Intro:
1. Matthew Henry, "There is no state on earth free from trials, nor any character free from blemishes...Perfect happiness and perfect purity dwell only in heaven...The grace Abram was most noted for, was faith; yet he fell through unbelief and distrust of the Divine providence, even after God had appeared to him twice.
Alas, if God did not deliver us, many a time, out of straits and distresses which we bring ourselves into, by our own sin and folly, we should be ruined."
2. Abraham is know as a man of faith, but no man has pure, uninterrupted faith.
3. Abraham's Folly.
Trans:We have seen his Flakey family; his Treaty and Journey.
Gen. 12:10-13:4
I. FIRST, THE PROBLEMS EVEN WHEN WAKING BY FAITH. 12:10
Now there was a famine in the land - Abram is in God will, this is the land that God commanded him to go to.
Often we assume that if we are in God's will we will be free from problems - that is a false assumption!
"Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God." Isaiah 50:10 (NKJV)
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NKJV)
Ron Dunn, "Jesus was brutally honest. He never left His followers in doubt, as to what awaited them; He did not dazzle them with promises of riches, and honor, and power. Rather, He spoke of carrying a cross and denying self; of persecution and ridicule; of losing, in order to find; of dying, in order to live."
"For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake." Acts 9:16 (NKJV)
That is a foreign concept to this success orientated generation.
Butler, "Today, it seems that we judge just about everything on the basis of outward success. So we think that if a farmer does the will of God, he will have a better crop; if the salesman does the will of God, he will have more sales; if the pastor does the will of God, he will see his church grow in attendance...
And thus, if Abraham goes to Canaan, he will enjoy nothing but good times. But, if the farmer's crops fail; if the salesman loses sales; if the pastor sees church attendance fall - we tend to conclude that these folks have made a mistake and are out of the will of God.
But the will of God is not determined by outward success but by the Word of God. Remember there was no famine in Ur or Haran, yet God clearly commanded Abram to go to Canaan where there was a famine."
God's will does not eliminate suffer...
"3 that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. 4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know." 1 Thessalonians 3:3-4 (NKJV)
F.B. Meyers, "Had God pledged Himself to give His servants, an unbroken run of prosperity, how many more counterfiet Christians would there be! Do not be surprised, if a famine meets you. It is no proof of your Father's anger, but is permitted to come, to test you - to root you deeper, as the whirlwhind makes the tree roots go deeper into the soil.
Lynn Anderson had a song - I never promised you a rose garden.
"I beg your pardon,
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine
There's gotta be a little rain sometime."
Lynn Rene Anderson was born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, in 1947 and raised in Sacramento, California. Lynn began performing as a singer and guitarist while in her teens.
In 1968, she became a regular on the Lawrence Welk Show, and in 1970 she recorded "Rose Garden," which became her biggest hit.
The point of the song is that there will inevitably be tough times.
The Bible never promises us a rose garden.
II. NEXT, NO ONE IS BEYOND BECOMING A PRODICAL.
Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there - what is missing? A word from God! He is now out of God's will...
How did this happen?
A. He got Scarred. 12:11-12
11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you."
His wife was beautiful and he was afraid that they would kill him, in order to take his wife. Fear is a great killer of faith!
"The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe." Proverbs 29:25 (NKJV)
Our fear of man did not come from God.
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
Tozer, "No matter what the circumstances, we Christians should keep our heads. God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, of love and of a sound mind.
It is a dismal thing to see a son of heaven cringe in terror before the sons of earth. We are taught by the Holy Spirit in Scriptures of truth that fear is a kind of prison for the mind and that by it we may spend a lifetime in bondage....
I could quote hundreds of passages from the Holy Scriptures to show that God keeps His people and that there is nothing in earth or in hell that can harm a trusting soul. The past is forgiven, the present is in God's keeping and a thousand bright promises give assurance for the future. Yet we are sometimes terrified by the adversary. This is not uncommon but it is unnecessary. We should not try to excuse it, but rather acknowledge it as evidence of our spiritual immaturity."
B. He was Self-Centered.
Faith is always God-centered. Abraham was only thinking about himself. He had no regard for Sarah's well-being at all.
"4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;" 1 Corinthians 13:4-5
"3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4
"19 But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:19-21
Nicholas Doyle, working in a printing office in New Jersey, there was a fire in the building and he rushed upstairs, through the thick smoke, and went to every department giving the alarm, ended up making sure that 20 people got out safe.
He got cut off by the fire and had to jump from the second-story, in which he was injured.
I think Abram would have thrown Sara out the window to save his own neck.
C. He was also guilty of Shading the truth. 13
Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you." - this was a half-truth, which is a full lie!
Truth is our sin nature can justify anything we want to justify!
There is a little bit of Abram in all of us! Or Aaron - "I just threw the gold in the fire and out jumped their golden calf!"
Saul was told to go and destroy all of the Amalekites - but he spared the king and some animals and came back singing "Have thine own way Lord!"
"13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD." 14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" 1 Samuel 15:13-14
Boice, "Whenever you want to do something wrong, you will always be able to find good reasons for doing it. If you cannot think of one, the Devil will help you out."
Trans:This is Abram, the great man of faith! What was great about his faith was the object of His faith - God!
What about us? Have we not allowed fear, selfishness, and deception to take over and rebel against God?
WHY did his sin nature take charge? He took his eyes off God and His promises - he neglected seeking God in prayer.
Truth is we are no better than Abram or that Prodigal that ended up in the pig pen.
Robert Robinson father died with Robert was only 8 years old. He was sent by his mother to a trade school when he was 14 years old. There he joined up with a gang and lived a wild life. When he was 17 years old he went to hear the preacher Geroge Whitefield, the reason he went was to mock the preacher. But he got saved. And later became a preacher
At 23 he wrote the hymn "Come, Thou Fount."
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
We can all identify with the verse that goes:
O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Robert in his later years did lapse back into sin. One day he was riding in a stagecoach. A lady was reading a hymn book. She began humning the very hymn he wrote, "Come Thou Fount."
Robert burst into tears and confessed, "I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn and I would give a thousand worlds, to have the feelings that I had then."
III. THIRDLY, WE CAN LIVE IN FOLLY AND STILL HAVE MATERIAL PROPERITY. 14-16
14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels - how often we think that material success is a sign of God's favor? It is not!
Moses flat disobeyed God by hitting the rock twice and as a result would not be allowed to go into the promise land - but the water still gushed out of the rock and the people were impressed.
Read Psa. 73 sometime...
Abram was getting wealthy in Egypt! But there were no altars made by him in Egypt; no new promises given to him; no inner peace;
Some say, "Well it doesnt matter to me as long as I'm prosperous!" That's the thinking of the unsaved person! This Nation is hardly a christian nation - all she cares about is that the gas prices drop; that the economy rebounds; the unenployment goes down;
But even believers can be sucked into the success mentality:
Chuck Colson, "By the time you read this, we will have dedicated our new national offices near Washington D.C. As a result of this, many people have written me to the effect that God is obviously blessing Prison Fellowship Ministry.
As much as I am sincerely certain that God is, I believe even more certainly, that it's a dangerous policy to measure God's blessings by standards of visible, tangible, material success."
IV. FOURTHLY, WHEN WE DO WALK BY FAITH GOD WILL PROTECT US. 17
But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife - Sari was trusting God in all of this.
She could have spoken up - "Hey - that idots my husband!"
"5 For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror." 1 Peter 3:5-6
Abraham was delegated authority in her life, and as difficult as it was she obey him.
Corrie Ten Boom following WW II, understood that God was leading her to come to America. She survived the Nazi death camps and wanted to tell her story.
She arrived here with only 50 dollars; no friends; no place to stay; and no speaking invitations.
She writes, "A great ocean separated me from my homeland. I had no money. Nobody wanted to hear my lectures. All I had was an inner word from God. All I could do was press on for His name sake.
Before going to sleep I opened my Bible. My eyes fell on Psa. 147:11, "The Lord takes pleasure in those that hope in His mercy."
The very next day she attended a Dutch church service in New York City. There a minister invited her to speak. That was the start, after that, requests from publishers and speaking engagements poured in."
She obeyed and God protected her from abuse, starvation, and failure.
Think of Sari! She had no Bible at all! She was far from her homeland, and seemingly at the mercy of a pagan Pharoah. And God moved in and protected her. Rom.8:28 is a guarantee of our ultimate protection.
V. FIFTHLY, FOLLY BRINGS GOD'S REPROOF. 18-20
18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way." 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had - God rebuked Abram through a pagan Pharaoh!
We can sin as believers, but not without God's chastening hand!
"4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; 6 For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives." 7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons." Hebrews 12:4-8 (NKJV)
PS: Chastisment is not just when we sin, it's for growth. Sarah is experiencing God's chastening hand, not because she sinned, but for her spiritual growth! Just look at the book of Job.
Both Abraham's disobedience and Sarh's obedience were used by God to encourage growth in them. Actually its easier to be experience pressure when you sin, because you know exactly why its happening.
But when their is pressure, when your walking with God, and He wants to deepen your faith, it can be confusing.
IF YOU walk a dog on a leash and come to a post, and the dog goes to one side of the post and you go to the other side of the post, you will both be stuck.
Although both of you are going in the same direction, you will not be able to move forward progress. So what do you do" You pull the dog backwards, past the post, so you can progress forward - usually he fights you all the way, because the dog doesnt have the capacity to understand why your doing what your doing.
God sometimes has to pull us back, even though we seem to be walking in the right direction it is the way of real spiritual progress.
We don't like it, we usually fight Him all the way. But he's not being mean to us, He is simple encouraging growth.
Sarah was waking with God, but He pulled her backwards [into Pharoah's harem] and she obeyed - even when she did not understand, thus deeping her faith in God.
VI. FINALLY, GODS ONLY ANSWER TO OUR FOLLY IS PROPITIATION. 13:1-4
1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD - notice the altar. We looked at this last week, an altar was alway a place where a sacrifice was offered.
Spurgeon, "The saint, is still a sinner. The apostle John says, "If anyone sins," the supposition is a matter of certainty. John very well knew that all the saints do sin, for he has himself declared, that if a man says that he does not sin, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
Saints are, without exception, still sinners. The Christian no longer loves sin; it is the object of his sternest horror; he, no longer regards it, as a mere trifle, as something to play with...Sin may enter the heart, and fight for dominion, but it cannot sit upon the throne.
The text says, "If any man sin we have an advocate." It does not say, "If any man sin he has forfeited his advocate," but "we have an advocate," the truth is, I cannot have an advocate, unless I do sin!
He chose us, when we were sinners; He bought us, when we were sinners; He loved us, when we were dead in trespasses and sins; and if we are, as bad as that today, He loves us still."
But the basis is the substitutionary death of Christ, which satisfies God. Never forget the altar!
Con:
1. Abram's Folly - we can all identify with it!
2. Chuck Smith, "I am glad that God uses imperfect people. If Abraham had been totally perfect, then it could be discouraging. I would think that God couldn't use me because I'm very painfully aware of my imperfections. And you'd be saying the same thing.
And a lot of you have been using that as your excuse to God for your failure of committing yourself totally to serve the Lord. God uses people like Abram. So we cannot disqualify ourselves because of our imperfections. God uses yield vessels, not perfect vessels."
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
