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What we see clearly in the Bible is that the writers of Scripture are not afraid to point out the sins of God's people and They are quick to highlight the faithfulness of God. The Bible records commendable parts of people's lives.
But it also reports the ugly and in each case the Lord stands with his people. We saw this not too long ago in the story of Noah. The Bible described Noah as righteous blameless and one who walked with God.
Yet scripture records an embarrassing account where Noah became drunk and was found naked in his tent. But this does not take away from the fact that for the most part Noah was a faithful man. That is why he could be called righteous.
He was counted righteous and his works also showed the fruit of faith. Last week we saw another situation where Abram did something very foolish. But this does not change the fact that Abram was a righteous man.
Even when believers sin they remain God's people. There is a difference between the sins of believers and the sins of unbelievers. The sins of believers are forgiven in Christ while the sins of unbelievers are not.
The believer feels sorrow for his or her sin while an unbeliever does not. A while back I did a sermon titled a tale of two sins. We contrasted the difference between the sins of a believer and an unbeliever in the story of Noah and His unbelieving son Han.
This morning. Our sermon is titled a tale of two righteous men. What we will see is that believers have ups and downs in their journey of the life of faith. But the Lord's faithfulness is steady. Through the whole journey, so we are continuing our sermon series through Genesis.
And if you're using a red Bible in the pews, it's on page 11 otherwise follow along in your own Bible and our big idea our Proposition this morning is that mature Christians have minor variations in character, but the Lord's faithfulness is always steady.
Mature Christians have minor variations in character, but the Lord's faithfulness is always steady. And we're gonna see three examples in this text that demonstrate each of these. The first example is going to demonstrate the faithfulness of a believer.
The second example is going to demonstrate the unfaithfulness of a believer. Believers still do sin and we're gonna see that today with lot. The third example is going to demonstrate the steady faithfulness of the Lord.
So the first example that we're gonna look at is Abram shows strong character and in his generosity to a fellow believer. Last week we saw that Abram made a foolish plan that was contrary to the will of God in an effort to preserve himself.
Abram lied to the Egyptians by telling them that Sarai was a sister and not his wife. This led the Pharaoh to take Sarai as his wife. Not only did Abram protect himself But he also received a position where he was able to be in charge of many possessions.
This was a foolish plan for a number of reasons. The most significant reason is that not long before this the Lord promised Abram that offspring would come from him. That a great nation would come from him and they would attain the land of Canaan.
Even after knowing this wonderful plan of the Lord Abram came up with his own foolish plan for his life. The Lord, of course put a stop to this. He sent a he sent a plague on the Egyptians and the truth came out.
The Lord showed his faithfulness to Abram by not allowing this plan to work. He had a much greater plan for him and the whole world would benefit from Abram as Christ the Savior of the world comes from his Lion, we've seen that over and over again that Jesus comes from the line of Abram.
So God is going to bless Abram in order for this to come about and Abram should have known this and today Abram leaves the place where he doesn't belong Egypt to go to the place where he does belong the land of promise the land of Canaan so he heads north and those with him.
Headed north to that would include his wife Sarah a lot and others in verse 1 describes their journey. It says so Abram went up from Egypt. He and his wife and all that all that he had and lot with him into the Negev.
Now what we see here is a relationship between Uncle and Nephew so this would be like Sean and Johnny or Jeremiah and Eli an uncle-nephew.
Relationship and.
Abram has lots of possessions even when Abram was in Egypt. He had possessions. And what the Lord does here is he blesses him not just spiritually, but also Materially, that's one thing we see clear in Abram's life is the Lord bless him in both of these ways.
And the Lord does this sometimes for his good purposes? And this is what verse 2 says describing this. Now Abram was very rich in livestock in silver and in gold. Abram travels north with all of his possessions, and he goes to a familiar place to a place He settled to before as he travels north from the Negev which the Negev was located in Southern Israel.
So now he's heading north To his old stomping grounds. In verse 3 says. And he journeyed on from the Negev as far as Bethel. To the place where his tent had been at the beginning. Between Bethel and I to the place where he had made an altar at the first and there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.
Two weeks ago we talked about how Abram built altars to the Lord to show his devotion to him. Abram returns to this place where he built this altar previously. This place is between Bethel and I. Which is not too too far south of where Jerusalem was later established.
We know that these altars were meant to represent worship of the Lord because the end of verse 4 says. That this was where Abram called upon the name of the Lord. In this statement called upon the name of the Lord sounds familiar.
Because earlier on in Genesis we saw in Genesis 5 that the line of Seth was described in this way. These were the people who called upon the name of the Lord and they were different from the wicked line of Cain.
Because the wicked line of Cain did not call upon the name of the Lord. And we already saw that Abram had lots of possessions. So did his nephew lot in verse 5 describes this lot who went with. Abram also had flocks and herds and.
Tents.
The mention of tents with flocks and herds tells us that lots settled in the same place as Abram. Verse 6 tells us the problem that arose after a while. I'm gonna read verse 5 here to preview verse 6 as well.
And lot who went with Abram also had flocks and herds and tents so That the land could not support both of them dwelling together for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.
So we see the problem here. Abram and lot and their people and their herds are all grazing in the same place. There's not enough vegetation for Abram's cattle and lots cattle. There was much cattle to take care of but there was not enough to feed both sides.
The dispute is probably also over a lack of water for the cattle to drink and a result of this would be that the humans Would not have enough food and enough water. The lack of natural resources for everyone in this one place obviously causes conflict between Abram and his people and lot in his people and this is what verse 7 tells us.
And There was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of lots livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land. So we see this strife between these two parties and the author Moses inserts that the Canaanites and the Perizzites Were in the land to highlight that there would have been competition for who owned what.
So you had it Canaanites the Perizzites Abram and his people lot and his people all going for the land and Brad and I moved here in the last year. And just just from talking with the people who've lived here.
All the action when it comes to real estate used to be in the downtown area. But in the last several decades everything has moved up on the hill where Walmart is Menards is and even recently I talked to a few people in this church Who told me that the hospital which of course is currently downtown is actually going to be moving to where the golf course is.
And so you have this prime real estate that everybody is after in St. Croix Falls in certain areas. Because some areas are better than other areas. And that's what's taking place here a lot in his people in Abram and his people.
They're going after the same areas and what they're discovering is that they can't live in close proximity to each other. They need to they need to separate they need to go in their different directions.
And what we are going to see in the following verses is that Abram handles the situation well It is true that God's people stand out as righteous, but sometimes they sin and do something foolish. Abram did that last week, but now he does something very good very holy in verse 8.
Then Abram said to lot let there be no strife between you and me and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen for we.
Are your kinsmen.
Abram attempts to resolve the conflict not only to resolve the conflict between him and lot, but also his people and Lots people. Abram is saying we are family. I am for you and not against you. We have a bond and I don't want that to end.
What we see in this story here, and what we're gonna see in the future. There's a few there's a few more stories We're gonna see in the coming weeks and months about Abram and lot what we see is that Abram is very loyal to his nephew lot in Verse 9.
Abram shows his kindness and his generosity to his nephew. Is not the whole land before you. Separate yourself from me if you take the left hand. Then I will go to the right or if you take the right hand then I will go to the left.
So Abram makes the statement and what you have to remember at this time. The land was mostly occupied by the Canaanites and we know from Scripture how wicked these people were. But Abram is talking about this land as if he owns it.
This is the land that the Lord promised to him. And this is not arrogance he is saying that the Lord promised this land to me and this is going to happen. He is showing confidence that the Lord is able to do what he has promised.
And he is showing kindness and generosity. Generosity to lot by saying to him. I want you to share in this land that the Lord has promised to me. This is the first example that mature Christians have minor Variations in character, but the Lord's faithfulness is always steady and we saw here an example of holy character from Abram.
Abram shows strong character in his generosity to fellow believer lot. The second example that mature Christians have minor variations in character, but the Lord's faithfulness is always steady. Is lot shows weak character in making a fair a very poor decision.
Lot shows weak character in making a very poor decision. We can gather that Abraham is facing east as he says this and as he is facing east. He says you can take the left and in left would be the direction north.
Or he says to him you could take the right which would be the south. And I say he's facing the east because the land of Canaan Is a fairly thin strip of land the length is much more substantial than its width.
So a lot can have many many miles to the north or he can have many many miles to the south. Lot has a decision to make here. He can go to the land of the north or the land of the south in. This decision for a lot is an important one and what we know about life is that it's all about decisions every day.
We make so many decisions and most of them are small. That we don't give much thought to. Like what are we gonna have for lunch? Or what are we gonna wear or toothpaste are we gonna use these are small?
Decisions that don't have an impact on the trajectory of your life, but some decisions are much bigger than others. The decision to come here to be your pastor was a big decision. Brianna and I weighed whether it would be a wise one and we eventually were became Convinced that it was the wise thing to do and the Lord's path and after being here a year We just received more and more confirmation that this is Exactly what he wanted us to do and it's nice having that peace as we've made that decision.
But sometimes people make missteps, you know I have made missteps in my life on bigger decisions and so have you we all have Godly people can make missteps that send them down the wrong path. And that's what a lot does here the full account from lots life tells us that he was a godly man and I say that on the authority of Scripture because 2nd Peter 2 7 says that lot was a righteous man.
But he makes a major misstep by heading not north or south.
But east.
This is what he does in verses 10 and 11. And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered. Everywhere like the Garden of the Lord. Like the land of Egypt in the direction of Zohar.
This is before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. So lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley and lot journey east. Thus they separated from Each other. It's a lot had a choice between going north or south in the land of Canaan.
Sadly. He chose neither. Lot looks to the east. We have already seen this theme about the direction east in Genesis. When Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. They were kicked out in the direction east of the garden and the Lord placed an angel to guard the east entrance to the garden.
After Cain killed Abel he settled it in the land east of Eden and The people at the Tower of Babel came from the east and we know what wicked people they were. The reason Moses highlights the direction east in the book of Genesis is to signify separation from God.
All of these people were separated from God because of their sins. Lot by making this choice to go east is cutting himself off from God. He is going down the wrong path. In this instance, this does not mean that lot is cutting himself off spiritually forever.
He's still a heaven-bound man. He's still saved and I already said a scripture that That the scripture highlights him as a believer. He's still a follower of God and in some cases that when a person was cut off they.
Were.
Probably Cain situation where they're hell-bound but but not in lot situation here. But his fellowship with God is hindered and he will experience the consequences of his sinful choice. Up to this point lots spent his time with Abram God's blessed man.
By staying with Abram and listening to Abram. He would have been following the Lord's will but now he is following his own selfish desires. Abram told him go north or south in the land of Canaan, but lot desired to go his own way.
He looked at the land in the east and the text says how he thought of it and the pull that it had on his heart. Verse 10 says that he lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered.
Everywhere like the garden of the Lord, which is the Garden of Eden. He compared this place to the Garden of Eden and lot desired this region. Like Eve desired the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden.
Eve.
Saw that the tree was good. In fact the same Hebrew word That's used to describe how Eve looked at the tree is used here with lot looking at the east region it says. That that he looked at it and it looked good to him and that's how sin works.
It looks good. And so we go for it and indulge in it and no one sins because someone is forcing him or her to. The reason we sin is because we want to we need to be honest about this. It's that's the truth.
In this moment lot did not care that it was better for his spiritual well-being and by effect his physical well-being. To heed Abrams advice and stay in the land of Canaan. Sometimes we can look at our life and and look at a choice.
We made and not realize how big of a decision was. Our life was full of big decisions. Not just small ones. American Idol was a big show over the over the last 10 to 15 years and it's not a show I never I really got into but my wife Brianna Has and what she told me is that there was a guy by the name of Colton Dixon who did not win the competition, but he finished in the top five and.
The record companies not only go after. The people who win the competition they go after the people who do well also and Colton Dixon had people.
Christian.
Record companies lining up on one side and secular record record companies lining up on the other. And. If Colton Dixon would have chosen the secular route, he would have been more famous. He would have made more money.
But you know what? He didn't go that route instead. He chose to go the Christian route with those record companies. And he has less fame there and less less money. But you see this he's following the Lord's will by doing that.
I think that's a great example of something we've seen In recent time in America as someone making the right choice.
In.
For a big choice. And when we make a big decision We need to aim to follow the Lord's will and not go after our own selfish desires. Because what sinful desires say, you know what I want to make the most money I can.
I want to become the most famous I can. In Colton Dixon's case or in our own case. It could be anything when it comes to selfish desires. We just want it and we'll do anything to get it. Now the region to the east that lot was traveling to became infamous as a place of sin that meant God's swift judgment.
He went to the region where the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were. You don't have to be a Bible reader and avid Bible readers to know That what Sodom and Gomorrah is known for they're known as a place that God destroyed.
The end of verse 10 says that he went to these two cities before they were destroyed. So you can see how foolish decision how foolish this decision was that lot made. He was going to these extravagant cities where life was good.
Lot desired to go to the Jordan Valley region because it was well watered. He thought this place provided better opportunity for him and his herdsmen, but he should have known better. The land of Canaan had plenty of resources.
The Lord would later describe that place as a land flowing with milk and honey and Lot knew that he should have stayed close to his uncle in the land of blessing because it would go well with him. He also knew about the promises the Lord made to Abram.
That those who bless Abram will be blessed and those who dishonor him will be cursed in this conflict. He does not respond well to his uncle. He dishonors Abram. He does not heed the what the wise advice of his blessed uncle.
But instead goes his own way to follow his own selfish desires. In verse 11, it says that he made the choice to go east. Symbolizing separation from God God's plan for his life. In verse 12, we see the contrast between the blessed position of Abram in the dark position of lot.
Verse 12 says Abram settled in the land of Canaan while a lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. So Abram stays and settles in the land of Canaan the land of promise while lot goes out of the promised land to the place Where he thought the grass was greener.
In verse 13 describes the place to which he was going. Now the men of Sodom were wicked great sinners against the Lord. Lot is is Leaving a man who is blessed in a place that is blessed to go to a place that will be cursed by God.
You can see how horrible this decision was that he made and The irony in all of this is that lot thought he was going to this wonderful place where the grass is green the water Is flowing and he can live a great life with his people, but this ends up being a cursed place.
And down the road here in our sermon series. We're gonna see the Sodom and Gomorrah Will be burnt to a crisp because of their great wickedness. God is gonna bring judgment upon this place. Now lot himself was not wiped out, but he experienced much heartache being there.
And even before the Lord burned this place down lot ran into trouble and we'll see this next week the kings in that region actually captured him and Abram had to come to his rescue. Lot ran into trouble in a place He never should have been and as you make big choices in your life when they come up from time to time and make the right Choice pray over it talk to godly people.
Heed a godly advice and go down the right path. Do not separate yourself from the Lord's will. This is the second example that mature Christians have minor variations in character, but the Lord's faithfulness is always steady.
Lot shows weak character in making a very poor decision.
Okay.
So we saw the holy character of Abram here of one believer where he did something good to his nephew lot and now we see unholy character demonstrated by another believer lot. The third example that mature Christians have minor variations of character but the Lord's faithfulness is always steady is the Lord reminds believers of his promises through their ups and downs as We look at this last point.
We need to once again remind ourselves about where Abram was last week. Abram knows what it is like to make a foolish decision. Like a lot just did because he did this very thing when he was in Egypt.
We saw this just last week. I Stood by his chosen man by sending a plague on the Egyptians and the Pharaoh letting Abram go back to the land of Canaan. The land that the Lord promised to him. We saw his foolish action last week and we saw holy action this week in the kindness and generosity that he showed his nephew lot.
So we see the ups and downs from these two men of God who are believers. These are heaven-bound men who sin and God disciplines them and is gracious to them by enabling them to continue to walk with him.
And we will see that here. Sorry, we will see that here with how the Lord's restores Abram and The Lord does the same thing with lot when he was in Sodom and Gomorrah by sparing him from the destruction in Genesis 19.
And we will see that down the road. But right now we will focus on the Lord's continued faithfulness to Abram. Through his ups and downs that through Abram through his the highs and lows of his walk with the Lord.
As the Lord gets believers on track to continue running the race. He reminds them of the wonderful promises that he has for them. After the Lord restores Abram and puts him back on the path. This is what he says to him.
The Lord said to Abram after a lot had separated from him lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are. Northward and southward and eastward and westward. For all the land that you see I will give to you into your offspring forever.
I will make Your offspring as the dust of the earth so that if one can count the dust of the earth your offspring also can be counted. Arise walk through the length and the breadth of the land. For I will give it to you.
So we see right there the Lord tells Abram to look in every direction north south east and west as far as he could see all of that was going to be his and Much further by the way, not just all he could see but miles and miles beyond that.
The Lord to this point has not yet revealed the specifics of how big the land will be the Abram and his offspring are going to attain. Later on in Genesis 15 18 the Lord said he and his offspring would get the land from the River of Egypt.
To the Great River the River of Euphrates. So this is northeastern Africa, Egypt. All the way up to where present-day Iraq is the Euphrates. And you might wonder did the Lord ever give all of this land to Israel.
And my answer that is no. The Lord had partially fulfilled it. This promise by giving them this land. But I think that's why the Millennium is in Revelation in Revelation chapter 20 because that's when the kingdom is restored to Israel and there will be this fulfillment where Jesus will reign on the earth during a thousand-year reign and Israel will have all the land that God promised to Abram.
And so it's it's amazing to see that here. So we see a I think this is what we see with them with him giving this land. It's just a partial fulfillment with the full fulfillment coming later. Now this is a big piece of land and lots of people now dwelt there at this point.
But the Lord said to Abram this is going to be yours. So the Lord reminds Abram of the promise of land. But he also reminds him of offspring and he tells him how many offspring he will have in verses 15 and 16.
For all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring is the dust of the earth so that one can count the dust of the earth. Your offspring also Can be counted.
The metaphor that his offspring will be like the dust of the earth is meant to say There will be so many offspring you won't be able to count them. It'd be like me telling mark Go to sconewood to the beach and try to count the pebbles of sand.
And then we'd say report back to us and tell us how many you counted. He wouldn't be able to do it. That's how many offspring there will be. Abram's physical offspring would be in the millions the nation of Israel his spiritual offspring.
That's all who belong to Jesus is in the billions. Think about that in Genesis 15 5 the Lord told Abram to count the stars in the heavens and that Will be something like the number of children you will have obviously living far enough from city lights.
We can see a lot of stars out here and the Lord told Abram look up into the sky. That's your offspring think about that. That's incredible. And when you look at sand or look at the stars think about these amazing promises the Lord made to Abram.
The Lord also tells Abram to survey the land that would be his. In verse 17 all of this blew Abram away. His jaw dropped when he heard all of this land. Was going to be his and it led him to worship the Lord.
When he pondered the land and also the offspring so in verse 18 He settled at Hebron where he built an altar to the Lord to show his worship of him. If you think about the Lord's faithfulness is incredible.
Abram didn't deserve this. Abram lives in the ups and downs of the life of a believer. The Lord says I am going to do all of this for you. So that I would get the glory and you would have fullness of joy in me.
The Lord does this to you as a follower of Jesus Christ. He makes you his child. He disciplines you when you go off the path. He brings you back on the path and he reminds you of his great promises just like he did with Abram here.
And all who are here today who truly belong to Jesus Christ. The Lord will stand with you through thick and thin. Not because you are a great person as a sinner, you know this, you know, you're not a great person.
But he stands by you because he is faithful he's committed to you he is invested in you. He sent his only son for you and his plan is to bring you into his kingdom so that you can enjoy him forever. The Bible is full of promises.
And right now I'm gonna read one quote from Jesus and this quote Comes from John 1027 through 30 and this is a promise that is for all believers that if you truly belong to Christ He will never let you go and God is gonna fulfill his plan for you as big plans for you.
What Jesus says is my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand. The Father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
What a wonderful promise. The Bible is full of countless promises like these and we need to read our Bibles to know That they are there and to live them out and to treasure Christ more. That's why I keep on saying we're starting a Bible reading movement.
And some of you are already have already joined us in this starting a Bible reading movement. We're reading the Bible together and growing together and being transformed. You won't be transformed unless you're fed the Word of God.
You won't be used by God to change the world unless you're in the Word of God. That's what we need to do. That's what God calls us to do. The Lord stands with you as a believer through the ups and downs of the Christian life because he is faithful.
He did it to Abram. He later did it a lot and he will do it to you, too. This is the third example that mature Christians have minor variations in character. But the Lord's faithfulness is always steady.
The Lord reminds believers of his promises through their ups and downs. And so what we've seen today I'll say once again here the big idea of the proposition, which is mature Christians have minor variations in character.
But the Lord's faithfulness is always steady and I'm gonna repeat the three examples that we saw this. Abram shows strong character and his generosity to a fellow believer. Lot shows weak character in making a very poor decision and the Lord reminds believers of his promises through their ups and downs.
We need to always be reminded of God's promises to us. And I want to quote here a quote from J. I. Packer. He was a theologian great theologian. He wrote a great book called knowing God and this prompt this quote is about how we need to trust God's faithfulness.
God is a rock.
That.
He's like a strong rock that always keeps his promises to his people even through our ups and downs. And I want you to hear this right here. Do we fear that God is weak of purpose and that as good folks with good intentions sometimes let down their friends?
So our God may fail to carry out his good intentions toward us but Paul states it as a fact that in everything God works for good with those who love him. And Who are you to suppose that you will be the first exception the first person to find God wavering and failing to keep his word.
Do you not see how you dishonor God by such fears? We need to trust. Okay, that's the end of the quote. We need to trust God's faithfulness. He is to be trusted. He calls us to trust his unshakable faithfulness through the ups and downs the Christian life.
Even when we go off the path to get back on and to keep walking with him. So that's that's our sermon today. What we're gonna see next week is we're gonna look at the story where Abram rescues his nephew lot From trouble and we're gonna see you once again the godly character that Abram shows.
Let's pray Father I pray For this church that we would live out this sermon. That we would trust your unshakable faithfulness. That we would live this out. Thank you Lord. You are so amazing. To stand with us through the ups and downs of the Christian life.
We praise you this morning for your great faithfulness in Jesus name. We pray.
Amen.