An Exposing Faith: Part 3

Introduction

Well, good morning!

If you have your Bible and I hope that you do, open it up with me to Genesis chapter 18…Genesis chapter 18. We’re gonna be in the last parts of this chapter, looking at verses 16 through 33 this morning.

And listen, as you turn there, let me ask you a question…if you were in the presence of God, like His physical presence…what would you do? How would you respond? What would it reveal about you?

That’s what we’re gonna see in our passage this morning.

Listen, if you’ve been with us, this is our third sermon in a three part series looking at this chapter. And if you remember, after God set Abraham apart, after He gave him a new name, a new purpose, a new future, He gave him the sign of circumcision…chapter 18, it starts with Abraham being visited by three men…and these men, they were important enough for Abraham to submit to them. He served ‘em…he took care of ‘em. And listen, I showed you, I don’t think he knew he was in the presence of the Lord at first…I don’t think he knew he was in the presence of the pre-incarnate Christ…I believe because he had encountered God in such a way…I believe because he had been set apart by God, he was just modeling the heart of God, a heart for people made in the image of God. And if you remember, I showed you, how you treat people…it exposes your faith, right? He treated these three men with hospitality.

And then last week, we moved into the middle part of this chapter and we shifted to look at Sarah’s encounter with God. The text showed that as Abraham talked with these men it became very clear that they were in the presence of God and that God was promising them something physically and relationally impossible. They were old…the way of women was no longer with Sarah…there was no pleasure there…and God said within a year’s time, Sarah would have a son, right? And what did Sarah do? She laughed to herself. Now she didn’t make it apparent she was listening or laughing, she just thought to herself. “After I’m worn out and my lord’s old, shall I have pleasure?”…You remember how God responded? He said, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” God’s Word, to Sarah there, it was intended to challenge what she thought was actually possible. He was promising to do the impossible…and His Word, it was meant to bring Sarah to the end of her own strength and it was meant for her see Him for who He really was. It corrected her…rebuked her…remember, God had the final say. And my question to you, last week, it was, what does God’s Word expose about you?

How you treat people, how you respond to God’s Word…it exposes your faith, who you are…But listen, what we’re gonna see as we finish this chapter, how we respond when we find ourselves in God’s presence, it also exposes our faith.

As Abraham finds himself in the presence of God, there’s some things that’s revealed to him. And listen, these aren’t things about a promised son or a promised land…these are revelations about God’s plan. Because Abraham had been set apart…because he was chosen, God began to interact with him much differently. He revealed things to him…and He did that with certain purposes in mind…Abraham was called to proclaim and to model. And listen, as a result of this revelation, it causes Abraham to respond in a way that shows who He is now. He cares about God’s glory…he cares about the righteous…he cares about those far from God. And as a result of this revelation, it causes him to intercede…Listen, because he knew who God was…His nature…he petitioned God to move, to do things that only He could do…because again, remember what God said, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” Abraham believed that. And listen, I love this, God not only hears the prayers of Abraham here…He doesn’t just listen to His heart…but we’ll see next week, He answers the prayers of Abraham.

Listen, there’s two things that really expose Abraham’s faith after finding himself in God’s presence…two things that set him apart after hearing this revelation…his heart, as we see through his intercession, its for God’s glory…and guys, its for other people. None of it’s directed toward him or what God would do in his life. That was secure. His heart, it was for God and others. The greatest commandment, right? Listen, if you’ve been with us since the start of this series through Abraham’s life…there’s been a 180 with Abraham here…in previous chapters, his concerns were always just him and his inheritance. Now, its all about God and other people.

Guys, when we find ourselves in the presence of God, as believers, people who’ve been set apart by the Spirit of God, we begin to care more for God and for the people He places around us. How we respond after being in God’s presence, it exposes our faith, who we are now. That’s what we’re gonna see from this passage today.

And so, if you’re there with me, let’s stand together as we read the last parts of this chapter. Starting in verse 16. It says this:

Genesis 18:16–33 (ESV)

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

Thank you, you can be seated.

[Prayer]

We have two points this morning…number 1, when in God’s presence, do you listen? And then number 2, when in God’s presence, do you respond righteously? Another way to put it…how do you know you’re in God’s presence…and how do you respond when in God’s presence?

And so, with that, let’s jump into this first point.

I. When in God’s Presence, Do You Listen? (vv. 16-21)

When in God’s presence, do you listen?…or how do you know you’re in God’s presence?

Look back at verses 16 through 21 with me again. It says, “16 Then the men (these are the three men that suddenly appeared to Abraham in the first parts of this chapter), it says, “[they] set out from there” (they had their bellies full…they were filled, they were packed and now Abraham’s sending them out on their way), “and they looked down toward Sodom” (Sodom and of course Gomorrah,…these cities, they were downward…in the valley of the Jordan, near the dead sea. Abraham had placed his tents up in elevation…at the oaks of Mamre, right? And so, that explains this verse physically…but I’d say Moses used a play on words here as well. Them looking down and going down, it’s a sign of the downward spiral this city had fallen into…sin, right?). But listen to this, “And Abraham went with them to set them on their way.” I think this verse, it just kind of reminds us of this heart he has for people…the hospitality that he showed.

Listen, I love when people come over…I love things like home groups that we do here at FBC…but when people are leaving for the night, getting back into their cars, I have to be careful because I have this bad habit of turning the light off and locking the door immediately as they’re walking out, right? Like they can’t even see to get off the porch and back into their cars. That’s not very hospitable of me.

But look at what Abraham does here. He goes above and beyond. He doesn’t just leave the light on…He actually gets into his car and he leads them down the road…he takes them to the highway. I mean what hospitality!

The passage goes on, “17 The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, (Guys, understand that divine disclosure, its a gift. God could’ve said, “I’m just gonna hide from Abraham what I’m gonna do.” But He didn’t. He said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I’m gonna do?”) 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?…Which reveals the first of two intentions that God has in disclosing information about himself. God’s about to reveal to Abraham the impending doom of Sodom and Gomorrah. And check this out, you won’t find the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in any other book. If the Lord had not revealed to Abraham, why He was gonna destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, understand this…we’d have no record of it on this earth. We’d have no idea about it. Listen, again, the Lord could’ve hidden all this from Abraham…He said, “Shall I hide this from him?” But He doesn’t…and listen, He gives us two reasons why He doesn’t. First, the first intention for divine revelation, we see it here in verse 18.

“Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” “Should I hide my plan to destroy Sodom?…Should I hide the disclosure of my righteous wrath?…Should I hide the standards of righteousness when I’m gonna use him to become a great nation and use him to bless all the people of the earth? Should I hide it?” Well, the obvious response to that, its, “No, you’re not gonna hide it!” And the reason we’d say that, its because we know Abraham becomes a great nation and because people are blessed through him…which presents another question…how are the peoples of the earth gonna be blessed by God disclosing His righteous wrath? How is Abraham gonna bless the nations by receiving revelation about God’s judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah?…Guys, listen to this…understand what God’s saying here… God discloses this to Abraham because he’s supposed to tell every one else about it. He’s supposed to tell ‘em the righteous standards of God…He’s supposed to tell ‘em that God does indeed punish wickedness.

God gives Abraham divine revelation so that he’ll proclaim it to a lost world. You understand? That’s why He tells him.

But look at this second reason. Verse 19, “19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

The second reason God reveals divine revelation to Abraham here, its a call to obedience. And listen, this isn’t some egotistical God telling him to do things just for the sake of doing things. God is the standard of good and God’s the only One capable of the impossible, we just looked at that last week…He stands at the beginning of our lives, He stands at end of our lives…He knows what leads us to good, still waters. He’s calling Abraham to obedience because obedience is gonna lead him and his family into God’s promises. Obedience is gonna keep him and his family, for generations to come, under the care of God. It’s gonna keep their eyes set on God…who again, is the standard of goodness.

But also pay attention this…remember that Abraham’s the source for the whole earth being blessed, right? He’s the source that God’s channeling this blessing through…and understand that the fulfillment of God’s promises, it started with him and his family. He couldn’t proclaim what he didn’t believe…and he didn’t believe what he didn’t act it out. Our actions, it’s just the overflow of our belief. And so, obedience, its just the overflow of belief in God.

God says that he’s to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, right? Righteousness, it refers to conduct which conforms to the ethical or moral standard stemming from God’s character. Justice, it points to the administration of God’s righteousness in human affairs, such as government or society, through honest and consistent application of the law. And so in other words, Abraham was to teach his children through both example and instruction how to live a life that pleased God both as individuals and as a society.

And so listen, what we see here…its what it looks like when we belong to God…its showing us what God does when we’re in His presence. He gives us revelation!

Guys, here’s the application. When we’ve been set apart…when we’ve been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit…when we’re given eyes to see and read His Word…God reveals divine revelation with us. And guys, He does that because we’re His…we’re His people…we’re His workmanship. But listen, He does it for the same reasons He does it with Abraham here…He does it so that we’ll proclaim that revelation to a lost world…and He does it so that we’ll be obedient to His revealed revelation.

Listen, this first point here…”When in God’s presence, do you listen?” The point, it’s do you listen?…Because guys, God gives revelation, He gives understanding of that revelation, to His own?

And so, hopefully you’re asking yourself, “How do I find myself in God’s presence?” Guys, by spending time in His Word. There aren’t any prophets among us this morning…God’s not gonna audibly speak to us. (I had to explain that to a man this past week.) God’s revelation to us, it’s in His inspired Word. And guys, He gives us the Holy Spirit so that we can properly expound it and discern it. God’s Word, its sufficient for us…its everything that we need to proclaim and it’s everything we need to live a life righteously. And so, we find ourselves in His presence by going to His Word.

But guys, be careful…because for a lot of us…for a lot our quiet times, we immediately jump to application…”What’s all this means for me? What can I get out of this?” We try and do God’s job for Him. And instead of trying to understand the text…instead of trying to determine the original meaning or the original context…we just apply the text straight to our lives. This is why I’m not a fan of devotional books. I think there’s probably only two I might recommend to you. Devotionals aren’t you spending time with God…devotionals are you spending time with someone else’s thoughts about God’s Word. Be in the Bible…read it expositionally…line by line…chapter by chapter…verse by verse. And listen, as you do that, God will give you understanding…God’ll disclose divine revelation that’s intended to impact you and shape you…information you’re meant to proclaim…”Beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim the gospel,” right? (Romans 10:15) He’ll give you information that you’re meant to obediently follow. “If you love Me,” Jesus said, “then obey my commandments!” (John 14:15).

And so, when you’re in God’s presence, does He disclose divine revelation about His plans? That’s the first thing…you need to find yourself in God’s presence because for some of you, He’s not revealed anything to you…you’re not growing doctrinally…you’re not growing obediently, because you haven’t found yourself in God’s presence, with His Word…which in itself, speaks volumes about your faith…it exposes everything about you.

But listen, what about everyone else? What do you do when He does reveal stuff to you? How do you respond?

Which moves us into our second point.

II. When in God’s Presence, Do You Respond Righteously? (vv. 22-33)

When in God’s presence, do you respond righteously? Like what do you do when He reveals these things to you?

Just look at what God reveals to Abraham, verse 20, “20 Then the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

He’s saying, “I’m gonna go down and I’m gonna judge them according to what it is they’ve actually done.”

Abraham, he knew what that meant…He knew God, He knew God’s nature. He knew what this meant for Sodom and Gomorrah…he knew their actions. And listen, because of this, how he responses to this revelation…he shows us his heart for God, and guys he shows us his heart for people.

Listen, we don’t have to read it all again…we know the story here. God’s telling him He’s gonna destroy Sodom and Gomorrah…I’m sure Abraham’s mind, it goes to Lot and his family. He knows God’s capable of literally anything…and so he asks God to not destroy the cities. And so, these two angels they head down to Sodom and there’s Abraham and God standing above the city, looking down. And Abraham pleads, “If there’s 50 righteous people in those cities, would you destroy it?…If there’s 45 or 40…Oh, Lord, if there’s 30…or 20…or 10!”

And listen, every single time, God responded, “If there’s 50, or 45, or 40, or 30, or 20…for the sake of 10, I will not destroy it.”

Two things we see here…number one, God’s showing us, just as the Bible confirms for us, there are none righteous, no not one as Paul says in Romans. God was showing Abraham that His plan to judge these two cities, it was righteous because there were none righteous. You say, “Well, what about Lot? His family was saved?” Pay attention to what God says, “For the sake of 10 righteous people, I won’t destroy the city.” Meaning if Lot was really righteous on his own, through his own power, the city would’ve been saved. God saving Lot, that’s just an answer to the prayer Abraham never asked verbally. God knew his heart.

But listen, I think that leads to the second thing…notice Abraham doesn’t say for the sake of one, “Would you spare the city?” I think in his heart, he was grasping what God was showing him. He didn’t wanna hear that there were none righteous…He didn’t wanna hear that Lot’s actions couldn’t save the city. It was a light bulb moment for Abraham here…I think that’s why he doesn’t go below 10.

But guys listen, the way he intercedes, that’s what I want us to focus on. It shows his heart…it exposes his faith as he stands there with God. Again, it shows he cares most about God’s glory and most about people made in God’s image. There’s three things with this here…the first, its in verse 25.

A circumcised heart, it cares about God’s glory. Look at verse 25. It says, “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

“Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

Guys, you realize what Abraham’s doing here? He’s bold in his prayer. He’s pleading on the basis of God’s character…the very character God had demonstrated to Abraham. He’s pleading for the very thing that’s most glorious to God. He’s appealing to God’s perfect nature. He cares about God’s glory and listen, he knows God cares about His glory. “Would not the Judge of all the earth, do what’s right?”

Listen, I love this, because Abraham’s statement here, it makes a point that’s vital to our prayers today. The reason we can pray with confidence, its because we know what God’s like…He’s unchanging in His nature. And so, for that reason, we can plead for God’s mercy, knowing that He’s merciful…we seek His mercy, knowing that He’s glorified in giving mercy. We can pray for God’s power, knowing that He’s omnipotent. We can plead for protection, knowing that He promises to safeguard our souls. We can pray for illumination, knowing that He’s sealed us with the promised Holy Spirit. Guys, Abraham’s approach here, it shows us the way to be effective in our prayer life…it’s to know our Bibles…its to know God, His attributes, His nature…and as Christians, our prayers, they should appeal to His nature because we know who He is, what He’s capable of…and we care about His glory. We pray for God to move within His own nature because we know that’s what brings Him glory. You wanna stop asking selfish prayers and you wanna start speaking powerful prayers? Then learn and understand the nature of God…and guys, petition God to move on the basis of His attributes.

Abraham cared about the glory of God.

The second thing we see its that a circumcised heart cares for the redeemed. Again verse 25, “Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked!” Someone that walks with God, they care about those that belong to God. I think at this point, Abraham realizes that its only by God and through God that those who are righteous are only righteous because the Lord deemed it so…just like what happened to him. And his prayers here, they’re directed toward those that have been redeemed. Again, he’s appealing to God’s nature here because he knows that God’s a faithful God and that God would never cast away or God would never judge those He’s set apart in such a way. His heart, its crying out for the redeemed.

But then look at this last thing. Abraham’s prayer here…it also shows us that a circumcised heart cares for those far from God. Pay attention to what Abraham’s asking here…he didn’t ask God to just save the righteous…he’s asking him to spare the whole city on account of the righteous. Look at verse 28, “Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” Again, he’s appealing to God’s nature here. He’s asking for Him to be patient…to give ‘em more time…he’s pleading for their salvation.

Guys, when we find ourselves in God’s presence…when we’re in His Word, He gives us revelation. And that revelation, it involves bad news…that we’re all sinners…and that the penalty of that sin is death. That revelation, it involves even worse news…that there’s nothing we can do about it on our own…that in the end, whether at our death or at the return of Christ, we’ll be judged and we’ll be separated from a good and gracious God. But the revelation we receive, it also declares what God’s done about our dilemma, it gives us good news. It says He came to us…He dwelt among us as man. It says He lived a perfect life, sinless…all so that He could go to the cross and pay for our consequences with His death. He took on His own judgement and His own wrath for our sake. And listen, His revelation to us…His Word, it tells us the very best news about all of that. It’s all a free gift. All we have to do is repent (turn to Him) and believe that Jesus is Lord and that He raised from the dead.

That’s God revelation to us…that’s the grand narrative of the Bible. And listen, when we receive it…when we find ourselves in His presence, what’s it expose about you?

Closing

For believers this morning, as you hear the bad, the worse, the good, the best news of God’s revelation to us…hopefully it causes you to respond in a way that seeks to see God glorified…hopefully you’re petitioning Him in such a way that shows your great love for Him…hopefully you’re petitioning on behalf of those around you…both the redeemed and the lost because of the heart you have for people.

Guys, as someone that’s been reborn, what we care about…especially after we’ve been in God’s presence, it’s the Greatest Commandment…love God, love our neighbor.

Matthew 22:36–40 (ESV)

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Does your life today, does it show your great love for God and for your neighbor? Being in God’s presence, it exposes your faith? Do you stand there, at the mountain side, looking down…do you stand there with God and plead for Him to act according to His nature? See the picture God’s giving us here…Sodom, it’s a picture of the world…and Abraham, he’s a picture of the church. This is what we should look like…Are you pleading with Him to save ‘em?

For unbelievers this morning, you’ve heard God’s revelation to us…that you’re a sinner, that there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it…you’ve heard that Jesus, who is God, came to us…died for us…took on our sins…that’s its all a free gift for those that repent and belief in Him. You’ve heard those things…my question, “Now that you’ve heard it…now that you’ve been in His presence, through His Spirit and through His Word, what is God’s revelation exposing about you and you’re faith?”

Every heard bowed and every eye closed.

The praise team’s gonna come back up…the altar’s open…I’ll be down front if you need to talk to me…maybe you have questions or you want me to pray with you…but I just want you answer that question and I want you to respond however the Spirit leads. “What has God’s presence and what has God’s revelation exposed about you?” “Is God revealing things to you, and how are you responding?”

You take this time.

[Prayer]