Book of Genesis - Ch. 18, Vs. 1-22 (09/17/2000)

Park Meadows Church

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Before I get to the lesson, in that wonderful message of David this morning, there was two or three things popped into my mind.

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I'd like to share them with you. He was discussing the word obtained, and it means by divine allotment.

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When I think of allotment, I think of reservation. And David, the picture that came to me was that in eternity of infinity,

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God had allotted a space for every one of his children.

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There was a space just for you, or there is a space just for you in heaven.

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Jesus himself told us that there was a place reserved for us. That's individual.

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No one else can fill it. That's how sure he was that you would be there. Then he spoke of foundation.

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And I mentioned this Friday night, but I want to mention it here. The foundation of our

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Christian life is what? Christ.

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And it is applied to us by grace and faith, right? I think one of the problems with so many

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Christians, they don't understand that. And they're trying to build the foundation with stones that belong in the building.

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Those things that belong in the building will not work in the foundation, such as love, prayer, obedience, patience.

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This is part of the building, not the foundation. Then he spoke about knowledge.

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And I saw several pipelines. We have a line that through it oil flows, another one gas flows, another one water flows.

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Now the one that has the oil, what do we call that line? No, no.

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You're out in the field now. What do we call it?

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Oil line. Boy, I tell you, if one is bringing water, what do we call it?

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Now you got it. Is gas called a gas line then?

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All right. We have some flowers, make -believe flowers in a bouquet.

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They come to us in the form of a bouquet, but that's not the flower. The bouquet is not the flower.

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The flower is in the bouquet. You with me? We have then patience, love, understanding, study that comes to us.

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How? In what kind of a pipeline? He told you this morning.

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What? No. It's what?

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No, this is a guessing game. You have to guess what I'm thinking of.

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You use the word knowledge so many times.

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Knowledge is not the study, the obedience, the prayer.

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That's what comes by knowledge, through knowledge. Knowledge is just the pipeline. In fact, that's what you said this morning, is the conduit through which it flows.

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So don't think that just because you have knowledge, you have anything. You don't. Knowledge is nothing.

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It's only a carrier. Okay. Well, it's not worth anything unless there's something in it.

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All right. Now chapter 18, verse one, and the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre.

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And he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. Verge, what time was it?

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Okay. Here it'd be from 12 to five sometime in the afternoon.

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And in the tent, in the doorway of his tent. Bill, why was he in the doorway?

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Why? Okay. So here he sits now, waiting to entertain any weary traveler, as well as communing with God, with reflecting on his own thoughts.

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Wondering why he didn't have a son yet. Thought he did have a son. And he saw three men coming.

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Now, we know they are heavenly beings. And we know, since Abraham or Abram did not have the privilege of reading verse one, we also know that the

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Lord is in this group. Because it says, the Lord appeared unto him. Well, he's one of these three that's coming.

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And he lifted up his eyes and he looked, and lo, three men stood by him.

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That's not right. They were still coming. But it's presented to us as though they were standing there.

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And lo, three men stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground.

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This is customary when an important person comes.

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If it had not been an important person, he would have simply stood where he was and waited for them to come to him.

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But there was something different about these. He ran to meet them.

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He went toward them. So he could tell by their dress, later by their speech, and later yet by a spiritual connection.

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But he knew these were of a superior rank. The custom, as I said, is to advance a little toward a stranger.

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Then after a very low bow, turn and lead him to the tent, putting your arm around him or touching him to assure him that he is welcome.

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So David, we see that religion does not destroy our manners, it improves it.

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Verse three, and said my Lord, and the word is Adonai, if now

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I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water,

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I pray thee, be fetched and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

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Greg, why in the world did he want to wash their feet or have their feet washed?

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All right. But they had high top boots on. What did they wear?

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Sandals. This was very necessary.

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It exposed his hospitality. It's difficult for us in this day and time, in this place, to understand the hospitality that the

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Eastern people have, even to this day. He says,

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I will fetch a morsel of bread, comfort your hearts. After that, you shall pass on.

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Now listen, for therefore are ye come to your servant.

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And they said, so do as thou hast said. Now David, in that fifth verse,

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Abraham says, for therefore are you come to your servant.

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What's that mean? All right.

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Anyone else have any thoughts on his statement? Yes? No, not yet.

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He knew they were different. Well, it's written that way for us, and perhaps he did.

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We're not told, but I rather suspect that he did not. But what does he mean?

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This is why you've come to me. You learn anything?

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All right.

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The lesson I saw here was that everyone that comes to us comes because of one or two things.

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One, God ordained it. Two, that we can express our

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Christian duty. He brings no one to us to ignore.

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Now, that does not mean you have to take them in. It does not mean you have to agree with them, but you must handle them.

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You must do something. Every one of us are exactly where we're supposed to be.

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If Abraham had not been here, look what he would have missed. But God saw to it that he didn't miss it.

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Abraham didn't know that. He didn't know what was coming. He would just perform in his duty.

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That's all we're supposed to do. Just perform our duty with whatever he gives us, wherever we are right now.

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Don't worry about anything else. Six, and Abraham hastened into the tent unto

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Sarah and said, make ready quickly three measures of fine meal.

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Knead it and make cakes upon the hearth. Three measures of fine meal. Who can tell us how much?

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Everybody? Six and a half bushels. Three measures of fine meal.

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Now, six and a half bushels of flour to make bread. How much bread would that make?

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One famous doctor said 56 pounds of bread, yes.

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Well, it measures all the way from a peck up to three bushels. All right.

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All right, this thought is bared out in the fact that he offered them a whole young calf, butter, milk, bread.

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So this leads me to believe that the people in that day and time, Greg, were hearty eaters.

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But yes, again, it's the abundance.

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And we're not to offer to people just barely enough so we can say we fed them.

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Because unless they're full, you don't feed them. You just give them something to eat. Christian friendship will stoop to anything except sin.

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Abraham ran into the herd and fetched a calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young man, and he hastened to dress it.

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Now, Russ, why didn't Abraham dress it? Well, he ran after it.

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Wasn't that a servant's job? Absolutely.

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And Abraham wasn't a young man anymore. Now, the way they prepared it, more than likely, was that they could cook it whole, like a roast over a fire, or cut it into pieces and put it over a fire like a shish kebab.

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So it turns out that they were having a barbecue, melted fat, and every morsel of meat laid upon a piece of bread is dipped before eating.

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And he took the butter and milk and calf, which he had dressed, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

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Clarence, how long did all of this take? So he was sparing no expense.

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He was not in a hurry. We should never be in a hurry to get rid of that which

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God has brought. Fulfill your obligations completely.

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Not thinking about anything else, just handle what you have right now.

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So many times, so many people attend church and worry about the roast on the stove. You can't worship much like that.

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God is a jealous God. He wants all of our attention. So Abraham's standing by him now, and they said unto him,

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Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. He could have added right where she's supposed to be.

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How did they know his wife's name? Well, I could see that we're more likely to receive comfort from God when we're in our place doing our duty.

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And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life.

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And lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

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So she was within earshot. She wanted to know what was going on and did not get so far back in the tent she couldn't.

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She intended to know. Now we, in the 10th verse, it changes to one individual doing the speaking.

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I rather imagine that it's been like that, except now we're told that there is only one that is speaking.

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Turn to Hebrews 11 .11. Greg read it when you get there, assuming you'll get there.

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11. By faith, Sarah herself also received strength to see and see.

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And she bore a child when she was past the age, for as she judged him faithful, who had promised.

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Because she judged him faithful, who had promised. Now back to Genesis 11.

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Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

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And we find out from Hebrews that it was after that, because she received strength to conceive a seed, which she did not have.

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Therefore, Sarah laughed, but not out loud, saying, after I am waxed old, shall

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I have pleasure, my Lord, being also old? So it seems to me, joy, that she believed the order of nature rather than believing the promise of God at that moment.

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Then the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying,

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Shall I of a surety bear a child, which I am old? Now she didn't laugh out loud,

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Diane. How'd this man know she laughed? Absolutely.

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Well, is it just the Pharisees? No, but I remember that picture of him saying that to her.

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That's right. Boy, he knows what I'm thinking all the time.

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I'd rather not know that. Well, when all else fails, when the very nature is against the end result that the

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Lord has decreed, it is by his own direct decreed power to cause it to come about.

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There need not be a cause for him to produce an effect. David, what's that mean?

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It need not be a cause for him to produce an effect. That's right.

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Is anything too hard for the Lord? The Lord said, At the time appointed,

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I will return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

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There it is. There's the announcement, Diane, that they both had waited for all of their life.

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Sarah is going to have a son. First time that Abraham has been notified that it will be

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Sarah for sure. Then Sarah denied, saying, I didn't laugh.

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For she was afraid, and he said, Nay, but you did laugh. Is it true that the commission of one sin makes way for the commission of another sin?

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She thought because she didn't do it out loud. And so she figured it didn't happen because she didn't do it out loud.

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That's proof that the sin is in the mind. In the mind, absolutely. The disbelief of God's word is a great source of many aggravated transgressions.

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Every sin can be traced to disbelief. Every one, from beginning with Adam on.

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And the men rose up from thence and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

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This was customary. The Lord said to himself,

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Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? Now, he wasn't discussing that with himself, as though he didn't know.

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But remember, this is written from man's viewpoint. Seeing that 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 know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the

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Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him.

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Now, do we learn anything here? The Lord says,

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I know this man. I know that he will command his children.

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He will raise them up to be obedient. Therefore, he will receive a blessing of God.

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Do you suppose, Joy, that still holds today? Well, but is the truth not still the truth?

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That's right. And as you raise a child, so shall he be. And the

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Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous.

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Now, we know what the sin was. Says, I will go down now and see whether they have done all together according to the cry of it, which has come up unto me.

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And if not, I will know. Now, Clarence, doesn't that seem a little bit out of character for the

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Lord to be making such a statement? Okay.

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In fact, he's not actually saying this to Abraham. It's written for our benefit.

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We must understand there is nothing of which the Lord is in doubt. Is there?

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No. But he pleases to express himself in man's speech, so that man may see his incontestable justice in all things.

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The men turned their faces from tents and went towards Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the

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Lord. So the Lord did not remove himself. He's still there.

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And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

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That's a pretty good question. The righteous are mingled among the wicked.

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Is it like that today, Greg? Yes. Absolutely. We in this world may suffer with the wicked, but not like the wicked.

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So Abraham is speaking. I think we're going to stop here and hold this discussion with him because I don't want to break it into two pieces.

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Go ahead and study the rest of this chapter, and we'll see how much we can learn about what

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Abraham did and how he did it. He lays down a great selling principle here.

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Okay. Does anyone have a question? All right. They were angels.

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No, I mean the other people around him, and the men turned their faces from tents and went towards Sodom.

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Were those the two angels? Yes. And that was all the other people were? No, we're only dealing with three people, or four,

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Abraham and two angels and the Lord. Brother Otis, at that time, the

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Lord was walking carnally with him, right? He took a carnal body at the time he was talking to him.

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Yes. Anytime you see in the Old Testament, the words, the angel is talking about Jesus pre -incarnate, before he was born of Mary.

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So this, he assumed a human body many times in the Old Testament, and it's usually identified as the angel, unless it says the

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Lord. Yes. He took off the body of a person, but it doesn't mean he entered some person.

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No, no. What I was making, that he did take off a carnal body, so that Abraham was actually walking.

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With a man, yes. But that doesn't tell us when.

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No, he could have known it from the beginning, I'm not sure. Probably when he read

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Sarah's lines, it's probably when he read Sarah's lines. I would think so. When they came up and he said, serve him,

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I kind of got some pressure. Well, it might be, but at the same time, any host at that time, would have considered themselves a servant of a stranger.

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Brenda? Yes. Like we would say,

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Mr. He recognized him as the son of the

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Lord. He recognized him as the Lord. It's really kind of a moot point, anyhow.

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One thing that is interesting, and later, going down through here in the

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English, you'll see it's all caps. And L -O -R, the all -caps letter, usually means in Hebrew that it's

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God. Yes. So that changes, whereas verse one is all caps also.

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So that's an interesting thing to hear for everybody to study for next week. Why does the word

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Lord change? What's the significance of that? And it says, if I have found favor in my time.

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Yes. It sort of leads to it.

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Well, I would like to think that he knew it was the Lord from the beginning. And maybe he did.

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Anything else? He definitely knew something unusual.

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Yes, he sure did. Virge, would you dismiss this, please? Father, I thank you for this day you give to the world.

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I thank you for the words you show to the world.

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You tell us to study the world, make it more aware of the Lord. In our hearts, we thank you.

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Thank you for the leadership of this church, for what it is in this community.

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All these things that you do to the community. Amen. Amen. Amen.