Stand Before the Lord

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Preacher: Ross Macdonald Scripture: Genesis 18:16-33

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Well this morning we continue on in Genesis chapter 18 We'll be looking at verses 16 through 33 together this morning next week.
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There'll be a guest preacher Brian Labossiere, who is
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I guess we should say Labossiere. I always say Labossiere. It just sounds so fancy He'll be he'll be coming to preach for us.
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I know him through the New England Reform Fellowship He's a he's a wonderful man Servant of the
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Lord and I'm sure there'll be a wonderful message and then the following week will begin
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Genesis chapter 19 So we'll have to do a good job trying to keep this in mind over the next two weeks as we head toward Lot and Sodom in Genesis 19, but this morning we're looking at Genesis 18 verses 16 through 33
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Last week we saw the Lord Along with these two messengers these two angels
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That's how chapter 19 begins We saw these three strange visitors these three men visit the tent of Abraham We saw how
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Abraham rushed around to signal his his great honor To have the Lord present with him his great desire for the
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Lord to stay his his great need to be able to minister to The Lord and so he set a feast before him.
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We saw him rushing around we could picture him panting You know clattering after his wife and his servants to get everything together
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Running back to the tent in the Terabith three, please. Don't leave just yet just a little bit longer on that calf We're getting the butter churned some extra milk's coming your way
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It's it's the Abrahamic rush, which we tend not to know in our morning devotions or our evening devotions
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But I think we all do the Abrahamic rush on a Sunday morning At least if you have little ones like me now, that's the wrong shoe
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You forgot the goldfish get that in the car. We too have to rush around in our preparation to meet with the
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Lord However, we considered this visit was not so much for a meal. It wasn't even really for Abraham's sake it was for the sake of Sarah Sarah also like Abraham had laughed in her heart at the promise of God and So like Abraham the
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Lord came to strengthen the faith of Sarah for indeed this covenant Though we call it the
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Abrahamic covenant was also made with Sarah We saw that in chapter 17 and so the
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Lord visits and though he's addressing Abraham He does so with an earshot of Sarah and then he completely addresses
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Sarah. He would have her remember verse 15 No, but you did laugh and when
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Isaac comes along this will be the child Named after this laughter So both
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Abraham and Sarah will be reminded of the Lord's faithfulness Despite the seemingly impossible
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Odds, how could it be that God would bring forth life effectively from the dead and herein we see the mystery of our faith
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Now this morning we see the narrative shift back to Abraham So really from verses 8 through 15 the attentions all drawing towards Sarah and we get a hint of why the
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Lord stopped by the tent but now as we begin verse 16, the the narrative is shifting back toward Abraham as The Lord turns to the cities of the plain the cities of the
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Dead Sea We find this great contrast being introduced and it's a contrast that will carry throughout the rest of Scripture We have the coming of salvation being put forth
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In other words God has come to the tent and he's reassured his promise that a seed will come from Sarah Of course, we know from Galatians 3
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This is ultimately speaking of the true son of Abraham the true seed of promise
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Jesus himself So here we have the coming salvation of God put forth and right next to that We have the coming judgment of God put forth wherever we have salvation
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We also have him emblematically judgment and these two are intertwined throughout the biblical storyline
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The promised seed is right next to the destruction of Sodom this morning.
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We'll see three things we'll see in verses 16 through 33 the purpose of God the posture of Abraham and a principle a principle of our faith so purpose posture and principle and the first thing we notice the purpose of God we find in verses 16 and following is
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God inviting the intercession God is inviting the intercession
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Then the men rose from there and looked towards Sodom and Abraham went with them to send them on the way and the
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Lord said Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him
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For I have known him in Order that he may command his children in his household after him that they may keep the way of the
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Lord To do righteousness and justice So that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him
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Abraham notices that the Lord has finished confronting Sarah's doubt And as they rise
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From this tent door under the terebinth trees shade They look toward Sodom on the
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Dead Sea plain and they begin to head toward it Abraham is being a very gracious host
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It would have been customary to honor an important guest by by following them out quite a distance
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Actually, the more honorable they were the farther you would go with them If you're very casual in our culture, it doesn't mean you're dishonored
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But the most you'll get is a walk to the front door very rarely Will you get a walk to the car?
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But Abraham would almost be getting in the car and say you can drop me off in about half an hour He's following after them.
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This is a form of great honor So Abraham is walking alongside the Lord if you can picture it
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We don't really know if these these angels are in front or behind and and clearly the
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Lord is is talking He's talking in a way that Abraham will be able to hear him
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Now remember the visit had been for the hope of Sarah and now the whole narrative is shifting and it will carry us into chapter 19 it's now about the doom of Sodom So again, hope is right next to doom salvation is right next to judgment but we find that the
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Lord will not simply pass by Abraham not without treating him as a friend and more than a servant
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The Lord in John 15 said with his disciples. No longer. Do I call you servants? For a servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends
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And we see that with Abraham here. He's not a servant that is going to be kept in the dark He's just told what he has to do when he has to do it
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Now the Lord remember Abraham is the friend of God according to the Old Testament Now God is going to actually bring him in to what he's doing verse 17
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Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm doing? This is a clear indication that the
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Lord is going to prompt Abraham This is a clear indication the Lord wants to open up a dialogue a conversation and as a friend
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Speaking to a friend He expects Abraham to now understand his purpose, but not just to understand it as a servant
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But to actually respond to it as a friend So he's inviting this dialogue that will see unfold for instance
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If I was walking with you and you were to say to me I can't hide what I'm going to do
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Ross I cannot hide it any longer. I want to bring you in on it. I'm quitting my job. I'm cutting off ties.
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I'm moving Would you expect me to say? Well, thanks for letting me know
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You just brought me into this knowledge and now you're expecting a response Ross I I'm not gonna keep this from you any longer
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This is what I'm about to do and you're expecting me to respond to it. Have you really thought this through? What does your wife think about this?
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You're expecting a dialogue and so it is with the Lord shall I hide from Abraham what I'm doing?
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He's prompting a response now before we actually look at the response notice what the
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Lord attaches to this unveiling This is all within the earshot of Abraham verses 18 and 19
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Shall I hide what I'm doing from Abraham? since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him for I have known him
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In order that he may command his children in his household after him that they may keep the way of the
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Lord to do righteousness and Justice that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him
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So notice that the Lord gives three bases Since Abraham will become
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Israel basically a mighty nation That's the first basis since Abraham will become Israel Second since Israel will bless the nations of the earth
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Israel being the true Israel of God Third since I have known him There's a threefold reason here as to why
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God is going to unveil his hidden purpose to Abraham Since Abraham will become Israel since Israel will bless the nations since I have known him now the verb to know
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Here speaks of the deepest relationship It's the same verb used for a husband knowing his wife so in that physical expression of what signifies a completely unique and exclusive relationship
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The Lord has known Abraham fully known Abraham Not in a way that he knows others, but in this relationship that is unique this covenantal relationship
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Remember last week our great point was God is infinite but also intimate he's saying because I've known
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Abraham And then that knowing itself contains a number of callings
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What did God's knowing of Abraham lead to why did God know
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Abraham in order that He may command his children in his household after him
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To keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice. This is in part why God has come to know
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Abraham not for his sake only but for the sake of the generations to come the generations that would be molded and Influenced and called upon by this great example of faith in God's promise and in God's power
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So Abraham himself then must keep the way of the Lord Which is a calling to disciple others to keep the way of the
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Lord Abraham himself must do justice and righteousness which is a calling to disciple others to do justice and to do righteousness and all of this is
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Conditional to the great promise of the covenant so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him
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That was a point. We won't uncover it. We won't rehearse it again this morning, but some weeks ago we made the point about the
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Conditionality of the Abrahamic Covenant if you remember we spoke about at length for several weeks
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The dimension of promise and the dimension of the flesh both contained within the Abrahamic Covenant and here in chapter 18
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We see this signal of conditionality and it's bounding toward ethnic
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Israel and what will unfold in the plan of redemption But notice that all that God is going to require of Abraham is
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That which God is going to provide for Abraham Whatever the
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Lord attaches as from our point of view conditional to his knowing of us
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Is that which is brought about by virtue of him knowing us? In other words, it's it's never beyond what
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Augustine would pray Lord ask what you will but grant what you ask In other words,
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I have nothing to offer unless it's from you No fruit to bring unless it's fruit that you've sown and you've watered and you've brought
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John Calvin says in a certain way God honors himself and his gifts in us for what does he commemorate here except his own gifts and Therefore he traces the cause to himself not to the merits of Abraham for the blessing of Abraham flowed from no other source than the divine fountain and so it is with all of God's people now in verses 20 and 21 we see this unveiling of the
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Lord's turning towards Sodom and this is what he's Unveiling to Abraham remember this is what he's prompting
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Abraham to respond to the Lord said because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and Because their sin is very grave.
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I will go down now and See whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to me and if not
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I will know Twice in these verses we have this word outcry
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Right the outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah the scream for God's justice and we're immediately drawn back to Genesis 4
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Remember what God said of Abel's murder the voice of your brother's blood Cries out to me from the ground in other words.
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There's a scream for justice Something corrupt and horrific has taken place and we see these outcries take place throughout
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Scripture Exodus 2 of course is perhaps the greatest example the children of Israel groaning under their bondage in Egypt and they cried out we read in Exodus 2 their cry came up to God and God heard their groaning
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Isaiah 5 7 he looked for justice, but behold Oppression for righteousness, but behold a cry for help an outcry
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Sodom's sins have been filling up Like we read about the Amorites their iniquity filling up And God has come now and he's set his face toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities on the plain and the limit is
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At the precipice and for the sake of his long -suffering mercy He's been restraining his judgment, but now the limit is fast approaching
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And as we'll see in chapter 19 The wonder is not that Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed so suddenly and so completely that is not the wonder
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The wonder is that any nation so bent on godless rebellion is spared for even a moment
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That's the wonder The wonder is not the judgment. The wonder is
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God's grace. That's the wonder God's long -suffering long -persevering
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His desire that none would perish but that all would come to repentance
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It's that long -suffering. That is the marvel the wonder here not the judgment psalm 133 if you
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Lord should mark an equity. Oh Lord who could stand How could any nation stand? How could any city stand?
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It's all of grace We see here we see in here the reports of horrific deeds
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We see the celebration and of perversion all around us Especially here on the coast
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We have at every turn the lauding of our Western death death culture We wonder if our prayers and our laments and our vexation and our grievances ever heard and what do we have here in Genesis 18?
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But the fact that God hears God hears He doesn't come down bumbling and aloof
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As though this was all unbeknownst to him he's been hearing these cries Even if no one else hears these cries
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God hears God is attentive Calvin says this is back from Genesis 4
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It's good for us to know that when our own suffering which we silently endure Goes into the presence of God Oppression and silence do not hinder
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God's judgment God hears We have brothers and sisters this very morning who are suffering silently
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Tempted perhaps despairing is God hearing Maybe in underground churches in South Korea or Beijing Maybe in parts of the
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Middle Eastern culture where honor killings would would take place if the faith was to be known
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And and there's secretive gatherings of those who have trusted Jesus for salvation and worship
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Jesus as Lord And does he hear? Does he hear the suffering? It's so silent and the oppressors are so boastful and so powerful and so easily able to do whatever they will
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Is God present? Is God there? Does he hear? And here we see in Genesis 18
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Abraham is under no illusion When he hears when he hears that God is now
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Setting his face towards Sodom and Gomorrah and he's going to go see if the outcry matches the reality in other words
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It's a way of in a condescending way saying my judgment is always meted out perfectly
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I don't do something arbitrarily and regret it after the fact. My justice is perfect And so Abraham knows enough about Sodom to say well if you're gonna go see if the outcry is real the outcry is real
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He knows automatically this means judgment is going to come He said back in Genesis 13 the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the
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Lord remember in chapter 14 when the king of Sodom offered the spoils that that were really owed to Abraham and said
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You know release release the men but take the spoil for yourself And how did Abraham respond largely because of Melchizedek's intervention?
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He wanted nothing to do with it. He didn't want to be tainted by the spoil of Sodom It shows you he was he was very aware of just how corrupt and depraved
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Sodomite culture was But that was decades ago Sodom hasn't gotten any better Maybe Abraham though living as a neighbor
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Decades on had become rather jaded to the evil in his midst. I Mean, it's enough to focus on the pressures and difficulties of just getting through daily life
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Here is Sodom and Gomorrah this this depraved odious
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Society at the feet of Sarah and Abram every morning and every night when they rise up when they go down there's at their feet a world of bondage and corruption and injustice and You wonder if day after day year after year
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Decade after decade perhaps they themselves have forgotten or grown accustomed to that to that world as long as it's out there
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It's okay Life continues on sitting by the tent grazing animals milking goats tending to the household
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Chastening servants and exhorting them at their work, but at their feet is this world of rebellion and abuse
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Much like you and I today Now we're less insulated than we used to be when
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I grew up My parents wouldn't really know where any of the neighborhood kids were until it was dinnertime we were somewhere in the neighborhood and When we came home after dinner and we're getting ready for bed.
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The windows were open. The doors were unlocked. Every house was like that. I I I don't think
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I could sleep if I had even a window open If I were in my parents neighborhoods today and it's not even a bad neighborhood
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We're less insulated today than we used to be We don't let our kids wander back and forth to the playground or around the neighborhood but but even for us it's as though the world is carrying on and God is not aware.
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He's not intervening at the injustice that is constantly Coming across the the airwaves and the headlines and the
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Apple news updates on our phones And the whole world of course carries on as though God is not or if he is that he is removed and he's distant and He's uncaring or if he's it if he is caring it's in some general weak or ineffectual way.
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We don't see that here there's an outcry and God is attentive to it and Though he's long -suffering
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There's a limit There's a there's a line. There's a dividing point So when we're reading
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Genesis and we're understanding something about the character of God We of course have seen again and again that he is a
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God who is long -suffering He's the God that pursues Hagar when no one else will he's a God who is abounding in mercy and generosity and patience
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He he perseveres with his sinful and stubborn people But here and especially in chapter 19, we also see a
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God who moves in fury He's a consuming fire His ear is ever open to the outcry
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He avenges his holiness He judges the corruption of the earth So we hold together both a gentle shepherd who's just been so intimate and playful with Sarah.
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Oh, no, but you did laugh Remember that you laughed he's burying them up in this unfailing love a mercy that's been renewed every single morning
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But also every single morning there's an outcry going up and God's fury is boiling
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He's an infinitely holy judge and there's no shadow of darkness. He he's going to sweep away the wickedness and Sodom Because he is
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God and he is holy and he will not indefinitely allow men and women and children to Spurn his patience and his mercy and his compassion
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It is the kindness of God That he intends to lead people to repentance
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But that kindness is not an open door That kindness is not without its own limit
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That's why we always call for sinners to repent While God is near You don't know how perilously close you are to that limit if you haven't been found in Christ This is all part of the purpose of God he wants
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Abraham to know him Not only in the gentleness and the intimacy of of that feast of that fellowship by the tent
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But also in the fact that he is a judge who's righteous and holy It's his purpose to draw
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Abraham into a response so that Abraham himself Might begin to reflect the character of God's mercy in the face of judgment
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Perhaps you find it very hard to square God's mercy with his judgment
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His his goodness and love with his wrath and if you don't find that hard, you probably don't even know the issues
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It's incredibly hard to understand these things Comprehensively as they're presented in the scriptures
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It's a very difficult doctrine the love of God But of course the most important part of the answer is the reality and the numbness that sin brings about When we fell it wasn't just our actions or our attitudes that fell
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It was also our minds our ability to know things rightly and accurately as Adam would have known it part of that numbness is true even in the
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Christian life even when you've been illuminated to the grace of God and and you're aware now who
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God is and what sin is and and why Jesus had to come and Die for sinners even then we're still numb still jaded still only half -hearted toward the sin in our lives and the sin around us
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You must remember that when you're trying to cope with the holiness of God's judgment If you could see the depth of sin with unveiled untainted unbiased sight
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You wouldn't just cope with God's judgment. You would beg for if you could see the depth of sin with unveiled
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Unnumbed understanding you would ascend with the cries of the Saints on high how long O Lord how long
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O Lord? Avenge your people offend your holiness Avenge yourself
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How long will you be long -suffering? How long will you show mercy? It would automatically show us something about our hearts
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We tend to think because we're so numb to sin that we would show more compassion than God That we could be more merciful than God.
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Oh, if only I was God I would move in this way We don't even know the micron of it. We don't
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As the saying goes if I were God heaven would be empty hell would be overflowing We cannot fathom the mercy of God God is now prompting
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Abraham to respond so that he can both affirm the reality of God and his justice and mimic
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God in his mercy And that brings us to the second point the posture of Abraham that God has brought about God is drawing
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Abraham to intercede so that he can reflect the grace that God has been planting in his life
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We read in beginning in verse 22 then the men turned away from there and went towards Sodom but Abraham still stood before the
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Lord and Abraham came near and Said would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked you can picture the scene can't you?
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As God has been sharing these things Shall I hide from Abraham what
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I'm doing and then he gives these reasons as to why he's going to unveil it and then he Actually unveils it to Abraham.
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You can picture that that journey has stopped as God as God has unveiled this and Now these these men they turn away and they begin to head towards Sodom and you almost get the picture that the
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Lord is now There this is why he came. This is where he's going. But he's lagging. He's prompting a response.
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And what does Abraham do? He doesn't go with them anymore No longer is he this gracious host just helping them out now he's standing still you get the sense he's standing against He's preventing the
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Lord from continuing on with the messengers Abraham has not moved.
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He is standing before the Lord he's putting himself between the
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Lord and Sodom and And Notice the first thing he does is give a direct response to the
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Lord. Would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? He cuts right to the chase.
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This is getting to the heart of the matter as Abraham can see is there really no one who does good in Sodom if You wipe out the city.
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Will you destroy the righteous along with the wicked? And he's reasoning surely in this massive city of Sodom there are some righteous people
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And should they face your judgment upon the wicked in their midst? And so this is the beginning of Abraham's plea his posture
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He's standing against the Lord in between the Lord and Sodom and he's pleading for the
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Lord's mercy Remember that Abraham himself received the mercy of God when he was called out of Ur of the
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Chaldeans Participating in that godless culture and God called him by grace and by that grace now
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Abraham is interceding. Will you not call some by your mercy and Sodom now?
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It's very clear in the verses that follow this standing. This posture is not defiant. It's not arrogant
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It's not indignant He's not pretending for a moment that he has God's sight or understanding or that he would be able to mete out justice
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No, no as he's pleading with the Lord. We see this again and again in the verses that follow he denies himself
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He puts himself in a place of abject humility verse 27 Indeed now
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I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord Verse 30 let the
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Lord not be angry and I will speak Verse 31 indeed now
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I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord verse 32 again Let not the Lord be angry. I will speak but once more you see this pleading
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He's very aware that he's a no position to argue with God about justice But he's putting himself before the
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Lord to plead for mercy What does this show us not only about the character of Abraham but about the character of God Abraham has come to know something of God's goodness.
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That's why he can be pleaded with Abraham has come to know something of God's patience.
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That's why he can be pleaded with Abraham has come to know something about how much
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God delights to show mercy and that's why he can be pleaded with And so not only does he speak humbly he speaks boldly
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Look at verse 25 far be it from you to do such a thing as this
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To slay the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous should be as the wicked far be it from you
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Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? You see how not only is
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Abraham humble He's bold and both his humility and his boldness flow from this personal
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Intimate trust that Abraham has with God He knows the character of God and indeed he is here reflecting the character of God This boldness notice is coupled with drawing near you read that don't you
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Abraham came near he drew near to the Lord as He pleads with the
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Lord He draws near as a friend to a friend in Humility but in boldness he he understands the character of God and next see how he moves to Negotiation This plead becomes a negotiation
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Verses 24 and 25 suppose there were 50 righteous within the city Would you destroy the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous that were in it far be it from you?
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To do such a thing as this Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? So Abraham is now considering the justice of God and does not even for a moment
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Make the argument that the wicked do not deserve justice. He knows that they do We ought to know that they do but he considers the possibility of there being some righteous within the city.
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What about them? I know what the wicked deserve and I know that you are just and you cannot be anything but just But aren't there some righteous in the city suppose there's 50 righteous are you gonna wipe them out with all of the wicked in the city
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Abraham acknowledges that God is indeed the judge not of a few people not of a culture not of a people at a certain time
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Or in a certain place, but the judge of all the earth and the character of God Abraham confesses
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The judge of all the earth will do right that is he will judge righteously And this becomes the basis for his plea far be it from you don't slay the righteous with the wicked far be it from you
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Justice requires a vindication of the righteous and a condemnation of the wicked Of course, there are examples of the righteous suffering along with the wicked in Scripture Sometimes the righteous suffer because of the sins of the wicked
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The cross of Jesus is the supreme example of that And so our faith that it's very center has a very deep theology of suffering
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It's not nothing quite as black and white as saying the righteous never suffer and the wicked suffer
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God only moves in judgment against the wicked and the righteous prosper If you've ever read the Bible or almost any psalm you see that often that is flipped
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It's it's the godless and the proud and the arrogant and the blasphemers that seem to prosper and ASAP saying my foots almost
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Slipping here. Why do the righteous suffer? There are times when Christians cannot understand this hidden purpose of God He allows his servants to suffer if not along with the wicked and sometimes just from the wicked
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They're just suffering at the hands of the wicked and at this very place God's servants God's people
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They look to the cross of Christ. They trust that like their Savior in the end. Their souls will not be allowed to see decay
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They know that ultimately they will not share the fate of the wicked and so they put their trust and hope in God but other times there are those that perish not because they alone were in need of judgment, but because in Facing a judgment or a trial or a tragedy of God.
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They're meant to depict to others This judgment this justice this fragility of life
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They're meant to be a beacon for others to repent unless they likewise perish we see that in Luke 13
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There were present at the season some who told him Jesus about the Galileans whose blood
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Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices And Jesus answered and said to them. Do you suppose that these
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Galileans were worse sinners than all other? Galileans because they suffered such things
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I Tell you no But unless you repent you will all likewise perish or Those 18 on whom the tower and Siloam fell and killed them
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Do you think that they were worse sinners and all other men who dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you no
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But unless you repent you will all likewise perish. So here we see another mysterious purpose in the judging hand of God That sometimes it moves whether upon the wicked and righteous as a beacon for others whose life is a vapor like ours
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But they must repent Or they will likewise perish. Do you remember this very thing in in Jonah?
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When God had sent the Prophet Jonah to awaken the people to his coming judgment
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You can picture almost the two angels right heading into Sodom Here's this coming judgment
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The Lord is about to destroy your city and what we read happening in Jonah 3 beginning in verse 5 the people of Nineveh believed
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God They proclaimed a fast they put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them and word came to the king of Nineveh And he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe
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Covered himself with sackcloth and satin ashes and he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout
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Nineveh saying let neither man nor beast Herd nor flock taste anything do not let them eat or drink water
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But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth cry mightily to God Let everyone turn from his evil way and the violence that is made in their hands
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So notice what happens here's this oracle of judgment God is going to destroy
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Nineveh this great city full of the depraved and corrupted sinners But when that judgment comes there's an outcry
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Not the outcry of their sins that was prompting God's judgment, but the outcry for God's mercy
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We repent spare us We don't know if you will but we're repenting in sackcloth and ashes now a new outcry has arisen for repentance and mercy
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Can you imagine what chapter 19 would look like if we could take out Nineveh and put in Sodom if?
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this purpose of judgment were to stir them to repentance and The outcry of their odious sins became an outcry for mercy, please spare us
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And so even in his judgment the Lord seeks to offer hope and mercy Do not forget mercy in your anger
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Speaking of Abraham and his character. How different is Jonah from Abraham? When God relents to destroy
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Relents to destroy Nineveh we read in Jonah for it displeased Jonah exceedingly He became angry and he prayed to the
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Lord. What's Jonah's intercession? Look at this. This is Jonah's intercession. Oh Lord Was this not what
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I said when I was in my country and that's why I fled to Tarshish I know that you're a gracious and merciful
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God slow to anger Abundant and loving kindness one who relents from doing harm, you know,
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Jonah understands the character of God, too But it doesn't move him to reflect the mercy of God.
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It actually hardens him against mercy He doesn't reflect this
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Merciful long -suffering character of God in the way Abraham does he he actually hardens himself
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He actually begins to despise and dislike the mercy that God shows to wicked people
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Now we all want to think that we're like Abraham and not like Jonah, don't we? we all want to think that and We all love the
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Hallmark movie story of conversion Where you have some? Absolutely, you know handsome
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Hollywood actor or a gorgeous Hollywood actress and they just put a little dirt on their face And they're you know, oh,
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I'm a drug addict and you know, and they find the Lord Nothing really real we all oh, yes, isn't that wonderful?
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No sins too too messy. Nothing too scandalous And then if you
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If you if you watch as I've watched the interview with someone like Jeffrey Dahmer He's saying that he's trusting in Christ for his salvation.
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He knows that he needs to die for what he's done You begin to feel a little bit like Jonah Mercy even for him
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Lord We don't mind the liars Lord. We don't mind the hypocrites, but Surely not that kind of mercy
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We ought to sympathize with Jonah for we're often like him Remember if we could see
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Nineveh's Sinfulness not read about it from afar and go. I hope that they're saved but if we actually had to live in Nineveh as We are in many ways living in Nineveh We could see the depravity
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And our hearts are longing for God's justice to come and our prayer is for mercy to be withheld
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Because of the oppression and the hostility and the blasphemy and the evil and the wickedness if we could see
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Sodom's Depravity we would say Abraham enough. Don't don't pray for God to stop
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Pray for God to go faster Rejoice be glad that he's gonna smite this wicked city
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We would echo the disciples Lord at this time. Should we call down fire from heaven to destroy the
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Samaritan village? No, what does Jesus say? The Son of Man did not come to destroy the lives of men but to save and so you see that Abraham's intercession is at the very heart of the character of God If we're thinking more like Jonah and less like Abraham we don't know what spirit we are of Intercession is a drawing near to God Abraham came near he didn't realize that Everything he's saying and praying as a result of God drawing near to him
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Abraham is reflecting the character of God. God's justice is never without mercy.
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His mercy is never without justice well
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Yesterday as I was as I was thinking of these things, you know having prepared them and Alicia was putting
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Abbey for a nap upstairs and we have three three floors in our condo and I was downstairs in the study and Elsie and and Sophia were in the living room and well a few days ago the little childproof lock on our refrigerator broke that's been an interesting challenge and Alicia comes to the top of the stairs
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Ross. Are you busy? What's going on? Can you come here? so I come to the top of the stairs and She draws near to me and says
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Sophia took the maple syrup out of the fridge and she poured it on the couch And I look over on our couch and there's a pool of maple syrup and I was just Knowing that there had to be justice in that moment and yet Alicia's tender drawing near Was a very
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Abrahamic moment for me In your anger, don't forget mercy If there were 50 teaspoons of maple syrup 45 set to reason down Notice the tremendous growth of Abraham's faith.
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Do you realize? That at every time Abraham has sought the Lord in prayer up to this point in Genesis 18
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It's always been a prayer for himself Where's my assurance that you're gonna do this
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Look at the air of my house is Eleazar. Where's the Sun that you promised me? Where's my assurance?
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How will I know that you do this? Yeah, I see the stars. Yeah, I can see the sand How do I know Lord give me a sign?
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Every prayer every intercession is for himself, but look at him here Look at his faith This is the first time that God that we see
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Abraham pleading with God for others and not for someone he's affectionate toward but for For strangers that are evil
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That can offer him nothing That if anything vex him Frustrate him
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Notice here. We have Abraham pleading for for people that can offer nothing in return, but their blasphemy and their destructive ways
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What is God doing but proving Abraham? He had prompted this whole exchange
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Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm doing? Seeing that in him all the nation shall be blessed all the nation shall be blessed then
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God bless Sodom Spare Sodom then if I'm to bless the nations then spare this one through him
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He will do justice and righteousness and what is he doing? He's doing righteousness. He's righteously interceding
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Lord Show mercy, but would you wipe away the righteous with the wicked if there's even ten, wouldn't you spare the city for ten?
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God is proving Abraham. He intends to prove all of his people in this way
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You know that you're maturing in the Christian life when your prayers are less about yourself and more about others
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You know when they're less about the people that you actually care for and more about people You barely know they can offer nothing to you.
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You have no affection for them God is proving Abraham. He's revealing the work of his grace in his life toward him
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Which is the the first four commandments, right and then toward others Because as Jesus taught
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The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God But the second is like it
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We spend a lot of our lives Trying to quibble and perfect and organize the first and we forget that the second is like it
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If Abraham were only ever to examine himself as we so often do his own issues the state of his faith
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The areas that he's fallen short what he was setting his affections upon how he was treating
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Sarah How he was treating Hagar and Ishmael Relationships in the home that he was having to work on how his servants were doing how he might encourage them to the worship of Yahweh, what was he putting before his eyes?
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What was he allowing his ears to hear? What was taking up his focus? What was he giving his energy to well, what was his affection being rooted in if Abraham only ever examined himself?
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Personally and privately the individual things that he was committing Would he ever be proven like this?
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So when I asked if we have the heart of Abraham or the heart of Jonah What I'm saying is we must examine ourselves against the whole of God's law and not just the sins that we commit that are more conscious and more obvious, but another mark of maturity the sins of omission
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Examining what we've left undone Relationships that we've let go people that we have not reached
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When you begin to feel ashamed because you feel the Lord opens up an opportunity in a conversation But you don't jump through it and then you convince yourself why that wasn't really an opportunity and you walk away
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When we examine ourselves before the Lord if we would be proven as Abraham is being proven We don't just consider
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The private sins, but the relational sins not just the inward actions But the outward things that we haven't done that we've failed to do
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I was listening to I Really appreciate and bless God for the ministry of Rosaria Butterfield I was listening to an interview with her this week and she was answering
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Questions about her book on hospitality, right? The gospel comes with a house key One of the things that struck me that she said that the interviewer was doing a very good job asking very realistic questions
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How do you balance you know concern if you have young kids in the home and you're being hospitable and you're allowing certain?
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Influences in and how do you how do you balance this out? You have to protect your family But you also want to you know, trust the
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Lord with these things and she was giving very practical advice But it always seemed to boil down to this point. The Bible ought to make us uncomfortable in its demands
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There's really just no getting around that Jesus teaching and Jesus way ought to radically confront us and provoke us and And when we catch ourselves spinning for excuses and good reasons that everyone else would say yes to we as Christians We say no,
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I know that passes muster for everyone else, but I'm not walking before everyone else.
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I'm walking before Jesus Does our character reflect our
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Savior in the way Abraham's character reflects his Savior?
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Where does that burden for the lost around us?
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Where does that burden for Sodom begin? but with a drawing near to the
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God who has shown us mercy a God that we reflect upon and meditate meditate on and Reflect the mercy that he's shown us the mercy that we continually desire and then we begin to desire that mercy for others
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You begin to daydream what it would be like for these other people to have their lives touched by God's grace and so we pray for that and We labor for that This is the way that God proves his people and draws them to intercede.
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We're not changing God's will by interceding We're participating in his will
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And the last point we make we've considered the purpose of God right Prompting a response from Abraham and then we considered that response the posture of Abraham standing before the
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Lord and Then lastly we consider this principle and here's the principle of our faith the wicked are spared for the sake of the righteous and That's what we have in verses 26 and following the wicked are spared for the sake of the righteous so the
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Lord said If I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city Then I will spare all of the place for their sake.
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That's the principle for the sake of the righteous The wicked will be spared if I find is the condition if I find
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Of course that 50 is whittled down to 45 and the 45 to 40 and to 30 and to 20 and to 10
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Abraham is completely relying upon the mercy of God's justice. He has nothing else to bargain with He has nothing to use as leverage nothing to offer in trade.
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It's simply will you show mercy? That's all I can do is plead When he comes all the way down to 10 10
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Righteous Lord is 10 Righteous people in a city so wicked enough for you to turn back your hand of judgment and God agrees.
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Oh now why 10? Why does Abraham content with 10? Well some commentators?
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I don't know if this is completely true but some commentators point out that 10 would have been seen at least by later
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Israelites as the absolute minimum to actually have a community and so for instance
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If you had Jews that were spread out during the diaspora when all the Jews had were in exile and spread out over all parts
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Of the world if they were in a place where there were not yet ten men They could not form a synagogue
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They would gather to pray But they could not actually form a synagogue until there were 10 men so 10 seems to be this number it's the
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Absolute limit the absolute bottom floor on what constitutes a community so if we view it in that way
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Abraham's going to the very bottom of the threshold out of the Thousands perhaps that are in this city
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He's saying if you just go to the very bottom and there's 10 and we can still call it a city if there's 10
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Righteous will you spare the wicked men and God agrees?
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Please don't forget in chapter 19 that God agrees God agrees to this
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Don't forget that God agrees to spare a city whose abuse and depravity and blasphemy and outcry is rising up to the heavens and He's willing to spare it if there's 10 people who are trying to walk by faith
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This is an incredible display of his mercy If there's just 10 that are like Enoch or Noah or Abel or Abraham just 10
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God will spare the city just 10 and the whole city is spared You know the more society turns away from the
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Lord the more hostile that society becomes toward the Lord's people It tries to get rid of the
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Lord's people In an ironic way it tries to stomp out the salt and the light and in so doing it's actually
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Accelerating its own demise Every godless society is filling up the measure of her sins.
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The day is fixed God we know it when that judgment comes in any case God is going to care for his people whether in this life or in the life to come
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We're all as a drag Meshach and Abednego. But if not, we would say in the midst of the furnace
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But here we see in Abraham's interceding what is true of believers in the
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Sodom's of today But they are often the brakes on the judgment of God That Christians are salt and light
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That allow God to be long -suffering in his perseverance and a relenting of his judgment wear that in a godless society that tries to oppress and stomp out and Persecute these annoying
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Christians that are preventing their babble from being built when they do so they are accelerating their own judgment
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Christians are the preservative of The Babylon's and Nineveh's and Sodom's of the world
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We're the salt as Jeff Thomas said
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Abraham is taking God's principle of the wicked polluting the whole city Right the wicked pollute the city and he's turning it upside down Surely it is the presence of the few righteous who act like salt and light in such a rotten dark place they cannot be destroyed along with the wicked because of all the good that they do and So they prevent the putrefaction from getting worse.
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That's what salt does to a carpet But notice this principle again, the wicked will be spared for the sake of the righteous
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This is the gospel being revealed in Genesis 18 And so this interceding is
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Abraham negotiating all the way down to ten righteous and the Lord saying I will not Destroy it for the sake of ten righteous
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I will not destroy it and then we read that the Lord goes his way as soon as he had finished speaking and Abraham returns to his place.
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He goes back to the tent Abraham returned. Can you imagine what that walk back to the tent felt like I stood against the
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Lord and Of course on my heart is my nephew lot and his family We know from Scripture that lot is righteous.
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That's at least one at least one righteous person We just need nine more nine more and God will spare the city surely in a city of thousands
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Surely there are nine more righteous people His heart must have been put at ease He walked back to the tent feeling a wave of relief
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Felt that of course not only does he understand something more about God's attentive ear for justice, but also
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God's delight in mercy And we're not there yet, but Just to just to just to think about it.
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I wonder if his heart absolutely froze When he saw the heavens open up and the brimstone rained down and the smoke rise up and that Cataclysmic shattering echo against the terebinth trees.
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I wonder if his heart flows Were there none righteous in Sodom?
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Who can be saved if there are not ten
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Righteous in a city that big what hope is there to be saved? And so what is the
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Lord going to teach Abraham? between here in Genesis 19 What is the
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Lord going to teach Abraham in this? unanswered intercession Remember the very beginning right the question that is meant to prompt
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Abraham shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? I am showing Abraham I am showing all of those who have the faith of Abraham that there are none righteous, but the
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Lord There is no one who does good, but God there is no hope unless the
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Lord provides an acceptably righteous sacrifice without spot without blemish without sin righteous and If righteous then the wicked will be spared.
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Do you see Abraham? would be What the
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Lord would say if he were by that tent as the judgment is pouring upon Sodom do you see Abraham do you see
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Sodom does not have ten who are able to meet the laws demands No city in this fallen corrupt world
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Has enough decent people within it, but haven't broken every precept of the law and sinned against God Not only with what they have done
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But also with all that they've failed to do and there's no interceding coming out from Sodom There's no
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Ninevite cries for mercy. No prayers. No sighs. No tears. And what does God do?
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What will God do? He'll love the world in such a way that Abraham loved
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Sodom He'll give his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him would not perish like Sodom perished but have life
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And in the scene of destruction, there's no outcry toward heaven for mercy There's there's no great intercession of the world apart from God's grace to which
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God is answering when he sends his son in there's nothing but blasphemy and corruption and rebellion and hatred and While we're yet enemies
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God sends his son into the world His beloved son. So the only outcry that comes to God is the the pouring of God's wrath upon the
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Sodom at Calvary and There there's an outcry not of guilt not of hatred but a father forgive them
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The only cry that's heard apart from the son is crucify him crucify him
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Do you see Abraham? It must be the promised son
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It must be the serpent crushing seed This is the only way the wicked will be spared if God himself provides the righteous one because there are none righteous
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There's no one who's able to intercede and stem the hand of God And then when you consider this intercession of Jesus at the cross when you consider this display of God's redeeming love
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You ask the question from the opposite point of view now not what's the bare minimum you'll allow there to be mercy
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But it's flipped upside down. What's the extent of your mercy? How far will your mercy stretch?
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What are its limits Lord? Who is too far gone, where's the cutoff would
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Jesus shed his precious blood for merely ten Ten wicked poor and helpless made righteous his blood shed for ten
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Would it be for 40 who are depraved blasphemers of God 45 and not a single more of the lost and the ruined?
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How about 50 sinners out of this fallen God hating world 50 sinners will be redeemed by the blood
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Though they're dead in their sins and trespasses though They're at enmity with God running in a torrent of dissipation for 50
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God deniers and lovers of self Would that be what Christ sheds his blood for or will it be for thousands?
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thousands and tens of thousands and a sand shore and a night sky and a host on high bowing before the crucified lamb
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You see it's it's upside down now, isn't it? If a wicked city wouldn't be spared for the sake of ten righteous when
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God finally brings the righteous one To take the place of the wicked there will be no limit to his mercy
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How could Christ's love continue to redeem more and more and more sinners?
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How could this precious blood? continue to show its power and Extend its mercy year after year in the filthiest gutters of our sodomite culture
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It's because of this principle of our faith the wicked are spared for the sake of the righteous the
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Lord Jesus Stood before God In a way that Abraham could never have stood before the
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Lord to intercede When the Lord Jesus stood before God it was not a humble posture of negotiation
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It was him hanging on a cross slain And that was his great Standing before God his great pleading on the behalf of the wicked his great
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Intercession that all those who come to faith in him would be made righteous as he is righteous Jesus standing before the
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Lord was not merely strong near to the father standing close to the father so that he might plead for sinners No in his humanity.
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He was utterly cast away from the presence of the father The sky was shut up like bronze Aloha Aloha Lama Sabitani Have you forsaken me?
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There was no drawing near in its flesh when he bore all of our sin And so his precious blood became the plea became the cry became the intercession he endured the holy judgment of God That is how
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Jesus stood before the Lord And so as we come to a close we're reminded of why this morning we can stand before the
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Lord Not just to intercede but just to stand before the Lord in faith and in Righteousness and full and free forgiveness in victory over sin in a fullness of hope all of that is because the
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Lord Our Savior Jesus stood before the Lord when he took on our sins
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And so we stand now Not so much before the Lord as in the Lord and as the hymn says
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When before the throne we stand in him complete Jesus died my soul to save our lips shall still repeat
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Let's pray father. We thank you that while we were enemies you loved us
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While we were running in a flood of dissipation Like the sodomites floor it was then that you sent your son into the world to save us
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We thank you that you've conquered our hearts with an irresistible grace We thank you that the blood of our
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Savior is extending mercy To thousands and tens of thousands and millions and hundreds of millions throughout the epochs of history
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To think of the great joy Lord of seeing this this mercy this promise fulfilled to Abraham When we enter the throne standing in him complete the one who died our souls to save May we be humbled
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Lord May we be so humbled by this that we begin to reflect upon the mercy that you've shown us
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And as we reflect upon it in our minds and hearts Lord, may our lives begin to reflect that mercy mercy toward neighbors
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Mercy toward the lost mercy towards strangers and the most abominable ones at that Lord May we not have the heart of Jonah?
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May we have the the heart of Christ? Lord do this great work in our lives
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Confront us with your word Lord as it often will make us uncomfortable We'll be looking for excuses and things that seem reasonable to others
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Lord. Let us not hide behind them Let us not be content with them Lord. Let us labor and strive after your own heart
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What our actions and our mindset and our approach to our lives and our work and our relationships?
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Be that which is Christ like that which is the way of the cross Show each one of us
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Lord this day What that might look like and what practical things that will involve?
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Help us as a church to encourage each other in these things Help us as a church to stand before each other and as a church to stand between your judgment in this this culture that we're living in We long
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Lord for our country to be To be moved as Nineveh was moved to repentance that you might relent your hand of judgment
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Lord how our hearts would Would jump with joy if if our leaders would put on sackcloth and ashes and declare repentance unto faith
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Lord we know that you are able And pray that you are willing Lord help us to know how best to intercede in these very ways
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And we intercede Lord lastly if there's anyone in this room this morning Who's been a stranger to your mercy
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Who's deserving of your justice? Who's standing by the thread of your judgment their sins filling up the outcry being great?
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might they to Begin to cry out for mercy May you again show your delight in mercy?