(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 Let's open our symbols to song number 43. Song number 43, the marching of Zion. Here's a hat. 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 🎶 Before I get to the message, I wanted to mention about these sheets here that these are these plain white ones. You can take these home this morning. If you don't know the song, you can learn it. You got the obviously you have the score here with the notes and everything and the lyrics. And if you want just the lyrics here, that's also available to you. But there's also a QR code here. And if you scan this, this will take you to a player on the church's website where you can actually hear the tune played if this is something you want to learn. So we're going to work more on that because I realize there's a lot of people who are newer to church or haven't been to church that long that don't know a lot of these hymns, especially the Psalms or even the hymns of the book. So we're going to try and start working on helping folks at least give them opportunity to learn these hymns throughout the week. And I've got some other things in mind. But feel free to take these home this morning. Take a couple of them home and then we'll have copies here in the future that will be a thicker card stock and all of that. So you'll see that as it's rolled out. But getting into the message this morning in Genesis chapter number 12. We'll be in Genesis 12 a little bit later in Genesis 13. So just keep something there this morning, all morning. But I want to point out there actually in Genesis chapter 13 verse 1 where it says, And Abraham went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and a lot with him into the south. And the phrase I really want to focus in on there is where it says that Abraham went up out of Egypt. And it's a reference of course I believe in Scripture to the fact that Egypt is of a lower elevation. Often you'll see the Bible speak about the geography of that land in that way. And Egypt is a very low lying plain. I believe it's about 400 feet below sea level. So you can see why he's saying he went up out of Egypt. He went up out of it. Much like today we would say we went up to Phoenix. Well we actually went down to Phoenix because we're about 1,000 feet higher than that area here than they are there. So at least we got that on them. And it's about 10 degrees cooler year round. I always want to remind people from Phoenix about that because you've got to fit in like a true Tucsonian. That's what I've learned. But that's what the Bible is describing here is this geography. But I believe there's another application that we can make out of this phrase that Abraham went up out of Egypt. Of course this is very early on when we're first learning about Abraham. And we're seeing that Abraham is learning and growing in his faith. And there's this period at this time in Abraham's life where he has this lapse of faith at the very beginning of his walk with God. Where he kind of goes back to Egypt and he ends up having to come up out of Egypt. If you were paying attention there in Genesis chapter 12 he was told to leave the land, the Ur of the Chaldees and go into a land that God would show him. That land was not Egypt. You know he ended up in Egypt as we'll see in a little bit as a lapse in his faith. And when that happened God eventually came to him and said up out of Egypt and get back to the land where I told you to go to. And this is a very important thing that we need to learn as Christians that we're going to go through. And I know I kind of touched on this last week. But Christians throughout their spiritual life are going to experience ups and downs. As I mentioned last week they're going to experience those peaks and those valleys. And hopefully those become fewer and farther between and shallower and shallower as they mature and grow. But even in a great man like Abraham you see that early on in his Christian life there was a time where he found himself back in the world out of God's will. Not where he belonged. And what I want to point out is that God didn't just give up on him. That God set up out of Egypt to get back to where you belong. You have to understand that Egypt in the Bible is a picture of the world. It's a picture of sin. And I won't take a long time to explain all this but you've probably heard that preached. You've probably noticed that on your own. It's a great picture in Exodus chapter 13. I'll just read to you where it says that Moses said unto people remember this day which he came out from Egypt out of the house of bondage. You know the world, the sinful life, the world is a house of bondage. The spiritual Egypt that's always calling us back, trying to always lure us back and tent us back with all of its sin and all of its lust and everything else. We might think oh it's freedom, oh it's so great. The Bible says that Egypt is a house of bondage. That we can find ourselves in a house of bondage even as Christians. And if we find ourselves there what we need to learn today is it's time to get up and get out of Egypt. And get back into the promised land and get back in the walk with God. You know that Egypt in the Bible is a picture of the world. That physical exodus is a picture of our spiritual salvation. When they came out and they were baptized in the cloud and in the sea as is explained in 1 Corinthians 10. After they were delivered from Egypt, what happened? After that physical nation came out of Egypt, called the children of Israel, what did they do? They fell a lusting didn't they? They got into the wilderness, they'd been baptized in the Red Sea and in the cloud. They were following God, they had a man of God leading them into the promised land. But in Numbers chapter 1 the Bible says the people complained and it displeased the Lord. And the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them. They were in the uttermost parts of the camp and the people cried unto Moses and Moses prayed unto the Lord and the fire was quenched. And he called the name of that place Tibera because of the fire of the Lord burnt among them and the mixed multitude was among them fell a lusting. And what was it that they were lusting after? It was Egypt. They got out into the wilderness and they were there and they said this manna isn't good enough. What God gives isn't good enough. We want what we had in Egypt. He said who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did in Egypt freely and the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. And now we're just stuck out here in this wilderness and the only thing we have to eat is this manna. This angel's food. And it just goes to show you that even in the Christian life people can get to a place where they're dissatisfied with the things of God. They're dissatisfied with that holy manna called the word of God that God gives to us fresh every day. And they can begin to desire the leeks, the onions, the melons, the fish of the world. That Egypt has an abundance but what is Egypt? It's a house of bondage. You say oh I can eat all these great things. I can satisfy my flesh. Yeah and you can be put in hard bondage as a result. And that's where, that is the land that Abram found himself in. When he had his lapse in faith he went back to that Egypt, that literal Egypt. And God told him to get up and to get out and get back where he belonged. And today people, they return to that spiritual Egypt for the same reasons. They're dissatisfied with what God has. They love the things of the world. Isn't that what Paul said about Demas? Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world. It wasn't enough that he was with the apostle Paul, seeing Paul hearing his preaching, seeing all the great things he did, seeing churches founded, seeing the beginning of the New Testament church. What an exciting time to be alive. What a great ministry to be a part of. But the pull of the world on Demas' heart was so strong that it took him even away from a man like the apostle Paul. He loved it. And people today, even the Demases of this world, they return to that spiritual Egypt for the same reasons. The lure, the lust of those things. The Bible says in 1 John 2, Love not the world, not the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. If we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us. And what he's saying there is it's not that God ceases to love you. That's not what it's saying. If we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us. It doesn't say that God doesn't love us. God still loves us. He still loved Abram when he went down into Egypt. That's why he told him get up, get out. No, what it means is, in 1 John, is that if we love the world, our love of the Father is not in us. We love the things of the world more than the things of God. That place in our hearts that should be reserved for the Lord, our affections that should be set on things which are spiritual, those things are replaced with the carnal things of this life. That's what he's referring to in 1 John 2. That if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father. Those things that we love in the world, they're not from God. The lust, the pride, the flesh, those are not of God, but it's of the world. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. So I want to look at this example of Abram this morning. A great man of faith, but early on he had this lapse in his faith, where he finds himself going back down into Egypt. It says there in Genesis, if you're still there, chapter 12, keep something there all morning. Genesis 12, verse 10, and there was a famine in the land, Genesis 12, 10. And Abram went down into Egypt, a sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land. And we would look at that and say, well that makes sense. He's got people to feed, he's got mouths to feed, he's got people to take care of. He can't just stay out there and starve, there's a famine. But what that is is a lapse in faith. Because in verse 1 it said, Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father's house into a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee again. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great. And thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that cursed thee, and in all families of the earth, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. I mean God said, look I'm going to be with you. It's God that's making the promise that I'm going to preserve you and take care of you, and in your seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed. And you know that might have sounded real good when he started, when he stepped out, when he got out of his country and said, Oh yeah, I can do this. God's on my side. But when he got a little further away from home, away from that which is familiar, got a little further on in this Christian life, he realized that there were still struggles. He was tested and there was a famine that came into land, something difficult came up and then it was like, well now it just got real. Now I actually have to exercise my faith in God. Now I actually have to put God to the test and see if he's actually going to come through with what he said. But we see that he had a lapse in faith. And he ends up going back, running to Egypt, running down there and saying, well they got food down there. Yeah, but God could have fed him out of the rock. God could have rained manna from heaven. God could have fed him in any number of ways. It says in verse 11, and it came to pass when he was come near into Egypt that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold, now I know thou art a fair woman to look upon. Therefore it shall come to pass when the Egyptians shall see thee that they shall say this is his wife and they will kill me, that they will save thee alive. So it's not enough that he's running down to Egypt to get his bread and not relying on God. Now when he's going in there he's fearful that he's going to die there, that they're actually going to take his life. He's afraid of what might happen. And he's forgetting all about verses one through three. He's forgetting all about the promise that God would bless them that bless him and curse them that curse him. He's already forgotten. He says in verse 13, Say I pray thee thou art my sister that it may be well with thee with me for thy sake and my soul shall live because of thee. This is a lapse of faith. But even despite that, even despite the fact that Abraham had this lapse of faith and he ran down to Egypt and he was fearful what might happen, then he had stopped trusting in God, God still kept his promise, didn't he? God didn't say, well you know what, I'll just find somebody else who has a little bit more faith than you, Abraham. I guess I'll just start over with somebody that actually believes what I say, that actually has confidence in the word of God. No, he said, you know what, I made this promise to Abraham. I'm going to keep it. Because God is faithful. It says in verse 14, And it came to pass that when Abram was coming to Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The prince is also a Pharaoh's sovereign, commended her before Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house, and he entreated Abram well for her sake, and he had sheep and oxen and he-asses and men-servants and maid-servants and she-asses and camels, and the Lord plagued Pharaoh because of his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is it that was done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why saidest thou, She is my sister, so I might have taken her to me to wife, now therefore behold thy wife take her and go thy way? Now he's running them out of there. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him that they sent him away, and his wife and all that he had. And of course he went away with great riches. But did he get all these riches because he was just such a great man of faith early on? No, I mean he's completely backslidden. He's completely forsaken. I'm not saying that to besmirch Abram's good name. He's a great man of faith. But he's a man just like any of us. He's flesh and blood just like any of us. And these things are written for our example. We should be able to look at this and say, hey, they suffer the same temptations that we do. You know, and early on in his life, in his Christian life, there was this huge error that he makes where he goes running down to Egypt and just has this huge lapse in faith. But you know what? God still kept his promise. And is still going to make a great nation out of him. He's going to bless others through him. And the same is true for us today. What we need to understand, I don't care how far down into Egypt you've gone, is that God isn't going to give up on his own. God doesn't just quit on us. Even after we might have quit on him and forsaken him and gone back to the world and don't care about the things of God, God still cares about us. And he's going to want us to bring us back out of Egypt and get us back where we belong and get us back on the path. And God doesn't give up on his own. And you know what? Neither should we. Somebody falls out of church, gets into sin, don't write that person off. Pray for him. Pray for him. Take their name before the throne of God and say, God help them, convict them. Get some wayward child that goes running off into the world, pray for them. Just write them off. Say, God, do whatever you've got to do, but get them back in church. Get them back on the path of serving Christ. It can be a dangerous and frightful prayer to pray, maybe, but it's the one that needs to be prayed. You know, we can have the confidence that God's going to answer that prayer because God doesn't give up on his own. Anywhere near as quickly as we are prone to just give up on God. The Bible says in Galatians, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. You know, when you see people, you know, who get caught up in some fault, they might even commit some sin that, you know, according to 1 Corinthians 5 and elsewhere, you know, gets them kicked out of church. And yes, there are certain sins, very specific sins, that can get a person kicked out of church. When you see that happen, you know, that's not the time to say, Well, I knew it. I'm not surprised. That person was so carnal. They'll probably never be back. You know, that is the point of church discipline, by the way. The point of church discipline is so that that person will go out and actually get it right and be welcomed back into the fold and continue to serve God. But, you know, when that person comes back, their sins should never be mentioned to them again. You say, Yeah, yeah, we know. Yeah, I know too and I've heard this preached over and over and over again and it's amazing to me how many times that'll happen and then you'll still have people bring up people's sins that they've repented of from years ago and people still bring it up. You say, Well, why is that? Well, it's there in Galatians chapter 6. Ye which are spiritual restore such a one. When I hear somebody bringing up somebody whose old sins, I just think, Well, you're just as carnal as they were. You're just as unspiritual as they were when they committed that sin because, you know, it's ye which are spiritual that restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, lest ye also be tempted. You know, that's a spiritual thing to be able to do that for somebody. It takes a real spirituality, you know, and that's who got it. That's a picture of God, isn't it? Isn't God, I mean, obviously God spiritual, but doesn't God restore us? When we repent, when we're sorry, when we forsake our sin, doesn't God still restore us? Isn't he restoring Abram in the story? Abram's having his lapse of faith. He's running back into Egypt. He's relying on Egypt. He's, you know, handing over his wife. Good night. And God says, You know what? I'm still going to restore you. I'm going to keep my promises. I'm going to get you back to Bethel where you belong. That's fulfilling the law of Christ. He said, Bury one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. You know, if I ever got out of church, if I ever got sin, I would hope that somebody would pray for me. Not just badmouth me on the internet or something. Just talk trash behind my back. I hope that they would, you know, if they were going to be talking behind my back, I hope they'd be talking behind my back down on their knees in the prayer closet to God. That's where I'd want to talk behind my back. Not getting together with some other brother, sister in Christ and just dragging my name through the mud. That's what I would want. That's the law of Christ, isn't it? To love thy neighbor as thyself. To do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And there's a story there going back to, where did I have you there, Genesis? Genesis 13. Abram, after going down there, he ends up coming out of Egypt. And look, if you can avoid Egypt in your Christian life, do it. And that is possible. But the reality is that not all but some Christians end up going back to Egypt, don't they? There's a lot of people, they start out well, they get in church, they're loving the Lord, they're soul winning, they're praying, they're reading their Bible, they're doing everything they're supposed to do, but eventually it wears them down, they have a lapse of faith, and they end up going back to the world. Don't write them off. God hasn't. When those people need to learn something from Abram, they need to come up out of Egypt. It says there in Genesis 13 verse 1, and Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife. What's he doing? He's getting back in the fight. He's getting back in the faith. He's getting back after it. He's not just going to dwell there in Egypt. I mean, I know he kind of got run off. But God is pushing in that direction, saying let's get you back to where you belong. He got back, and notice where he goes back to, where he left off. It says in verse 2, and Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and gold, and he went on his journey from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Haai. He goes back to where he was at the beginning. And look, if we find ourselves in Egypt, that's where we're going to have to go. And that's a good reason to stay out of Egypt. Instead of backsliding and just going back to the world and just letting months, weeks, years, yeah, even decades go by of potential growth, of potential progress, you know, it would be better to just stay out of Egypt, right? You know, if we find ourselves there, we have to go back there. We have to go back to where we left off. We can't just come back and jump ahead in a Christian life. You've got to go back. You know, a good example of this would be, you know, people start out, they're going to say, I'm going to read my Bible this year. I'm going to read the whole thing. They get through Genesis. They get through Exodus. Then they hit Leviticus. Then they hit Numbers. Then they hit Deuteronomy, right? They hit these heavier books that don't have all these super exciting stories. There's great things in there. But there are, especially early on in Christian life, there are some books you're just going to have to plow through. People start out good in January. They're reading from February, March, April. It starts to wane off. And then next thing you know, it's August. And they haven't read their Bible in six months. They say, well, let me just start all over again. No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't start all over again. Go back to where you left off. And that's a practical Bible reading tip. Just go back to where you left off. That's why Genesis and Exodus are probably the most well-read books in the Bible. Because that's what people do. They read Genesis and Exodus. They backslide. They stop reading. They say, well, I've got to start over in Genesis and Exodus. And they just keep doing this. You know, that's a practical Bible reading tip. But, you know, more broadly speaking in your Christian life, where you left off is where you've got to start. You know, I left off, you know, learning how to go soloing and going to church or getting this sin out of my life or getting this good, godly having life. Look, that's where you've got to go back and pick it back up. God's going to say, hey, let's get you out of Egypt, but we're going to go right back where you stopped. And we're going to start you right there so that you can learn everything that you needed. And you can start learning this whole time. So it's better just to avoid Egypt altogether. Because that's just a waste of time. You'll never get back. He got out of Egypt, and when he got back to where he wanted to go, he started right back where he left off. Notice what happened next. He says there under verse 4, verse 3, And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai. Under the place of the altar which he had made there at the first, and there Abram called on the name of the Lord. But notice what happens next. He separates from these worldly influences. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents, and the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their substance was great so that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle, and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land. Verse 8, Abram said a lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, between thy herdmen and thy herdmen, for we are brethren. It's not the whole land before thee. Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left, then I will go to the right. Or if thou depart to the right, then I will go to the left. And we know if you've read the Bible and you know anything about Lot, you know that this is a worldly man. And God did not say at the beginning, Hey, take Lot. He just kind of came along with him. Look, when you start out on your walk with God, when you start on the Christian life, there's going to be some people that are going to tag along with you. They're going to still be part of your life. That probably it's going to be better for you to just separate from. Old friends, even family. Maybe that's what Abram's doing. Well, that doesn't sound fair. Well, that's what Abram did. He said, Hey, go over there. We be brethren. Let there be no strife. You know, when people, people a lot of times, early on in the Christian life, they have a lot of strife with their relatives. Especially if they've gotten saved later in life. Because now they don't drink anymore. They don't, they're not smoking anymore. They're not, you know, running to the same excess of riot. Where, you know, and they think it's strange that you run out with them to that same excess. They say, Sorry, I can't stay up till two o'clock on Saturday night, partying, because I ought to be in church tomorrow. Oh, you got to go to church. Didn't you just go last week? Didn't you just go Sunday morning, Sunday night? Weren't you just there Thursday? Yeah. I like church. I like God's people. I like the preaching of God's Word. I like the fellowship. It's where I belong. You know, and there's going to be strife there. There's going to be those old friends that are going to try and lean on you. Oh, come back. Let's go, let's go do this. Let's go do that. Things you know you're not supposed to be doing. That's Egypt trying to pull you back. That's the lots of this world. And look, you could hang around them, but you know what? It's going to be strife. And maybe there won't be some personal conflict with them, but there's going to be strife between you and the Holy Spirit that dwells in you. Because news flash, you can get out of church. If you're saved, you can get out of church, but you know what? You'll never get away from the Holy Spirit because He dwells in you. That's why the Bible tells us to grieve not the Holy Spirit, to not quench Him. Everywhere you go, the Holy Spirit's with you. And there's going to be that. If there's not conflict, you know, from you trying to pull away from those friends and that family, those bad influences, then that conflict isn't there because you're not trying to separate. Then you're going to have that internal conflict between you and the Holy Ghost. Which one do you want? Either way, it's conflict. You know, I'd rather be at strife with sinful people in this world than God. What are they going to do? Laugh, mock, and they'll get over it eventually. And eventually they might even come around and say, oh, this isn't just some bandwagon you're on. Oh, this isn't just some kick that you're going through. Some phase. You really are changed. And I could give personal testimony after personal testimony about that. I mean, my mother, you know, I did not exactly, I did not grow up in a Christian home, folks. Grew up in a very liberal home. Did not believe the things God didn't go to church. Certainly not an independent, fundamental Baptist church. Never read the Bible. None of that. And I'm telling you, when I got saved and started living for God, there was some conflict. You know what? After 10 years and some other things, I remember I would go out to take my bus kids home on the bus route, and I'd see my mother walking out the door of that church to go to her car. I go, Mom, you're her church. She said, Mom, you're her church. She said, Yeah. She started coming to church all on her own. I didn't have to beg her. I have to say, we're having a special day. Come on out, Mom. I'm getting baptized. Come on out, Mom. We're having a potluck. Come on, it's Christmas Eve. Come on out. She was just there. It took a decade. You know what? I always say, you know what? I'm going to choose that strife. I'm going to choose that struggle and that relationship on this earth and be right with God. You know, that's what Abram did. When he went back to Bethel, it was like, Okay, great. I got you back where you started. Let's keep you back from going back to Egypt, Abram, having another lapse of faith. It's time to get rid of the lots in your life. It's time to stop that, to cease that strife and get them away from you. People he never intended to have with him to begin with. And we know Lot. Lot lifted up his eyes, verse 10, and beheld all the plains of Jordan that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah even as the garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt as thou comest unto the Zohar. He's looking at the world saying, Oh, it's so beautiful. It's so great. There's so much to enjoy. I'm just going to go choose the world. Then Lot chose them all the plains of Jordan. And Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves. One from another, Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plains and pitched his tent towards Sodom. That's what the lots want to do. Hey, come over to our place. Where are you at? Oh, I'm facing Sodom. Come on into my living room and sit down. Let's watch this together. Let's just watch Sodom on our television. That's what they do. They pitched their tents towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. That was the thing that Abram did when he came up out of Egypt. He got back to where he left off. He separated from these worldly influences. What happened next? This is where it gets good. Because those things are hard to do. A lot of people don't want to do those things, do they? But what happens next in the story is that he begins to commune with God. And this is the thing I think that a lot of Christians forget about. They think that the Christian life is just all about giving up things. They never stop to consider what it is they're gaining. It's because what you're gaining is not tangible. I can't put it in a bag and hand it to you. It's spiritual. It's called communion with God. And that's a very real thing that's available to every single one of us. But you know, if we're down in Egypt worried about everything in this world and distracted by everything in this world, as much as God wants to commune with us it's not going to be there. Because communion is a two-way street. Look at verse 14. The Lord said to Abram after that lot was separated from him, verse 14, Lift now with thine eyes and look toward the place whereout northward and southward and eastward and westward for the land which thou seest to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the dust of the earth then shall thy seed also be numbered. This is this great promise that God is making to Abram. Arise, walk through the land and the length of it and the breadth of it and I will give it unto thee. And then Abram removed his tent and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre which is in Hebrew and built there an altar unto the Lord. After he gets out of Egypt gets back to where he belongs separates from the worldly influence then God comes and says I'm going to make you a promise. That same promise I'm going to remind you of. Instead of running off and running away and lapsing, having another lapse in faith Abram moves on starts to walk through that land like he's supposed to and ends up making an altar unto God. What's he having? He's beginning to have communion with God. He's having a real sincere genuine walk with God that is all his own. And look, if you don't have that in the Christian life you will go back to Egypt. If all your Christian life is ever going to be is not doing this not going there not hanging out with them not, not, not, not, not and you're not adding these things to it it's just a matter of time. Because the Christian life is not a vacuum or it is a vacuum rather. It's going to pull your life is going to pull something into it. It's not just this empty void of nothing. There's either going to be Egypt or the Promised Land. There's either going to be a walk in the world and the love of the world or there's going to be a walk with God and the love of the Father. It's going to be one or the other. And there might be this transitional period where you're moving from one to the other but if you don't get over to the walk the communion with God it's just a matter of time to end up back over here. He communed with God. And what we see here is that no matter how deep into Egypt somebody has gone like Abram they can still be restored. That fellowship is still there. The Bible says in 1 John 1-9 if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So no you don't understand preacher I've been so backslidden I've gotten so far away from God there's just no hope for me. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says if we confess our sins He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. That's a promise that at any time you could just fall down on your knees before God and say God I'm sorry. Can I walk with you again? And God will say of course. I forgive you. And not only does God forgive those sins, He forgets them. He casts them behind His back. He puts them in the sea of His forgetfulness. They're gone. We're the ones that have a hard time not remembering them anymore. We're the ones that have a hard time living things down and we might bring up some sin that we have already confessed and forsaken from years ago and God will just say well what are you talking about? What are you talking about? That old thing? I've already forgot about that. You know and it's better just not do those things and not commit those things that you're going to have a hard time living down. We're all going to commit sin but you know what? None of us is going to get so far away from God that fellowship can't be restored. Can we do permanent damage to our life? Yes. Can we miss out on some things? Yes. Can we have to suffer the scar from the results of sin for the rest of our life? Yes. But nothing is going to stop us from having fellowship with God. The Bible says he that covereth this sin shall not prosper. Proverbs 28 13. But whosoever confesseth and forsaketh them shall not have mercy. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. You know the guy that says oh God doesn't see this sin. No one knows about this one. God doesn't see this. You're not going to prosper. You're not going to have a walk with God. If I regard an equity in my heart the Lord will not hear me. They that forsake the law even their prayers and abomination. The Bible says. You know you can mark it down. It's guaranteed. He that covereth his sin shall not prosper. But on the flip side of that coin whosoever confesseth and forsaketh those sins shall have mercy. No God can't forgive me. Shall have mercy. No I'm too far away from God. Shall have mercy. It's a shall. It's not a might. It's not a maybe. It's a possibility. It's a shall. It's guaranteed. Abram took advantage of that. Abram got in the way. Got down into Egypt. Had a lapse in faith. Got away from God. You know what? Circumstances brought him around and God said okay. Back to Bethel. Okay. No more lot. Alright. Walk with God. But it doesn't end there. You know once you have that walk. Let me just go and break it to you. Once you start that walk with God. It's not like the world just says oh okay never mind. It's not like Egypt just disappeared. It's always going to be there. Trying to lure you back. And now it's a fight. The old man is always going to be there. We're always going to have that old nature trying to pull us back to our old sins. And Abram begins to fight the world. It says in verse 12 then they took Lot. Abram's brother of course this is when the kings rose up against Sodom and Gomorrah. I want to go through the whole details of that story. They'd taken Lot captive and one came and told Abram. It says they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, dwelt in Sodom and his goods and departed. And there came one that escaped and told Abram the Hebrew for they dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshgol, the brother of Anor. And these were confederate with Abram. And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive. He and his trained servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them and put he and his servants by night and smote them and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus and he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother Lot and his goods and the women also and the people. So Abram now he's gone from being a victim to being someone who can actually deliver others from the world. Who can actually go in there and rescue people that he cares about. But when does that happen? After he's gotten out of Egypt. After he's gotten separated from those worldly influences. After he's actually begun to have a genuine walk with God. Now he's strong enough, he has enough faith to take just a handful of his own men and go face armies, entire armies of people and win. Because he's got that faith. Abram was able to fight. The last thing I want to point out here is that not only did Abram go back to Bethel, not only did he get up and go out of Egypt and go back to where he started, not only did he separate from the worldly influences, start back over, not only was he able to fight, but Abram was able to make a sacrifice. What made Abram so great? Well, he made a sacrifice. And this is what we have to understand. This is the Christian life. Go to Genesis 15. The Bible says that we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice, which is our reasonable service. He said, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice and be not conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may be able to prove what is that good and acceptable will of God. That's what the Christian life is. And Abram, as he's gotten back, he's gotten out of Egypt, he's able to fight, he's also understanding that the Christian life is making a sacrifice. And this is where the communion really gets deep with Abram. It says in Genesis 15, verse 1, After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. He said, I am thy reward. Well, what's the Christian life going to benefit me? What profit is there living for God? God's your reward. That is it. God doesn't promise us riches and wealth and popularity and everything else. We just say, but I'll be your reward. There'll be a reward for you in heaven. The world might mock you and scoff at you and laugh at you and ridicule you and try to discourage you. But when you stand before me, I'll say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant. I'll be your reward. But not without a sacrifice. He said, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless and the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, Behold, to me thou is given no seed, and, lo, one born of my house is mine heir. So he's still waiting on this promise. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars that thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee up out of the land of the old Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Say, How do I know that you're going to come through? He said, Make a sacrifice. That was God's answer. Make a sacrifice. Be willing to give some things up, and then you'll know it's true because I will commune with you. Of course Abraham's going to know it's true when it happens. But that's not faith, is it? Abraham wants to know now, How do I know that my seed is going to be as the stars that can't be numbered? I want to know that now. Oh, you'll know when it happens. That's not how God works. That's not faith. Well, I'll believe God when I see it. That's not faith. God says, Oh, you want to know now? You want some assurance now? Make a sacrifice. Because when you start to make that sacrifice by faith, when you start to trust God by faith and walk with him, God shows up. And we have communion with him. Say, What do you mean he shows up? I'm saying when you're reading your Bible, the Holy Spirit moves in your heart. You read something and it brings joy or it brings conviction. You're brought to tears. You're filled with happiness. You experience these things. That's the communion of the Holy Ghost, folks. It's not God literally. Come here. Hello? Anyone home? It's when you're down on your knees and you can feel the presence of God. It's so close you actually begin to tremble and shake. That's how real God can get if you're willing to make that sacrifice. If you're willing to not go back to Egypt. He said, How do I know I'm going to get to inherit this land? He said, Make a sacrifice. And he said, Verse 9, Take me and Heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove and a young pigeon, and he took them all, excuse me, and he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece once against another, but the birds he divided not. He says, You really want to know? Well, start out by you making a sacrifice. How do I know that God's going to be a part of my life? Make a sacrifice? Present your bodies as a living sacrifice? Walk with God? He'll show up. He makes the sacrifice, but again, it goes back to the same thing. It's still a constant battle of having to keep the world at bay. Because I love verse 11, it says, And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. It's such a small detail in the word of God. It literally happened. But why does the Bible point out that it's there? What consequences does that have on the story? I get it. He made a sacrifice. Okay, what's this bit about the fowls? Like, do we really need to know that Abram shooed the birds off the sacrifice? He drove them away? Well, I believe it's a picture. When you start to walk with God and make a sacrifice of your body by abstaining from the fornication, by committing yourself unto Him, by living a godly life, you know, the fowls of the air, the prince of the power of the air, the fowls of the air, the fowls of the world are going to come and want to take a little bit back. They're going to want to get on that carcass and start to put on that sacrifice and pick a little bit off for themselves. We have to keep them off. We have to say, no, I'm making a sacrifice here. This isn't for you. This is for God. You know, I'm presenting my body a living sacrifice unto God. This isn't for the world. This isn't for, you know, the fornicators at the club. This is for God. My mind isn't for just, you know, whatever filth or whatever, you know, just foolish entertainment that's out there. This is for God. My mouth isn't just to tell dirty jokes and tell dirty stories. This mouth is for God. And the world's going to say, well, no, we want our little bit. We want part of that mind, that pure mind you're trying to keep clean. We want part of that flesh that you're trying to sacrifice unto God and live a holy life. We want a little bit of that tongue to make you say things you ought not say. We want a little bit of that. That's what the world's going to do. They're going to keep trying to come and land. And it's up to us to just keep that sacrifice on the altar and keep the birds off. And if we'll do that, God will show up in our life. I'm saying, I understand the Holy Spirit's always there, but I'm saying there is a deeper level of communion with God that some Christians will go their whole life and never know because they don't want to make the sacrifice and keep the world at bay. Look at verse 12. God got real. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram and low and horror of great darkness fell upon him. You know, maybe that's the reason why people don't want to get too close to God because it can get kind of scary. I mean, we always think about what it's going to be like, you know, if we live through the tribulation. And that's exciting to think about. But let's not forget we're all going to, regardless of whether we go through that, we're all going to see God. We're all going to stand before God. We're all going to literally be in His presence just as, it's going to be just as clear and just as real as this morning, as you being one another's presence right now. It's going to be that real. You know, and I don't know. Sometimes when I think about that, it's exciting, but it's also kind of scary. Because you know what? God is kind of scary. That's why the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. You know, God's not just there to hang loose, bro. God's not this hippie from the west coast that they paint Him up to be. God's scary. And yes, God is love and God is gentle and kind and all that, but God's nature, He can't help it, is frightful. Say, well, I don't know about that. Well, this horror of great darkness fell upon Abram when God's presence started to show up. A horror of great, I mean, we could go to several different passages that talk about what it's like when God shows up. Go back to Deuteronomy 18. Keep something there in Genesis 13. We go back to Deuteronomy 18. The Bible says in Hebrews 12, and so terrible was the sight referring to Mount Orib when God came down upon and gave the law in a pillar of fire and smoke and trumpet and that sounded long and all of that. It says that that sight was so terrible that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. When Moses came into the presence of God and Moses had seen the burning bush, Moses had spoken with God, Moses even up to that point had had a very deep, real, and long-lasting walk with God and even at that point Moses said, I'm afraid. I exceedingly fear and quake at this sight. And what was he seeing? The presence of God. The Bible says in Exodus 20 to describe this occurrence. It says, and all the people saw the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it, they removed and it stood afar off and they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we die. And Moses said unto the people, Fear not, for God has come to prove you that this fear may be before your faces that you sin not. He said, don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid of. We're like, no, we think there's something to be afraid of. No, Moses, I'm pretty sure we should be afraid right now. And then we find out in Hebrews that Moses said that even when he was afraid. He's trembling and quaking and he's saying, ah, don't be afraid, everything's going to be okay. Maybe it was a bit of a nervous statement he made there. And the people stood far off and Moses drew near under the thick darkness where God was. Now look at Deuteronomy 18 verse 15. God brings this up again. It says, and the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren like unto me. Unto him you shall hearken. Verse 16, according all that thou desirest of the Lord God in Horeb. This is referring back to what I was just reading you. Horeb. In the day of the assembly saying let me not hear again the voice of the Lord God. Neither let me see this great fire anymore that I die not. And remember I told you don't be afraid. He's come to prove you. There's nothing to be afraid of. But then when Moses, when he heard from God, it says in verse 16, the Lord said unto me, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. He's saying, you know what? God, they're saying that they want to talk to me but not you because they're afraid you're going to die. They're so afraid of you. He's like, yeah, they should be. No, that's right. They should be afraid. Because that's the presence of God. And that's what Abram's experiencing in our story. You can go back there. Genesis 13. When he decides to have that walk with God and separate from the world and get away from all those influences and get back to where he belongs and develop some strength and get a real walk with God and wants to know God's presence, God says make a sacrifice and he starts to keep, makes that sacrifice and he keeps the world at bay, shoes off, the fowls that want to come down and take their part. It gets to the point where God's presence finally starts to show up and a horror of great darkness came upon him. Because God's presence is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Our God is a consuming fire. And that's how you know God's presence. And you actually begin to fear him in your life. How do I know I have a walk with God? Are you afraid of him? How do I know who God is? How do I know that I know who God is? Are you afraid of him? Does he frighten you? Well, I don't think we should be afraid of God. They have well-spoken that which they have spoken is what God told Moses. They're right to be afraid. I am a consuming fire. That's New Testament Christianity. You know, and it might be scary. It might take a lot of work to get in the presence. I'm not saying to get saved. We all understand. I'm saying to get a walk with God that's real and sincere and genuine. It might take a lot, but it's worth it because God's presence will become obvious in your life. Verse 17, And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces. I mean, it sends a chill down my spine just reading it. Does this happen? I mean, imagine being Abram. I want to know that this promise is true. I want to know that I'm going to have a seed. It's innumerable as a star. I want to know that God, what you're saying is going to happen. Make a sacrifice. He makes a sacrifice. He shoes the birds away. He keeps the world off. Then this lamp shows up, this smoking furnace just floating between these pieces of the sacrifice in the dark. I mean, that's scary. I mean, if you were out, I remember being out with some friends out in the woods. We were hanging out and it was on this orchard. It was in somebody's house and it was this farmhouse and this orchard. What we didn't know is that the farmer had come earlier that day and had cut down a lot of the trees and started a brush fire. But then it was windy and that brush fire had gotten covered up. So the coals, you couldn't see them. And we were out there and we were looking out the window and all of a sudden we see these glowing embers off in the distance. We have no idea what it is. And someone started making up all these crazy stories about what it could be. And finally, I was out with the big brave guy and I thought, I'm going to go find out what those two little red dots that are moving around out there are. And I'm walking out into the pitch black folks and an orchard way out in the middle of nowhere and my friends are saying, don't do it, don't do it. They're making a big deal out of it because we didn't know what it was. And walking toward it all of a sudden this huge gust of wind comes through and just blows all those leaves away and this giant plume of red coals come bursting up. And I literally stopped and turned and ran away. Man, here's Abram in the middle of the night in the dark watching this glowing ember moving around. I say, well, what's that? That's God's presence. Well, that sounds kind of scary. I know. That's who God is. Well, I want that. I want God's presence. Well, good, because you know what, God promises his presence and I'm not saying God's going to show up in a glowing ember. Obviously I was using that story to kind of illustrate this story, what that might have been like, how that might have sent a chill down Abram's spine to see something like that because I experienced something similar. It wasn't God. We quickly found out it was a fire. We weren't sure what it was at first. But look, you say, well, I want that. Are you sure? No, I do. Well, good. I'm glad you want it. God promised we could have it. He said that he would give us the comforter. Jesus said, if any man love me, he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him. Say, I want. Oh, man, I want that. It sounds so nice. The presence of God abiding with me. Jesus and the Father. And he's referring to the Holy Spirit. He says, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you. That's what he's referring to. He's not Jesus and God are literally going to show up. He's talking about how he's going to give them the Holy Spirit. And we believe in the Trinity here, that God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And he's saying, look, that's how we're going to come unto you, through the Holy Ghost. Say, oh, I want that. Okay. He that loveth me, if a man love me, he will keep my words. He will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come. So there's a stipulation there, isn't there? Look, salvation's easy, folks. Having a walk with God, that's where the real work begins. And if all you're going to look at in the Christian life is everything you have to give up and everything you have to walk away from, it's only a matter of time until you go run back to all of it. What I'm trying to get back or get into you this morning is the fact that there's more to the Christian life than just quitting things. There's a whole aspect of the Christian life that is ours to gain. It's called communion with God. It's called a walk with God. It's real. It's called communion with the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. It's real. It's called having power of God in your life to go out and deliver other people from the same bondage that you were once in. It's real. But you know what? It only comes to those who keep His commandments. That presence is only going to come to those who are willing to make a sacrifice, who are willing to go back to Bethel, forsake Egypt. It's only going to happen for them when they do like Abraham did. When did it begin for Abraham? It began when he did what? When he got up, got out of Egypt. Go ahead and pray. Dear Lord, again, thank you for the prayer and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for the communion that we can have with you through your Word and through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. Lord, I pray you to help us all to desire it above the things of the world, Lord, that we be willing to make that sacrifice and to know the presence of God. We ask in Christ's name, Amen. All right, we'll go ahead and sing one more song. Let's open up our handles to song number 147. Song number 147, The Leaning of the Everlasting Olives. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. 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