Intro:
1. A classic work many of us have read is called "Pilgrims Progress," but if truth be know, it could have a companion work rightly entitled, "Pilgrims Regress!"
2. Abraham was a great man of faith, who at times makes great progress; but there is also the flip side of the story, he also makes great regress.
3. Rules of spiritual Regress that we do well not to follow.
Trans: Gen. 20
I. RULE ONE, REINFORCE THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH.
20:1 Make an acceptable enviornment for the flesh...
And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar - Ge-rar was a major city of the Philistines. The Move was unwise:
A. First, he knew that the city was Sinful.
"And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife." Genesis 20:11
Who in their right mind is going to move to a place where they have no fear of God and will take your life?
B. Furthermore, there is no indication that God Showed Abraham that he was suppose to live there. There is no prayer offered on Abraham's part.
C. Finally, it made him Susceptible to temptaton - Abraham's chronic temptation is - fear. Moving to Ge-rar was placing himself in a situation similar to that of Egypt, where he lied about Sarah, due to his fear for his safety.
Trans:We are foolish to place ourselves in places that we know are going to tempt us to sin!
Certain places and people and circumstances we cannot handle. Certain TV shows, music, books, feed out sin nature - and thus should be avoided.
"11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." Romans 13:11-14
Years ago, there was a movie called The Blob. This cosmic Jell-O had come down from space, fell into a little crater, and cracked open. An old man came and had a little stick in his hand and was playing with it, and it ran up on his arm and began to consume him. Some folk found him and rushed him into a hospital room. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong, when the doctor touched it, the Blob consumed the doctor too.The Blob then rolled outside of the hospital and consumed everything and everybody in its path. By the time the movie comes to an end, the Blob is the size of a mountain. Throughout the movie, people had tried everything they could to get rid of the Blob. They'd shot at it. They'd tried to cut it. Nothing seemed to work. But at the end of the movie, they discovered one little thing. The Blob could not handle cold. It could deal with anything else, but it couldn't handle cold. Someone noticed that when they sprayed something cold on it, the Blob would back up. They figured they couldn't get rid of it completely, but they could protected themselves by staying in a cold enviornment. All that had to do was make no provisions for the blob! If they ventured forth where the blob was on a hot day - they would be consummed by the blob. Eventually they froze the thing, put it in a crate, tied it to an an airplane and dropped it over Alaska!
We can avoid the reigning power of the nature as surely as they could avoid the blob...don't give it a thriving enviornement!
II. RULE TWO, KEEP REPEATING THE SAME SIN. 2-7
2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." 4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? 5 Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this." 6 And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now therefore, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours." - he has been burned by this sin before! Yes, God protected Sarah again, but Abraham comes out looking like a fool again...
I read about an evangelist who said he had the habit of chewing on those little golf tees. "In August 2001, I had a chance to play in a charity golf tournament near Brandon, Florida. It was the eighth hole and I was talking to one of our foursome as we approached a bunker. I have always had a very bad habit of chewing on my tee while playing. As I waited for another player in our foursome to hit his shot, I took a deep breath and actually inhaled the tee. At first, I didn't know what happened. Then, when I realized I had inhaled the tee, I tried to cough it up. It became apparent that it would not come out and had gotten lodged in my throat part of the way down. One of the men came running over and asked if he should call 9-1-1. I told him yes. At this point, I realized that the key was staying calm and breathing. I was able to breath through my nose, so that kept me from panicking. My playing partner got behind me and tried to pop it out that way, but it was lodged in my throat sideways and that didn't work. I could also now feel some blood running down my throat, obviously from the cut where the tee was lodged. In a very clear and concise way, I realized that I might actually die. You never know how these things will play out, and that was a legitimate possibility. It seemed that within seconds I forced myself to swallow hard and all of the sudden felt the tee dislodged and went down. Needless to say, I have been broken of the habit of chewing on tees!"
Of course it is not sin to chew on tees - but the principle is the same! If something is going to hurt you, why would you keep doing it?
Last time Abraham did this he ended up dishonoring God, his wife, and looking like an idiot! Why give a repeat performance!
I don't know but we have all done - we have all experience Rom. 7, which is in the present tense!
"15 I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to—what I hate. 16 I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I agree with these laws I am breaking. 17 But I can’t help myself because I’m no longer doing it. It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am that makes me do these evil things. 18 I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn I can’t make myself do right. I want to but I can’t." Romans 7:15-18 (TLB)
It's embarrassing! Once I was doing a revival for Sam and did some fishing in our spare time. My line was old and weak so that I bought a new line. I was talking away as I was putting on the new line - when I got done I noticed that I forgot to put the line through the cover! We both had a good laugh and I had to cut my line and start over. I got talking again and noticed that I had forgotten to put the line through the cover again. This time I didnt laught, didnt tell Sam, just quietly but the line again - and sought to put the line through the cover, I was embarrased at how foolish I could be.
III. RULE THREE, RATIONALIZE YOU SIN.
A. We do this by Blaming others for our sin. 8-11
8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. 9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done." 10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?" 11 And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife - it was Abimelech's fault!
It's easy to play the blame game! When God confronted Adam after he sinned, he said, "The woman you gave me!"
We are a generation that blames everybody and everything for our own sin and neglegence. I have read about several people who have burned themselves drinking hot coffee at MacDonalds - and suied MacDonalds. Mr. Ware of Sydney, Australia was fired in 2005, after he showed up repeatedly to work drunk. He sued, claiming that his employer should have done more to accomodate his "illness." He won! He was awarded $7,300 dollars...
It doesnt work with God - and if you want to stay a spiritual baby, just cultivate the habit of blame others for your sin.
B. We Rationalize our sin when we Bypass confessing it as sin. 12
But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife - he lied! And he still will not admit it! Sarah is his wife!! Being has half-sister has nothing to do with anything.
If we refuse to confess our sin we will remain off course...I Jn. 1:9 is simple and essential truth. David after committing adultery did not confess his sin for nearly a year.
"3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah" Psalm 32:3-4
On September 3, 1989, Va-rig Airlines Flight 254 was preparing to take off from Brazil's Ma-raba Airport. The destination was Belé m Airport, a short 48 minute flight. However, Captain Cé zar Garcez was distracted from his duties while entering the course on his onboard flight computer and instead of entering a course of 027, he entered a course of 270 degrees. Instead of heading northeast toward the Brazilian coastline and the city of Belé m, the plane turned west and headed straight toward the Amazon forest. When he finally realized he was going the wrong way, Captain Garcez took it upon himself to look for familiar points. As it grew dark, he continued to fail to acknowledge he was lost and he refused to ask for help. After flying some 700 miles for three hours and twenty minutes, the aircraft crashed in the jungle. Thirteen passengers were killed. Both Captain Garcez and the first officer had their commercial licenses permanently revoked.
We must acknowledge our sins if we are going to make spiritual progress.
C. We rationalize our sin when we justify our Besetting sin. 13
And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, "He is my brother." - everybody wrestles with some sin. For some its lust; others anger; or pride; or gluttony; or greed; but we all have areas that give us more trouble then other areas.
Like 3 preachers on a fishing trip. They werent catching many fish, so one suggested that they share any sins they were wrestling with. One said, "I really wrestle with lust." The second preacher said, "I find myself greedy for more money." The third preacher said, "My biggest sin is gossip - and I can't wait to get back home!"
Abraham's besetting sin was carnal fear, but that did not excuse it! It just means we have to be alert to what tempts us.
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," Hebrews 12:1
No sin is to be excused! Sin tolerated always interfers with out spiritual progress.
D. We rationalize our sin when we Beautify it.
This is your kindness - Butler, "Abraham tried to excuse his deceit by claiming it was a kind act. Labeling evil deeds with lovely names is deceiving.
How on earth did we ever call the homosexual - gays.
We call murder - pro-choice...
We refer to the drunk - as one with a disease...
Abraham calls the selfish act of putting his wife at risk - a kindness. We must not dignify sin!
The Huntington River Gorge, near Richmond, Vermont is beautiful but deadly. In the last 40 years, 20 persons have lost their lives in that gorge. Hundreds of swimmers have been injured there. On the surface of the water, of the gorge looks calm and placid, but beneath are strong currents and whirlpools. Public safety officials have designated the gorge "the single most deadly place in the state."
Sin is like that, the more beautiful one make it, the more deadly it becomes.
IV. RULE FOUR, REFOCUS YOUR ATTENTION ON PHYSICAL BLESSINGS. 14-16
14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, "See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you." 16 Then to Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody." Thus she was rebuked - remember, last time he did this, he was also physically blessed.
Just because you are physically, materially blessed, does not mean you are being blessed spiritually! Psa. 73
I read about a group of refugees sailing from Cuba, they thought we had gained 60 miles in one day; but, at it began to be obvious that something was wrong - they had actually lost more then 30 miles. They finally figured out what the problem was - there was an undercurrent. The ship had been going forward by the wind, but going back by the current." Often we are making material and outward progress, but the undercurrent related to our undealt with sin, is actually causing us to lose spiritual ground.
V. RULE FIVE, FAIL TO REALIZE HOW MUCH SIN EFFECTS OTHERS. 17-18
17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; 18 for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife - yes, Abraham prayed and God graciously delivered Sarah, Abimelech, his wife and servants.
Do you think Abraham realized the impact of his rebellion? If he had, he probably would not have yielded. All Abraham thought about was Abraham - and self-centered living always hinders our spiritual progress.
Achan sinned against and as a result all of Israel was defeated at Ai. Many people suffered because of Abrahams sin - he likely forgot about the misery he would cause.
"And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." 1 Corinthians 12:26
Several years ago, quarterback Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers, developed a painful calluse on his middle finger that even bled occasionally. Favre changed his throwing motion ever so slightly to relieve the pressure on the finger. The change placed greater strain in his elbow. One day in practice he rolled out and threw hard to Donald Driver causing something to pop. Swelling developed. An MRI revealed tendonitis. Favre missed the entire pre-season causing the team's hopes for making the playoffs to be in jeaprody.
Abraham was jeaprodizing the well-being of both his family and Abimelecks family.
Con:
1. We can all make spiritual progress - but we can also make spiritual regress. It's easy: (1) Just Reinforce the desires of the flesh; (2) Keep Repeating the same sin; (3) Rationalize our sin; (4) Refocus on material things; and (5) fail to Realize how much sin effects others.
2. What was Abraham thinking? He wasnt - and at times we all appear to be some what brain dead.
3. All of this reminded me of the husband and wife who were watching a movie together. The police were chasing a bank robber at a high speed. The wife said, "I'll bet you dinner, at a fansy restaurant, that the robber's car goes over the cliff." The husband said, "You got a bet!" Sure enough the car plunged voer the cliff. But the wife was feeling guilty because she had seen the movie before. So she called off the bet saying, "You dont have take out to dinner, I have seen this movie before. He said, "Yea, so have I, but to tell you the truth, I just didnt think he would be that stupid, as to drive off the same cliff twice."
Like Abraham, and Moses, and the Children of Israel, and Peter...we have all drived off the same sin-cliff more then once!
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
