All right, we're there in Genesis chapter 21.
We'll finish the rest of the chapter here tonight, and the name of the sermon is Our
Testimony Before the Unsaved, or Our Testimony Before Unbelievers.
And we're just going verse by verse through the book of Genesis, and whatever
the topic is is what we cover, and there's multiple topics covered here in Genesis 21.
This is the topic for tonight, and it might not sound like the most exciting sermon,
Our Testimony Before the Unsaved, but obviously if it's in the Word of God,
it's there for a reason, okay?
Point number one, when it comes to our testimony or how we should act toward the unsaved,
number one, we should be good to them.
We should be good to them and do good to them.
Notice what it says in Genesis 21 verse 22.
And it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Fichel,
the chief captain of his host, spake unto Abraham, saying,
God is with you in all that thou doest.
Now therefore, swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me,
nor with my son, nor with my son's son.
But according to the kindness that I have done unto thee,
thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast adjourned.
And Abraham said, I will swear.
So we see that Abraham is before people that, you know what,
I don't think there's any indication these people are saved.
Number one, most people in this world are unsaved to begin with, and
we're in a heathen land, and I can't tell you 100% for sure, but
I'm pretty confident that Abimelech and Fichel are not saved people, okay?
I think that we can kind of surmise that from the chapter.
It would be very unlikely, I mean, unless Abraham had gotten them saved and
the Bible doesn't mention anything about it, I would presume that they're
unbelievers, but obviously these things would apply of our testimony before
believers as well, so either way.
But go to Galatians chapter six, Galatians chapter six.
And we see that Abraham is dealing with people that are not saved,
people that believe in a false god.
I mean, he's before people that are not saved, and the reality is,
you know what, we live in the world and we're around unsaved people all the time.
Obviously we go out soul winning and knock the doors and
talk to a lot of unsaved people, but if you work a secular job in an office,
you're gonna be around mostly unsaved people.
I mean, if you go to the grocery store, you go to the mall,
you're gonna have unsaved people around you.
It's just the way it is, right?
I mean, unsaved people are part of this world, and
they're the vast majority of this world.
Most people are not saved, so we're around unsaved people all the time.
We need to do good to the unsaved.
Notice what it says in Galatians six, verse seven.
Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth,
that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, but
he that soweth to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.
And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap,
if we faint not.
Notice verse number ten.
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto only the saved people.
Is that what your Bible says?
Unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
So the Bible says we should do good unto all men, but
of course especially to those that are actually saved.
So look, we should be more concerned with our testimony before saved people,
but we should also care about our testimony before the unsaved as well.
It's more important that you're right with your brother or
sister in Christ than it is that you're right with someone who's an unbeliever.
However, the Bible says do good unto all men.
Not some men, not just the saved, but unto all men, okay?
And this is linked with getting rewards in heaven.
Because oftentimes we quote, especially Galatians six, verse seven,
but realize that verse ten is still in that context.
I mean, the reason why in verse nine it says, let us not be weary in well doing,
is because we're gonna get rewards.
If we do good, we're gonna get rewards.
And even part of that is doing good unto the unsaved.
That's what the Bible says.
Now look, I don't have a full comprehension of how God's gonna give out rewards
when we get to heaven and we rule and reign during the millennial reign.
But I do know right here, the Bible says part of doing good and
getting rewards is unto all men, and that includes the unsaved.
And this is not a complicated point, but you know what?
We ought to do good to the unsaved people.
Go to Galatians chapter five, Galatians five.
Galatians chapter five, verse 22, Galatians five, verse 22.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Against such there is no law.
When it says against such there is no law,
what it means is that when you are filled with the fruit of the Spirit,
you're not gonna be breaking the law.
You're not gonna be stealing and murdering.
I mean, if you're filled with the fruit of the Spirit,
there's gonna be no law that's condemning you because you're doing right.
Okay, now of course none of us are perfect.
But obviously, if you're really trying to live for
God, you're not gonna be doing criminal activities, okay?
But realize, the Bible says that if you have these things in your life,
it's a manifestation that you're filled with the Spirit,
you're serving God and you're doing right.
Nowhere does it say,
we'll only exhibit these things in front of saved people, right?
Nowhere does it say, well, just have love toward the saved people.
Who cares about the unsaved?
Just be joyful and have peace and get along with the saved.
Forget about the unsaved.
No, I mean, we ought to have these things exhibited throughout our entire lives.
Okay, go to Romans chapter 12, Romans 12, Romans chapter 12.
The reason why this is important is because we're around
unsaved people more than we are saved people.
That's one reason why it's so important to be in church,
because it's the rare opportunity to be around the saved.
Because the rest of our week, we're not around saved people.
I mean, if you're working at an office, you're around unsaved.
If you're going to the grocery store or the mall or
whatever, you're around unsaved people.
And that's why church is so important,
because it is the opportunity to be around those that are saved, okay?
Notice what it says in Romans 12 verse 17.
Recompense to no man evil for evil.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
So to no man, meaning to everybody, you know what?
If somebody does evil to you, you ought to turn the other cheek.
If somebody does wrong to you, you should have a good reaction back to them.
Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
Not just saved people, but of all men.
If it be possible as much as lie within you, live peaceably with all men.
See, one of the big reasons why we ought to do good to the unsaved
is because we want to have peace with the unsaved.
We don't want to have all of these problems with unsaved people all the time.
Look, if you have a terrible testimony in front of unsaved people,
and nobody that's unsaved likes you, everybody dislikes you,
they're going to try to get you fired from your job, right?
Now, I understand that could happen just simply for the fact that you're serving God,
they could be mad about something.
But what I'm saying is if you're doing bad to the unsaved,
it's like it's going to cause you harm in the long run.
It actually does you benefit to do good to those that are unsaved.
You know, I used to work in an office with 100 employees,
and when it comes to working in a big office in a big company,
you know, I did, you know, kind of data analysis and a lot of numbers crunching,
but I was never fully on any assignment by myself
because you're interacting with other employees for this.
And the reality is that, you know,
there's different kind of facets of every sort of project,
and some things I wasn't as good at as other things.
And so you want to have a good relationship with the unsaved
because it's kind of like, hey, I'll do this part.
If you don't mind covering this, it actually does you good.
It's to your benefit just to have a good relationship with those that are unsaved.
But the Bible says we should try to live peaceably with all men.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place on a wrath.
For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord.
Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him.
If he thirst, give him drink.
For in so doing, thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
So if you have somebody that does not like you,
for whatever reason, for the things you believe, or whatever,
the Bible says you can overcome that evil with good,
meaning if you do good back to them,
you could actually end up having a good relationship with them.
I've experienced this before, my old job in Maryland in a big office setting,
because I remember one time I posted something on Facebook.
I was really excited about somebody getting saved.
It was a really exciting soul winning conversation.
And then people are commenting like, oh, that's great and everything like that.
And then there's a coworker of mine who commented about, well,
did they get baptized?
Because this was someone who was a member of the Church of Christ,
which is an American Church of Christ, different.
There's a Church of Christ in every country, I guess.
But they commented, did they get baptized?
Now look, I'm the sort of person, early to bed, early to rise,
makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
So for me, I was already asleep when she commented on this post.
I posted, I'm asleep at 9 PM or something like that.
And then all of a sudden I wake up the next day, and
there's a World War III argument on my Facebook wall.
And there was people that were church members and friends of mine just blasting
this woman saying, you're unsaved, you're gonna die and go to hell and everything.
And here's the thing, they were right in what they were saying.
But this was my coworker.
And I see that the next day, I'm like, you gotta be kidding me.
And literally right when I went to work, this woman came over to my little
cubicle and screamed at me in front of my boss and
said how horrible of a person I was and everything.
And it was just like, man, I didn't do anything, right?
But I would say this, that I worked there for a long time, this woman hated me.
And even though I tried to turn the other cheek, I said, I'm sorry,
I'm not the one who commented and everything like that.
But you know what, I can say this, that when I was done working there,
I had a good relationship with her.
Because she was rude to me all the time, but
I would always kind of hold the door, be polite.
And she kept being rude back to me, but eventually she changed on that.
Now, I never got a chance to give this person the gospel.
I'm not saying that we were like the closest people at work.
But this woman definitely hated me,
even though I didn't do anything to deserve it.
And then eventually she didn't hate me anymore after time went by.
You say, how is that possible?
You overcome evil with good, right?
And look, if you're a saved person and you say, well, I'm serving God,
I'm doing right, then you should be filled with the fruits of the Spirit.
Meaning you should be able to exhibit love in your life.
You should be able to exhibit joy in your life.
You should be able to exhibit peace in your life.
You should be able to exhibit being long suffering in your life.
And so yes, this person was very rude to me, but I gotta think in my mind,
well, she's an unsafe person that was told she was going to hell.
You can see why she's mad.
Right now, it wasn't fair for her to be mad at me, but you know what?
It is what it is, right?
And you can overcome evil with good.
Now, here's the thing.
Why is it important to do good to a person like this?
It doesn't benefit me having enemies at work that don't like me.
If you get enough enemies, they will get you fired, right?
If enough people complain to the boss about you,
they'll probably end up firing you.
So you want to have a good relationship with people.
It's in your best interest to do that.
Now, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 6, 2 Corinthians 6.
Now this sounds very basic, but I'm telling you,
some people have this attitude, well, you know what?
If they're a Muslim, it's a different religion.
So it's okay to lie to a Muslim.
It's okay to steal to a Muslim.
It's okay to be rude to a Muslim because they're part of a false religion.
Where does it say that in the Bible?
Where does it say it's okay to lie because they're an unsafe person, right?
Well, well, you know, they're a Hindu,
so, you know, I don't have to be good to them or treat them nicely.
They're part of a false religion.
The Bible says do good unto all men,
even if they're part of a false religion,
especially if your end goal would be to try to get that person saved.
You want to do good to that person.
Don't be rude to that person.
I mean, it's very basic.
You can't really argue it, but I've heard people have this attitude.
I've heard of a case where someone said,
well, I don't have to pay back this debt I owe
because they're not a safe person.
It's like, what kind of an attitude is that?
Like, how can you sit here and say,
I don't have to pay back this debt I owe because they're unsaved, right?
It's like, well, where is that in the Bible?
I mean, the Bible says if you borrow it, you got to pay it back.
It's just the way it is, right?
We ought to have a good relationship before the unsaved.
Now, I don't want you to misunderstand what I'm saying
because I am not telling you to be close friends with the unsaved.
I am definitely not saying that, so I want to make that very clear.
Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14.
Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers,
for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness,
and what communion hath light with darkness?
In what concord hath Christ with Belial,
or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
Now, the best application of these verses is in marriage,
no doubt about that.
But that's not the only application that you can make.
Because if you're always hanging out with unsafe people
and they're your best friends,
you're yoking up with those unsafe people.
And the Bible says,
be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
We shouldn't have close friends that are unsafe people.
But you know, when you have coworkers
that you're around every single day,
you know what?
You're not guilty of yoking up with them
because you work at the same office.
But you want to have a good relationship with that person
because you're around them all the time.
Now, the goal would be to eventually get them saved,
get them in church and things like that.
These should not be your best friends,
but they should also not be your enemies, right?
We should try to live peaceably with everybody
and be close friends with the safe people, right?
And look, sometimes this can be a bit difficult
because I've had unsafe people
that I got along with really well.
And I thought to myself that, you know what?
If I was not saved, they would be one of my best friends
or because we just had similar personalities.
People that I would play sports with
and we had the same sorts of interests and everything.
And you know what?
There's part of your flesh
that enjoys hanging out with them,
enjoys similar sorts of things,
but you got to watch out for that
because we should not be closest friends with the unsaved.
Right, I mean, obviously the goal is get them saved,
get them in church and then you can hang out with them
and be close with them,
but we should not make unsafe people or close friends.
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
For you are the temple of the living God.
As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk in them
and I will be their God and they shall be my people.
Wherefore, come out from among them and be separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing
and I will receive you.
The Bible teaches a biblical concept of separation.
We should have some areas of separation in our lives, okay?
And one of the big things is simply from the unsaved,
they should not be our best friends.
And we'll be a father unto you
and ye should be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty.
Turn back to Genesis 21, Genesis 21.
Now look, I'm not teaching lifestyle evangelism
in this sermon.
I'm not saying be good to the unsaved
because that's your way to witness to them.
Now, obviously the way anybody gets saved
is when they hear the gospel and they choose to believe.
But I would say this,
that if you want the opportunity to preach to the unsaved
that you're around all the time,
you need to have a good testimony.
Because if you have a bad testimony,
they're probably not gonna wanna listen to you.
I mean, it's just reality that if you have a bad
testimony before unsafe people that you're around
and then you start talking to them about the Bible,
it's gonna be like Lot talking to his sons-in-law
where they felt like he's just mocking.
I mean, you've never cared about the Lord before.
Now you're telling me God's gonna rain down judgment?
They're not gonna take you seriously, right?
So we need a good testimony before unsafe people.
I don't preach or believe in lifestyle evangelism,
but I do think our lifestyle oughta be a reflection
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that has nothing to do with salvation
because of the fact you can get saved
and live a rotten life, a terrible life and go to heaven.
We understand that.
However, our lives should be a reflection
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are representatives, we're ambassadors for the Lord.
The primary method of being an ambassador
is by preaching the gospel, but also our lifestyle
and the way we live our lives,
that represents the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so we need to have a good testimony
before the unsaved.
Point number one, be good to the unsaved.
Point two, give the benefit of the doubt to the unsaved.
Notice what it says in verse 25.
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water
which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away.
Now this is obviously a time period
where water was a bit of a luxury in some ways.
It wasn't like you just turn on the faucet
and you have as much water as you want.
It can be a difficult thing to have,
so a well was a very important thing.
So basically Abraham and his servants, they had a well
and it was taken away violently
by Abimelech and his men.
And so violently sounds like by force.
I don't know if they fought them or attacked them,
it doesn't specifically say,
but they basically took it by force.
They didn't ask for it, they just took it.
And Abimelech said, I want not who have done this thing.
I'm not aware who did this.
Neither didest thou tell me.
He's saying, you didn't tell me about this Abraham.
I don't know who did it, you didn't tell me.
Neither yet heard I of it, but today.
He said, this is the first time I've heard of it.
You're rebuking me, I didn't even know about it.
Now, let me say this.
Abraham basically gives Abimelech
the benefit of the doubt in this situation.
But I do want to kind of just give you my opinion
and give you a couple of reasons to back this up.
I believe Abimelech's a liar, okay?
And I'm going to give you two,
what I believe are pretty solid reasons
to explain why in verse 26,
I do not believe Abimelech is being fully truthful.
Now, I do believe we should give the benefit of the doubt
to the unsaved in a situation like this.
If somebody tells you, hey, you know what?
I didn't know anything about it.
Maybe they're telling the truth, maybe they're not.
But in general, charity believeth all things.
We should try to give the benefit of the doubt.
Now, this is a bit of a gray area
because I'm not saying to act like a fool
when there's 50 things that point to the fact
somebody committed the murder and you got it on video
and you got the weapon and the blood and everything.
It's like, okay, they're guilty,
even if they say they're not.
But you know what?
If there's not real evidence that you can prove something,
then you ought to give the benefit of the doubt
in situations if you're not for sure.
But let me just say from reading this
and thinking about it,
I'll give you two reasons why I believe Abimelech's a liar.
Number one, I believe in verse 26,
Abimelech basically shows he's guilty.
And the reason why I believe that is
I've done some study before on statement analysis,
and statement analysis is kind of a secondary thing
they use for criminal cases,
for murder and stuff like that,
where basically they'll ask you a series of questions
and they'll see what your response is.
And based on your response,
people that are experts can usually tell
whether you're being honest or not.
Because our minds will think of something that's true
and even when we lie,
like some of the truth comes out there, right?
Like I'll give you an example of this.
There was a famous murder case where this woman
who was declared innocent, I really don't know how,
but she had killed her baby
and they were trying to figure out where the baby was
in case she knew any information.
I think it was Casey Anthony was the name.
It was like a famous case in the US.
And she said, they asked where the body was
and whether if she knew,
and she's like, I don't know,
but I'm sure the truth is floating around
out there somewhere.
And so when they heard her say that,
they said, well, let's check the rivers
because she said, the truth is floating around.
Guess what?
The baby was in a river or a lake.
The baby was found dead in water.
And it's like, she said she didn't know,
but then the truth kind of just came out.
I don't know,
but the truth is floating around out there somewhere.
And it's not that a person like that
necessarily has a guilty conscience,
so they're trying to tell.
It's just the fact that, you know what,
naturally when you're thinking about something,
it's hard to fully lie.
And the truth oftentimes will kind of come out.
One thing that's very common with statement analysis
is that if somebody is guilty,
they will go way overboard to declare their innocence.
And what I mean by that is if you ask someone,
hey, did you do this?
You'll like deny it 55 different ways to Sunday
because you have that, you know,
it looks obvious that you're guilty,
so you kind of go overboard to defend yourself.
It'd be like, for example,
if you come home and let's say you're missing a cookie
from the jar and you ask your child, you know,
what happened to the cookie?
I don't know.
Why would you think I would know?
I don't know anything about it.
I didn't do it.
You'd be like, okay, I'm pretty sure you did it, right?
Because they went overboard.
Well, that's what we see here in verse 26
with Abimelech.
He said, I want not who hath done this thing.
He's like, I'm not aware who did it.
Neither didest thou tell me.
Neither yet heard I of it, but today.
I mean, three different ways it's like he's saying,
you know, hey, I knew nothing about it.
To me, it seems like he's really trying
to cover for himself.
And what I believe is that basically
he probably doesn't know,
he's probably not fully lying
because he probably doesn't know the specific person
who stole the well.
And Abraham probably did not tell him.
He's like, neither didest thou tell me.
Neither yet heard I of it,
but today he probably hadn't heard
that it had been stolen.
But what I believe is in their area,
basically they would just take things by force.
And it was just kind of something that his men did.
It was used for their government or for their power.
So he might not have specifically known who did it.
I'm sure Abraham hadn't told him yet.
And he hadn't heard of it specifically,
although, you know, he expected it
and knew it was gonna take place.
So he's not fully lying,
but I don't believe he's fully telling the truth.
When I look at the statement in verse 26,
to me, he doesn't make a very clear statement
saying that he had nothing to do with it.
He kind of just makes these roundabout ways
and he kind of tells half truths.
But the reality is,
I think he was aware that this was gonna take place.
That's one reason from his own words.
Let me give you another reason why I think he's lying
or at least not being fully truthful.
Go back to Genesis chapter 20, Genesis 20.
And of course, this is my opinion.
I could be wrong, but when I read the Bible,
I really like to bring these stories to life.
And I really like to put myself in this situation
to really think about the situation.
And so I kind of enjoy in these chapters digging in
and really thinking about what took place.
And look, one thing you know in life
or you learn in life
is that just because somebody says something
doesn't mean they're being truthful.
And throughout the Bible, people lie.
You see that all the time.
Genesis 20, verse one,
and Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country
and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur
and sojourned in Gerar.
And Abraham said of Sarah's wife,
she is my sister
and Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
So we see Abimelech mentioned here in Genesis 20.
Abimelech king of Gerar.
Turn to Genesis 26.
Genesis 26, Genesis chapter 26, verse six.
And Isaac dwelled in Gerar.
Isaac dwelled in Gerar.
Genesis 26, verse six.
Look down to verse number 14.
For he had possessions of flocks
and possession of herds
and great store of servants
and the Philistines envied him.
For all the wells,
so notice it talks about the wells,
which his father's servants had digged
in the days of Abraham his father,
the Philistines had stopped them
and filled them with earth.
So basically they destroy the wells
that Abraham had had
and then basically the lineage
and they filled them with earth.
And Abimelech said unto Isaac,
go from us for thou art much mightier than we.
Now I will say this.
I think I mentioned this before.
I don't believe this is the same Abimelech.
I believe this is probably the son
of the Abimelech in chapter 20
because a long time has gone by.
I could be wrong,
but if so, then he was a young man in chapter 20
and he's an old man now,
which is very possible.
But it's very common,
especially with kings
to kind of name the next king after yourself.
King Henry VIII we think of, right?
I mean, King Philip, the whatever,
they usually have the same name.
I don't think this is the same Abimelech,
but I could be wrong.
Then it says in verse 17,
and Isaac departed thence and pinched his tent
in the valley of Gerar and dwelt there.
And Isaac digged again the wells of water,
which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father,
for the Philistines had stopped them
after the death of Abraham
and he called their names after the names
by which his father had called them.
And Isaac's servants digged in the valley
and found their well of spring water.
And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen,
saying, the water is ours,
and he called the name of the well Isaac,
because they strove with him.
And they digged another well and strove for that also,
and he called the name of it Setanah.
And he removed from thence and digged another well,
and for that they strove not,
and he called the name of it Rehoboth,
and he said, for now the Lord hath made a room for us,
and we shall be fruitful in the land.
I mean, do you see that in this area
they really fight over wells?
That's what we saw in Genesis 21.
That's what we see in Genesis chapter 26.
I don't believe it's the same Abimelech,
but what I think is like father, like son.
And it's just like the Abimelech in Genesis 21,
I think he had no problem with men
just taking away the well from Abraham,
because then it belonged to them.
Did he specifically know who did it?
Probably not.
Did he specifically know when it took place?
Probably not.
Did he specifically know it was going to happen?
Probably so, in my opinion.
And there seems to be no difference,
because the same thing in Genesis 26,
they're fighting over those wells of water,
and there's no indication in chapter 26
that Abimelech knows the specific person who took it.
There's no indication he knows exactly when it was taken.
That's the exact same thing in Genesis 21.
I don't necessarily think Abimelech's lying in Genesis 21.
I think he's just kind of covering up the details.
But I do believe that Abraham does the right thing
on giving the benefit of the doubt,
because this is my opinion.
I would assume this was probably Abraham's opinion,
that Abimelech was lying,
because he's very angry about it.
So he seems to think Abimelech would have
some sort of knowledge that this would take place,
but he still gives the benefit of the doubt,
because at the end of the day,
you don't have two plus three equals five evidence.
So you kind of have to give the benefit of the doubt.
Go back to Genesis 21.
Genesis 21.
Now look, that's my opinion.
I mean, I gave you a couple reasons why,
from my understanding of statement analysis
and what I've studied,
he seems like he's not giving out
all the information in Genesis 21.
It seems like he's kind of avoiding the exact details,
in my personal opinion.
But it seems like father, like son,
this is kind of a common theme.
But what I mean by this,
of giving the benefit of the doubt,
is that the reality is,
unsaved people in general,
live their lives a little bit differently
than Bible believing Christians.
And I'm not just saying saved people,
but when it comes to a church like ours,
we hear the word of God preached,
we're reading our Bibles,
we know what the Bible says.
And you know what, honestly,
our lifestyles are probably quite a bit different
than the average unsaved person.
You know, sometimes for example,
you might have a coworker who's just trying to be nice.
It's like, hey, do you want to come out
and get some drinks with us?
They don't mean anything by that usually.
They're just trying to invite you
because they're trying to be friendly.
Now, should we go?
Absolutely not.
Because you need to have some sort of separation.
What I'm saying is,
we shouldn't develop this attitude,
like what a wicked person,
when they were trying to actually
probably do something nice, right?
Now of course, you know,
sometimes unsaved people could do bad things
or evil things because they dislike us.
But the reality is,
a lot of times unsaved people will do things
and they're just different than us
because they have a different sort of mentality.
Kind of an example more so with saved people,
but you know, similar sort of thing.
I remember Pastor Mena saying before
that sometimes people will buy them
like a birthday card or a Christmas card.
They're kind of new at church
and it's got like NIV verses on it.
Well, they don't mean anything by it.
They're trying to be nice.
I mean, they buy a Christmas card,
they do something nice,
or maybe they give like a gift card to a restaurant
that's like a bar where maybe
you wouldn't feel comfortable being
or something like that.
They're not intentionally trying to cause problems
when they do stuff like that.
Or maybe they say,
hey, this, you know, Christian documentary
or Christian movie is left behind.
You know, you should watch it.
It's really great.
You can learn a lot.
You know what, the way we should react is like,
oh, you know, I appreciate that.
Thank you very much, right?
Just be polite to them.
Just give the benefit of the doubt.
And look, the same thing would be true at our church
as new people come to our church
and they don't know these doctrines.
They don't know all these things.
You know, I've heard people at churches before
they'll promote like Christian books, you know,
from Billy Graham and people like that.
And they really don't mean anything by it.
It's just, they just got saved
and they just don't know yet, right?
And you know what,
we should have a habit of just giving people
the benefit of the doubt
and just assume that
they didn't mean to cause any problems.
It wasn't malicious.
They just kind of were unaware, right?
I personally believe Abimelech's lying,
but you know what,
if I was in this situation,
I hope I would handle it similarly to Abraham
by giving the benefit of the doubt,
even though something major was stolen from them.
Point number one, when it comes to the unsafe,
we should be good to them.
We should do good to them.
Point number two, we should give them
the benefit of the doubt.
But point number three is this,
make appropriate changes.
Make appropriate changes.
And what I mean by that is
we can give the benefit of the doubt
to the unsafe person,
but sometimes you might have to make adjustments
with that relationship because of it, right?
For example, let's say somebody invites you
to hang out with them
and you're thinking,
man, I could give this person the gospel.
Then all of a sudden you go with them
to a restaurant and then they're drinking alcohol.
You didn't expect it.
Well, it's not necessarily your fault.
You didn't know that they were gonna buy alcohol
and drink,
but it's just kind of the situation you're in.
Not gonna be able to give them the gospel
while they're drinking.
But as a result of that,
giving them the benefit of the doubt,
they're not trying to cause any problems,
but then make some appropriate changes
and realize, well, I'm not going to them
with a restaurant again
because I know it takes place.
In this situation,
Abraham does give the benefit of the doubt to Abimelech,
but he also kind of safeguards himself
from having another well stolen.
Basically, he's not naive, right?
He sees the situation and says,
hey, I'll forgive him.
I don't know for sure,
but at the same time,
I'm not gonna go through this cycle again, right?
Genesis 21, verse 27.
And Abraham took sheep and oxen
and gave them onto Abimelech
and both of them made a covenant.
So a covenant or an agreement.
And Abraham set seven new lambs of the flock by themselves
and Abimelech said unto Abraham,
what mean these seven new lambs
which thou has set by themselves?
And he said, for these seven new lambs
shalt thou take of my hand
that they may be a witness unto me
that I have digged this well, right?
And basically he says, you know what?
These seven new lambs are gonna be a witness
that I have digged this well.
And basically he's safeguarding himself
from this sort of problem again, right?
Now he's kind of giving something up
because he's giving up these lambs,
but he's doing it because he says,
I don't wanna run into this situation again.
Let's make a covenant.
There's proof here.
There's no denying it.
So if anything happened again,
he could blame Abimelech and say,
hey, we had this agreement.
We had this covenant.
There were the seven new lambs, plenty of witnesses.
You can't sit here and tell me
that you weren't aware of it.
So basically he safeguards himself
from this situation happening again.
Verse 31, wherefore he called that place Beersheba,
because there they swear both of them.
Thus they made a covenant of Beersheba.
Then Abimelech rose up
and Phichol the chief captain of his host,
and they returned into the land of the Philistines.
And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba
and called there on the name of the Lord,
the everlasting God.
And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines land many days.
Now after this event,
there's no real indication
that Abraham has major problems with him,
because what he does is he gives the benefit of the doubt
but he kind of safeguards himself.
He makes these changes.
So it's not going to happen again, right?
And what it says is he sojourns
in the Philistines land many days.
Look, we're going to be around
unsafe people for many days, many years.
We're going to be around unsafe people.
They do not believe like us.
They do not think like us.
They are going to disagree about topics.
I mean, you know what?
It's just reality.
The way they look at the world
is going to be different than us.
I mean, how many people right now,
you know, in the Philippines would just say,
you know, if you said,
well, you know, I wouldn't vote for this person,
for president or senator or whatever,
because I'm not for women being in office and leading.
How could you say that, right?
Why are you against that?
And then they'll criticize you.
They just don't think like we do,
because they're not using the Bible
for their reasoning on something like that, right?
And so, you know, there's just many topics
that you're going to look at differently.
I mean, the topic of abortion,
people could look very differently than you, right?
There could be nice people
that just look at it completely differently
because they're not saved.
They don't know what the Bible says.
I mean, in today's world,
when it comes to even the topic of gay marriage,
a lot of ordinary people would be actually for it now.
Right?
I mean, it's just the way it is,
they're going to look at things differently.
It makes it difficult to save people
to live in a world like this,
but we are going to be so joining
in the Philistines land many days.
So we ought to find a way
to be able to get along with them,
have peace with them.
And you know what?
Probably one of the best things
is just try to avoid conversations
that are going to lead you down that road.
When I worked at my job in Maryland,
I was just very distant from people at work.
And what I mean by that is,
I just went to work, I did my work,
I didn't really sit around
when people were gossiping and stuff like that.
I just kind of stayed out of those circles and everything.
People looked at me as being a very shy person,
probably, or socially awkward.
Really, I was just trying to avoid
because I just kind of know
the road that things are going to go down.
Right?
People are going to start talking about things
that I don't agree with.
Right?
And look, the reality is that in 2022,
if you work at an office,
your coworkers are probably going to think
you're a little bit strange
or too religious or whatever,
just because you're not going to the office parties
where they're drinking and things such as that.
And so, you know what?
We want to try to live at peace with people,
but we also need to be peculiar people in this world.
Now, turn to Matthew 5 and we'll close up.
Matthew 5.
And look, this is something
we're going to deal with with coworkers.
It's also something we're going to deal with
with family as well.
Right?
I mean, all of us have family that either are not saved
or they just don't see things the exact same way as us.
Here's the thing,
we try to have peace with them.
Now, we understand that's not always possible,
but it should be our goal to try to have peace with them.
Right?
Now, not make them our best friends,
but also try to get along relatively decent with them,
try to have peace.
I'm not saying to back down from the things you believe
and let them walk over you.
I don't agree with that,
but we should not try to start fights, basically.
Right?
It is not a very easy thing to do, is it?
Right?
I remember a story from a long time ago
and just a relative in my family,
and they mentioned something about salvation being by works
in front of some other family members.
And I had to say something
because they're preaching a false gospel
just kind of in passing.
And so I quoted a couple of Bible verses that said,
no, the Bible says just by believing.
And then, you know,
someone ended up crying and I'm the bad guy.
It's just like, you know,
sometimes you can't do anything about it.
Somebody else is allowed to preach a work salvation
in front of me because I'm younger,
and I was saying this to someone who was older,
and the person I said it to
was not even the person who cried,
but it's like somehow I'm the bad guy
because I quoted John 3.16 and Ephesians 2.8 and 9
and said, hey, it's just a gift.
You don't have to work for it.
And somehow I was the bad guy.
And the reality is that's the way it works sometimes
as a Bible-believing Christian.
You're gonna be the bad guy
because they disagree with your opinion on whatever.
All men are topics.
That is the way it works.
So look, I'm not saying that you're always gonna be able
to have peace with the unsaved or all your family.
I'm just saying we should strive
to be at peace with all men if possible.
Matthew 5 verse 13,
ye are the salt of the earth,
but if the salt of loss is savour,
wherewith shall it be salted?
Is it thenceforth good for nothing,
but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot of men?
Now, as I've said before,
I believe the Bible says we're the salt of the earth
because we're meant to preserve the earth.
And salt is something that is used to preserve meat
to get it to last longer when meat would be on ships
for months and everything.
Salt preserves food or some food from going bad, okay?
We are meant to preserve the earth,
meaning by going soul-winning and getting people saved,
by living godly lives, we help preserve the earth, right?
And the Bible says here in verse 14,
ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
We're meant to be a reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're meant to be a reflection of God.
We are the light of the world.
Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick it giveth light
unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine before men
that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.
Look, we ought to live our lives in a way
that we're doing good, we have a good attitude,
we're obeying what God says, we get along with people,
and even the unsaved can sometimes look at us
and see our good works,
and it's a good representation of God.
And look, God wants His children to act differently.
He doesn't want us to go out soul-winning
and then just be miserable people the rest of the week.
Well, I mean, it's okay,
because I'm still telling people how to get to heaven.
No, the Bible says He wants us to be a peculiar people,
different than the unsaved.
And look, we understand the unsaved
live their lives a certain way,
we ought to be different than that, right?
Look, if we want to have an impact on unsaved people
in the world we live in,
outside of us just preaching the gospel
in our personal lives, we need to have a good testimony.
Another thing to consider is this,
we get a lot of people saved,
we do a lot of soul-winning,
but we don't get a lot of visitors at church.
Why is that?
Well, because most people that just met us
and don't know us
probably feel uncomfortable coming to church.
They don't know us.
They don't have any friends at this church.
But here's the thing,
if there's a coworker that does know you,
you establish a bit of a relationship with them over time
and you know what?
They would actually be more likely to visit church.
They might be less likely to get saved
than a random person we knock on their door.
They'd actually be more likely to visit our church though.
And you know what?
Some friends and family and coworkers
might be very hard-headed,
but I'm telling you,
those people are more likely to visit our church
than some random person we met.
Look, we get a lot of people saved
and sometimes they're excited that they might come
and we get a bit excited,
but it's very unlikely they're gonna come, right?
Most people that get saved do not visit church.
I wish that were not the case,
but that's the way it is.
However, the people that we can actually get to come
are gonna be people we actually know.
Just think throughout the Bible,
you got Andrew and Peter, right?
He first findeth his brother.
You say, why?
Because it's easier to bring somebody you know
to come to church than just some random person.
So look, number one, we should do good under the unsafe.
Number two, we should give the benefit of the doubt.
And number three, we should make necessary changes
so the relationship is not too close.
There's a bit of a separation.
It prevents us from any problems and things such as that,
but we should still try to give them the benefit of doubt.
Let's close in word of prayer.
Your heavenly father, thank you for allowing us
to be here today and getting to see your word
on this topic and help us all to try
to have a good testimony in front of the unsaved
and have an impact on them.
By all means, help us to have an opportunity
to preach the gospel,
but even if we're not able to at this point,
help us just to have a good test.