Continuing in Repentance.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Genesis 13.

[0:05] Before we get into that, just to kind of recap and review with those of you that maybe haven’t [0:11] been here, maybe you’re new here and you’re just coming into the series right here, we’re [0:15] going through the second part of the book of Genesis really. [0:19] Over the next few months, we’re going to be talking about the life of Abram, whom God [0:24] called to follow him. [0:26] But when we go through the Scriptures, especially the Old Testament, it can be kind of tricky

[0:32] and sometimes when we’re left to ourselves to study the Bible, we go through the New [0:37] Testament and it’s very objective, it’s very do this, this is what Christ has for you. [0:42] And then we go through the Old Testament and there’s a lot of stories. [0:45] And there’s a lot of different things going on. [0:47] And so we struggle to really apply that to our lives. [0:50] And so what we sometimes do, and maybe you’ve heard it preached this way before, and I’m

[0:55] not trying to pick on anybody, but they’re wrong in what they did, is we’ll take stories, [1:03] sometimes the life of Abram, sometimes Moses, and one of the popular ones from King David [1:08] when we look at the story of David and Goliath and he slays Goliath. [1:11] And what we’ll do with that is we’ll make ourselves kind of the center of that story [1:15] and we’ll say, David slew Goliath. [1:17] What giants do you need to slay in your life?

[1:20] What’s going on with you? [1:21] And so we kind of turn it into a self-help kind of thing. [1:24] And that’s not the story of scripture. [1:28] David’s not the center of that story. [1:31] God is the fact that God’s will will be done, that he appoints specific people at specific [1:38] times to to be a part of the story that he’s writing in history and he equips them and

[1:43] he gives them strength and he gives them the tools. [1:45] And Goliath is reminiscent of someone that’s standing against God. [1:49] And in this world looks so powerful in this world looks like someone of great might. [1:53] And God through David, who’s a much smaller man, says, no, I have power over all of you. [1:58] I’m the god of the world. [2:00] No one can stand against me and prevail.

[2:03] And so what we do with the scriptures is we’ll sometimes segment it and we’ll sometimes [2:08] compartmentalize it and we’ll just look at it as a bunch of disjointed stories for us [2:13] to kind of get help and gleaning for our character. [2:16] The reality that’s not true. [2:18] The Bible is one story. [2:19] The Bible is a seamless story of the movement of God throughout the history of his world.

[2:25] And from Genesis to Revelation, we have the story of God redeeming sinful man.

[2:32] And in the beginning of the story, we have the fall of man rather than the beginning [2:35] of the story. We have the creation of the world, that there is a God and he does exist [2:41] and he’s powerful enough to speak all that is into existence and he creates it all to [2:45] show his glory to everything that exists, to show who he is and to show his glory and [2:51] his power and his might. [2:53] And he puts us in his world to be his worshippers, to steward his image, to be special

[2:59] among all creation, to have the ability to reflect his image to all the universe and [3:04] show his glory. [3:05] And what do we do? [3:07] We rebel against that. [3:09] We exchange our purpose. [3:10] We exchange our destiny to find our hope and find our satisfaction and created things

[3:17] instead of the creator of the world. [3:19] We worship the things of this world, even ourselves, rather than obey God, rather than [3:25] follow God. [3:26] And in that moment, we find the fall of man. [3:29] And from Genesis through Malachi, we see this amazing story of how sinful we really are. [3:37] But above that sin, we find a God who’s going to accomplish his purpose regardless of how

[3:46] anything goes, that in spite of our sin, God’s will is going to be accomplished and he will [3:54] do it himself, showing his amazing power. [3:58] And he gives us things like the law and he gives us these stories throughout the scriptures. [4:03] We even find in the story of Abram, we see ourselves not in the middle of a story of [4:08] Abram, who becomes Abraham, the hero. [4:11] We see ourselves in the middle of a story of a man named Abram who’s struggling with

[4:15] his faith, who rebels against God constantly, who’s found in sin all the time, who’s found [4:20] to be half obedient at best usually, but with an amazing God who continually intervenes [4:27] into this world to get Abram to repent, to show Abram what forgiveness is all about, [4:33] to show Abram his grace, to show Abram that if he will turn from his sin, he will find [4:39] a loving God willing to forgive and restore him to the place of worshiping the God of [4:46] the universe.

[4:47] And time and time again, we find this story over and over again in the Old Testament with [4:54] God as the hero. [4:57] And then ultimately, when we get to the New Testament and the book of Matthew, we find [5:01] the point of it all. [5:03] We find that God has been redeeming. [5:06] We find that God has been restoring.

[5:08] We find that God has been moving throughout history in order to bring his son into the [5:14] world for the redemption of mankind. [5:17] And on the cross of Jesus Christ, we find this great forgiveness and in the greatest [5:22] miracle that the world has ever known. [5:25] We see God himself step down into history, being born into this world as a human being [5:33] to live a perfect life that we are incapable of living, to die a death for sin that we’re

[5:40] incapable of dying because his death brought the forgiveness of all sin if we’ll trust [5:46] him. [5:47] And then in the resurrection of Jesus, we find hope in death. [5:51] We find that God not only has the power to redeem and restore, but we find that God [5:55] has power over death and sin to vanquish its power for all time. [6:01] And in this story, we find hope in this story.

[6:05] We find a God who can be trusted above absolutely everything else because he has the [6:11] power to make it be. [6:13] And we find that he makes promises throughout the Old Testament, all being fulfilled in [6:18] Jesus Christ. [6:19] And then we find through Jesus, he makes the ultimate promise. [6:21] And that is that he will restore this world to be his kingdom someday.

[6:27] And we say, man, it doesn’t seem that way. [6:30] How can I believe that? [6:31] I’ll tell you how, because God has the power to forgive sins through the death of [6:37] himself on the cross. [6:38] And then he has the power to make himself come back to life again. [6:42] That kind of God can do anything.

[6:45] And God says he will establish his kingdom and those who trust him will be a part of [6:50] it forever. [6:51] The praise of his name for his glory over all of the universe and for the worship of [6:56] him for eternity. [6:58] That is the story of scripture. [7:03] And where we find ourselves in the book of Genesis is right at the beginning, right

[7:07] at the culmination where God has found this man, Abram, and he has called Abram, who, [7:13] by the way, was not a good person. [7:15] Abram was a sinner. [7:16] Abram was an idol worshiper. [7:18] Abram was someone that did not believe in God. [7:20] Abram was someone who was following after false hopes, who was following after false

[7:24] gods. And God just simply one day in grace intervenes in his life and says, Abram, I [7:29] exist. Follow me. [7:32] And in faith, Abram says, OK, and he gets up and he leaves all that he’s ever known [7:37] before. And he follows after God on this journey and says that he went wherever the Lord [7:41] told him to go, did whatever the Lord told him to do. [7:43] And he comes into this land of Canaan.

[7:45] And then in there, what do we see? [7:47] We see Abram struggle with faith. [7:48] And what does he do? [7:50] Abram disobeys God. [7:52] It’s our story. [7:53] We have something in common with this guy.

[7:54] He’s a sinner. [7:56] And so Abram, it finds himself in a place of famine, even though God has said Abram, [8:01] I’m going to bless you. [8:02] Abram says, I need a backup plan. [8:04] So Abram goes to Egypt. [8:06] He disobeys God, goes to Egypt.

[8:07] Then when he gets to Egypt, he looks to the Pharaoh and he says, man, my wife is beautiful. [8:12] And I know what Pharaohs do. [8:14] They like to kill husbands of beautiful wives, take them for themselves. [8:16] So here’s what I’ll do. [8:17] I’ll say it’s my sister. [8:18] He’ll treat me pretty well.

[8:20] Sure, I’m going to lose my wife over the ordeal, but at least I won’t die. [8:22] So he gives his wife into Pharaoh’s house. [8:25] And here’s the reality. [8:26] Abram’s coward. [8:28] Abram’s a giant coward. [8:29] Ladies, especially if you’re single, let me fill you in.

[8:33] You do not want a guy like Abram. [8:36] If you’re looking for a husband, that’s not the one you want. [8:39] All right. [8:40] So if a guy seems to be a coward, if he seems like the kind of guy that, you know, [8:43] he’s going to put you in front of himself to to get away from the danger, [8:47] then that’s not the kind of guy you want.

[8:49] All right. [8:49] You want someone that’s going to sacrifice for you. [8:52] You want someone that’s going to protect you. [8:53] You want someone that’s going to give his life for you. [8:56] And men, guess what? [8:57] Toughen up.

[8:57] Don’t be a coward. [8:59] All right. [8:59] That’s what we see in Abram. [9:01] And then in this story, we see God pour out. [9:04] This amazing grace in which he sends some kind of plague on to Egypt. [9:12] He’s in some kind of sickness over all the household of Pharaoh.

[9:16] It’s his plagues, multiple and plural. [9:18] So I don’t know how many were there. [9:20] The scripture is not clear, but we know that he sends plagues and we say, [9:23] where’s the grace there? [9:24] And I say the fact that Pharaoh, who kills four women, doesn’t go to Abram and kill [9:29] him, is grace in finding out somehow that Sarai is Abram’s wife.

[9:34] He goes to Abram and he says, how in the world did you deceive me into marrying [9:38] someone that was already your wife? [9:40] Would you please take her and get out of Egypt?

[9:44] And Abram leaves and Abram goes and we find Abram in this amazing moment of [9:52] repentance, we find Abram forsaking his sin and going back to where God had [9:58] called him before. [10:01] Join me in Genesis, Chapter 13.

[10:05] So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had and lot with him [10:14] into the Negev. [10:16] Now Abram was very rich in livestock and silver and gold, and he journeyed on from [10:22] the Negev as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning [10:27] between Bethel and AI to the place where he had made an altar at the first. [10:32] And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

[10:38] First thing I want you to understand in this part of the story is that repentance is [10:44] built on faith that changes behavior. [10:49] Repentance is built on faith that changes behavior. [10:54] Abram has gone into sin, has gone into a place that he was not called to be [10:59] dependent on, he was called to be dependent on God, he was called to believe [11:03] God, to stay where God told him to go and Abram leaves because he doesn’t think

[11:07] he’s going to be secure there. [11:10] And while there, God intervenes and God basically points him out and says Abram, [11:14] this is not where you’re supposed to be. [11:16] And Abram goes back to the land that he’d been called to. [11:21] That friends is repentance. [11:24] But I think we’re confused about repentance.

[11:26] I think in our lifestyle and our culture, we struggle with false views of repentance. [11:32] And I find a specific quote on repentance very helpful for my life. [11:35] It’s from a theologian. His name is J. [11:37] I. Packer. And here’s what he says repentance is repentance means turning from as much [11:43] as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know [11:48] of your God.

[11:49] And as our knowledge grows at these three points, so our practice of repentance has [11:55] to be enlarged. [11:58] Repentance is about your relationship with God growing. [12:04] It’s about your understanding who you are in light of who he is developing. [12:10] And as you learn who God is, you will change more and more to give more and more [12:19] of your life over to God.

[12:22] So what that means is just like last week when we said that faith, the first step of [12:27] faith is never your last step of faith, that life is going to be defined by moments of [12:32] faith. [12:33] So repentance is the same way. [12:35] Your first step of repentance will never be your last step of repentance. [12:42] As you follow Jesus, as you follow God, as you learn about him and worship him more and

[12:48] more, you are going to want to give more and more of your life over to him. [12:52] And that is what growth looks like. [12:53] It looks like literal change in your life. [12:58] But in our culture, we struggle to understand that repentance is an action. [13:04] It’s an action. [13:06] Oftentimes we confuse repentance and confession.

[13:10] Confession is a step. [13:12] Admitting that you’re sorry is a step. [13:15] Knowing that you’re wrong is a step. [13:18] But that is not what repentance really is all about. [13:22] Repentance involves a literal change, a literal turning from depending on one thing, [13:28] finding your identity in one thing, finding your hope in one thing and turning to give

[13:33] that to God, turning to obey God, turning away from the sin that you had originally [13:39] put your hope in. [13:42] What if Abram had been found in his sin? [13:46] Had been found that Sir Isaac’s wife and Pharaoh comes to him and he looks and he [13:51] cowards up even more. [13:52] He’s like, no, no, no, I promise she’s not my wife.

[13:55] That’s my sister. [13:56] What if he had said, OK, yeah, maybe she’s my wife, but let’s negotiate here. [14:00] I can’t go back to Canaan. [14:01] There is a famine there. [14:02] I can’t go back. [14:03] So would you let us stay here?

[14:05] Would Abram had been repentant? [14:07] No. [14:09] Repentance meant Abram had to leave repentance, and Abram had to go back. [14:12] Repentance meant Abram had to trust the promises of God to the point where he was willing [14:18] to really stake his life on it.

[14:22] So Abram journeys back and note something very interesting in this part of the story [14:27] that Abram, when he goes back to God in verse four, it says that he went to the place where [14:32] he had originally made an altar to God in Canaan, and there he called upon the name [14:39] of the Lord. [14:41] Note when the worship took place. [14:44] It took place after the change, after turning to God, after confession, after admitting

[14:52] that he’s wrong, after saying I’m sorry and after changing. [14:55] Abram made the long journey to Canaan from Egypt before he dared turn his eyes to God [15:05] for worship, something very interesting that happened in the very first part of this text [15:10] that I think we pass over because geographically what happens is true. [15:15] Abram did geographically go down into Egypt and then go up out of Egypt. [15:21] But Moses, you have to understand, if you read the creation account, he’s a poet.

[15:24] And I think he wants to turn our attention to something. [15:27] The reality that Abram had to go down into Egypt, I believe, is allegorical for the reality [15:32] that when we distrust God, we go down into sin. [15:36] And our only hope is that we would come up out of our sin to trust in God once again.

[15:44] Note that the story of Abram’s sin is not the end of the story. [15:47] So long as there’s repentance available, there’s hope for Abram and Abram must go up out [15:53] of his sin into the promised land that God had given him, into the trust for God that [15:58] he’d originally had, into the life that God had for him. [16:01] But he could not stay in Egypt and worship God. [16:05] You cannot worship God apart from repenting of your sins.

[16:12] Abram did not look to God in Egypt and say, I will worship you now and repent later. [16:18] God’s not worshiped by our lack of repentance. [16:20] God’s not worshiped by our lack of trust. [16:22] God’s not worshiped when we’re not exhibiting faith with our lives. [16:27] God is worshiped through our repentance. [16:30] So often we’re caught in our sin.

[16:32] And here’s the game that we play. [16:34] Oh, I know I’m in sin. [16:36] And thank you, God, that your grace is sufficient. [16:38] But I’m going to stay right here. [16:40] Your grace is still good, but I’m not moving. [16:43] And I’ll worship you right here.

[16:44] I’ll proclaim the gospel right here. [16:46] I’ll trust you right here. [16:47] I’ll worship you right here. [16:48] I’ll tell the world right here. [16:50] And God says, that is not my plan. [16:52] You do not have faith.

[16:56] There is no exercise of faith apart from your repentance. [17:00] You must turn from your sins. [17:03] We talked about the text last week in Revelation, Chapter three, verse 19. [17:07] And we talked about the discipline of the Lord, the fact that for those whom God loves [17:12] and those who have faith in God, when we find ourselves in sin, God is going to bring [17:16] discipline into our lives.

[17:18] He’s going to correct us as any loving father would do. [17:23] But note the end of that text in Revelation, Chapter three, verse 19, where it says to [17:27] those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. [17:30] And then in the text, the scripture says, so be zealous and repent.

[17:38] The end of that text is very important for us to understand what the language is calling [17:43] us to there. [17:45] That term in the original language for zealous means that inside of us, we have a feeling [17:52] that we need to do something. [17:55] That’s what zeal means. [17:56] That means to have zeal for something means that we’ve got to do something.

[18:00] We’ve got a feeling that changes need to happen. [18:03] We’ve got a feeling that we’ve got to get up, that an action is required here. [18:07] But the text goes past the feeling and it says when you have that feeling, the action [18:12] required is repentance. [18:15] The action required is for you to get up out of your sin, to trust the grace of God, [18:21] to trust his promises, to trust that the faith is real and walk away, walk towards God,

[18:27] worship him. [18:29] And then the text says, Abram called upon the name of the Lord. [18:38] You see, too often we don’t understand that our worship struggles or often repentance [18:47] struggles.

[18:49] We say, why am I not growing? [18:52] Why am I not feeling? [18:54] Why can’t I pray? [18:55] Why does the word mean nothing to me? [18:58] Why can’t I give more of my life over to God? [19:01] Because you won’t.

[19:03] Because you won’t turn from your sin. [19:06] Because you keep making excuses because you won’t follow him, because you won’t risk [19:11] it all. [19:13] Abram literally, through his repentance, put himself and his family at economic risk [19:20] because God was saying, go to a land where there’s famine.

[19:25] So Abram had a choice. [19:27] He could trust what’s right in front of the front of his eyes or he could trust the Lord.

[19:33] Repentance meant trusting the Lord. [19:36] And so it does in your life. [19:40] Our struggles with growth and our struggles with discipleship, our struggles with [19:44] repentance, our struggles with we do not have the faith to give more of our lives over [19:50] to God so that we can know him more, we can learn from him, we can believe more in him [19:57] and we can give more of ourselves over to him as we learn more about him.

[20:02] That’s the entire point of the scriptures. [20:05] The book of Galatians says that in in the Old Testament, when God gives the law, what [20:11] happens there is that God is putting a mirror in front of ourselves so that we would know [20:16] we cannot redeem ourselves, so that we would know that we need a savior. [20:20] And Jesus is that savior. [20:23] So the entire scripture stands as a mirror so that we will know who we are in light

[20:29] of who God is. [20:30] But the hope is that in Romans, Chapter five, it says that as our knowledge of our sin [20:35] grows, so the grace of God grows and it is larger than that. [20:40] Because when we come to the reality of where we are in our lives and the reason for our [20:44] struggles, we will be tempted to despair greatly. [20:48] And I don’t know where you are, but there is sin in your life as there’s sin in my life.

[20:53] And as I learn more about God, I’m going to learn more about that. [20:55] And that can be weighty. [20:56] That can be crushing. [20:57] That can be hurtful. [20:59] Where I’ll say there’s no way God could use a sinner like me. [21:02] There’s no way God could do anything for my life.

[21:04] There’s no way God wants me in his presence. [21:06] There’s no way God loves me. [21:08] He’s too holy. [21:09] He’s too righteous. [21:10] He’s too good. [21:11] He’s too just.

[21:13] I can’t be used. [21:14] And God says, look to the cross.

[21:17] Because in the cross of Jesus Christ, we see God’s character manifested fully and in [21:23] it, he says, you are a sinner, but I’m a just God who will take that wrath onto [21:28] himself.

[21:31] God says, I know you’re despicable. [21:34] If you’re in here and you don’t think you’re despicable, trust me, you’re as bad as [21:37] I am. [21:40] God says, I have more grace than you could ever exhaust. [21:44] I have more forgiveness than you’ll ever tire of getting. [21:48] God has more endurance in his forgiveness than we have endurance for sin.

[21:58] So Abram does not despair in Egypt. [22:02] Abram says, my only hope is in returning to the Lord.

[22:08] Friend, this morning, your only hope is God. [22:12] Your only hope is trusting in the promises he’s given us in his word. [22:17] Your only hope is giving your life over to him in repentance today. [22:22] Your only hope is trusting in him because it will lead to you worshiping. [22:27] It will lead to you trusting. [22:29] But in the changes that need to happen in your life for him to have more of you, you

[22:35] will find joy. [22:37] You’ve never known.

[22:39] Love that you never thought you could have. [22:43] Forgiveness, incomparable.

[22:46] God is good and he can be trusted.

[22:51] So what we’re tempted to do here is say, OK, let’s call it a day. [22:55] Abrams in a good spot. [22:56] Surely he repented. [22:58] He turned back. [22:59] Things are going to go great. [23:00] Well, look in verse five.

[23:05] And lot, I want to teach you how to study the Bible here. [23:09] There’s three letters. [23:10] Nothing good ever comes after L.O.T. [23:13] All right. Any time you see lot involved, troubles coming. [23:17] All right. So verse five and lot who went with Abram also had flocks and herds [23:24] and tents so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together for their

[23:28] possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. [23:32] And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abrams livestock and the herdsmen of lot [23:36] lots livestock. [23:37] And that time, excuse me, at that time, the Canaanites and the Parasites were dwelling [23:42] in the land. So Abram said to lot, let there be no strife between you and me, between [23:47] your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.

[23:52] Is not the whole land before you? [23:55] Separate yourself from me. [23:56] If you take the left hand, then I will take the right or if you take the right hand, [24:01] then I will go to the left. [24:02] And lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere [24:07] like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zohar.

[24:11] This was before the Lord Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. [24:15] So lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and lot journeyed east. [24:20] Thus they separated from each other. [24:22] Abram settled in the land of Canaan while lot settled among the cities of the valley [24:26] and moved his tent as far as Sodom. [24:28] Now, the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.

[24:35] We’re going to see in this story is really a story of two men, a story of two men with [24:40] two different types of character, with two different faiths. [24:44] Abram is living, living to give his life back to God, to repent of his sins fully in this text. [24:50] Lot, though, is someone who’s trusting fully in material gain, someone who’s trusting [24:56] fully in what we originally exchanged our worship for for the creation. [25:01] And so we’re going to see them combat one another.

[25:03] We’re going to see them come against one another. [25:05] And in this text, I want you to see, number two, this morning, that what Abram’s going [25:09] to reveal to us is that faith in God’s plan takes precedence above every other commitment, [25:17] with every other commitment. [25:19] I want you to first see the difference between where these two guys are at this point in [25:24] their journey. In verse four, we see Abram lift his eyes up to the Lord to call upon

[25:31] his name, to trust in him, to give him worship. [25:35] But when come when we come into conflict, when strife enters the story, what does Lot [25:42] do? Lot lifts his eyes up to the land.

[25:47] So we see two different focuses, we see two different journeys, we see two different [25:53] faiths, and that’s what’s going to command the story. [25:57] But I want you to understand who Lot is in Genesis, chapter 12, verse one, I think we [26:03] look over this part, but I think it’s the most important part of the story in Genesis, [26:06] chapter 12, verse one. This is what God said to Abram initially. [26:10] Now, the Lord said to Abram, go from your country and your kindred.

[26:16] And your father’s house to the land, I will show you. [26:19] What do we see in this text that Abram appeals to with Lot? [26:23] He says, Lot, we should not quarrel. [26:26] We are kindred. [26:28] So what Abram had done is Abram had exhibited great faith in getting up, leaving his land, [26:34] leaving the family business and following God.

[26:37] But he had obeyed partly.

[26:41] Abram was told, leave your kindred and Abram didn’t do it. [26:48] And we may say, why would he do such a thing? [26:51] Here’s what I think. [26:53] Abram and his wife were advanced in age. [26:56] He’s about 75. History tells us she was about 65. [26:59] They had no children.

[27:01] And on the family plot, you know, all the families there in Lot is Abram’s nephew.

[27:08] I believe Abram looked at Lot like a child. [27:12] I think Abram looked at Lot like a son. [27:15] Because that’s what we see in the story. [27:17] We don’t see him treating Abram like a nephew. [27:20] You know, we don’t see him treating Abram like just some part of his family that he [27:23] sees at family reunions.

[27:25] That’s a good kid. Great guy. [27:27] No, we see Abram, his first initial reaction. [27:30] God has called me, honey, Lot, let’s go. [27:33] And Lot leaves his family and goes with Abram. [27:36] So we see a father-son relationship that’s developed. [27:39] We see a sentimentality that Abram has for a lot.

[27:43] We see a relationship and an intimate love between these two that appears to be the [27:48] love of a father and a son.

[27:54] But God did not call Abram to take Lot. [28:01] God called Abram to leave Lot. [28:04] Here’s the reality of where this story is going to go, is I think it’s going to be [28:08] some hard words. [28:10] I think it’s going to be some tough realities that we’re going to have to face in this [28:13] story about what God calls us to, the type of commitment that he’s calling us to,

[28:18] because there’s two realities that are going to define your life through the way that [28:21] we treat a situation such as this. [28:23] We’re either going to live our lives with a cycle of repentance, as God calls us to [28:28] that, as we see more of who he is, more of what he wants. [28:31] And then we see our sin being a barrier to that. [28:35] We’re going to repent of our sin and follow him.

[28:37] That’s a life with a cycle of repentance or we’re going to live life with a cycle of [28:41] compromise.

[28:43] And up to this point, Abram has been living the cycle of compromise. [28:49] And those are the two choices. [28:50] And you’re like, I’m going to go with choice. [28:51] See, no, see, there’s a and B. [28:53] Those are the only ones you got. [28:54] You can’t make up a third one.

[28:57] And here’s where Abram is.

[29:00] Abram sentimentality for a lot, I think that where I am in life right now, I [29:05] understand what he’s dealing with is, you know, I’ve got children, I’m married, I [29:10] have a wife. [29:11] You don’t think those things are going to change you. [29:13] But trust me, if you’re not married, it changes you. [29:15] You don’t have any kids.

[29:16] It changes you. [29:18] All right. [29:19] There’s no bullet I wouldn’t take for my kids. [29:22] All right. [29:23] I would give my life more than once for my kids. [29:26] If I could, there’s no sea.

[29:29] I wouldn’t swim across. [29:30] There’s no road. [29:31] I won’t run. [29:32] There’s no mountain. [29:32] I won’t scale. [29:33] There’s no organ inside of me.

[29:35] I won’t give to them for their lives. [29:38] If it meant if Liam needed my heart, I would do the John Q. [29:42] I give him my heart and I would die and I would do it with joy. [29:47] If you don’t have kids, I don’t think you understand that it wouldn’t be a tough [29:51] decision. [29:51] I wouldn’t have said, well, let me think about that.

[29:53] Let me pray about it immediately. [29:54] Take it. [29:56] Take my life. [29:57] His is more important. [29:59] That’s apparent.

[30:01] I think that’s what we’re dealing with here.

[30:06] Everyone says, God, you’ve asked too much. [30:10] You’ve ever been in a point in your life where, where God has called you to [30:14] something, you see the obedience that he wants and you barter with him. [30:18] You know what, God, if you’ll do this, I’ll obey you. [30:24] God, if you’ll move this over here, if you’ll give me this money, if you give me [30:29] this, you know, if you’ll do this, if you’ll allow me to have this, well, then

[30:33] you can have the rest. [30:34] You barter with God and you kind of compromise and you’re like, I’ve obeyed [30:38] you 75 percent. [30:40] All right. [30:40] That’s pretty good. [30:42] That’s pretty good, God.

[30:43] There’s just 25 percent that you didn’t get. [30:45] And we look to God and we’re like, he is so demanding.

[30:51] There’s no negotiations with this guy. [30:53] He’s like, give me a hundred percent. [30:55] It’s all mine anyway. [30:55] What? [30:57] How dare you calling my lawyer? [31:02] God’s like, whatever.

[31:06] But here’s something, a few other things I want to point out in the text. [31:09] The strife here, what’s causing the problem is, is that a lot has a lot of [31:14] stock and he’s got all these herdsmen and Abrams got all these livestock. [31:18] He’s got all these herdsmen and they’re fighting over what grass the animals [31:22] can eat and so lots like, man, Abram, you’re causing problems in my life. [31:26] But here’s what I want to ask you.

[31:28] Where do you think lot got all his stuff?

[31:33] Got it from Abram. [31:35] Got it from uncle Abe.

[31:39] And so a lot, his possessions are causing problem, but here’s the [31:43] reality of the story. [31:44] His possessions are Abrams possessions.

[31:48] And so Abram comes to him as really, I think if you love your child, you’re [31:53] going to do this, you’re going to go to him and you’re like, what’s going to end [31:56] this strife? [31:57] I love you. [31:58] Here’s what I’m willing to do, son. [32:00] I will give you whatever portion of this land that you want.

[32:04] I will sacrifice. [32:06] I will take the less of this portion. [32:09] You can have whatever you want. [32:10] If you want the right side, I’ll take the left side. [32:12] If you want the left side, I’ll take the right side. [32:15] But here’s the reality.

[32:16] God didn’t promise lot any of it. [32:19] God promised Abram all of it.

[32:23] And so Abrams convinced himself he’s doing the loving thing. [32:26] But here’s the reality. [32:26] He’s not Abrams compromising on God’s promises.

[32:34] Because here’s the other question. [32:36] Where do you think Abram’s stuff came from? [32:39] God.

[32:48] Oftentimes in our lives, because of our sentimentality, because of the hopes that [32:54] we have for our family, because of the joys that we want to have with our family, because [32:58] of the great game that we want for our children, I mean, I mean, I want mine to have it all. [33:05] If I could take any pain that they’ll ever endure, give it. [33:12] And I can’t explain why it’s like I have no idea why I would do that. [33:17] Other than I love my kids.

[33:20] There’s no disease I wouldn’t rather have so that they could avoid it.

[33:26] So here’s what we’ll do in our faith.

[33:31] Sometimes we will hinder our faith thinking that we’re giving our children great gain.

[33:38] There’s two things that we do with our faith in God that are wrong. [33:42] And we need to repent of. [33:44] We look to God and we say, God, I will follow you. [33:48] I will go and we start the journey that Abram starts. [33:52] But we start dragging our old commitments, at least some of them with us and saying, [33:56] God, I’m coming slow down.

[33:59] Now, I’ve got a few commitments back here. [34:00] I’ve got a few things I want to keep in my old life here. [34:02] I’ve got the money. [34:03] I want to keep that. [34:04] I want to keep some of my old commitments, some of my old joys, some of my old leisure, [34:07] some of my old comforts, and it’s going to slow me down.

[34:10] But I’m going to come. [34:12] I know I’m not going to be able to be the disciple that I need to be as long as I’ve [34:14] got this stuff in my life. [34:15] But I don’t want to get rid of it. [34:16] I want to drag it along with me. [34:17] And God says, no.

[34:21] Guys, when I redeem, I redeem fully.

[34:25] When I restore, I restore fully. [34:28] When I forgive, I forgive fully.

[34:32] We barter with them. [34:34] Is it just one thing? [34:37] So this one sin, this one thing that is not really a sin, but I know I can’t be the [34:42] disciple that I need to be. [34:43] I know I can’t live your mission the way that you want me to live it. [34:46] I know I can’t do what you want me to do, but I need this.

[34:50] And God says, then that’s your God.

[34:57] Because most of the time, when we get to that point, it is God showing us more of [35:04] who he is and us learning more of who we are. [35:07] And there’s a third thing. [35:08] We need to repent more of the sin that we have.

[35:13] God says, don’t barter with me.

[35:21] Luke 9, 23, God says, don’t barter with me. [35:23] Jesus tells his followers,

[35:35] See, Jesus says this in the shadow of the cross. [35:37] He says this in light of what he’s about to do for the world.

[35:42] I think he gives us the analogy on purpose because he knows Jesus full well is going [35:47] to die on a cross. [35:48] He’s about to do it. [35:50] He’s about to take our sin onto himself. [35:52] And he says, look, there’s a death that’s going to be involved. [35:55] It’s mine.

[35:57] I’m going to give my life for you. [36:00] But understand there’s a death that you’re going to die. [36:04] There’s a cross that you’re going to bear. [36:06] And that cross is you trusting me more than you trust yourself, more than you trust this [36:10] world. [36:11] Take that cross up.

[36:13] You deny yourself because you’re wrong.

[36:18] Repentance means I believe God is right. [36:23] Writer than I’ve ever been about anything.

[36:28] God says what you think you need, you don’t need. [36:32] Says you pick up the cross, follow me, deny yourself. [36:35] Otherwise, you can’t follow me.

[36:42] There’s a second thing that we’ll do. [36:45] I love you. [36:45] I don’t know how you came to Christ. [36:47] I don’t know when you came to Christ. [36:49] If you come to Christ later in life or if you struggle with repentance throughout your [36:54] life, you’re going to come to a place, you’re going to find yourself in a place where maybe

[36:57] you have loved ones, maybe you have friends, maybe you have close relationships with people [37:03] who are not followers of Jesus and do not understand the things that you’re doing with [37:07] your life and your life. [37:08] But God, I cannot leave them to follow you. [37:12] I do not want to grow past them because I’m the only hope that they have. [37:17] And God says, do not let others weaken.

[37:22] Your strength and following me.

[37:27] Sometimes we try to build even for our own families, a safety net. [37:32] If this following God doesn’t work out, they need something to fall back on. [37:37] So we’ll get them involved in a thousand commitments that keep them from growing in [37:42] His grace. [37:42] We get them involved in all sorts of things. [37:44] We get them involved in all types of clubs.

[37:46] We get them involved in things and we say, well, I’ll follow Jesus and I’ll get in [37:50] discipleship and I’ll get involved in all those things. [37:52] But we’ve got this other stuff that we’ve got to do. [37:55] And what we do is we literally we won’t say this out loud, but we’ll say that’s more [37:58] important than discipleship.

[38:02] That’s more important.

[38:07] Or we’ll have people that we want to come faith in Christ and we won’t give ourselves [38:11] over to Christ because we’re afraid of what they’ll think. [38:13] We’re afraid that they’ll think you’re a fanatic. [38:15] We’re afraid that they’ll think we’ve grown too much. [38:17] We’re afraid that they’ll question our faith and we don’t want to leave them because [38:20] we love them so much.

[38:21] That’s what Abrams going through.

[38:25] The same chapter, Luke, Chapter nine, Jesus says this to a man to another. [38:31] He, Jesus said, follow me.

[38:35] But the man responds and he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. [38:41] And Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury their own dead. [38:43] But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. [38:46] I believe this text is the hardest text in all scripture.

[38:50] I would never say that.

[38:54] It’s a hard word, man.

[38:59] Here’s why I think Jesus says it. [39:02] I think the language is is very important. [39:04] And I think it fits the story of Abrams so well.

[39:09] Because Jesus is calling this man to repentance. [39:11] Jesus is calling this man, you saying you follow me with your life. [39:15] And that man looks to Jesus and he says, but I’ve got family commitments. [39:19] And Jesus says, no, you’ve got me or you’ve got nothing. [39:24] I did not call you to be your family’s undertaker. [39:27] I’ve called you to give them life.

[39:30] Note that Jesus doesn’t say you can’t go to the funeral.

[39:36] Here’s what the words in this text mean. [39:37] There’s two different words at play here. [39:39] One is for physical death, one’s for spiritual death. [39:42] And Jesus looks to him and he says, you let the spiritually dead [39:44] bury the spiritually dead, but you go and take life.

[39:54] So you’re using your family as an excuse not to follow me. [39:56] You’re using your family as an excuse because you don’t want to go [39:59] and cause problems.

[40:02] Say that’s not your concern. [40:05] Jesus is saying, I’m your concern. [40:07] If you’re going to go to that funeral, you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

[40:16] Jesus is saying, my mission trumps your family.

[40:24] And I think especially in a culture like our own, those are the hardest words [40:28] we can hear, because here’s what God is basically doing through Abrams life. [40:32] God is saying, your commitment to me is the way to love lot.

[40:39] Your commitment to me is the way to love your family. [40:43] Otherwise, it is not faith. [40:45] Otherwise, there’s no difference between you and everybody else. [40:48] Otherwise, you don’t believe in God.

[40:52] The last one, Luke 14, 26, Jesus looks to his people and he says, [40:56] If anyone comes after me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife [41:01] and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, [41:05] he cannot be my disciple. [41:07] Now, slow down here, Jesus.

[41:12] Here’s what will be in the script for them, but surely not. [41:15] And Jesus is like, well, I didn’t really leave any wiggle room, did I? [41:19] I mean, he gives you just as every family member is like mom, dad, [41:23] brother, sisters, children, all of them. [41:26] You better hate them and yourself.

[41:31] So what about that honor your father and mother thing? [41:34] All right. Here’s where comparing scripture to scripture is very important. [41:37] All right. If all you had in the whole Bible is Luke 14, 26, you’d be in trouble. [41:41] All right. So you may have some flawed theology. [41:45] If that’s the only text you’ve got. [41:48] Here’s what Jesus is saying.

[41:50] Jesus is saying that you’re going to live life where your commitment [41:54] to me trumps everything else, where your commitment to Jesus [41:58] and your passion for him is the lens through which you see absolutely [42:02] everything and people around you are going to look at the decisions [42:07] that you make when you leave your father and your mother [42:11] to live the mission apart from them.

[42:13] So remember, this culture he’s in is very family oriented. [42:16] So when you leave them, the world’s going to say, [42:18] how could you leave your mom and dad?

[42:24] Moms, dads, are you afraid your kids are going to leave you [42:26] and serve Jesus somewhere?

[42:32] You’re saying you’re going to get your kids into discipleship. [42:35] You’re going to lead your kids to worship Jesus, and it’s going to mean [42:39] that they can’t be involved in everything everyone else is involved in. [42:44] They can’t do everything everyone else is doing by wasting their lives [42:48] because they’re practically living as if there is no God. [42:52] And your neighbors might come to you and say, don’t you love your children?

[43:01] What a fanatic. [43:03] You think your kids need to know the Bible more than anything else? [43:07] Religious fanatic. [43:09] And the world is going to say, you’re not doing what’s best for your children.

[43:18] The world’s going to look at you and say, you would sacrifice economically [43:22] to live the mission of Jesus.

[43:26] You would sacrifice time. [43:29] You would sacrifice possessions. [43:31] You would sacrifice your own life for Jesus Christ. [43:36] You don’t love yourself.

[43:41] In Luke 14, 26, we look back and we say, your eyes are open. [43:44] I love Jesus.

[43:49] When we look at a text like the story of Abram and lot, we are we are tempted to [43:55] despair.

[43:58] Here’s what I want you to see. [44:00] Final point. [44:02] The plan of God is clearer as we exercise faith. [44:07] The plan of God is clearer as we exercise faith. [44:10] Look at what happens. [44:12] In verse 14, the Lord then said to Abram after lot had separated from him.

[44:22] Oh, man, these are the words that we skip over that are so big after a after him and lot [44:30] had separated from each other. [44:31] God comes in another words. [44:33] God was holding back until he got rid of lot.

[44:40] Lift up your eyes. [44:43] Don’t you see the poetry there? [44:46] Lot lifted up his eyes and saw what was good and did what an unloving child would do. [44:53] He took the good for himself, left Abram the scraps.

[44:58] And God comes down to Abram after he separates from lot. [45:01] And he says, Hey Abram, now it’s your turn. [45:05] You lift up your eyes.

[45:09] And look from the place where you are northward and southward and eastward and westward for all [45:14] the land that you see, I will give to you and to your offspring for ever. [45:20] I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth so that if one can count the dust of the [45:26] ground, your offspring also can be counted. [45:30] Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you. [45:35] So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron.

[45:41] And there he built an altar to the Lord.

[45:47] Here’s what we do and here’s why we don’t get the good. [45:51] All right, as we say, OK, God, I will repent when I know more. [45:59] I will change when I see it more clearly. [46:02] I need to sit down. [46:03] I need to do my one year Bible reading plan and I got to get all the way through it. [46:08] And then maybe I’ll understand more, then maybe it’ll make more sense to me.

[46:12] I’ve got to have more information. [46:14] I’ve got to have more knowledge. [46:16] I’ve got to read the systematic theology book. [46:18] I’ve got to get to the original languages. [46:20] I’ve got to understand absolutely everything. [46:23] And then.

[46:26] I’ll follow you.

[46:29] Then I’ll repent, then I’ll trust you. [46:32] And then and we put it off for later when we’re ready. [46:37] And God says, then you’ll never see it.

[46:44] There are so many things that you will never learn about God until you follow him physically.

[46:54] There are so many things that God has called us to do that we will not understand fully until we do it. [47:00] There are some things that God has called me to that I don’t think I’ll understand until I’m in heaven.

[47:06] I think I’ll be dead before I get it.

[47:10] But that doesn’t change what God has called me to do.

[47:14] The reality is that God has called me to so much and God has called you to so much. [47:19] And when we get up, when we walk, when we exhibit faith, the evidence of things hoped for, [47:26] the substance of things not seen, in other words, we don’t know how it’s going to turn out fully. [47:30] We’re just believing what God says. [47:32] He says it’ll be good. [47:33] I don’t know what that good looks like, but I know it’s good.

[47:36] And because I trust him, I’ll do it. [47:40] I’ll follow it. [47:41] God doesn’t want you to fully understand and then follow him. [47:45] He doesn’t want you to follow him because it’s going to turn out the way you want it. [47:50] He doesn’t want you to follow him because of how it’s going to benefit you. [47:54] He doesn’t want you to follow him because you think that you’re going to get the good.

[47:58] He wants you to follow him because he’s good. [48:02] He wants you to follow him because you trust him.

[48:07] He wants you to follow him because he’s got your heart. [48:11] He wants you to follow him because you love him and you just trust him because of who he is.

[48:19] You say, well, I need something more. [48:22] And I’ll say, you must have faith or you will never get it or do it. [48:34] Hardest thing Abram ever did. [48:35] I’m convinced of it. [48:38] Let’s get rid of a lot.

[48:42] Because Abram had a plan. [48:44] I know our time is winding, but Abram had a plan and Abram said, I can’t have kids, but I want a child.

[48:54] Lot be my child.

[48:59] God said, but I promised you. [49:03] I’ll make your name great if you’ll leave him.

[49:07] And Abram comes to the hardest point he’d been to at this point at his life, and he says, I’ll trust you, Lord.

[49:16] And God says, guess what, Abram, your offspring. [49:22] He’s going to outnumber the dust of the ground.

[49:26] To take possession of the destiny that God had for Abram, he had to exhibit great repentance. [49:34] He had to exhibit great faith. [49:36] He had to exhibit greater trust than I’ve ever had to exhibit in my life because he had to trust that God had a family when he couldn’t see it.

[49:45] And when Abram got up again and he went, God said, guess what? [49:51] I’ve got babies coming.

[50:00] John Calvin, the great theologian, wrote this for God does not always wait till the faithful shall have fallen. [50:09] But looks forward for them into the future.

[50:16] What that means is that God doesn’t wait until we’ve screwed it up. [50:21] God doesn’t wait until we’ve sinned. [50:24] God gives us faith. [50:26] God tells us to follow him. [50:27] God tells us to trust him. [50:29] God tells us to repent because he knows what’s down the road when we don’t.

[50:33] He knows the pain that’s coming. [50:35] He knows the hurt that’s going to happen. [50:37] And he says, follow me and I’m going to keep you from that.

[50:42] There’s so much that we never knew could have happened, but it would have if we hadn’t been following Jesus.

[50:50] I praise God for the grace of his foreknowledge. [50:56] Here’s the reality of where many of us are in our lives.

[51:00] We want to trust God. [51:03] We’re having a tough time because of the things that are in our lives. [51:06] And here’s what I want to let you know. [51:07] You’re going to blow it.

[51:12] You’re going to sin.

[51:16] But praise God, he’s going to be a good man. [51:17] Egypt wasn’t the end of Abram’s story and today is not the end of yours.

[51:22] If you’re a husband, you’re going to blow it with your wife. [51:25] If you’re a wife, you’re going to blow it with your husband. [51:28] If you’re a parent.

[51:32] You’re going to mess up so many times. [51:34] I’ve had four years and I think I’m at like 6000 mess ups. [51:39] All right. I’ve got a lot of years ahead, so I’m a little worried.

[51:44] Here’s the definer. [51:45] You are not defined by where you are at this point. [51:49] You are not defined by your mistakes right now. [51:53] Here’s what you’re going to be defined by in your life. [51:56] You’re going to be defined by the level of repentance that you exhibit.

[52:01] You’re going to be defined by when you see the sin, when you see the mistake, [52:06] when you see that you’ve done wrong, when you see that you’ve led your family down [52:10] the wrong road, you’re going to be defined by whether or not you say, I’ve got to [52:14] trust myself and fix it. [52:16] And you hit the gas pedal further into your sin, thinking you can figure it out. [52:20] Or you’re going to be defined by your repentance when you say, stop.

[52:25] I got to go back.

[52:28] I got to go back. [52:30] I got to go back.

[52:34] Abram gets out of Egypt to find more sin.

[52:38] But then he’s defined with a promise because he repents.

[52:45] Your life will be defined by your level of repentance towards God.

[52:55] If you’re struggling with despair, if you’re struggling with hope, if you’re [53:01] struggling because you think you’ve blown it, if you’re struggling, cause you [53:04] don’t see a way out, trust God.

[53:11] Go home, go back to God. [53:15] Because God wants you to follow him.

[53:20] God wants you to throw off every barrier, even if it’s something that you say, [53:24] maybe it’s not sin, but it’s becoming a God to me. [53:26] It’s becoming my life. [53:27] It’s taking over. [53:28] God says, come back. [53:29] I’ve got more grace.

[53:30] Come back. [53:30] I’ve got more forgiveness. [53:31] Come back. [53:32] All of you.

[53:36] The question this morning is, do you believe the gospel of Jesus?

[53:42] And what are you doing in your life to reflect that belief?

[53:49] What in your life is there because of faith?