When Sinning Seems Easier

Genesis chapter 12, Benjamin Harris was the 23rd president

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

from 1889 to 1893.

He and the first lady were the first couple to live in the

White House after it had been wired for electricity.

And President Harrison was a brave man.

He was a man who was known as ruthless on the battlefield

and as a brigadier general in the Civil War.

But he and his wife had a real fear in the White House.

Light switches.

It's a new concept.

They were scared of it.

It was new and it was novel and it was mysterious and they were

scared to death of it.

That if they switched the light on, they may be electrocuted.

So their answer to the problem was they kept servants handy to

take care of the light switch.

And if there were no servants allowed, available at the time

of bed, they slept with the lights on.

That's fear, my friend.

And fear can make you do strange things.

You know what else can?

Hunger.

Hunger can make you do strange things.

People change when they get physically hungry.

I find that out about five minutes to 12 when I look out there at

y'all.

But there are many other types of hunger as well than just

physical.

Weariness will make you do different kind of things.

So when you're afraid and when you're hungry and when you're weary,

if you're not careful, it can cripple your life of faith.

Because if you get scared enough and you get hungry enough and you get

tired enough, you'll make spiritual mistakes.

Abram did.

And I believe that we ought to learn from his mistakes.

I believe that's why they're here.

But brace yourself.

Genesis chapter 12, beginning in verse 10.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

It says, now there was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to

Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarah, his wife, I know that

you're a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see

you, they will say, this is his wife.

And then they'll kill me, but they'll let you live.

Say you are my sister, that it may go well with you, that it may go well

with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.

When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very

beautiful, and when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to

Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house, and for her

sake, he dealt well with Abram.

And he had sheep and oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants,

female donkeys, and camels.

But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of

Sarah, Abraham's wife.

So Pharaoh called Abram and said, what is this you've done to me?

Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife?

Why did you say she's my sister?

So that I could take her for my wife.

Now then, here's your wife, take her and go.

And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his

wife and all that he had.

What a shame.

What a shame.

It's amazing to me that the Bible includes stories like these.

But that's one of the reasons why I love it so, because God tells the truth.

I mean, he tells the truth.

And this giant of faith, Abraham, made mistakes too.

And some of them were huge, and this is one of them.

Now, I will be honest with you this morning.

It is much easier to avoid a passage like this than it is preach on it when you

preach through the life of Abraham.

And I've done that before.

I've avoided it before.

It's not easy to look at.

But kind of like when you pass a car wreck, let's rubberneck for just a moment.

Into the life of Abraham and try to learn something.

Let's look at it, break it down, learn from it, and not make the same kind of foolish mistakes

in our lives.

Now, understand the setting.

Abraham had moved to the Negev.

The Negev is the desert.

And that was not where he was used to living.

He had previously lived in the Fertile Crescent, known for bumper crops, but he no longer lived

on the bank of the Euphrates.

Instead, he was in a wasteland, and he needed food.

And they were in the midst of a famine.

And scripture does not tell us here that he sought the Lord.

Last week, I preached about all those times when he sought the Lord and built an altar

to the Lord and left it smoking behind and left that testimony there.

You don't see any of that at this point in his life.

It just says he went to Egypt.

Egypt.

And Egypt was the granary of the world.

We know more about that from Joseph's life, but it was becoming that way already at this

time.

And with rare exception in the Bible, Egypt is a representation of the world.

And an alliance with Egypt is like aligning with the world.

It's a sign that Abraham acted on his own if he tied up with Egypt.

I want you to listen to what Isaiah said about Egypt years later, what he said about it.

He said, woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots

because there are many and in horsemen because they're very strong.

Now, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord.

Woe to them because if they seek the Lord, they wouldn't go to Egypt.

And he did.

He went out of hunger instead of out of faith.

And when he got there where he should not have been, he acted out of fear.

Now, his wife was 65 years old and was beautiful at that age.

So beautiful that he was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him in order to have her.

So he told her to help him stretch the truth.

Tell him you're my sister.

Now, just to be clear, that's not an out and out lie.

She was his half sister.

They had the same father.

It's a half truth.

But I want you to understand something.

A half truth is a whole lie.

And it was a strategic lie.

Because by being her brother, he was her guardian.

And the Egyptian custom that he had in mind when he said that was that if someone came into Egyptian land,

moving as an entourage.

Now, understand.

Abraham was rich.

And he came in with quite a crowd.

Remember that when he set up those altars in the area of the moon god, it said his crowd grew.

And we believe that that means that he was reaching people to follow the Lord instead of following the moon god.

And they went with him as he traveled.

And now he's traveling in this large entourage.

And if you're going to travel in a large group into a foreign country,

there needs to be an understanding of what you're doing there.

And the way they would do that is they would form a treaty

to clarify that it was not intended to be an invasion.

Such a treaty would be sealed, usually with an acceptable daughter or with an acceptable sister

that would join into Pharaoh's harem.

And Abraham's thought seemed to be that when he was approached by Pharaoh's people,

he would offer her to go into Pharaoh's house.

And if he didn't do that, they'd just kill him and his men,

and they'd take her anyway as a trophy of war.

So he offered her, and Pharaoh chose to make her a wife.

And if he did that, that he could possibly drag out some negotiations long enough in this treaty

to get through this famine and to be able to leave and just move on.

That seems to be the plan.

And the plan seemed to work.

She entered Pharaoh's house and into the preparation time of engagement

that was filled with rituals and beautification techniques.

And she had to be time-tested in that atmosphere

to prove that she was not pregnant before she could become a wife to Pharaoh.

And so there was this betrothal time.

And meanwhile, Abram was given a wealth of things for payment for her.

And in the midst of all that, God intervened with plagues.

During that time, in the Lord's mercy, at least upon Abram,

the Lord sent plagues upon Pharaoh.

And when you look at that word there for plagues,

it literally speaks of diseases and infestations,

both of which are very unpleasant.

And it sounded similar, it sounds similar to what happened to Pharaoh

when Moses was there with his people,

and he wouldn't let the people go worship.

He immediately knew, Pharaoh knew something was wrong,

and he knew what it was.

And so we asked Abram why,

and then kindly provided out of fear of Abraham's God,

had him escorted out of the country

to make sure that he got out safely

and to make sure that he got out.

Get out of here.

I wish that I could be true to Scripture

and lighten this somewhat,

but I've got to be honest.

This is a mess.

I mean, it's a mess.

Make no mistake, sin is always a mess.

And it's always bigger than it appears.

I mean, it starts out small.

Sometimes it even seems like a good idea.

But then it just gets larger,

and it has a larger impact than you could ever imagine.

And so this morning,

I want you to notice four truths about his sin

and about our sin

because there's similarity here.

I share this because I think that we can learn from him.

Let me be clear.

I don't think you'll ever be in this situation, okay?

At least not exactly.

But I will believe you'll be in situations of possible compromise.

And I believe the lessons that we can learn from him in his compromise

are lessons that we can apply to our life.

Sinful compromises that do not have to happen.

So I want you to know this.

One is, our sins are never justified.

They're never justified.

Now listen, Abram was hungry.

He was weary.

And he was trying to lead his own life

without the counsel of God.

And he moved into the enemy's territory,

and it made it worse.

He was afraid.

Why?

Because he was going in the wrong direction.

Don't be surprised when you're afraid,

when you walk away from the leadership of the Lord.

And fear will lead you to really mess up.

It did for him.

Egypt, don't misunderstand me,

was and is a real place.

But in Scripture,

it always represents an alliance with the world.

And times were hard for him.

But he never needed to go to Egypt.

It never gets that bad.

Never does.

It's the wrong place.

It's the wrong people.

In that culture, in that time,

and if we respond too quickly,

when the heat is on,

we will make bad choices.

Erratic choices often show godless choices.

They really do.

You don't hear or read here

of him building an altar anywhere.

There's no talk of that right now.

That talk has stopped.

You don't read of his prayers here.

There's no talk of that at all.

What we read of is his strategies

that are made without prayer

and a desperate run into the enemy's camp

out of desperation.

And that's what happens

when we try to figure it out on our own.

His sin was not small.

It might have felt that way to him.

His sin was not isolated.

It might have felt that way to him.

It affected a lot more than he thought it does.

And it always does.

It was not justified,

although sin often feels and seems justified.

I mean, it felt justified.

But the state of our sin

is not determined by how we feel about it.

Church, you've got to get this

because America's telling us something different.

The state of our sin is not determined

by how we feel about it.

Our sin is determined by the standards of God.

Period.

Period.

And God's standards do not change.

You can call it old-fashioned.

You can call it contemporary.

You can call it postmodern.

You can call it whatever you want to.

But it never changes.

God's standard never change.

And as the world that we live in,

as the country that we live in,

as the state that we live in,

even as the city that we live in,

as they ignore God more and more,

His Word may feel out of touch.

But the state of your sin

is not determined by how you feel about it.

It's not determined by that.

It's based on the Word of God.

And sin is never justified.

Never.

Even if it feels right.

Even if nobody's going to know.

Even if you feel under pressure.

All of those things are a ploy of the devil.

Every last one of them.

That's how he works.

It's what he does.

And we cannot fall for that.

Sin is never justified.

Second thing is this.

Our sins lead to more sins.

I mean, it will.

Abraham sinned

when he was without prayer

and set out on his own.

He sinned when he moved into a wicked land.

He sinned when he lied to protect himself.

He sinned when he put his wife in harm's way.

Sin always leads to more sin.

It's kind of like running downhill.

It's hard to stop.

When you get old enough,

it's kind of like running, period.

You know?

I mean, it's hard to stop.

My head's as fast as it ever was.

My legs can't keep up more.

It's amazing.

However, the sooner you do stop,

the better off you are.

And those that you take with you,

they'll be better off too.

If you know there's sin in your life today

and you sense that,

turn from it.

It's not going to get easier.

It's not going to get simpler.

It's going to lead to more sin.

And so turn from it.

Third thing is this.

Our sin always hurts those closest to us.

Always.

Men,

I hope you understand

what's wrong with this picture.

Because I promise you,

the ladies understand what's wrong with this picture.

Okay?

And I would advise you

at the lunch table

not to say,

I don't see what Abram did wrong.

Okay?

I'm just telling you,

I wouldn't advise that.

Okay?

If you do,

and y'all come see me next week,

I'm taking her side.

I'm just telling you.

Okay?

So,

just,

although he understands,

understood the customs

and probably thought

that he had a way out

without being harmed,

this problem got a lot bigger

because Pharaoh got involved.

He was hoping it would stop

before Pharaoh got involved,

but Pharaoh got involved.

And it,

it was not Abram

that was at risk.

Actually,

Abram was living the high life.

I mean,

he was given,

more than he needed.

He was already a rich man.

He left Egypt richer.

He did.

He was,

he was,

he was living a high life.

He was treated just fine by Pharaoh.

It was,

it was Sarah

who was with strangers.

She,

she was the one

that was living

in unfamiliar customs.

She was the one

that was uncertain

about what was to come.

And thank God,

God intervened.

He saved her life.

He saved his life

and got them out of there.

But at what expense

did it take

to get out of there?

I'm telling you,

I bet that was a rough ride home.

Don't you think?

I mean,

come on.

A painful one.

And it always will be

because your sin

always hurts

those closest to you.

Let me be clear.

even if they don't know

about it.

It always hurts

those closest to you.

It didn't stop

with her though.

Not only was she

affected by this,

but Lot was affected

by this.

Lot lived

off the benefits

that came to Abram.

Lot got a taste

of the luxurious

pagan world.

And we'll get there.

We'll study together

that when Lot

would be faced

with his own life decisions

later,

he would make

the wrong choice.

They would be

prayerless choices.

They would be made

by his eyes.

And they would be made

because a seed

was planted

in him in Egypt,

the enemy's territory.

And the fruit

would be bore

in Sodom

and Gomorrah.

And it did not

have to be.

Honestly,

if you go back

and look at the first

part of Genesis 12,

he shouldn't even

brought Lot with him.

He wasn't even

supposed to be there.

And he sure

shouldn't have

taken him to Egypt

where he got

a taste of it.

Our sin

always hurts

those closest to us.

Fourth thing is this.

Our sin

always hurts

our testimony.

It always hurts

our testimony.

Think about this

for just a moment.

Who called

Abram out

on his sin?

Pharaoh.

A lost

pagan

leader

called him out

on his sin.

Remember what God

said to Abram

in his calling?

He said,

I'll bless you

and I'll make

you a blessing.

That's not a blessing.

God was to use

Abram to build

a great nation.

There's no way

you can build

a great nation

set apart

from the Lord.

What kind of

witness is this

to the world?

And we need

to think about

our witness

when we get

around our lost

friends.

We need to think

about our witness

when we get

around weak

Christians.

We need

to think

about our

witness

when we get

around opportunities

to really

make a difference

in people's

life,

but instead

we blow it

because we

don't live

by God's

standard.

If you look

like the rest

of the world,

you'll waste

more time

doing nothing

for the Lord

and defaming

the name

and the work

and the character

of the Lord

in the eyes

of those

that so

desperately

need God.

That's exactly

what will happen.

Our sin

always hurts

our testimony

and when we

mess up,

it's bad

and we can't

gloss over

that.

Man,

I thank God

this ain't

the end

of the story.

But sin

is never

justified.

Sin always

leads to more

sin.

Sin hurts

those that

are closest

to you

and sin

kills

our testimony.

But I want

to share you

one more truth

and it's not

about Abram

and it's not

about us,

it's about

God.

One truth

and that is

God is

always more

faithful to us

than we are

to him.

Can I get

an amen?

That's the place

to put it folks.

He's always

better to us

than we are

to him.

Genesis 13

Genesis 13:1–4

verse 1

through 4.

Let me read this.

So Abram

went up

from Egypt

he and his

wife

and all

that he

had

and lot

with him

into the

Negev.

Now Abram

was very rich.

Do you get

the irony there?

Very rich

in livestock

in silver

and in gold.

And as he

journeyed on

from the

Negev

as far as

Bethel

to the place

where his

tent had been

at the beginning

between Bethel

and Ai

to the place

where he had

made an altar

at the first

and there

Abram

thank God

there Abram

called upon

the name

of the Lord.

He went

back

to Bethel.

He got

his heart

right

at the altar

that he had

built

earlier

and he called

upon the name

of the Lord.

I told you

last week

you need to

leave reminders

in your life

of how God

used you

and worked

in you

in the past.

What he's

done in your

life so that

you can go

back there

and find

strength.

And when Abram

was going

back and

retracing those

steps and he

saw that altar

don't you know

it was convicting

to his heart.

God blessed

him by providing

more than he

needed.

God blessed

him by leading

him out of

harm's way.

God blessed

him by receiving

him back when

he called upon

him.

None of

us have

always been

faithful to

God.

But God

has always

been faithful

to us.

I will tell

you something

today friend

and in his

grace he'll

receive you

back if

you'll come

back.

When wrong

motives lead

to wrong

moves,

wrong moves

are made,

it's time to

come back to

God.

By the way,

I want to

remind you that

Bethel is the

Hebrew word for

the house of

God.

It's time to

come back to

the house of

God.

It's time to

get it right.

So what is it?

what is it in

your life that

you're harboring,

maybe enjoying a

little bit too

much?

Or maybe not

enjoying at all.

You just feel like

you're in a pit and

don't know how to

get out.

Well, I'll tell you

how to get out.

Stop doing what

you're doing and

get out.

Stop doing what

you're doing.

Because it's not

justified.

It's bigger than

you think it is.

It's going to hurt

those closest to

you.

And thank God,

he loves us

enough to be

more faithful to

us than we'll

ever be to him.

I don't know

what's going on

in your life

today.

I don't know

what you're

struggling with.

But I promise

you, if you

bring it to the

Lord, he'll

receive you where

you are.

You turn from

that sin and

confess that to

God.

He'll make you

new.

And he'll help

you build back

what you need to

build back in

your life.

He's always more

faithful to us

than we are to

him.

With every head

bowed and every

eye closed, if

you've never come

to know the Lord

Jesus as your

personal Lord and

Savior, I want you

to know the

invitation is open

to you to come

to him.

It's not my

invitation, it's

his invitation.

That everyone who

calls upon the

name of the Lord

shall be saved.

So I encourage

you, if you've

never given your

heart and life to

the Lord Jesus

Christ, that's the

first step, is to

acknowledge the

wrong that you've

done in your life

and ask him to

forgive you and to

cleanse you and to

come into your

life.

And he'll do just

that.

We'd love to guide

you in that

process.

Maybe you're here

and you have done

that, but there's a

hindrance in your

life.

You've not been

obedient to him.

You need to get

some things right.

Quit worrying about

everybody else.

Just get your heart

and mind on God and

do exactly what he

tells you to do.

You can do that

where you are.

You can do it at

this altar.

You can do it with

a pastor praying for

you.

It don't make any

difference to me.

The main thing is

what God's doing in

your life and what he

tells you to do that

you're obedient.

Don't stumble again

because you fail to be

obedient when God

shows you exactly what

you're to do.

And maybe you're here

and God's drawing you

to be a part of this

church.

You know that you

want to be a part of

this and you feel like

God's leading you to be

a part of that.

We'd love to guide you

in that process.

Now's the time.

I encourage you to

come.

We'd love to help you

with that.

Maybe you're here and

you know the Lord

Jesus but you've never

acknowledged him

publicly through

baptism.

And I'm going to tell

you that will be a

major hindrance in your

life for everyone to

grow and like you need

to grow.

I encourage you to

humble yourself before

God and proudly

proclaim him through

that act of worship.

Lord Jesus whatever it

is upon our heart and

life today let us not

be satisfied until we're

obediently following you.

Lead us right now to

simply obey in Jesus

name.

Amen.

nombre unto you.

E가지고.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.