WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.919 Your Bibles turn to Genesis chapter 20. 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:04.860 Genesis chapter 20. 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:07.179 I appreciate you being here. 00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:10.560 We enter into what I call the long hot summer. 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:16.480 Busy time and a lot of people are going and doing and all that 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:17.240 kind of stuff. 00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:19.820 And you've heard this because it's been repeated back to me 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:22.980 several times, but I just want you to remember this. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:26.539 Don't miss for the ordinary. 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:28.539 Only miss for the extraordinary. 00:00:28.539 --> 00:00:31.759 You'll have some extraordinary spots possibly this summer, 00:00:31.899 --> 00:00:36.079 but don't just make it a practice to miss the fellowship of 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:36.500 believers. 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:41.259 I want to encourage you during this summer season. 00:00:42.879 --> 00:00:44.219 And I want to ask you something. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:45.599 Have you ever really messed up? 00:00:47.179 --> 00:00:49.879 I mean, not one of those first-time mess-ups. 00:00:49.980 --> 00:00:56.420 I mean one of those mess-ups that you're good at. 00:00:56.420 --> 00:01:00.039 You fell back into an old way. 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:02.420 An old habit. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:05.060 An old vice. 00:01:06.460 --> 00:01:07.700 An old decision. 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:10.939 That was wrong the first time you made that decision. 00:01:12.019 --> 00:01:16.700 And it's just as wrong and a little more stupid the second time 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:18.560 because you didn't learn from the first time. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.939 And I'll answer that for you. 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:22.100 Yeah, you have. 00:01:22.780 --> 00:01:24.019 We all have. 00:01:24.299 --> 00:01:28.840 And the devil has a heyday with repetitive sins. 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:34.939 He loves for us to repeat ourselves, whether it be habitual or whether it be a 00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:39.659 recurring pattern or whether it just be a backslide, which is a season of 00:01:39.659 --> 00:01:41.480 returning to an old way. 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:47.340 The sin problems of yesterday too often are the sin problems of today. 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:49.240 And it need not be. 00:01:50.420 --> 00:01:53.480 But Abraham did it. 00:01:55.480 --> 00:02:02.920 30 years before the events of Genesis chapter 20, Abraham, who married his 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:10.939 half-sister, moved into a foreign territory and told the enemy that she was his 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:11.379 sister. 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:16.840 He told him that so that he wouldn't be killed because she was beautiful. 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:20.400 And the thought was they'd kill him to get to her. 00:02:21.539 --> 00:02:23.539 And so he put her in harm's way. 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:24.759 And God watched over that. 00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:29.659 I would imagine there was a marital discussion that happened afterwards. 00:02:30.659 --> 00:02:32.379 But life moved on. 00:02:32.919 --> 00:02:42.359 And now 30 years later in a different land with a different king, it sounds to me 00:02:42.359 --> 00:02:43.979 like he did the same thing. 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:50.859 Now understand, they are traveling after they have seen the horrific sight of 00:02:50.859 --> 00:02:52.439 Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed. 00:02:52.439 --> 00:03:02.439 And it is in Giarr that Abraham falls into an old sin pattern. 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:08.079 It's in Genesis chapter 20, beginning in verse 1. 00:03:09.359 --> 00:03:15.399 And it says, from there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negev and lived between 00:03:15.399 --> 00:03:17.219 Kadesh and Shur. 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:20.500 And he journeyed in to Gerar. 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:24.819 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister. 00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:30.259 And Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. 00:03:30.259 --> 00:03:37.639 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, behold, you are a dead man because 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:41.199 of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife. 00:03:41.959 --> 00:03:43.979 Now Abimelech had not approached her. 00:03:44.539 --> 00:03:48.419 So he said, Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 00:03:49.699 --> 00:03:52.519 Did he not himself say to me, she's my sister? 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:54.420 And she herself said, he's my brother. 00:03:54.740 --> 00:03:58.420 In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands, I have done this. 00:03:59.040 --> 00:04:04.520 Then God said to him in the dream, yes, I know that you've done this in the integrity of your 00:04:04.520 --> 00:04:04.860 heart. 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.420 And it was I who kept you from sinning against me. 00:04:09.020 --> 00:04:10.420 Therefore, I didn't let you touch her. 00:04:11.260 --> 00:04:16.000 Now then return the man's wife, for he's a prophet, so that he will not pray for you and 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:20.600 you shall live. 00:04:21.100 --> 00:04:28.920 But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours. 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:36.740 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called out his servants and told them all these 00:04:36.740 --> 00:04:37.139 things. 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:38.899 And the men were very much afraid. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:44.040 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, what have you done to us? 00:04:44.040 --> 00:04:48.439 And how have I sinned against you that you brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:51.220 You've done to me things that ought not be done. 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:57.860 And Abimelech said to Abraham, what did you see that you did this thing? 00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:04.280 Abraham said, I did it because I thought there's no fear of God at all in this place and they'll 00:05:04.280 --> 00:05:05.480 kill me because of my wife. 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:10.600 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, though not the daughter of my mother. 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:12.340 And she became my wife. 00:05:12.339 --> 00:05:18.579 And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, this is the kindness 00:05:18.579 --> 00:05:22.899 you must do me at every place in which we come. 00:05:23.019 --> 00:05:25.819 Say of me, he is my brother. 00:05:28.279 --> 00:05:29.439 Why did he do it? 00:05:29.539 --> 00:05:31.199 I mean, we haven't been down this road before. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:36.699 And why do we do it? 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:42.879 When we've already been down that road and struggled in that way? 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:53.560 I hope it's not this case, but we fall into, back into old ways of sin that we shouldn't. 00:05:53.560 --> 00:06:01.000 And maybe our reasoning behind it will be, we understand, if we saw the reasoning behind 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:02.800 it, maybe we'd understand why we mess up. 00:06:02.860 --> 00:06:04.959 Maybe it would help us not to mess up. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:12.120 I believe God gives us the details of Abraham's life and the narratives of so many people's 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:14.959 lives in scripture so that we can learn from their experiences. 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:18.879 So we don't make the same mistakes or mistakes very similar to theirs. 00:06:19.839 --> 00:06:24.759 We need not fall back into an old way of sin patterns. 00:06:26.359 --> 00:06:27.919 But why do we do it? 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:34.279 One reason we do it is because it's our way of doing things. 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:39.779 It's what we've, it's like we've done in the past. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:47.579 In the sixth grade, I was out in the woods behind the house with my buddies and one of 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:48.219 them was smoking. 00:06:50.539 --> 00:06:52.379 He wanted the rest of us to join him. 00:06:53.599 --> 00:06:55.679 And so I took a toke and inhaled. 00:06:56.979 --> 00:07:00.739 And it was a worse decision I could have made at the time, but the best decision that I could 00:07:00.740 --> 00:07:04.579 have made since that hour, because I thought my lungs caught a fire. 00:07:06.579 --> 00:07:07.780 I thought I was dying. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:13.800 I went to the same creek that I had previously relieved myself in and drank the water until 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:14.579 I got relief. 00:07:16.100 --> 00:07:17.300 It wasn't downstream. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:18.259 Kid, chill out. 00:07:18.379 --> 00:07:18.720 But anyway. 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:27.160 Now the problem is some of you enjoyed the first toke and have taken plenty since. 00:07:27.400 --> 00:07:28.720 Maybe stopped years ago. 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:34.260 But when the, when the stresses come or whiff of that smell comes by, you may be tempted 00:07:34.260 --> 00:07:35.200 for just a moment. 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:36.780 Well, not me. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:38.800 My lungs burn when I smell it. 00:07:39.200 --> 00:07:40.240 I don't like it. 00:07:40.280 --> 00:07:41.260 I'm thankful for that. 00:07:42.020 --> 00:07:48.000 The same is true for every other pattern though in our life when the devil especially gets 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:49.360 a stronghold on us. 00:07:50.140 --> 00:07:55.360 We fall back into patterns if earlier in our life we receive some pleasure from it. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:58.900 God forgives us and he removes it. 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:02.580 Thank God as far as the east is from the west. 00:08:02.699 --> 00:08:03.699 God removes it. 00:08:04.379 --> 00:08:06.740 But the devil keeps bringing it back up. 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:08.900 And so beware. 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:15.960 Because I want you to understand there is a demonic team of experts that are checking the 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:22.680 algorithms of your life to see where the evil one can steal and kill and to destroy. 00:08:24.379 --> 00:08:25.759 He don't want to give you a headache. 00:08:25.919 --> 00:08:28.659 He wants to ruin your life. 00:08:29.379 --> 00:08:33.659 And your sinful patterns of the past is often where the devil attacks you. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:36.860 Because he can't read your mind but he can watch your actions. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:41.939 Past vices and sinful habits are often where we're weakest. 00:08:41.940 --> 00:08:44.180 And it often comes from good intentions. 00:08:45.340 --> 00:08:46.800 It's just the way we do things. 00:08:46.880 --> 00:08:48.040 It's our way. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:50.980 But we need not be like Elvis. 00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:53.680 We need not have it our way. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:57.080 Abraham felt vulnerable. 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:01.320 And in his vulnerability he slipped back into his old ways. 00:09:02.160 --> 00:09:08.620 Well thank God when we surrender our lives to Christ we surrender our old ways to his ways. 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:11.740 Hey listen we surrender our current ways. 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.240 We surrender all of our ways to his ways. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:17.419 God makes all things new. 00:09:18.240 --> 00:09:24.100 Isaiah chapter 43 verse 19 says behold I am doing a new thing. 00:09:24.879 --> 00:09:26.000 Now it springs forth. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:26.980 Do you not perceive it? 00:09:27.179 --> 00:09:30.620 I'll make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:32.259 God will make a way. 00:09:32.379 --> 00:09:35.399 He'll guide us through those tempting times. 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:37.120 If we'll call on him. 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:38.360 If we'll focus on him. 00:09:38.439 --> 00:09:40.860 If we'll determine in our hearts to please him. 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:45.620 And if we don't and we do it our way we'll fall back into the same old traps. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:51.759 Let me tell you another reason why he did it and why too often we do it. 00:09:52.299 --> 00:09:54.340 It's because we fail to trust God. 00:09:55.620 --> 00:09:56.959 We just fail to trust God. 00:09:57.079 --> 00:09:58.419 We don't like to talk about that. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:09:59.939 We won't admit that. 00:09:59.940 --> 00:10:05.440 But the reality is we go our own way because we fail to trust God with the matter. 00:10:07.160 --> 00:10:11.540 After he had witnessed Sodom and Gomorrah and had seen the details of that. 00:10:11.620 --> 00:10:17.580 He moves away to a seacoast country on the southwest side of Palestine. 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:21.100 That is on the way to Egypt. 00:10:22.800 --> 00:10:25.060 Nothing good happens in the Old Testament in Egypt. 00:10:25.059 --> 00:10:31.699 The people that he is now surrounded by would later be known as the Philistines. 00:10:33.059 --> 00:10:34.819 Those are Goliath's people. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:36.579 That's the enemy. 00:10:38.139 --> 00:10:44.539 And sometimes we feel like the only way to get along in the world is to live like the world. 00:10:46.419 --> 00:10:51.519 Let me be clear without being specific because we ain't got time for it this morning. 00:10:53.479 --> 00:10:54.599 Don't be like the world. 00:10:55.059 --> 00:10:57.619 Don't think like the world. 00:10:58.599 --> 00:11:00.199 Don't drink the world's Kool-Aid. 00:11:01.219 --> 00:11:03.139 Don't fall for it. 00:11:04.579 --> 00:11:08.279 For Abraham, it was his life that he was working to save. 00:11:08.479 --> 00:11:09.579 He didn't want to die. 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:14.319 For us, it's often our livelihood. 00:11:16.259 --> 00:11:19.179 Not usually vocationally, but it could be. 00:11:20.019 --> 00:11:22.039 It's usually socially for us. 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:31.079 If we stand for Christ, if we stand for the precepts of Christ, if we live our life to please the Lord, will we lose our friends? 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:36.280 How will they feel when we fellowship differently with them? 00:11:36.920 --> 00:11:40.639 And the truth is, we just fail to trust God. 00:11:41.860 --> 00:11:43.400 We're just failing to trust him. 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:48.520 And God gives you everything you need if you'll trust him. 00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:53.879 But this walk of faith is all about trusting him. 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:55.899 We fail to trust God. 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:57.360 The third thing we do is this. 00:11:57.659 --> 00:11:59.840 We underestimate our influence. 00:12:00.500 --> 00:12:02.360 I want you to hear me, Christian, this morning. 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:05.480 We underestimate our influence. 00:12:06.659 --> 00:12:11.700 What is it like for a faithful believer of the Lord who is known for his outstanding faith? 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:13.340 This is Abraham, by the way. 00:12:13.740 --> 00:12:13.879 Okay? 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:16.659 A man who's known for his outstanding faith. 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:19.580 To not trust God. 00:12:19.680 --> 00:12:20.700 To not follow his lead. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:25.100 To not be less sensitive to the Lord than the lost are. 00:12:25.100 --> 00:12:29.779 To not listen to the Lord better than those without the Lord. 00:12:32.060 --> 00:12:40.220 When you live for and like the devil in front of non-believers, but they know that you're a professed believer, 00:12:41.080 --> 00:12:46.779 how do you think it makes them feel about the difference that Christ can make in somebody's life, in their own life? 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:48.540 Ruins your testimony. 00:12:49.899 --> 00:12:53.879 And these future Philistines are the enemies, but man, they live close. 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:55.659 And they're religious people. 00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:10.080 It just don't mean much because what they worship is false, but these folks represent the random lost churchgoer that watches Christians more than Christians think they do. 00:13:13.779 --> 00:13:14.740 They're worldly. 00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:23.519 But agree on enough of the tenets of the faith that Christians mingle right in and often compromise. 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:26.460 And we fall back into old patterns. 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:33.159 It's sad to see the social settings of Christians that look no different than the lost world. 00:13:35.259 --> 00:13:40.379 When you fellowship or celebrate with your friends, it ought to look different than the world. 00:13:41.559 --> 00:13:44.960 It's hard to be light when you're not lighting the darkness. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:50.680 And it's hard to flavor your society when you've lost your saltiness. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:53.160 And the devil loves it. 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:55.320 He loves it. 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:56.259 You know why? 00:13:56.480 --> 00:14:01.680 Because the lost stay lost and the Christians stay compromised. 00:14:02.180 --> 00:14:03.080 And that's his plan. 00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:05.639 He can't have your soul. 00:14:05.639 --> 00:14:09.039 So he'll try his best to steal your testimony. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.360 And ruin it for so many others. 00:14:13.659 --> 00:14:22.139 What an influence Abraham could have been if he had trusted God to watch over him, to keep him safe in enemy territory. 00:14:22.139 --> 00:14:23.819 But he didn't. 00:14:25.100 --> 00:14:26.980 He underestimated his influence. 00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:34.240 Now I want you to notice that Abimelech was put in greater danger than Abraham was with this. 00:14:35.620 --> 00:14:38.180 God let his whole household get sick. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:43.740 And he gave Abimelech a deadly disease. 00:14:44.259 --> 00:14:45.379 It speaks of that. 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:48.759 In verse 17 when it says, 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:51.500 Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:56.300 And also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 00:14:57.980 --> 00:15:01.159 Abimelech was going to die if things were not made right. 00:15:02.580 --> 00:15:09.460 And thankfully the sickness that had caused Abimelech, the sickness that he got caused Abimelech not to be with Sarah. 00:15:09.800 --> 00:15:12.379 And therefore not be involved in adultery. 00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:14.759 But I want you to get this. 00:15:15.180 --> 00:15:21.000 The sinfulness of the believer caused the danger of the unbeliever. 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:27.519 Now thank God if you're a child of God today, Christ has saved us. 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:30.379 And the Spirit of God has empowered us. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:33.000 And we've been changed through salvation. 00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:36.480 And that ought to make a world of difference for us. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:39.820 And it ought to make a world of difference for everybody we come in contact with. 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:41.059 Because we're different. 00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:42.340 And we influence them. 00:15:42.779 --> 00:15:46.059 Instead Abraham was leading the king into sin. 00:15:46.059 --> 00:15:49.759 He missed an opportunity. 00:15:51.359 --> 00:15:53.039 So I'm telling you, let's not do the same. 00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:55.579 Live for Christ. 00:15:56.939 --> 00:15:58.079 Refuse to compromise. 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:03.599 And don't underestimate our influence. 00:16:05.059 --> 00:16:06.539 I'll tell you what else we do. 00:16:06.539 --> 00:16:10.539 We justify half-truths. 00:16:12.879 --> 00:16:16.399 Now sometimes we think half-truths are not as bad as outright lies. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.120 I mean she was his sister. 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:21.120 His half-sister. 00:16:21.659 --> 00:16:24.939 But he left out the other part of that truth was that he was also his wife. 00:16:27.019 --> 00:16:32.219 The truth of the matter is half-truths are sometimes actually worse because we try to justify them. 00:16:32.220 --> 00:16:37.420 The problem with a half-truth is that it's just enough fact to make it plausible. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.899 And just enough deception to make it dangerous. 00:16:42.920 --> 00:16:49.000 Lost people hate nothing more in believers than dishonesty and hypocrisy. 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:58.500 And when Abimelech summons Abraham to ask him what in the worldwide world of sports is going on. 00:16:58.500 --> 00:17:06.200 Abraham gives this rambling, lame duck kind of explanation. 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:09.500 What he said was true. 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:12.759 But it was a poor explanation. 00:17:14.380 --> 00:17:17.619 Because such dishonesty ruins your testimony. 00:17:18.460 --> 00:17:19.559 And all the ways to do it. 00:17:19.579 --> 00:17:20.460 A half-truth. 00:17:20.900 --> 00:17:21.900 Truth with a caveat. 00:17:22.220 --> 00:17:23.299 All those things are worse. 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:24.579 Just tell the truth. 00:17:25.339 --> 00:17:26.980 Live the truth. 00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:30.860 And it starts by telling yourself the truth. 00:17:32.500 --> 00:17:33.799 How's my relationship with God? 00:17:35.779 --> 00:17:37.319 How am I walking with the Lord? 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:42.200 What are those areas of my life that need to change? 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.880 What are those areas of my life that I'm compromising? 00:17:50.880 --> 00:17:54.299 How am I hurting my own testimony in my walk? 00:17:54.299 --> 00:17:57.119 How am I compromising my faith with God? 00:17:57.399 --> 00:17:58.419 Be honest with yourself. 00:18:00.419 --> 00:18:04.919 Lastly, we fall back into our old ways because we feel we need a crutch. 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:07.460 We need something. 00:18:07.579 --> 00:18:09.819 He said in that last verse that I read, verse 13. 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:11.559 He said, 00:18:11.559 --> 00:18:22.419 He's saying, 00:18:22.419 --> 00:18:27.819 He's saying my only way out of this mess is to not be true to the Lord. 00:18:27.940 --> 00:18:29.279 Not to live by faith. 00:18:30.419 --> 00:18:33.240 But to attempt a lie to an enemy. 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:36.139 Maybe that will get me through. 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:38.119 He used it like a crutch. 00:18:38.119 --> 00:18:41.519 And I know about a crutch. 00:18:42.879 --> 00:18:51.519 I was playing basketball when I was in college on a Sunday afternoon in open form at the church gym. 00:18:52.579 --> 00:18:53.879 And I broke my foot. 00:18:55.219 --> 00:18:57.519 They didn't have those black boots back then. 00:18:58.019 --> 00:18:59.979 You had to rough it back in the olden days. 00:18:59.980 --> 00:19:08.500 And I was on crutches going to college and having to cross campus quickly to get to class. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:11.339 I was younger and a tad thinner. 00:19:13.339 --> 00:19:14.860 And I could move on those crutches. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:18.180 And to get real velocity, 00:19:18.740 --> 00:19:22.420 you swing them out to the sides. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:24.539 Almost like you're rowing, you know. 00:19:24.539 --> 00:19:28.259 Therefore, my wingspan was large. 00:19:29.059 --> 00:19:31.019 As a matter of fact, it was too large. 00:19:32.460 --> 00:19:39.720 I'll probably never forget when I got to the tripod of army recruitment brochures. 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:43.200 And when the end of my crutch hit it. 00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:45.379 It never slowed me down. 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:48.799 But that poor display took a tumble and scattered all over the floor. 00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:54.399 And that 12-foot wide hall that, thank God, was empty. 00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:56.220 Except for me. 00:19:57.099 --> 00:20:00.839 And the last thing I saw when I looked down was be all you can be sliding by me. 00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:03.960 As I just was trying to be all I could be, son. 00:20:04.259 --> 00:20:05.180 Get in the class. 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:14.079 My point is the crutches took the weight off my foot so it could heal. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:21.059 We lean on spiritual crutches sometimes when our faith gets weak. 00:20:22.899 --> 00:20:25.000 Instead of just trusting God. 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.159 Let me give you some hope today. 00:20:31.119 --> 00:20:34.099 Abraham is known as a man of faith. 00:20:34.199 --> 00:20:35.259 He's known for his faith. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:42.139 But even a man of faith, he still struggled when he moved into the wrong territory. 00:20:43.259 --> 00:20:43.819 Listen to me. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:46.559 When he hung out with the wrong people. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.939 When he justified the wrong action. 00:20:52.579 --> 00:20:56.319 When he was too short-sighted to not see what was coming. 00:20:57.480 --> 00:21:02.019 And too forgetful to remember his past mistakes. 00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:05.939 That's what got him in trouble. 00:21:08.419 --> 00:21:10.339 And that's what will get us in trouble. 00:21:12.159 --> 00:21:13.240 Don't do it. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:22.439 God put this episode in Abraham's life in this passage so that we could learn from him. 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:24.740 And listen. 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.240 Once the truth was told, all was made well. 00:21:28.299 --> 00:21:30.059 You can read the rest of the chapter. 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:32.120 All was made well. 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:35.600 Abraham and Sarah was blessed. 00:21:36.759 --> 00:21:39.360 Abimelech gave him a fortune just to get out. 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:40.359 Abimelech. 00:21:40.439 --> 00:21:45.199 And Abimelech was healed and his household was blessed. 00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:49.979 But it didn't have to be. 00:21:52.740 --> 00:21:54.099 None of it had to be. 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:57.279 And it still doesn't. 00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:57.480 It doesn't. 00:21:57.480 --> 00:22:00.219 It doesn't in my life. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:03.459 It doesn't in your life. 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:06.919 With every head bowed. 00:22:07.659 --> 00:22:08.959 And every eye closed. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:13.460 I want to ask you this morning. 00:22:15.059 --> 00:22:22.240 What is those areas of your life that you're not giving over to the Lord like you need to? 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:26.980 You're having your way. 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:29.880 Doing what you do. 00:22:32.200 --> 00:22:33.420 Instead of trusting him. 00:22:36.420 --> 00:22:38.240 There may be someone here this morning. 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:42.319 And there's never been a time in your life when you've given your heart and life to the Lord Jesus. 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:46.759 You've never trusted Christ as your Savior. 00:22:46.919 --> 00:22:48.759 You've never asked him to forgive you of your sins. 00:22:49.819 --> 00:22:52.960 To come into your life and empower you with the Holy Spirit of God. 00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:55.200 And to save you for all of eternity. 00:22:57.299 --> 00:23:04.720 And one of the hindrances along the way may be that Christians ain't quite lived up to Christ's standards a lot of times in front of you. 00:23:06.539 --> 00:23:08.679 And for that I want to say I apologize. 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:15.779 I'm sorry when we don't meet the standard in which Christ set for us. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:18.579 Please don't let that be a hindrance. 00:23:21.319 --> 00:23:22.700 Christ will save you today. 00:23:24.379 --> 00:23:25.980 He didn't make these kind of mistakes. 00:23:26.899 --> 00:23:27.819 He was perfect. 00:23:27.919 --> 00:23:30.980 And because of that he could go to the cross and die in our place. 00:23:32.099 --> 00:23:35.099 You can give him your heart and life today and be changed for all of eternity. 00:23:39.220 --> 00:23:41.879 Maybe you're hearing God speaking to you about another matter. 00:23:43.119 --> 00:23:45.319 Maybe it's making a private decision public. 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:49.039 You've never publicly acknowledged Christ as your Lord and Savior. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.519 You know you've given your heart and life to the Lord but you've never publicly acknowledged him through baptism. 00:23:54.379 --> 00:23:56.799 You need to let others know what God's doing in your life. 00:23:56.859 --> 00:23:59.240 Or maybe God's drawing you to this fellowship. 00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:02.200 I will tell you I'm thankful. 00:24:03.379 --> 00:24:05.000 God's doing the work in Pickens First. 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.059 I'm thankful for the lives that are being changed. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:11.880 Lives are being challenged and are growing. 00:24:13.059 --> 00:24:13.940 Thankful to watch it. 00:24:14.059 --> 00:24:15.119 Love for you to be a part of that. 00:24:15.240 --> 00:24:15.920 God's leading you. 00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:19.180 I just know folks. 00:24:19.180 --> 00:24:23.240 As long as we fail to do what God tells us to do. 00:24:23.320 --> 00:24:25.680 We'll never be satisfied. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:27.400 We'll never find our happy place. 00:24:27.480 --> 00:24:28.019 We never will. 00:24:28.019 --> 00:24:30.220 So just trust him today. 00:24:30.500 --> 00:24:31.460 No substitutes. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:32.400 Just trust him. 00:24:32.400 --> 00:24:38.420 Lord Jesus I love you and I thank you for the love that you have for us and for that. 00:24:39.460 --> 00:24:40.240 Oh man. 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:46.240 That crystal clear message that you give us in your word of how to live it out for you dear God. 00:24:46.320 --> 00:24:47.800 Without letting anything hinder us. 00:24:49.080 --> 00:24:52.320 God I pray today that you'll help us to simply respond in obedience. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:55.419 Exactly the way you would have us God I pray. 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:57.480 In Jesus precious name. 00:24:58.159 --> 00:24:58.460 Amen.