Let me tell you a story about a Christian just like you and I. Let’s call him George for no good reason. George woke up Monday morning after a remarkable Weekend. Family time was well spent and The church services were excellent. He’d had testimonies of answered prayer in his own life and the Preacher’s message had moved him and several other people to kneel at the altar and pray that morning!
George was running just a little bit late and as a result pulled into the parking lot a bit to fast. As he found his space he also turned the wheel too sharply and managed to scrape a neat line down the length of His boss’s car. Jumping out in dismay, George noticed that wonder of wonder’s his own car was unharmed. It took only a second to get back in the car and find a new spot several rows over. Nobody saw the accident and nobody need know - His boss after all was a wealthy man compared to George’s salary, and if he could afford a brand new BMW, he could also afford to have it painted George reasoned.
As the Day wore on, George even began to consider the depth of God’s blessing in the whole event. After all, there wasn’t so much as a smudge on George’s car! Surely the incident was intended to be a curse to his Boss for his greed and a blessing to Him for his goodness!
That afternoon on the way out to the parking lot - George witnessed an argument between his boss and another employee who had taken the empty spot beside the Beemer. Instantly George recognized the unfortunate man as one he had been witnessing to earlier in the day.
And now you see the dilemma. To remain silent would be to let an innocent man suffer. To confess would mean his earlier witness was "blown" by his dishonesty. What would you do? Or perhaps more important yet are the questions at the heart of the matter. Why do Godly people sin? And can God possibly use you even when you’re testimony is blown?
I want you to turn with me to Genesis Chapter 20 where we visit Abraham’s Lie and God’s Intervention. < read Genesis 20 > .
Just like Genesis Chapter 12, Abraham goes right back to Living by fear. Take a look at verse 11 and you can see Abraham’s motive. FEAR. Nothing more and nothing less. Abraham said he told the lie because there was no fear of God, in reality he displayed a greater fear of men than of God!
This guy was scared to death for his own life and was willing to sacrifice his wife for it! ... therein lies the problem:
1) _Fear stops obedience._
But before we get to hard on Abraham, or even on George, what about you? What motivates you to sin? Frankly - let’s be honest - often we don’t even have the glory of claiming fear. We just plain act before we think! In fact, I think more than anything else that’s what motivates my own failures. Do you know what the shows? It shows the depths of wickedness in our hearts - that’s what it shows!
You’re no different from Abraham, and neither am I. And again, let’s recount where Abraham has been in this story. Abraham had received the Abrahamic Covenant nearly 25 years earlier. He’s been walking with God - building altars and worshipping for 25 years! Multiple times - God himself had spoken audibly and even in person with Abraham! None of us can claim such splendor as having seen our Great master and Lord.
God had led him to being victorious in war over four kings at once. He had increased Abraham’s finances from zip to zillions. And only just recently God had come down and actually had dinner in Abraham’s presence. He had promised a son by Abraham through Sarah at the end of the next 12 months!
Abraham had gotten early news of God’s plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah - and in righteous fervent prayer had prayed for the entire cities preservation if only 10 men could be found there. 10 couldn’t be found, but one could - and Lot and his two daughters were spared the great destruction because of Abraham’s prayers.
Past experience with God is no guarantor of future success in our lives. More than anything else perhaps I’d love to tell you that once we reach a high level "God-experience" that you’ll never have to sin again. But Paul knew that wasn’t true. He bemoaned his own habit of falling into sin all over again in Romans 7, and in 1 Corinthians 10 he warned the People of Corinth, "...if you think that you stand firm, watch out that you do not fall..."!
I wonder perhaps if there is no greater time in our life where we are most likely to fall into sin, than at that crucial moment when we have experienced God and we walk away feeling as if we will never break his heart again.
Abraham had just been face to face with God. Our fictional friend George had just had a great worship service and You did your devotions - but Sin still creeps in.
2) And Sin never creeps in without a cost. Do you notice the costs here?
2a) THERE WAS A COST TO ABRAHAM - He lost his credibility and even gave a feeble attempt to rebuild it in v 12. Notice that Abraham doesn’t want to humbly repent - he wants to continue to shove the blame and justify himself! But what a humiliating plight here is this Godly man being rebuked and rightly so by a pagan king.
2b)THERE WAS A COST TO SARAH When Christians Sin, it costs other Christians as well. Sarah was drawn into lying. Notice in V5 that Abimelech says, "hey even She said that Abraham was her brother"! And V13 reveals the horrible truth that Abraham had connived with Sarah on the matter, and she had willingly entered into sin with Him! And yet that wasn’t all, the whole incident could easily have cost her purity!
And By the way, this is a classic case to show how one small sin often leads to larger and worse sins. Lying is bad enough - and Sarah lied - but Adultery is a capital offense! Notice how God begins the conversation with Abimelech "you are a dead man because [you’ve taken a married woman]." We see the same cost in verses 3, 6- 7,17-18. Later on we’re told in Lev 20:10 and in Deuteronomy 22:22 that Adultery is a sin worthy of death to both parties!
So there was a cost to Abraham the believer and to Sarah his wife, but it doesn’t end there...
2c) THERE WAS A COST TO ABIMELECH when we sin - we threaten not only ourselves, but we place a greater threat on the unsaved. V3 "you are a dead man..." How terrible a sin is it when our sin leads nonbelievers to sin? In fact I want you to notice that Abimelech was even able to argue that he was blameless before God apart from this Sin that Abraham had caused him to commit (or nearly commit.) (V4,5) And Notice that GOD AGREES WITH HIM! "Then God said to him in the dream, ’yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against me..."
Nevertheless the threat to Abimelech was real and part of the cost to Abimelech is that
2d) THERE WAS A COST TO ABIMELECH’S HOUSEHOLD Look at verse 18 where we find part of the problem. < read it > When Christian’s sin, we threaten more people than we realize.
Now I’ve told you all this and I’ll bet you’re feeling just awful over mistakes you’ve made in the past - perhaps this past week or even today. And now you’re wondering - Could Romans 8:28 be true here? Can God really make all things work together for God to them that love the Lord? Can God possibly pick up the pieces of your bomb and rebuild some kind of fruitful ministry around you?
As much as any other, this part of Abraham’s life is a perfect parallel of our own lives, we rise to the top of the mountain spiritually and somehow manage to plummet into the valley of failure - sometimes even before the Sun has gone down! How do we deal with this?
It’s time for a little bit of Application:
APPLICATION TIME
1. REALIZE THAT GOD FORGIVES. This isn’t by any means a way of saying, "Oh God will forgive you so go ahead and sin." This event caused problems in Isaac’s life as well - even though God forgave Abraham. And don’t forget David whose adultery and murder were forgiven, even though he paid for it with family turmoil for the rest of his life.
The point here is that the Summation of Abraham’s life is not one of failure but of faith! That testimony of the Scriptures is proof that even though Abraham wasn’t perfect - he was forgiven, and that is better than all the perfection we can muster! (Phil 3:4, 1-7)!
2. REALIZE THAT EVEN REPETITIVE SIN IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD TO CURE! Remember that Abraham had been here before in Chapter 12.
As long as you are alive, and as long as you can run to Jesus - God will continue to work on you. 1 John 1:9 promises forgiveness whenever we confess, and Philippians 1:6 promises that God won’t quit working on you until you either die or Jesus returns.
3. REALIZE THAT SOMETIMES GOD INTERVENES TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT. Notice that God was protecting Abimelech here, not Sarah, for God himself says, "I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also kept you from sinning against me; therefore I did not let you touch her." (v6)
It’s another example of the immeasurable grace of God that he would protect the unbeliever’s from our sin, but sometimes God does just that.
4. REALIZE THAT GOD WANTS TO USE YOU STILL to affect the culture you’re in and somehow God even wants to use the events caused by your failure to minister and serve the unsaved! Notice that in Verse 7 God instructed Abimelech that Abraham would pray for him, which In V17 Abraham does.
This lesson is a great lesson for today. Because even though you may have failed - God can use you still! AMEN.
