OPENING REMARKS

So I'm glad that you guys are here and let's get our Bibles open to Genesis chapter twelve. And I am excited, I am grateful my dad will be coming. I think it's August 23rd. So mark your calendars for that. You guys hear me talk about my dad a lot, and excited to have him come and share God's word with us in a few weeks.

SERIES RECAP

So Genesis chapter 12, if you've been with us the last two weeks, we've been asking the important question: what does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian? And we've really just kind of pressed into that because there are a lot of people who, as we talked about, who claim to be Christians who maybe aren't necessarily saved or aren't living the Christian life. And again, the classic story is driving on Hall Road when we first moved back to Michigan, we saw a bumper six that honk if you love Jesus, and we honked and they gave us the middle finger. So we acknowledge that not everybody who says that they're a Christian is actually as the scriptures describe born again or made alive by the Spirit of God. That is a supernatural work that God does in a person's heart to take them from death to life, from darkness to light.

And so we might also ask the question, how do I know that I'm saved? How do I know that I'm actually a Christian? Is it because I prayed a prayer at one point in my life, does that make me saved? So there are a couple things that we could look for in a person's heart. And the first and most important is that a person who's saved loves God. Now it doesn't love him perfectly, but if you have no love in your heart for God, why would we think that you're alive by the Spirit of God? Because if you have God's Spirit in you, you will have a love and affection for God.

Another evidence of salvation is that you'll have a love for God's word. Now again, not perfectly, because we're frail human beings, but you'll have a desire and a hunger for the word of God. And that's how I think many of you are here, even this morning, because you desire to hear from God through his word.

And then another evidence is that you'll have love for the people of God. So those who say that they are Christians, but then they don't love other Christians or don't love the people of God, that doesn't make sense. So, do you have a love for the people of God? Again, not perfectly, but these are some things that you'd look for in a person's life that is truly saved or truly a Christian.

INTRODUCTION

So this morning we're gonna look at Genesis chapter 12. We're jumping back in the Genesis. And we were introduced two weeks ago to a man named Abraham. And apart from Jesus in Scripture, there's no other more significant person in Scripture than Abraham. Abraham helps us understand how the rest of the Bible is tied together. And so we're going to learn a little bit more about Abraham today. And I want to ask just a couple basic questions as we approach our text.

First question is what happens to our faith when crisis hits? So it's one thing to have faith in God when everything is going smooth and everything is going great. But what happens to your faith in God when something difficult comes along?

And then a question along with that that, I want to ask is when you fail in your faith, what happens then? What happens then? So let's go ahead and open up to Genesis 12 and we're gonna start in verse 10. And we're going to actually go to chapter 13, verse 4. If you know the chapter and verse divisions, those are not inspired. Those are added later for easy reference in scripture. So we're going to actually go to chapter 13, verse 4 for our text this morning. So let's stand together in honor of the reading of God's word. If you've never read this story or never heard this story, you will be amazed at what we find in God's Word today. And you can pray for me that I'll have God's wisdom to be able to explain it and help us to apply it to our lives. But I'm so grateful for God's word. So Genesis chapter 12, starting in verse 10. It says:

SCRIPTURE READING - GENESIS 12:10-13:4

“Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the LORD.”

PRAYER FOR THE MESSAGE

Let's pause there and let's go ahead and ask God for his help. Father, thank you so much for each person that's gathered. Thank you for their heart and for their desire to be here this morning, their willingness, their effort. God, again, we're just humbled at your feet and asking for your help to again speak to us at our place of need. Help us to see ourselves in this story and help us to just rebuild the foundations of our lives based on the truth. God, thank you for revealing yourself to us, sometimes in direct, explicit ways, and sometimes in more subtle ways, as we learn about how you dealt with people of the past. So just guide and direct us today again by your grace and we thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

THE MESSAGE

You may be seated. So I will say I've never preached a sermon on this passage before. You've probably never heard a sermon preached on this passage before. Let me just recap. So in Genesis 12, the very beginning of Genesis 12, God approaches a man named Abram, and God chooses Abram as his means to provide redemption and salvation to all of mankind. Eventually through the line of Abraham or Abram, we get to Jesus in the New Testament. But God says at the beginning of Genesis 12 to Abram, He says, I'm going to bless you, and I'm going to make of you a great nation, and I'm going to bless all the families of the earth through you. So God calls Abram to leave where he was, basically to leave his former life, to follow after God. And then and Abram obeyed. Abram followed. the Lord He did what God had asked him to do. And he in Hebrews is given to us as a model of faith.

But then Genesis 12:10 comes. It says:

“Now there is a famine in the land.”

So the land that God had directed Abraham to go to, now there's this crisis there where now there's no food. So Abraham makes the decision along with Sarah to leave where God had led them and to now go to Egypt. So he goes to Egypt and he compliments his wife, he knows at least a little bit what he's doing. He's like, Hey Sarah, you're really, really pretty. And I think that if they know that you're my wife, they will kill me and they will take you.

So again, this isn't okay, yeah, sometimes when we look at the Bible, we have to ask the question, is this prescriptive or descriptive? Meaning, is this describing what happened historically, or is this also prescribing for us what we should do. Therefore, go and do likewise. This is not prescriptive. Let me just tell you on the front end, okay? This is not advice for us to compliment your wife and then lie to someone else about her that she's your sister. Don't do that.

But this is the scheme that he comes up with. He says, Let's just tell them that you're my sister, and then that way they'll at least spare me. So they do that, and it's exactly what happened: that they took Sarah, Pharaoh took Sarah and included her in his harem, his grouping of wives, and Abram's life was spared. But then God intervenes. God brings problems onto Pharaoh and Pharaoh's like, What have you done? So he finally sends Sarah away and sends Abraham away and says, Take some stuff with you. Just we want to wash our hands of you.

And then we see that Abram finally then goes back to where he began in the promised land that he's the place where he started from. Does that make sense? So that's the story. That's what we're paying attention to. So again, just to be very, very clear, what Abraham did was very, very wrong. Okay? Abraham left where God had led him. Abraham lied about his wife. Abraham put his own life in jeopardy. Abraham put Sarah's life in jeopardy. Abram put the promises of God in jeopardy because God had just promised, I'm going to bless you and I'm going to bless everyone through your offspring. So how's this going to work out, Abraham or Abram?

So again, sometimes in scripture, the scriptures give us examples of what to do. So model your life after this or mirror this or do this. Other times they tell us what shows examples of what not to do. This is a case of what not to do. Again, in case you're tempted to emulate this part of Abraham's behavior. Once pillar of faith, Abram, when hit with a trial, he panics and doesn't live and operate by faith.

So my mind works very simply. So we're gonna look first of all at how Abraham got off track and how Abraham got back on track, and then what's the lesson for us in this story.

So number one, Abraham got off track by living by fear instead of by faith. Let me ask you, have you ever made a decision based out of fear? Again look at verse ten:

“Now there was a famine in the land, so Abram went down from down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land."

So trials have a way of reducing us to living by fear rather than by faith. Like I said, it's easy to live by faith when things are going well, but when things are tough, are you going to live by faith? Trials will come into our lives and they will distract us and take our eyes off of God and His promises. That's exactly what happened to Abram. For some reason in my mind I picture trials like two people jousting. Like if they're like on two platforms on like a I'm again I'm not sure how if these things are helpful at all, but it's part of my job to just share with you. And so if it's helpful, awesome. If not, don't remember a word that I'm saying. But , so picture two people like on a little like plank and they're jousting, they've got these big sticks, they're jousting, trying to knock the other person off. So trials will come into our lives, and they seek to try to knock us off course from trusting in the promises of God.

The word sojourn, it says that he went to Egypt to sojourn. It indicates that he was turned aside from where he was originally. That he was on the right path, following God in faith, and then this famine pushed him off course. Abraham was driven or turned aside by his fears. What was he thrown off track from? He was thrown off track from following the plans and promises that God had given to him in the beginning of chapter 12. He was thrown off track from God's best for him. He was thrown off track from having peace and joy and rest. And this is what fear does. When we live by fear, it causes us to take our eyes off of God and onto our problems.

So I've been really encouraged the last couple of months. We have these monthly prayer gatherings, and they are on the fourth Thursday at what time? Seven. Okay. Okay, church. What time? They're on the fourth Sunday at seven. Alright. I just make sure you know the time. That way I can expect to see you there on the But last couple of prayer gatherings have been really encouraging because we've prayed for some very specific things. We've prayed in the one two months ago specifically for our Vacation Bible School that we just had in the middle of July. And God was faithful. And then this past month we prayed for our graduates. We prayed for those who are moving from fifth grade and sixth grade and from graduating from high school and moving on to the next stage of their life, and just so encouraging to be able to do that. But in our prayer gatherings, one of the first things we do is we pray and remember praiseworthy attributes of God. We remind ourselves about who God is. Because when we remind ourselves about who God is, it reminds us that our problems are not as significant as what we once thought they were. But trials and fear have a way of taking our eyes off of God and getting focused on our problems.

This happened to Peter in the New Testament. I think of the story when Peter was called by Jesus to walk on water, and we read this in Matthew chapter 14:

“And Peter answered him, Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and he walked on the water and came to Jesus, but when he saw the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. And Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him.”

Now this is a lot of faith on Peter's part, isn't it? I can think of some other questions Peter could have asked Jesus to confirm that it was Jesus, but his question was: if it's you, tell me to come out onto the water. And Jesus is like, okay, come on out. What amazing faith that Peter demonstrates to step out to walk on water with Jesus. But then it says that he saw the wind, and he saw the swirling weather around him, and he started to lose faith and he started to sink. That's what can happen when trials come into our lives. And fear begins to squeeze out God from the equation. And fear says things like: I have to take shortcuts. In order for this to work, I can't do it God's way. I have to take a shortcut in order for this to work. How many of us have ever done that before? Fear says I have to take things into my own hands rather than trust the promises of God. In relationships, sometimes fear says if I put up this physical boundary and if I hold to God's purity, then this person may leave me. And fear says that if they leave me, if this relationship isn't there, then I may not survive. But that's being motivated by fear. And fear says maybe I can't let them know that I'm a Christian. If I do, they may make fun of me.

So are you living today by faith or by fear? One of the ways that you can tell if you're living by faith or by fear is how closely you're living to this book. If you find yourself compromising and not living according to the commands of God, the ways of God, that's an indication that you're living by fear. Because you're not trusting that God's ways are right and good. You're not having faith. You're living by fear. And I just want to ask, maybe what has happened in your life that's caused you to get off track and to live by fear. So Abraham got off track by living by fear instead of by faith. Again, I'm a simple man.

Point number two, Abraham got back on track by living by faith instead of living by fear. He recognized that he had wandered far from where God had wanted him to be. And he returned back to that place. Genesis 13:1-4. Verse one says:

“so Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, and it says that he went back to a place called Bethel, back to the place where he had made an altar at first, and it was there that he called on the Lord.”

I love that at the end of verse four. Again, just look at that. And there Abram called upon the Lord. That's what he should have done at the very beginning, isn't it? I wish that chapter twelve, verse ten read, Now there's a famine in the land, but Abraham called upon the Lord. That's what I wish it said. But he comes back to where he was in the beginning. God gives him another chance. The Bible's very intentional in this wording. And if you notice in verse one of chapter 13 it says so Abram went up from Egypt. If you look back at chapter 12, verse 10, it says now there's a famine land, so Abram went down to Egypt. So oftentimes in scripture when it's giving us things like that, it's not just telling us direction like north, south, east, and west, but in this time when they were going toward the promised land, when they're going toward even now Jerusalem, they're going up to Jerusalem. So even if they're north of Jerusalem and coming down to Jerusalem, coming south to Jerusalem, it says that they're going up to Jerusalem. Does that make sense? So it's not geographic. It's a place of importance.

So the Bible is telling us that when he's going from the promised land to Egypt, he's going down. He's getting further away from where God had him. And now in verse one of chapter 13, now he's going up from Egypt back to where God had called him. He's going to a place called Bethel. He went back to Bethel. Bethel means house of God. Bethel. He went back to the house of God or back to the place of God. He went back to where God first called him, where he first set up an altar to worship God. So what's happening is that now Abram is going back to this once vibrant relationship with God that he had before. Does this make sense? So he was with God in the presence of God, following after God.

Crisis hits, it takes him on a detour to Egypt, and it cascades from there. That's oftentimes what happens with sin. He's like, well, I've already left Egypt. I'm sorry, left the promised land. I'm gonna- I'm here in Egypt. I might as well now I have to lie about my wife, and now she's actually in Pharaoh's household, and like it just cascades from there. But he finds himself, then he comes back by faith to where he was before. To a vibrant relationship now with God again. He returns. Have you ever found yourself distant from God? Have you ever found yourself cold in your relationship with God or separated from God? This happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes it's natural for Christians to go through what's called the dark night of the soul or go through desert times when God feels distant, or you just don't feel those close feelings of relationship with God any longer. Sometimes it happens because of sin, because we've wandered away. Maybe it's possible in your life right now that you acknowledge God in your head, but in your heart, you're still far from Him. So I think this is a helpful question. Where are you right now in your relationship with God? Are you distant? Would you say that you're still in Egypt? Are you living by fear and by famine? Are you close? I think one of the questions for you to consider is will you return? Will you now in your relationship with God return to him by faith and trust him every single day. So this was a strange detour, but it's by the grace of God that Abram returned to trusting God again by faith. Do you guys see how close this was to heading a completely different direction in Scripture?

This leads us to our third point, and I think this is really the point of why this is in Scripture. Number three, that God was faithful even when Abraham was faithless. So that's the question, isn't it? Why is this passage? Why is this account in scripture? And that's oftentimes the challenge, especially with these Old Testament accounts, is “yeah, I understand that Abram did all these things, but what does that have to do with my life?” And I think this is the point. That God was faithful even when Abraham was not. I think that's the point. This is gonna be one of the hardest things for us to wrap our minds around. And I do want to clarify you either have a relationship with God through Christ or you do not.

So the Bible describes that there's two types of people those who are dead in their sins and their trespasses, and those who have trusted Christ and are now made alive by the Spirit of God. This is the book of Romans. So for those who are not in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, the call for you is to turn from your sin and to trust Christ, to ask for God's mercy and grace. For those of you who are in Christ though, you're you have a relationship with God through Christ, the question for you is what happens when you mess up? What happens when you fail? And the answer is that God is still faithful even when you are not. Amen.

So Abraham messed up, but God is still faithful to keep his promises. And you can almost get confused of the wrong application from this story. Let me give you an example. Look at verse 16. It says:

“and for her sake, for Sarah's sake, Pharaoh dealt with well with Abram. And he had sheep and oxen, male donkeys, male servants, and so on.”

So let me get this straight. Abram lies to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh's like, let me give you a bunch of stuff. Your sister's really beautiful. Here's some stuff. And for Abram, it might have been like, Oh, okay, this is working out strange, but okay. And then it says in chapter 13, verse 2.

“Now Abram was very rich in livestock in silver and in gold.”

Let me ask you, when they came down to Egypt, was he wealthy? They were destitute. That's why they left for that, because they didn't have any food. So what happens is even though Abram is not faithful to God, he still comes through this hundred percent by God's grace blessed. And this can only be tied to God's promise back in the first three verses of Genesis 12, where God says, I will bless you. And it's not contingent upon your faithfulness it's contingent upon God's graciousness to Abram. This is this is hard for us to wrap our minds around. And look at verse 17. It says:

“But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarah.”

So God's the one that intervened. Abram, you messed up. But then God afflicted Abram. Here's my question for Abram. What was Abram's long term plan here? Like honestly. I don't I don't and like us, I don't think he was thinking that through or he was desperate he panicked and again I want to ask that question what do you think happens when you mess up if you are truly a follower of Christ, because we can oftentimes think that I messed up, I messed up my side of the bargain, and therefore somehow the deal is off. But God is saying no, I'm faithful. Even though you're not faithful at times, I'm still faithful.

This is the part that I think perhaps it's hardest for us or for me to grasp and to understand that God is faithful even when we are not. Let me give you some scripture references. I'll share most of these will be on the screen for us. First Corinthians 10, verse 13 says,

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man God is faithful. He'll not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation will also provide a way of escape you may be able to endure it.

1 John 1:8-9 says:

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

It would be foolish for Abram in this example to say, “I didn't what are you talking about, God? I've not messed up.” That doesn't help him. But it's helpful for him and helpful to us to say, God, I acknowledge my sin. And to call on the name of the Lord like Abraham did. And God says He's faithful to forgive us. It begins with us acknowledging our sin. And then this verse in 2 Timothy 2:13 says:

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful.”

So this verse in 2 Timothy, right before it, is a is a couple other verses. This verse, the other verses is like I'm tracking. So the verse right before this says, if you deny him, he will also deny you. It's like I understand that. But then we get to this one. If you are faithless, he remains faithful. It's almost like screeching of the brakes, like, hold on a minute. So what this is talking about is again the difference between those who are saved and not saved. That if people reject Christ, if people deny Jesus, the Bible is clear that he will also deny them before his heavenly father, but for those who are in Christ but they struggle (they’re faithless at times), God still is faithful and He gives the reason for it - Because He cannot deny Himself. Those who are saved, who are alive in Jesus Christ, your salvation is secure in him because it was purchased by him. And even if you are unfaithful, even if you mess up, God will not abandon you. He is faithful. Even when you mess up, God is still faithful.

We read this in Romans chapter 3. What if some were unfaithful? I wish the Bible would help us be more clear, right? Like it's actually giving us these things. What if some are unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? What’s his answer? By no means. This doesn't make sense. This doesn't make sense. Tell me any other system in our world where it works like this. This is the grace of God. Salvation is a gift. It's 100% undeserved. God's grace is 100% undeserved. And therefore it's 100% not dependent on your earning it and your keeping it.

Now, this is not license to go and do whatever we want to do. Like, oh wow, this worked out for Abraham. Like, I'm going to give that a try. Don't do that. You will experience all kinds of heartache and pain. God is still faithful, but his ways are better.

We read this in John 10:27-30, Jesus said:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

So as we read more in Genesis, do you think this is the last time that Abraham messes up? It's not. He continues to mess up. I'm so glad that the Bible is transparent with us about the struggles of the pillars of faith. God is faithful. This gives us great encouragement, gives us great peace and joy. We can praise God for his faithfulness. I'm extremely glad, and that's a mild way to put it, that That my relationship with God is dependent upon his faithfulness and not on my perfection.

So let me close with this illustration. For some reason this picture this imagery is really powerful, but to consider so anybody with little kids knows that a parking lot is a pretty important place to show some shepherding of little ones. So as parents, we're we don't just like go, yeah, go play in the parking lot. Go play in a busy parking lot. I hope you don't do that. If you do that, let's talk but and we know that there's dangers that that are there. We know that there's problems that are there. So any loving parent when they're walking through a parking lot is paying attention to where their kids are, and usually it's a hey, make sure you hold on to my hand. Make sure you hold on to my hand. And we don't we don't rely solely on them holding our hand. As a good parent, what do you typically do? You got like a firm grasp on theirs, right? It's not like you're like, "oh you let go and you know you got hit by a car. That's like on you. It's on you.” Like we don't do that. Okay. Hopefully you don't do that. But we hold on really tightly. We hold on as tight as we can. Sometimes we're afraid that we might pull their arm out of their socket because they trip and fall and they're still dangling, you were still holding on. that may be a really good metaphor for the Christian life. Sometimes that's how it feels. But God is faithful. So are we called to hold on to God's hand in faith? Yes. Does he also hold on to our hand? Yes. The good news is he's got a stronger grip.

So when the God of the universe, the most loving and gracious being who's ever existed and ever exists. When he has a firm grip on our hand, you don't have to live by fear. You can live by faith. Praise God that he's such a faithful God. I'm not sure where you find yourself this morning in your relationship with the Lord, but just know that if you are in Christ, God is faithful, even when you are not. And if you're not in Christ, if you don't know God in a saving way, He extends His mercy and grace to you and invites you to trust Him by faith. Let's take a moment to pray.

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, we just want to say thank you for your faithfulness to us. I'm so glad that even when we are not faithful. Even when we fail, God, you remain faithful. I think it's really tough for us to grasp that. But help us just to acknowledge that all that we have is from you, even for Abram. God, the way that you blessed him, even through his sin, you fulfilled your promise. Even though Abraham messed up. God, thank you for your grace toward us, your love toward us. Can you give us eyes of faith that trust you? Yeah, we praise you for your faithfulness. You are a faithful God. Help us to trust you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.