Cast Everything Out – Part 1 for December 26th

This is a engram locks as I've grown in the knowledge of God's word and matured enough face I've been faced with a very unpleasant surprise. Not conflict with sin has lesson it's intensified.

I could decide I can't get past this conflict quit and just be grateful I'm going to heaven or I could simply pretend that I got past the conflict more God's grace and his power. I could break the cycle of sin, breaking the cycle soon. It's Anne's message today on living in the light. A study in God's word from the life of Abraham in Genesis chapter 20. This is a very interesting chapter you know that the Bible is inspired and the Holy Spirit wrote it or this wouldn't be in here verse one of chapter 20. Abraham moved on from there into the region of the gas and lived between Katie should ensure quality stating grimoire and there Abram said of his wife, Sarah. She is my sister then Abimelech king of Gerard sent for Sarah and took her but God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him you are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken. She's a married woman, verse eight.

Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials and when he told them all that happened, they were very much afraid that Abimelech called Abram in and said what have you done to us have wronged you that your brought such great guilt upon me in my kingdom. You have done things to me that should not be done and Abimelech asked Abraham what was your reason for doing this. Abraham replied.

I said to myself there is surely no fear of God in this place and they will kill me because of my wife. Verse 14 then Abimelech brought sheep, cattle, male and female slaves gave them to Abram and he returned Sarah his wife to him and Abimelech said my land is before you live wherever you like. Verse 17 and Abram prayed to God and God healed Abimelech his wife and his slave girls so they could have children again, for the Lord enclosed up every woman. Abimelech's household because of Abram's wife Sarah chapter 21 now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said in the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age. At the very time God had promised him.

Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. Verse eight. The child grew, and was weaned on the day Isaac was weaned. Abraham held a great feast, but Sarah saw that the son of Hagar, the Egyptian had warned Abraham was mocking and she said to Abraham get rid of that slave woman and her son were that slave woman son will never share an inheritance with my son Isaac.

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son. But God said to him, do not be so distressed about the boy you and your maidservant listen to whatever Sarah tells you because it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also because he is your offspring. Early the next morning Abraham took some food in the skin of water and gave them the Hagar he set them on her shoulders and he sent her off with the boy. Verse 20 God was with the boy as he grew up. Verse 22 and at that time, Abimelech and cycle, the commander of his forces said to Abraham, God is with you and everything that you do would you pray with me, please. Father, we just found out we want to thank you for all the things you have taught us. Thank you for all the things that you've shown us.

Thank you, dear God, for within ourselves, we can sense the quickening of your spirit and we do want to love you more and we want to praise you more and we want to serve you more and underneath it all.

We just want to know you more. So Lord, we thank you for the magnificent Obsession that we can just let loose that desire in our hearts and give ourselves fully to it that we might seek you with our heart, mind, soul and strength. Thank you, dear God, that when we pursue you like that you are found by and so now we ask your blessing on this message. Lord we want to live lives pleasing to you and the frustration of sin and failure in our lives is one that will keep us in defeat and destroy and rob us of our joy. We need to learn how to overcome sin, so we asked now that you would teach us in Lord help me make this simple and clear help everyone to understand what I'm trying to convey what I believe is your truth imparting to your word.

So were asking your blessing, please dear God, and it's in Jesus name we asking for his glory. Amen.

Have you ever fail again and you haven't done something you didn't want to do and after dinner. You thought why not do that. That makes me sick. This lesson is about the cycle of sin in our lives in the conflict that we have with sin, and practical ways that you can overcome domination of sin in your life ends. Let me just illustrated by a story that actually is true. It takes place every spring in England and in the English countryside. All the birds build their nests except for one, and the cuckoo bird does not build a nest in the cuckoo bird flies around until she finds little English sparrows already built her nest later eggs in the cuckoo bird wait for the little mother English.

There is gone off to get yourself something to eat and the cuckoo bird swoops down on the nest and lays her big quickly cuckoo egg in the little English sparrows nest. So when English Sarah comes back she sees three little dainty English their eggs in the run big ugly cuckoo bird egg, but she just got a bird brings her she can quite figure it out and she nestles down all those eggs and she just sits there just as happy she can be in pretty soon they hatch, and she has three cute little English sparrows chicks in just one big ugly cuckoo chick and she doesn't know the difference. And so she goes off to get the worm, and she comes back and she dangles it over the nest. She's got three little dainty English sparrows chicks opening their mouth and one great big ugly cuckoo bird opening his mouth and guess who gets the worm next time she goes and gets the worm she dangles over the nest. Guess who gets the worm and she keeps feeding that cuckoo bird until the little English chicks, little English sparrows chicks are starved to death and is the cuckoo bird grows bigger and bigger. He pushes out the little English sparrows and he said you can always tell when a cuckoo bird is in English sparrows nest because although dead baby English sparrows on the ground and in order to save the little English sparrows chicks you would've had to push the cuckoo bird out of the nest. In other words, either. He has to be cast out or the little English stars going to die and if the little English sparrows are to live than the cuckoo bird has to go out and that's an illustration of What Is Taking Pl. in Abram's home and Was Taking Pl. in Abram's home is an illustration of what is taking place in our lives and you and I wrestle with the cuckoo bird within our old nature and the old nature wasn't a problem until we were born again and we had the entrance of a new nature and Jesus comes live inside of us and at that point in time. Not only have we been in the cycle of sin that we want so much aware of until the new nature comes and then were not unaware that were in a cycle but the cycle becomes a conflict and within us, there's this raging battle with sin and we have to overcome. If we don't throw out that old nature. If we don't cast it out. If we don't put to death and it's going to dominate our new nature and all the were born again and will go to heaven when we die. Other people will never see Jesus in us will never have victory in our Christian lives were not going to live up to the potential that God wants us to have and we can pursue the magnificent Obsession, but you're going to be limited in your knowledge of God and your enjoyment of the blessings that he gives you and you be limited in the blessing you can be to other people because that old nature is dominating and in wrapping up in a sense, the new life, it's within your so open your Bible is not the Genesis chapter 20 and I just want to us to look at Abram's home and see what's going on there and then see the illustration that it is in our own lives and first of all, we see the cycle of sin repeated in Abraham's life as he goes up to Gerard and and I just want to defend Abram for a moment because he's a failing in a way he failed the very first year when he set out to pursue God.

And when he (went down to Canaan and then went on to Egypt and he told Pharaoh you know that Sarah was his sister and it has been years since then. In fact, it's been almost 25 years since he did that and now he's fallen back into that same sin. And so I'm going to defend them for little bit and give them some excuses because I think you chapter 19 was when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and Abram's looking out over the plane and he sees the smoke rise up from the plane and he realizes that even after his persistent intercession for the city. Not even 10 righteous were found and he sees the city go up in smoke and for all he knows, that includes lots and so I think he's emotionally grieving over his nephew. What's happened to his family. There is spiritually distressed because his prayer wasn't enough to save the city and he decides to leave it sort of like you've ever attended the funeral of a loved one wasn't saved and you know that kind of despair and hopelessness and feeling of emptiness and finality in his Abram just needed a change of scenery, and he moved away and I think the move itself is 100 years old.

He's got hundreds of servants all of their dependencies got thousands upon thousands of livestock and he moves the entire way away from where he was just the change this evening to get away from those bad memories that feeling and so I think he's vulnerable at this point he's emotionally, spiritually, physically, just worn out.

In what way have you send again has failure been repeated in your life and you've done something you haven't done for a long time, or maybe have done something you did last week and the week before and what excuse you have for your sin. How can we defend your behavior in your action and the fact that you've done something again something that you dealt with something that you confess before God. You come back to Bethel and come back to the cross and you said it right with God and then you do the same old thing you know why Abraham did. This is the same reason you do this. Bottom line, and we can have all asked all these excuses we can defend ourselves. Bottom line, you and I sin, and Abraham send. Because we sinners, it just comes naturally. Doesn't and Abraham sin because underneath.

He's just the center and this sin in particular was very serious because he goes to Gerard and he says that this time Sarah currently doesn't lie on his behalf to make this a little progress, but he says that she's not sister and so once again in verse 11 Abram indicates that he did that because he was afraid and that Sarah was so beautiful I just think that is interesting is that she's 90 years old and that's one reason you know the Prince says that's one reason I think she was pampered and the sun never touched her skin and she was on Persian carpets and silks and satins and she could have had too hard a life to be that beautiful an age 9. Either that or she had an advance something or other Botox and she just fixed herself about think the sweet thing is that Abraham thought she was wonderful at the age of 90 and a MS read that in his eyes. There were no more beautiful woman in the world. It could be that this was a political alliance and Abimelech sees this powerful better when chief everybody knows he defeated all those kings from the east, and these come in to his area.

Any just one make a political alliance thinking I'll take his sister and my Hermiston I will be family more attack me so maybe has something to do with that. But Abram gives the reason as being that she's beautiful and he thinks somebody will take her and kill him.

Together, so that's why he's done the same thing.

Apparently, Abraham has a real problem with fear and fear of personal harm like somebody living in terror of violent crime or being raped or being robbed or you know just and it's just a phobia and apparently he has a phobia like that. It is just a besetting sin in his life was the besetting sin in your life. Abraham had this besetting sin of fear, and in this particular case the way you handled it by saying she's not sister so Abimelech took Sarah into his harem. Just like in Egypt and this is how serious it was with in the year. Sarah is going to conceive the son that God's been promising for 25 years, the son of promise, the one through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed that Jesus would come through the line of Abraham and Isaac, and now she's taken intra-pagan kings hair.

Abimelech has relations with her what she conceives the sun, but the lack or maybe she doesn't but when she comes out of the hair.

If he can ever get her out and she conceives us on the Abraham that year that people are going to wonder, is this Abimelech sun is up Abraham son, and you see the seriousness coming just the real mess that Abraham is made. Once again sin is always serious incident, you take it lightly and it can be what you think is a small sin that just involves yourself, but you know sin is so serious and I think the more we grow in our faith in the longer would been a Christian and the more mature we are.

Our sin gets even more serious flexor testimony more fix our relationship with God more were never to tolerate it toy with it. Pretend it's not there.

It serious and the shame of course the God this is interesting in verse three when God came to Abimelech and said you're as good as dead. Would you like to post that at every bar and every office and in our culture that you're as good as dead because a woman you've taken as a married woman so serious it was the God and that's a serious thing in the day when it's open season used to be. People respect their wedding band and now it's just whoever you want whoever you can get male or female doesn't make any difference in God in heaven leaning downs and you're as good as dead as he spoke severely to Abimelech and Abimelech. He had no idea and he had been innocent in all of its week. He defends himself to God and God just still says if you don't return her. I'm going to destroy everyone in your household. Everyone in your nation. I'm just going to lower the boom don't you touch this woman you give her right back because it's so serious messing up the entire plan that God is so carefully orchestrated and so he just intervenes the set it straight and so once again we see Abraham Shane brought before pagan kings is prodded, you tell me this. Why did you bring shame upon me and my family and while you put me in such a compromising position before God and endanger the whole nation why you done this to see Abraham after walking with God. 25 years, humiliated his burning red as he confesses yes I did it because I was afraid, and he's caused everybody to suffer.

We know that I'm going to that we cause Abimelech and Sarah and himself. The suffering seriousness of it to thwart God's plan and now the shame of its SEs rebuked by pagan and I wonder if the shame was so intense that Abraham was thinking you know. And this is nonmembers emotional state. He's just seen Sodom go up in flames doesn't even know if lot is been saved and old man is moved all this be and I just wonder if he's thinking you know I'm 100 years old. I don't have the child at the God's promise I'll have a piece of land to call my own. I've been pursuing God for 25 years with nothing to show for it. I've tried so hard to follow him by faith I keep failing. I'm just not cut out for this.

It's time to go home.

I wonder if Abraham was on the verge of quitting. I think he was because of the way this was hand. I wonder if there's somebody here you've been following the Lord for 25 years have you been serving him growing in him seeking to Milliman to please and the servant and then you did something that was so shocking you even shocked yourself a failure that you did way back when her. You've repeated something you'd you just can't believe you did it and have you thought you knew.

After walking with God. 25 years if I'm doing something like this. I'm just not cut out to be a disciple.

I certainly can't be a Bible teacher if I'm doing something like this. How can I ever think I could teach somebody else to know God and to be right with God and you on the verge of quitting, maybe not quitting your Christian life or just quitting Christian ministry quitting your leadership position because of the sin in your life and you just sick of yourself and sick of it. You just want to quit now wondering if that's what happened because this time.

Abimelech didn't say you, here's your wife and you are you things that get out. Abimelech said Abraham for Sarah sake I'm going to shower you with gives menservants, maidservants, all the other livestock.

I'm leaving tomorrow and that you look at my whole nation. You pick whatever you want to go. You can have your choice of any place in the country you just help yourself that's approach. I mean, he was handled so gently was in the and that's what makes me think Abraham was on the verge of quitting because if God come down severely like get out of here. We never want to know you got Abraham might've kept on going right back to Haran and peace is something to remember and is not something to take as a license but God is gracious the sinners is in the coming dry here and amen.

Praise God, and sometimes it's a surprise because you know you deserve a spanking and what you get is a tender touch from the Lord, and he knows he doesn't break a bruised reed doesn't quench the smoking flax so tender and gentle way he handles us and the somebody here who's fair.

I'm praying that you'll be surprised by his grace and his he wraps his loving arms around you and blesses you. Sometimes that's most convicting thing of all, when I'm just expecting God to lower the boom and instead he just comes and reaffirms his love for me and it just makes me melt and makes me never ever want to do that again and failure was repeated in Abram's home. God handled it very tenderly but failure is replicated in our lives and we would be dishonest and fooling ourselves and trying to through other people. If we said we don't continue to fail act with been born again.

After we receive Christ as Savior. Romans 323 says that all have sent all of us are moral failures and I want you to turn the Romans for moment if you wouldn't keep a little mark in Genesis because were going to come back to it. Romans chapter 7 Paul is describing the very same thing I've been talking about with the apostle Paul, the greatest evangelist. The world has ever known greatest missionary with ever seen. Maybe no one greater in all the New Testament maybe in all of human history since the cross other than Jesus and the apostle Paul and he's describing this cycle of sin in his own life. Chapter 7 Romans chapter 7 verse seven and he's talking about the cycle of sin, and he says what shall I say, then, is the loss. In other words you can think of the laws.

The 10 Commandments, you know, don't do this don't do that. Don't do that you can think of is your Bible study. When the light of God's word comes in your life and is that sin from me and he says certainly not, I wouldn't have known what sin was, except through the law if if I have a plumb line if I know God's standard. I wouldn't know what sin was if I hadn't been in the Bible is that in the light of God's word came in my life I would never known that was sin in my life I wouldn't have known what was to come. But this is interesting. The apostle Paul must've had the besetting sin of covetousness in that interesting. He's just being a little vulnerable here and said I wouldn't have known what was the covet.

If the law had not said do not covet. Never was a 10 Commandments gives us is plumb line. The standard I studied at the light of God's word came into my life and I discovered that coveting was a sin. But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment God standard producing me every kind of covetous desire isn't that interesting that when he was told not to covet, then that's what made him want to come.

It is like when I go on a diet which I do from time to time to control this middle-aged weight and I don't like candy bars really am not in the suites like salty things but when I'm on a diet and I'm checking out of the grocery store you have the Provost candy bars right there you check out it's all I can do to keep from buying every single one.

I just craved into bars because I know I can have again the bar like when you have a park bench that's been painted as his wet paint. Do not touch you see all the sticky fingerprints in the wet paint is just something in us when were told not to do something, then we want to do it. Three says, apart from the law sin is there another words about a know it was wrong up wouldn't care about.

I would want to do it. So once I was alive. Apart from the law, and this is interesting your Canaanite neighbor you know the person is unsaved struggle like you and I do because there dad and they don't know what's right and they don't know what's wrong so they're living the lives way they were raised they compare themselves with the person next to them in their little bit better than that bird is not as good as that person trying to get along in the world want to do what feels right and feels good. What works and so they're just not struggling with this cycle of sin because there dad to all of that so well was alive physically apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and dad meeting was defeated. I found that the very commandment God's word that was to bring light into my life when tended to bring life actually brought in deep discouragement for sin. Seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.

D depression. I want to quit. So then the law is holy. Amen.

I know God standard is perfect and the commandment is holy, righteous and good so did that which is good then become death to me why God standard pure, righteous, holy, would producing me this kind of depression and discouragement defeat any says by no means but in order that sin might be recognized as sin now hears and with this final word I can testify from personal experience. Your old nature will die slowly and over time, but you can conquer it.

One choice at a time dozens of times a day, every day.

The choices we make are like a spiritual workout. The exercise are will they determine whether will grow spiritually strong or remain spiritually weak and dominated by our old sin nature. If I hurriedly run to the store to pick up some items I'm in a hurry in their five people in line and the clerk is gossiping with her friend making everyone wait, I have a choice to make, if I rudely tell her often is not turn out just exercise my old nature. If I'm stuck in traffic and someone trying to merger my right. I have a choice to make.

If I pull up to the bumper of the car in front of me an edge that merging car out of my lane of exercise my old nature choices I told you they weren't easy.

Sometimes a small, irritating ones are the hardest to make but if we make the right choice.

The indwelling Holy Spirit of God supernaturally gives us the power to carry it out. Thanks for joining us today for living in the light.

If you want to discover more about the magnificent Obsession and spoke of today and her message and Graham wants.org you'll always find more to encourage you in your study of God's word and plan to be back with us again next week