”Faith is Beyond Human Categories” // Genesis 18 // Lakeview Bible Church

Okay. Now,

um let me ask you this question. For you

personally, for you personally, are you

the kind of person who likes to push

boundaries

or are you the kind of person who's

like, "No, I pretty much like the rules.

I like the color within the lines. I'm

like, I'll let other people push

boundaries." I like my bubble. Um not to

say one is either better or worse than

the other. I just found that the more I

meet people through the years, some

people are more riskaverse and some

people are more risk tolerant. So, we're

going to be talking about breaking

categories today. And so, I just want

you to think about, well, which category

do you tend to find yourself in when it

comes to breaking categories? There was

a guy back in the 50s, 1954

to be exact. His name was Roger

Banister, and he decided to break a

category. Up until that time, he was

going to attempt something that no human

in history had ever done up to him doing

it. In fact, it was so dangerous that

the doctors of his day, he was a medical

student, uh, and the doctors of the day

told him, "If you try this, you likely

will die in the attempt because your

heart will explode."

Roger Banister, category breaker that he

was, decided, I'm going to do it anyway.

And on May 6, 1954 in Oxford, England,

he was the first human ever to run a

mile in under four minutes. That's the

category that he broke. What I love

about Roger Banderson's story is not

just the fact that of what he

accomplished personally.

It's this little detail. Within the next

four months after that day, 20 people

around the world also ran a mile under

four minutes.

Why was that? Well, because when it

comes to category breaking, you can

either be the person who in and of

themselves does the Roger Banister and

says, "I'm going to break it." Or you

could be the person who sees the

category broken and be like, I think I

can do that, too.

And you've probably been in maybe both

of those. Here's what I mean. If you are

a parent and you held your first baby in

your arms, the category that broke for

you in that moment was the amount of

love that you could actually feel as it

felt like your heart was going to burst.

That category was now broken. Or maybe

it was in your academic career that

whether in high school or college or

grad school or in your professional

development life, you ran across a

teacher, a professor, a course, a season

in your education when you're like, "Oh

no, this is really hard." And what did

you do? You studied like you never

studied before. And you put in long

hours and you did all the things. You

actually went to those office hours that

you'd been skipping all those years

because you're like, "I don't need it."

You're like, I'm going now. And what did

you do? You broke the category of what

was possible for you academically. This

probably happened in your career that

somewhere along the lines, whether you

were standing up a new department or you

had to deliver on a new project or you

were trying to get the company off the

ground, what you ended up doing is

working like you never worked before.

and God in his grace saw you through the

other side and you now broke the

category of like, huh, this is what I

can produce now. Or maybe you went

through a difficult season. It was a

season of loss and you had to go to a

funeral that you were really hoping you

would never have to go to.

Maybe it was a dream that you had that

because of stuff way outside your

control, just your dream went up in

smoke.

But you kept putting one foot in front

of the other and you found yourself on

the other side and you broke the

category of what you thought would crush

you. Why do I bring all of that up?

Because this reason. What God is going

to do if you have said yes to Jesus and

it's and you've said it's not my life,

it's your life and you've begun a

journey of faith. I promise you what God

is going to do is break your categories.

He is going to take you on a journey

where category after category with him,

if you let him, if you say yes to him,

those categories are going to break.

Why? Because God wants to show you not

so much what you can do. By and large,

you already know, except for those

seasons where you do break a category,

you already know what you can do. You

know what? You don't know

what he can do.

what he can do

in this journey of faith. You here's

your here's your option. You can live it

on your couch. You can live it on your

safe little bubble. I got Jesus. I'm

going to heaven.

Or you can get on the skinny branches of

faith where God, if you don't show up, I

heard you. I'm obeying. I'm doing the

thing that you told me I think you

called me to do.

And if you don't show up, I'm a goner.

Or you can live that way.

Which are you? Are you a category

breaker? Are you the kind of person, no

harm, no foul? Like, man, I I tend to do

this.

I'll tell you which one he's going to

do. He's going to push you a little bit.

So that's what I want to look at. If you

have your Bibles, Genesis 18, because

God in all through Genesis 18 is going

to break categories.

Why? Because there were a lot of people

in the stands watching Roger Banister

break his record.

And what your God wants to do is invite

you on the track.

So here's the first truth that we're

going to bump into that faith breaks

human categories of what's possible of

what's possible. Right now in your mind,

in my li mind, I have a box of what's

possible. And God has a box of what's

possible.

And so this is Genesis 18.

We're going to start in verse one.

God's word says, "And the Lord appeared

to him, that's Abraham, by the oaks of

memory, as he sat at the door of his

tent in the heat of the day. He lifted

up his eyes and looked, and behold,

three men were standing in front of him.

When he saw them, he ran from the tent

door to meet them and bowed himself to

the earth." A couple things to note as

we get going. First, you'll notice the

third word and the Lord. In your English

translation, Lord should be all caps. Is

it all caps? What that tells you is the

English translators, the Hebrew word

behind Lord when it's all caps, is the

personal name. It's Yahweh of the Lord.

In um Gen, excuse me, Exodus, the early

chapters of Exodus, when Moses meets God

at the burning bush, he says, "I am."

That's this name. Yahweh. Now, you as

the reader know something that Abraham

doesn't know yet. He's going to be

talking to God. This is a theophony. Or

more specifically, more finally, this is

a christophony, which is the the the

showing up of the pre-incarnate Jesus.

So, who Abraham is talking to is Jesus

and two angels. Now, you get a little

bit of a hint like that because it says

he's at his tent door. It's the middle

of the day. It's siesta time. Maybe he's

dozing off, but it's All of a sudden,

he's got three guys right in front of

him. How can that be when like you've

been to the desert, you can see people

coming from miles. How is it these guys

just show up? Just an observation.

Verse three, Abraham greets them. He

says, "Oh Lord," and that's the word for

just more master. It's more like saying,

"Hey sir, if I have found favor in your

sight, do not pass by your servant. Let

a little water be brought and wash your

feet and rest yourselves under the tree

while I bring a morsel of bread that you

may refresh yourselves and after that

you may pass on since you have come to

your servant. So they said do as you

have said. Now in the first centur or

not this first cent this is the ancient

near east this is like 1500s BC

thereabouts. Um this was normal

hospitality. There's no diner to stop

at. There's no motel to check into. You

as a traveler were um needing the

kindness of people along the way. And so

hospitality was a big thing, right? Very

different from us because how do you

like it when people show up unannounced?

We don't do it here. Totally normal. And

what's interesting about Abraham is he's

going to be very hospitable and he's

going to he's going to kind of

underpromise and over I'm gonna have a

little water. He was British. I don't

know if you know that. Um,

a little morsel of bread. Now, with that

in your head, here's what Abraham

actually does. Verse six. And Abraham

went quickly into the tent to Sarah and

said, "Quick, three seas of fine flour.

Knead it and make cakes." And Abraham

ran to the herd and took a calf, tender

and good, and gave it to a young man who

prepared it quickly. Then he took curds

and milk. and the calf that he had

prepared and set it before them. And he

stood by them under the tree while they

ate. Now, how long is it going to take

to bake fresh bread, find a calf,

butcher it, grill it, put it on, I don't

know, platters? What do they have?

Aluminum tins. Um, set it before

everyone had like this is an all day

affair. He is like, "This is hospitality

par excellence." The little detail there

at the end where it says that Abraham

stood by while they ate. Like that is

like the perfect host. If you've ever

been to an event where you had a

dedicated person from the weight staff

just for like your party and they stood

by, oh, do you need more bread? Right?

That kind that's what he's doing.

Here's what I want you to do. I want you

to put a pin in this image because

there's a contrast that Moses is doing

as he's writing the book of Genesis. And

what you're supposed to see is Genesis

Genesis 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18,

Jesus and these two angels have a

certain reception from Abraham and they

will get a very different reception in

chapter 19. And you're supposed to see

the contrast. So when Lord willing,

we're in chapter 19 next week, you can

see like, oh, this is a very different

reception. But just hold on to that.

They're eating their meal and somewhere

along the lines they have a

conversation. Verse N,

they said to him, "Where is Sarah, your

wife?"

And he said, "She is in the tent."

Notice verse 10. Then the Lord said, so

now Jesus is going to have a

conversation.

I will surely return to you about this

time next year. And Sarah, your wife,

will have a son. And Sarah was listening

at the tent door behind him. Question.

Does Jesus know that Sarah is

eavesdropping?

Yes.

Is Jesus in this moment talking to

Abraham or is he really talking to

Sarah?

Sarah. Why? Well, because he has

something to say to Sarah, but he

doesn't want to say it directly.

Sometimes, and we're going to see this

happen twice in chapter 18. What the

Lord will do is he will kind of just

talk.

Why? To see if you'll pay attention to

see if you and I to see if Sarah's

listening. Well, because it's one thing

if God shows up in your life and says,

"Boom, do XYZ." You're like, "Okay,

boss." You're like, "Oh, God. I'll I'll

do it." What does that take? That takes

obedience. It doesn't take a whole lot

of faith. What does take faith? What

Jesus is doing here. H just so you guys

know, next year you're going to have a

baby.

And see how she responds. If you

remember from chapter 17, how did um

Abraham respond?

You kidding me? Laughed.

Some things don't change. Verse 11.

Now Abraham and Sarah were old and

advanced in years. The way of women had

ceased to be with Sarah. So agrees every

90year-old woman.

Verse 12. So Sarah laughed to herself,

saying, "After I'm worn out and my Lord

is old, shall I have pleasure?" Um, I

said at the beginning that what chapter

18 is doing at some level is it's

breaking categories. Is there a category

for 90 year old women having babies?

Nope. No category for that. So, at some

level, I have sympathy. You have

sympathy for Sarah. You're like, if I

heard that news, you're like, "What?"

And then you would cry if you're a

woman.

I would think.

But he's driving at something.

The Lord said to Abram, this is verse

13. The Lord said to Abram, "Why did

Sarah laugh?" Ah, you know who Jesus is

talking to.

And say, "Shall I indeed bear a child

now that I am old?" Verse 14. Is

anything too hard for the Lord?

At the appointed time, I will turn to

you about this time next year. And Sarah

shall have a son. But Sarah denied it,

saying, "I didn't laugh."

For she was afraid. Totally get it. He

said, "Nah, but you did laugh.

What's going on?"

What God is going to do and is doing

with Sarah and Abraham, is it's the same

exact thing he's going to do with you,

right? Because guess who? else is

eavesdropping on this conversation.

Here's what God's going to do. He's

going to help you believe things that

you believe cognitively, but you have a

hard time believing with your life.

Here's what I mean. Uh, everyone,

congregation, um, is it true that there

is nothing too hard for the Lord?

Amen. Question congregation. Do you live

that way always?

Why not?

Like you know it up here.

Ah got to break some categories, don't

we?

Why? Here's what the Lord is doing. You

know it up here, but he knows that you

don't believe it in here. So what he's

going to do, he's going to put you in

situations. It's like at some level that

looks crazy. Is that really what you're

saying? To see what do you really

believe I can do anything?

It's easy when you're on your couch,

when you're in your safe little bubble.

When the Lord starts to bring you out on

the skinny branches, then we'll see what

we really believe.

But why is like Jesus angry right now?

Is he like, "Uh, why did I pick these

two?"

No, he knows.

like you, like me. We're all on a

journey and he's working on us little by

little in order to break cu like look

what I can do.

Here's the other thing that you're

supposed to see in this story and you

have to kind of like back up to 30,000

ft. Remember back in Genesis 12 when the

call comes to Abraham or at that point

Abram and he says, "I am going to make

you a great nation,

right? And I'm going to bless all the

world through you." And then last week

in chapter 17, he's like, "Man, kings

are going to come from you and nations

are going to come from you. What's the

problem?

They're barren."

Right, God? You messed up. You know what

you should have done, God? You should

have picked a nonbarren couple. This

would have gone much easier.

Why did he pick a barren couple?

for this reason. Here's what God is

doing in them and here's what God is

going to do to you. He's g you're going

to be walking along your life with Jesus

and he's going to give you a promise.

But what he's also going to do is he's

going to put a barrier to the promise.

You are going to be a great nation.

Barrier. You're barren.

What? How? How are we going to get from

with this? What did we say at the

beginning?

God wants to show you not what you can

do,

but what he can do.

What God is going to do when he calls

you out on the skinny branches of faith

is there are going to be barriers in

front of you. I promise you. Barriers

that you have no chance of overcoming.

Why? So that he can show up and he can

be the one to overcome them. Why?

Because when you get to wherever he is

trying to get you, your testimony will

be he did it.

He did it.

I want to introduce you to a couple

friends of mine.

This is Alex and Erica Hernandez.

They are originally from Colombia and

they came to the United States about 20

22 23 years ago. They had family in

Houston. They wanted to leave their

situation in Colombia. So they came to

Houston. Uh Alex is a pretty good

entrepreneur. So he started a remodeling

company. Remodeling company was doing

awesome. He was killing it. Right.

Houston like Texas over the past 20 like

blowing and going, right? Picked the

right industry.

Then somewhere along the lines circa

2014, the Lord started to work on Alex.

He's like, "Hey, uh, you're a good

entrepreneur. You're a good starting at

things. I want you to start a church for

Spanish speakers in Houston." So he and

Erica like, "Okay, God, I feel like

you're saying this. We've never done

this before." But off they went. And for

two years, it went kind of okay. And

then the third year, it totally blew up.

Church closed.

They almost lost their marriage.

Hugely contentious. It went as about as

bad as it can go. And in 2019, I met

Alex because he came to the church I was

serving in. I was like, "Hey, Alex, tell

me your story." And he told me what had

happened. And I started to mentor him

and disciple him. That's 2019, 2020. You

know what happened then? About 2021, the

Lord started to ask Alex and Eric again,

"I want you to try again." And what do

you think they said at first? Uhuh.

Tried that, did that, that didn't work.

Call somebody else. You got the wrong

number, God.

But they continue to pray and I prayed

with them. I was helping them. And so

now, four years ago, this Easter um they

started El Camino. And this picture was

last week.

Why? Because they are now in their own

space.

for the first time about four years in

and they said, "Hey, Eric, uh, would you

come and pray over our congregation,

um, and just see what the Lord has

done?" And so, um, we took that picture.

It's a miracle.

Just so you know, you're a part as Lake

View Bible Church of a network of

churches in greater Austin, all trying

to do uh, more of this. And this is by a

factor of 3x bigger than anything we've

ever done uh in the Spanish speaking

space.

It's like over 400 people there in that

picture.

Why do I tell you that story? Well, one

to uh to continue to cast a little

vision around Lord willing here in the

not too distant future, Lake View Bible

Church will have its first church

planter that we are discipling and

mentoring and getting ready to send out

so that we can continue to multiply

disciples and churches.

And I'm going to ask some of you to pray

about going with those church planters.

I'm going to ask some of you to support

them financially. And I'm going to ask

some of you, no, I take that back. I'm

asking all of us to pray for them. Why?

Because there is a big world that needs

Jesus. And we're going to try to

multiply as many churches as we can by

grace.

Now, it's much easier to have a church

where we just have a nice service in

here and we just stay on our couch and

sing our songs. Nope.

Hardest thing in the world. They lived

it. I've lived it. We're going to push

the boundary. Yeah.

Now, here's my question for you.

What boundary do you want to push?

What is it that your heavenly father has

been talking to you about?

I want to put a picture in your head

that every morning or afternoon,

whatever it is that you've carved out

time to spend time with your heavenly

father,

ask him this question. What are you

asking me to do with you?

What are you asking me to do with you?

I promise you, you know what it's going

to feel like some days? Like, really?

Why? Because you're going to get out on

the skinny branches. Because he wants to

break the categories of what you and I

think is possible that he can do in you

and through you.

What kind of life do you want to live?

One that you at least tried

or stay on your couch.

It's not just about what's possible.

It's what's permissible.

What would what would God give you

permission to do? Look back at the text.

Verse 16.

Then the men set out from there, and

they looked down towards Sodom. And

Abraham went with them to set them on

their way. The Lord said, "Shall I hide

from Abraham what I'm about to do,

seeing that Abraham shall surely become

a great and mighty nation, and all the

nations of the earth shall be blessed in

him?" Okay, so what Jesus just did with

Sarah, he's going to do the same thing

with Abraham. Abraham, again, he's a

good host. When you have people over

your house, what do you do when it's

time for them to leave, right? You walk

them to the door, don't you? And you're

like, "Hey, thanks for coming. See you

later." Well, that's what he's doing.

But he doesn't walk them to the door. He

walks them essentially to the edge of

his property. And when they get to the

edge of this property, apparently they

can see off in the distance the valley

where Sodom and Gomorrah are sitting.

And then Jesus just starts to

pontificate.

I wonder if I should tell Abraham what

I'm about to do.

Why not just tell Abraham?

Same reason. He's inviting him.

I wonder if Abraham wants to be a part

of what I'm doing. Like you've you

actually have experienced this. Have you

ever done this or a friend do this to

you? Okay, I have a secret but I can't

tell you.

What does that mean? It means if you

press me hard enough, I'm totally going

to tell you my secret. That's what that

means, right? Jesus is doing something

very similar. Why? I wonder if Abraham

will take the bait.

Why? Because he's inviting him. Here's

how it's going to look in your life.

You're going to be going through your

neighborhood or your workplace or the

school you go to or you'll be hanging

out um with your kids soccer or football

or basketball or baseball team and this

thought will come, right? Man, someone

should do something about X.

And what do you get to do in that

moment?

Yeah, someone else should do something

about that.

Or might I be the one being invited?

Just a thought.

Verse 19.

For I have chosen him that he may

command his children and his household

after him to keep the way of the Lord by

doing righteousness and judgment or

justice so that the Lord may bring to

Abraham what he has promised him. Now uh

parents grandparents underline verse 19

basically a one-s sentence summary of

like what's the job of a parent do that

command teach encourage your children

and your household after you. Hey kids,

keep the way of the Lord. Keep the way

of the Lord. Do righteousness and

judgment, which means what? It's like a

summary for love your neighbor. As

you're doing the commands of God, make

sure you love your neighbor. Um I I

bring this up because uh on Easter, Lord

willing, if he doesn't come back, uh

we're going to be in Genesis chapter 22.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

That's where we're going to finish with

Abraham's story. In the following four

weeks after Easter, we're going to do a

series on the family,

marriage, parenting, what is what does a

gospel-shaped home look like?

Verse 19 is a good sum. But then their

conversation goes on. Vers 20. Then the

Lord said, "Because the outcry against

Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their

sin is very grave, I will go down to see

whether they have done all together

according to the outcry that has come to

me. And if not, I will know."

We're going to get to the judgment of

Sodom and Gomorrah in particular next

week. If you're familiar at all with the

story of the Bible, you know what's

coming. But what God is doing is is he's

giving Abraham permission. He's giving

him permission to act as a priest in

this moment. The New Testament calls

every believer a kingdom of priests.

What's a priest do? They represent God

to the people and the people to God.

They act as a intermediary. They say

like, "Hey, I see you're living your

life. Can I point you to the God who you

don't know yet?" Or person who's um

needs to hear from God. Hey, just so you

know, this is what God says about XYZ.

It's kind of like that sort of thing.

And we're going to see how he does that

in a minute. But here's the permission.

Abraham, do you want to play a part?

Do you want to play a part? Now, I want

to tell you a couple stories. One, uh,

both from from our church, the people

that call Lake View home. A couple weeks

ago, I told you a story of one of the

guys that

has been at Lake View a long, long time.

And uh the Lord a few months ago started

to lead him as like every morning he

gets his team together. He's an

executive level leader and God said,

"Hey, I want you to pray over your team

before you send them out each uh

workday." And so he did that. He started

to pray for them. Uh what happened is

after I told that story after one of the

services, young lady came up to me and

she's like, "God has been talking to me

similarly. I'm a nurse. I work at this

hospital. And the Lord said, "I want you

to start a Bible study for uh the other

nurses and friends there at the

hospital." And at that point, I love

God's timing. I started this week

and I can't believe people came.

And so she started this Bible study and

like a week or two later, the um CEO of

the hospital came to her and said, "Hey,

I heard you started a Bible study. If

you need anything, let me know." Like if

it grows, you need a bigger space to

meet in, just let me know. I'll get I'll

get it all set up for you.

Wow.

And I want to tell you another story.

Another couple in our church was uh it

was just it was bothering them that the

people on their street um weren't really

friends. They kind of you knew of each

other. Like you did the whole when you

get home from work, you're like, "Hey,

Bob." And that's all you say is you as

you beel on it right into the house like

doing that thing. It's like something

needs to change. And so they got it in

their head that we're going to do a

Friendsgiving for our whole block. They

printed up little things. Hey, friends

giving. Handed them out to everyone on

their street.

And here's year one.

Oh, hold on. Here's year two.

Here's this year.

I think they heard right.

They were just trying because they felt

the Lord lead them like, "Hey, build

community,

build friendships."

And people responded.

I wonder

like, are you right now looking for

yourself in there? You're like, I think

I was in the picture.

One of the things that the Lord has

working been working on me lately is um

like for me, like for you, I think about

like when I read the Gospels, Matthew,

Mark, Luke, and John. I'm like, man,

that would have been great. You know,

like every day you get up and like Jesus

is like, "Come on, fellas. We're going

to go do XYZ." And like off you go and

you do the thing. It's like, but Jesus

isn't here. Like he's here by his spirit

in each of us, but he's not here. Not

like in the You feel me?

Or is it possible to live that kind of

life?

Is it possible to get up every morning

and be like, "All right, Jesus, what do

we what are we doing today

where you live, work, learn, and play?"

Is there something that he's been

talking to you about in your

neighborhood? Is there something he's

been talking to you about where you

work? Is there something he's been

talking to you about where you go to

school or where your kids go to school?

Is there something he's been talking to

you about where you play, whether it's

the gym or you're killing it at pickle

ball somewhere or tennis or golf or

wherever like your hobby is?

Could it be that he's talking to you?

I think the answer is yes.

I promise you, you're going to all sorts

of obstacles out in the way. Why?

Because as you go along, he's got to

take care of them. Yeah. Why? So, what's

possible he can do?

What I have found more and more is that

the like you've already been given

permission.

You've already been given permission.

What do you want to do?

Again, like what's possible?

How many lives could you impact?

It's not just about what's possible,

not just what's permissible, but here's

where I want us to close.

He's going to break human categories of

what's forgivable.

And this is one of the most interesting

conversations you are going to read in

your Bible.

Verse 22.

So the men turned from there and went

towards Sodom.

But Abraham stood still before the Lord.

He took the bait. Like if you just

imagine in your mind like the two angels

walk off towards Sodom and Abraham is

standing there with Jesus and he's like,

"Okay, I'll bite." And then this is

their conversation.

Then Abraham drew near and said, "Will

you indeed sweep away the righteous with

the wicked?

Suppose there are 50 righteous within

this city. Will you then sweep away the

place and not spare it for the 50

righteous who are in it? Far be it from

you to do such a thing, to put the

righteous to death with the wicked, so

that the righteous fair as the wicked.

Far be that from you. Shall not the

judge of all the earth do what is just?

And the Lord said, "If I find at Sodom

50 righteous in the city, I will spare

the whole place for their sake."

Amazing. He's going to start to barter

with Jesus over Sodom. He's He's going

to act as a priest. He's right now he's

standing in the gap for them. He's

talking to like, "Well, what if we find

50?" Now, I think at some level, like

Abraham's a regular guy, and at some

level, here's what I think is going on,

at least initially, like Abraham knows

that Lot, his nephew, is still in Sodom,

right? has already shown himself.

Abraham has chapter 13 like he'll defend

and protect and go after his weward

nephew. And I think a little bit of that

might be going on.

And now the rest of the conversation.

27

Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I

have undertaken to speak to the Lord."

Ah, he knows who he's talking about now.

where he's talking to I whom but dust

and ashes.

Verse 28. Suppose five of the 50

righteous are lacking. Will you destroy

the whole city for a lack of five?

Excellent negotiating technique.

You're like, I'm taking Abraham to buy

my next car.

And he said, I will not destroy it if I

find 45 there. And again, he spoke to

him and said, suppose 40 are found

there. answered, "For the sake of 40, I

will not do it." Then he said, "Oh, let

not the Lord be angry, and I will speak.

Suppose 30 are found there." He

answered, "I will not do it. If I find

30 there," he said, "Behold, I have

undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose

20 are found there." He answered, "For

the sake of 20, I will not destroy it."

Then he said, "Oh, let the Lord not be

angry and I will speak again, but this

once, suppose 10 are found there." He

answered, "For the sake of 10, I will

not destroy it." Verse 33. And the Lord

went his way, and he when he had

finished speaking to Abraham, and

Abraham returned to his place.

What's the big question?

Why did he stop at 10?

Don't know. Here's my guess. Back to

Lot.

Abraham knows at some level or Lot.

Lot's married. He's got two daughters.

He would have known that. Maybe his

daughters are married. So now we're up

to, I don't know, six. Maybe they had a

kid or something. Maybe in Abraham's

mind. He's like, "10 will cover them. If

we get 10, we're good."

I also think what might be going on in

Abraham's mind is a bit of fairness.

What I mean by that is like God's got to

get something out of this deal.

Like 10. Like come on. It's got to be

like a balanced negotiation here. 10.

Can we find 10? Would you take 10?

But there's actually a deeper problem

in the conversation.

Theologically speaking,

what you know of the entire Bible,

how many righteous people are there

in Sodom?

Psalm 14. The fool says in his heart,

"There is no God. They are corrupt. They

do abominable deeds.

There is none who does good."

Verse three, they have all turned aside

together. They have become corrupt.

There is none who does good.

Not even one.

Yeah, I heard a couple of you say it.

How many righteous people are there in

zero?

How are we going to solve that problem?

To get into that, I want you to grab

your elements, please.

If um if as you came in, you did not

grab some. There's a few ushers around

that will help you. just raise your hand

and you get the the cup with the cracker

because I want us to hold these as we go

through this last piece.

I said at the beginning that this is a

category

breaking chapter

and at some level in Abraham's mind he

can't get to where I think Jesus is

trying to get him to because he doesn't

have a category for where Jesus is

going.

Here's what I mean. What number should

he have stopped at?

Lord,

is it possible?

Is it permissible

that you would spare the multitude

for the righteousness of just one?

Notice, just notice, Abraham can't get

there.

Why? Because the category of What God is

able to forgive,

how gracious God is, how good the good

news is, is what

the gospel is. For the righteousness of

the one,

a multitude will be spared.

This is Romans 5.

For as by the one man's disobedience,

the many were made sinners. That's what

you and I inherited from Adam.

But that's not the end of the story.

Why? Because there's another man who is

going to come.

So by the one man's obedience,

the many will be made righteous.

Abraham doesn't have a category for

that.

Here's the best as I can see it.

What Jesus does, what God invites you

and I to

is something that is unfathomable to our

human minds. You mean to tell me, God,

that you're going to you're going to put

all of my sin on your son? And here's

what I love. Abraham's talking to the

one.

And at some level, he can't get there.

But I I I would imagine, wouldn't you

imagine like Jesus is looking at me,

keep asking,

"How low are you going to go? You're

talking to him."

And if he wanted to, he could have said,

"Hey, remember chapter 12 when I said,

"Hey, through you there, I'm going to

bless the That's me."

So here's your savior. Here's your God

who says, "I will do that for you.

You want to come out on the skinny

branches with me?

What do you think his answer is? What do

you think the answer he wants is?

Can he do more than we can ask or

imagine?

How do you know that? Because he did

that.

Why? Because you and I had a barrier

that we could not overcome.

I told you we are all Abraham and Sarah

and we have this barrier of sin. And if

God doesn't do something about it, we're

cooked.

But what's the good news?

He did it.

So here's what I'd like you to. Would

you bow your heads, please?

Whether your eyes are closed or you just

want to look at the elements in your

hands,

there's two there's there's two groups

in this room I want to talk to

and we're going to do it in a very

Genesis 18 way. I'm just going to talk

and if this applies to you, great.

But the first group I want to talk to is

those people

who God has been talking to.

And up to this point, you're like, "Man,

I don't know if I could do that. There's

a lot of obstacles.

I'm not sure."

I just want to pray for you that you

would have ears to hear

whatever it is the Lord has has been

saying.

He really is a good father and Jesus is

a great savior.

And because your future is secure, you

can totally give this life to him.

You can't lose.

And what would it look like if you and

your savior just got up each day and

say, "Okay, Jesus,

what are we going to do today?"

And just keep asking that question.

The other group of people I want to talk

to are those who you

you know of Jesus.

You're familiar with who he is,

but as yet you haven't placed your faith

in him. You haven't said, "Okay,

you are a great savior. I'm a great

sinner, and I need your grace and

salvation to come to me."

And I want to invite you today to make

that trade,

the trade where you have for your entire

life been running the show and calling

the shots.

And today's the day you say, uh, I'm

done with that.

I'm going to trade my life for the life

that Jesus has for me.

And I invite you to just tell him

something like that.

That Jesus, today I want to place my

faith in you

and I want you to be my savior.

I'm sorry for my sin.

I want to be made righteous in you.

And for all of us, go ahead and take out

the little bit of bread.

And the night that Jesus was betrayed,

he was with his friends like he'd be

with us.

And he took that bread, he broke it,

and I said, "This is my body which is

broken for you.

Do this as often as you eat of it in

remembrance of me." And so we eat in

remembrance together.

And after supper, he took a cup

and he said, "This is the new covenant.

This is the new way we're going to do

things. This is the new way that

relationship is going to be had.

That it's my blood that's going to be

shed

so that yours won't be.

So that you will always have a

remembrance of how much your God loves

you and how much I love you.

That I will go in your place.

Do this as often as you drink of it in

remembrance of it.

So, Father, we thank you again this

Sunday for your goodness and grace. We

thank you, Lord Jesus, that you have

come.

You not only had this conversation with

Abraham,

but you came uh a few years later.

and showed us who the father was

and died in our place. I pray your

blessing over our brothers and sisters

as you continue to work

in all the ways

that you desire in their lives.

And I pray you just continue to break

the categories of what's possible

as we take steps with you.

Would you fill us with your love and

grace every step of the way

for Jesus sake? And everyone said,