WEBVTT

0
00:00:04.890 --> 00:00:07.354
Welcome to the Willow Ridge Sermons podcast.

1
00:00:07.482 --> 00:00:11.150
This is where you can find audio from Sunday morning messages and more.

2
00:00:11.300 --> 00:00:14.442
Make sure you're subscribed so that you don't miss future episodes.

3
00:00:14.506 --> 00:00:16.030
And thanks for listening.

4
00:00:20.930 --> 00:00:21.434
Amen.

5
00:00:21.482 --> 00:00:22.750
You guys can be seated.

6
00:00:23.330 --> 00:00:28.194
If you've got your Bibles, invite you to join me in Genesis, chapter 18.

7
00:00:28.242 --> 00:00:30.358
It's where we're going to be today.

8
00:00:30.524 --> 00:00:32.760
A couple of things before we get there.

9
00:00:33.850 --> 00:00:37.480
Somebody asked me, is that the largest iPad in the world?

10
00:00:40.650 --> 00:00:42.102
I'm getting blind, right?

11
00:00:42.156 --> 00:00:42.760
No.

12
00:00:43.130 --> 00:00:45.082
My iPad died on me this morning.

13
00:00:45.216 --> 00:00:48.618
And I looked at Aaron, I was like, is it okay for me to go up there with my computer?

14
00:00:48.784 --> 00:00:51.306
Because I've read off of a screen for so long.

15
00:00:51.408 --> 00:00:54.954
This sounds weird, but paper terrifies me.

16
00:00:54.992 --> 00:00:55.580
Okay.

17
00:00:56.590 --> 00:00:58.622
So that's why I got this up here.

18
00:00:58.756 --> 00:01:02.400
But also, I want to point you guys to a couple of things that we've got going on.

19
00:01:02.930 --> 00:01:07.438
Number one, if you're a first time guest with us today, thank you so much for being here.

20
00:01:07.524 --> 00:01:09.090
Thank you for worshiping with us.

21
00:01:09.160 --> 00:01:13.330
We count it as a blessing, and it is an honor that you chose to worship with us today.

22
00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:17.890
And there's these cards on the end of either side of your road that you're seated on.

23
00:01:17.960 --> 00:01:20.626
If you wouldn't mind taking some time to fill that out.

24
00:01:20.648 --> 00:01:23.350
And then as you leave today, we've got two options for you.

25
00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:25.094
Number one, you can walk right back here.

26
00:01:25.132 --> 00:01:28.358
The doors you came in on, there's a basket you can drop that right there.

27
00:01:28.444 --> 00:01:31.110
Option number two, this is my preference, if you wouldn't mind.

28
00:01:31.180 --> 00:01:33.122
My wife and I will be back at this table.

29
00:01:33.186 --> 00:01:36.010
We would love for you to hand that to us so we could shake your hand.

30
00:01:36.080 --> 00:01:36.986
Thank you for being here.

31
00:01:37.008 --> 00:01:44.718
And if you have any questions about Willow Ridge Church, it would give us an opportunity to answer those questions for you.

32
00:01:44.884 --> 00:01:47.870
Secondly, so we've got an announcement that I want to share with you guys.

33
00:01:47.940 --> 00:01:57.794
You've been hearing about it at our church years and years and years ago, there was a ministry that began to happen in the life of our church called Man Camp.

34
00:01:57.992 --> 00:02:01.042
And man camp will be happening again in October, I believe.

35
00:02:01.096 --> 00:02:01.966
October 14.

36
00:02:01.998 --> 00:02:03.826
Off the top of my head, I'm trying to grab that.

37
00:02:03.848 --> 00:02:05.060
Jared, is that correct?

38
00:02:05.830 --> 00:02:15.480
October 14, I told Berger, I was like, hey, instead of announcing all the specific details, I want to just take a moment and kind of speak to some vision for this.

39
00:02:16.170 --> 00:02:34.206
Jared Oswald and Tracy Williams sat down with me, like, two years ago, I think, and began to pour out their heart for what man camp was and what man camp is and what man camp could be and what came from that was what, a few weeks ago, we gave a label to in here.

40
00:02:34.388 --> 00:02:38.650
It was that long before the label existed, which was Missional Discipleship.

41
00:02:38.810 --> 00:02:52.466
It's an opportunity where guys who are believers can have an opportunity to bring one of their buddies or multiple buddies to an environment that that lost friend would want to go to, would want to be a part of.

42
00:02:52.488 --> 00:02:55.742
Would want to experience things where they can get out of nature.

43
00:02:55.886 --> 00:03:02.200
They can fish, they can talk, they can eat really good food to where you need to wear stretchy pants right for it.

44
00:03:02.890 --> 00:03:07.606
But that also what can happen and take place there is the truth of.

45
00:03:07.628 --> 00:03:10.586
God can be shared, and Christians who.

46
00:03:10.608 --> 00:03:12.154
Are men can be challenged in their.

47
00:03:12.192 --> 00:03:15.206
Faith, and men who are not Christians.

48
00:03:15.318 --> 00:03:17.290
Can be presented with the gospel.

49
00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:21.834
Jared spoke last year at it, and I walked up to him after it was over with.

50
00:03:21.872 --> 00:03:27.710
My mind was blown away, and the Lord spoke so much to me in the time that my son and I could be there.

51
00:03:27.860 --> 00:03:44.446
So if you're a guy in this room and you've heard the announcement and you'll hear the announcement more until the day comes for October 14 for man camp and you're wanting to take that next step of obedience to the Lord, you got a buddy that loves hunting.

52
00:03:44.478 --> 00:03:45.166
He loves fishing.

53
00:03:45.198 --> 00:03:46.798
He loves being outdoors.

54
00:03:46.974 --> 00:03:49.026
He loves doing those sorts of things.

55
00:03:49.208 --> 00:03:50.934
And he'd come to this.

56
00:03:51.132 --> 00:03:52.694
He would never come to a worship service.

57
00:03:52.732 --> 00:03:54.214
He'd never come to your Bible study.

58
00:03:54.332 --> 00:03:58.360
He would never come to a prayer time, but he'd come to that.

59
00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:08.218
I want to challenge you to get yourself a ticket, to get him a ticket to engage in missional discipleship and to see it was just amazing.

60
00:04:08.304 --> 00:04:15.120
As we sat down last year after the event was over with and there was lots of cool stuff that happened.

61
00:04:15.810 --> 00:04:17.790
My son caught the biggest fish.

62
00:04:18.850 --> 00:04:30.846
I didn't once I got past my bitterness, there was a lot of cool stuff that happened that was beyond fishing, that was beyond hitting a target.

63
00:04:31.038 --> 00:04:34.974
That was about what God was speaking to in the life of the men who were there.

64
00:04:35.112 --> 00:04:46.774
And what's been really awesome to see is so many men take steps of obedience to be disciple makers in their home and at their job and with.

65
00:04:46.812 --> 00:04:48.680
Their family and with their friends.

66
00:04:49.210 --> 00:04:54.794
So if that event speaks to you, it's more than event.

67
00:04:54.912 --> 00:04:57.626
It's an opportunity to see what God can do.

68
00:04:57.648 --> 00:05:01.386
So I want to challenge you to be there that weekend for us.

69
00:05:01.408 --> 00:05:03.920
Jerry, will y'all be back there at the end of the service?

70
00:05:07.010 --> 00:05:08.158
All tickets are online.

71
00:05:08.244 --> 00:05:10.302
Any questions, we'll get you connected with.

72
00:05:10.356 --> 00:05:10.974
Appreciate you.

73
00:05:11.012 --> 00:05:13.838
I know you weren't planning on making you speak this morning.

74
00:05:13.924 --> 00:05:15.166
You did a great job singing.

75
00:05:15.198 --> 00:05:17.300
So they can hear your speaking voice now, right?

76
00:05:17.910 --> 00:05:18.770
So thank you.

77
00:05:18.840 --> 00:05:25.334
All right, so, as we get into this, we're in Genesis 18 this week.

78
00:05:25.372 --> 00:05:28.760
We're in Genesis 19 next week.

79
00:05:29.930 --> 00:05:33.110
This is not some not neat scripture.

80
00:05:34.250 --> 00:05:36.998
I was away this past week from my family.

81
00:05:37.084 --> 00:05:44.410
I went to do some training in Atlanta, Georgia, which I don't like Lexington traffic.

82
00:05:46.430 --> 00:05:49.180
So there's know.

83
00:05:49.550 --> 00:05:56.560
But God provided someone else and he drove, and I just had to sit there and get anxious through it all.

84
00:05:57.250 --> 00:06:08.466
I told Van Ham this morning we were talking about, said, you know, if seminary was the greatest time of my life to dive in and understand and dig deeper into God's word.

85
00:06:08.568 --> 00:06:25.080
I said this training that I went through for four days was the best time that I've ever had in growing as a communicator of communicating vision and purpose and vocabulary and unity around that.

86
00:06:26.090 --> 00:06:29.020
While I was away, I was working on this message.

87
00:06:29.950 --> 00:06:31.942
We'd get back to our hotel room late.

88
00:06:32.006 --> 00:06:34.554
I'd call Aaron, the kids, and talk to them a little bit.

89
00:06:34.592 --> 00:06:37.290
Then I'd dive into Genesis 18.

90
00:06:38.670 --> 00:06:43.798
And it wasn't easy on the last day that I was there.

91
00:06:43.984 --> 00:06:55.642
These two guys that are coaching us and working with us on some things, they would always start off by asking us a question about ourselves that we would need to think about and then that we would discuss around our table.

92
00:06:55.706 --> 00:06:57.490
That was brilliant with how they did this.

93
00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.082
You didn't understand how it pertained to what they were going to do.

94
00:07:00.136 --> 00:07:02.978
And then they connected it all together in a powerful way.

95
00:07:03.064 --> 00:07:10.040
But they asked the question to list five things that deeply anger you.

96
00:07:11.690 --> 00:07:13.240
Well, that wasn't hard.

97
00:07:14.570 --> 00:07:18.106
And they said, like, hey, go surface level with it.

98
00:07:18.128 --> 00:07:27.130
One of the guys who's there, who lives there, he said, the thing in the world that angers me the most is traffic.

99
00:07:28.030 --> 00:07:30.700
And God planted me in Atlanta, right?

100
00:07:31.790 --> 00:07:33.680
So I did that.

101
00:07:34.930 --> 00:07:37.150
I'd like to keep that list private.

102
00:07:38.850 --> 00:07:44.322
Then the question was, what about that angers you?

103
00:07:44.376 --> 00:07:46.420
But now dig deeper into that.

104
00:07:50.870 --> 00:07:56.070
So I dug and I dug and I dug.

105
00:07:57.610 --> 00:08:06.040
And then the last thing that he said to write down is, how do you see some of these things in yourself?

106
00:08:07.770 --> 00:08:09.510
And that hurt my feelings.

107
00:08:14.330 --> 00:08:19.306
We're gonna when we read scripture, not just what we're going to read.

108
00:08:19.328 --> 00:08:21.886
And if you haven't skipped ahead, this.

109
00:08:21.908 --> 00:08:23.390
Is Sodom and Gomorrah.

110
00:08:28.290 --> 00:08:31.630
We can embrace an us versus them mentality.

111
00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:56.610
We can forget the mighty work and move of God's grace in us in the deep and dark and sinful areas of our life.

112
00:08:57.140 --> 00:09:10.980
We're not by our work or by our power or by our means have we gained victory, but by the work and the means and the power of God in us do we see victory.

113
00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:31.670
And we can look out in the world and think, us versus them, us, God's people versus them.

114
00:09:37.080 --> 00:09:43.530
And as I sat in my hotel room and as I read through this.

115
00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:49.816
Honestly, not like usually you have some pretty solid direction of where you feel.

116
00:09:49.838 --> 00:09:51.310
Like you're going to go with this.

117
00:09:51.920 --> 00:09:53.950
Like, Lord, I don't know.

118
00:09:54.560 --> 00:09:55.790
I don't know.

119
00:09:56.400 --> 00:10:04.060
And then God wonderfully and beautifully showed me what God was doing in the life of Abraham.

120
00:10:04.800 --> 00:10:11.024
All right, so we're going to get to that, we're going to read and kind of understand this context, but maybe.

121
00:10:11.062 --> 00:10:14.016
Move through most of Genesis 18 pretty.

122
00:10:14.038 --> 00:10:16.016
Quickly and then get here to this end.

123
00:10:16.038 --> 00:10:18.900
So let's read these first eight verses.

124
00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:23.648
And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mammary, and he sat.

125
00:10:23.664 --> 00:10:27.190
At the door of his tent in the heat of the day.

126
00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:31.060
And he, this is Abraham lifted up.

127
00:10:31.130 --> 00:10:32.724
His eyes and looked, and behold, three.

128
00:10:32.762 --> 00:10:34.472
Men were standing in front of him.

129
00:10:34.606 --> 00:10:42.484
When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, o Lord, I have found favor in your sight.

130
00:10:42.532 --> 00:10:44.136
Do not pass by your servant.

131
00:10:44.248 --> 00:10:46.524
Little water be brought and wash your.

132
00:10:46.562 --> 00:10:55.788
Feet and rest yourselves under the tree while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on, since you have come to your servant.

133
00:10:55.884 --> 00:10:58.256
So they said, do as you have said.

134
00:10:58.358 --> 00:11:06.284
And Abraham went into the tent to Sarah and said, quick three, say as a fine flour, knead it and make cakes.

135
00:11:06.412 --> 00:11:14.004
And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man who prepared it quickly.

136
00:11:14.122 --> 00:11:23.156
Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and he set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree while they here's.

137
00:11:23.268 --> 00:11:27.080
Just quickly, what we see in these first eight verses is the Lord again.

138
00:11:27.150 --> 00:11:31.996
What we've previously seen comes and appears to Abraham and in human form.

139
00:11:32.178 --> 00:11:37.592
And we see this presentation of Jesus Himself in human form before his incarnation.

140
00:11:37.656 --> 00:11:41.864
Among these three men visiting with Abraham, we see Abraham's humility.

141
00:11:41.992 --> 00:11:43.724
We see Abraham's service.

142
00:11:43.842 --> 00:11:46.320
We see Abraham's call to action.

143
00:11:46.660 --> 00:11:49.184
There's so many things that we can.

144
00:11:49.222 --> 00:11:50.256
Look at in this.

145
00:11:50.358 --> 00:11:52.144
And we see all of this.

146
00:11:52.262 --> 00:11:55.812
He ran from the tent of his door to meet them.

147
00:11:55.866 --> 00:12:04.132
And in the Godliness and the custom of his day, he greets them and is hospitable to them.

148
00:12:04.266 --> 00:12:07.824
But he even goes beyond that for these three visitors.

149
00:12:07.872 --> 00:12:10.356
So now let's begin to look at this interaction.

150
00:12:10.388 --> 00:12:14.250
In verse nine, they said to him.

151
00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:17.320
Where is Sarah, your wife?

152
00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:20.840
And he said, she is in the tent.

153
00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:24.220
The Lord said, I will surely return.

154
00:12:24.290 --> 00:12:31.070
To you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, shall have a son.

155
00:12:31.680 --> 00:12:37.024
And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.

156
00:12:37.222 --> 00:12:39.250
We all get that, right?

157
00:12:40.020 --> 00:12:41.650
Like, you've done that.

158
00:12:42.180 --> 00:12:48.268
Don't say, like, there's a time where your wife or your husband or a friend or your parent was like, I.

159
00:12:48.294 --> 00:12:49.824
Need to take this call in private.

160
00:12:49.872 --> 00:12:51.684
And they walk into the other room.

161
00:12:51.882 --> 00:12:53.924
And then you decide for yourself, does.

162
00:12:53.962 --> 00:12:56.630
The cup on the door actually work right?

163
00:12:57.560 --> 00:13:00.950
For me, growing up, it was your teacher just called.

164
00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:02.744
Wait right here.

165
00:13:02.942 --> 00:13:04.376
I needed a game plan.

166
00:13:04.478 --> 00:13:05.448
I couldn't wait.

167
00:13:05.534 --> 00:13:08.744
I didn't know what they had called about that I'd done that day, right?

168
00:13:08.862 --> 00:13:10.388
And we needed to listen.

169
00:13:10.574 --> 00:13:13.752
And that's what we see with Sarah.

170
00:13:13.896 --> 00:13:20.668
But God repeats his promise to Abraham in a relatively short time for what.

171
00:13:20.674 --> 00:13:22.860
We'Ve seen in Genesis 17.

172
00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:25.280
And he hears these promises of God.

173
00:13:25.350 --> 00:13:30.528
Over and over again and it just warms my heart and reminds me of who God is.

174
00:13:30.614 --> 00:13:36.032
God's not like here you go, grasp it, embrace it, I'm done with it.

175
00:13:36.086 --> 00:13:39.920
God's like, no over and over and over again.

176
00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:45.732
Let me remind you of the goodness of who I am and in these pieces and all of these things that I'm going to do.

177
00:13:45.786 --> 00:13:48.552
And this is God working and God working and God working.

178
00:13:48.686 --> 00:13:49.800
Verse eleven.

179
00:13:50.300 --> 00:13:58.920
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years the way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.

180
00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:10.860
They think physically right now if she gets pregnant physically, her body is not doing what it needs to do to get pregnant.

181
00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.130
So verse twelve.

182
00:14:14.900 --> 00:14:17.680
So Sarah laughed to herself.

183
00:14:18.900 --> 00:14:20.384
You've been there, right?

184
00:14:20.582 --> 00:14:25.570
You hear something and you're that's cute, but that's funny, that's not going to happen.

185
00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:33.552
Saying after I am worn out and my Lord is old, shall I have pleasure?

186
00:14:33.696 --> 00:14:44.248
Verse 13 then Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say shall I indeed bear a child now that I am old?

187
00:14:44.334 --> 00:14:48.632
Is anything too hard for the Lord at the appointed time?

188
00:14:48.686 --> 00:14:53.228
I will return to you about this time next year and Sarah shall have a son.

189
00:14:53.314 --> 00:14:57.720
But Sarah denied it, saying I did not laugh or she was afraid.

190
00:14:57.800 --> 00:15:00.232
He said no, but you did laugh.

191
00:15:00.376 --> 00:15:03.944
So significantly we see this promise.

192
00:15:03.992 --> 00:15:09.392
This is what Sarah and Abraham, this is what they wanted the most in their lives, to have a child on their own.

193
00:15:09.446 --> 00:15:12.940
And they found it hard to believe that God would feel the promise.

194
00:15:13.020 --> 00:15:17.980
Abraham probably farther along sarah within this God heard Sarah's laugh.

195
00:15:18.060 --> 00:15:27.252
Even though scripture is clear that Sarah laughed internally, this is not an external sound that's there and that there was a sense that her laugh could not be heard by him.

196
00:15:27.306 --> 00:15:34.890
But God heard it nevertheless because nothing is hidden by God, nothing is hidden before Him.

197
00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:39.300
We may think we can, but we cannot.

198
00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:41.772
And I love then though how God.

199
00:15:41.826 --> 00:15:46.350
Treats Sarah in that mean these are God's people.

200
00:15:47.920 --> 00:15:55.344
She went from being someone who was nothing, property of a man to a.

201
00:15:55.382 --> 00:15:58.690
Princess is what God named her.

202
00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:04.944
And God, how he treats her in her.

203
00:16:04.982 --> 00:16:07.060
Grace, in his grace.

204
00:16:08.040 --> 00:16:25.016
Over and over and over again we see this journey that we identify well with Sarah and Abraham of we know what God is capable of, we know what God is going to do and you know what we know what he's done in our life.

205
00:16:25.118 --> 00:16:33.470
But in our mind when he says he's going to do it again, we laugh at him and think that it's impossible for him to do.

206
00:16:36.400 --> 00:16:39.420
And so God treats Sarah.

207
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:50.960
He responded with dealing with her sin of unbelief, not by taking away the promise.

208
00:16:52.260 --> 00:16:53.250
That's important.

209
00:16:54.740 --> 00:17:16.600
When Sarah laughed and mocked God in all that she knew about who God is in his plan for her life, when it came time to address it, he addressed her sin.

210
00:17:17.740 --> 00:17:21.900
But he didn't take away he didn't take away the promise.

211
00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:34.770
And God would demonstrate through them that nothing is too hard for God, that God can even triumph over the weak faith of his people.

212
00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:37.356
Keep reading.

213
00:17:37.388 --> 00:17:38.640
Verse 16.

214
00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:43.472
Then the men remember it's the Lord and two others.

215
00:17:43.526 --> 00:17:52.004
Then the men set out from there and they looked down towards Sodom and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.

216
00:17:52.042 --> 00:17:53.632
This was customary practice.

217
00:17:53.696 --> 00:17:54.068
Okay?

218
00:17:54.154 --> 00:18:04.410
If you had a visitor that came to you, you would walk with them on their journey till you knew that they knew where they were going.

219
00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:05.592
Okay?

220
00:18:05.726 --> 00:18:07.144
That's what Abraham does.

221
00:18:07.262 --> 00:18:07.924
Verse 17.

222
00:18:07.972 --> 00:18:14.590
The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

223
00:18:15.520 --> 00:18:25.730
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him.

224
00:18:26.180 --> 00:18:50.490
For I have chosen him that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.

225
00:18:51.260 --> 00:18:53.690
So God asks a question.

226
00:18:54.860 --> 00:18:57.690
God doesn't ask the question because he doesn't know the answer.

227
00:18:58.620 --> 00:19:25.232
God asks a question because God wanted to reveal his process of thinking to us, to the readers of Genesis, that we'll see through this, and because of what God is going to bring from Abraham a great and mighty nation, a people, what God is going to do.

228
00:19:25.286 --> 00:19:33.190
And Abraham is going to be the leader of his home and of his people.

229
00:19:34.360 --> 00:19:45.000
God determined that he needed to reveal to him what God was going to do with Sodom and Gomorrah.

230
00:19:48.670 --> 00:19:50.460
And this is a heavy time.

231
00:19:54.450 --> 00:19:54.814
As.

232
00:19:54.852 --> 00:19:58.510
These comments and truths of God's word.

233
00:19:58.580 --> 00:20:00.510
Are going to come forth.

234
00:20:01.730 --> 00:20:05.106
I need us for a moment to.

235
00:20:05.128 --> 00:20:10.130
Not treat this story like an asop's fable.

236
00:20:13.030 --> 00:20:18.920
We need to feel the emotion of the moment.

237
00:20:20.250 --> 00:20:24.600
We need to feel the depravity of the day.

238
00:20:25.530 --> 00:20:28.760
We need to feel all of this.

239
00:20:29.790 --> 00:20:45.242
And God's purpose in revealing to this was not to just share shocking information with Abraham or simply to satisfy Abraham's curiosity.

240
00:20:45.386 --> 00:21:00.690
God, in this moment, wanted to do something in Abraham's life that only God could reveal to him, that only God could do in him in this moment.

241
00:21:00.840 --> 00:21:04.050
And so the weight is building.

242
00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:29.930
In verse 20, then the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, the outcry against them, the testimony about them, nothing is false that we are going to read, and their sin is very grave.

243
00:21:31.230 --> 00:21:36.480
God never walks away from the weight of what is happening here.

244
00:21:37.250 --> 00:21:38.862
It's very clear.

245
00:21:38.996 --> 00:21:54.020
Then God says, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I will know.

246
00:21:56.390 --> 00:21:57.140
Why?

247
00:22:00.090 --> 00:22:11.180
Why does God sees all, knows all, say to Abraham, I've heard.

248
00:22:12.510 --> 00:22:14.460
It's been told to me.

249
00:22:15.550 --> 00:22:17.500
I'm going to go.

250
00:22:18.670 --> 00:22:19.386
It's because of this.

251
00:22:19.408 --> 00:22:42.530
And I think this has got to be the part as we live as missionaries in our culture, where God and his sovereignty has placed us, where we live in a world that wants to draw a line between teams, is that we have to understand that God is the righteous judge.

252
00:22:43.910 --> 00:22:58.470
God says, look, it's not because of what the people are saying, because the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous, that I am going to go down and be the judge.

253
00:23:00.830 --> 00:23:04.700
I'm going to experience this for myself.

254
00:23:06.270 --> 00:23:09.900
Did he need to not in the ways of God?

255
00:23:10.830 --> 00:23:13.002
Did he need to do this in the mind of Abraham?

256
00:23:13.066 --> 00:23:26.660
Absolutely so that Abraham could deeply understand the character and the knowledge and the integrity of God.

257
00:23:29.110 --> 00:23:38.740
So it starts with this journey that comes to his house and he says, Let me get you some food.

258
00:23:39.430 --> 00:23:40.594
Let me get you some bread.

259
00:23:40.642 --> 00:23:42.070
Let me get you some meat.

260
00:23:42.810 --> 00:23:46.680
Let me get you some water to drink and water to clean with.

261
00:23:47.930 --> 00:23:50.070
Abraham says, Come, be my guest.

262
00:23:51.470 --> 00:23:55.370
Let me walk with you down this path.

263
00:23:56.590 --> 00:24:01.820
And then God says, Abraham, I need to show you who I am.

264
00:24:03.250 --> 00:24:12.560
And from understanding Abraham who I am, you're going to find out who you can be in me.

265
00:24:13.490 --> 00:24:36.600
So, verse 22 so the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood before the Lord, and then Abraham drew near.

266
00:24:38.170 --> 00:24:39.750
Abraham knows.

267
00:24:41.070 --> 00:24:42.780
He knows what's there.

268
00:24:44.190 --> 00:24:46.060
He knows what they're going to find.

269
00:24:47.310 --> 00:24:50.490
He's going to know how it displeases his spirit.

270
00:24:54.050 --> 00:25:04.830
And Abraham drew near to God and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

271
00:25:05.810 --> 00:25:08.820
Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city.

272
00:25:09.270 --> 00:25:14.500
Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it?

273
00:25:14.870 --> 00:25:18.702
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous.

274
00:25:18.766 --> 00:25:23.218
To death with the wicked so that the righteous will fare as the wicked.

275
00:25:23.394 --> 00:25:25.446
Far be that from you.

276
00:25:25.628 --> 00:25:29.190
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?

277
00:25:29.340 --> 00:25:37.334
And the Lord said, if I find Sodom 50 righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.

278
00:25:37.462 --> 00:25:45.274
In verse 27, and Abraham said, Behold, I've undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.

279
00:25:45.402 --> 00:25:48.810
Suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking.

280
00:25:48.890 --> 00:25:52.046
Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?

281
00:25:52.148 --> 00:25:56.478
And he said, I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.

282
00:25:56.564 --> 00:26:00.610
And again he spoke to him and said, suppose 40 are found there.

283
00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:03.970
He answered, for the sake of 40, I will not do it.

284
00:26:04.040 --> 00:26:08.882
Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak.

285
00:26:09.016 --> 00:26:11.158
Suppose 30 are found there.

286
00:26:11.244 --> 00:26:14.918
And he answered, I will not do it if I find 30 there.

287
00:26:15.004 --> 00:26:18.098
And he said, Behold, I've undertaken to speak to the Lord.

288
00:26:18.194 --> 00:26:20.118
Suppose 20 are found there.

289
00:26:20.204 --> 00:26:24.042
And he answered, for the sake of 20, I will not destroy it.

290
00:26:24.096 --> 00:26:24.794
Verse 32.

291
00:26:24.832 --> 00:26:31.290
Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again, but this once, suppose ten are found there.

292
00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:35.680
And he answered, for the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.

293
00:26:36.530 --> 00:26:45.220
And then the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

294
00:26:55.330 --> 00:26:58.882
We live in a world of us.

295
00:26:58.936 --> 00:27:03.570
Versus them and drawing lines in the sand.

296
00:27:06.630 --> 00:27:08.660
And what does Abraham do?

297
00:27:09.910 --> 00:27:11.640
He's not of them.

298
00:27:12.810 --> 00:27:14.840
He's rejected them.

299
00:27:16.090 --> 00:27:18.326
What does Abraham do?

300
00:27:18.508 --> 00:27:21.750
Abraham humbly over and over and over again.

301
00:27:21.820 --> 00:27:26.778
I am like dust before you, Lord, if I can have permission to say this.

302
00:27:26.864 --> 00:27:27.974
This is not an argument.

303
00:27:28.022 --> 00:27:29.450
This is a humble plea.

304
00:27:30.110 --> 00:27:33.610
And Abraham humbly intercedes.

305
00:27:35.650 --> 00:27:38.494
Abraham came near to the Lord, and.

306
00:27:38.532 --> 00:27:46.400
In intercession, draws near to God so that he can pray with his heart.

307
00:27:48.230 --> 00:27:57.342
And Abraham knows that God is righteous, that God is the judge.

308
00:27:57.486 --> 00:28:04.760
And he begins to have this intercession for them.

309
00:28:06.730 --> 00:28:07.880
For them.

310
00:28:09.290 --> 00:28:10.360
For them.

311
00:28:11.450 --> 00:28:16.186
Now, next week, we'll see, or if.

312
00:28:16.208 --> 00:28:17.740
You remember back.

313
00:28:19.790 --> 00:28:22.700
Abraham has some vested interests there.

314
00:28:23.870 --> 00:28:34.240
There's his nephew Lot, whom he loves, whom gets a little squirrely from time to time, and Lot's there.

315
00:28:37.730 --> 00:28:39.700
His family are there.

316
00:28:41.110 --> 00:28:50.180
And what I find remarkable is he might have just prayed, lord, get my nephew out.

317
00:28:51.610 --> 00:28:56.200
Lord, in your kindness and compassion, get my nephew out.

318
00:28:57.290 --> 00:28:58.470
But he doesn't.

319
00:28:59.690 --> 00:29:23.520
Instead, he intercedes for the whole, having compassion and brokenness for the people whose sin is great, and what waits them is destruction because of it.

320
00:29:25.170 --> 00:29:28.990
And Abraham intercedes.

321
00:29:30.790 --> 00:29:34.594
I think this is important as we.

322
00:29:34.632 --> 00:29:39.474
Take what we see here and we.

323
00:29:39.512 --> 00:29:48.360
Bring it back to our life and we apply the truth to this culture that we live in.

324
00:29:51.610 --> 00:30:11.840
Abraham not once, not one time seeks to justify, excuse, affirm, or celebrate anything that's happening there, not once.

325
00:30:13.090 --> 00:30:14.880
That's not what we see.

326
00:30:16.290 --> 00:30:22.930
What Abraham does is he simply desires to intercede.

327
00:30:24.390 --> 00:30:46.010
Oftentimes, what I have found in my life as I write that list, of what angers me, as I write that list, of what disgusts me, as I write that list, of what stirs my heart against the culture of this world that I find myself living in.

328
00:30:46.080 --> 00:30:57.002
And then as I begin to write down the things of this world, that the reason why this just drives to such a heart level issue for me.

329
00:30:57.136 --> 00:31:08.000
And then when I take the moment and I look back at those things not the behavior, but the heart and I look back and see that those things can reside in me.

330
00:31:08.550 --> 00:31:10.882
What my heart often wants to go.

331
00:31:10.936 --> 00:31:19.854
To is either to make the villains or to make those that affirm you're.

332
00:31:19.902 --> 00:31:27.560
Against me or I'm with you and Blanket over all of it.

333
00:31:28.650 --> 00:31:33.240
Casting a Blanket statement over it all in that moment.

334
00:31:36.110 --> 00:31:39.686
And it's not what Abraham does, Lord.

335
00:31:39.718 --> 00:31:43.580
If there's 50, there's 45.

336
00:31:44.990 --> 00:32:03.410
If there's 40, all the way down to where there is ten, what if we stopped affirming and stopped villainizing?

337
00:32:04.790 --> 00:32:17.750
And what if we, in the depravity filled culture and world that we lived in, simply started interceding?

338
00:32:20.410 --> 00:32:27.660
Here's why I don't when I'm in my flesh, here's why I struggle with that, okay?

339
00:32:30.590 --> 00:32:33.820
Because their sin offends me more than mine does.

340
00:32:45.940 --> 00:33:02.390
And I'm so glad as a child of God that he doesn't take away his promise for me that in that moment, what he does for me is to remind me of his promise and in his grace for me.

341
00:33:05.900 --> 00:33:07.050
It's okay.

342
00:33:07.580 --> 00:33:08.728
It's good.

343
00:33:08.894 --> 00:33:10.356
It's biblical.

344
00:33:10.548 --> 00:33:13.850
Let sin offend you.

345
00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:19.580
Sin offends Jesus over and over and over again.

346
00:33:19.650 --> 00:33:24.200
When we see this in Scripture, sin offends Jesus.

347
00:33:24.360 --> 00:33:29.436
Jesus never excuses, never affirms sin.

348
00:33:29.628 --> 00:33:35.424
Jesus always confronts it every single time.

349
00:33:35.622 --> 00:33:40.310
No one around Jesus was like, I wonder what he thinks about that.

350
00:33:42.040 --> 00:33:45.620
But everyone around Jesus knew there was a seat at the table.

351
00:33:49.320 --> 00:34:02.344
One of my favorite stories because it reminds me of my journey and my salvation story is found in Luke, chapter four.

352
00:34:02.542 --> 00:34:15.446
If you can turn there's Jesus and.

353
00:34:15.468 --> 00:34:17.270
The woman of Samaria.

354
00:34:18.570 --> 00:34:20.440
Jesus and the woman at the well.

355
00:34:22.350 --> 00:34:27.290
Jesus has been traveling on, and he comes to a town.

356
00:34:28.350 --> 00:34:37.840
He comes to an area that the people there socially would have been considered less than.

357
00:34:39.090 --> 00:34:40.282
We know those places.

358
00:34:40.346 --> 00:34:42.400
We can act like we don't, but we do.

359
00:34:42.850 --> 00:34:48.180
We know the way culture sees that, and we know, honestly, sometimes in our mind how we see those places as well.

360
00:34:50.150 --> 00:34:51.826
And he comes out in the middle of the day.

361
00:34:51.848 --> 00:34:53.022
He's been traveling.

362
00:34:53.166 --> 00:34:54.180
It's hot.

363
00:34:55.110 --> 00:35:02.166
We already saw it was customary in this culture all the way back in the time of Abraham when you had a guest that would come.

364
00:35:02.268 --> 00:35:07.878
You would need some water for a lot of reasons to wash off with.

365
00:35:07.884 --> 00:35:23.262
Your feet and your hands, to wash off your face, but also to drink when Jesus comes to a well during the middle of the day, during the heat of the day, right?

366
00:35:23.316 --> 00:35:36.980
Like, think South Carolina in August with no clouds, but somehow there's 115% humidity, right?

367
00:35:38.390 --> 00:35:41.490
And you've been cutting the grass all.

368
00:35:41.560 --> 00:35:47.140
Day long behind a push mower whose self propel has just broken, right?

369
00:35:48.730 --> 00:35:51.218
You're hot, you're tired.

370
00:35:51.394 --> 00:35:52.630
You're thirsty.

371
00:35:53.770 --> 00:36:00.840
And Jesus speaks to a woman who's there who would not have been there during a traditional time.

372
00:36:02.170 --> 00:36:03.398
The ladies of the day would not.

373
00:36:03.404 --> 00:36:04.358
Have gone out during the middle of.

374
00:36:04.364 --> 00:36:05.394
The day to draw out water.

375
00:36:05.452 --> 00:36:07.130
It was a heavy it was a hard process.

376
00:36:07.200 --> 00:36:08.780
They would have done that early in the morning.

377
00:36:09.230 --> 00:36:23.086
They would have done that during the cool of the day, jesus instead finds this woman, who's doing this very difficult process during the middle of the day when no one else would be out there.

378
00:36:23.108 --> 00:36:34.050
And Jesus finds that it's her and Him, and they begin to talk and have a cultural conversation.

379
00:36:35.750 --> 00:36:38.946
Want to invite you later today.

380
00:36:39.048 --> 00:36:42.510
Go read verses one through nine and.

381
00:36:42.520 --> 00:36:43.606
Then begin to talk about what it.

382
00:36:43.628 --> 00:36:44.840
Means to drink water.

383
00:36:46.410 --> 00:36:57.706
In John, chapter four, verse ten, Jesus says this if you knew the gift of God and who it is that.

384
00:36:57.728 --> 00:36:59.146
Is saying to you, give me a.

385
00:36:59.168 --> 00:37:05.520
Drink, you would have asked Him, and he would have given you living water.

386
00:37:06.930 --> 00:37:13.242
And the woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.

387
00:37:13.386 --> 00:37:15.310
Where do you get that living water?

388
00:37:15.380 --> 00:37:15.710
Okay.

389
00:37:15.780 --> 00:37:17.442
She makes fun of Jesus right there.

390
00:37:17.496 --> 00:37:18.100
Okay?

391
00:37:18.870 --> 00:37:24.318
Like you speak of living water, you have no bucket, you have no jar.

392
00:37:24.494 --> 00:37:27.380
How are you going to get this living water?

393
00:37:28.570 --> 00:37:30.950
Are you greater than our father, Jacob?

394
00:37:32.170 --> 00:37:38.550
He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.

395
00:37:39.450 --> 00:37:44.140
Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again.

396
00:37:44.750 --> 00:37:48.106
But whoever drinks of the water I.

397
00:37:48.128 --> 00:37:53.020
Will give him will never be thirsty again.

398
00:37:54.530 --> 00:37:56.878
The water that I will give Him.

399
00:37:56.964 --> 00:38:04.080
Will become in Him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

400
00:38:06.150 --> 00:38:21.400
And the woman said to Him, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.

401
00:38:22.730 --> 00:38:25.560
Jesus does something spectacular here.

402
00:38:26.650 --> 00:38:28.390
He gives her an invitation.

403
00:38:30.190 --> 00:38:34.700
She doesn't understand it fully, yet she will.

404
00:38:37.790 --> 00:38:43.760
He invites her to understand that he's different.

405
00:38:45.570 --> 00:39:04.580
He invites her to understand that He's God and that he can give her something, as we just sang before I walked up here on stage, that only can satisfy in Him.

406
00:39:05.830 --> 00:39:07.220
Want to ask you this.

407
00:39:08.090 --> 00:39:09.800
Who wouldn't want that?

408
00:39:11.290 --> 00:39:12.600
Who wouldn't want that?

409
00:39:14.730 --> 00:39:18.280
He hasn't demanded anything of her.

410
00:39:19.770 --> 00:39:24.780
He simply invited, I have something for you.

411
00:39:26.350 --> 00:39:29.020
How wonderful does this sound for you?

412
00:39:34.850 --> 00:39:38.960
Sometimes we can approach sin that way.

413
00:39:40.450 --> 00:39:42.990
But you see, Jesus wasn't done with the conversation.

414
00:39:44.770 --> 00:39:47.250
Jesus brings her an invitation.

415
00:39:48.230 --> 00:39:50.100
Come and get this from me.

416
00:39:51.430 --> 00:39:53.940
But then Jesus gives her a challenge as well.

417
00:39:55.030 --> 00:40:00.470
Jesus gives her a challenge, and he challenges her sin.

418
00:40:01.770 --> 00:40:13.580
Verse 16 through 18, jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here.

419
00:40:15.310 --> 00:40:20.170
And the woman answered Him, I have no husband.

420
00:40:21.790 --> 00:40:37.010
Jesus said to her, you are right in saying I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.

421
00:40:37.590 --> 00:40:53.900
What you have said is true, and Jesus in grace and truth, extends to her the invitation.

422
00:40:55.440 --> 00:41:13.104
Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest the invitation to follow Jesus and daily take up your cross and.

423
00:41:13.142 --> 00:41:14.050
Follow me.

424
00:41:20.010 --> 00:41:41.370
How do I take the intercession of Abraham and let that resolve in my spirit and land firmly into the path of calling people to follow Jesus?

425
00:41:42.370 --> 00:41:54.900
Because it's not just found an easy invitation alone, it's not just found in the complicated challenge, but it's what Jesus did.

426
00:41:55.430 --> 00:41:56.500
It's both.

427
00:41:57.430 --> 00:42:07.640
It's both Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men.

428
00:42:08.890 --> 00:42:21.820
Come and get this water that springs from it eternal life and let's deal with this that is here.

429
00:42:23.310 --> 00:42:34.430
You see, neither fall into an affirmation culture and neither fall into an enemy culture.

430
00:42:35.970 --> 00:42:41.070
Both fall into a gospel culture.

431
00:42:44.600 --> 00:42:46.020
And here's the truth.

432
00:42:47.400 --> 00:42:57.704
One day, whether it was at VBS, whether it was at a worship service, whether it was at a Bible study, whether it was at a youth camp or whether it was like me.

433
00:42:57.742 --> 00:43:08.430
Strangely, in a rock in the middle of a river, you and I were just sitting there by the well, doing what we did.

434
00:43:09.120 --> 00:43:21.010
And Jesus came down and sat beside us and we heard the invitation and received the challenge to follow him.

435
00:43:24.360 --> 00:43:25.430
Next week.

436
00:43:27.720 --> 00:43:34.180
We'Ll get into 19 and that's a difficult, difficult passage.

437
00:43:36.780 --> 00:43:48.670
May we come at it with lord, you are the righteous judge who sees all and who knows all.

438
00:43:49.440 --> 00:44:00.030
And God, my positioning with you is to be who you called me to be a missionary to them.

439
00:44:01.220 --> 00:44:02.850
May I live like it.

440
00:44:03.860 --> 00:44:05.330
Would you pray with me?

441
00:44:11.940 --> 00:44:12.496
God?

442
00:44:12.598 --> 00:44:14.070
I come to you this morning.

443
00:44:16.120 --> 00:44:16.496
Lord.

444
00:44:16.528 --> 00:44:42.040
And I feel like so often when it comes to dealing with the ways and the wickedness of this world that we feel the pressure to jump into a camp that you've never designed us to be a part of.

445
00:44:44.810 --> 00:44:45.414
That we.

446
00:44:45.452 --> 00:44:52.126
Can see and acknowledge and deeply, deeply.

447
00:44:52.258 --> 00:44:59.740
Be disturbed and shaken by the depravity of this world.

448
00:45:00.990 --> 00:45:11.200
But Lord, still have a heart to see those men and women come to faith in Christ.

449
00:45:12.850 --> 00:45:19.300
God, I know that that's who I was.

450
00:45:22.310 --> 00:45:36.950
That's the condition of my soul was there a person standing in an inevitable pathway of wrath.

451
00:45:49.710 --> 00:45:51.340
And God, I thank you.

452
00:45:55.410 --> 00:45:55.886
That I.

453
00:45:55.908 --> 00:46:04.142
Had people who interceded for me, who.

454
00:46:04.196 --> 00:46:06.190
Prayed that I would come to faith.

455
00:46:10.760 --> 00:46:14.390
Who hated my sin, but who loved me.

456
00:46:23.420 --> 00:46:25.080
And God, my prayer.

457
00:46:28.300 --> 00:46:29.850
My prayer for us.

458
00:46:32.460 --> 00:46:35.340
Is that we could see our.

459
00:46:35.410 --> 00:46:39.324
Story in that way, that we could.

460
00:46:39.362 --> 00:46:41.230
See others in that way.

461
00:46:42.480 --> 00:46:47.436
God, may we never back down from the sweet goodness that is the invitation.

462
00:46:47.548 --> 00:46:49.090
To come and follow Christ.

463
00:46:50.020 --> 00:46:55.024
But Lord, may we also not back down with the challenge of come to.

464
00:46:55.062 --> 00:47:02.230
Die so that what comes from that is a follower of you.

465
00:47:05.480 --> 00:47:06.550
God, maybe.

466
00:47:08.440 --> 00:47:20.040
We'Ve fallen into a sin of affirmation or maybe, Lord, we've fallen into a sin of hatred.

467
00:47:23.280 --> 00:47:27.150
Lord, either way, it's not from you.

468
00:47:28.560 --> 00:47:44.610
Lord, would you break our hearts for the people of this world who do not know you, both those next door and on the other side of the earth and everywhere in between.

469
00:47:45.220 --> 00:47:52.304
May our song be sweet, may it be good, may we intercede.

470
00:47:52.432 --> 00:48:06.020
May we pray more for them than we even do, Lord, for ourselves, so that your name would be known, so that one more would come to faith.

471
00:48:07.080 --> 00:48:12.740
And, Lord, we'll give you all the praise and honor and glory.

472
00:48:17.520 --> 00:48:22.024
Thanks again for listening, and be sure to check back next week for another episode.

473
00:48:22.152 --> 00:48:29.800
In the meantime, you can visit us@willowridgechurch.org or by searching for Willowridge Church on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.