[0:00] Any children ages three and under that would like to take advantage of the nursery, you may do so at this time. Looks like they've already made their exit, so they're welcome to stay in here or take advantage of the nursery, either one at your discretion.
[0:14] But if you would, let's open up our Bibles this morning to Genesis chapter 18, and we're picking up halfway through in the second half of chapter 18 this morning in verse 16, going through the end of the chapter, verse 33. So Genesis chapter 18, verses 16 through 33, and when you found that in your Bibles, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.
[0:46] Then the men set out from there, and they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.
[1:17] Then the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I will know. So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing.
[1:53] To put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked. Far be that from you. Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just? And the Lord said, If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered and said, Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for the lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there. Again he spoke to him and said, Suppose forty are found there. He answered, For the sake of forty, I will not do it. And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there. He answered, I will not do it.
[2:46] He said, Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there. He answered, For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it. And then he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there. He answered, For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.
[3:11] And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham. And Abraham returned to his place. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Father God, we are grateful, Lord, that you are a God who hears our prayers. And that you are a God that sees all and that knows all, that you are a just and a holy God. And so we pray this morning, Lord, we pray God, would you bless the preaching of the word this morning. Would you bring non-believers to faith and would you bring believers to maturity this morning? We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.
[3:57] It has been an interesting few weeks, to say the least. If you pay attention to the news and follow the headlines that are put before us, you'll notice often it's very little good news, is it?
[4:08] And this week, the headlines read, Shooter opens fire at ICE facility kills one detainee. A week or so ago, the headlines were about a shooting at a school in Evergreen, Colorado, and of course, Charlie Kirk at the campus of Utah Valley University. Before that, it was Irina Zarutska, a refugee, stabbed on a train in Charlotte late August. It's really never much good news that we get. And of course, it's not just here in our country. If you zoom out just a little bit beyond our borders, you zoom out. You may not have even heard about this. I'm not even sure if it made the major headlines or not. But just a few weeks ago, over 100 Christians were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They were gathered together worshiping at a funeral for one of their members when a militant group from the Islamic State came in and began to open fire and wipe them all out.
[5:08] And just before that, towards the end of July, about 200 Christians were murdered in Yelwada, Nigeria. Very similar type of story. And this sort of wickedness is profound and it is widespread.
[5:24] And you hear stories like this and oftentimes as Christians, we might wonder, well, how in the world are we supposed to respond to the wickedness all around us? And what can we do as Christians all the way here in all in all South Carolina for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who are experiencing great and terrible wickedness? Well, there are many ways that we can respond, but I want to show us one from our passage this morning. Our passage gives us one very simple way, and it's this.
[5:59] God's people are called to pray. God's people are called to devote themselves to prayer. In our passage this morning, Abraham shows us what it looks like for God's people to pray in light of the wickedness all around us. And so what I'd like to do this morning as we look at our passages. First, I want to just briefly try and explain what's going on here. We'll just kind of review what's happening here in the passage. And then I want us to see five takeaways for our prayers.
[6:34] Five takeaways, five ways to pray in light of the wickedness all around us. So first, let's take a look at the passage here. And look there with me starting in verse 16. We're starting halfway through the chapter this morning. Again, we saw last week, if you remember, these three men come and appear before Abraham and Sarah in the first half of chapter 18. And if you remember, there's no doubt that this is the Lord. This is another theophany. The Lord appears here in human form to Abraham.
[7:06] And there are two angels there with him. They come and they promise him yet again, this reminder of the promise of the coming birth of Isaac. That was last week. The verse 16 picks up from here. And it tells us that the men set out from there. They're leaving and they they look down towards Sodom. The Hebron, where they are, is up on a hill. Sodom is down by the Dead Sea. And so up in Hebron, they have a pretty good vantage point where they can literally look down and see the city.
[7:38] And as they make their way out, we're told Abram, he goes with them to send them on their way. And the Lord, he begins to speak. He says, shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? Why? Well, because Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. I've chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. We see right away a reminder of this special place that the Lord has has brought Abraham into. All right. Why does the Lord want to fill Abraham in on his plans? Well, it's the same reason why the Lord has appeared again and again and again and again to Abraham over these chapters, speaking with him and making promises to him. Abraham, by God's grace, has been brought into this special covenantal relationship with the Lord. And we see here Abraham enjoys this privileged relationship with God. That's one thing we ought to notice. We also notice again, God is making here a distinction, isn't he? God is marking off Abraham and his offspring from the wicked, in particular from the inhabitants of Sodom. There's a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. Abraham and his children are to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and doing justice so that the Lord may bring to Abraham all these promises. They are to be distinct. And the Lord, as we'll soon see, he certainly will do righteousness and he will do justice and his people must also do the same. We see here God makes a distinction between the righteous and the wicked. And ultimately, as we'll look ahead to next week, we see a distinction in their end destination. The righteous are delivered by the grace of God, but the wicked are ultimately destined for destruction. Well, the lesson for God's people here is do not be like Sodom. Be distinct.
[10:05] In one way, a very clear way that we ought to respond to the wickedness around us, Christian, is to make certain that we're not a part of it. We, as God's people, are called to stand out. We ought to stand out and be distinct in the midst of great wickedness all around us. God's people are called to be light.
[10:28] And so we see the Lord plans to go down and see what's going on there in Sodom. And verse 20 picks up and explains the reason why. He says it's because this outcry has come against Sodom and Gomorrah.
[10:41] And this outcry is very great and the sin is very grave. So I'm going to go down and I'm going to see whether or not this outcry is true. And if it is, or if it's not, I will know. This is courtroom language here. The outcry has come to the Lord. An accusation has been made. The charges have been filed.
[11:07] Now this is the cry of somebody who has been oppressed and who needs justice. This outcry has come to the Lord, the judge, and so the men go down and head towards Sodom. But look what happens here in verse 22.
[11:21] It says Abraham is still standing before the Lord. He doesn't just simply send them off and say goodbye, does he? He stands there and he does something very bold here. He begins to bargain with God. And so I want you to get this courtroom image in your mind, okay? Imagine a courtroom scene with me here. God the judge sits with gavel in hand. He is ready to render the verdict.
[11:51] He is ready to give a sentence of complete destruction on the entire city of Sodom. He's heard the accusation. He's ready to render judgment. The people of Sodom sit there in their seat. They are awaiting their sentence. But before that gavel can come down, Abraham stands up and he presents his case to the judge. Abraham is serving as their defense attorney. But notice here who it is that he represents.
[12:25] He doesn't represent all of Sodom without qualification, without distinction, does he? Who is he representing here? He stands up to defend the righteous. His argument to the judge is that it would not be just for God, the judge, to destroy the righteous with the wicked. You see that? Don't lump them all up together and punish them all the same way. That would not be just. Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? He says, verse 23, surely not. And he begins to bargain him down. And suppose there are 50 there. Will you indeed sweep away the place for 50 and not spare the 50 righteous who are in it?
[13:15] Far be that from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fair as the wicked, far be that from you shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just. And we see the Lord agrees. If I find that Sodom, even 50 righteous, he says, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
[13:38] So Abraham keeps bargaining him down. He's like negotiating the price of a used car, isn't he? He's just whittling him down little by little by little by little from 50 to 45, from 45 to 40, from 40 to 30, all the way down to 10. And God, the judge says, if I even find 10 there, Abraham, I promise you, I will spare the whole city for their sake. Abraham stands here and intercedes for the righteous.
[14:12] That's his primary aim. He's defending the righteous. He's praying for the righteous there in the city. But do you notice how the wicked are blessed as well? His primary aim is to save the righteous.
[14:28] But did you notice in preserving the righteous there in that city? Guess what? The whole place is spared for their sake. The wicked also are blessed. You know, the same is true today. We know, Christian, that God has appointed a day soon to come when God will judge the wickedness of all the world. But God delays his wrath for the sake of the salvation of his people. And in this moment of God's patience, guess what?
[15:09] Well, the wicked enjoy all sorts of blessings, don't they? The wicked enjoy all sorts of common grace gifts from the Lord. They enjoy life and joy and children and family and riches and prosperity. But you know, the most obvious blessing that the wicked enjoy in this moment of God's patience, do you know what it is?
[15:32] It is the opportunity to repent and to come to the Lord so that they may no longer be counted in this category of wicked, but may be included amongst the righteous. God will one day judge America and Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but not before every last one of his people are redeemed. Until then, the wicked enjoy many, many, many, many mercies that are called to repentance.
[16:15] Here Abraham, he stands before the Lord and he intercedes on behalf of the people of God. He is praying as mediator between God and man. Here he is standing in the gap and he's looking out in light of the wickedness all around him and Abraham is interceding on behalf of the people of God. And now church and the rest of our time together, what I want us to see is that we too are called to pray like this.
[16:45] Five ways. Because I'm sure you've noticed that Abraham is not the only one to live in a wicked world. Amen? I mean, the wickedness that Abraham saw in Sodom, the wickedness that Abraham endured in a fallen world thousands of years ago here in the book of Genesis, is it any different today?
[17:09] We too live in a world that is cursed by sin. The curse of sin is just as real in our day now, 2025 as it was all the way back here in Genesis. So how should we pray? Five takeaways here. First, church, we must pray in light of who God is. Pray in light of who God is. This is the foundation of our prayers.
[17:41] God's character is the basis of our prayers. If Abraham thought for a second that the judge of all the earth was corrupt, he wouldn't waste his time bringing his case before the Lord, would he? But because he knows God's holy character, he pleads with him, he begs him, he brings his case before him. Church, we pray because God is holy. Our God is perfectly righteous in all his ways. Our God is totally pure. God delights in righteousness and God abhors wickedness. If we have any sort of anger in our hearts towards towards the wickedness around us, if we look out and say, that's not right. If it makes you angry that our brothers and sisters are put to death throughout the world, just think of the holy, righteous anger of the Lord. If we are offended by sin, we can be certain that God who is holy, holy, holy does not take sin lightly. He does not have a live and let live attitude towards sin. Not only this, we pray, because our God is just. He is totally just in all his ways. This holy God will not let wickedness have the last word.
[19:18] evil will not triumph. Our God will execute justice. Do you believe this?
[19:30] Sometimes it's hard to believe this because we look around and it looks like evil is winning. And sometimes it looks like we can't find justice. And sometimes church, I'll be honest with you, we will not get justice on this side of glory.
[19:48] But we know in the end, our God will bring justice. If not immediately in this life, then ultimately, certainly at the return of Christ. So we pray that our God is holy. Our God is just. We also pray because our God is omniscient.
[20:10] That's a big word. God. It simply means that our God knows everything. We see that here in verse 21. Don't we? He's heard this outcry.
[20:22] He's going to see and he will know. Whatever is happening there in Sodom, it is not a secret to the Lord. No sin, no wickedness catches the Lord by surprise. No rebellion is a new discovery for him. He sees all. He knows all. God knows about all the evil in the world.
[20:49] Sometimes in human courts, they get it wrong, don't they? Sometimes evidence is withheld. Sometimes they don't have all the information they need to render a proper verdict. Sometimes they just get it wrong. Sometimes people know, they think they know what's going on, but they're wrong. They really don't have a clue.
[21:09] They don't have the knowledge to execute justice. Not so with God. God knows. We cry out to God for justice because He knows.
[21:24] Some people take that as reason not to pray. Right? If God already knows, if He already sees what's going on, why in the world would I pray to Him about it? And may I just say that that's not how Jesus sees it?
[21:38] You know, the most famous prayer in the Bible, the Lord's Prayer, we just had it read earlier this morning. Right before the Lord's Prayer, what does He say? Your Father in Heaven knows what you need before you ask Him.
[21:53] Pray then like this, He says. His omniscience is a reason to pray with confidence because God sees. God knows.
[22:04] But praise God, we also pray because our God is merciful and gracious. God is willing to be patient.
[22:18] Far more willing than you and I are. He is willing to delay His wrath for the sake of the salvation of His people. So we pray because our God is not willing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance.
[22:37] So we see, first, Abraham, he speaks in light of God's character and so must we. We pray in light of who God is. Not only this, second, second, we pray in light of who we are.
[22:54] We must pray in light of who we are. are. And for one thing, we ought to recognize our unworthiness in prayer, church. Abraham knows exactly who he is.
[23:07] Look there to verse 27. As he's reasoning with the Lord, as he's bargaining with God, what does he say? Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.
[23:23] I mean, it's like he just recognized, I am talking with almighty God here. What have I gotten myself into? This is the creator of the universe.
[23:36] This is the Lord of all the earth. This is the king of kings. I'm face to face with God almighty. Who am I to speak to do something like this?
[23:49] This is dust and ashes speaking to the Lord. He recognizes his unworthiness. Church, I wonder, do you pray like this?
[24:02] Do you recognize your unworthiness before the Lord in prayer? I mean, don't pray to the Lord like you're just texting your buddy. We ought to pray as the Puritans prayed.
[24:15] Have you ever read some Puritan prayers? I love, there's this little prayer book, it's called The Valley of Vision. It's a collection of Puritan prayers and in it there's this little prayer, it's called Self-Deprecation.
[24:29] Now if you want to be encouraged, go read Self-Deprecation. Let me read it to you. It's very encouraging. Oh Lord, my every sense, member, faculty, affection is a snare to me.
[24:45] I can scarce open my eyes but I envy those above me or despise those below. I covet honor and riches of the mighty and I'm proud and unmerciful to the rags of others.
[24:57] If I behold beauty, it's a bait to lust. If I see deformity, it stirs up loathing and disdain. How soon do slanders, vain jests and wanton speeches creep into my heart?
[25:10] Am I comely? It's fuel for pride. Am I deformed? What an occasion for repining. Am I gifted? I lust after applause. Am I unlearned? How do I despise what I have not?
[25:22] Am I in authority? How prone to abuse my trust, make my will my law, exclude others' enjoyments, serve my own interests and policy.
[25:33] Am I inferior? How much I grudge others' preeminence. Am I rich? How exalted I become. You see? You see the picture. Thou knowest that all these are snares by my corruptions and that my greatest snare is myself.
[25:49] I bewail that my apprehensions are dull, my thoughts mean, my affections stupid, my expressions low, my life unbeseeming.
[26:01] Yet what canst thou expect of dust but levity, of corruption but defilement? Keep me ever mindful of my natural state, but let me not forget my heavenly title or the grace that can deal with every sin.
[26:21] Do you pray like that? And maybe not quite like that but do you pray humbly recognizing your unworthiness and your weakness before the Lord?
[26:35] But did you catch the last line? He said, keep me ever mindful of my natural state but let me not forget my heavenly title or the grace that can deal with every sin.
[26:51] We see Abraham, he prays humbly, he recognizes his natural state that he is dust and ashes but he also prays boldly. Why?
[27:01] Because of an awareness of his heavenly title and the grace of God that is for him. church, we pray with boldness before the Lord, we come to him with confidence because of our heavenly title in Christ.
[27:20] God has brought Abraham into this covenant relationship with himself and church, in Christ we have this access. when we pray, yes, we pray in light of who we are and that includes who God has made us to be.
[27:40] Yes, we are unworthy by our own right but God by his grace has given us this access in Christ. We are his children in Christ.
[27:52] We are declared righteous by faith in Christ. we are washed clean of every sin. We are adopted into his family. We are given full access to God the Father in Christ.
[28:07] Christ Jesus died and rose to buy this access for us. But we can pray with boldness because of who we are in Christ. In Christ Jesus.
[28:19] Church, we are his chosen people. We are the children of Abraham. we are his privileged his chosen his beloved children in Christ.
[28:32] This preferred privileged place is ours in Christ. Do you realize what an extraordinary privilege that is? Anytime you want you can bow your head and speak to God Almighty and be welcomed as his own child.
[28:52] God. So we pray in light of who God is. We pray in light of who we are third. We pray in light of God's purposes.
[29:04] Look at what Abraham asks God to do here. And notice again his concern is primarily for the salvation of the righteous. That's his primary argument here.
[29:15] Don't sweep the righteous away with the wicked. Right? Abraham does not argue the fact that the wicked have earned God's judgment. He doesn't even bring that up.
[29:28] He doesn't say a word about it. He knows that they deserve judgment. But he also knows that God will certainly save his people. So he speaks with this big picture in mind.
[29:43] Church, and so must we. When we pray, we need to pray in light of God's heart, God's plan, God's purposes. And we know, don't we, with even greater clarity than Abraham, we know that God has appointed a day when Christ will return and all his people, the righteous, those who have put their faith in Christ, those who have been made righteous by faith in him, all of his people will be redeemed.
[30:17] and ultimately we know all of the wicked, those outside of Christ, will be judged.
[30:30] As we pray in light of the wickedness all around us, as we see wickedness in our town, in our nation, in our community, in our life, it is good and right for us to pray that that ultimate, final judgment would break into the present.
[30:50] And so we pray, God, judge the wicked. Of course, when we pray for the wicked, our first inclination ought to be to pray that the Lord God would be gracious to them as he has been gracious to us.
[31:09] Amen? That in this moment of delay, this moment of God's patience, our first prayer ought to be, God, would you redeem them?
[31:19] Would you save them? Would you give them the gift of faith? Would you bring them to repentance? Would you bring them out of the category of the wicked and into the category of the righteous? But if not, it is good and right to pray for justice.
[31:39] Now, the Psalms are not shy about this. you read through the Psalms and you will find David praying that God would bring justice here and now, this ultimate picture of justice, that it would break into the present moment.
[31:58] Psalm 58, he says things like, break the teeth in their mouths. Psalm 58. We hear that, we say, that doesn't sound very nice.
[32:11] Let them vanish like water that runs away. That sounds mean, doesn't it? Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime.
[32:21] We don't talk like that, do we? Could you imagine, Treg comes up for the pastoral prayer and he starts praying, let them be like the snail. Pour some salt on them, God.
[32:34] God. We live in a world that doesn't think anybody deserves judgment. Church, we know better, don't we?
[32:47] We know the wicked deserve judgment. And we know that we, by our natural state, belong to the category of the wicked, that we are rightfully deserving of God's judgment.
[33:00] But by his grace, Christ paid the price for our sin. The only reason that we are not in the category of the wicked, bound for hell, is that Christ endured the wrath of God for us.
[33:15] That's the only reason. We don't pray from a moral high ground saying we are better than you. We pray, God, would you save them? And if not, Lord, judge the wickedness of the world.
[33:28] God, judge the wicked and God, save your people. God, would you redeem your elect? Would you rescue them from the schemes of the evil one?
[33:42] God, would you protect them? Would you help them? Would you bless them? Would you turn the plans of the wicked on their own heads? You think again of the persecuted church in the Congo and places of China and Sudan.
[33:59] It is right to pray, Lord, would you shield, be a shield for your people? Would you protect them as they gather in a dangerous place?
[34:10] Would you preserve their lives, protect their families, protect the believers there? And Lord, would you just put an end? Would you capture the murderers?
[34:22] Would you bring justice to them? Would you put a stop to their evil? Would you draw them to faith in Christ and be merciful to them? But Lord, would you bring justice? Church, we are called like Abraham to intercede on behalf of God's people.
[34:40] We're called to pray for the church to be built amongst all nations. This is the big picture plan of God. We have the responsibility and the blessing of interceding for our brothers and sisters before the Lord.
[34:57] Church, are you praying for your brothers and sisters in Christ? Start right here. I would encourage you to start right here in this church family. You look around.
[35:07] This isn't a big room. You look around here. Start right here. You recognize the schemes of the wicked would love to destroy the righteous in this room.
[35:20] The enemy would love if the righteous were swept away with the wicked in this room. Would you pray for one another? Would you pray for me?
[35:32] Pray for your pastor? You see another pastor seems almost weakly, failing because of some disqualifying sin. Church, I realize I am but dust and ashes.
[35:46] Would you pray that your pastor would not be swept away with the wicked? Would you take your membership directory and pray this for one another? Pray that the Lord would preserve you by his grace, that he would finally rescue his people from the wickedness of this world?
[36:02] Would you pray that for each other? We are called to intercede like Abraham for others around us. And again, church, what a privilege that is to pray.
[36:14] We stand in the gap, intercede on behalf of God's people. But notice also, fourth, notice how specific Abraham is here.
[36:26] You notice that? How specific he is with his prayers? This is the fourth way we are called to pray. We are called to pray boldly and specifically before the Lord.
[36:38] Just look there with me at how specific he is. He doesn't say, God, spare the righteous in Sodom. Although that would have been perfectly fine. What does he say?
[36:49] God, if there are 50 there, would you spare them? God, let me, five more. If there are 45 there, God, would you spare them? All the way down to 10.
[37:00] God, if there are 10 there, would you spare them? He is being direct and specific with what he wants the Lord to do. How specific are your prayers?
[37:16] A pastor named Justin Dillehay, he wrote an article reflecting on this passage and he brought up George Mueller. Do you know the story of George Mueller? George Mueller is famous for running several orphanages and he said this, he said, instead of vague requests like, Father, please provide for our needs, Mueller's prayers tended to sound more like, Father, we need 110 loaves of bread and 75 pairs of shoes by tomorrow morning.
[37:47] he shared how one time he was sailing to America for a preaching crusade and his ship was stuck in a dense fog threatening to derail his entire preaching tour and according to the captain, Mueller knelt down on his knees and prayed, oh Lord, if it is consistent with thy will, please remove this fog in five minutes.
[38:12] He could have said, God, just get us through this. God, remove the fog, please, as soon as possible, but five minutes, he thought five minutes was perfectly possible for the Lord.
[38:28] He figured he'd be specific. And of course, that's exactly what God did. Exactly as Mueller asked, church, as we pray, in light of the wickedness all around us, friend, let me encourage you to pray specifically.
[38:49] God knows exactly what you need. Ask him. Ask him. Ask him specifically, pointedly, directly.
[39:02] Put a number on it, a time on it. Ask him specifically for what you like to see him do. So let's get specific. Church, it is good and right to pray for an end to abortion.
[39:18] It is better to pray, God, would you bankrupt Whole Woman's Health Abortion Clinic in Charleston this year? Would you provide counseling and help for the mothers in need this year?
[39:32] Would you raise up more Christian families who would be willing to foster and adopt in my community? it is good to pray, God, would you save my family and friends?
[39:46] It is better to pray, God, would you give me an opportunity to share the gospel with my brother tomorrow? And then would you give him ears to hear it and a heart to receive it?
[39:57] It is good to pray, God, God, bless my daughter as she goes to college. It is better to pray, Lord, send a campus minister to her dorm room door this week. It is good to pray, Lord, bless your church.
[40:11] Would you bless Seawee Bay? It is better to pray, God, would you send us 50 children, five more elders? God, would you give us the funds and the resources to expand this room and add a hundred more seats?
[40:28] And God, would you fill every single one? Not for our sake, Lord, but for your sake, because we know, big picture, you are committed to build your church, magnify the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[40:42] That's what we want to see happen. Church, would you be bold and specific with your prayers? Finally, as we pray, number five, pray in a posture of trust.
[40:59] Look how the passage ends, verse 33. Abraham here, he's done negotiating, he's said his piece, he's gotten it all out, and then what happens?
[41:11] The Lord goes his way, and Abraham goes back home. And we have to wait until next week to see what happens. All Abraham knows at the close of our passage this week is he has spoken with the Lord.
[41:29] He has spoken with God who is just, who is holy, God who sees all and knows all and will do what is right.
[41:43] He's been as specific as he can in his prayers. He's laid it all out. And so now, Abraham can go back home in confidence that God will do what is right.
[41:54] right. The judge of all the earth will do what is just. He doesn't have to worry about the results, does he? That's in God's hands. Church, you realize prayer is where worry goes to die, don't you?
[42:10] Because we pray with confidence and trust that the Lord will do what is right. Church, do you pray like this?
[42:23] When we come before the Lord and bring our request to him, you may get what you ask for in this life and you may not. You may see the Lord move quickly and immediately and you may not.
[42:41] You may get justice in this life and you may not. But church, in every case, when we get up off of our knees and when we say amen, we can leave in confidence and trust that we leave it in the hands of a fully good and capable God.
[43:02] We can trust that the judge of all the earth will do what is just. Do you believe this? I want to close with Jesus' parable from Luke chapter 18 as we end our time together.
[43:17] It says, Jesus told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, in a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.
[43:32] There was this widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, give me justice against my adversary. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to him, though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.
[43:56] The Lord said, hear what this unrighteous judge says, and will not God give justice to his elect who cried to him day and night?
[44:07] Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?
[44:25] Father, you are good and you are holy. You are righteous in all your ways. We praise you, Lord, that you hear us and you love us in Christ.
[44:38] And we pray now, even as we've heard from your word, God, would you take it and would you cause it to bear fruit in us this morning? Specifically, God, specifically, we ask, would you bring some this morning who are in this category of the wicked?
[44:52] And would you bring them to faith and repentance this morning? And for your church, God, we pray that each of us would go from here, Lord, praying in confidence that the judge of all the earth will do what is just.
[45:06] We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.