Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
! It's my joy to bring God's word to you today. Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here.
And we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good, they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it.
Which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.
This morning we're continuing our series in the book of Genesis.
You'll remember that Genesis is the very first book in the Bible.
It tells the origin story, first of the world and the universe in chapters 1 through 11.
And then in chapters 11 through 51 it tells the story of God's people, the story of Israel.
We're focusing together on chapters 11 through 25 which tell the story of Abraham.
We're getting near the end by the way, we're in chapter 20 this morning.
And we're doing that for two reasons.
First, to prepare us to return to our series in the book of Romans.
Where we're going to pick up in chapter 4 which is about Abraham.
So we're looking at Abraham so that later we can again look at Abraham.
We're doing it for a second reason too which is that it allows us to ask this question.
What does it look like to follow God in faith?
This week, Abraham does it again.
What I mean by that is he does the very same sin he did back in chapter 12.
Now several months ago, you'll remember in chapter 12 he told Sarah,
Hey, when we go into this foreign country I need you to lie.
And I need you to tell people you're my sister rather than my wife.
And I want to do that because I'm trying to save my skin.
I'm afraid that if I tell people that you're my wife they will kill me to get at you.
And so in some ways, this is a repeat of what we've seen before.
If we were to go on to chapter 26 of Genesis, we would see it again with Abraham's son Isaac.
But there is this week a new angle which is this.
Abimelech serves as a contrast to Abraham.
We have a pagan king who does what's right.
God's chosen Abraham who does what's wrong.
So it raises this question for us.
When we come across non-Christians who are upright and moral,
does it mean our faith is unnecessary?
Do we really need to follow Jesus?
There's these people out there who are living good lives without him.
So with that question, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 20.
You can turn in your worship guide.
You can turn on your phone.
You can turn in your Bible.
No matter where you turn, Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5 tells us,
every word of God proves true.
He's a shield to those who take refuge in him.
So that's why we read now Genesis chapter 20 starting at verse 1.
From there, Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negev
and lived between Kadesh and Shur.
And he sojourned in Gerar.
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife,
She is my sister.
And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him,
Behold, you are a dead man
because of the woman whom you have taken,
for she is a man's wife.
Now Abimelech had not approached her.
So he said, Lord, will you kill an innocent people?
Did he not himself say to me, she is my sister?
And she herself said, he is my brother.
In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands,
I have done this.
Verse 6.
Then God said to him in the dream,
Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart.
And it was I who kept you from sinning against me.
Therefore, I did not let you touch her.
Now then return the man's wife, for he is a prophet,
so that he will pray for you and you shall live.
But if you do not return her,
know that you shall surely die,
you and all who are yours.
Verse 8.
So Abimelech rose early in the morning
and called all his servants and told them all these things.
And the men were very much afraid.
Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him,
What have you done to us?
And how have I sinned against you
that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin?
You have done to me things that ought not to be done.
And Abimelech said to Abraham,
What did you see that you did this thing?
Abraham said,
I did it because I thought
there is no fear of God at all in this place
and they will kill me because of my wife.
Besides, she is indeed my sister.
The daughter of my father,
though not the daughter of my mother.
And she became my wife.
And when God calls me to wander from my father's house,
I said to her,
This is the kindness you must do to me.
At every place to which we come,
say of me,
He is my brother.
Verse 14.
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen
and male servants and female servants
and gave them to Abraham
and returned Sarah, his wife, to him.
And Abimelech said,
Behold, my land is before you.
Dwell where it pleases you.
To Sarah he said,
Behold, I have given your brother
a thousand pieces of silver.
It is a sign of your innocence
in the eyes of all who are with you
and before everyone you are vindicated.
Then Abraham prayed to God
and God healed Abimelech
and also healed his wife and female slaves
so that they bore children.
For the Lord had closed
all the wombs of the house of Abimelech
because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
I invite you to pray with me
as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven,
we do thank you and praise you again
that you have established this church
here in Southwest Colorado Springs
even before any of us thought of it.
It was in your mind.
We thank you that you have given us your word
and that you use it powerfully in our lives.
We ask that you would do that again this morning,
that you would open our eyes,
you'd unstop our ears,
you'd clear our minds,
you'd soften our hearts,
that we would see and hear
and believe and understand
everything that's written in your word.
We ask most of all
that we would see Jesus Christ,
that he would be more precious
and beautiful to us
than ever before,
that we would love him,
we'd follow him.
We ask these things in his mighty name.
Amen.
In the summer of 1998,
I started fourth grade
and I also started violin lessons.
And for the next three summers after that,
99 and 2000 and 2001,
I went to music camp
on the campus of Catholic University
in Washington, D.C.
And while I was there,
I made a friend whose name was Lee.
Lee and I were tight.
We were buds.
He was kind and accepting and funny
and really he was just a wonderful person all around.
But,
Lee was not a Christian.
Now, I loved Lee,
but Lee lived in New Jersey
and I lived in Maryland
and so it was more of a camp friendship
than anything else.
I remember after the last concert,
one of those weeks,
I was just crying in the car
as my parents were driving me home
because I realized,
I'm not going to have this buddy anymore.
But we had those summers together.
Summer of 2001 was the last summer with Lee
and that fall I started seventh grade.
When I started seventh grade in school,
I also started seventh grade in Sunday school.
And one Sunday at our church,
we had this lesson.
I don't remember what it was about,
but I do remember this.
At the end of the lesson,
and we had this handout
with these little illustrations on it,
we were told the application was,
you should hang out
and have Christian friends
instead of non-Christian friends.
And the reason you should do this
is because Christians
are better than non-Christians.
So if you do this,
your Christian friends will be kinder
and nicer and they won't lie.
And so that's really
who you should be tight with.
I was furious.
And I was furious
because my friend Lee
was better than the Christians that I knew.
In fact, the other 12-year-olds
at this church
were terrible.
They were kind of bullies.
They were little punks.
And so 12-year-old Matthew
went off.
And I informed my Sunday school class
that this was in fact incorrect
and that there were actually
some non-Christians
who were nicer than Christians.
To make things better,
there was another girl
in the class named Sydney
and she backed me up.
Yeah, that's right.
Tell them.
And so we staged
an insurrection
in the seventh grade
Sunday school class
at Alexandria Presbyterian Church
in Alexandria, Virginia.
And I don't think
our teachers quite knew
what to do.
This is not a sell
for teaching Sunday school,
by the way.
But I won't be in your class.
Thankfully,
it was the end of the class.
So I think we just kind of
wrapped things up
quite awkwardly.
But what we're getting at here
is there is a tension
which is this.
Sometimes Christians
do really terrible things.
And sometimes non-Christians
do really wonderful things.
Sometimes Christians behave poorly.
Sometimes non-Christians
behave quite well.
And what do we do with that?
It's part of the challenge
of this passage
this morning.
Genesis chapter 20
is a repeat,
as I mentioned,
of Genesis chapter 12.
In both,
Abraham tells Sarah
to lie.
In both,
she says
she's just a sister
rather than a wife
to protect
Abraham's life.
In chapter 12,
she tells this lie
to Pharaoh.
In chapter 20,
to Abimelech.
And so both Pharaoh
and Abimelech
take Sarah
into their household
as their wives.
Chapter 12,
remember God afflicts
Pharaoh with plagues.
Chapter 20,
God comes in a dream
to warn him.
That's what we see
in verse 3.
And there's an emphasis here
on how righteous
Abimelech is.
Verse 4,
Abimelech says,
Lord, will you kill
an innocent people?
Verse 5,
in the integrity
of my heart
and the innocence
of my hands,
I have done this.
Verse 6,
God says,
God agrees with him.
Yes.
You know what,
Abimelech,
you're right.
I know that you
have done this
in the integrity
of your heart.
In a certain sense,
Abimelech is innocent.
He's just trying
to do what's right.
Now there's a sense
in which he's not,
right?
He's done something wrong
even though he didn't
realize it.
And so he goes
to Abraham,
this is verses 9 and 10,
and he is livid.
What have you done
to us?
This is verse 9.
You have done
to me things
that ought
not
to be done.
And so he demands
an explanation.
Abraham,
explain yourself.
Even I,
a pagan,
know this is not
right.
Abraham gives
this incredibly
lame explanation
in verse 11.
I did it
because I thought
there is no
fear of God
at all
in this place
and they will
kill me
because
of my wife.
And in that
statement,
there is this
rich
irony.
because Abraham
says,
I thought
there is no
fear of God
here.
And yet,
who is it
that doesn't
fear God?
It's Abraham.
Abraham is the
one who doesn't
believe God's
promise from
the last chapter.
Remember,
it was just
the last chapter
when God
came to Abraham
and Sarah
and says,
look,
or two chapters
ago,
says,
look,
within a year
you're going
to have a son.
Abraham is the
one who does
not take God
at his word.
Who does
take God
at his word?
Abimelech.
Abimelech,
the pagan,
is actually
the one here
who fears
God.
God comes
to him
in a dream,
gives him
a word,
Abimelech
believes
and obeys.
And in case
we missed it,
the author
of Genesis
rubs it
in our
face
in verse
8.
Abimelech
tells his
servants
and what
happens?
The men
were very
much
afraid.
Three
verses later,
yeah,
I just didn't
think anyone
feared God
here.
So I
decided to
go off
the map.
So the
way of
things is
reversed.
Pagans
act well,
God's
people
act
poorly.
In fact,
if you've
lived on
this earth
for some
time and
you've been
in the
church,
you know
this.
It's a
common
experience.
There's a
man named
Abraham
Kuyper
who's a
Dutch
theologian
and actually
was prime
minister of
the Netherlands
for a while
when he
wrote a lot
about God's
common grace
and he
says this,
this is on
page 7
of your
worship guide,
the world
turns out
to be
better than
expected
and the
church
worse
than
expected.
Why is
that?
Seems
counterintuitive,
right?
We would
expect the
church to
always exceed
our
expectations.
God's
spirit is
at work
in a
special way
turning
hearts of
stone
into
hearts of
flesh
and that's
not true
in the
outside world.
So why
do things
not
appear,
play out
the way
that we
want to?
We're
going to
look in
two
sections
really
broken
out by
this
quote.
Why is
the world
better
than
expected?
Why is
the church
worse
than
expected?
First of
all,
why is
the world
better
than
expected?
The
world
is
better
than
expected
because
despite
man's
rebellion
against
God,
every
person
is
still
made
in
God's
image.
Despite
our
rebellion,
every
person
is
made
in
God's
image.
Brit
read it
for us
this morning
from Acts
chapter 17.
This is on
page 3
of your
worship
guide.
Verse
28,
for we
are
indeed
his
offspring.
God
is
embracing
him.
There's
a sense
in which
we can
say
not
everyone
is
God's
child
in the
sense
that not
everyone
has been
adopted
by God
as one
of Jesus'
brothers and
sisters.
There's
a sense
in which
if you're
not a
Christian,
God
is not
your
father.
There's
another
sense
in which
if you're
not a
Christian,
God
is
your
father
in the
sense
that
he
made
you.
You
can't
erase
the
image
of
God
in
humanity.
So the
image
of
God,
it's
marred,
it's
obscured,
it's
twisted,
never
erased.
I want
you to
think about
it this
way.
A
number
of you
have
had the
very
painful
experience
of being
cut off
by a
son or
a
daughter.
So I
want you
to imagine
if that's
not your
experience,
imagine
with me
that your
son cuts
you off.
He says,
you know
what,
I'm just
not going
to talk
to you
anymore.
Done
with you.
As far
as I'm
concerned,
mom and
dad are
erased
from my
life.
No
matter
what,
if he
is your
biological
son,
he still
looks
like you.
Right?
He still
has your
nose.
He might
still have
your spouse's
smile.
His
physical
appearance
doesn't
change
even if
he has
cut
you off.
When he
talks,
he probably
still has
some of
your
verbal
tics.
When he
walks,
he might
remind some
people of
your dad,
his
grandfather.
The point
is this,
you can
act as
if your
parents
don't
exist.
You
can't
escape
the
resemblance.
Same is
true of
us and
God.
You can
act as
if God
does not
exist.
You
cannot
escape
the
resemblance.
Why is the
world better
than expected?
Because
everyone is
still made
in the
image of
God.
The image
of God
can be
obscured,
it can be
marred,
it can be
twisted,
it will
never be
erased.
Christ.
How is it
that we
explain
non-Christians
who are
kind and
generous and
moral and
upright in
many ways,
well,
in the
broad sense,
God is
still their
father.
And so
in some
ways,
they still
look like
him.
It is
possible
to accept
the gifts
and not
acknowledge
the
giver.
You can
distance
yourself
from God
as much
as you
want.
You
cannot
erase
his
image.
It is
critical for
us to
understand
this,
to really
comprehend
it,
because if
we don't,
we are
setting
ourselves
up for
disillusionment
in this
world.
We are
setting
ourselves
up for
disillusionment
when we
meet
wonderful
people
who are
not
Christians.
Remember
last week,
I told you
kids,
hey,
if you
want to
go to
college,
great.
Make sure
you pick
a college
where there's
a community
of believers
who can
sustain
and uphold
your faith.
This week,
I'll add
this.
When you
go to
college,
you will
meet
wonderful,
thoughtful,
smart,
and moral
pagans.
And if
you're
not
prepared
for
that,
it
will
shake
your
faith.
Wait,
this
person
is so
good,
what is
my
religion
worth?
It doesn't
mean that
your religion
is worthless.
It means
that the
image of
God
shines
through
in them
despite
and in
the midst
of their
sin.
It does
not mean
your religion
is worthless.
It means
that the
image of
God
shines
out in
them
despite
and in
the midst
of their
sin
and rebellion.
What is
it that I
say every
week?
There's
no one
so good
they don't
need God's
grace.
And no
one so bad
they can't
have it.
This part's
the first
half.
There's
no one
so good
they don't
need
God's
grace.
We can
also remember
this as we
talk with
non-Christians
we can
affirm all
the good
and beautiful
wonderful
things in
their lives
and we
can point
them to
its
source.
I've
mentioned
to you
several
times that
for the
last
three
years or
so my
chiropractor
and I
have had
this ongoing
conversation
about faith
and Christianity
and one
of the
lines he
likes to
use is
well I
act like
a
Christian.
And I
have several
responses to
that.
One of
them I
have shared
with you
well you
act like a
Christian except
in the most
important way
which is that
you don't
worship the
living God.
But the
other response
is this
and I've
said this
to him
multiple
times
yes you
do
because God
is your
father.
The last
time I
said that
to him
he said
well I
thought
you'd
say that.
Right
what are you
saying when
you say I
act like a
Christian?
You're
saying I
don't
need
God.
I don't
need
religion to
be a
good
person.
Well guess
what?
You're giving
witness to
God even
as you
deny him.
And your
moral behavior
however great
it is it's
twisted,
it's distorted,
it's pointed
in the wrong
direction.
And that's
what I mean
when I say
well you act
like a
Christian except
in the most
important way
that you
don't worship
the living
God.
The last
time I said
that to
him he
said yeah
you know I
kind of get
that.
You know the
things that I
do that are
good are
kind of
pointed in
the wrong
direction for
the wrong
reason.
Yes.
Exactly
right.
Are you
going to
accept God's
gifts and
then insult
the giver?
Are you
going to
look like
God the
father and
then act
like he
doesn't
exist?
What
greater insult
could there
be?
Yes,
non-Christians
are better
than expected
because the
image of God
is still
there.
That doesn't
mean they
don't need
God.
It gives
witness to
the fact
they've
rejected
him.
Remember
Romans
chapter 1
the conscience
convicts the
fact that we
know right
from wrong
shows our
need for
God.
It doesn't
excuse us.
It's the
first half.
The world
better than
expected.
Perhaps this
is the
harder one.
The church
worse than
expected.
God's
grace.
We should
think,
we would
hope,
right,
that someone
who's
come to
Christ,
who said,
yes,
I'm a
sinner in
need of
God's
grace,
and the
Holy Spirit
is at
work in
a powerful,
an extra
special way
transforming a
heart of stone
into a heart
of flesh,
would always be
behaving better
than the world
around them.
And yet Abraham
shows us that's
not true,
right?
A
Bimelech has
the fear of
God, at
least in this
episode,
Abraham does
not.
Well,
come back to
the phrase I
mentioned earlier.
No one's so
good they don't
need God's
grace,
and no
one's so
bad they
can't have
it.
First half,
why are
non-Christians
so good?
No one's so
good they don't
need God's
grace.
Why are
Christians
sometimes so
terrible,
and no one
so bad
they can't
have it?
You don't
become perfect
the day you
become a
Christian.
Be great
that were
true,
be great
if God
came and
just after
that point
you never
sinned.
Some churches
teach that
that's
possible.
No,
the reality
of a
Christian
is not
that every
sin in
your life
is just
taken to
a place
where it
has no
temptation
or power
over you.
No,
the promise
of the
Christian
life
is that
you are
growing
holier
year by
year.
The question
is not
are you
perfect?
The question
is are you
in a different
place than
you were
ten years
ago?
is there
evidence that
the Spirit
of God
is at
work in
your life?
And where
a Christian
is today
depends on
where they
started.
Where a
Christian is
today depends
on where they
started.
Is Abraham
holier than
he was in
chapter 12?
Yeah,
I think so.
We've seen
Abraham's
great acts
of faith.
We're going
to see
them,
especially
in chapter
22.
Is Abraham
perfect?
Of course
not.
No one
so good
they don't
need God's
grace.
Abimelech.
No one
so bad
they can't
have it.
Abraham.
So if
someone comes
to you and
says,
I can't
believe you're
a Christian
based on the
things you
do.
yes,
that should
convict you.
And I
hope you
can say
this,
you should
have seen
me 10
years ago.
If you
think this
is bad,
you should
have seen
where God
had to
start with
me.
You should
have seen
the work
that he's
doing.
We also
see in this
passage that
even in the
life of
believers,
sin patterns
run deep.
Abraham's
fear flared
up.
This was
his go-to
pattern in
chapter 12
to lie about
Sarah.
Abraham's
fear flares
up here
again.
Many
chapters
later,
it does
the same
exact
play.
In fact,
it's going
to get
worse.
This
pattern is
going to
run
across
generations.
In
chapter 26,
which we're
not going
to get
to in
this
series,
Abraham's
son Isaac
does the
exact same
thing.
with his
wife,
Rebecca.
He lies
about her.
He says,
oh, she's
just my
sister.
Where did
he learn
that from?
Remember
last week,
Lot and
his daughters,
the children
always know.
We'll say
this.
There's a
part in our
confession of
faith that
we subscribe
to as a
church that
says some
sins are
worse than
others.
It goes
into this
long
explanation of
what makes
one sin
worse than
another sin.
one of the
things it
says is
sins by
older people
are worse
than sins
by younger
people.
Why would
that be?
You've had
more life,
right?
You've had
more time
to grow
in holiness
and in
God's word.
So there's
something actually
that's worse
about chapter
20 than
chapter 12.
Man,
Abraham should
know better,
right?
He doesn't
have the
excuse of
youth and
foolishness.
By the
way,
if you
think I'm
picking on
old people,
that part of
the confession
also says
sins by
pastors are
worse.
So what
goes around
comes around.
But Abraham's
older here,
right?
God has
made a
specific
promise.
Two
chapters
ago,
he said
in a
year,
Sarah's
going to
give birth,
and then
what does
he do?
He puts
her at
risk.
The point
is this,
are you
growing?
Is there
evidence
that God's
spirit is
at work in
your heart,
in your
mind,
in your
life?
Are you
today
someone who
has more
of the fruit
of the
spirit than
you did
two and
five and
ten years
ago?
More love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
gentleness,
and self-control?
Is there
evidence that
God is
at work?
I told you
earlier,
there's a
disillusionment
that can
come,
if we
haven't
wrapped our
minds around
this,
there's a
disillusionment
that can
come when
we meet
wonderful
people who
aren't
Christians.
We need
to have
these
categories,
we need
to think
about these
things.
There's
also a
disillusionment
that comes
if we
haven't
thought about
these things
from meeting
terrible
Christians.
I think,
man,
you know,
people will
tell you
sometimes,
well,
I love
Jesus,
I just
can't
stand
his
followers.
Of course,
one of
his followers,
unfortunately,
is in the
mirror.
And yet,
the Bible
tells us,
right,
no one's so
good,
they don't
need God's
grace.
No one's
so bad,
they can't
have it.
And so,
when we
meet Christians
who do
terrible
things,
what should
we think?
Wow.
God
saves
people
like me.
We need
to be
realistic
about the
world.
We need
to be
prepared
for both.
Can't
let our
faith be
rattled
when we
meet
wonderful
pagans.
Can't
let our
faith be
rattled
when we
meet
terrible
Christians.
The way
we avoid
that is
we understand
God's
grace.
God's
grace is
not
about
my
behavior.
We'll
realize
no one's
so good,
they don't
need God's
grace.
No one
so bad,
they can't
have it.
It's a great
humility that
comes for us
with this
as well.
God
is not
impressed
with you.
If you
think
that you're
a Christian
because of
your great
and superior
behavior,
you have,
as I say
a lot
recently,
lost the
plot.
You lost
the plot.
God did
not choose
Abraham
because he
was great.
God chose
Abraham
because God
was merciful.
Christian,
God did
not choose
you because
you were
or are
great.
God chose
you because
God is
merciful.
The
scandal
of the
gospel is
this,
that good
people still
need it
and bad
people can
have it.
Scandal
of the
gospel is
this,
good people
need it,
bad people
can have
it.
Christians
behave
poorly
sometimes,
non-Christians
behave quite
well,
and it's
explained by
this,
this is on
page 7
of your
worship guide.
God's
grace does
not come
to people
who morally
outperform
others,
but to
those who
admit their
failure to
perform and
who acknowledge
their need
for a
savior.
The
kingdom of
God is
not a
meritocracy.
good
Christians
and bad
Christians
and good
pagans
both fall
short of
the glory
of God.
Both face
the reality
that the
wages of
sin is
death.
Both need
a merciful
savior as
their only
hope in
life and
in death.
Is
Jesus your
savior?
Is he
your only
hope in
life and
in death?
can you
say,
I'm
never so
good.
I don't
need
God's
grace.
If you
can,
you won't
be shaken.
You won't
be shaken
when those
who don't
know God
are
examples,
positive
examples.
And you
won't be
shaken when
those who
do know
God are
negative
examples.
You'll
say,
whatever
happens,
it's
God's
grace
for me.
Christian,
it's
God's
grace
for you.
Let's
pray.
Our
Father in
heaven,
we do
praise you
and thank
you that
the kingdom
of God
is not
a meritocracy
because if
it were,
none of us
would make
it.
We ask
instead,
instead of
looking at
ourselves and
those around
us,
we would
set our
eyes on
you.
We would
have the
right horizon
line,
that we
would compare
ourselves,
not to
others,
but to
you and
your holiness.
That would
drive us
to your
grace,
drive us
to see
how beautiful
and glorious
your mercy
is,
that we
would follow
you and
love you
with all
our hearts
and all
our lives.
We ask
these things
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.