ABRAHAM TEACHES TRUE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER
GENESIS 18:1—14 AUGUST 10, 2003
GENESIS 18:1-14 1The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,A do not pass your servant by. 4Let a lit-tle water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way--now that you have come to your servant."
"Very well," they answered, "do as you say."
6So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread."
7Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hur-ried to prepare it. 8He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
9"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him.
"There, in the tent," he said.
10Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?"
13Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, `Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
Think of the hardest thing that you’ve ever done or think of the hardest thing you have yet to do. Sometimes those impossible jobs seem just like that – impossible. Sometimes some jobs are just impossible and you and I cannot accomplish them or get them done. Toward the end of our text we heard the Lord ask the question of Abraham, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” We realize then and there, even those things that seem impossible are very possible with the Lord. One of the most impossible things in all creation is that you and I would be saved at all. We come into this world with a sinful nature that stands opposed to God and His will. Our sinful nature makes us mortal ene-mies of God. How does an enemy of anyone become a friend and, then, also be given salvation? An enemy cannot do this for himself. It is impossible. Thankfully, by God’s grace, you and I have been saved. Paul says in Romans, “It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy”(ROMANS 9:16). Our Lord describes the impossible becoming the possible. You and I, who are enemies of God, become not only friends of God, but also His children to inherit eternal life. Then, the rest of our lives are spent worshipping, rejoicing and praising God because we are no longer God’s enemies but we are God’s children with Christian character. That’s what we learn in our text today as
ABRAHAM TEACHES TRUE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER
I. Abraham welcomes the Lord
II. Abraham follows God’s Word
I. Abraham welcomes the Lord
Abraham and Sarah are about to have some visitors. We are told at the beginning of our text, The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham was sitting in the shade of the trees in the shade of his tent trying to stay cool when the Lord appears to him – not just the Lord, but also His messengers. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. This was the custom of the day. Visitors didn’t just come barging in – they stood at a distance from the tent waiting to be invited. They stood at a distance to let the person at the tent know that they meant them no harm. Abraham looks up and sees the three people, “When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.” Here was Abraham, a very wealthy man, a very powerful man, yet when he comes to meet these three strangers, he bows low to the ground as a sign of humility. We already begin to see his Christian character.
3 He said, "If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. He’s going to provide them with a little water, which is always needed in a desert – water, that they may wash their feet and feel refreshed and then relax and rest in the heat of the day under the tree. He goes on – his Chris-tian character is going to welcome these visitors even more. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way -- now that you have come to your servant." He says let me get you just a ‘morsel of bread’ (it says this in the original). They agree. "Very well," they an-swered, "do as you say."
Again, we now see more of Abraham’s Christian character – he’s going to get them more than just a morsel of bread, isn’t he? 6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. "Quick," he said, "get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread." Three seahs of flour is almost a bushel. Sarah is going to use lots of flour and bake lots of bread so they will have more than just a morsel of bread to eat. They’re going to have plenty. Our text doesn’t stop there.
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hur-ried to prepare it. The people didn’t usually eat meat unless it was a celebration. They didn’t eat meat unless it was a festival. Now we see Abraham’s Christian character as he’s going to welcome the Lord – not with just a little bit of water to wash his feet and not with just a little piece of bread, but with a feast, with a celebration! 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. Abraham was excited to see the messengers. He was overjoyed that the Lord would stop by and visit with him.
You and I live in what we might call an age of miracles. It seems as if every year that passes by there’s more and more discoveries that are made, more and more inventions that are created to make our life easier. Sometimes it takes a lot to amaze us or astonish us that we would sit back in wonderment. Sadly, sometimes the very important things in life, we forget how important they are and the amazement that we have because God has created all things. The day, as we start out, is another one of God’s creations for us, His creatures, who were once His enemies, to rejoice in. In the midst of all this technology and inventions and luxuries that we live in, it almost becomes harder for the Lord to compete with our attentions. The Lord wants us to realize that day in and day our, He stops by and visits us, doesn’t He? Our Lord stops by and speaks to us when we read His word. Our God listens to us as we pray to Him. Each day is a day of wonder and amazement then that the Lord would do that for each one of us individually, knowing us by name. The psalm-writer says, “The LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”(PSALM 118:23,24).
In a society that isn’t very happy, in a world that doesn’t find much time to rejoice, it is a privi-lege, duty and responsibility of us, the believers, to show our true Christian character in welcoming the Lord day in and day out as a guest so that we might rejoice in each day that the Lord has made; so that others might see in us the joy of salvation. What do we see? We see Abraham welcoming those who stop by. Again, we know in our society, we get busy. We plan our trips to the doctor or to different appointments or meetings. We get there just on time or maybe a little bit past time. We don’t leave much time in between to be a Good Samaritan. We don’t take the opportunity to use God’s time of grace, in other words. The Lord says we need to look for those opportunities, which come before us. When we have the opportunity in our appointments and in our traveling try to plan a little bit of extra travel time. You’ll be amazed at the different opportunities that arise to help those in need – someone who needs a ride or someone beside the road, or someone looking for directions – we will have time to stop by and help them, to let them see through us true Christian character. He-brews says to us, 1 Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it”(HEBREWS 13:1,2). Really, Abra-ham did that.
A sign of true Christian character of course, is not just being nice to our family, our friends, but being nice to our neighbor. When the rich young man asked who is our neighbor, everyone is – the Lord says even our enemies. We all know how difficult that can be! He says for those who love their friends and neighbors, he says, ‘What good is that? Even the unbelievers do that.’ A sign of true Christian character is loving those who do not love us and showing kindness to them and praying for them. It’s not that we do all of these things so we can keep a big list and say, ‘Well, today I helped this person and that person. I prayed for him or her.’ Believers do these things as a fruit of true Christian character. Abraham, I’m sure, didn’t stop to consider, ‘Well, I’ve got to welcome these visi-tors.’ He just did it out of the joy of his believing. That’s the way it is with us. On the last day when the Lord returns, He will divide the sheep and the goats. He will assign the goats to their place with Satan saying they did not believe. He’s going to say to His sheep (His believers, His followers) that they did many things – visited the sick, went to prisons, and the list goes on. They’ll say, ‘When did we do these things?’ "The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’"(MATTHEW 25:40).
Abraham teaches true Christian character. He welcomes the Lord and then
II. Abraham follows God’s word
The Lord and His angels stop by, not just to have something to eat and be refreshed, but to share an important message with Abraham. 9"Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said. She was in the tent waiting to see who these people were, waiting to see what message Abraham would bring back and here it is. 10Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." They came to bring a message not just for Abraham but also for Abraham and Sarah. There would be great joy and rejoicing that Abra-ham and Sarah would have a son. That was the greatest blessing of all. It was a great blessing be-cause children were recognized as a gift from God.
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. This would be an extra blessing. Abraham and Sara were certainly not expecting any more children in their old age but, as the Lord said, ‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’ Of course this was a shock to Sarah! We read her reaction. 12So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?" Her master was Abraham and she was thinking to herself, ‘It’s too late for such a pleasure.’ She laughed to herself--“zachaq” (Isaac), her first son’s name meaning laughter. The Lord knew, didn’t He?
13Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, `Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14Is anything too hard for the LORD? We know nothing is. Abraham knew that. He had followed God’s word, believing just what God said and did it. To reemphasize the fact of the importance of this promise, the Lord Jesus uses the exact same words again – “I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." It’s a simple promise. The Lord made the impossible entirely possible once again. Abraham believed and followed God’s word.
Abraham did that from early on. He had come from a different nation, from a different country. The Lord spoke to him and said, ‘Pick up your family and move’ and Abraham did. He became a no-mad, a traveler, pitching a tent for a while in one place and then moving on to the next – all because the Lord said so. Abraham followed His word. Sarah did too because she was his wife.
We also learn a quick lesson here from Sarah. She was hidden away behind the strangers in the tent. She laughs unbelievingly and the Lord knew, didn’t He? The Lord knew her heart. It’s the same with us today. The Lord knows our heart. The Lord knows the heart of everyone. We live in a society filled with deceptions and falsehoods. The Lord knows what is deep down in the heart of all men. He knows when we try to cover up sin, He still can and does reveal it. God knows whenever any lie, He knows the truth. From time to time we may fool one another, we may even fool ourselves. God is not mocked, is He? God knows. He’s the one we have to answer to in the end. In Samuel we’re told, "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appear-ance, but the LORD looks at the heart"(1 SAMUEL 16:7b). The Lord looks at our heart. Sarah learned that. We learn it as part of our Christian character. We follow God at His word.
When we think things are impossible, the Lord says they are possible. When we look at the fu-ture of doom and gloom predicted by the experts. We begin to wonder what is going to happen – if things can go on the way they are – the Lord says all things are possible. We make many plans; the Lord makes sure His plans are done. What are His plans? Listen to Jeremiah -- "’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ’plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’"(JEREMIAH 29:11). That’s His plans for each one of us – plans to give hope, plans to prosper us. Believers are not necessarily going to be prosperous as the world looks at pros-perity. We are going to be prosperous in our spirit. We have hope for a future, maybe not here on earth, but hope for a future in heaven. That is our future. That’s the prosperity of our Christian heri-tage and blessing of true Christian character. Abraham teaches true Christian character by following God’s word. People who want to give us advice assault you and me on every side. Experts from every field imaginable today have the answers. Sometimes their answers aren’t the right answers or aren’t the answers we need. The Lord is the real expert isn’t He, with the real answers. He’s the one who truly gives us hope. He’s the one who gives us certainty in an uncertain world. He’s the one who gives us joy in a gloomy society. We follow His word.
In 2 JOHN 1:6 we’re told, "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.” Christian character, Christian love is not a self-concerned love; it’s love for others. How can we help them? How can we help others? How are they hurting? That’s following God’s word.
Abraham teaches us true Christian character so that you and I can be like Abraham in this world. It doesn’t have to be harder than it was in the time of Abraham does it? In fact, it can be eas-ier because it seems as if the world needs more compassion. This world needs more people who are filled with joy. It needs more people who are happy about life because there’s more to this life than just living and eating and drinking and dying. There’s living for eternity. True Christian character wel-comes the Lord. Maybe in our busy schedules we need to welcome the Lord more in our lives. True Christian character follows His word. Maybe in our busy schedules too, we need to set aside more time to follow God in His word -- to take Him at His promises as He says, ‘Is anything too hard for the Lord?’ We realize nothing is impossible but all things are possible with Him – especially, even our eternal salvation. At the end here we turn to EPHESIANS 3:20,21. He tells us why we have any Christian character at all. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imag-ine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." To God be the glory because He’s able to do more than we ask or imagine. May we in joy constantly show our Christian character by welcoming the Lord, following His word and taking Him at His promise. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
