Grace To, Grace Through.

My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church, and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good, they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it, which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.

This morning, we're continuing our series in the book of Genesis. Genesis is the very first book in the Bible, so it's easy to find.

And it tells the story of the origin of the world and also the origin of Israel, God's people, beginning with Abraham.

We're actually not going to cover the entire book of Genesis. We are just focusing on the story of Abraham in Genesis 11 through 25.

And the reason we're focusing in on that is to prepare us to return to our series in the book of Romans.

We're going to jump back in in the fall in Romans chapter 4, which talks about Abraham.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

So this is all prep right now.

Not only does it prepare us for Romans, Abraham's story also helps us ask the question,

what does it look like to follow God in faith?

Last week, we saw that Abraham and his nephew Lot had to separate.

This is chapter 13.

Isaiah 13 · chapter mention

They had both become so wealthy that the land could not support both of them.

They didn't have enough water, enough grass.

And so they have to go to different pieces of land.

Lot picks first.

And you'll remember he picks the very best piece of land with one exception.

He picks apart a parcel of land right next to Sodom, a place of great sin.

And so we saw Lot is willing to cozy up to wickedness for the sake of comfort.

He gives in to the temptation to put the good life as first and more important than the kingdom.

This week, we're going to see very quickly Lot suffering because of his poor choice.

And so it allows us to see how God responds to his people in their foolishness.

How God responds to his people in their foolishness.

That's with that that I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 14.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

You can turn in your Bible.

You can turn on your phone.

You can turn in your worship guide.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.

Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5 tells us every word of God proves true.

Proverbs 30:5

He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

And so that's why we read now Genesis 14 starting at verse 1.

Verse 4.

12 years they had served Chederleomer, but in the 13th year they rebelled.

In the 14th year, Chederleomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim and Ashtaroth Karnam,

the Zuzim and Ham, the Emim and Shave Kiriathim,

and the Horites and their hill country of Seir as far as El Perrin on the border of the wilderness.

Then they turned back and came to An-Mishpat, that is Kadesh,

and defeated all the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon Tamar.

Verse 8.

Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Adma, the king of Zebuam,

and the king of Bela, that is Zoar, went out,

and they joined battle in the valley of Siddam with Chederleomer king of Elam,

Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar,

and Ariok king of Elessar, four kings against five.

Now the valley of Siddam was full of bitumen pits,

and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled.

Some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country.

So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah

and all their provisions and went their way.

They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother,

who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew,

who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner.

These were allies of Abram.

When Abram heard that his kinsmen had been taken captive,

he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them,

and he went in pursuit as far as Dan.

And he divided his forces against them by night,

he and his servants, and defeated them,

and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.

Then he brought back all the possessions,

and also brought back his kinsmen Lot with his possessions,

and the women and the people.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.

Our Father in Heaven, we do thank you for your Word

that you've given to us as a great gift,

that we would know and learn how to walk in this world,

and most of all, we would know about your mercy,

and your salvation, and grace in Jesus Christ.

We ask that you would help us,

that you would help us to see, and understand,

and believe in your Word,

that you would use it to grow our love, and affection,

and reverence, and awe, and obedience to Jesus Christ.

And we ask all of these things in his mighty name.

Amen.

In December of 2003,

a man named Nick Berg decided to leave his hometown

of Westchester, Pennsylvania,

which is right outside of Philly,

and he left it for the country of Iraq.

He made this decision.

It had taken Nick a while to figure out

what he wanted to do with his life,

but he settled on starting a company

that would install and repair radio towers.

He decided that was going to be his life's work.

And you may remember,

December of 2003 was right after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

And so he sees this incredible business opportunity.

Guess what?

Their infrastructure's been destroyed,

and I'm going to be the one to come in

and save the day and make all the money.

I'll repair radio towers that have been hurt, injured.

I'll install new ones.

Everything will be great.

Nick's friends and family were appalled,

and they warned him, urged him not to go.

Nick, however, saw only the benefits

and none of the dangers.

And so seeing only benefits,

he separates himself from the land

and the protection of the United States.

Nick Burke's family then is left wondering

what is going to happen to Nick.

That's similar to the situation

we find ourselves here in this passage this morning.

You might see where I'm headed with this.

Lot has separated himself

from the land and the protection of God.

Lot sees all the benefits,

comes to terms with none of the dangers.

Remember, chapter 13,

he and Abraham have to split.

They head in different ways.

He looks out, he sees the Jordan Valley,

and for him it is only beautiful and alluring.

It's this place of wealth and prosperity,

somewhere where he's confident he's going to thrive,

and yet we have the hint of coming tragedy,

not once but twice.

As he's picking it,

remember, we're told,

this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

And then in verse 13, it says,

now the men of Sodom were wicked,

great sinners against the Lord.

So like Nick Burke's friends,

the careful listener here is wondering

what is going to happen to Lot.

We know it will not end well.

There's a lot going on in the first,

say, 13 verses, 12 verses,

so I'm just going to summarize it for you very briefly.

In verses 1 through 9,

there is a geopolitical conflict

that involves a lot of kings.

We might even say it's not a geopolitical conflict,

but geopolitical conflicts,

because there's so much going on.

Why do we care about this conflict?

We care, we first find out,

in verse 2 and verse 8,

because Sodom is involved.

And if Sodom is involved,

then Lot is involved.

That helps us understand why,

in the midst of the story of Abraham,

we suddenly are told about these 10 plus kings

who are fighting with each other.

Last week, we were told that Lot moved right next to Sodom.

Did you notice what we find out in verse 12 of this week?

He's not right next to Sodom.

He is dwelling in Sodom.

The danger of him setting up camp so close

to these sinful people is coming true.

So they have the conflict.

Sodom's involved.

Verses 10 and 11,

Sodom is defeated,

which means, verse 12,

there is a lot of collateral damage,

including Lot.

Lot and all of his things are taken.

That is the point of verses 1 through 13.

Big conflict, lots of kings,

Sodom's involved,

because Sodom's involved,

things don't end well for Lot.

Which takes us back to our question,

what does God do with the foolishness of his people?

Lot, this is not an accident.

He's not merely a victim of circumstance.

He has made a foolish choice to move to a sinful place.

Now, I want to note at this point,

Lot is a very complicated figure.

If we just had chapter 13,

you might think,

you know, Lot has no relationship with God.

But actually, the New Testament

only speaks positively of Lot.

2 Peter chapter 2 tells us he is a righteous man.

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

It speaks well of Lot

that of all the people who did not go with Abraham,

he actually goes with him, right,

when he leaves his father's land.

And Lot is deeply flawed and wildly foolish.

So what is God going to do?

Especially when Lot's predicament

is because of Lot's decisions.

Well, we find out right away.

Verse 13,

God shows Lot tremendous grace.

And he shows Lot tremendous grace

in the way I mentioned in our confession of faith,

by his providence.

It just so happens that one man escapes.

And this doesn't have to happen,

but not only does that man escape,

he runs and he tells Abraham.

In God's providential care,

Lot's story is not over.

What is God's response

to the foolishness of his people?

His response is one of great grace

and undeserved mercy.

Brothers and sisters,

that is God's response

to our foolishness as well.

Outside of that,

we really don't have much hope.

As we've been looking at Abraham and Lot's story

over the last few weeks,

you might have been thinking,

man, maybe some of my priorities

are out of order.

Maybe there are things

that I have valued above God

and his kingdom and his mission.

Chapter 14 reminds us

there is still so much grace.

God is still protecting

and pursuing his people.

God is still watching out for you.

God is still watching out for you.

God is still watching out for you.

If you belong to him,

God is still watching out for you.

Christian.

In the midst of your foolishness,

our foolishness,

stupidity,

short-sightedness.

And so in Lot's story here,

we see two things.

We see an encouragement

and a warning.

Encouragement, I've already told you.

God shows great grace to his people

even when they are deeply flawed

and sinful.

If you belong to him,

God has not given up on you

no matter where you are.

And if you do not belong to him,

it is not too late.

It's not too late to repent

and follow after him.

That's the encouragement.

Lot also gives us a sober warning.

Yes, Lot's life is saved.

Yes, Lot escapes a future of slavery

and so much is lost.

Lot will not experience

the intimacy and fellowship with God

that Abraham does.

Lot will not be a blessing to the nations

in the way that Abraham will.

And Lot's descendants

are going to suffer

from his unfaithfulness.

As we watch the story

of the Old Testament play out,

there is a tragedy

for those who are born from Lot.

They are going to have

one foot in

and one foot out

of God's people.

They will be half-hearted at best

and apostate at worst.

So there's an encouragement.

God's grace is always there

for his people.

And there's a warning.

Actions have consequences.

There are real things

to be missed

and lost

if we forsake

God's people

and God's land.

Now as people

in the New Testament,

we don't look

to a specific land.

We cling fast

to God's promises

and his protection.

And where are those promises

acted out?

Where does God promise

that his protection

will happen?

It is here

with his people

in his church.

Remember what I told you

last week.

Never

leave the promised land.

I tell you the same thing

this week

but in a different way.

Never

leave

God's

people.

No matter how good

it looks

over there.

Cling

to his church.

Cling

to his word.

I've been telling you

the last number

of weeks

about this quote

from David Gibson

where he says,

hey,

we can't enjoy

created things

that we worship.

The only way

to enjoy them

is to worship God.

C.S. Lewis

puts it a different way.

This is on page 7

of your worship guide.

Put first things

first

and we get

second things

thrown in.

Put second things

first

and we lose

both first

and second

things.

What does Lot

do here

in chapters 13

and 14

but put

second things

first?

The good land

is more important

to him

than anything else.

What does he end up

losing?

Chapter 19,

he doesn't have

any good land.

Put first things

first

and we get

second things

thrown in.

Now we left off

here in our story

on verse 13.

That's not going

to finish it though.

Abraham needs

more than

a messenger.

We see in the messenger

God's grace

to his people,

his grace

to Lot.

we're also going

to need God's grace

through

his people.

13,

we meet Abraham.

He is sitting

with his connections,

his allies.

We find out

Abraham is in fact

not a loner.

He's been making

connections

and shaking hands.

He's been getting

on the ancient

Near Eastern

linked in

and friending people.

He's been attending

the desert block

parties.

You know,

if you have something

wrong with your cart,

he has a torque wrench,

he'll help you

put the wheel

back on.

And with all that,

that's when he

receives the news,

right?

He is there,

he's connected.

It's not just

that he has allies

though,

14.

He in fact

has 318

of his own men,

trained men,

which I'm guessing,

you know,

most of you all

when you think

about your trained men,

doesn't reach

the number

of 318.

Abraham's really

wealthy.

He's wealthy,

that's why

they had to separate.

He's not just wealthy,

verse 15,

he comes up

with a creative plan.

Look,

we're going to split

into two forces

and pursue them

to the north.

We're going to

attack at night.

So Abraham's not

just been making

connections,

Abraham knows

what he's doing.

He is not a newcomer

here to ancient

Near Eastern warfare.

Then,

verse 15,

he gives up

his time.

He's going

to pursue them,

we're told,

Hobah north of Damascus,

which is 125 miles

north of where

Abraham is currently.

So Abraham loses

at least a weekend,

right?

He might even have

missed a big game

to go and rescue Lot.

Abraham gives up

his resources,

he uses his creativity,

he sacrifices his time,

and he takes

bold and risky action

for his stupid nephew.

And he does

all of those things

because he believes

God's promises.

Remember the end

of chapter 13,

God repeats

what he's already

told him,

this land

will be yours.

God's grace

to his people,

God's grace

through

his people.

God uses us

in his rescue mission.

God uses our time,

uses our creativity,

community,

he uses our resources,

if and when

we believe

he will keep

his promises.

God shows his grace

to his people

through his people.

So we use

whatever God's given us

to rescue

and restore

others.

others.

Remember I told you

we're in the story

of Abraham

for two reasons.

One,

to prepare for Romans.

Two,

to see what it looks like

to follow God

in faith.

And part of what

it looks like

to follow God

in faith

is to rescue

stupid nephews

with our 318

trained men,

with our time,

with our resources,

creativity.

Abraham does it

because of

God's promises,

his promise

in chapter 12,

his promise

in chapter 13,

and he knows

whatever happens,

he will never

lose his ultimate

security.

Whatever happens,

God has given him

the promised land

and said

it will

be his.

Brothers and sisters,

the same

is true

for us.

When and where

we believe

God's promises,

we will be willing

to sacrifice

much

to save

others.

Even when it's

because

they've made

their own

bed.

things did

not end

as well

for Nick

Berg

as they

did

for Lot.

It's a long

and gruesome

story that I

will spare

you most

of the

details.

But Nick

ends up

being captured

by a

terrorist

organization

that later

becomes known

as ISIS,

the Islamic

state,

and he is

beheaded

on video

as a piece

of revenge

against

America

and American

torture

in Abu

Graib.

Videos of

Nick's

beheading

go viral.

The power

and the

might of

the United

States

is not

enough

to protect

him.

Nick

left the

land

and the

protection

of the

U.S.

He loses

his life.

Lot

leaves

the land

of

protection

of God

and is

saved

because

God's

promise

is that

he will

never

leave us

or forsake

us.

So he

saves

his people,

he saves

you and

me

in the

midst

of our

foolishness

and our

stupidity.

We do

the same

for others.

God

shows his

grace to

us

and he

shows his

grace

through us.

Let's

pray.

Our

Father in

heaven,

we do

praise you

and thank

you again

for your

word,

which shows

us your

great mercy

and grace

to us

in Jesus

Christ.

We ask

that you

would be

at work

in our

hearts

and our

minds

and our

lives,

that we

would

believe

your

promises

more

and more,

that we

would risk

more and

more for

you and

your

kingdom,

that we

would

follow

you in

faith.

We ask

all of

these

things in

the mighty

name of

Jesus

Christ.

Amen.

I invite

you to

stand for

our

closing

hymn.

Bum,

Thank you.