WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 All right, so we are starting in a few weeks, February, 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:10.519 and the evening is a series on Elijah and Elisha, 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:13.160 or Elisha. 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:14.720 I'm not sure how everybody says it here, 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:16.120 so I gotta figure that out. 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:18.519 Elijah and Elisha, that's coming. 00:00:18.519 --> 00:00:20.240 And then in two Sunday nights from now, 00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:22.080 on the day of Derek's induction, 00:00:23.080 --> 00:00:27.359 Alistair I is coming to preach to us that evening. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:28.879 And so we've got a couple weeks 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:30.279 before we start our new series. 00:00:30.279 --> 00:00:33.200 And so tonight and next Sunday night, 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.359 and so we're gonna look at Genesis 13 and 14. 00:00:35.359 --> 00:00:38.000 So 13 and 14 next week, 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:40.719 which are two of the major stories of Lot, 00:00:40.719 --> 00:00:42.840 Abram's nephew, Abram and Lot. 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:45.719 And next week is Abram and Lot and Melchizedek. 00:00:45.719 --> 00:00:49.039 And this week Abram and Lot and this fight 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:50.799 about cattle and sheep. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:53.960 And so it might seem random, 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:55.320 but actually one of the reasons I wanted to do it 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.560 is because we have this handy little tool on our website 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:02.960 that all of you can't see, but the people in the office can. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.319 And that's that, it tells us every chapter, 00:01:06.319 --> 00:01:08.480 every book of the Bible and chapter 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:10.120 that we've preached at St. C's. 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:13.039 And so for 16, almost 17 years, 00:01:13.039 --> 00:01:15.719 we've not looked at Genesis 13 or 14 yet. 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:18.640 So here we are, we can do that, we can cover that now. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:20.960 And the other good reason is because when you look 00:01:20.960 --> 00:01:23.680 at Genesis 13 and 14, especially tonight, 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:25.640 you realize that it's all about understanding 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:28.240 what's going on in our hearts when we sin. 00:01:28.240 --> 00:01:30.040 And we've just started a series 00:01:30.040 --> 00:01:32.320 on the anatomy of sin on Wednesdays, 00:01:32.320 --> 00:01:34.440 city group and midweek evening, 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:37.400 engine room, I should say, prayer meeting. 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:39.160 And so this fits really well with that. 00:01:39.160 --> 00:01:41.800 So you'll get all the answers tonight, 00:01:41.800 --> 00:01:44.560 the city group that's coming on Wednesday, by the way. 00:01:46.240 --> 00:01:49.480 Sometimes in the Bible, you read stories 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:52.560 where the fire of God comes down on the mountain. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.200 Sometimes you read stories in the Bible 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:56.200 where Jesus walks on water 00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:58.680 and people rise up from the dead. 00:01:58.680 --> 00:02:02.520 Sometimes you read stories where cattle farmers 00:02:02.520 --> 00:02:04.799 and sheep farmers get in fights 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:07.079 because there's just not enough grass 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:08.960 for all the sheep and the cattle to eat off of. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:10.520 And that's exactly what we have here. 00:02:10.520 --> 00:02:12.879 And yet it's the word of the Lord. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.199 So we've got to think about what it means together. 00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:17.319 And what we're gonna see tonight is in something 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:19.379 that appears a little bit mundane, 00:02:19.379 --> 00:02:21.800 which is ultimately land allotment, 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:25.240 Abram and Lot deciding which way are we gonna go? 00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:26.800 Which land are we gonna take? 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:29.880 You're being invited here by Moses, the writer, 00:02:29.880 --> 00:02:34.880 to peer, to look straight at the essence of human sin 00:02:34.880 --> 00:02:36.480 and what's wrong with us 00:02:36.480 --> 00:02:39.040 and to see how it can become right again. 00:02:39.040 --> 00:02:40.920 That's what's actually going on in Genesis 13. 00:02:40.920 --> 00:02:41.960 So let's think about that together. 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:44.760 First, we're gonna see that we see, 00:02:44.760 --> 00:02:46.840 we look for the wrong garden. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:49.560 And then after that, 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:52.520 we will think about really the heart of sin, 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:53.960 the sin of the garden, 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:56.039 and then finally hope that we can find 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:58.400 in another garden in this chapter. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:00.319 Okay, so let's think about that together. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.400 First, we human beings, 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:06.280 we look for the wrong garden. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:10.480 Now, to explain that, let me start with a bit of context. 00:03:11.560 --> 00:03:14.659 We're right here in the midst of the Abram story. 00:03:14.659 --> 00:03:19.080 And Abram was chosen by God a couple of chapters ago 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:24.080 to be the man through whom God would bring forth 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:25.640 the promised one. 00:03:25.640 --> 00:03:28.360 So all the way back in Genesis 3.15, 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:29.760 right when Adam and Eve sinned, 00:03:29.760 --> 00:03:34.760 God says one day, I am going to bring forth a son, 00:03:34.760 --> 00:03:36.220 a son of Eve. 00:03:36.220 --> 00:03:39.040 And the son of Eve is gonna save the world. 00:03:39.040 --> 00:03:41.120 He's gonna crush the head of the serpent. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:42.400 And the rest of the book of Genesis, 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:43.760 and really the rest of the Old Testament, 00:03:43.760 --> 00:03:46.080 is about asking who is the seed? 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:46.920 Who is the one? 00:03:46.920 --> 00:03:48.120 Who is the son? 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:49.560 Where's the son of Eve? 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:51.640 That's gonna make things right again. 00:03:51.640 --> 00:03:54.360 And Abram gets chosen. 00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:55.680 And so you say, well, is it Abram? 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.640 And God says to Abram, here's two great promises 00:03:58.640 --> 00:04:01.560 I'm gonna make to you to fulfill Genesis 3.15. 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:03.759 I'm going to give you land. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:07.439 And the land is where I'm going to fulfill this promise 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:09.480 of bringing forth a Messiah. 00:04:09.480 --> 00:04:12.319 And I'm going to give you not only land, but people. 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:14.240 Because in order to have a son of Eve, 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:15.159 you've gotta have people. 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:17.280 And I'm gonna give you a seed. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.000 I'm gonna give you a son. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:20.759 And I'm gonna make you a great nation. 00:04:20.759 --> 00:04:23.119 I'm gonna make you into as many, 00:04:23.119 --> 00:04:24.919 or I'm gonna make you as big as the grains 00:04:24.919 --> 00:04:26.279 of the sand on the seashore. 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:27.359 These are the two big promises. 00:04:27.359 --> 00:04:30.439 Now, when Abram comes to the land of Canaan 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:32.599 the first time from Babylon, 00:04:32.599 --> 00:04:36.919 immediately he's driven away because of a drought. 00:04:36.919 --> 00:04:40.599 And we learn too that his wife cannot bear children, 00:04:40.599 --> 00:04:41.519 that they can't have children. 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:43.839 And so you say, God, you've said, 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:45.919 I'm gonna give you a son that's gonna save the world. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.199 And I'm gonna put the son that's gonna save the world 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:49.240 in this land. 00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:50.640 And as soon as they come there, 00:04:50.640 --> 00:04:53.199 there's no son and they're driven out of the land. 00:04:54.140 --> 00:04:56.319 And you say, God, what is going on? 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:57.560 How are you gonna fulfill the promise? 00:04:57.560 --> 00:04:59.660 And that's really what the Abram story's about. 00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:02.560 And we read in verse one of chapter 13, 00:05:03.520 --> 00:05:05.600 Abram went up from Egypt. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:08.639 So the context here is that he's coming from Egypt. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:09.480 Why? 00:05:09.480 --> 00:05:12.040 Because when he was driven away from the promised land, 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:13.840 he went down to Egypt. 00:05:13.840 --> 00:05:15.840 And as soon as Abram went down to Egypt, 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:17.279 in the previous chapter, 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:22.279 he gave his wife away to Pharaoh to protect his own skin. 00:05:22.719 --> 00:05:24.439 And that's not what messiahs do. 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:25.599 That's not what they look like. 00:05:25.599 --> 00:05:28.159 They don't give their bride away to protect themselves. 00:05:28.159 --> 00:05:31.560 And so we immediately learn Abram is not the guy. 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:32.599 He's not the savior. 00:05:33.479 --> 00:05:34.599 We're still waiting. 00:05:34.599 --> 00:05:36.120 And it's going to be one of his children, 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:37.120 but who's it going to be? 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:39.959 And we learn, he's also not in the land. 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:40.799 He's in Egypt. 00:05:40.799 --> 00:05:42.719 And so God sends, if you back up, 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:46.040 you can see this chapter 12 verse 18, 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:48.080 just before our chapter starts. 00:05:48.080 --> 00:05:53.080 God sends a plague upon Pharaoh to save Abram 00:05:53.880 --> 00:05:55.800 and the early Hebrew people out of Egypt. 00:05:55.800 --> 00:05:59.280 Now, the early people are God's people. 00:05:59.280 --> 00:06:00.400 They're captured in Egypt. 00:06:00.400 --> 00:06:01.520 They're slaves in Egypt. 00:06:01.520 --> 00:06:05.080 And God sends a plague and he rescues them 00:06:05.080 --> 00:06:06.160 and they come up out of Egypt. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:07.220 Have you heard that before? 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:08.480 Does that sound familiar? 00:06:08.480 --> 00:06:11.080 It happens to Abram before it ever happens to Moses 00:06:11.080 --> 00:06:12.560 and the Israelites later on. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:13.480 And that's the context. 00:06:13.480 --> 00:06:16.579 Now, here we are, chapter 13. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:21.959 Chapter 13, that means that they're back in the land of Canaan, 00:06:21.959 --> 00:06:23.160 back in the land of promise, 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:26.439 but the question is who is the seed of the woman going to be? 00:06:26.439 --> 00:06:27.800 Who's the son going to be? 00:06:28.759 --> 00:06:32.000 And Abram and Sarah, I still can not have children. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:34.560 And so one of the subtle questions of this series 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:37.000 of stories about Lot, we have three of them, 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:41.519 is Lot going to be the son? 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:44.039 Because Lot had been adopted by Abram. 00:06:44.039 --> 00:06:48.199 Lot's dad had died and Abram had effectively adopted Lot. 00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:50.000 And so the question is, could it be Lot? 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:51.000 Could he be the one? 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:55.459 And the big thing that Moses shouts to us 00:06:55.459 --> 00:06:57.439 through this passage is no, no, no. 00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:59.079 It's not going to be Lot either. 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:02.199 And when you realize why, 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:06.560 you're being invited to peer into Lot's heart and see why. 00:07:07.599 --> 00:07:09.199 It's not Lot. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:11.319 He's not going to be the one that's going to save the world. 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:13.759 And in fact, Lot goes the exact opposite direction. 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:17.159 And when he does that, you can see what's going on 00:07:17.159 --> 00:07:19.920 in the human heart when we sin. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:21.159 That's what we get invited to see. 00:07:21.159 --> 00:07:23.000 All right, enough context. 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:25.120 Context time is over. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:27.439 Eyes glazed during context time. 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:29.519 So let's move past context time 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:32.079 and dive into this story about Lot, 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:34.959 because we see the nature of sin right here. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:36.120 What's wrong with us? 00:07:36.120 --> 00:07:38.159 All right, in verse five and six, 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:41.960 Lot we learn is as blessed as Abraham, 00:07:41.960 --> 00:07:45.000 Abram, he's got as many sheep, as many cattle. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:46.720 Lot is a full grown man now. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:47.760 He's no boy anymore. 00:07:47.760 --> 00:07:51.560 And he's got, he's become as rich as Abram is. 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:54.200 And now they've been a unit. 00:07:54.200 --> 00:07:58.840 They've been one, uncle, nephew, like father, son, 00:07:58.840 --> 00:08:01.480 Abram in fact, in just a moment says to Lot, 00:08:01.480 --> 00:08:03.360 it says here, we are kinsmen. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:08.000 A more literal translation is we are men, we are brothers. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.879 So Abram knows we are tight. 00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:13.959 And yet when lots, shepherds and herdsmen go out 00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:16.519 and Abram's shepherds and herdsmen go out, 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:19.920 they fight over too little space for too much cattle. 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:23.639 And you know, over Christmas time, 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:28.139 my family was here for two weeks and we love each other. 00:08:29.079 --> 00:08:30.240 We love each other a lot. 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:35.120 And we had 12 people staying in our flat. 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:36.720 Most of you have been to my flat. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.279 And you know, sometimes you love people 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:42.920 and you're tight, you're brothers, you know, 00:08:42.920 --> 00:08:44.080 like Abram and Lot. 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:46.600 And then you realize that there are too many phone chargers 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:48.879 for too few plugs, you know. 00:08:48.879 --> 00:08:52.840 And, or there's too many, too many cattle for the grass. 00:08:52.840 --> 00:08:54.560 It's the same thing, right? 00:08:54.560 --> 00:08:58.240 Eventually you can't all live in the same space. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.000 And that's exactly what's going on here. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.360 You have to spread out. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:05.320 And so Abram says, look, you can choose anywhere you want 00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:08.200 in the land of Canaan, the promised land. 00:09:08.200 --> 00:09:11.600 And this is where it all goes wrong. 00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:13.440 This is the big problem. 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:16.640 And what we see here is it's a problem of vision. 00:09:16.640 --> 00:09:18.500 It's all about the eyes. 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:20.480 And we learn here that the problem with Lot 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:22.440 is the problem with every single human being 00:09:22.440 --> 00:09:24.200 from Genesis 3, 4. 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:27.080 And it's that when you lift up your eyes and you look 00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:29.520 and you see something in this world, 00:09:29.520 --> 00:09:32.680 something in this life that you want, 00:09:32.680 --> 00:09:33.880 we have a deep, deep problem. 00:09:33.879 --> 00:09:36.080 And that's that we want things in this life more 00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:37.220 than we want God. 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:41.720 And we reach out and we take that thing that we want 00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:43.700 more than we want God. 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:45.500 And we forget. 00:09:45.500 --> 00:09:47.039 We forget what God said. 00:09:47.039 --> 00:09:48.759 We forget His word. 00:09:48.759 --> 00:09:50.700 And here Lot, do you see what he does? 00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:55.700 It says in verse 10, that Lot lifted up his eyes 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.480 and he saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered. 00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:01.279 Now what did he see? 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:03.320 First he sees something physical. 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:05.240 He lifts up his eyes and imagine if you can picture 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:07.960 a map of Israel, there's the Jordan River 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:10.120 that pours into the Dead Sea. 00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:13.640 And that area right there is extremely fertile. 00:10:13.640 --> 00:10:15.920 And he lifts up his eyes and he can see probably 00:10:15.920 --> 00:10:19.680 from the top of a mountain, that whole area, that valley. 00:10:19.680 --> 00:10:24.680 And he just sees dollar signs, pound sterling signs. 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:27.360 He wants the money. 00:10:27.360 --> 00:10:30.120 He's got a lot and he's rich like Abrams rich, 00:10:30.120 --> 00:10:33.960 but he sees that he could be richer, more rich, 00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:36.600 richer or more rich, I don't know the right way to say it. 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:38.799 But he sees, that's what he sees. 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:43.039 And the first thing he sees with his eyes 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:46.120 is something deeper than his eyesight. 00:10:46.120 --> 00:10:48.399 And he sees something with the eyes of his heart 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:52.679 and it's that he wants wealth and possessions more 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:56.000 than he wants to listen and remember what God has told him. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:57.840 Now maybe you're already picking up on remembering 00:10:57.840 --> 00:11:00.320 what God has already told Lot and Abram. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.160 Because if you go a little further, what you find 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:04.840 and the writer here points it out to us very clearly, 00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:08.480 he looks and he sees the valley on the east side 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:11.360 of the Jordan River and the commentator here, Moses says, 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:15.000 it just so happens that this valley is called Sodom 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:16.680 and Gomorrah. 00:11:16.680 --> 00:11:18.680 And if you know the rest of the story, you know, 00:11:18.680 --> 00:11:20.080 that this is a place of deep wickedness. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:21.200 We're told that at the end of the chapter. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:23.480 It's a place of destruction, it's a place of death. 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:26.720 And remember that God had said, I'm doing two great things. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:28.920 I'm going to save the world and I'm gonna do it 00:11:28.920 --> 00:11:31.440 in the land of Canaan, not outside of it. 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:33.639 So stay here, don't leave. 00:11:33.639 --> 00:11:37.759 And Moses, Abram says, look, my brother Lot, my nephew, 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:41.360 you can pick anywhere in the land of Canaan you want. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:42.840 And if you pick that place, I'll go there. 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:44.200 If you pick that place, I'll go there. 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:47.759 And Lot says, I'll take east of the Jordan. 00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:50.200 I'll take the place that will make me the most money, 00:11:50.200 --> 00:11:53.279 even though he knows, he knows what God has said about it. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:55.560 He knows that outside the land is a place of judgment. 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:56.879 And yet he picks it anyway. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:59.919 You see, he sees with his eyes, but he really sees 00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:01.839 with the eyes of his heart. 00:12:01.839 --> 00:12:05.279 And he longs for the exact thing, this creaturely thing, 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.799 that God told him, don't yearn for that. 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:08.639 That's not it. 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:12.839 You see, in other words, he's living by sight, not by faith. 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:16.239 He wants what he thinks will make him wealthy. 00:12:16.239 --> 00:12:19.439 He doesn't want what God says will really bless you, 00:12:19.439 --> 00:12:21.799 will really make you a great man, a great name. 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:24.039 This is called idolatry. 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.839 It's when you look out into the creaturely realm, 00:12:26.839 --> 00:12:30.000 and you see something with your eyes, 00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:32.480 and you long for that thing, 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:36.279 and you want it more than you want God himself, 00:12:36.279 --> 00:12:38.519 and what he's told you will really bless you, 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:40.879 and you reach out and you take it. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:12:42.799 And that's exactly what's happening to Lot. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:44.039 The eyes of the heart. 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:46.559 It's called, in the New Testament, lust. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:48.159 And you can lust after anything. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.360 And that's exactly what Lot's doing here. 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:51.480 I made a list. 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:56.399 Lot is clearly, this is our first Timothy 6-10 moment 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:59.039 for him where it says, the beginning of evil 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:00.720 is the love of money. 00:13:00.720 --> 00:13:02.840 And that's what's happening to Lot right here. 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:07.200 But this can happen with anything to any of us. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:09.320 And I know we've talked about this many times 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:12.399 from this pulpit, but we can't get past this 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:14.039 because this is our deep problem. 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:15.000 This is our fundamental problem. 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:16.399 Here's a list. 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:19.639 The things that we chase after, 00:13:19.639 --> 00:13:23.000 you might chase after success and security, 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:26.399 money, that great nest egg like Lot did, 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:29.720 or you might have idols of pleasure in your life, 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:32.319 like food and drink and sex, or idols of approval, 00:13:32.319 --> 00:13:36.279 being physically attractive, money that you're pouring 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:39.559 into the gym because of an addiction to that. 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:42.360 Being thought, you might have an idol of approval 00:13:42.360 --> 00:13:44.319 that says, I want to be thought of as perfectly normal, 00:13:44.319 --> 00:13:48.159 perfectly respectable, not strange, not weird, not different, 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.519 not like them, you might have an idol of approval 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:54.839 for theological acumen that you're a great mind 00:13:54.839 --> 00:13:57.360 when it comes to the things of the Bible. 00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:01.759 You can have religious idols, other gods, vague spirituality, 00:14:01.759 --> 00:14:04.519 spiritualism, witchcraft, a cult, ideology, 00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:05.839 searching for God in the wrong places 00:14:05.839 --> 00:14:07.719 that happens all across our city. 00:14:07.719 --> 00:14:12.480 You can have idols, political idols, persuasions, 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:15.679 ideologies on the left, ideologies on the right, 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.439 political party addiction, you can have idols of celebrity, 00:14:19.439 --> 00:14:23.439 personal celebrity, local celebrity, wanting to be a celebrity, 00:14:23.439 --> 00:14:26.079 wanting to make a name for yourself on Instagram, 00:14:26.079 --> 00:14:29.479 celebrity culture, idols of race and country, 00:14:29.479 --> 00:14:31.439 ethnic pride that turns into racism 00:14:31.439 --> 00:14:34.279 or unhealthy nationalism, idols of relationship, 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:37.719 living life through success and failures of your children, 00:14:39.239 --> 00:14:41.799 or chasing that relationship at all costs, 00:14:41.799 --> 00:14:45.399 that person at all costs, you can have idolatries 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:48.879 of moralism and legalism needing to be known as righteous, 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:50.799 a good person, by your performance, 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:54.840 idols of individualism, self-curating your identity, 00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:57.519 and performing for other, social media addiction, 00:14:57.519 --> 00:15:01.120 idols of deflection, the need to identify the problem 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.799 is always out there, always with that family member, 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:05.240 that person, never me. 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:08.959 Classic idols, here's the classics. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:13.960 Power idolatry, comfort idolatry, approval idolatry, 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:18.720 and the list goes on, anything that you see in this world 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:20.600 and you want more than you want God, 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:24.519 and that's exactly what's happening to Lot here, 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:28.360 there are over 520 instances in the Bible 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:33.360 where vision, sight, is used as a metaphor 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.160 for improper desire, wanting the wrong things, 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.000 it's everywhere, it's everywhere from Genesis to Revelation, 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:41.759 it's about what our heart desires, 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.879 and in Genesis 12, and we'll move on, 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:48.639 Genesis 12, Abram goes into Egypt 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:51.360 and he sees that being married to Sarah 00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:55.959 might cost him his life, and so he gives his wife away 00:15:55.959 --> 00:15:59.039 to Pharaoh, the image of the serpent himself, 00:16:00.519 --> 00:16:02.759 just like Adam gave his bride away to the serpent 00:16:02.759 --> 00:16:05.600 in the garden, so Abram, right after he's called by God, 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.320 gives his wife away to the serpent, 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:10.960 and then in the very next chapter, 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:15.200 Lot gives himself away to money, it's the human problem, 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:16.840 we give ourselves away to the creatures 00:16:16.840 --> 00:16:19.920 as if they are our gods, as if they will really bring 00:16:19.920 --> 00:16:22.560 to us the Garden of Eden, now here's the last thing 00:16:22.560 --> 00:16:24.360 about point one and we'll move on. 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:27.960 Verse 10, you can see it's even a deeper level of desire 00:16:27.960 --> 00:16:29.000 because what does he call it? 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:32.800 He sees Sodom and Gomorrah and it says it looked to him, 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:36.159 verse 10, as if it was the Garden of the Lord, 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:38.679 and you see what's going on in idolatry? 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:41.639 It's when you look out at something and you say, 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:45.199 if I had that thing, it would be Eden to me. 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:48.120 If I had that thing, it would be like the Garden 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:50.919 of the Lord to me, you can identify your idol, 00:16:50.919 --> 00:16:52.679 the things you struggle with most in your life 00:16:52.679 --> 00:16:56.479 by saying, if I get that thing or lose that thing, 00:16:56.479 --> 00:16:58.879 it would either be the Garden of the Lord to me, 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.319 Eden itself, or like losing Eden, 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.080 and if the answer to that question, 00:17:04.080 --> 00:17:08.960 what is it that is Eden to me is not God himself, 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.559 then you're dealing with an idol, an idol of the heart. 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:14.880 All right, secondly, the sin of the Garden, 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.000 the heart of sin, that leads us to then seeing 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:20.400 that we haven't actually uncovered the principle 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:21.880 underneath the principle. 00:17:21.880 --> 00:17:24.160 The issue here is idolatry, lots idolatry, 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:26.559 but there's something underneath that, 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.920 and we can do it very briefly, and it's just to say this, 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:33.200 that when you look and see here in verse 10 and 11, 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:36.560 this sequence, Lot lifted up his head, 00:17:36.560 --> 00:17:40.480 and he looked, and he saw, and he took, 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:44.519 that that is a recurring set of phrases in the Bible, 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:47.640 and it comes first in Genesis chapter three. 00:17:47.640 --> 00:17:49.480 Listen to what happens in Genesis chapter three, 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:54.480 it says, the woman Eve saw that the tree was good for food, 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:57.600 that it was a delight to her eyes, 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:00.119 that it was to be desired to make one wise, 00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.199 so she took and she ate. 00:18:03.199 --> 00:18:05.519 And I love what Derek Kidner, the commentator, 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:07.000 says about that, he says that, 00:18:08.199 --> 00:18:13.199 so simple that act, so hard it's undoing, 00:18:13.919 --> 00:18:18.159 God himself will taste poverty and death 00:18:18.159 --> 00:18:21.839 before take and eat can become verbs of salvation. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:25.279 She looked, she looked at her eyes, 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:28.599 she saw that it was delight, 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:31.960 that this could be to her the garden of the Lord 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:33.000 better than the Lord himself, 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:35.399 and she ate, it's the exact same thing that happens 00:18:35.399 --> 00:18:37.920 in Genesis 13, and it happens over and over and over 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.519 and over again across the Bible 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.399 in a big series of fall narratives, fall stories, 00:18:42.399 --> 00:18:45.960 it's what happens to all of us when we sin. 00:18:45.960 --> 00:18:48.559 Read James 1, 13 to 17, 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.279 and you can get the exact sequence as well, 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:52.279 this is what happens when we sin, 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:55.960 we look, we lust, we think that thing 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:57.720 will be the garden of the Lord to us, 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:01.200 and we take and we eat, and it's idolatry. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:05.079 And just, if you think about it for just a moment, 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:07.720 when the serpent comes to Eve, 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:10.240 when the serpent comes to Eve, he says to her, 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.720 did God really say you couldn't eat of that? 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:13.680 Now the very first thing he does, 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:17.680 he says, can you really trust what God said to you, 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.039 the promises God made to you? 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:21.839 That's the very first way he tempts her, 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:26.159 and here, Lot has forgotten what God said. 00:19:26.159 --> 00:19:27.639 God said, the land of Canaan, 00:19:27.639 --> 00:19:30.240 stay here and I will bless your family. 00:19:31.679 --> 00:19:33.279 Did God, but did God really say that? 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:36.039 Canaan, go to Sodom and Gomorrah and get the same thing, 00:19:36.039 --> 00:19:37.079 do it my own way? 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:38.839 It's the same thing that the serpent said to Eve, 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:40.879 and then right after that, the serpent says, 00:19:40.879 --> 00:19:44.000 if you eat, you will be like God. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:47.679 And you see, it's the same thing as saying, 00:19:47.679 --> 00:19:51.399 if I take that, if I chase that thing in my life, 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:54.360 then I can build for myself the garden of the Lord. 00:19:54.360 --> 00:19:56.280 I can have the garden without God, 00:19:56.280 --> 00:19:59.160 I can be the Lord of the garden, in fact. 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:00.880 You see, the same thing that happens to Adam and Eve, 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:02.000 is exactly what happens to Lot, 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.360 is exactly what happens to every one of us when we sin. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:09.480 Hermann Bovingt says that the essence of human sin 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:12.000 is self-divinization. 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:15.080 Another simpler way to say it is it's self-centeredness. 00:20:15.080 --> 00:20:17.240 I want to be the Lord of the garden, 00:20:17.240 --> 00:20:20.380 I don't want to be with the God of the garden. 00:20:20.380 --> 00:20:23.440 Calvin commenting on Genesis 13, this is what he says, 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.400 let us then learn by Lot's example 00:20:26.400 --> 00:20:29.680 that our eyes are not to be trusted, 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:31.760 that we must rather be on our guard 00:20:31.760 --> 00:20:36.360 lest we be ensnared by our look, by our vision, 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:39.200 and be encircled with many evils. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:43.720 Just as Lot, when he fancied that he was dwelling in paradise, 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:46.200 he was actually plunged into the depths of hell. 00:20:47.120 --> 00:20:49.280 He thought he could build the garden of the Lord, 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:50.559 and it plunged him into the depths of hell, 00:20:50.559 --> 00:20:53.240 into destruction, into Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:56.799 Now that's why lastly, we need to find hope tonight 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.660 in a different garden, in another garden. 00:21:01.000 --> 00:21:04.200 At the very end of the passage from verse 14, 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:06.799 we have this one of the early moments in the Bible 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:11.480 where God comes down, where God comes into our presence, 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:13.639 and he comes here into the presence of Abram, 00:21:13.639 --> 00:21:17.480 and he speaks to Abram here in verse 14. 00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:20.160 So it says, the Lord said to Abram after Lot had left, 00:21:21.120 --> 00:21:23.480 lift up your eyes and look. 00:21:23.480 --> 00:21:26.319 See, Eve lifted up her eyes and she saw and she took, 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:29.000 and Lot lifted up his head, and he looked, 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:31.120 and he longed for the wrong thing, and he took, 00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:32.759 and then God comes down to Abram and says, 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:34.720 now you lift up your eyes and look. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:37.000 And what's the difference? 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.960 You know, Abram had given his wife away to Pharaoh, 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:44.960 but now Abram is hearing the word of the Lord. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:49.920 He's actually listening. 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:51.720 He's saying, God has come to speak to him, 00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:54.279 and he's saying, now lift up your eyes and look, 00:21:54.279 --> 00:21:56.160 and look at exactly what I tell you to look at, 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:58.559 and stop going your own way. 00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:01.200 Stop trying to build the garden of the Lord for yourself. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.240 And so he hears about God's voice. 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:06.360 There's just two things as we close to see here 00:22:06.360 --> 00:22:08.279 about the hope that we need. 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:13.279 And it's first that Lot lived by sight, not by faith, 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:15.639 not by the word of the Lord. 00:22:15.639 --> 00:22:18.319 And Abram here messed it up big time, 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:19.920 and he's gonna mess it up again, 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:23.399 but he came back and submitted to the word of the Lord. 00:22:23.399 --> 00:22:25.359 He lived by faith, not by sight. 00:22:25.359 --> 00:22:26.519 And that's the big difference. 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:28.639 Now Calvin, this is what Calvin says again about it. 00:22:28.639 --> 00:22:31.680 He says, Lot was plunged into the depths of hell 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:35.759 by planning his life according to his own sight. 00:22:35.759 --> 00:22:38.799 Abram waited on the Lord with the eyes of faith. 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:42.039 Now what Abram did was really hard 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:43.879 in listening to the Lord and waiting 00:22:43.879 --> 00:22:46.640 and not just choosing Sodom and Gomorrah. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:48.920 And even saying, oh, the humility. 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:51.400 Where Abram said, he was the older, 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:52.879 he was the head of the clan, 00:22:52.879 --> 00:22:56.400 and he said, Lot, you pick, and I'll go the other way. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:57.400 What humility? 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:01.680 He had changed from chapter 12, clearly. 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:02.920 He had changed. 00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:05.640 What he did though was so hard, 00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:09.320 because one pastor pointed this out to me in reading, 00:23:09.320 --> 00:23:12.400 there's a little note in the passage at the end of verse seven. 00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:15.240 At that time, there were Canaanite and Parasites 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:16.200 all over the land. 00:23:17.560 --> 00:23:21.600 Abram stayed surrounded by Canaanites and Parasites 00:23:21.600 --> 00:23:22.800 that wanted to kill him. 00:23:24.640 --> 00:23:26.920 He stayed, he did what was so hard. 00:23:26.920 --> 00:23:30.720 And that tells us something very simple, and that's this. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:34.640 Living by faith is a lot harder than living by sight. 00:23:36.519 --> 00:23:38.640 You live by faith in this life, and you look up, 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:40.000 and there's Canaanites everywhere. 00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:42.120 There's hard things about it all over the place. 00:23:42.120 --> 00:23:44.079 Living by faith is so much more difficult 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:46.200 than living by sight, and that means that you've got 00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:50.880 to wake up every single day and point your heart back again 00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:55.039 to the true vision of delight. 00:23:55.960 --> 00:23:58.319 You've got to lift up the eyes of your heart every single day, 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:00.120 if you're gonna live by faith and not by sight, 00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:02.639 and see the one that can actually be for you, 00:24:02.639 --> 00:24:05.399 the Garden of the Lord, the true Garden Himself. 00:24:05.399 --> 00:24:09.959 And in John chapter 19, Jesus was being crucified. 00:24:11.679 --> 00:24:16.000 And it says in John chapter 19, 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:18.599 John I think really goes out of his way to point this out. 00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:21.599 In chapter 19 verse 31, that the soldiers came 00:24:21.599 --> 00:24:26.279 and they broke the legs of the criminals next to him. 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:28.959 But when it came to him, they saw Jesus was dead. 00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:31.039 He didn't have to have that stabbed him. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:32.519 He was dead. 00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:35.440 And blood and water poured from his side. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:37.120 And then John writes this, he says, 00:24:37.120 --> 00:24:39.440 he who bears witness to these things, 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:43.079 John himself, testifies this is true. 00:24:43.079 --> 00:24:45.039 In other words, he's saying, look, I saw it. 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:46.759 Just remember John was there. 00:24:46.759 --> 00:24:48.400 He was dead. 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:49.360 That's what John's saying. 00:24:49.360 --> 00:24:50.960 Really dead. 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:51.880 No life left. 00:24:51.880 --> 00:24:53.240 This was not sleep. 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:54.079 He was dead. 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:59.079 And then it says, so Joseph and Nicodemus prepared his body, 00:25:00.359 --> 00:25:02.919 took him down off the cross, wrapped him, 00:25:02.919 --> 00:25:06.879 put spices on him in John 1941, and it so happened 00:25:06.879 --> 00:25:10.359 that next to the cross, next to where he was crucified, 00:25:10.359 --> 00:25:11.679 there was a garden. 00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:17.519 And Jesus' dead body was laid into the garden. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.199 And when Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:24.799 and the midst of the garden, 00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:30.000 he brought life back to the garden of the Lord. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.600 Remember in the beginning, Adam and Eve, 00:25:32.600 --> 00:25:35.000 they sinned against God and they were exiled from the garden. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:39.000 A cherub was there with a flaming sword 00:25:39.000 --> 00:25:41.000 and said, you can't come back in this place. 00:25:41.000 --> 00:25:43.000 And when Jesus went into the garden dead 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:44.600 and he woke up, he came up from the dead, 00:25:44.600 --> 00:25:46.400 he dismissed the cherub. 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:47.600 He said, it's time for you to go home. 00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:48.799 Your job is done. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:52.799 Now people really can come find the delight 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:55.399 of Eden, the garden of the Lord itself. 00:25:55.399 --> 00:25:56.599 You can have it. 00:25:56.599 --> 00:25:58.899 We spend our lives looking for the garden of the Lord. 00:25:58.899 --> 00:26:00.000 We long for Eden. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.200 We long for that thing that is gonna truly fulfill us 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:06.599 and we look in all the wrong places, the eyes of our heart. 00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:07.799 We don't have the right vision. 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:09.799 Jesus Christ is Eden. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:12.399 He is the garden. 00:26:12.399 --> 00:26:14.200 He is the delight of your eye. 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:16.799 He is the apple of the eye of your heart. 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:18.099 He's everything. 00:26:18.099 --> 00:26:20.299 He is what you want, even if you don't know it. 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:21.399 He is what you want. 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:23.400 And so this passage is saying, 00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:27.400 what do you want in your life to be for you the good life, 00:26:27.400 --> 00:26:28.800 to be for you the garden of the Lord? 00:26:28.800 --> 00:26:33.400 And the right answer is Jesus, even when we choose otherwise. 00:26:33.400 --> 00:26:38.400 And that means finally that the other thing we see here 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.400 about Moses, about Abram, sorry, 00:26:41.400 --> 00:26:46.400 is that his life was not only marked by faith 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:50.400 instead of sight, but also by repentance. 00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:55.400 You need faith, not sight, to see truly with eyes of your heart 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:57.400 that Jesus is the garden of Eden to you. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:27:00.400 And then a life of repentance. 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:05.400 Last thing, remember in chapter 12, Abram gave away his bride, 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:06.400 Deferro. 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.400 He gave his wife away to protect his own skin. 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:14.400 And when you flip over to chapter 13, the first four verses, 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:17.400 Abram is going back, he's come back to the Promised Land 00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:20.400 and he's going to every single one of the altars 00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:24.400 that he had previously built in Bethel and AI in these places 00:27:24.400 --> 00:27:27.400 and offering a sacrifice and praying. 00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:31.400 And one commentator points out, Abram is on a repentance tour. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:35.400 He had given his bride away like Adam in the garden 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:37.400 and now he's come back to the Promised Land 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:39.400 and he's on a repentance tour. 00:27:39.400 --> 00:27:41.400 He's going to every single altar in the land of Canaan 00:27:41.400 --> 00:27:44.400 and saying to the Lord, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. 00:27:44.400 --> 00:27:45.400 I'm not the man. 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:47.400 I'm broken. 00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:48.400 I need healing. 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:49.400 I need forgiveness. 00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:52.400 I need to be renewed and put back together again. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:54.400 He's on a repentance tour. 00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:56.400 That's what we need. 00:27:57.400 --> 00:28:02.400 Repentance is acknowledging that you don't have the resources 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:08.400 within yourself to stop desiring things in the wrong ways. 00:28:09.400 --> 00:28:13.400 Repentance is not just saying, I believe in Jesus. 00:28:13.400 --> 00:28:15.400 I believe that he is the Garden of Eden. 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:21.400 It's saying the lusts of the eyes of my heart put him on the cross. 00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:27.400 It's when it gets personal and you say, 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:32.400 the things I wrongly desire in this life crucified my Lord. 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:34.400 And he did it for me. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:38.400 And now he's the delight of my life, the true garden to me. 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:41.400 Why does the Bible... 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:44.400 Why does the Bible constantly say, look at Abram. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:45.400 He's a great example of faith. 00:28:45.400 --> 00:28:46.400 Look at Abram. 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:51.400 If you read through, you will see Abram messed it up a lot. 00:28:51.400 --> 00:28:53.400 A lot. Big ways. 00:28:53.400 --> 00:28:56.400 He's going to do it again in a couple of chapters. 00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:59.400 Give his wife away to protect his own skin. 00:28:59.400 --> 00:29:01.400 He's going to do it again. 00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:07.400 But the reason I think the Bible commends him so much is because he was a big sinner 00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:13.400 that looked to the promised son that he knew was promised through his family line. 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:16.400 And therefore he became a big repenter. 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:20.400 And that's what we need. 00:29:20.400 --> 00:29:21.400 Let's pray. 00:29:21.400 --> 00:29:26.400 Lord, we ask that you would give us the eyes... 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.400 That you would fix the eyes of our hearts. 00:29:28.400 --> 00:29:32.400 We bring them before you and confess to you tonight. 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:38.400 Lord, I ask now that maybe somebody tonight would confess before you for the first time ever 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:42.400 or be renewed in that confession because it's been too long. 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:49.400 The eyes of our heart are broken and we want things that are not the garden of the Lord. 00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:53.400 We want good things in the worst ways. 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:55.400 And so we've made lots of idols. 00:29:55.400 --> 00:29:57.400 And so we bring those before you. 00:29:57.400 --> 00:29:58.400 We want them smashed. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:06.400 And so we ask, Lord, that you would do that for us and instead turn us around and give us a vision 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:12.400 for the true gardener, the delight of our life, Jesus Christ, our Lord. 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:15.400 God himself come to show up for us. 00:30:15.400 --> 00:30:17.400 So we ask for that. 00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:24.400 We ask this week as we step towards Monday that you would give us the strength to wake up every day 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:29.400 and repent, to confess and repent that that would be our daily practice. 00:30:29.400 --> 00:30:32.400 So we need that so much, God, or we'll forget. 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:38.400 And so we ask that you would just strengthen our hearts now by the Spirit to be people that are big repenters. 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:40.400 And we ask that in Jesus' name. 00:30:40.400 --> 00:30:55.400 Amen.