Genesis Ch20v1-18 - Living By Unbelief!

Thank you.

So we're going to read Genesis chapter 20 together.

Genesis 20 · chapter mention

Again, I encourage you, if you've missed any of the talks, you can follow back online.

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Please avail of that. It's for you, for your good.

So Genesis chapter 20, starting at verse 1.

Genesis 20 · chapter mention

Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur.

For a while he stayed in Gerar.

And there Abraham said of his wife Sarah,

She is my sister.

Then Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him,

You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken.

She is a married woman.

Now Abimelech had not gone near her.

So he said,

Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?

Did he not say to me,

She is my sister.

And didn't she also say,

He is my brother?

Father, I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.

Then God said to him in the dream,

Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience.

And so I have kept you from sinning against me.

That is why I did not let you touch her.

Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet.

And he will pray for you.

And you will live.

But if you do not return her,

You may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.

Early the next morning, Abimelech summoned all his officials.

And when he told them all that had happened,

They were very much afraid.

Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said,

What have you done to us?

How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom?

You have done things to me that should never be done.

And Abimelech asked Abraham,

What was your reason for doing this?

Abraham replied,

I said to myself,

There is surely no fear of God in this place,

And they will kill me because of my wife.

Besides, she really is my sister,

The daughter of my father,

Though not of my mother,

And she became my wife.

And when God calls me to wander from my father's household,

I said to her,

This is how you can show your love to me.

Everywhere we go,

Say of me,

He is my brother.

Then Abimelech bought sheep,

Cattle,

And male and female slaves,

And gave them to Abraham.

And he returned Sarah, his wife, to him.

And Abimelech said,

My land is before you.

Live wherever you like.

To Sarah he said,

I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver.

This is to cover the offence against you

Before all who are with you.

You are completely vindicated.

Then Abraham prayed to God,

And God healed Abimelech,

His wife and his female slaves,

So that they could have children again.

For the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelech's household

From conceiving,

Because of Abraham's wife, Sarah.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Father, would you please speak to us in such a way

That we can engage with your word with our minds,

That we understand it.

But would you deal with us,

That we would engage with it in such a way

That it changes our life,

That we do business with you today, Father.

That we would leave this building

Changed and blessed

Because of what you have done in us.

We ask this from you

Because without your work

We are helpless to change anything in us.

We need your help.

Be gracious to us.

And it's in your name we pray.

Amen.

Groundhog Day,

I'm sure some of you are familiar with the phrase,

But it's something

That has happened before

And that happens again.

It's a recurring of the same event.

This was portrayed in the film

With the same title,

Groundhog Day.

The lead character was a man called Phil,

A weatherman who confidently announced

That the threatening snow blizzard

Was going to bypass their city.

Except for his predictions were all wrong.

The blizzard struck

And the city came to a standstill.

And the whole film is all about Phil

Who wakes up each morning

And relives the same awful nightmare experience.

It's like he's been caught up

In this recurring loop.

Well it seems Abraham

Is having his own Groundhog Day.

Have a look with me at verse 1.

Now Abraham moved on from there.

He was in the region of Sodom.

And he moves down to the Negev

And lived between Kadesh and Shur.

So a new area for him to stay.

For a while he stayed in Gerar.

And there Abraham said of his wife Sarah,

She is my sister.

Now why would Abraham be saying something like that?

Well Abraham was afraid

That if they discovered Sarah was his wife

They might kill him.

So verse 2

He comes up with a plan.

Tell them she is my sister.

And Abimelech king of Gerar

Sent for Sarah

And took her.

Now you might be looking at that and go

That sounds very familiar.

And you'd be right.

Have a look with me back to chapter 12

For a freshener.

Back to chapter 12.

Abraham has just received God's promises

That he will be a great nation.

That he's going to have a family.

And that all the nations of the world

Will be blessed through him.

But look what happens.

Verse 11

As Abraham was about to enter Egypt

He said to his wife Sarah

I know what a beautiful woman you are.

When the Egyptians see you

They will say

This is his wife.

Then they will kill me

But will let you live.

I know.

Say you're my sister

So that I will be treated well

For your sake

And my life will be spared

Because of you.

Familiar?

Let's go back to chapter 20.

Abraham has already been there

Done that

And got the t-shirt.

It was a classic case of unbelief.

God had repeated his promise to him

Over and over and over again

Specifically telling him

That he would have a son

Through Sarah.

But it seems like he's forgotten

All of those promises

And once more chapter 20

He steps out in unbelief.

It's Groundhog Day.

But let's not slam Abraham.

We have our own Groundhog Days

All the time.

We too live by unbelief.

The same recurring choices and decisions

Not to believe God's promises

Turn up again and again.

Repeatedly we're reminded

That with God

We lack no good thing.

That he's given us

Every spiritual blessing in Christ.

That he's given us

Everything we need

For a godly life.

God reassures us

Time and time again

My grace is sufficient for you.

But despite being promised

All we need

We still don't believe the promises

Do we?

We prefer to trust in other things

And look to other people.

Every day is like that recurring

Groundhog Day.

But we don't have to live in a cycle of unbelief.

We don't have to live in a pattern of

Continued sin.

It can change.

There is another way.

But before we get there

Let's look at how unbelief

Is so serious

And so devastating.

First we want to see

The serious effects

Of living by unbelief.

The serious effects

Of living by unbelief.

Unbelief is never

An individual thing.

It's never just about

My choice and my decision

That affects only me.

Like when you throw a stone

Into a pool

So our acts of unbelief

Have this ripple effects

That fly out to other people.

First it affects others.

Look at verse 2.

After all that Abraham had said

Look at the end of verse 2.

Abimelech, king of Gerar

Sent for Sarah

And took her.

He takes a woman

Who was married

To someone else.

Now it might well have been

Unintentional

Verse 5.

Did he not say to me

She is my sister

And didn't she also say

He is my brother?

I've done this

With a clear conscience

And clear hands.

Well yes it was

Unintentional

But it was still wrong.

The point is

Abraham's life

Of unbelief

Has led to the sinful choice

Of Abimelech.

You see none of us

Can ever claim

That my sin

Is only personal

And it affects

Only me.

This is my life

And these are my decisions

And they have no bearing

On anybody else.

No that's not right.

How we live

And how we behave

Has a serious effect

On others.

It has this

Ripple effect.

In fact it's

More dangerous

Than that.

Because we discover

It's also against

God.

Look at verse 6.

Then God said

To Abimelech

In the dream

Yes I know

You did this

With a clear conscience

And so I've kept you

From sinning

Against me.

That is why

I did not let you

Touch her.

You see Abimelech's

Decision to take

A wife

That wasn't his

Was not just

Against Abraham

And against Sarah.

It would ultimately be

As we see there

In verse 6

God says

It would be

Against me.

Yes there is a

Merciful intervention

God kept him

From taking Sarah

To himself

But to take Sarah

As a wife

Would be

To sin against

God.

You see Abraham

And Sarah

Belong to God

As does every

Human being.

He made us

He owns us

So to harm

Another person

To go against

Another person

Is in reality

To go against

God.

He takes it

Personally.

So can you see

The serious effects

Of living by

Unbelief.

Abraham's decision

Not to trust

God and tell

Lies about

His wife

Ends up

With Abimelech

Not only taking

A wife that

Doesn't belong

To him

But now he

Finds himself

Under God's

Judgment.

But more than

That

It all leads

To death.

Verse 3

God came to

Abimelech

In a dream

One night

And said to

Him

You are as

Good as

Dead

Because of

The woman

You've taken

She's a

Married woman.

You see

That's what

Happens when

We go against

What God

Says.

We come under

God's judgment

And we die.

You see

Sin has this

Ripple effect.

It's never

Just about

Me and

My life

And the

Things that

I do

And say

It's all

Up to

Me.

It doesn't

Affect

Anybody

Else.

It does

Affect

Everybody

Else.

And Abimelech's

Sin is even

Having a

Wider effect

In his

Own family.

Did you see

That at the

End of

Verse 7?

But if you

Do not

Return her

You may

Be sure

That you

And all

Who belong

To you

Will die.

So can you

Follow the

Thread of

What's

Happening here?

Each person

May be

Held

Responsible

For their

Actions

But it

All started

With the

Unbelief

Of Abraham.

He chose

Not to

Believe the

Promises of

God.

And it

Had a

Serious

Knock on

Effect.

Instead of

Being the

One who

Brings

Blessing

To the

Nations

Because of

His

Behaviour

He's now

Bringing a

Curse

To the

Nations.

Maybe you

Haven't

Thought about

This before

But it

Is a

Theme that

Runs all

The way

Through

Scripture.

Go forward

With me

Please to

Exodus.

It's the

Next book

In the

Bible

After

Genesis.

Exodus

Exodus 34 · chapter mention

Chapter

34.

Exodus

34.

And here

In this

Chapter

God

Reveals

Himself

To

Moses.

He shows

Moses

What his

Character

Is like.

We'll pick it

Up in

Verse 6.

Exodus

34.

Verse 6.

And he

That's God

Passed in

Front of

Moses

Proclaiming

The

Lord

The

Lord

The

Compassionate

And

Gracious

God

Slow to

Anger

Abounding

In

Love

And

Faithfulness

Maintaining

Love

To

Thousands

And

Forgiving

Wickedness

Rebellion

And

Sin.

Now look

What else

It says.

And

Parents

Listen

Carefully.

Yet

He does

Not

Leave

The

Guilty

Unpunished.

He

Punishes

The

Children

And

Their

Children

For

The

Sin

Of

The

Parents

To

The

Third

And

Fourth

Generation.

You

See

My

Behaviour

As

A

Father

My

Sinful

Behaviour

Has

An

Effect

As

They

Do

What

I

Do

And

So

It

Goes

On

Down

The

Line

Living

By

Unbelief

Has

A

Terrible

Ripple

Effect

That

Reaches

Far

Beyond

Our

Own

Life

And

If

We

Want

To

Get

How

Serious

God

Takes

This

Go

With

Me

Please

To

Matthew

Gospel

Chapter

18

Matthew

Gospel

Chapter

18

First

Book

In

The

New

Testament

Jesus

Here

Has

Been

Teaching

Little

Children

Small

Ones

Explaining

That

The

Kingdom

Of

God

Belongs

To

Them

Too

And

That

We

Can

Learn

From

Little

Children

And

Then

He

Goes

On

To

Say

This

Chapter

18

Verse

6

If

Anyone

Causes

One

Of

These

Little

Ones

That

Is

Those

Who

Believe

In

Me

To

Stumble

I

That

Their

Let

They

Can't

Come

Like

That

illegitieness

In hot

has a serious effect on others.

It can lead them to turn away from God

and it can lead to our own judgment.

Let's go back to Genesis 20.

So first, the serious effects

of living by unbelief.

Second, there's the devastating impact

of living by unbelief.

You see, it not only affects others,

it also, of course, has a deep

and profound impact on us personally.

So having been confronted by God,

God now uses Abimelech

to go and confront Abraham.

Look at verse 10.

And Abimelech asked Abraham,

what was your reason for doing this?

Why did you tell me so many lies?

Why did you act like this?

Well, Abraham responds,

and I'm not sure if it's a confession

or if he's just simply restating the facts.

Either way, Abraham reveals

the devastating impact

of living by unbelief.

It starts

with not trusting God.

Verse 11.

Abraham replied,

I said to myself,

here's the reason for why I did what I did.

There is surely no fear of God in this place

and they will kill me because of my wife.

Abraham assumed

that in this new area he was living,

his life would be in immediate danger.

And in some ways,

the threat was credible.

That's what powerful kings like Abimelech could do.

But remember,

Abraham had a promise

for situations like this.

Go back to chapter 18

and verse 13.

Let's remind ourselves

of what God had promised Abraham.

Chapter 18, verse 13.

Then the Lord said to Abraham,

Why did Sarah laugh and say,

Will I really have a child now that I'm old?

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

I will return to you

at the appointed time next year

and Sarah will have a son.

You see, Abraham,

do you remember what I told you?

Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

That means threats from powerful kings

are not a problem.

I don't need you, Abraham,

to come up with your schemes

to save the day.

Abraham, I just want you

to walk by faith

and obey my promise.

But he doesn't.

In fact, it turns out

that Abimelech seems to have

more fear of God

than Abraham has faith in God.

He simply doesn't trust

what God said

and Abraham takes matters

into his own hands.

He puts his trust in self.

Now, how many times

do we believe our own thoughts

over God's word?

unbelief is subtle

and can show up

in all kinds of ways.

It starts with not trusting God

and it moves very quickly

to blaming God.

You see, when unbelief

gets us into a pickle,

well, it's not my fault,

that's for sure.

Look how Abraham continues,

verse 13.

And when God caused me

to wander from my father's household,

if God had never told me

to leave my family home

and to move to this new land,

if God had just left me

where I was,

I was comfortable,

everything was alright,

if God,

then none of this

would have happened.

You see, living by unbelief

is never our fault, is it?

It's God who got me

into the mess

and now I have to try

and find a way out of it,

even if it means disobedience.

You see, we're all

a little bit like Abraham.

We're like his

earlier

great, great,

I'm going to get confused now,

but he's like Adam as well,

in the Garden of Eden

when God confronted him

with his unbelief.

Do you remember

what Adam said?

This is what he said to God,

the woman

you put here with me,

she gave me

some of the fruit

from the tree

and I ate it.

God, if you

didn't put this woman here,

then I wouldn't be

in this mess.

It's not my fault.

How often do we think

if God didn't let this happen,

if he changed this circumstance,

if he changed this event,

then it would be fine.

You see, living by unbelief

just leads to blaming God.

In fact, it goes a step further

and a step deeper.

It leads to living as God.

Look at verse 13 again.

And when God

caused me to wander

from my father's household,

I said to her,

this is how you can

show your love to me.

Everywhere we go,

say of me,

he is my brother.

This was the text

that Abraham had

at his front door

of his house.

It kind of ruled

their lives.

Everywhere they went,

everywhere they travelled,

this is how you can

show your love to me.

Remember,

everywhere you go,

say of me,

he is my brother.

He came up

with his own rules.

Ones that ensured

he was kept safe.

Of course,

he presented it all

as a wonderful act of love,

wasn't it?

This is how you can

show your love to me.

Oh, Sarah,

if you really loved me,

you would see that

this is a good plan

for your life.

Never mind the harm

it does to Sarah

as long as Abraham

is okay.

You see,

he is acting

as if he is God,

that he knows best

and that he knows better.

And that is what

living by unbelief

is all about.

It is saying,

I am God,

this is my life,

and I will do

what I want

for me.

Can you see

the devastating impact

of living by unbelief?

My thoughts

replace

God's word.

My circumstances

are God's fault.

My life,

my way.

Doesn't it all

sound so familiar?

Doesn't it sound like

our

groundhog days?

God's fault.

It's not

good.

But here is the point

of the whole text.

We don't have

to live like this.

The cycle

has been broken.

We can live

lives of faith

and trust

in God.

So third,

look at the

gracious response

to living

by unbelief.

The gracious

response.

chapter 20

is certainly

a tragic

account.

Abraham,

the man of faith,

is really Abraham,

the man of

unbelief.

His actions

have messed up

the life of Abimelech

and all his family

and it's messed up

his life

and put his own

wife in danger.

And as readers

of the text,

as we read

through it,

we expect to read

something like this.

And God spoke

to Abraham

in a dream.

That's it,

Abraham.

It's not going

to work.

I've given you

every opportunity.

I've given you

chance after chance.

I've reminded you

of all my promises.

It's not going

to work.

I'm going to have

to look for

someone I can

trust.

But that's not

how it ends,

is it?

Because God

amazingly

responds in

grace

and kindness.

He doesn't

get the stick

out.

He doesn't

start berating

Abraham all

around the

place.

God

restores

Abraham

in all

of his

mess.

And he

does it

in two

ways.

First,

Abraham

is blessed

by God.

God

has obviously

been at work

in Abimelech's

life.

Let's read

about that

in verse

7.

God

spoke to

Abimelech

and said,

Now return

the man's

wife,

for he is

a prophet,

and he

will pray

for you

and you

will live.

But if

you do

not return

her,

you may

be sure

that you

and all

who belong

to you

will die.

You see,

it's a call

to Abimelech

to repent,

to change

the way

you're going.

So,

returning

Abraham's

wife

is

repenting

of what

he had

done.

The

evidence

of his

repentance

is now

seen in

how he

treats

Abraham,

verse 14.

Then

Abimelech

bought

sheep

and cattle

and male

and female

slaves or

workers and

gave them

to Abraham

and he

returned

Sarah,

his wife,

to him.

And on

top of

all of

that,

Abimelech

said,

my land

is before

you,

live

wherever

you like.

Now,

aren't you

amazed

at how

Abraham,

who caused

all the

mess,

who lied

and brought

such misery

to Abimelech,

who put

his own

wife in

danger,

ends up

being

blessed.

We're reading

and go,

no,

that's not

right,

you can't

do that

sort of

thing,

it's not

fair.

If anything,

it should

be the

other way

around.

But that's

the extraordinary

way in which

God works.

God doesn't

treat us

as our

unbelief

deserves.

And God's

grace doesn't

even end

there.

Because look

what happens

next.

He not

only blesses

Abraham,

he now

starts

using

Abraham.

He uses

a man

of unbelief

to bring

blessing to

Abimelech.

Look at

verse 7

again.

God said

to Abimelech,

return the

man's wife,

for he is a

prophet,

and he

will pray

for you,

and you

will live.

Verse 17,

then Abraham

prayed to

God,

and God

healed

Abimelech,

his wife,

and his

female slaves,

so that they

could have

children again,

for the Lord

had kept all

the women

in Abimelech's

household from

conceiving

because of

Abraham's

wife,

Sarah.

Isn't it

extraordinary?

God uses

a sinner

like Abraham

to pray

for a

sinner

like Abimelech.

unbelieving

Abraham

gets down

on his

knees

and prays

for God's

blessing,

and Abimelech

gets blessed.

Isn't it

amazing?

And if

God can

use an

unbelieving

sinner like

Abraham

to bring

blessing to

another person,

how much

more will

God bring

his blessing

through the

faithful and

obedient

Son,

Jesus

Christ.

Not just

to one

person,

but bring

blessing

to all

nations.

You see,

it's not

that God

ignores

the

unbelief.

No,

God knew

there was

unbelief,

and God

had to

deal with

it,

so God

sent his

Son,

Jesus,

who was

treated on

the cross

as an

unbeliever

for you

and for

me,

and God

punished

our sin

in Jesus

so that

we could

be forgiven.

We are

blessed.

We were

reminded of

that blessing,

weren't we,

at the beginning

of our time

this morning.

Let me read

to you again

Psalm 32.

Blessed

is the one

whose transgressions

are forgiven,

whose sins

are covered.

Blessed

is the one

whose sin

the Lord

does not

count against

them,

and in

whose spirit

is no

deceit.

You know

right now

if you're

trusting

in the

Lord Jesus,

not one

of your

sins

are remembered

by God.

Not one.

As far

as the

east is

from the

west,

so far

as he

removed

every one

of them,

no longer

to be

remembered.

you are

blessed.

But more

than that,

it's blessing

upon blessing.

Ephesians 1.

Blessed.

He has

blessed us

in the

heavenly realms

with what?

Every

spiritual

blessing in

Christ.

Not just

some here

and there,

but every

spiritual

blessing.

We have

redemption

through his

blood,

the forgiveness

of sins

in accordance

with the

riches

of God's

grace

that he

has

lavished

upon us.

You see,

if you've

turned to

Jesus,

all your

moments of

unbelief,

all those

groundhog days

are no longer

held against

you.

you are

free from

guilt and

shame.

You are

loved and

treasured

forever.

You see,

we can look

at this text

together and

think,

oh, but my

life and the

knock-on effects

of the things

I have said

and the things

that I have

done and how

it's affected

my children

and how it's

affected this

person and that

person,

how could any

of that be

forgiven?

forgiven.

But this is

the good news

of the gospel.

It is all

forgiven.

It is no

longer held

against you.

It's no

longer held

against me.

It's all

been forgiven.

But not

only that,

he takes us

as messed up,

broken people

and he blesses

us and he

says,

now go

and be a

blessing

to other

people.

and perhaps

the best

way we can

start to

bring blessing

is like

Abraham,

to start

praying for

our children

and for our

families and

for our

friends to

get down on

our knees,

messed and

broken as we

are, but

yet God

using us to

bring blessing

to other

people.

You see,

God is

determined to

bring blessing

to the

nations and

God in his

grace will

use people

like us,

people who

are weak

and fragile

in faith but

are held up

in the

faithful hands

of God,

never holding

our sin

against us,

but filling

us with his

spirit and

sending us

into the

world and

into our

communities and

into our

families and

saying,

you can

be a

blessing.

We don't

have to

live in a

cycle of

unbelief.

We simply

believe in

God's promise

that we are

set free and

we are changed

and we can

live the life

that he has

called us to,

never to be

held back

again.

Let's just

take time to

reflect.

Let's

just take time

to reflect.

Father God,

we are

amazed

at your

kindness

in how you

respond to

us.

thank you

for your

grace afresh.

Thank you

that because

of your

son Jesus

Christ,

we are

blessed.

We are

made new.

We can

live a new

way.

Help us

this day

to not

only hear

the promises

you have,

but to

believe them

and to

live by

them.

in the

knowledge

that all

our sin

is forgiven,

never held

against us,

and that

because we

are now

your children

filled with

your spirit,

we can

go and

be a

blessing to

others.

No matter

how we feel

about ourselves,

no matter

what we

have done,

you can

use us.

Thank you,

Lord.

Thank you for

this privilege

and we

pray that

you will

indeed bless

our children

and bless

our families

and bless

our neighbours

and would

you,

Father,

please bring

them to

faith in

Jesus too

because you

are good

and you

are kind.

thank you,

Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

We're going to

sing together

a song that

will help us

to celebrate

the amazing

grace and the

amazing goodness

of God to

us.

I stand

amazed in

the presence

of Jesus

the Nazarene

and wonder

how he

could love

me.

How

marvellous,

how

wonderful.

I invite

you to

stand to

sing if

you're able.

Thank you.