Leading in Faith.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Welcome to Village Church. [0:01] If this is your first time here, I want to welcome you. [0:04] My name’s Steve. [0:05] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:07] And I just want to make you aware of a few things [0:09] that are coming up.

[0:11] The first thing is that next Sunday night on December 8th, [0:14] we’re going to have our Village Palooza. [0:16] This is our yearly time that we gather [0:19] for celebrating international missions as a church. [0:22] And what we’re going to do that night [0:24] is we’re going to come together, we’re going to sing together,

[0:26] we’re going to pray together, [0:27] and we’re going to praise God together [0:28] for what He’s doing through the Gospel throughout the world. [0:32] And in that, I want you to know that we’re also going to be [0:35] taking up an offering next Sunday night. [0:37] And what we’re going to do is every dime of that offering

[0:40] next Sunday night is going to go to international missions [0:42] and do an offering called the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. [0:45] We’re also going to tell you who Lottie Moon is next week [0:48] if you don’t know. [0:49] But if you do, you know that this is a very important [0:52] offering every year for the International Mission Board,

[0:55] that all of it goes to them, all of it [0:57] goes to sending missionaries overseas, [0:59] as well as supporting those missionaries [1:01] and training those missionaries. [1:03] So this is vital to the mission of the International Mission Board. [1:07] So please carve out about an hour next Sunday night

[1:11] and come and worship with us at the night of worship [1:14] for Village Palooza. [1:16] Secondly, this past week, we put an RSVP section up on the website [1:20] for our Christmas Eve Eve service. [1:22] If you could do us a favor, we’re trying to gauge [1:24] how many people to expect that night.

[1:26] If we need to move the services around [1:28] and add a third service, if you could, [1:31] just go on the website and RSVP for that, [1:34] RSVP for yourself as well as for any loved ones [1:37] or family or friends, neighbors, co-workers [1:40] that you’re going to bring out to that.

[1:42] That’s going to help us out a lot. [1:43] Some of you really shocked me this week. [1:46] You’re bringing a lot of people. [1:48] And that’s great. That’s great. [1:50] And that’s what we need to know. [1:51] So please go on there if you have not yet.

[1:54] And RSVP for the Christmas Eve Eve service. [1:57] It’s going to be a great time of worship together [1:59] two nights before Christmas. [2:02] And then thirdly, right before we get into the text this morning, [2:05] God has in his grace given us a lot of young families as a church. [2:11] I love my kids. I love my babies.

[2:14] I’ve got two of them. [2:15] And with some of the age group that we have, [2:17] we just have a lot of babies being born. [2:20] And over the past week, [2:22] we’ve had two little lovely children [2:24] that have been born into our family this week

[2:27] who have had a few complications.

[2:31] There’s two families, Scott and Aaron Mason. [2:34] They’ve had a little lovely little bundle of joy named Elijah, [2:37] who was born at 26 weeks. [2:40] And then secondly, Pastor James and Kelsey.

[2:46] Had a little baby. [2:48] Her name is Mara, and she was she was born. [2:50] And there were a few complications and there’s there’s some trouble [2:54] between the brain and the lungs where breathing is concerned. [2:58] And both of these babies

[3:03] are in the NICU over at St. Mary’s right now. [3:06] And this week is going to be pivotal, pivotal for those babies. [3:12] I’m not a doctor, so I’m not going to be able to explain all the terminology. [3:16] But I know that for little Mara, James and Kelsey’s baby, [3:20] they’re going to begin a process about noon of warming that baby up.

[3:27] So this afternoon is very important. [3:30] And with little Elijah.

[3:34] I apologize. With little Elijah.

[3:38] This is going to be a scan this week. [3:41] It’s vital. Now, thus far, [3:45] by God’s grace, all the news has been good. [3:47] And I praise God for that. [3:50] I praise God for what he’s doing.

[3:55] But I believe one of my mentors always, always taught me. [3:59] And, you know, when you have a mentor and they just ingrained [4:02] certain phrases in your head, he ingrained in my head, nothing [4:06] of eternal significance is ever accomplished apart from prayer.

[4:13] And so what I want to do [4:15] is I want to spend a moment as a church. [4:19] I want to pray for our babies.

[4:24] If you’re a parent, you probably understand why. [4:25] A little emotional.

[4:30] I just just pray with me, Father.

[4:33] You are good.

[4:38] You are a holy God.

[4:41] You knew us before time began.

[4:48] Father, we gather as a family. [4:53] Right now, to pray for Elijah, to pray for Mara. [5:01] Lord, may we be a people of faith who know that you’re there.

[5:10] And secondly, God, may we be a people who believe that you work.

[5:16] I pray for your healing right now.

[5:22] I pray that you would give Elijah strength.

[5:29] Help him to grow. [5:32] Help him to develop.

[5:35] Work through the doctors. [5:37] I praise you for all that you have allowed us to discover.

[5:44] And God, I pray that your hand would be on little Elijah.

[5:51] I pray for Aaron and Scott. [5:52] I pray that you’d give them faith.

[5:56] Well, I pray that your gospel would be a comfort that you are a God [6:00] who comes in our sin and suffers with us and you suffer for us. [6:06] Be the God of all comfort.

[6:10] I pray for Mara. [6:12] I pray this afternoon as the doctors begin to work, as the doctors begin [6:17] to watch what happens as the body is warmed, Lord, that you would have your [6:22] hand on her. [6:25] You would grow her, that you would develop her, that you would mature her [6:29] and you’d heal her.

[6:32] God, I pray that through this all that you would allow us the ability to see [6:37] your hand work, that you would allow us the privilege of experiencing your move, [6:42] that you would allow us the faith to trust your gospel. [6:45] But God, I pray that you would heal.

[6:49] Lord, work.

[6:53] In our foolishness, allow us to see your wisdom.

[6:59] It’s in the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. [7:01] Amen. [7:02] If you have your Bibles, open them up to Genesis, Chapter 16. [7:06] Genesis, Chapter 16. [7:09] Over the past few weeks, we’ve been going through the second part of Genesis. [7:15] We’ve been studying the life of Abram.

[7:19] We’ve been looking at God work and faith, at God draw someone to Himself, [7:23] at God draw people, at God actually come in and in our sin show us grace [7:30] and through Abram’s life, through his faith, he brings him to a point of repentance [7:35] where he says, yes, Lord, I believe you. [7:37] Yes, Lord, I will trust you. [7:39] But we also see that that faith is weak.

[7:43] We see a lot of ourselves in Abram, do we not? [7:46] That when life begins to tell a different story, at least from our perspective, [7:51] then God tells us sometimes we trust in our own perspective as limited as it is. [7:57] But Abram time and time again has the grace of God come into his life [8:02] and remind him, Abram, I’m God. [8:05] Abram, I’m here.

[8:06] Abram, I will do what I said I was going to do and I am who I said I am. [8:13] And in that, we saw last week that Abram, God comes to him specifically and says, [8:18] Abram, I’m going to do a work in you that’s going to be seen by the nations. [8:22] I’m going to multiply your offspring to be greater than the stars of the heavens. [8:26] And it says that Abram believed that Abram believed what God had said, [8:32] and God counted it to him as righteousness.

[8:35] And I love the message there and I love the reality that it’s [8:38] it’s kind of said over and over in the New Testament. [8:41] We’re reminded by Paul, we’re reminded by the half brother of Jesus, James, [8:46] that what God called Abram to do was not be a man of great strength, [8:51] was not to be a man of great moral fiber, was not to save himself. [8:55] God called Abram to believe.

[9:01] And he was made righteous through that. [9:04] And that it is faith that marks the follower of God, [9:07] it is faith that marks the follower of Jesus Christ. [9:11] It is not that we’re good because we know that we are not. [9:15] If you don’t know, spend a minute with me and you’ll see how not good I am. [9:20] But we are a people who are called to believe in a righteousness

[9:24] that we personally do not possess. [9:27] We’re called to believe in the righteousness of God, [9:30] that he’s good, that he’s loving, that he’s holy, and that he is right. [9:36] And that is what is so difficult sometimes in life, [9:40] because I have a way that I want my life to go. [9:43] I have a perspective that I see right in front of me.

[9:46] And if anything changes from that, my faith begins to slip. [9:50] My trust in God begins to change. [9:53] My hope goes from God onto either myself or the circumstances that I’m involved in. [10:00] And I try to work and I try to move. [10:02] And sometimes I move away from what God has called me to. [10:06] And that’s what we see Abram do time and time again in the story.

[10:10] And yet God comes and God says, Abram, I’m the Lord. [10:15] I’m the righteous one. I’m the holy one. [10:17] Trust me.

[10:19] And Abram is made righteous.

[10:23] But the reality is that there comes moments in our lives where we do trust, [10:28] where we do believe, where we do have faith, where we’re like, I believe in God. [10:35] I not only believe that he exists, but I believe that I know who he is. [10:39] I believe through the gospel. [10:40] I believe through the cross that this is the Lord. [10:42] And not only that, but I see his promises in his word.

[10:45] I see his promises to be for me, not against me. [10:47] I believe him. [10:48] And have you ever had a moment where you see the promise of God, [10:51] you apply it to your life, you go out and you are excited to tell someone else. [10:57] You’re excited to say, look at what the hand of God is doing in my life. [11:01] Look at the great promise.

[11:02] Do you know about this? [11:04] And that person looks and they do not believe.

[11:08] Or more than that, they respond that we’re foolish. [11:11] They respond that following God will not pay off. [11:15] That obeying him is not the life that you need, [11:18] that trusting in him for your righteousness seems a little bit silly. [11:23] You ever had a moment like that in your life? [11:26] And in that moment, you feel small.

[11:31] You begin to believe the words that you’re saying, man, I am, maybe I am foolish. [11:37] And you second guess what God has called you to. [11:39] You second guess what God has said to you. [11:41] You second guess what God has promised you. [11:43] Not because God has changed, but because of someone around you. [11:47] Because you have someone in your life trying to lead you into a different direction

[11:51] that you know God has not called you to, but you look to them and you say, [11:56] in that moment, you say, well, maybe they’re right. [11:59] Because when I look at the situation, when I look at the circumstances, [12:02] I kind of see what they’re talking about. [12:04] And so maybe God isn’t active or maybe God isn’t good or maybe God isn’t involved. [12:12] And I think the most painful thing that you could experience in a life where faith is concerned

[12:16] is when your own family does that.

[12:19] Is when those that you’re related to, those that you think are the closest to, [12:24] those that you’re the most excited about and you want them to know this good news. [12:28] Because let me tell you, when you come to faith in Jesus, it’s all good news. [12:34] And so what do you do with good news? [12:36] You do not hide it like you do bad news. [12:38] You take good news and you take it to those that you love.

[12:42] I know that we’re called to reach the whole world, [12:44] but I know that deep down inside of each and every one of you, [12:46] the first people that you want to take it to are those that you know, [12:49] those that you love, those that you cherish. [12:52] And there are often times when you go to those people and the response is not the one that you want.

[13:00] The response is maybe going to feel a little harsh.

[13:06] Well, Abram knows your situation. [13:09] Look in Genesis, Chapter 16, we’ll only read verses one through three to begin.

[13:16] Now, Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.

[13:23] We kind of get an introduction there. [13:24] We get an introduction to what’s about to happen because God has just told Abram in Chapter 15, [13:29] if you weren’t here with us last week, you’re not only going to have a little offspring, [13:32] you’ll have a whole lot of offspring and they’re going to outnumber the stars of the heavens.

[13:39] She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. [13:46] And so I said to Abram, behold, now the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. [13:54] Note that she doesn’t just disbelieve, she attacks his faith.

[13:58] Note that she doesn’t just disbelieve God, she blames God.

[14:05] Go into my servant. [14:08] It may be that I shall obtain children by her. [14:11] And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. [14:13] So after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, [14:18] took Hagar, the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram, her husband, as a wife. [14:26] Now note that the promise of God originally came ten years previously where God said,

[14:31] Abram, I want you to get up, I want you to leave your family, I want you to leave your household, [14:35] I want you to follow me into a land that I’m going to show you, a land that I’m going to give you. [14:40] And then he says, and I’m going to make your name great, I’m going to give you great offspring, [14:44] as the story continues. [14:47] But now it’s been ten years. [14:50] Sarai is kind of probably sitting there expecting, and ten years go by, a decade goes by,

[14:56] and she’s not seeing the promises of God in her life. [14:59] So her response is not, well, I’m going to wait, I’m going to keep waiting. [15:04] Her response is, well, maybe we need to get involved, or maybe we need to put our hands in God’s plan, [15:09] maybe we need to tweak things a little bit, and maybe we need to go by our own wisdom [15:13] that God hasn’t given us, and maybe we need to do something else other than trust.

[15:20] And so she has her husband break the marriage covenant, go into Hagar, [15:27] and she says, maybe by my female servant I’ll get an heir. [15:32] Point number one this morning is I want you to understand that God does not call us into sin to further His plan. [15:39] God does not call us into sin to further His plan. [15:43] And that’s specifically where Sarai led Abram. [15:47] She led him directly into sin and said, maybe it’s through this because God has been long in fulfilling His promise,

[15:55] He’s not done it yet, and maybe He wants us to take a little bit of different route to get His hand moving, [16:01] and so maybe we need to do it. [16:04] So she tells Abram, why don’t you sin? [16:07] She doesn’t call it that. [16:09] Maybe it was culturally acceptable in that time, maybe the culture didn’t remember or whatever, [16:14] but she calls Abram into sin with Hagar.

[16:17] You see, God in Genesis 3, excuse me, in Genesis 2, [16:21] He calls a husband to go into his wife, to hold fast to his wife for their entire life, [16:26] and to be faithful and true to his wife, singular. [16:29] And some of you may say, well, look at some of the people in the Old Testament that had lots of wives. [16:34] Right, but that wasn’t what God wanted them to do. [16:36] You also read those stories and see that it never goes well for them.

[16:42] Sometimes I think about my wife and I’m like, I praise the Lord for her, and only her, [16:48] I couldn’t handle more.

[16:52] And I know she says that a lot about me. [16:55] Note that it’s always the husband that has more wives.

[17:00] Women are too smart to think they need more than one man [17:02] because they don’t want to have to put up with more than one.

[17:07] See, with polygamy, especially in the Old Testament and sister wives, [17:13] you see that women are a little smarter than men [17:17] because they don’t try to get more than one because one is all they want [17:21] because more than one is just going to multiply foolishness.

[17:26] But so Abram follows his wife’s advice and he goes into sin. [17:34] We’re tempted to compromise on what we know God has called us to do in order to get what we want. [17:41] You see, because sometimes we’re going to look at something and we’re going to say, [17:44] this is what I want. [17:47] This is the thing that’s going to give me ultimate satisfaction. [17:51] This is the thing that’s going to fulfill me.

[17:53] This is the thing that’s going to make me happy. [17:56] And even when it is something that we know God has not made for us, [18:01] even when we know that it is not the most wise thing that we could do with our lives, [18:05] even when we know that it’s wrong, [18:11] we’re tempted to do it because we’re going to get that faster than what God is going to give us in the end. [18:18] So rather than having enduring faith that waits patiently on the Lord,

[18:23] because let me fill you in. [18:24] That’s what faith is. [18:25] It’s waiting patiently on the Lord.

[18:29] It’s not making things a little more expedient. [18:31] It’s not looking for instant gratification. [18:33] It’s waiting on the Lord for His hand to move in your life. [18:38] And if He’s going to fulfill this plan in Abram, [18:42] it’s going to be through Sarai because God is not a covenant-breaking God.

[18:48] If God promises you children, [18:50] if God promises to do something in your life, [18:54] in your marriage, [18:55] it’s going to be with your spouse. [18:58] It’s not going to be through that other person. [19:02] It’s not going to be men through the other woman.

[19:06] Women is not going to be through the other man. [19:09] It’s going to be through the person that you covenanted with, with God.

[19:15] And you say, well, you don’t live with them. [19:17] I know. [19:19] I also didn’t marry him. You did.

[19:25] And God will work through your marriage. [19:30] So Sarai, instead of trusting God, she says, [19:33] well, maybe I’m a little wiser than God. [19:36] Whenever you get there, you know you’re in trouble. [19:39] Maybe God hasn’t thought of this. [19:42] Trust me, He has.

[19:45] The life that God has you in right now is the life that God wants you to work in.

[19:52] If you’re in obedience to God, [19:55] the answer to get what you want is not disobedience to God. [19:59] It will not further His plan, [20:02] nor will it further your worship of Him. [20:05] It will not further your relationship with Him. [20:10] Sin never benefits you.

[20:15] Sin, by nature, tears your life apart.

[20:20] Sin ruins families.

[20:23] And so Abram listens to bad advice.

[20:30] Look in verse 4. [20:33] And he went into Hagar, and she conceived. [20:37] In this moment, there’s a great temptation, [20:40] and I know Abram’s got it, and Sarai’s got it, [20:42] maybe Hagar’s in there too. [20:45] And they say, aha, it worked.

[20:50] Aha, we got what we want. [20:53] Just because you get what you want doesn’t mean it’s right.

[20:59] You can get what you want all the time, and it turns out to be a nightmare. [21:03] Maybe you’ve experienced it, I know I have.

[21:07] You think you need something, you think you want something, [21:09] so you run after it with all your might, [21:11] and you grab ahold of it only to find that you want something else directly afterwards. [21:16] Or only to find that thing that you thought you were losing, [21:17] that you were living for, that was going to make your life right, [21:19] that thing that you thought that you needed that was going to satisfy you ultimately,

[21:22] you got ahold of it only to find that it rips your life apart. [21:25] Well, whenever it’s sin, whenever it’s against what God has for you, [21:28] it’s going to do that.

[21:34] And when she saw that she had conceived, [21:37] she looked with contempt on her mistress. [21:41] All right, so her mistress is Sarai. [21:43] So what happens? [21:44] This is what happens when you cheat on your wife or you cheat on your husband. [21:49] All right, they’re not going to be satisfied with that for very long,

[21:51] because here’s why Hagar looks at contempt at Sarai, [21:54] because now Sarai’s got something that Hagar wants, a husband.

[22:04] And Sarai said to Abraham,

[22:07] now, I love this part of the story, [22:10] because here is where Sarai, she told him to do this, [22:15] she said, I’ve got some good advice for you, honey. [22:19] Why don’t you sin? [22:20] He does what his wife wants and then he comes back and she’s still not satisfied. [22:25] I’m preaching to some man.

[22:30] Hello.

[22:35] Sarai said to Abraham, [22:37] may the wrong done to me be on you. [22:41] I gave my servant to your embrace, [22:43] and when she saw that she had conceived, [22:47] she looked on me with contempt. [22:49] May the Lord judge between you and me.

[22:52] But Abraham said to Sarai, [22:54] behold, your servant is in your power. [22:56] Do to her as you please. [22:58] Then Sarai dealt harshly with her and she fled from her.

[23:04] Number two this morning, [23:05] wise leadership always follows God’s plan and commands. [23:10] Wise leadership always follows God’s plan and commands. [23:14] As you see, the sin did not bring the family together.

[23:20] Now, nobody’s happy. [23:23] There’s a baby on the way and no one can rejoice in it [23:26] because the mistress, she wants Abram and the wife wants the mistress out. [23:32] Infidelity will never cure what ails you.

[23:37] You think it will, but it won’t. [23:40] It’s only going to bring a multitude of problems. [23:44] And so Sarai looks to Abram and says, [23:45] this is all your fault. [23:46] Abram says, hey, you’re the one in charge. [23:49] Do with her whatever you want.

[23:52] And then Hagar has to flee. [23:54] So Abram is about to be a deadbeat dad. [23:57] Sarai still isn’t going to have a child. [24:00] And Abram now has left his faith.

[24:04] It tore a family apart. [24:08] The reality this morning is that you need to be careful who counsels you. [24:14] You need to be careful whose advice you take. [24:19] And I know this is going to be an interesting direction, [24:20] but I want you to track with me for just a moment. [24:22] Because the reality here is that what they had was at its root

[24:27] a problem with faith, [24:28] and that problem with faith turned into a problem with leadership. [24:32] We can get advice from many places, [24:35] but the question that you need to ask is it from wise leadership [24:40] or someone who will lead you away from God?

[24:45] Are the greatest advisors in your life people who direct you towards God [24:50] or people who don’t even know God? [24:53] Are they people who will help you grow in the gospel [24:56] or are they people who will take you away from the gospel [25:00] because they’re smarter than the gospel? [25:03] The reality this morning is the most important thing for a follower of Jesus,

[25:07] the most important thing with your relationship with God [25:09] is that you grow in Him, is that you grow towards Him. [25:13] So the greatest advisors in how you live your life [25:16] are not people who believe in the same faith that you believe in, [25:20] who trust in the God that you trust in, [25:22] then you are getting advice from a faulty source.

[25:26] And that’s what Sarai did. [25:27] She gave Abram bad advice because she did not trust God. [25:33] Abram should have led Sarai not the other way around.

[25:39] Leadership must be godly. [25:41] Leadership must be faithful. [25:43] Leadership must pursue faith or it is not leadership worth having in your life. [25:50] Proverbs chapter 10 verse 14 puts it this way, [25:52] The wise lay up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near. [26:00] Yeah, Sarai was the mouth of a fool in this story.

[26:03] But here’s where we go. [26:04] We struggle to say, well, who is wise and who is not wise? [26:08] Because I don’t know about you, but I’ve met people who claim to follow Jesus [26:11] and they’re not that smart.

[26:16] I think Proverbs chapter 9 verse 10 gives us some very good foundational layers [26:21] as to where wisdom starts, where it’s going to come from. [26:24] It says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom [26:26] and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. [26:30] Here’s where we go with that. [26:31] When that person is someone who trusts God,

[26:35] that person is someone who gets their insight from the Holy One, [26:40] which is in Scripture. [26:41] Scripture is the word of God because it leads us to Jesus. [26:46] So if it’s good advice, it’s going to lead you to Jesus. [26:51] And so when you’re making decisions about lifestyle, [26:54] decisions about direction in life,

[26:56] decisions about what to do with your life, [26:58] decisions about child rearing, decisions about marriage, [27:01] decisions about what choices are good or bad, [27:04] decisions about what you should do with your life, [27:06] the answer is not a source apart from God. [27:12] Ultimately, we’re called to build our lives on a foundation of what God has promised.

[27:18] Where do we know the promises of God? We know them from Scripture.

[27:22] Who is the Holy One? It’s Jesus himself. [27:27] So when we get advice, when we get wisdom about our life, [27:31] now I’m not talking about mutual funds, [27:33] now there is godliness in mutual funds, [27:35] I’d use a believer before I didn’t, [27:37] but they know a little bit I guess.

[27:40] I’m talking about the big stuff.

[27:44] I’m talking about what are you going to do with your life? [27:48] Ultimately, what are you going to steward your money towards? [27:51] Ultimately, how are you going to raise your kids? [27:54] Ultimately, what are you going to do with the rights and the wrongs that this life presents before us? [27:59] Ultimately, what are you going to do with your faith? [28:02] Because if you’re going to someone who does not have faith,

[28:07] they’re not going to lead you to Jesus because they don’t know him. [28:10] If they don’t have faith, guess who needs to lead? You.

[28:15] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. [28:17] Therefore, those who have faith must lead those who do not have faith.

[28:23] It’s from the Holy One, the knowledge of him, where our insight comes from. [28:29] Do not allow the influence of people who do not believe God to lead your life.

[28:37] When the faithful fail to lead, others are put at risk. [28:44] Who was called to lead?

[28:48] Abram. Why? [28:50] Because who did God give the revelation to? [28:54] Abram. [28:56] When you have in your life the word of God being active, [29:01] the Holy Spirit has drawn you towards himself. [29:04] God has redeemed you. God has put faith in you.

[29:08] He’s calling you to lead.

[29:14] But we’re afraid of that.

[29:19] Fear the Lord. Don’t fear the world.

[29:26] There’s something that happens in the story with Abram that I think is very telling for us. [29:33] It’s that God came through Abram. [29:35] God wanted Abram to go to Sarai. God wanted Abram to lead her. [29:39] And yet in this moment, she needed a little firm leadership.

[29:43] No, woman, I’m not going to do that. [29:45] That’s what she needed.

[29:48] Would it have been a tough conversation? Yeah, but sometimes we need those.

[29:53] Here’s the reality of what happened. [29:56] In this whole story, we see the way God wants to form a family completely subverted [30:02] the same way it was subverted in Genesis chapter 3. [30:06] What happens in Genesis chapter 3 is that the family unit is compromised [30:10] because Adam refused to lead. [30:13] Remember when Eve sinned against God and all of us husbands love to blame that on the woman?

[30:17] Well, the story says Adam was standing right there with her. [30:22] So what did we have? The failure of a father to lead his family.

[30:28] What do we have in the story of Abram? [30:30] The failure of a father to lead his family.

[30:36] Ephesians chapter 5 verse 23 calls husbands to be the head of the wife [30:41] even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its savior. [30:46] Do you see the enormous call that is on men? [30:51] It is a call for us to die to ourselves in order to lead our families in faith.

[31:01] But when the husband fails to lead in faith, the wife is left to fend for herself.

[31:10] I don’t know about you, but the scripture says these two shall be one.

[31:17] Faith of the husband, the faith of the wife must be one faith for the family unit to go forward in trusting God.

[31:26] And here it is a lack of faith that defines this marriage.

[31:32] And when faith is not leading the marriage, sin is close at hand because sin is always our default mode. [31:40] Abram has faith. Abram does not lead in faith. [31:44] So their default is if we’re not going to have faith, we’re going to enter into a life of sin. [31:48] And it tears the family apart.

[31:53] Husbands follow God or your family will be put at risk.

[31:59] The numbers are astounding.

[32:03] When a family is reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ, [32:07] if the father or husband is reached and he trusts around 90 percent of the time, the whole family comes to faith in Jesus Christ. [32:16] When the wife is reached and the husband does not believe, only about 18 percent of the time does the rest of the family follow Christ. [32:22] Tell me fathers do not have an influence on their families.

[32:31] Husbands, fathers, trust the Lord above everything else. [32:35] Follow him faithfully. Sacrifice for the gospel. [32:39] Sacrifice to show your family who God is. [32:42] Sacrifice to lead them in faith and in truth. [32:47] And God will give the family faith.

[32:51] But when you compromise, as Abram compromises in this story, your entire family is put at risk.

[33:00] When we trace the highest crime in certain areas, there’s always one thing in common.

[33:10] Fatherless families.

[33:16] Fathers take responsibility.

[33:20] Even in his sin, Abram shirks responsibility to own his life. [33:29] Now he’s going to be a father. [33:32] Now he’s going to have a child. Did he go into sin to have that child? [33:36] Yeah. Did the child sin? No.

[33:40] And what does Abram say? He doesn’t say, I love my baby. [33:43] Abram says, Sir, I, whatever you want.

[33:48] He doesn’t lead. [33:51] He compromises again and again for instant gratification instead of enduring faith. [33:58] Point number three this morning. Sin will not build a life of joy.

[34:04] Sin will not build a life of joy. [34:08] Sir, I believed that it would. [34:10] Abram followed her into it. [34:12] Hagar fell for the line.

[34:16] And they all believed, if we do this, we’ll have joy. [34:22] If we do this, we’ll have the life that we always thought we would have. [34:25] If we do this, we will get a good life from God. [34:29] Rather than looking and saying, Lord, let us be holy. [34:32] Lord, let us be obedient. Lord, let our faith endure. [34:35] And all three of them are worse off for it.

[34:42] Yeah, in the moment, I bet it was fun. [34:44] In the moment, I bet there were some good times. [34:47] In the moment, I bet there was a smile on their faces. [34:49] But the aftershock of the lack of faith and the sin that entered into their lives was misery.

[34:59] You can go and sin for a time. [35:03] But ultimately, it will not pay off. [35:07] In verses 5 and 6 here, we see them begin to blame others and hurt others for their own choices. [35:14] Abram is a little bit of a fall guy. [35:17] Did Abram sin? Absolutely. [35:19] He sinned against God. He sinned against Sarai.

[35:22] He sinned against Hagar. [35:23] Then he sinned against his unborn child. [35:27] Abram sinned. [35:28] But then look at Sarai. Sarai does not own her portion. [35:31] She says, Abram, look at what you did to me. [35:33] Because that’s what sin does to us.

[35:35] Did she sin? Yeah. [35:36] She sinned against God. She sinned against Abram. [35:38] She sinned against Hagar. [35:39] And now she’s going to sin against an unborn child as well.

[35:44] Everyone in this story has sin. [35:46] And no one is owning it. [35:48] When you mess up in life, when you are disobedient, [35:51] you have something that tells you, well, it was someone else’s fault.

[35:57] We have a culture built on blame.

[36:02] Because responsibility would take you to repentance.

[36:09] What you need to do in your sin is own your sin. [36:14] Admit your sin. [36:16] And repent of your sin. [36:18] Sarai just gets angry and makes it worse. [36:21] This is pride. [36:23] Sin should humble us.

[36:26] And in faith, it will. [36:28] And when it does, we repent of our sin.

[36:36] It’s going to cause a few conflicts in our lives when we sin. [36:39] The first conflict is going to be with God. [36:42] You don’t see anyone in this story get closer to God. [36:46] You see everyone run away from God in the story. [36:50] You see everyone follow unwise counsel. [36:53] You see everyone follow not great advice.

[36:57] What we will do in our lives is we will look at the situations and say, [37:04] well, this person is not going to build my faith up. [37:07] Or this advice is not going to fill my faith up. [37:10] Or doing this thing is not going to build my faith up. [37:12] But I can’t find specifically where my action is a sin. [37:16] Maybe it’s unwise, but it’s not a sin.

[37:19] Here’s the reality check that all of you need. [37:21] If it weren’t for sin, there wouldn’t be unwise decisions.

[37:29] All that would exist without sin is God’s wisdom. [37:34] So your unwise decisions, even if you can’t black and white say it’s a sin, [37:38] it’s not going to lead you to maturity. [37:41] It’s not going to lead you to a life of worship. [37:44] And it’s not going to lead you to a life of obedience. [37:46] God calls us to wisdom.

[37:48] He wrote a whole book about it in the Old Testament. [37:51] We just looked at it. Proverbs.

[37:55] We must make wise decisions according to the faith that God has called us to have in Him. [38:03] We need to do as God calls us to do, not according to what we think we want to do.

[38:13] Has sin ever brought peace with people? [38:16] No. [38:17] That’s why it not only causes conflict with God, it also causes conflict with others. [38:23] Sin will not heal your marriage.

[38:27] Sin will not heal your relationship with your children. [38:31] Sin will not heal your friendships. [38:34] Sin will not get you into the better graces of your boss, [38:38] and if it does, that boss is leading you in sin.

[38:43] Sin causes conflict. [38:45] From the very first sin in the Garden of Eden, we see the blame game start. [38:48] In every other story that we have, we see the blame game, we see conflict, [38:53] we see people’s relationships falling apart. [38:55] We do not see people coming together and having healing through it. [39:02] When we sin, we must own the results of our sin,

[39:06] or else it will bring destruction into our lives, as well as into our relationships. [39:13] The godly thing for Abram to do in this situation, [39:16] and this is post-sin, because I’m smart enough to know that you’re all going to find yourself in a place in life where you’ve sinned, [39:24] because you’re a little bit like me in that. [39:26] So what do you do? [39:29] You own it, you repent of it, and then you take the consequences of it that still exist.

[39:37] See, sometimes we sin and it doesn’t hurt anybody but ourselves, [39:42] and the consequences are over when we ask God forgiveness and when we repent of our sins. [39:48] But there are times when we disobey God, and the consequences will last a lifetime. [39:54] And that’s what Abram had.

[39:57] With Hagar, the consequence of his sin would last the rest of Ishmael’s life. [40:02] That would be the name of the child. [40:04] And in his relationship with Ishmael, he needed to be a loving father. [40:08] He needed to be a responsible father. [40:11] He needed to raise Ishmael. [40:12] He needed to love Ishmael.

[40:14] He needed to be a father to Ishmael. [40:16] The answer was not marry Hagar. [40:18] The answer was be faithful to Sarai and own the responsibility of what you did. [40:25] But instead, he now wants to make the child pay the consequences for his sin. [40:32] Two wrongs don’t make a right. [40:34] I think I learned that in kindergarten.

[40:36] Yet throughout our lives, we tend to have a perpetual cycle of sinning and then sinning more to cover our sin. [40:44] It will never work. [40:46] That will never give you the relationship with God that you need. [40:48] James 4.17 says, [40:50] So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is a sin.

[40:56] Abram knew what he needed to do. [40:59] And instead, he said, how can I get this conflict out of my life as soon as possible? [41:04] You can run from your sin, but it will always find you. [41:08] We must deal with what we do in life as God deals with it.

[41:14] Forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. [41:18] That’s how we deal with sin. [41:21] And it is how we deal with others sin towards us.

[41:30] Forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration. [41:33] Because the other reactions will only further conflict. [41:40] And our God is not a God of conflict, is he? No. [41:42] He is a God of forgiveness. [41:43] He is a God of reconciliation. [41:45] And he is a God of restoration.

[41:49] And that’s the order they go in, by the way. [41:51] Don’t try to restore somebody you haven’t forgiven. [41:54] Doesn’t work because you are a sinner. [41:57] Finally, this morning, we see how God is good. [42:02] God is gracious to pursue us in our sin. [42:08] Look in verse 7.

[42:14] Hagar flees from Sarai and Abram because I think she feared for her life. [42:20] The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness. [42:26] The spring on the way to Shur. [42:28] And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going? [42:35] She said, I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai. [42:38] The angel of the Lord said to her, return to your mistress and submit to her.

[42:43] The angel of the Lord also said to her, I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. [42:50] And the angel of the Lord said to her, Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. [42:55] You shall call his name Ishmael because the Lord has listened to your affliction. [43:00] He shall be a wild donkey of a man. [43:03] His hand, I don’t really want to be said about me.

[43:08] Some questions you just got for heaven. [43:11] Wild donkey of a man. [43:13] His hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him. [43:16] And he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen. [43:19] So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her. [43:24] You are a god of seeing.

[43:27] For she said, Truly here I have seen him who looks after me. [43:31] Therefore the well has been called Ber-la-hai-roi. [43:35] It lies between Kadesh and Ber-ed. [43:38] And Hagar bore Abram a son and Abram called the name of the son whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. [43:46] Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. [43:52] I want you to see a very important thing in this text.

[43:56] God did not abandon Hagar.

[44:02] Everyone else did. [44:04] But God didn’t. [44:06] God doesn’t wait for her to find him. [44:10] God doesn’t wait for her to feel guilty. [44:12] God doesn’t wait. [44:14] God pursues.

[44:18] You know that’s what the Lord always does. [44:20] He pursues us. [44:22] And ultimately he pursued us on the cross. [44:24] Ultimately he pursues us through his son Jesus Christ. [44:27] But when he pursues Hagar, Hagar looks to him. [44:31] She’s waiting for death by a spring.

[44:33] She’s fled, she’s alone, she has no one to care for her. [44:37] And she’s waiting by a spring. [44:39] She’s waiting to die. [44:40] And in all the world’s foolishness and God’s hating ways, he brings her forgiveness.

[44:47] And what is her response? [44:49] She calls upon the name of the Lord. [44:53] And she calls him the God of seeing. [44:57] The text there in Hebrew is El-Roy. [45:00] What that means is that you are the God who sees me.

[45:07] When you feel alone, when you feel abandoned, when you feel that your sin cannot get any greater and it’s going to crush you. [45:16] When you feel that your life is coming to an end because all others have forsaken you. [45:22] And your faith, maybe it’s not enough. [45:25] Understand that you are not forsaken by God because he is the God who sees you. [45:31] And there’s two ways of responding to that. [45:34] The first one is if you are unrepentant and you are holding on to your sin, the God of seeing should terrify you.

[45:43] You are not doing anything that he hasn’t seen. [45:45] You are not doing anything that he doesn’t know. [45:46] He knows what you are doing. [45:48] He knows where you are. [45:50] He is the God of seeing. [45:51] And in your sin you cannot get away from him.

[45:57] But secondly, your response should be repentance. [46:03] Because that’s her response.

[46:06] The angel of the Lord comes to her and she cries out like in Romans chapter 10-13. [46:12] And the scripture tells us that those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. [46:17] And God saves Hagar in her confession that he is Lord. [46:25] She says, you are a God unlike any other. [46:28] You are a God who sees me in my affliction. [46:31] You are a God who redeems me from my sin.

[46:34] I will submit to you and God’s call on her was not you get away from those mean people. [46:40] God’s call was go back.

[46:44] And she finds grace.

[46:48] She finds restoration. [46:51] She finds the hand of God. [46:53] But here is the reality this morning.

[46:59] Ishmael would grow to live a life of conflict.

[47:06] Fast forward the story and Abram and Sarai do have a son. [47:09] His name is Isaac. [47:10] The descendants of Isaac are the Jews. [47:15] The descendants of Ishmael are the Arabs. [47:19] And for thousands of years they have been at conflict.

[47:24] Because it’s a genealogy based on sin.

[47:30] Friends, our sin has greater consequences than we will ever believe that they do. [47:34] Because none of you are an island to yourself.

[47:39] God calls us to holiness and he calls us to obedience. [47:43] Because it is what will build a life in relationship with him.

[47:51] Sin will not build. [47:53] It will destroy. [47:55] So your response in your life is to understand that you need God. [48:01] Because he is the God who sees. [48:03] And he is the God who when we confess he saves. [48:07] And he is the God who gives grace upon grace.

[48:09] He is the God who will restore us. [48:11] He is not the God who leads us into a fruitless life of condemnation. [48:15] He is the God who leads us into a life of forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration. [48:20] And ultimately we see that this God who calls her, this God who sees her is Jesus Christ.

[48:31] Ultimately Jesus knew that the redemption that he brought to her would be bought on his cross.

[48:41] See Jesus died for all the sins that they committed just like he died for your sin. [48:46] Just like he died for my sin.

[48:50] So whatever conflict is going on in your life, whatever foolishness that you have given into, [48:55] you will understand that the answer is not to continue down that road.

[49:00] The answer is to call out to the God who sees you. [49:05] Because he is the God who will forgive you. [49:09] Because he loves you. [49:12] As the band comes up, I want us to take a moment and reflect on the beauty of the forgiveness that God gives us all. [49:19] And it is the forgiveness through Jesus. [49:21] If you were with us last week, we saw the first time this meal was ever shared with anyone.

[49:26] The bread and the cup. [49:28] Which we know because of scripture, this bread and this cup represents the life of Jesus Christ on the cross. [49:34] Who died for our sins and then rose again from the dead. [49:37] Why do we have hope in this life? [49:40] We have hope because Jesus lives. [49:43] Because we have a God who has the power over sin and we have a God who has the power over death.

[49:49] And as we reflect on this meal this morning, this communion meal, which represents the cross of Jesus Christ, [49:56] I want us to come in great faith. [49:58] I want us to come in deep prayer, in a deep understanding that our hope for healing, [50:04] that our hope for reconciliation, that our hope for forgiveness, that our hope for restoration, [50:09] that our hope for anything that we are looking for in life is found in the cross. [50:14] It is found in Jesus Christ.

[50:17] There are so many great burdens that we carry.

[50:22] And God wants us to know that whatever burden you have, whatever suffering you are going through, [50:28] whatever pain you are experiencing, whatever trial you are going through, [50:32] that He is Yahweh El-Roy. [50:35] He is the God who sees you. [50:39] He is not the God who has abandoned you. [50:43] He is the God that when He left on the mountain, when He ascended into heaven,

[50:49] He looked to His disciples and He said, [50:51] I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you.

[50:58] Friends, God is with you right now.

[51:04] Whatever you need,

[51:08] ask Him.

[51:11] All the joy is in Him.

[51:16] You will find more than you can ever exhaust. [51:18] More forgiveness than you will ever need. [51:21] More hope than can fade out in eternity.

[51:27] Go to Him. [51:28] This morning as we come, I want us to come with our burdens.

[51:34] And I want us to offer them to Him. [51:36] I want us to ask Him for what we need.

[51:41] And I want us to call upon the God who sees us. [51:47] You are never alone. [51:49] He is always there. [51:52] When you are ready, come.