Introduction:
A. Several elderly nuns were on the second floor of their convent one night when a fire broke out.
1. When the nuns realized the fire was blocking the exit, they took their habits off, tied them together to make a rope, and climbed out the window.
2. After they were safely on the ground, a news reporter asked one of the nuns, “Weren’t you afraid that the habits could have ripped or broke since they are old?
3. The nun replied, “Not at all, don’t you know that old habits are hard to break!”
B. How many of us here today can attest to the fact that “old habits are hard to break”?
1. Wouldn’t it be great if we could suddenly become instantly mature and completely perfect?
2. Imagine how different this world and our churches would be if the second we were baptized, we were immediately made morally flawless and spiritually wise.
3. Then we would have no more struggles with impatience, or greed, or lust, or selfishness.
4. We would no longer enter into complaining, or gossip, or lying.
5. Wouldn’t it be great if the instant we became a Christian, we’d become a model of flawless integrity?
C. So much for fantasy, now let’s come back to reality.
1. Alan Redpath wrote: “The conversion of the soul is the miracle of a moment, the manufacture of a saint is the task of a lifetime.”
2. When we become Christians, we do receive a new nature and we are a new creation, but that doesn’t mean we have escaped the influence of our old nature.
3. When we become Christians, we also receive the Spirit of God who takes up residency in us and whose mission is to transform us.
4. This gives us a new power over sin; it no longer has to be our master.
5. But even as the Spirit continues to help us become more like Christ, we must keep in mind that we are still 100% human.
D. As we move forward in our Christian lives, Satan and sin will continue to stalk us.
1. We will struggle with old temptations.
2. We will sometimes fall back into familiar sinful patterns.
3. Some faithful people will sometimes abandon their faith and become temporarily faithless.
4. Those of us who have been Christians a while can likely share our own experiences of failing faith and repeated struggles with old sins.
E. And when it comes to Abraham and his journey of faith, we shouldn’t be surprised to find that we are just like him, and he is just like us.
1. In today’s episode from Abraham’s journey of faith, we will witness his fall into an old sinful pattern that Charles Swindoll calls “disobedience déjà vu.”
I. The Story
A. Genesis 20 begins: 1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. (Gen. 20:1-2)
1. Yogi Berra is credited with saying: “It’s déjà vu all over again!”
2. You may remember that 25 years earlier, when Abraham went down into Egypt, he did the very same thing – he broadcast a half-truth that Sarah was his sister, rather than his wife.
3. Why had Abraham gone down into the Negev? Probably in response to the destruction of the cities of the plain and a desire to distance himself from the devastation.
4. Why did Abraham lie about Sarah? He lied because Sarah was a lovely woman and he feared that if he said she was his wife, he would be killed so that someone else could marry her.
a. When Abraham told this lie back in Genesis 12, Sarah was 65 years old.
b. Here in Genesis 20, when Abraham told this lie again, Sarah was now almost 90 years old.
c. Sarah had reached an age, which for most of us means wrinkles, grey hair and a crippled body, yet Sarah was still so stunning and desirable that Abimelech the king of Gerar wanted her for a wife.
d. So Abraham’s fears were not unfounded or farfetched.
4. But just like the last time, Abraham was now in deep trouble.
a. Sarah’s honor and God’s plan were again in jeopardy.
b. King Abimelech was on the verge of unknowingly committing a grievous moral transgression – adultery.
c. As I mentioned in the sermon back in Gen. 12, Sarah would have been kept away from all men, including the king himself for a period of time, while preparing for the wedding.
B. The story continues: 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” 4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5 Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”
6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.” (Gen. 20:3-7)
1. What are two of the sweetest words in all the Bible? “But God!”
a. In Noah’s time, the waters flooded the earth for 150 days…but God remembered Noah (Gen. 8:1)
b. Paul wrote: “We were harassed at every turn, conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us…” (2 Cor. 7:5-6)
c. Paul wrote: “We were dead in our transgressions…we were by nature objects of wrath…but…God, who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ…” (Eph. 2:1-5)
2. Here in our text for today, we see that Abraham had made a mess of things…but God came through!
a. God Himself intervened on Abraham’s behalf, and that is the only way Abraham escaped his predicament.
b. You see, God made a promise to Abraham that He had to keep.
c. He had told Abraham, “Sarah will have your son within a year,” so God intervened to preserve His own integrity.
d. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”
e. Abraham was faithless, but God remained faithful to His promise, therefore, God rescued both Abraham and Sarah, so they could have the son of promise.
3. As King Abimelech slept that night, the Lord invaded his dreams.
a. God basically told Abimelech, “You are a dead man, because you have taken a woman who is already married.”
b. Abimelech, like Pharaoh in the first incident, didn’t believe in or worship the one true God, but he had integrity enough to honor another man’s marriage.
c. We must keep in mind that some people who don’t worship God are people of integrity and behave morally.
d. Candidly, we should note that some nonbelievers have more integrity than some Christians.
e. In this case, Abimelech behaved more righteously than Abraham did.
4. So Abimelech pleaded his case in response to God’s warning, saying, “I’m innocent…Abraham said that she was his sister, and she said that Abraham was her brother.”
a. The Lord used this failure on Abraham’s part as an opportunity to capture the heart of this pagan king.
b. God said to Abimelech, “I know you are innocent and that’s why I kept you from sinning against me. Now return the woman to her husband and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet.”
c. This is the first use of the term prophet in Scripture, and surprisingly it applies to Abraham, the man who had just reverted to his old sin.
d. This should encourage us when we realize that we serve a faithful God, who can and will work through or around our weaknesses and faults.
e. God will accomplish His purposes, and he may even use our failures to do so.
5. There is amazing irony in this episode.
a. I imagine Abimelech must have been surprised when God called Abraham a prophet, since Abraham was the guy who lied to Abimelech to save his own skin.
b. Nevertheless, God upheld Abraham’s role as divine intermediary and told Abimelech that Abraham will pray for you and you will live.
c. Interestingly enough, Abraham, in trying to protect himself, gave God more work to do than if Abraham had simply trusted in the Lord from the start.
C. The story continues: 8 Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.” 10 And Abimelech asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”
11 Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And when God had me wander from my father's household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ” (Genesis 20:8-13)
1. Abimelech had every right to feel enraged and offended.
a. He had done nothing to harm Abraham, yet Abraham placed Abimelech and his kingdom in great jeopardy.
b. So Abimelech demanded to know the reason why Abraham had done such a thing.
2. Abraham was forced to explain and his explanation was pathetic, but at least it was honest.
a. Abraham began with an insult, but I’m not sure he realized it – Abraham basically said, “I lied because your people are an irreligious and murderous people.”
1. That’s no way to win friends and influence people.
2. Abraham had made a blind assumption about Abimelech and his subjects, and let his imagination run to the worst-case scenario.
b. Then Abraham justified his lie, by saying that his lie was really just a half truth and it was a part of he and his wife’s standard operating procedures – a gesture of love for each other.
c. What is even worse, Abraham apparently didn’t see how the lie undermined his testimony of faith – it is as if Abraham’s life says, “I follow the one true God, but I don’t trust Him to protect me, so I lie to protect myself.”
d. Isn’t it sad how our rationalizations become so familiar to us that we become blinded to how absurd we sound?
D. The story concludes in a surprising way: 14 Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”
16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had closed up every womb in Abimelech's household because of Abraham’s wife Sarah. (Genesis 20:14-18)
1. King Abimelech, who had every right to be enraged with Abraham, was forgiving and giving.
a. I might have been inclined to say: “Get this foolish man out of my sight. Take your wife and get out of my country!”
b. That’s not how Abimelech responded, of course he knew that Abraham’s God had Abraham’s back, and he didn’t want to offend Abraham’s God.
2. So, Abimelech gave him permission to remain in his country and settle wherever he wanted.
a. Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham and couldn’t resist throwing a little zinger when he addressed Abraham as her brother rather than her husband.
b. By giving money to Abraham, Abimelech was trying to compensate for any wrong, to prove that the marriage had not been consummated, thus restoring Sarah’s honor and reputation, thus removing any suspicion.
3. Abraham, feeling suitably shamed (we hope), responded by interceding for the king.
a. God heard and responded to Abraham’s prayer and healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls.
II. Application
A. There are many lessons we can learn from this episode from Abraham’s journey of faith to help us in our own walk with God.
1. Charles Swindoll summarized this chapter on Abraham’s life with three “nevers.”
B. First, never presume on your own weaknesses.
1. Deep inside, Abraham had a weakness for lying as a means of getting out of tight spots.
2. Apparently, it was a family trait, perhaps he had seen it in his parents or grandparents.
a. Sadly, he passed it on to his son Isaac, who passed it on to his son Jacob.
3. Abraham should have considered his weakness when he decided to settle near Gerar.
a. He could have gone anywhere. He could have chosen an area where he would not been as afraid and tempted to lie, but he flirted with his weakness.
4. If any of us is an alcoholic, then it would not be a good idea to rent an apartment above a bar.
5. If any of us is a shopaholic, then it is best to stay away from the mall, or not carry a credit card.
6. If any of us are attracted to someone other than our spouse, or are tempted by pornography, we must make every effort to stay far away from that which tempts us.
7. We need to have a proper fear of our weakness, accept our vulnerability and plan ahead.
8. And we need to do this not only when we are young, but also when we are old – Abraham was almost 100 years old and he was still giving in to his weakness.
9. This should help us realize this sobering fact: there will never be a time when we will be beyond falling.
C. Second, never rely on your own crutches.
1. When Abraham suggested they lie for protection, Sarah should not have cooperated with the ruse.
2. She should have said, “Abraham, I love you too much to lie for you. We’re not going to do that as a couple. Let’s agree to trust God instead.”
3. We need to get rid of well-worn crutches – that means repenting, asking for God’s strength to get beyond it.
4. Seeking help from others who can offer assistance and accountability can make a difference.
D. Third, never lean on your own understanding.
1. Abraham had a sharp mind, but he allowed it to work against him.
2. If we are not careful, we will be tempted to devise any number of creative ways to solve our problems and meet our needs while avoiding dependence on God.
3. Rather than facing the possibility that God might let us down or not give us what we want, we may be tempted to arrange our own path to personal satisfaction which employs sinful or ungodly means.
4. The longer we do that, the more they become a habit and our routine.
5. This chronic dependence on self as opposed to living by faith in God only leads to heartache and to eventual spiritual death.
E. I want to close with the story of Robert Robinson.
1. Robert Robinson grew up wild on the streets of London in the 18th century.
a. Robert had seen friends die violently and young, and he always assumed he was destined for an early grave.
2. Robert decided if he was going to avoid an early death, then he’d have to change his ways.
a. So, he started going to church to listen to the Methodist preacher George Whitefield.
b. Robert felt his sins were so grievous and terrible that God would never accept him.
c. For three years he suffered with deep dread of God’s punishment.
3. It wasn’t until sometime after his 20th birthday that Robert Robinson made peace with God and gave his life to Christ.
a. With a heart on fire for God, he became a Methodist minister and began preaching all around London.
4. In 1757, two years after his conversion, Robert Robinson wrote a hymn that is still sung in churches today – perhaps it is one of your favorites.
a. The hymn begins: “Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace.
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.”
b. The most memorable verse of that hymn expresses a fear that every Christian has felt at one time or another: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Take my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above.
5. Prone to wander! Can you relate to that feeling and fear?
a. This was the anxious cry of Robert Robinson’s heart, and for a time after writing those words, he did wander away from his faith and from the God he loved.
6. One day, years later, Robert Robinson happened to be sharing a coach with a young woman.
a. As they rolled along the streets of London, the woman hummed a refrain from that hymn.
b. “Excuse me miss,” Robinson said, “do you know the words to that song?”
c. “Yes, I do,” she said, and she recited the verse, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” Then the woman said, “Do you know the song?”
d. “Know it,” Robinson said, “I wrote it! But that was so long ago. I would give a thousand worlds, if I possessed them, to have that same love for God that I had then.”
7. History records that his coach ride with that woman was a turning point in Robinson’s life.
a. Robinson later went back to the pulpit and declared his faith in Jesus with a renewed passion and confidence, and continued faithfully to his death in June of 1790.
F. The truth is: Old habits are hard to break, and we are prone to wander and leave the God we love.
1. The message of the Bible and the message of Abraham’s life is that our God is a forgiving God who picks us up when we fall and welcomes us back when we have wandered.
2. If today you find yourself fallen or wandering, God is ready to pick you up and welcome you home.
Resources:
Abraham – One Nomad’s Amazing Journey of Faith, by Charles Swindoll, Tyndale, 2014.
Friend of God – The Legacy of Abraham, Man of Faith, by Ray Stedman, Discovery House, 2010.
