Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP220020S
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00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn and we welcome you
00:02 to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:04 Today, we're on Lesson 7 in the Adult Bible Study Guide 00:08 which is Genesis 00:11 but today's lesson is the Covenant with Abraham. 00:14 Why does the covenant with Abraham 00:17 have significance for New Testament Christians? 00:19 Join us today. 00:21 If you don't already have your Study, 00:24 you can go to: 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 00:29 and download a copy. 00:31 You can also see all of the previous programs... 00:34 all of the previous Sabbath School Quarterlies. 00:37 So, we're so glad you're joining us today. 00:40 Come on and let's get into the Word of God. 00:43 Music... 01:14 Shelley: Hello and welcome once again 01:16 to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:18 We're so excited that you've joined us 01:20 because you're the reason we do this 01:22 and we all benefit from our study. 01:24 Let me introduce the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:28 Pastor John Dinzey. 01:29 Dinzey: Thank you, it's a blessing and opportunity 01:32 to be here to share God's Word. 01:33 Shelley: Amen... and my Sister Jill Morikone. 01:36 Jill: Thank you, Shelley... 01:37 excited to study about the Covenant. 01:39 Shelley: And then we have Pastor James Rafferty. 01:42 James: Good to be here Shelley, 01:43 I'm going to be covering: The Son of Promise. 01:45 Shelley: Oh, sounds good and last but not least, 01:48 Ryan Day, our Evangelist and Singer in this room. 01:50 Ryan: Amen, it's a blessing to be a part of this Panel. 01:53 Today, we're going to be talking about Lot in Sodom. 01:55 Shelley: Amen, Jill would you like to have our opening prayer? 01:58 Jill: Sure, "Holy Father, we come before You 02:00 in the name of Jesus, 02:01 grateful for the gift of Your Word and Your Spirit 02:04 and we ask... would You open up our minds and hearts right now 02:08 to receive what You have for us, in Jesus' name, amen. " 02:11 Shelley: Amen, I kind of rushed through the introductions 02:14 because I'm anxious to do a little re-cap 02:17 as we begin to study Lesson 7: The Covenant with Abraham. 02:22 Why does the Abrahamic Covenant 02:26 have meaning to us as New Testament Christians? 02:29 Let me read to you from Luke 1:72 and 73. 02:33 This is Zacharias and he's prophesying 02:36 when he finds out that Mary is pregnant with the... 02:39 with the Messiah and he says these words, 02:43 "God is performing the mercy He promised to the patriarchs, 02:48 remembering his holy covenant; 02:52 which He swore to our father Abraham. " 02:54 You see, from Genesis to Revelation, 02:57 it is all the unfolding of God's everlasting covenant of grace, 03:02 the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. 03:06 Now, James, in the New Testament also refers to Abraham 03:10 and he tells us what this everlasting covenant is, 03:14 he's actually repeating from 2nd Chronicles and Isaiah 03:17 but he says in James 2:23, "Abraham believed God 03:22 and it was accounted to him for righteousness 03:26 and he was called the Friend of God. " 03:30 Are you a friend of God? 03:32 Abraham... the Abrahamic Covenant 03:37 is righteousness by faith and you know what? 03:40 That's the only kind of righteousness there is, right? 03:42 Panel: Right... hmmm... 03:44 Shelley: So, we... we look at Abraham... 03:48 he exercised his faith in God to obey God. 03:53 He demonstrated the reality of his righteousness 03:57 his right relationship with God by walking in obedience. 04:02 He was called out by God at the age of 75 04:07 and for 100 years he lived and he died in obedience to God 04:15 so, he walked with God for 100 years 04:18 and, you know what? 04:20 Romans... we won't turn there but 04:22 Romans chapter 4 verse 11 calls Abraham the "Spiritual Father" 04:29 of all who walk in his steps of faith. 04:32 How exciting! 04:34 Now, let me give you a quick review 04:36 so, as we come into Sundays lesson, I want to build on this 04:39 because it's interesting how God unfolds his revelation 04:45 in a progressive fashion. 04:47 You know, God just didn't come and blurp, "Here it is. " 04:51 He has... because we couldn't have understood it. 04:55 So, in Genesis 12, Abraham is 75 years old... 04:59 he's childless... 05:00 when God calls him out of the Ur of Chaldees... 05:03 and you know what's interesting? He just follows God. 05:09 He has no idea where he's going, 05:11 but God introduced in Genesis 12, 05:14 His everlasting covenant with Abraham 05:16 which would include the Seed... the Messiah... 05:19 it would be... include land a nation... 05:23 divine blessings and protection. 05:25 So, in obedient faith... Abraham believed God. 05:30 He walked away from all of the comforts of the big city. 05:33 He exchanged his life of leisure 05:37 to become a nomad... I mean, he was an immigrant... 05:42 he was a sojourner who had to live in tents 05:45 instead of the comfort that he was used to 05:48 but he always obeyed the commandments of God. 05:51 We see in Hebrews 11:10, 05:54 it says that Abraham was waiting... 05:58 I've always said, "Looking for the city" 06:02 but it says, "he was waiting for the city 06:05 whose Builder and Maker was God. " 06:07 You know what? 06:09 Abraham is a great example to us 06:12 because obedience... 06:14 Abraham's obedience was his pathway to blessing 06:18 and it's the same for us today. 06:20 Obedience is the highest expression of worship 06:23 for the Lord... and it is the pathway to God's blessing. 06:26 So, he comes out of the land of Canaan 06:29 when he is a... a... with his wife who's ten years younger, 06:33 Sarai... whose later name was Sarah... 06:35 he comes out with Lot and then he pitched his tent... 06:40 he's got this household of people with him 06:42 but as soon as he pitched his tent, 06:44 he built an altar because he was devoted to worship of God 06:50 and he called on the name of the Lord 06:53 and after a while... then in Genesis 12, 06:55 he goes down to Egypt during the famine. 06:57 But now, Genesis 13... 06:59 twelve: God introduces the covenant, 07:02 Genesis 13... he comes up from Egypt... 07:05 he's... Abraham and Lot... they're... 07:08 oh, they've been blessed by the Lord... 07:10 their herds are so big 07:11 that their herdsmen are beginning to argue 07:13 who wants what... 07:15 Abraham says, "We've got to separate... 07:17 land can't support us together... 07:19 and in total humility he gives his younger nephew, Lot 07:24 the choice... which way to go. 07:27 But in Genesis 13:14 through 16, 07:30 God reaffirms... He's introduced the covenant... 07:34 now He's going to reaffirm the covenant with Abraham 07:39 promising the land and he says in Genesis 13:16, 07:43 get this... 07:44 "I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; 07:48 so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, 07:52 then your descendants could be numbered. " 07:56 The name Abraham literally means: Exalted Father 07:59 and it's interesting... he's got no descendants yet has he? 08:02 Panel: Laughing... sure... 08:04 Shelley: But Genesis 14 God gives Abraham 08:07 the victory over the five kings, 08:09 he has a "meet and greet" with the High Priest Melchizedek 08:13 but now, it takes us to Sunday, 08:16 Genesis 15: The Faith of Abraham. 08:19 Let's look at Genesis 15:1 through 4, 08:21 this is one of my favorite chapters in the whole Bible, 08:24 Genesis 15, "After these things 08:27 the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, 08:30 'Do not be afraid, Abram. 08:33 I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. ' 08:37 But Abram, said, 'Lord God, what will You give me 08:42 seeing I go childless, 08:44 and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?'" 08:49 This was his male servant. 08:50 "Then Abram said, 'Look, you've given me no offspring; 08:54 indeed one born in my house is my heir!' 09:00 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 09:03 'This one shall not be your heir, 09:06 but one who will come from your own body 09:11 shall be your heir. " 09:13 Now, notice this because sometimes we forget this. 09:15 God didn't tell him... 09:17 it would come from Sarah's body right away, 09:20 He said... from Abraham's body. 09:22 So, I think that explains what happens a little later on 09:26 but... so, He's talking about the Seed... 09:30 the Seed with a capital "S" which is Jesus Christ. 09:35 And in the plural 09:38 the Seed was Abraham's posterity on the earth, 09:42 so, Genesis 15:5 says, "Then He... " God 09:46 "brought Abraham outside and said, 09:48 'Now look toward the heaven, 09:50 and count the stars if you are able to number them. ' 09:53 And He said to him, 09:55 'So shall your descendants be. '" 09:59 Interesting... Genesis 13, 10:01 He is calling them the dust of the earth... 10:04 now, he's... it's a repeat and enlarge 10:07 and He's saying, "Look at the stars, 10:09 this is how your descendants will be. " 10:11 You know, I had this thought... 10:13 I don't know if it's true or not, 10:14 but dust of the earth could have been his fleshly heirs 10:19 and the stars... the spiritual Israel... 10:22 I don't know but anyway, it was an interesting thought. 10:24 Galatians 3:7 says, "Those who walk in faith, 10:30 are the true children of Abraham. " 10:35 So, we get in Genesis 17, 10:37 and God changes Abram's name to Abraham. 10:41 which means: The father of many nations 10:45 and at this point, God is showing His covenant 10:50 of righteousness by faith 10:51 is not just for this nation of physical descendants 10:56 but that Abraham would be the father of many nations... 11:01 God's covenant is universal. 11:05 But now, we're really getting into the progressive unfolding 11:10 of God's covenant. 11:12 In Genesis 15:6, it says this, 11:15 "Abraham believed in the LORD, 11:18 and He... God... accounted it to him for righteousness. " 11:24 You know, to believe God means that we accept in obedience 11:30 His plan... if you believe God, you accept His plan 11:36 and walk-in obedience, so, righteousness by faith 11:41 includes obedience by grace through faith. 11:46 And from the time that God introduced the covenant, 11:51 in to... when He called him out, Abraham was 75... 11:56 did you know it was 25 years 11:58 for the covenant son of promise to come... Isaac. 12:03 Isn't that amazing? 12:05 He walks so faithfully for those 25 years 12:08 but what I love about Genesis 15 is... God is now... 12:12 He's introduced the covenant... 12:13 in 13 and 14 He reaffirms the covenant 12:17 but this chapter... God is going to ratify 12:20 the covenant of salvation by grace through faith... 12:24 righteousness by faith. 12:25 Abraham slaughters the clean animals... 12:29 a heifer and female goat 12:31 and a ram and he splits them... 12:33 then he's got the turtledove and the pigeon 12:36 and the animals... other than the birds 12:39 were cut right in twain... 12:42 they were just right down the middle 12:44 and listen to what Genesis 15:12 says, 12:47 "When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram" 12:51 God put him in a deep sleep... 12:53 "and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him... " 12:57 And in verse 17 it says, "And it came to pass, 12:59 when the sun went down and it was dark, 13:02 that behold, there appeared a smoking oven 13:05 and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. " 13:10 This burning oven... this... 13:13 I mean this smoking oven and the burning torch were symbols 13:17 of God's divine presence 13:20 and I want you to notice... this was a... 13:24 when they cut a covenant... 13:25 is what it was called back in the day, 13:28 typically, both parties would pass through the middle 13:31 but please notice this... 13:33 at the ratification of God's covenant 13:35 of salvation by grace through faith... 13:38 only God passes between the covenant sacrifices 13:44 because the covenant is built only on God's promises 13:50 not upon ours. 13:51 Romans 4:3 through 4 says, 13:53 God's plan of redemption 13:55 has always been salvation by grace through faith, 13:58 we've got to trust in Him 14:01 and Romans 4:19 14:03 says that although Abraham was a 100 years old, 14:06 he did not waver in faith... 14:07 he did not consider the deadness of his own body 14:09 or Sarah's womb 14:11 but he just was fully convinced of God's promise 14:15 and he... God accounted it to him as righteousness. 14:20 Panel: Amen... amen... amen, praise the Lord. 14:22 Dinzey: Well, we now move to Monday's portion of the lesson. 14:26 My name is John Dinzey and the title for Monday's lesson 14:30 is Abram's Doubts... 14:31 Abraham's Doubts... 14:33 We now move to Genesis chapter 16 14:35 and beginning in verse 1, 14:37 let's take a look at it, 14:39 "Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. 14:44 And she had an Egyptian maidservant 14:47 whose name was Hagar. " 14:49 I want to pause here because the Lord changed Abraham's name... 14:55 Abram's name to Abraham and as you have already heard 14:59 he is father of many nations which is interesting 15:03 because many years passed after God made the promise 15:07 that he would children 15:09 and time passes... people begin to doubt... 15:12 "Is God going to do this or not?" 15:14 And I can see Abraham... "What is your name?" 15:17 So and so... "And your name?" 15:18 "Abraham... which means father of many nations... " 15:21 "Oh, how many children do you have?" 15:23 "Ah... none... " 15:25 Panel: Laughter. 15:27 Dinzey: It began to be a... a... a very difficult situation 15:30 and I'm sure it played on Abraham's mind. 15:32 So, when we get to Genesis chapter 16 15:35 and we see here that something is presented to us... 15:40 verse 2 it says, "So Sarai said to Abram, 15:44 'See now, the LORD has restrained me 15:48 from bearing children. 15:50 Please, go in to my maid; 15:52 perhaps I shall obtain children by her. ' 15:56 And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. " 16:00 So, we see here that neither one of them 16:05 tried to encourage one another at this point. 16:08 I'm sure they prayed many... many times... many years, 16:12 "Lord, is it now? Please bring this promise" 16:15 Abraham was advancing in age... 16:18 he is concerned... 16:19 who is going to inherit the things that I have? 16:22 And so... in this... let's call it desperation... 16:25 they resorted to what Sarai suggested 16:29 which was really a common practice of the day. 16:33 The neighbors around wouldn't say, 16:35 "Ah... look what Abraham did!" 16:37 No... it was a common practice of the day. 16:40 So, this was a serious problem because you see, 16:45 when God promises something, 16:46 we can see throughout the Bible that He fulfills His promise. 16:50 Panel: That's right... yeah... that's right. 16:52 Dinzey: And if we try to do God's job, 16:55 we get into serious trouble. 16:58 Panel: That's right. 17:00 Dinzey: This was a great, great mistake 17:02 which... even to this day you can see 17:05 there are issues between Abraham's children. 17:09 So, notice here that the word "Please" was used 17:13 and you have in the... in the King James Version, 17:17 "I pray thee... " you know... 17:18 it's... it's a... it's an expression of a request... 17:22 such as in a pleading 17:23 and Abraham consented, you know, 17:26 he thought, "Well, if Sarah appears... 17:28 the time for her to have children is gone... 17:31 this must be the best solution. 17:33 Maybe this is the way God is going to work 17:36 to fulfill His promise... " 17:38 and, you know, we as human beings sometimes... 17:43 we try to reason things that we know are wrong 17:47 and we say, "Well, maybe this is acceptable to the Lord. " 17:51 And so, they went ahead and did this thing. 17:55 Let's go now to verse 3, Genesis 16:3... 17:59 "Then Sarai, Abram's wife, 18:01 took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, 18:03 and gave her to her husband Abram... " 18:06 notice it says, "to be his wife, 18:09 after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. " 18:13 Many years had passed and it says, 18:15 "So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. 18:18 And when she saw that she had conceived, 18:22 her mistress... " that is Sarai... 18:25 "became despised in her eyes. " 18:27 So, we see here that a situation begins to boil 18:31 in which... now, Hagar is looking at Sarah, 18:35 "Ah, I have children and you don't... I... I... " 18:38 her... her... in her mind, her position began to be higher 18:43 "I am the wife of the man that has all of this... 18:47 I am the one that is bringing him children... " 18:51 and she heard... she knew about the promise of the Lord, 18:54 and so, she begins to look at Sarai 18:57 as beneath her 18:59 and it says though... the Bible is a strong language, 19:02 "despised in her eyes. " 19:04 So, immediate action had to be taken. 19:08 A situation was created that brought problems to the family, 19:16 a great challenge. 19:18 You know, today, you know, we look at this situation 19:22 and we go... "Tsk... wow, how could... 19:24 how could Abraham and Sarah do that?" 19:27 There's a practice today that people use 19:29 when couples have trouble having children, 19:31 they call it "Artificial" what? 19:35 Panel: Insemination. 19:36 Dinzey: So, this is still practiced today... 19:38 it is not as... huh... or surrogate mothers, yes. 19:42 So, we see that today, there's something similar. 19:45 Back in those days, they didn't have... 19:48 or they didn't use the type of system we have today. 19:51 Let's go to Genesis 16 verse 5, 19:54 "Then Sarai said to Abram, 19:55 'My wrong be upon you!'" 19:57 Now, there's a blame going back and forth. 19:59 "I gave my maid into your embrace; 20:02 and when she saw that she had conceived, 20:05 I became despised in her eyes. 20:06 The Lord judge between you and me. 20:10 So Abram said to Sarai, 20:12 'Indeed your maid is in your hand; 20:16 do to her as you please. ' 20:18 And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, 20:21 she fled from her presence. " 20:23 You see, although Hagar had become Abraham's wife, 20:27 she was still considered in position to be Sarai's handmaid 20:32 and it was a difficult situation for Abraham that he's now facing 20:36 you know, he's got this hope in this child being born 20:39 and now the... the two wives are having issues, 20:43 very difficult situation... what do you do? 20:47 Well, Sarai is the love of his life. 20:50 "Do with her as you please. " 20:53 And this is one of those difficult times 20:56 and this is what happened, of course, 20:59 Hagar flees and now let's go quickly into verse 7 21:06 of Genesis chapter 16, 21:08 "Now the Angel of the Lord found her by the spring of water 21:12 in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. " 21:15 I'm sure everybody knows where that is... 21:16 it's mentioned in the lessons. 21:18 Now, the lesson brings out something interesting 21:21 and I like to read it to you. 21:23 it says, "The reference to the angel of the Lord... " 21:26 Genesis 16:7 21:27 it's a title that is often identified with the Lord 21:32 Jehovah... see Genesis chapter 18 verse 1, 21:36 and verse 13 and 22, 21:39 so, when you see "the Angel of the Lord" 21:40 it is a reference... we would like to tell you 21:44 of Christ Himself. 21:46 Genesis 16 verse 8, "And He said, 'Hagar... '" 21:48 notice what He says, 21:50 "And He said, 'Hagar, Sarai's maid, 21:54 where have you come from... where are you going?' 21:58 She said, 'I am fleeing from the presence 22:00 of my mistress Sarai. ' 22:01 The Angel of the Lord said to her, 22:03 'Return to your mistress, 22:06 and submit yourself under her hand. '" 22:09 The angel of the Lord was telling her, 22:13 "Recognize your position... return and submit. " 22:18 In other words, "Change your attitude... 22:21 change your attitude and things will go better for you. " 22:24 And so, this is the Angel of the Lord 22:28 but the Angel of the Lord now gives her a wonderful promise. 22:32 Notice verse 10, 22:33 "Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, 22:34 'I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, 22:38 so that they shall not be counted for multitude. ' 22:42 And the Angel of the Lord said to her: 22:44 "Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. 22:48 You shall call his name Ishmael, 22:51 because the Lord has heard your affliction. " 22:54 Panel: Hmmm... 22:55 Dinzey: And this is a wonderful declaration 22:58 because Hagar now hears, "I'm going to have a son 23:03 and through him 23:05 Abraham can continue to have descendants... " 23:08 and this... this was encouraging to her. 23:10 Now, notice verse 12, 23:12 "He shall be a wild man; 23:14 His hand shall be against every man, 23:16 and every man's hand against him. 23:17 And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren" 23:20 and this is happening today. 23:22 You can go to Israel and you can see the sons of Ishmael 23:25 dwelling in the presence of his brethren. 23:27 "Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, 23:30 You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; 23:32 for she said, 'Have I also here seen Him who sees me?' 23:36 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; 23:40 observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 23:44 So Hagar bore Abram a son; 23:46 and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 23:49 Abram was eighty-six years old 23:52 when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. " 23:54 Now, all of this is something that helps us understand that 23:58 this is... when you go to Galatians chapter 4, 24:01 you will see that this is an allegory and its... 24:05 I like to read this quickly to you, 24:06 Galatians 4:23-26, 24:09 "But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; 24:13 but he of the freewoman was by promise. 24:15 Which things are an allegory: 24:17 for these are the two covenants; 24:18 the one from mount Sinai, 24:20 which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. 24:22 For this is Agar in mount Sinai in Arabia, 24:25 and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, 24:27 and is in bondage with her children. 24:29 But Jerusalem which is above is free, 24:32 which is the mother of us all. " 24:34 Well, my time is up. 24:35 Shelley: Amen, thank you, that was wonderful. 24:37 We're going to take a quick break and be right back, 24:40 don't... don't go away. 24:41 Music... 24:46 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again 24:50 or share it on Facebook... 24:52 Instagram or Twitter? 24:53 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 24:58 A clean design makes it easy 25:00 to find the Program you are looking for. 25:02 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 25:06 so you can follow along. 25:07 Sharing is easy... 25:09 just click "Share" and choose your favorite Social Media. 25:12 Share a Link... Save a Life for Eternity. 25:16 Shelley: And now we're going to go to Jill Morikone 25:19 who has Tuesday's lesson? 25:21 Jill: Thank you so much, Shelley and Pastor Johnny. 25:24 What an incredible lesson: The Covenant with Abraham 25:26 which is, I think, one of my favorite lessons. 25:28 I have Genesis chapter 17... Shelley already mentioned. 25:32 I'm Jill Morikone and my lesson on Tuesday 25:35 is: The Sign of the Abrahamic Covenant 25:38 which, of course, we know to be circumcision 25:39 and we will get to that. 25:41 Pastor Johnny just ended with the end of chapter 16 25:44 and what does it say? Abraham was 86 years old. 25:47 We pick up chapter 17 when Abraham was... what's that? 25:52 99 years old. 25:54 Panel: Wow! 25:56 Jill: So, 13 years have passed between Genesis chapter 16 25:59 and the start of Genesis chapter 17. 26:02 Ishmael is now 13 years old. 26:05 The child was conceived out of "works" 26:07 as you brought out Pastor Johnny... 26:09 the child conceived out of lack of faith... 26:11 out of presumption... 26:13 out of trying to play God. 26:15 Have you ever played God? 26:16 Trying to get God to answer your prayers. 26:20 We see the discord and strife that existed in that household 26:26 and it's also interesting... 26:27 I don't want to make too much of this 26:29 but we see in Genesis 15 and Shelley had talked about... 26:32 this God appearing to Abraham and the covenant being given 26:36 and made with the separation of the animals 26:38 and then in Genesis chapter 16, God never speaks to Abraham 26:43 and Abraham never speaks to God. 26:45 In fact, God comes and speaks to Hagar 26:49 but we see almost this kind of separation going on 26:52 and then we come to Genesis 17 26:55 and the covenant is reiterated. 26:58 The covenant is renewed, Genesis 17 verse 1, 27:02 "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, 27:04 the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, 27:07 'I am Almighty God... '" 27:09 I am El Shaddai. 27:12 It's the first time that that reference to God 27:16 is used... that name of God is used in the Bible, 27:19 "I am El Shaddai... 27:21 I am the God for whom nothing is impossible... 27:24 walk before Me and be blameless. " 27:28 The second covenant-making story is again introduced 27:32 by a theophany 27:33 which is just an appearance with God. 27:35 So, it appeared as if God was little absent... 27:38 of course, He was not absent 27:40 but it... it appeared He was absent from Abram 27:43 there in Genesis 16 but God shows up again to Abraham 27:46 in Genesis chapter 17. 27:48 You know the first takeaway I get from that... Almighty God. 27:52 El Shaddai condescends to the weakness of humanity. 27:56 He knows our frame... 27:59 He knows we are but dust. 28:01 Was Abraham perfect? 28:02 Absolutely not... he had taken some matters into his own hands. 28:06 He had sought to help God out 28:08 and yet, the Infinite stoops to the finite... 28:12 the Almighty God to frail humanity 28:15 spotless perfection to the mistakes of a man. 28:20 I love our God... He condescends to us. 28:23 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 28:25 Jill: Verse 2... Genesis 17 verse 2, 28:26 "I will make My covenant between Me and you, 28:29 and will multiply you exceedingly. " 28:32 Takeaway Number 2: Only God can do the impossible. 28:36 It seemed like it was impossible for Sarai... 28:38 it was past the time of bearing for women 28:41 so, she couldn't have kids... let's just be honest. 28:43 She was done... she couldn't have kids 28:46 and yet, only God can do the impossible 28:49 and God said, "I'm about ready Abram 28:52 to do the impossible for you and your wife. " 28:56 Jeremiah 32:27... I love that, 28:58 "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. 29:00 Is there anything too hard for Me?" 29:03 Pause... 29:04 Are you going through an impossible situation? 29:07 Know that your God can do the impossible for you too. 29:11 Shelley: Amen. Jill: Takeaway Number 3: 29:13 The covenant is based on our faith 29:16 and God's faithfulness to work in us. 29:19 I love that... it's all about faith 29:22 and God's faithfulness to fulfill 29:25 His covenant promises in us. 29:27 Let's read the next verse, 29:28 verses 3 through 5, 29:30 "Then Abram fell on his face, 29:31 and God talked with him, saying: 29:33 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, 29:37 and you shall be a father of many nations. '" 29:40 Now, his name has changed. 29:42 "No longer shall your name be called Abram, 29:45 but your name shall be Abraham; 29:47 for I have made you a father of many nations. " 29:50 I love what Pastor Johnny said, 29:51 when people said, "What's your name?" 29:53 "My name's Abraham. " 29:54 "Oh really? how many children do you have?" 29:56 "Well... " at that point he had one who is Ishmael, right? 29:59 "Only one?" 30:01 Romans 4:17... this is in reference to this passage... 30:04 it says, "what God who calls those things that are not 30:08 as though they already were. " 30:10 Takeaway Number 4: 30:12 Faith accepts as reality 30:15 what our feelings or our finite minds cannot understand. 30:18 Panel: Hmmm... 30:20 Jill: I want to say that again, "Faith accepts as reality 30:23 what our feelings cannot understand. " 30:25 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 30:27 Jill: So, you might not feel forgiven, 30:28 but God says you're forgiven, that means, guess what? 30:30 you are forgiven. 30:32 You might not feel justified 30:34 but God says, "You are justified... " 30:36 God says, "You are a new creation in Christ Jesus. " 30:40 God says... "You are holy and blameless. " 30:44 Accept what God's Word says about you... 30:47 accept that by faith. 30:48 Verse 6, Genesis 17 verse 6, 30:51 "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; 30:53 and I will make nations of you, 30:55 and kings shall come from you. " 30:57 Takeaway Number 5: God's the one who brings fruitfulness. 31:01 God's the one who causes growth. 31:04 God's the one who gives power... 31:06 moving very quickly because we got to get to the sign. 31:09 Verse 7, "I will establish my covenant between Me and you 31:12 and your descendants after you 31:13 in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, 31:16 To be God to you and your descendants after you. " 31:19 Compare this with Genesis 3:15, 31:20 that promise of the seed... that covenant of redemption, 31:24 we see this here with the everlasting covenant of grace 31:27 that God made... this covenant of salvation. 31:30 Takeaway Number 6: 31:32 God's everlasting covenant of grace is for all people 31:35 for all time. 31:36 It's to bring his people into a saving relationship with Him. 31:41 Now, let's look at the sign that is... circumcision. 31:43 We're going to read verses 10 and 11 for that. 31:46 "This is My covenant which you shall keep, 31:48 between Me and you and your descendants after you: 31:50 Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 31:54 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, 31:58 and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. " 32:01 There were stipulations for this. 32:03 The male children would be circumcised on the eighth day. 32:06 Every male child was to be circumcised... those by birth 32:10 and those by purchase 32:12 and the uncircumcised would be considered cut off from the camp 32:17 or cut off from God's covenant. 32:20 Takeaway Number 1: 32:22 Circumcision is meaningless without righteousness by faith. 32:26 There's a whole discussion in the New Testament Church, 32:30 we don't really have time to get to it 32:32 but look at Romans 4... we'll look at one verse... 32:34 Romans 4 verse 11... there was this discussion: 32:37 Did Christians have to be circumcised 32:39 in order to be justified... in order to be saved? 32:42 Was circumcision necessary for salvation? 32:46 And we see in Romans 4 verse 11, 32:48 Paul says... "He... " that's Abraham... 32:51 "received the sign of circumcision, 32:53 a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had 32:56 while he was still uncircumcised, 32:59 that he might be the father of all those who believe, 33:03 though they are uncircumcised, 33:05 that righteousness might be imputed to them also. " 33:09 You see, Abraham was justified 33:10 as Shelley already read Genesis 15 verse 6, 33:14 Abraham believed God and it was accounted... 33:18 or imputed to him for righteousness 33:21 and that was clearly prior to circumcision 33:23 because we just see circumcision introduced here 33:26 in Genesis chapter 17, 33:28 so, Abraham was justified... made righteous before God 33:32 by believing God. 33:33 Takeaway Number 2: 33:35 Circumcision is an external sign of an internal work. 33:40 Deuteronomy 30 verse 6, 33:42 "The Lord your God will circumcise your heart 33:46 and the heart of your descendants, 33:49 to love the Lord your God with all your heart... 33:52 with all your soul, that you may live. " 33:54 So, circumcision was an external sign... yes... 33:57 but it was a sign of an internal change... 33:59 something that God was doing 34:01 in the hearts and minds of His covenant people. 34:05 The final Takeaway Number 3: 34:08 Circumcision represents that we cannot do anything 34:13 by our own flesh. 34:15 I want to read a quote here from Kent Hughes, 34:17 it says, "Circumcision involved 34:20 Abraham's powers of pro-creation, 34:22 the area of life in which he had resorted to fleshly expediency 34:27 and he had failed. " 34:28 He had tried to do it in his own physical nature 34:31 and he had failed. 34:33 "Man's best plans and strength of will 34:35 would never bring about the promise. 34:37 For Abraham, circumcision was an act of repentance 34:41 and a sign of dependence upon God for the promise. 34:44 You see, circumcision would always represent to Abraham... 34:47 I'd never really processed that before... 34:49 it would represent the failure of dependency on his own flesh. 34:54 He tried to secure... see... through his own works 34:57 what he thought he could do instead of trusting in God. 35:01 Paul puts it this way in Philippians 3 verse 3, 35:05 "We are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, 35:09 rejoice in Christ Jesus, 35:11 and have no confidence... " what's that word? 35:13 "in the flesh. " 35:14 So, circumcision represents that we cannot do it 35:18 of our own strength 35:19 so, in Genesis 17, we see the covenant reiterated 35:24 and circumcision given as a sign 35:26 that God will justify us by faith. 35:29 Panel: Amen... that's great. 35:31 James: Thank you, Jill... well, moving right along, 35:33 we are moving into Genesis chapter 18... 35:36 so, we're looking at this son of promise 35:40 that comes in Genesis chapter 18. 35:42 Finally, the Lord is going to visit Abraham... 35:45 it says here in chapter 18... 35:46 by the way, my name is James Rafferty 35:48 and I have Wednesday's lesson. 35:49 Chapter 18 verse 1, 35:51 "The Lord appeared unto him... Abraham... 35:53 in the plains of Mamre, 35:54 and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day... " 35:56 that is Abraham sat in the tent door in the heat of the day, 35:58 "He lifted up his eyes and looked... " verse 2, 36:01 "and, lo, three men stood by him: 36:03 and when he saw them, 36:05 he ran to meet them from the tent door, 36:08 and bowed himself toward the ground. " 36:11 Now, we've got to take into consideration here 36:13 that Abraham is 99 years old at this point 36:18 but we've also got to remember that Abraham lived to be a 175. 36:22 So, he was probably... in our accounting... 36:25 he's probably in his 40s... 36:27 mid-forty... somewhere. 36:28 So he runs to meet these three strangers... 36:32 he bows himself before them... 36:34 one of them is the Lord because it says in verse 3, 36:36 "He said, 'My Lord if now I have found favor in Thy sight, 36:40 pass not away, I pray thee, from Thy servant. " 36:44 The lesson brings out that this word "my Lord" 36:48 is Adonai... a title often used for God 36:52 as in Genesis 20 verse 4... Exodus 15 verse 17... 36:55 so, he rushes around to take care of these guests, 36:59 he says, verse 4, 37:00 "Let the little water, I pray thee, 37:02 be fetched, and wash your feet, 37:03 and rest yourselves under the tree: 37:05 And I will fetch... " verse 5, 37:07 "a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; 37:09 after that ye shall pass on: 37:11 for therefore you are coming to your servant. 37:13 And they said, 'So do, as thou hast said. '" 37:16 I think that Paul references this 37:18 in the book of Hebrews chapter 13. 37:20 Don't be forgetful to entertain strangers 37:23 for some have entertained angels unawares, 37:25 right, and so Abraham considers these strangers 37:30 to be welcomed under his tents 37:32 and he rushes around at 99 years of age 37:36 that's 40s for us... to prepare a meal for them, 37:40 right, and so, verse 6, 37:42 "Abraham hastens into the tent unto Sarah, and said, 37:44 'Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, 37:46 knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. ' 37:48 And Abraham ran to the herd, 37:50 and fetched a calf tender and good, 37:52 and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. 37:55 And he took butter and milk, 37:57 and the calf which he had dressed... " verse 8, 37:59 "and he set it before them, 38:00 and he stood by them under the tree, 38:02 and they did eat. " 38:04 And this is a... is an... is an amazing picture. 38:07 Abraham not only prepares all of this food 38:09 but Abraham stands by. 38:11 If you've ever been to a very posh... a very nice restaurant, 38:14 we did this... 38:16 it was in the Philippines at the time 38:18 and in the Philippines, you can actually, get a pretty good meal, 38:22 at least back then when we were there, 38:23 you could actually get a pretty good posh environment 38:26 and meal for, you know, 38:28 a lot less than you would have to pay for it here 38:30 and when we were in this restaurant... 38:32 this very nice restaurant, 38:33 we had waiters standing between each one of our chairs... 38:36 Jill: Wow! 38:38 James: Every... with a napkin folded over ready to wait on us 38:40 to put our plates down... 38:42 to take our plates away... they didn't move, 38:44 you know, like waiters in our... our normal restaurants, 38:47 you see them maybe 15 or 20 minutes between times 38:50 but these waiters were right there... just standing there... 38:53 you can... this is the picture that we have of Abraham. 38:55 He's standing there with these strangers 38:58 and he is ready to wait on them... 39:00 he's ready to assist them... 39:01 ready to help them... ready to serve them. 39:03 This is the picture that we have. 39:04 I love this picture because it's... it's... 39:07 we'll get to the point here in a second. 39:09 So, it says there in verse 10, "He said unto him... " 39:12 or... the stranger said unto him, 39:14 he stood by as they eat... 39:16 "And they said unto him, 'Where is Sarah thy wife?' 39:18 And he said, 'Behold, in the tent. '" 39:21 Verse 10... "And He said, 39:24 'I will certainly return unto thee 39:26 according to the time of life; 39:27 and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. '" 39:32 Sarah thy wife shall have a son. 39:35 Now, Sarah heard this... 39:37 Sarah was wondering who these men were. 39:39 You can imagine her curiosity as is... is engaged here 39:41 and she's wondering, "Who are these men that are... 39:43 that are gathering there with my husband 39:46 that he's been so... you know, excited about... taking care of, 39:50 and she's listening at the door... 39:53 you know how you're curious and you're wondering 39:54 who this person is that your husband is talking to 39:56 on the phone... and he's so excited and he's... 39:58 and so, you're listening and you're listening 40:00 so, she hears this 40:01 and she hears these men talk about her having a son 40:04 and when she heard this... 40:07 in the tent door which was behind it, verse 11, 40:10 "Now Abraham and Sarah were very old 40:11 and well stricken in age; 40:13 and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 40:16 Therefore Sarah laughed. " 40:17 Had to put that verse in there, verse 11 in there to explain 40:21 why it is that Sarah laughed in verse 12... 40:24 you have to... you know, 40:25 Sarah didn't just laugh out of nothing... 40:27 it wasn't just out of emptiness, 40:29 Sarah was focusing on her age... 40:31 she was focusing on her flesh... 40:33 she was focusing on herself 40:34 but not just her age... she was focusing on Abraham's age. 40:38 Right, she's looking at Abraham's age... 40:40 she's looking at her age... 40:41 she's listening to Adonai the Lord... 40:44 she's listening to the Lord and the angels. 40:46 She's listening to the Lord make this promise 40:48 and she's thinking about herself 40:51 and she can't help but laugh. 40:53 Panel: Laughter. 40:55 James: And how many times do we do that? 40:56 We'll get to that point in just a second... so she laughs 40:59 but then, here's what happens, 41:00 "Sarah laughs within herself, saying, 41:03 'After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, 41:07 my lord also being old?' 41:10 And the LORD said unto Abraham... " 41:13 Sarah's still not in the scene, she's back in the tent somewhere 41:17 "The Lord said unto Abraham, 'Wherefore did Sarah laugh, 41:20 saying, 'Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?'" 41:24 Oooo... "Is anything too hard for the Lord?" 41:26 I really like that, Jill, 41:28 is there anything too hard for the Lord? 41:29 Panel: Hmmm... yeah. 41:31 James: You know that verse in Jeremiah... 41:32 "At the time appointed, I will return 41:34 according to the time of life, 41:36 and Sarah shall have a son... " 41:38 and here's the last verse we're going to look at, 41:40 "Then Sarah denied, saying, 'I laughed not... ' 41:43 for she was afraid. 41:45 And He said, 'Nay, but thou did laugh. '" 41:50 So, here we have the whole package, if you will... 41:53 the whole package is here... 41:54 the whole package of salvation is... is contained 41:58 in this little story in Genesis chapter 18. 42:02 The son of promise is given here in contrast with Ishmael 42:09 and the failure of humanity... 42:11 it's when we fail... is when we fall flat on our face 42:14 that God comes to us with His promises. 42:16 It's... it's when we fail and we feel like giving up... 42:19 that we feel overwhelmed with guilt... that we feel like... 42:20 "You know, there's no hope for me... " 42:22 that's when God steps in 42:24 and Friends, you may feel like you failed God 42:26 and you've fallen from God and there's no hope for you 42:28 and you've backslidden and you just feel... 42:30 feel like you just messed everything up 42:32 and that's the time when God will step into your life 42:34 with His promises... 42:36 your promises are like ropes of sand 42:38 but His promises... "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" 42:42 There's nothing in your life... 42:44 there's nothing in who you are... 42:45 there's nothing in your failures that's too hard for the Lord 42:48 to mend... to fix... to reconcile... 42:49 to save... that's the message that we find here 42:53 in Genesis chapter 18 42:54 but it's bigger than that. 42:56 You know, the 18th chapter of Genesis has this entire package, 42:59 it has the keys that are essential 43:01 to practical Christianity 43:03 because it pictures Christ... the Son of Promise. 43:05 "You're going to have a child... " 43:07 well, this child was the beginning of the Seed 43:10 that was to point to Jesus Christ the Messiah. 43:13 It was salvation by faith that Adonai... 43:16 that the Lord was sharing with Abraham here. 43:18 It was salvation by faith in contrast to our unbelief 43:23 and our failure. 43:24 It was the final end of those who would... 43:27 who... who put their trust in themselves 43:29 and now transition to putting their trust in the Lord 43:33 and by the way, this message came 43:34 just before the Lord was on His way to Sodom and Gomorrah 43:38 so, you have the final end of the wicked also... 43:40 the final end of those who reject Christ 43:42 that's going to be touched on here as we go on. 43:45 I don't have that part of the lesson 43:47 so, the Son of Promise points to Jesus Christ 43:49 who's a type of... Isaac was a type of. 43:52 Then we have this picture of our unbelief... 43:54 you know, Sarah is laughing 43:55 and she's laughing at the promise of God. 43:58 How many times do we laugh 43:59 when we think about, you know, what God really wants for us, 44:02 and we just say, "You know, It's... that's... pshhhh... 44:04 that just can't happen. " 44:06 And then, of course, we have this next stage 44:08 where Sarah actually justifies her laughing. 44:11 She justifies... or let me put it this way, 44:14 she tries to justify that she didn't laugh... 44:18 she tries to justify herself and say, 44:19 "Hey, no, no, no, I didn't do that... 44:20 I do believe in God. " 44:22 How many times do we say we believe in God 44:25 but we don't actually believe in God. 44:27 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 44:28 James: We're... we're... we're, we're actually laughing at God 44:30 but then we say, "No, no, no, no, I didn't... 44:32 I wasn't laughing at God, I do believe in God... 44:33 really, I do believe in God but I wasn't laughing at God" 44:35 but inside we are. 44:37 Inside we really do have that unbelief... 44:39 inside we really are not trusting fully 44:42 in the promises of God 44:43 and then it goes on here and it includes this picture, 44:47 I think it's the most important picture of hospitality. 44:52 I mean, that's where it all starts... 44:54 the hospitality Abraham has to these three strangers 44:56 when you look in Matthew chapter 25 44:59 and you look at the final judgment that comes upon 45:03 those who believe in God and those who don't. 45:06 It all boils down to this spirit of hospitality. 45:09 I think it's the greatest test I know for... for many of us 45:11 you know, being hospitable to strangers, 45:13 you know, helping people who maybe you don't even know... 45:17 who need our help 45:18 and Jesus talks about this in Matthew 25 verses 34 and onward, 45:22 "The King shall say to them on his right hand, 45:25 'Come, ye blessed of My Father, 45:27 inherit the kingdom prepared for you 45:28 from the foundation of the world: 45:30 For I was hungry, and you gave me meat: 45:31 I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: 45:32 I was a stranger, and you took me in: 45:34 I was naked, you clothed me: 45:35 I was in prison, and you came to me... ' 45:36 and then the righteous shall say unto Him, 45:38 'When did we do this? 45:39 when did we... we feed You and give you water to drink 45:42 and took You in, and... and clothed You? 45:45 and... and visited You in prison, 45:47 and came when You were sick?' 45:48 And the King shall answer and say unto them, 45:50 'Whenever you did it to the least of these my Brethren, 45:52 you did it unto Me. '" 45:55 Panel: Hmmm... amen... amen. 45:56 Ryan: Thank you guys so much. 45:58 As always, on Thursday's lesson, I get to learn so much 46:02 and glean from everyone before me. 46:03 I'm Ryan Day and I have Thursday's lesson entitled: 46:06 Lot in Sodom. 46:09 Do a little bit of background here 46:10 because I don't think we've sufficiently talked about 46:12 who Lot is... 46:13 Lot is the nephew of Abraham 46:15 and so, if we go back to... 46:16 we're not going to go... we're not going to read this 46:18 but if you go back to the 13th and 14th chapter of Genesis, 46:21 you'll see that Lot had separated from Abraham 46:25 at this point. 46:27 He had taken his family to Sodom... to the city of Sodom 46:31 which... the Bible makes it very clear... 46:33 it was a very wicked city. 46:35 Now, when he separated from Abraham, 46:36 instead of going into a direction or into a land 46:39 where he could inhabit himself 46:40 and start his own... you know, his own life... 46:42 his own house... maybe out in the plains... 46:44 maybe out... you know... separate from the big cities, 46:46 he goes into the big city... the wicked city of Sodom 46:49 and so, you know that there's nothing good 46:51 that's going to come of this and sure enough, you know, 46:53 not once but twice now we find Lot gets in trouble 46:56 and he has to be saved... not once but twice. 46:58 You know once when he was taken captive from Sodom 47:01 and then Abraham has to go save him 47:03 and now the Lord... okay, 47:05 Jill referred to this earlier as a... as a Theophany, 47:08 this is no doubt... you can even go as far to call it: 47:11 A Christophany... this is Jesus Christ, I believe, 47:13 no doubt... Jesus Christ in the flesh... 47:15 He has come to visit Abraham and now He has gotten up... 47:19 these three gentlemen have gotten up 47:21 and now they're... they're going to make their way, 47:23 they're leaving Abraham's presence 47:24 but before this happens, 47:26 now the two men which were no doubt angels... 47:29 they go on to Sodom but the Lord lingers back for a moment 47:32 to speak with Abraham 47:33 and then the latter verses of... of... of Genesis chapter 18... 47:38 we have this... we have this interesting conversation 47:41 between Abraham and the Lord 47:42 in which the Lord makes it known to him 47:45 what's about to happen. 47:46 Let's read Genesis chapter 18 verses 20 through 21, 47:49 I wish I could read all these verses 47:51 but we simply don't have enough time 47:52 but lets at least read verses 20 and 21, 47:54 it says, "And the LORD said, 47:57 'Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, 48:01 and because their sin is very grave, 48:04 I will go down and... '" notice this, 48:06 "now and see whether they have done 48:09 altogether according to the outcry against it 48:12 that has come to Me; and if not, I will know. " 48:16 Now, my Friends, take this in... 48:17 I love these stories in Genesis because this... 48:20 my mind immediately goes to Luke chapter 24 48:23 where Jesus is having this encounter with the two disciples 48:25 on the road to Emmaus... 48:26 He gives them this incredible Bible Study 48:28 and it says... starting with Moses and the prophets... 48:32 He basically reveals to him through the Scripture 48:34 the... the things pertaining to Himself... 48:36 speaking of Christ... 48:38 He's showing Himself through the Scriptures 48:39 and I believe when we get into the book of Genesis, 48:42 many people think, "Oh, it's Genesis... 48:43 it's the beginning... it's the origins... 48:45 we can't see Christ in... in the Scriptures. 48:48 Christ is flooded in imagery... in foreshadowing 48:50 all through this book 48:52 and not just Jesus but also, I believe, 48:54 in these passages that we're reading here, 48:56 the stories of Abraham and Isaac 48:58 and Jacob and Joseph and all of these powerful stories, 49:01 there is beautiful foreshadowing in imagery 49:04 that even points forward to the future prophetically 49:07 what the church is going to have to go through in the last days 49:09 and what's we're about to study in that little time... 49:12 pray for that clock because we don't have a lot of time... 49:14 in the little time that we have, 49:15 I want to show you the interesting thing 49:17 that Lot and his family are going through 49:19 with this destruction of Sodom is very similar 49:22 to what we also are going through here in the last days 49:24 and what we will have to go through 49:26 and the decision-making that needs to be made 49:28 before the destruction of this world. 49:30 So, interestingly enough, what's happening here, 49:33 notice how Jesus says to Abraham, 49:35 "Look Abraham, I'm going to make known to you 49:37 what I'm about to do. " 49:38 Remember the angels... the two angels that came with Him, 49:40 they've already made their way... 49:41 they've already made... they've walked away at this point, 49:44 they're on their way to Sodom. 49:45 Jesus lingers back and says, "Look, what's about to happen 49:48 is... I'm about to go down and see Sodom. 49:51 In other words, He's about to go down and investigate. 49:55 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... 49:57 Ryan: There's an Investigative Judgment about Sodom... 50:01 toward Sodom before this destruction happens, 50:03 in other words, God's going to go down 50:05 and He's going to reveal... 50:06 He's going to see what's happening... 50:07 what this city is about... 50:09 He's going to investigate... to see and of course, 50:10 Abraham... when he finds out exactly what's about to happen, 50:13 now, he begins to plead with God... 50:14 "O Lord, what about all the righteous in the city? 50:17 If there's 50 righteous people, will you save the city?" 50:20 God, of course, in all of His grace and mercy says, 50:22 "Of course Abraham, if I can find 50 righteous people, 50:24 I'll spare the city. " 50:26 "What about 45?" 50:27 "If there's 45, I'll save the city. " 50:28 "What about 30... what about 20... " 50:30 and he goes all the way down to ten... 50:32 "Lord, if you find ten people that's righteous in the city, 50:35 will you spare it?" 50:36 "Look, I'll spare it... 50:38 I'll spare it if I can find ten righteous. " 50:40 And so, now He goes on to the city. 50:43 Now, we're picking up in verse 1 of... 50:44 of Genesis chapter 19. 50:46 It says, "Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening" 50:49 so, now they've... they've arrived at Sodom. 50:51 "And Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. 50:53 When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, 50:55 and he bowed himself with his face to toward the ground. 50:56 And he said, 'Here now, my lords, 50:58 please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night, 51:02 and wash your feet; 51:04 then you may rise early and go your way. ' 51:05 Then they said, 'No, but we will spend the night 51:08 in the open square. ' 51:09 But he insisted strongly; 51:11 so they turned in to him and entered his house. 51:13 Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, 51:16 and they ate. " 51:18 Now again I'm not going to have enough time 51:19 to read all these verses 51:20 but what's about to happen between verses 4 and verse 8 51:24 is the wicked men of Sodom find out that there's no new guests 51:27 in Lot's house 51:29 and they come out and they start beating on the door 51:32 and they say, "Hey, them two men in there... 51:33 let them come out 51:34 so that we may have our way with them. " 51:37 This is a wicked city, okay, 51:38 they're wanting to have sexually immoral acts with these two men 51:41 and Lot comes out and pleads with these men 51:43 and here's what's interesting... 51:44 just to make this point spiritually here... 51:46 you can tell that Lot has become very desensitized 51:53 to the sin of Sodom 51:55 but just based on his reaction to this scenario, 51:58 he says to these wicked men, "But guys, no, no, no... 52:02 leave my guests alone but I have two daughters 52:04 who have not been with men at all... 52:06 I'll let you have them and you can do what you wish to them. " 52:08 Panel: Hmmm... Jill: Seriously? 52:10 Ryan: It's like... "What!" 52:12 I mean, this is a messed-up story. 52:13 We can read this and go... this is a messed-up story. 52:14 My Friends... this just... this goes to show you 52:17 when you give just a little bit... 52:19 when you walk away from... 52:20 it wasn't God's plan for him to be in Sodom 52:22 but when you walk away from God and you begin... 52:24 over a period of time to become desensitized... 52:26 your judgment begins to leave... 52:28 you don't... you don't practice good judgment, 52:30 Lot's not practicing good judgment... 52:31 "Over my dead body... are you getting my daughters!" 52:34 That's what I would say... 52:35 But in this case, he's like, "Ah, you know, 52:37 just take my daughters... " 52:38 you can see where... where Lot's mind is. 52:39 But here's what's interesting. 52:41 You continue reading through the story... 52:43 now the angels have a good sense... 52:45 these two angels have a good sense... 52:47 this city is wick... ed... beyond wicked 52:50 and here's what's interesting... get this, 52:52 they don't have... notice, Lot and his family 52:55 get not one... not two... 52:58 but three angels' warnings before... 53:02 Panel: Hmmm... oh... 53:03 Ryan: 1st Angel's warning, get this, 53:04 let's go to verse 12... verse 12... 53:06 Shelley: That's very interesting. 53:07 Ryan: "Then the men said to Lot, 'Have you anyone else here? 53:10 Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, 53:11 and whomever you have in the city... 53:13 take them out of this place! 53:15 For we will destroy this place, 53:16 because of the outcry against them 53:18 has grown great before the face of the Lord, 53:20 and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. '" 53:22 So, here's the first warning, "Get out... 53:24 get out of the city because I'm about to destroy it. " 53:26 And notice, Lot goes and he speaks with his sons-in-law, 53:29 who had married his daughters... 53:30 now, I'm guessing these were different daughters, 53:32 and he says to him, "Get up, get out of this place; 53:34 for the Lord will destroy this city! 53:36 But to his sons-in-law... " notice... 53:38 "it seemed he was joking. " 53:39 This goes even further to show you that he's... 53:42 he's destroyed... this desensitizing process 53:45 living in the city has made Lot more into a carnal person... 53:49 his... his witness has been destroyed so much 53:51 that when he finally comes with the real salvational message, 53:54 his own family... his family laughs at him, 53:56 "Brother, you got to be... 53:57 you seriously... are you joking?" 53:59 They don't even take him serious 54:00 because they haven't even seen Lot living according to the way 54:03 he's supposed to be living. 54:05 So, he's become completely desensitized to sin. 54:07 Here comes the Second Angel's warning, verse 15, 54:10 "When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, 54:13 saying, 'Arise, take your wife and your two daughters 54:15 who are here, 54:16 lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city. " 54:18 But notice verse 16, "And while he lingered... " 54:21 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 54:23 Second Angel's warning... you know, this was us... 54:27 "Babylon is fallen... is fallen... get out... " right? 54:30 It's interesting here... "while he lingered... " 54:32 Panel: Hmmm... 54:34 Ryan: The love of the world... 54:35 in this case, the thorns and the... 54:36 the love that he had for the city 54:38 and the life that he had built... 54:39 he had become spiritually blind to the... 54:41 to the situation... his situation... 54:42 his spirituality... and what is happening in the city 54:45 that he's lingered... because his heart is there 54:47 and we're going to see his wife's heart 54:49 was even more there, right, 54:50 and here comes the Third Angel's warning, 54:52 notice it's interesting so much he... he... 54:55 he lingers so much that the angels had to force him out 54:57 for in the next part of the verse... it says, 54:59 "Then the men took hold of his hand, and his wife's hand, 55:01 and the hands of his two daughters, 55:02 and the Lord being merciful to him, 55:04 they brought him out of the city 55:05 and set him outside of the city. 55:07 So it came to pass when they had brought them outside, 55:08 that he said, 'Escape for your life!'" 55:10 Here's the Third Angel's warning... 55:11 "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you 55:14 nor stay anywhere in the plain. 55:15 Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed. " 55:18 You know what he said? 55:19 "Get out of the cities and go to the mountains. " 55:21 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 55:23 Ryan: Have we heard that before? 55:24 "Get out of the cities and go to the mountains... " 55:26 Get out of the cities... go to the mountains... 55:28 and so, now they're leaving, of course, you know, 55:30 you can see again, they're so desensitized 55:33 that his wife, again, does not keep and honor the message 55:35 that is given to them... 55:36 she turns around... becomes a pillar of salt. 55:39 My Friends, you know, 55:40 there's so much here that I could say... 55:43 there's so much I want to say but, you know, 55:45 we have to make sure that even... 55:48 the spiritual application I want to apply to this is 55:50 today, we have the message... 55:52 "Come out of her My people. " 55:54 Is your heart in Sodom? 55:55 Are you professing God but your heart's in Sodom? 55:58 Are you professing God? Have you... 55:59 have you left Babylon but yet your heart's still in Babylon? 56:02 These are lessons to be learned... 56:03 there's so much more that I wish I could have talked about here 56:05 but in this case, 56:07 we want to praise God that in these last days, 56:08 we also have angels' warnings to get us out from where we are 56:11 so that we may turn our hearts to God and live. 56:14 Panel: Amen... amen. 56:15 Shelley: Boy! that's good teaching I'll tell you. 56:17 Let's just take a quick second and have a re-cap thought. 56:20 Dinzey: You know, when you look at Abraham's life, 56:23 you see that he had times when he failed the test of faith 56:27 but he continued to persevere and he was faithful. 56:31 I'm reading to you from Revelation 2:10... 56:33 just the first part and the last part... 56:35 "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: 56:37 be thou faithful unto death, 56:39 and I will give thee a crown of life. " 56:41 This was Abraham... 56:42 and it can be for you if you are faithful. 56:44 Jill: Amen, the covenant given to Abraham 56:46 was extended to us. 56:48 The promises given to Abraham are extended to us, 56:51 Galatians 3:29... 56:53 "If we are Christ's, we are Abraham's seed, 56:56 and heirs according to the promise. " 56:58 James: Amen... hospitality... it's not just a manifestation 57:02 of goodness and... and kindness toward others, 57:04 it's a manifestation of the character of Christ 57:07 who will serve us at that great supper table 57:09 in the new heavens and the new earth 57:11 who served his disciples at the Last Supper... 57:12 to be hospitable is to be like Jesus. 57:14 Ryan: Amen... in the last days, we are told 57:16 that there's a harlot and she has wine... 57:18 she's making the world drunk 57:20 with the wine of the wrath of her fornication 57:22 and intoxicated the world. 57:23 Well, you know it's interesting in the aftermath of Sodom, 57:25 Lot also had some women who gave him wine... 57:28 he became drunk 57:30 and, of course, out of that came the enemies of God... 57:32 the Moabites 57:33 and many of the other enemies. from his own daughters... 57:35 he lost his family. 57:36 My Friends, give your heart to Jesus today 57:38 and turn to Him while you can. 57:40 Shelley: Amen... Ryan, thank you so much 57:42 and James and Jill and John. 57:45 What a blessed study! 57:47 We always learn so much from each other. 57:49 Please join us next week when we do Lesson 8: The Promise 57:54 and right now our prayer for you 57:56 is that the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ... 57:59 the love of the Father 58:00 and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit 58:02 will be with you always. 58:04 Jill: Amen. |
Revised 2022-05-02