The Intentions of God's Revelation - Genesis 18:16-33 (10.10.18) - Pastor Jordan Rogers

[Music] he's praying for the inhabitants of Sodom Abraham is interceding for the inhabitants of Sodom so this evening we're in Genesis chapter 18 verse 16 through 33 Genesis 18 verse 16 through 33 a bit of background here you remember last week we looked at verses 1 through 15 and you saw two different ways two different ways that your faith is exposed you remember these three visitors have come to Abraham and at that point those first 15 verses it seems apparent that Abraham understands that these men are worthy of his submissiveness but it doesn't necessarily seem that he understands that one of these three men actually appears to be the pre-incarnate christ appears to be a theophany or a christophany an appearance of God in the flesh and we know that God the Father is spirit no one has ever seen God the Father Jesus Christ has revealed him so that's why you would say that is a christophany it's an appearance of Christ before the Incarnation before he was born in Bethlehem Abraham doesn't seem to realize that in those first 15 verses and so Abraham actually is just extremely hospitable to these three men he goes above and beyond and he serves these men and in that way his faith is expressed by the way that he treats people but you remember that those men have an agenda in coming to visit Abraham and it doesn't seem to be for Abraham's knowledge about the birth of his son Isaac Abraham had already been told in Chapter 17 you're going to have a son and you're going to name him Isaac it seems like the first intention of the Lord in coming to Abraham was actually to speak to Sarah his wife to reveal this to Sarah that she even being 90 years old was going to conceive and have a child by Abraham and that child would be named Isaac and he is the one who bless and hand down his heritage so Abraham's faith was revealed in the way he treated other people saris faith was exposed by the way she received God's Word and she received it mockingly she scoffed at it she didn't really believe and the Lord settled that matter once and for all then he and he said no you did laughs and the Lord turns from that scene and that's where you pick up here in verse 16 and now the message that the Lord intended for Abraham to here is actually revealed to him that this is not a message of an announcement of a birth as it was in those first fifteen verses this is actually an announcement of destruction of the impending doom of Sodom and Gomorrah I'll continue though that this passage is a passage all about grace it is a passage all about the grace of God we're gonna see here in verse sixteen through thirty three my intention in preaching this sermon to you is to tell you the intentions of God's revelation the intentions of God's revelation I think this passage really it neatly divides here into two sections verse 16 through 19 and then verse 20 through the end of the chapter verse 33 verse 16 through 19 actually shows you two intentions of God's revelation what you see is a conversation whether in the divine mind or between the Lord and these two angels that are with him the Lord has a conversation and he is asking not that he is seeking information he is revealing something to us he's asking whether or not he should hide what he's about to do from Abraham and he comes to the conclusion though I will not hide what I am about to do from Abraham and then he reveals - he explains to you two reasons why he doesn't hide what he's doing from Abraham and it's very instructive for us so that's what you see in verse 16 through 19 when you look at verse 20 down through 33 the end of the chapter you see the lessons the lessons that Abraham learns about God's judgment the lessons about getting about God's judgment I'm gonna sum up the sermon in a single sentence you want to write this down you're more than welcome to I would just say this God's revelation is designed for our salvation God's revelation is designed for our salvation when I say revelation what I am meaning is the things that God has disclosed about himself you are holding if you are holding a Bible in your hand you are holding God's revelation don't think of Revelation as only the final book of the Bible God has disclosed his person in all of the books of the Bible the Bible is divine that means godly it is God's revelation his disclosure of himself to man you know God is not is not obliged he's not obligated to share anything about himself we understand that he could have created us in such a way that he didn't reveal anything about his person but God has chosen indeed to disclose himself a man why why has God spoken in the history why has God revealed truth about himself to us why is it well God's revelation is designed for our salvation so that we know who God is we understand who we are in relationship with him and we become right with him through that disclosure so let's look at the passage here beginning in verse 16 and let's just go through verse 19 and we'll talk as we move through this it says then the men these are these three men who had suddenly appeared to Abram while our Abraham while he's sitting there into the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron just to the west of the Dead Sea on the southern end of Israel and it says then the men set out from there they had eaten their belly full Abraham was setting them off on their journey they had no intention of staying and they looked down toward Sodom they're looking down in elevation because Sodom was one of the cities Sodom and Gomorrah you'll see but they were one of the cities or one of the cities they're in the valley of the Jordan down there in the deep lands by the Dead Sea one of the lowest places on planet Earth you can't get water to flow out of it because it would have to flow in an extreme uphill fashion so it is a salt sea it is a Dead Sea but around there in that Valley is very lush is very plentiful and that's where Sodom and Gomorrah was and so it says that they look down towards Sodom now that's a two fold that's somewhat of an ironic statement they look down there talking geographically they're looking down towards Sodom but it's also it has the same kind of connotation it starts to ring true there when you when you look back at Genesis chapter 6 and the Lord looks down on the things that they're doing at the Tower of Babel and so on and so forth it's a it's an action of judgment that they're taking in Abraham listen to this this is just a final remark about his hospitality he shows these men and Abraham went with them to set them on their way you ever have somebody leave your house I have to watch myself somebody comes over to the deliverer to the Pete deliver pizza at night don't act like you don't order pizza late at night either okay but when somebody comes over and they'll deliver pizza I have to watch myself because sometimes I get so excited about the pizza I'll shut the door and I'll lock it and I'll turn the front porch light off not realizing they're walking back to their car right and they're having to walk in the dark and that that's kind of rude isn't it it's very rude it's not very hospitable okay Abraham goes above and beyond that he doesn't just leave the front porch light he actually gets in his car it would be translated in our day he gets in his car and he actually leads them down the road and takes them to the highway that's what Abraham is doing abraham was again going above and beyond hospitality or the expected norms of hospitality even in his days and Abraham went with them to set them on their way the Lord Yahweh Jehovah said shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do we understand that divine disclosure is a gift the Lord could have said I am going to hide what I am about to do from Abraham but he didn't shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed by him now that tells me that reveals to me the first of two intentions two of the intentions that God has in disclosing information about himself the information he is about to tell Abraham is about the destruction the impending doom of Sodom and Gomorrah you will not find in any other books in all of the world a record a historical record of the destruction of sodom and gomorrah you know that if the Lord had not revealed to Abraham why he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah understand this we would have no record on this earth of it you wouldn't have any idea about it and the Lord says I could have hidden this from Abraham shall I hide this from Abraham but he's not going to he's going to reveal it he's going to tell you two reasons why he reveals this to Abraham you see the first the first intention of divine revelation there in verse 18 so look at it with me a little more closely now verse 18 seeing that knowing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and here it is and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him should I hide the reasons for destroying Sodom should I hide the disclosure of my righteous wrath shall I hide the disclosure of the standards of my judgment from Abraham even though he is going to be a great nation and through him all the peoples of peoples of the earth are going to be blessed well the obvious response to that that the Lord is assuming we will say is no you know I got a hide it from him there's a reason you're gonna tell him it's because he's a great nation it's because people are going to be blessed well let me ask you this how are the peoples of the earth going to be blessed by God disclosing the righteousness of his judgments to Abraham how is Abraham to bless the world through that information he's supposed to tell them he is supposed to tell them the righteous standards of God he's supposed to tell them that God does indeed punish wickedness that God has righteous standards that he expects of all people not just Abraham's descendants but all peoples and God's wrath has been revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their unrighteousness suppress the truth isn't that what Paul says in Romans 1 so Abraham now is being entrusted with that message Paul didn't originate that the Lord did the Lord began revealing the righteousness of his wrath even from the beginning and even now here to Abraham so the Lord is going to disclose the righteousness of his justice so write down this first of two intentions for divine revelation here it is divine revelation is designed for public Proclamation divine revelation is designed for public Proclamation God has given us his word so that we will announce it to the world that's why God gave Abraham his word that's why God gave Abraham insight into his own actions into the divine mind why he made these decisions he told Abraham so that Abraham could tell all the nations does God expect anything less from us no Abraham was called to be a light to the nation's one through whom the nations would be blessed and we are called Jesus says you are the light of the world you are a city that is set on a hill and nobody lights a lamp and puts it under a basket no you put it on the pedestal to shine lights so that everybody can see that's what God expects from us divine revelation is designed for public Proclamation and you know what the light of God's righteousness would be shined there and Sodom and the people would not respond to it but that doesn't mean that the light of God's righteous and this shouldn't shine there you may try to shine the light of God's righteousness and his truth and publicly proclaim his divine revelation in your workplace and people may not receive it but that does not dismantle the design of the word it's still the design for us to publicly proclaim that truth now you can see a second intention here in verse 18 so divine revelation is designed for public Proclamation look at verse 19 and you'll see the second he says 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 divine revelation write down this second intention divine revelation is designed for personal obedience it's designed for public proclamation it is designed for personal obedience I'm gonna tell Abraham why I'm destroying Sodom and Gomorrah so that he can tell everybody else and then so he can go into his own household and he can teach his children and his family how to live according to what according to righteousness and justice you see how Abraham has the responsibility to teach his children Abraham as the father of his household has the responsibility to teach his children it would be a sad indictment for any of our children if the bulk of what learn about the Lord is coming from their Sunday school teacher see a couple people Amen and that it would be a shame if the bulk of what our children are learning about the Lord is coming from their Sunday School teachers you know who they should be learning it from daddy they should be learning it from mommy daddy ought to be leading mommy want to be leading our children teaching them what how to walk in the way of the Lord that is the intention of divine revelation it's not just for public Proclamation it is for personal obedience and that's supposed to be taught in the home to our children to our households men you and I we have a responsibility to be the head of our home to be the lead pastor of our homes we have that responsibility wise that should be the expectation you have of your husband's it should be the lead teachers of the children and they should be your lead pastor just as well now says this it says that they may keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice what does it mean to be doing righteousness righteousness refers specifically to the way in which we act in relation to God it's the way in which we act in relationship to God so we are honoring him with our words we're honoring him with our actions when nobody's watching how are we walking we're walking righteously we are literally walking blamelessly before the Lord listen what it says in psalm 119 one blessed are those whose way is blameless that's what righteousness is who walk in the wall of the Lord so God expects us to walk in a righteousness before him that is the purpose of his word when we walk in the way of the Lord in the law of the Lord so we walk in right relationship with him that's what it means to walk in righteousness but he doesn't just say righteousness he's by doing righteousness and justice righteousness refers to the way in which we act toward God you know what justice refers to justice refers to the way in which we act towards other people to be just to somebody else is to be a good arbiter to make a good and right and fair decision guess what I don't I don't arbitrate between me and God who do i arbitrate between me and other people myself and other people when when there's a disagreement when we seem to be rubbing each other wrong God expects for me to give that person justice to not only walk blamelessly before him but to also here it is love my neighbor as myself see who would think that well we've got a long ways until the Lord starts revealing that that we're supposed to love God with all our heart mind soul and strength and we're supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves if the Bible doesn't wait until the book of Deuteronomy in the Book of Leviticus and then Matthew 22 in order to reveal that to us the Lord tells Abraham this is the reason why I'm telling you about my righteousness about my wrath towards Sodom so that you will walk blamelessly before me and that you will walk in love towards one another listen to how the Lord talks about these two commandments Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4 through 5 you're very familiar with this here o Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind that is the definition of walking in righteousness loving the Lord your God with all your heart your mind your thoughts with all your emotions all your feelings all your soul with all your being with all your might with all of your actions but you recall what he said there in Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18 you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people but you shall love your neighbor as yourself I am the Lord here he's referencing the righteousness of God the way we act towards him and then also the justice that we use in our actions towards one another that we'd love God with all our being and that we'd love our neighbors ourselves God told Abraham this is why I'm telling you this so that you will already in Genesis after chapter 18 you'll start living like this and why does he tell them this because the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah are not living like this and what is going to happen in chapter 19 they will be destroyed not just for their sin of homosexuality it is for their wickedness because they don't love the Lord with all their heart they don't love their neighbor as themselves they don't even know how to treat strangers when they come into town so they will be destroyed the purpose of divine revelation is our salvation so that we know who God is we understand who God wants us to be so that we can walk rightly before him and walk in safety Jesus doesn't drop this and he doesn't say well you're in the New Testament now you're Christians the Old Testament doesn't apply to you listen to how Jesus talks about this Matthew chapter 22 verse 37 through 39 teacher which is the greatest commandment in the law and he said to him you shall love the Lord your God the fall your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind this is the first and Great 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 did Jesus do away with the Old Testament law no it's still the expectation for us that we would walk in righteousness blamelessness before God and in justice towards one another love our neighbor as ourselves so these are the two reasons the two divine intentions for Revelation for public public proclamation and for personal obedience that's God's intention for giving us the word if your Bible is not affecting what you say to other people you're missing the point if your Bible doesn't fact the way that you are acting you are missing the point if your Bible is only affecting your intellect by growing it in knowledge that intellect is only serving to condemn you because you know what's right but you're not doing it our Bible should be affecting the way we talk to other people and it ought to be affecting the way that we treat other people the way that we act so divine revelation is for public proclamation it's also for personal obedience so that's why that's why God decides and to reveal himself to Abraham for those two reasons now there are three things about God's judgment that he reveals to Abram and you see them in really rapid succession here in verse 20 down through verse 33 you see two of them there in verse 21 so let's get to those quickly let's look at verse 20 it says then the Lord said because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave now be careful and we'll talk about this next week be careful that you don't just readily assume that the only sin that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were committing was homosexuality the Bible is much more explicit about that homosexuality was one of their grave and great sins but they had sinned greatly against the Lord and a multitude of ways so before we go to singling that out let's just remember that he says their sin is great and their sin is very grave because of this verse 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 so the Lord has heard the prayers of people the Lord has heard the outcry wherever that might be coming from and he's heard that these things are going on so you're wondering well I will go down there to see I will go down there to see so it makes you start to think if you read this on a surface level and you don't put too much thought into it you think that the Lord is actually going to Sodom in order to find out information that the Lord is on a mission of discovery he's gonna go to Sodom and he's going to discover what's going on but what have you just learned from verse 18 through 19 the Lord is not on a mission of discovery he's on a mission of disclosure so what is he revealing to Abraham by telling him I will go down to see was he telling them he is telling Abraham that his justice is not capricious that his justice is not based on a whim his justice is based on facts his justice is based on truth Abraham is going to be revealed here my mind I can see three different lessons that Abraham learns about God's judgment you can ride down this first of three God's judgment is just God's judgment is just God gives people what they deserve and God does it according to truth God doesn't listen to he said she said like I said a couple of Sundays ago God doesn't need to read our diary to know what we did God doesn't need to access our phones or our computers or listen into our conversations he's always there he already knows these things God's judgment is just it is according to truth but that's not the only thing that Abraham sees here he says and 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 it's gonna go down to see what to see whether or not they have done whether or not they have done what actions have they taken so God's judgment is just that's the first lesson Abraham learns what's the second lesson that Abraham learns about God's judgment God's judgment is impartial his judgment is impartial it is according to truth and his judgment is according to a person's works it is according to a person's works remember what we studied there in Romans chapter 2 God is not a respecter of persons he judges people according to their works remember what it says there in Romans chapter 2 verse 6 he will render to each according to his works God is going to give Sodom lest anybody think that there was injustice committed in the destruction of those two cities God gave those two cities exactly what they deserve exactly how much they deserve because he judged them according to their works god's judgment is just and god's judgement is impartial now continue to look here it says in verse 22 so the men turned from there and went towards Sodom but abraham still stood before the Lord then Abraham drew near and said will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked that's fascinating up until this point in verse 16 through 21 did you read anywhere where the Lord told him that he was going to destroy Sodom cuz I'm gonna go down to Sodom I'm gonna see if what they've done is true I've heard that their sin is grave it's very great he said nothing about destruction what does that tell you that Abraham already knew Abraham knew that the Lord was gonna find exactly what he knew to be true Abraham knew don't miss this Abraham knew of the wicked of the wickedness of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah before the Lord ever went there Abraham knew that the righteous decree of God meant that these people needed to die don't miss that Abraham knew that so he says to God he asked him a question about divine justice will you indeed sweep away righteous Swiss with the wicked now what's the answer to that be careful how you answer that will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked now if you understand God at all the correct answer to that is absolutely not God will not sweep away the righteous along with the wicked there's a problem in that equation though the problem in that equation when we put it into our understanding is that there's the presumption that there are some who are righteous that there are some on this planet who don't actually deserve to be swept away now that's a false thought that's a presumption and that that's thinking that people are perfect and we'll we know that that's not true we ought to know better we ought to know like Abraham and know what God's gonna find if he came to our house we ought to know that will you indeed sweep away the righteous along with the wicked well certainly not God would not do an injustice but God's not gonna give Sodom and Gomorrah anything that they don't deserve now keep looking here so Abraham knows Abraham knows what they deserve will you sweep them away I know what they deserve listen to this verse 24 suppose there are 50 righteous was that within the city will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it you say Wow Abraham you sure did start with a high number here he gets the Lord all the way down to 10 Abraham you sir did start with a high number here really in an entire city with over a hundred thousand people and Abraham's best hope is that there's 50 people 50 people in the entire city let's just say this what if there were 500 people that lived in Sodom and Abraham's hope is that there's just 10% of the population who are actually walking blamelessly before the Lord you say Abraham you're not shooting very high and you're sure our shooting low you don't have much expectations for mankind to think that that's small of a number yeah that's your best hope is 450 and you know that Abraham realizes that's too high of a number anyway so Abraham's gonna try to whittle this down even more will you then sweep away the place and not spare it verse 24 for the 50 righteous who are in it far be it from you to do such a thing to put the righteous to death with the wicked so that the righteous fair as the wicked far be that from you shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just well yes he's gonna do what is just and the Lord said verse 26 notice that in verse 25 what does he call this man what does he call this visitor he calls him the judge of all the earth that's the first indication in Genesis chapter 18 that Abraham understood that God was standing in front of him up until that point every reference to Jehovah or Yahweh was written there by Moses when written there by Abraham or said by Abraham Moses was writing that it was Yahweh standing before him but there in verse 24 you see that Abraham realizes this is God so what is Abraham doing right now as he is speaking with God what is he doing what would we call that what would caught caught prayer who is he praying for he's praying for the inhabitants of Sodom Abraham is interceding for the inhabitants of Sodom remember that and bring it together here in just a moment and the Lord said verse 26 if I find at Sodom 50 righteous in that city I will spare the whole place for their sake you see what he's promised boy that's grace isn't it the whole city is wicked and the outcry against them is so great it has risen up to heaven and God Himself has come down to see whether or not he'll destroy the city and God says it I find only 50 people who love the Lord with all their heart and love their neighbors their self I'll spare the whole city I'll act towards them in mercy the the wicked that is by withholding judgment and I'll act towards them in grace by giving them time to walk in righteousness and judgment so God is willing to do what he is willing to defer judgment as an act of mercy based in His grace he's willing to defer judgment that's the deal I'll put off destroying them if I find 50 so Abraham's feeling lucky he's tasting a bit of the grace of the Lord he's going to test the limits of God's grace test the extent of how much God is willing to actually be kind to the the wickedness of Sodom the wicked people that is it says in verse 27 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 45 there again he spoke to him and said suppose 40 are found there he answered for the sake of 40 I will not do it then he said oh let the Lord not be angry and I will speak suppose there are thirty found there he answered I will not do it if I found thirty there verse 31 he said Behold I have undertaken to speak to the Lord suppose 20 are found there he answered for the sake of twenty I will not destroy at this point your thinking Abraham when are you gonna be quiet and your also thinking when is the Lord going to say enough Abraham leave it alone quit pleading on behalf of the wicked when is God going to say no Abraham my grace won't go that far but what does the Lord allow Abraham to do he allows him to go deep in the grace he allows them to explore the depths of God's mercy he's whittled down now from 50 to 20 and it's gonna go deeper even still he answered the sake of 20 I will not destroy verse 32 then he said oh let not the Lord be angry and I will speak again but this once suppose 10 were found there he answered for the sake of 10 I will not destroy it and the Lord went his way end of conversation when he had finished speaking to Abraham and Abraham returned to his place got him down to 10 Tim if he found 10 people who walked blamelessly before the Lord and loved their neighbor as themself God would spare the entire city for 10 righteous people God would defer judgment and wrath and give these people an opportunity to repent if only he found 10 so Abraham has now learned his third lesson about God's judgment the first is that God's judgment is just the second is that God's judgment is impartial the third is a little bit more of a mouthful but we need every single word in it so write this down and think of it with me God's judgment is at times deferred mercifully as a gift of grace God's judgment is at times not all the time but God at certain times he defers he postpones he delays he doesn't put it away he just delays it he delays judgment so that's an act of mercy where he withhold something we deserve and why does he do it he does it as a gift of something we don't deserve he does it as a gift of grace so God it's judgment at times is deferred mercifully as a gift of grace you see the problem that it seems that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah had been living in the problem is they had assumed it it seemed that God had not destroyed them yet why because God must not have a problem with what we're doing but why had God not destroyed them yet merciful patience and grace he was deferring judgment we got to be careful because we might fall into that same pitfall we talked about it a couple of Sundays ago in Romans chapter 2 when we think of the deferred judgment of God as some sort of approval of our action when we think that we're experiencing the commendation of God when really what we're experiencing is delayed condemnation God has deferred his judgment as a merciful act of grace so that you will fill in the blank stop doing that what we're experiencing is not the commendation of God is delayed condemnation it's grace it's an opportunity to repent remember what it says in Romans 2:4 or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance do you presume on it do you just assume that it's always there because the truth is it's not going to always be there God's judgment if it is deferred it is only deferred for a short while and it is always deferred as an invitation to repent an invitation to get right so Abraham has now learned these three lessons that God's judgment is just it is impartial and at times God defers it mercifully as a gift of grace now let me ask you a question here thinking about this when we think about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in fact you may have come in here tonight understanding that that's where we're at at the that's the passage that we're at when you hear people talk about Genesis 18 and 19 the destruction of sodom and gomorrah it always goes to one topic doesn't it it always goes to the fact that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their homosexuality and don't you know that that's God's condemnation of homosexuality is that a true statement yes is that a complete statement no because they were destroyed for their wickedness not just a single sin they were sinners before God and God's righteous wrath has been revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men they were not destroyed simply for their homosexuality and you might be tempted to look at that passage and think yep see God's given those sinners what they deserve and somebody in their crassness may actually think well God's giving those homosexuals exactly what they deserve well let me tell you that's not the point of the passage who in this passage is held up as a person to be imitated Abraham Abraham is a preview of Christ Abraham is a shadow of the one who would come and redeem us for our sins the Lord said nothing about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah Abram Abraham is the one that knew they deserved it he's the one that said will you sleep away though the wicked along with the righteous will you certainly surely the judge of all the earth wouldn't do that what about 50 45 40 30 20 10 what's Abraham doing he is interceding on behalf of whom he is interceding he is praying for wicked people sometimes you could be tempted to look at that passage and say see God's gonna give wicked people what they deserve and God's intention you read that passage is to say do you pray for the wicked are we like Abraham are we interceding on behalf of those liberals we like to condemn or do we just say God burn them up boy that's not very godly is it that's not very just is it because if God gave them what they deserve God should also give us what we deserve well I want to be like Abraham and I want to pray for the wicked because I am the wicked and I want God to show them mercy because lord knows I need it I don't want God to burn anybody down I don't want him to burn me down but you know what I'll leave that to God I'll let God be the one who takes vengeance I'll let the God to let God be the one who executes justice he does it justly he does it impartially he does it according to people's works but I'm gonna plead for his mercy I'm gonna plead for his grace that's what we're supposed to imitate leave justice to God plead for God's grace towards sinners now let's bring this back around let me draw your eyes back to something else here they're in verse 19 the Lord attaches something to the end of what he said he says in verse 19 this is why I'm revealing this to Abraham 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 that's a contingency clause isn't it I'm giving this revelation to Abraham so he can teach the nation's so he can teach his children and his household so that they can walk according to righteousness and justice so that I may bring to Abraham what I promised him there's a problem in that isn't there and this is why we better pray for mercy and grace because if the promises that were given to Abraham depended on Abraham's obedience guess what he never gets them what happened with the entire Old Covenant law that's given to the people of Israel what do they do with it they don't obtain the promises of God because they don't keep the law of God what they need is to be perfect in righteousness and justice but what you find out at the end of the book of the Old Testament you find out the people of Israel anything but perfect they haven't walked in righteousness they haven't walked in justice in fact they've been very partial they've been very unjust and unloving to their neighbor see what they need is to be perfect but they failed to do that so what do they ultimately need they need God to send them a Savior they don't need God to defer judgment they actually need a Savior to absorb judgment that's what they need and all the while Abraham is pleading 50 45 40 30 20 10 all the while he's pleading that God is deferring judgment on him and on everybody else who would end up calling on the name of the Lord God deferring judgment on us not because we deserved it but because God is gracious and in His grace he defers that judgment so that will call on Jesus you see Abraham prays for the deferral of judgment but Abraham is a shadow of Jesus because Jesus doesn't pray for deferment Jesus offers himself in fulfillment Jesus gives himself to absorb the penalty that we deserve friends we are just like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah apart from the grace of God we're sinners and we're undeserving but you know why God has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ you know why he's revealed himself to us he has revealed himself to us so that we would believe in His Son Jesus and be saved you remember what I told you there at the beginning God's revelation is designed for our salvation and you know what now that we have this truth now that we have this divine revelation in our hand it's incumbent upon us to believe it number one but you remember the two intentions the two intentions that God had for giving his revelation to Abraham public Proclamation personal obedience that's still what God expects from us and I pray that towards sinners before God that we would intercede on their behalf for mercy and grace and while we intercede we would publicly proclaim that we would personally obey and we would truly be a light to the nation's God's revelation is designed for our salvation and not only for ours but for all those who would call on His Son Jesus would y'all pray with me [Music]

Channel: Dr. Jordan Neal Rogers

Views: 3,490

Rating: 4.6923075 out of 5

Keywords: preaching, teaching, Bible, Scripture, biblical, exegesis, expository, expository preaching, help, teach, me, Genesis 18, Sodom, Gomorrah, homosexuality, homosexual, sodomites, hospitality, hospitable, destruction, destroy, judgment, judgments, disaster, justice, just, righteous, righteousness, grace, salvation, angel, LORD, Yahweh, Jehovah, Messiah, Messianic, Christian, Christ, Jesus, understand, Hillcrest, Baptist, Church, Nederland, Texas, Jordan, Rogers, Jordan Rogers, Neal

Id: NkMHJY2cbD0

Length: 48min 23sec (2903 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 16 2018