Genesis chapter 12, Benjamin Harris was the 23rd president
from 1889 to 1893.
He and the first lady were the first couple to live in the
White House after it had been wired for electricity.
And President Harrison was a brave man.
He was a man who was known as ruthless on the battlefield
and as a brigadier general in the Civil War.
But he and his wife had a real fear in the White House.
Light switches.
It's a new concept.
They were scared of it.
It was new and it was novel and it was mysterious and they were
scared to death of it.
That if they switched the light on, they may be electrocuted.
So their answer to the problem was they kept servants handy to
take care of the light switch.
And if there were no servants allowed, available at the time
of bed, they slept with the lights on.
That's fear, my friend.
And fear can make you do strange things.
You know what else can?
Hunger.
Hunger can make you do strange things.
People change when they get physically hungry.
I find that out about five minutes to 12 when I look out there at
y'all.
But there are many other types of hunger as well than just
physical.
Weariness will make you do different kind of things.
So when you're afraid and when you're hungry and when you're weary,
if you're not careful, it can cripple your life of faith.
Because if you get scared enough and you get hungry enough and you get
tired enough, you'll make spiritual mistakes.
Abram did.
And I believe that we ought to learn from his mistakes.
I believe that's why they're here.
But brace yourself.
Genesis chapter 12, beginning in verse 10.
It says, 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 Sarah, his wife, I know that
you're a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see
you, they will say, this is his wife.
And then they'll kill me, but they'll let you live.
Say you are my sister, that it may go well with you, 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 and oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants,
female donkeys, and camels.
But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of
Sarah, Abraham's wife.
So Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this you've done to me?
Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife?
Why did you say she's my sister?
So that I could take her for my wife.
Now then, here's 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.
What a shame.
It's amazing to me that the Bible includes stories like these.
But that's one of the reasons why I love it so, because God tells the truth.
I mean, he tells the truth.
And this giant of faith, Abraham, made mistakes too.
And some of them were huge, and this is one of them.
Now, I will be honest with you this morning.
It is much easier to avoid a passage like this than it is preach on it when you
preach through the life of Abraham.
And I've done that before.
I've avoided it before.
It's not easy to look at.
But kind of like when you pass a car wreck, let's rubberneck for just a moment.
Into the life of Abraham and try to learn something.
Let's look at it, break it down, learn from it, and not make the same kind of foolish mistakes
in our lives.
Now, understand the setting.
Abraham had moved to the Negev.
The Negev is the desert.
And that was not where he was used to living.
He had previously lived in the Fertile Crescent, known for bumper crops, but he no longer lived
on the bank of the Euphrates.
Instead, he was in a wasteland, and he needed food.
And they were in the midst of a famine.
And scripture does not tell us here that he sought the Lord.
Last week, I preached about all those times when he sought the Lord and built an altar
to the Lord and left it smoking behind and left that testimony there.
You don't see any of that at this point in his life.
It just says he went to Egypt.
Egypt.
And Egypt was the granary of the world.
We know more about that from Joseph's life, but it was becoming that way already at this
time.
And with rare exception in the Bible, Egypt is a representation of the world.
And an alliance with Egypt is like aligning with the world.
It's a sign that Abraham acted on his own if he tied up with Egypt.
I want you to listen to what Isaiah said about Egypt years later, what he said about it.
He said, woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots
because there are many and in horsemen because they're very strong.
Now, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord.
Woe to them because if they seek the Lord, they wouldn't go to Egypt.
And he did.
He went out of hunger instead of out of faith.
And when he got there where he should not have been, he acted out of fear.
Now, his wife was 65 years old and was beautiful at that age.
So beautiful that he was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him in order to have her.
So he told her to help him stretch the truth.
Tell him you're my sister.
Now, just to be clear, that's not an out and out lie.
She was his half sister.
They had the same father.
It's a half truth.
But I want you to understand something.
A half truth is a whole lie.
And it was a strategic lie.
Because by being her brother, he was her guardian.
And the Egyptian custom that he had in mind when he said that was that if someone came into Egyptian land,
moving as an entourage.
Now, understand.
Abraham was rich.
And he came in with quite a crowd.
Remember that when he set up those altars in the area of the moon god, it said his crowd grew.
And we believe that that means that he was reaching people to follow the Lord instead of following the moon god.
And they went with him as he traveled.
And now he's traveling in this large entourage.
And if you're going to travel in a large group into a foreign country,
there needs to be an understanding of what you're doing there.
And the way they would do that is they would form a treaty
to clarify that it was not intended to be an invasion.
Such a treaty would be sealed, usually with an acceptable daughter or with an acceptable sister
that would join into Pharaoh's harem.
And Abraham's thought seemed to be that when he was approached by Pharaoh's people,
he would offer her to go into Pharaoh's house.
And if he didn't do that, they'd just kill him and his men,
and they'd take her anyway as a trophy of war.
So he offered her, and Pharaoh chose to make her a wife.
And if he did that, that he could possibly drag out some negotiations long enough in this treaty
to get through this famine and to be able to leave and just move on.
That seems to be the plan.
And the plan seemed to work.
She entered Pharaoh's house and into the preparation time of engagement
that was filled with rituals and beautification techniques.
And she had to be time-tested in that atmosphere
to prove that she was not pregnant before she could become a wife to Pharaoh.
And so there was this betrothal time.
And meanwhile, Abram was given a wealth of things for payment for her.
And in the midst of all that, God intervened with plagues.
During that time, in the Lord's mercy, at least upon Abram,
the Lord sent plagues upon Pharaoh.
And when you look at that word there for plagues,
it literally speaks of diseases and infestations,
both of which are very unpleasant.
And it sounded similar, it sounds similar to what happened to Pharaoh
when Moses was there with his people,
and he wouldn't let the people go worship.
He immediately knew, Pharaoh knew something was wrong,
and he knew what it was.
And so we asked Abram why,
and then kindly provided out of fear of Abraham's God,
had him escorted out of the country
to make sure that he got out safely
and to make sure that he got out.
Get out of here.
I wish that I could be true to Scripture
and lighten this somewhat,
but I've got to be honest.
This is a mess.
I mean, it's a mess.
Make no mistake, sin is always a mess.
And it's always bigger than it appears.
I mean, it starts out small.
Sometimes it even seems like a good idea.
But then it just gets larger,
and it has a larger impact than you could ever imagine.
And so this morning,
I want you to notice four truths about his sin
and about our sin
because there's similarity here.
I share this because I think that we can learn from him.
Let me be clear.
I don't think you'll ever be in this situation, okay?
At least not exactly.
But I will believe you'll be in situations of possible compromise.
And I believe the lessons that we can learn from him in his compromise
are lessons that we can apply to our life.
Sinful compromises that do not have to happen.
So I want you to know this.
One is, our sins are never justified.
They're never justified.
Now listen, Abram was hungry.
He was weary.
And he was trying to lead his own life
without the counsel of God.
And he moved into the enemy's territory,
and it made it worse.
He was afraid.
Why?
Because he was going in the wrong direction.
Don't be surprised when you're afraid,
when you walk away from the leadership of the Lord.
And fear will lead you to really mess up.
It did for him.
Egypt, don't misunderstand me,
was and is a real place.
But in Scripture,
it always represents an alliance with the world.
And times were hard for him.
But he never needed to go to Egypt.
It never gets that bad.
Never does.
It's the wrong place.
It's the wrong people.
In that culture, in that time,
and if we respond too quickly,
when the heat is on,
we will make bad choices.
Erratic choices often show godless choices.
They really do.
You don't hear or read here
of him building an altar anywhere.
There's no talk of that right now.
That talk has stopped.
You don't read of his prayers here.
There's no talk of that at all.
What we read of is his strategies
that are made without prayer
and a desperate run into the enemy's camp
out of desperation.
And that's what happens
when we try to figure it out on our own.
His sin was not small.
It might have felt that way to him.
His sin was not isolated.
It might have felt that way to him.
It affected a lot more than he thought it does.
And it always does.
It was not justified,
although sin often feels and seems justified.
I mean, it felt justified.
But the state of our sin
is not determined by how we feel about it.
Church, you've got to get this
because America's telling us something different.
The state of our sin is not determined
by how we feel about it.
Our sin is determined by the standards of God.
Period.
And God's standards do not change.
You can call it old-fashioned.
You can call it contemporary.
You can call it postmodern.
You can call it whatever you want to.
But it never changes.
God's standard never change.
And as the world that we live in,
as the country that we live in,
as the state that we live in,
even as the city that we live in,
as they ignore God more and more,
His Word may feel out of touch.
But the state of your sin
is not determined by how you feel about it.
It's not determined by that.
It's based on the Word of God.
And sin is never justified.
Never.
Even if it feels right.
Even if nobody's going to know.
Even if you feel under pressure.
All of those things are a ploy of the devil.
Every last one of them.
That's how he works.
It's what he does.
And we cannot fall for that.
Sin is never justified.
Second thing is this.
Our sins lead to more sins.
I mean, it will.
Abraham sinned
when he was without prayer
and set out on his own.
He sinned when he moved into a wicked land.
He sinned when he lied to protect himself.
He sinned when he put his wife in harm's way.
Sin always leads to more sin.
It's kind of like running downhill.
It's hard to stop.
When you get old enough,
it's kind of like running, period.
You know?
I mean, it's hard to stop.
My head's as fast as it ever was.
My legs can't keep up more.
It's amazing.
However, the sooner you do stop,
the better off you are.
And those that you take with you,
they'll be better off too.
If you know there's sin in your life today
and you sense that,
turn from it.
It's not going to get easier.
It's not going to get simpler.
It's going to lead to more sin.
And so turn from it.
Third thing is this.
Our sin always hurts those closest to us.
Always.
Men,
I hope you understand
what's wrong with this picture.
Because I promise you,
the ladies understand what's wrong with this picture.
Okay?
And I would advise you
at the lunch table
not to say,
I don't see what Abram did wrong.
Okay?
I'm just telling you,
I wouldn't advise that.
Okay?
If you do,
and y'all come see me next week,
I'm taking her side.
I'm just telling you.
Okay?
So,
just,
although he understands,
understood the customs
and probably thought
that he had a way out
without being harmed,
this problem got a lot bigger
because Pharaoh got involved.
He was hoping it would stop
before Pharaoh got involved,
but Pharaoh got involved.
And it,
it was not Abram
that was at risk.
Actually,
Abram was living the high life.
I mean,
he was given,
more than he needed.
He was already a rich man.
He left Egypt richer.
He did.
He was,
he was,
he was living a high life.
He was treated just fine by Pharaoh.
It was,
it was Sarah
who was with strangers.
She,
she was the one
that was living
in unfamiliar customs.
She was the one
that was uncertain
about what was to come.
And thank God,
God intervened.
He saved her life.
He saved his life
and got them out of there.
But at what expense
did it take
to get out of there?
I'm telling you,
I bet that was a rough ride home.
Don't you think?
I mean,
come on.
A painful one.
And it always will be
because your sin
always hurts
those closest to you.
Let me be clear.
even if they don't know
about it.
It always hurts
those closest to you.
It didn't stop
with her though.
Not only was she
affected by this,
but Lot was affected
by this.
Lot lived
off the benefits
that came to Abram.
Lot got a taste
of the luxurious
pagan world.
And we'll get there.
We'll study together
that when Lot
would be faced
with his own life decisions
later,
he would make
the wrong choice.
They would be
prayerless choices.
They would be made
by his eyes.
And they would be made
because a seed
was planted
in him in Egypt,
the enemy's territory.
And the fruit
would be bore
in Sodom
and Gomorrah.
And it did not
have to be.
Honestly,
if you go back
and look at the first
part of Genesis 12,
he shouldn't even
brought Lot with him.
He wasn't even
supposed to be there.
And he sure
shouldn't have
taken him to Egypt
where he got
a taste of it.
Our sin
always hurts
those closest to us.
Fourth thing is this.
Our sin
always hurts
our testimony.
It always hurts
our testimony.
Think about this
for just a moment.
Who called
Abram out
on his sin?
Pharaoh.
A lost
pagan
leader
called him out
on his sin.
Remember what God
said to Abram
in his calling?
He said,
I'll bless you
and I'll make
you a blessing.
That's not a blessing.
God was to use
Abram to build
a great nation.
There's no way
you can build
a great nation
set apart
from the Lord.
What kind of
witness is this
to the world?
And we need
to think about
our witness
when we get
around our lost
friends.
We need to think
about our witness
when we get
around weak
Christians.
We need
to think
about our
witness
when we get
around opportunities
to really
make a difference
in people's
life,
but instead
we blow it
because we
don't live
by God's
standard.
If you look
like the rest
of the world,
you'll waste
more time
doing nothing
for the Lord
and defaming
the name
and the work
and the character
of the Lord
in the eyes
of those
that so
desperately
need God.
That's exactly
what will happen.
Our sin
always hurts
our testimony
and when we
mess up,
it's bad
and we can't
gloss over
that.
Man,
I thank God
this ain't
the end
of the story.
But sin
is never
justified.
Sin always
leads to more
sin.
Sin hurts
those that
are closest
to you
and sin
kills
our testimony.
But I want
to share you
one more truth
and it's not
about Abram
and it's not
about us,
it's about
God.
One truth
and that is
God is
always more
faithful to us
than we are
to him.
Can I get
an amen?
That's the place
to put it folks.
He's always
better to us
than we are
to him.
Genesis 13
verse 1
through 4.
Let me read this.
So Abram
went up
from Egypt
he and his
wife
and all
that he
had
and lot
with him
into the
Negev.
Now Abram
was very rich.
Do you get
the irony there?
Very rich
in livestock
in silver
and in gold.
And as he
journeyed on
from the
Negev
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
thank God
there Abram
called upon
the name
of the Lord.
He went
back
to Bethel.
He got
his heart
right
at the altar
that he had
built
earlier
and he called
upon the name
of the Lord.
I told you
last week
you need to
leave reminders
in your life
of how God
used you
and worked
in you
in the past.
What he's
done in your
life so that
you can go
back there
and find
strength.
And when Abram
was going
back and
retracing those
steps and he
saw that altar
don't you know
it was convicting
to his heart.
God blessed
him by providing
more than he
needed.
God blessed
him by leading
him out of
harm's way.
God blessed
him by receiving
him back when
he called upon
him.
None of
us have
always been
faithful to
God.
But God
has always
been faithful
to us.
I will tell
you something
today friend
and in his
grace he'll
receive you
back if
you'll come
back.
When wrong
motives lead
to wrong
moves,
wrong moves
are made,
it's time to
come back to
God.
By the way,
I want to
remind you that
Bethel is the
Hebrew word for
the house of
God.
It's time to
come back to
the house of
God.
It's time to
get it right.
So what is it?
what is it in
your life that
you're harboring,
maybe enjoying a
little bit too
much?
Or maybe not
enjoying at all.
You just feel like
you're in a pit and
don't know how to
get out.
Well, I'll tell you
how to get out.
Stop doing what
you're doing and
get out.
Stop doing what
you're doing.
Because it's not
justified.
It's bigger than
you think it is.
It's going to hurt
those closest to
you.
And thank God,
he loves us
enough to be
more faithful to
us than we'll
ever be to him.
I don't know
what's going on
in your life
today.
I don't know
what you're
struggling with.
But I promise
you, if you
bring it to the
Lord, he'll
receive you where
you are.
You turn from
that sin and
confess that to
God.
He'll make you
new.
And he'll help
you build back
what you need to
build back in
your life.
He's always more
faithful to us
than we are to
him.
With every head
bowed and every
eye closed, if
you've never come
to know the Lord
Jesus as your
personal Lord and
Savior, I want you
to know the
invitation is open
to you to come
to him.
It's not my
invitation, it's
his invitation.
That everyone who
calls upon the
name of the Lord
shall be saved.
So I encourage
you, if you've
never given your
heart and life to
the Lord Jesus
Christ, that's the
first step, is to
acknowledge the
wrong that you've
done in your life
and ask him to
forgive you and to
cleanse you and to
come into your
life.
And he'll do just
that.
We'd love to guide
you in that
process.
Maybe you're here
and you have done
that, but there's a
hindrance in your
life.
You've not been
obedient to him.
You need to get
some things right.
Quit worrying about
everybody else.
Just get your heart
and mind on God and
do exactly what he
tells you to do.
You can do that
where you are.
You can do it at
this altar.
You can do it with
a pastor praying for
you.
It don't make any
difference to me.
The main thing is
what God's doing in
your life and what he
tells you to do that
you're obedient.
Don't stumble again
because you fail to be
obedient when God
shows you exactly what
you're to do.
And maybe you're here
and God's drawing you
to be a part of this
church.
You know that you
want to be a part of
this and you feel like
God's leading you to be
a part of that.
We'd love to guide you
in that process.
Now's the time.
I encourage you to
come.
We'd love to help you
with that.
Maybe you're here and
you know the Lord
Jesus but you've never
acknowledged him
publicly through
baptism.
And I'm going to tell
you that will be a
major hindrance in your
life for everyone to
grow and like you need
to grow.
I encourage you to
humble yourself before
God and proudly
proclaim him through
that act of worship.
Lord Jesus whatever it
is upon our heart and
life today let us not
be satisfied until we're
obediently following you.
Lead us right now to
simply obey in Jesus
name.
Amen.
nombre unto you.
E가지고.
Amen.
Thank you.
Amen.
Okay.
Amen.