on board for this, and I swear it, but Abimelech, there is a grave injustice here, and I've dug this well, and that as I've dug this well, that this well, properly it belongs to me, but your men are coming and they are seizing it as it is their own. And so Abraham pursues justice. He pursues justice with Abimelech and he says, this isn't right and this isn't what ought to happen, that this is my possession and that if we're going to live in peace with one another, then we must maintain these proper boundaries of justice. We see that within this covenant relationship, this interrelationship forged between Abraham and Abimelech, that they contend together for peace and for justice. Another way of understanding this, or in greater simplicity of putting it, the church is to walk arm in arm with the state and with the nation and the culture in which we live when it comes to the common good of society. That there is a place for an interrelationship, that there is a place, as it were, for a covenant. That when the state is aiming for the common good of society, then it is for the benefit and it is for the promotion of the church that we link arm in arm with the state. And we say what you're contending for, we're contending for. You want peace, we want peace. You want justice, we want justice. We do well to note that this is not absolute, that undoubtedly there will be times when we disobey governing authorities for the sake of being faithful and obedient to the command of God, but ordinarily, but ordinarily our call is to work in agreement with the nations and the culture and the government so far as this agreement does not betray the commandment of God. And so we see that this is what Abraham does, that he links arm with this pagan king because they're both contending for peace, they're both contending for justice. And this is precisely what the exiles in Babylon were called to do many centuries later. That is, God disciplined the people of Judah for their false worship and he cast them out amongst the Babylonians. And the people of Judah were asking the prophets, how is it that we're supposed to live in the midst of a godless nation with godless rulers who have persecuted us and abused us? That is, Jeremiah wrote that letter back to the exiles. He didn't say, this is what you're to do. Take up arms against these people. Bring out your swords and your spears and clash with them. And He didn't say that you have to oppose them in every area and in every corner, but what is it that Jeremiah commands of the exiles? Seek the welfare of the city. Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare. And as we follow in the steps of Father Abraham, As we are living amongst pagan nations, as we follow in the footsteps of the people of Judah amongst the Babylonians, so too we are called to seek peace and to seek justice with the godless nations around us. But you'll finally observe, I will try to be brief with this point, and now some of you are chuckling and saying, not a chance. Finally, what we observe, however, is how this story ends. that it does end on an uncompromising principle. See, I think one of the reasons why we can get so squeamish when it comes to the Church's relationship with the godless world, culture, nations around us, is that we really have a fear that the Church is going to become syncretistic, or that it's going to be assimilated to the world and to the nations around us. Undoubtedly, that is a very legitimate and a very valid and true fear. There is a fear that the church might cave and that the church might come and look nothing like they're supposed to, but simply assimilate and blend into the world itself. We don't wish to diminish the danger and the temptation of syncretism or of assimilation, but we see how it is that Abraham avoids this. That Abraham, the father of our faith, entering into this covenant relationship with this godless and this pagan king, how is it that Abraham kept his own household and his own heart and his own way from falling into syncretism or into pure assimilation? And we see at the end of the story that the way in which Abraham does this is that Abraham very self-consciously, very convictingly, very committedly maintains his distinct identity from the world that he has just covenanted with. And we read that here in these closing words, that after they made this covenant at Beersheba there in verse 32, that we read, Then Abimelech and Phichol, the commander of his army, rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. This is not an unimportant point that Moses writes for us at the end of verse 32. Because what that likely means is that though Abimelech had a measure of respect for Abraham, though Abimelech in some measure feared God, though Abimelech to some degree understood the God that Abraham served, that yet for all of this, Abimelech remained in the final analysis a pagan. And to go back to the land of the Philistines, to go back to his home, wasn't just to go back to a geographical location, but it was in many regards to go back to his own gods and to his own idolatrous worship and to his own way of life. You think of the way in which originally Naomi had told Ruth to do this. that after her husband had died, their husbands had died, that she tells Ruth, you go back to your people and back to your gods and back to your land, that to go back was to go back and to remain living within the ungodly culture, nation, and idolatrous worship. And what we read of Abimelech is that though in some measure he understood something of who God was and something of the promise that God had made to Abraham, that in the final analysis, Abimelech says, ultimately I'm going back to the Philistines. I'm going back to the Philistine worship. I'm worshipping Dagon. I'm worshipping these other gods. I'm going back to this pantheon. I'm going back to my ways of life. And what you see of Abraham is that Abraham does not follow in Abimelech's footsteps. That he doesn't follow. And rather we read this stark contrast between Abimelech who returns And we read what Abraham does in verses 33 and 34, that he planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called thereon the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines. Verses 33 and 34 is a note of Abraham's identity. You see, while there are some who want to so isolate themselves from the world that they are not amongst the world to be a blessing, there are others who assimilate, who essentially take on the world's identity. And we see here that Abraham does neither. That Abraham lives in this world, but that Abraham ultimately knows that he is not of this world. And he maintains his identity here in verses 33 and 34 in at least a two-fold way. And the first way that Abraham maintains his identity is that he maintains his identity as a worshipper of God. And we see that. That he plants this tamarisk tree in Beersheba and then we read these glorious words and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. Whole sermon could be preached on that name, the everlasting God. But in the very least, what we ought to realize there of verse 33, is that strictly speaking from a biblical perspective, worship is not something that we chiefly do, But worship is chiefly something that we are. And Abraham acknowledges this about himself. That Abraham acknowledges that even as he's in the midst of this world and he enters into this company, that yet he still knows he is identified as who but a worshipper of the everlasting God, as a worshipper of the one true God. And brothers and sisters, one of the greatest ways in which we are to be identified as God's people in the midst of this world is not through the t-shirts that we wear. It's not through the bumper stickers that we placard on our vehicles. It is not in the music that we necessarily listen to, but that one of the greatest ways in which we are identified as the people of God, in which we are set apart from the world in which we live, is that we are to be known as those who worship God and engage in the worship of God and delight in calling upon the name of the everlasting God. One cannot escape the notice in the scriptures that this is the very fundamental reason of why we are saved from our sins. You think of Abraham's descendants in a couple hundred years, that as they're enslaved in Egypt, and as God raises Moses up, and as he says, Moses, I'm sending you into Egypt, and you're to go before Pharaoh, and you are to demand of this pagan king, let my people go. For what end and for what purpose was Pharaoh to let the people go? Was it so that Israel could live in comfort and ease? Is it so they could retire and enjoy their vacations? Is it so they could live a life of comfort in the midst of a watching world? Those things might be byproducts. We might rejoice in seasons when we can experience those things. But God tells Moses, demand of Pharaoh, let my people go for this purpose that they might come and worship me in the wilderness. That this is why they were freed from enslavement, that even under the new covenant, this is why we're freed from the powers of darkness and from our own sins in order that he who has called us out of darkness and a marvelous light that we might go forth and proclaim his excellencies. Make no mistake, make no mistake in our American Christianity that all too often wants to mitigate the importance of private and of public worship that when the church or when Christians weaken in this discipline of worship and identifying ourselves as worshipers of God that the inevitable result of that is that the clear distinction between the world and the people of God is blurred and all too often we become like the world. The greatest identifying mark of the people of God in which we keep ourselves from assimilating to the patterns of this world is that we are worshiping people who worship God in spirit and in truth. And it's no wonder that so many churches have gone the way of Demas. And no wonder that so many churches who have forgotten their first love receive the rebuke of Christ himself because they've abandoned worship. We see that Abraham remains faithful to maintain his identity as one who is a worshiper of God. And we see, secondly, that he maintains his identity not only as a worshiper, but he maintains his identity as a wanderer. And you read that contrast there that as Abimelech went back to the land of the Philistines, you almost read in those words a word of settledness, of rootedness, of Abimelech knowing the people that he belongs to, that there in verse 34 we read that Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines. We've seen this again and again and again in the life of Abraham. A somewhat ironic position for him to find himself in. Because you remember in the glorious promises that God gave to Abraham that God promised him that he would inherit the world. And yet we're some 30, 40 years into the life of Abraham and what do we see that even now he still doesn't own a plot of land in the promised land. that he owns no land. As a matter of fact, the only parcel that Abraham technically ever owned is the burial plot that he buries his wife Sarah in, in a couple of chapters. But what we see about Abraham is that largely what identified him, not only a worshipper of God, but that he remained a sojourner for his life. That he remained, in perhaps other words, a pilgrim, stranger, an exile. That while he lived in the land and amongst the people of the land, and though He built to some degree his household and his encampments within the land that yet Abraham lived all of his days ultimately as a wanderer, as a pilgrim, as a stranger to the world in which he found himself in. And that too marks the Christian's identity. how easy it is for us, particularly in America, I think, to become too comfortable with and in this world. That we live as though we are part of this world, that we live as though this world is our home and that we have a perpetual abiding existence here or that in the very least that we're just vacationers in the midst of this world to enjoy all of the glitz and the glam and the toys and the trinkets of this world when what we are called to is that we are called to be strangers, that we are called to be sojourners, that we are called to be those who realize that for everything that this world has to offer, that yet we have been created, and even more, we have been redeemed for something far greater than what this world can offer us. And need we remember the practical results of what it is to live like Abraham as a sojourner? Oh, it calms our hearts. calms our hearts in the midst of the world in which we live. It helps to give us perspective. Many of you see a country that you've grown up loving going to pot in the darkness that pervades, undoubtedly mourn the godlessness of our country, and yet it gives us perspective to say all the nations of this earth will burn and blow away like dust, and there is one kingdom that shall not be shaken. and it frees us to live life in the midst of this present world, that to remember that we are sojourners encourages us to endure as we bear the sufferings and the afflictions of this world, that to be sojourners frees us to hold loosely to the things of this world, that when it's taken from us, that our world doesn't collapse around us. And that though Abraham worked within and with and for the nations of this world, He wasn't assimilated by it. And he didn't come into syncretism with the world. There must always be a line of contrast between the world and God's people. And it's a contrast not of ethnicity. And it's not a contrast of social status or of political platforms or of economic prosperity. But it is found in our identity as the people of God. as those who are worshippers, and as those who are wanderers. Amen. Please join with me in a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth of your word. We thank you for the comfort of your word. We thank you for the guidance that your word gives to us, and how we pray that you would grant us a faith like Abraham, A faith that not only justifies us, but a faith that sanctifies us, a faith that preserves us, and a faith through which one day we shall be glorified. We pray that as we interact in the midst of this world, that we might do so influencing the world through our own integrity. We might do so as we link arms in arms and arm in arm and strive for peace and justice in the world in which we live. and yet always maintaining our identity as your people. Grant us this grace that we might live, O Lord, as wise as serpents and yet as innocent as doves. And it's in the name of Christ that we pray these things. Amen.