Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20080608.htm
THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION Genesis: Explaining The Foundations Of History Part VII: Explaining God's Plan To Bless Men Regardless Of Apostasy B. Learning To Heed God's Word Over Our Own View For Blessing (Genesis 13:1-18)
Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

If we have attended Nepaug Church for any length of time, we have heard of the need to trust God's Word in living the Christian life.

However, when the trials of our faith are especially strong, we find a huge pressure arises, tempting us to rely on own viewpoint:

(1) After last Sunday morning's worship service, some members of our Church were speaking with me in Fellowship Hall, and they were recalling the illustration in that service's sermon on how I had made a choice based on my own view regarding my ministry decades before, and how I had later deeply regretted it! I was adding that I had later deeply wished I could somehow "go back and do it all over again" to make it "right"!

One of the believers replied, "Pastor, you can't go back, but sharing your testimony with us on the matter helps encourage us to make the right decision in facing similar temptations in our walk!"

What she revealed by this is the fact that we all have a need to be encouraged to trust Scripture over our own human viewpoint while facing especially difficult trials to our faith!

(2) Later in the week, I received a phone call from another member who was facing a very unwanted trial, and she remarked she was wondering afresh if she might have done something wrong that had led to that trial. I knew exactly what she meant -- I've often been there myself: when "bad" trials occur, our first response is to rely on our own judgment, and we can guess we have somehow sinned even if we are not sure if this is true. A little voice inside says, "Don't just stand there in this trial -- do something!" We accordingly thrust about in our minds, trying to brainstorm our own way toward the solution!

(3) While I had the initial draft of these sermon notes up on my computer monitor still later in the week, another call came in from another member who had called specifically to ask for encouragement to trust the Lord with a steep trial that believer was facing!



So, we might ask, "Though I KNOW I must trust God's Word ABOVE my OWN VIEWPOINT and human EFFORT, is there any ENCOURAGEMENT to do so in the FACE of STRONG PRESSURES in the trials NOT to do just that?!"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Unsettling trials strongly pressure me to replace trusting God's Word for my own wisdom, so, how do I handle this pressure?"

1. To BEGIN to bless man regardless of Nimrod's FAITHLESS world apostasy, God had told Abram (A) to leave his home and kin for a land God would show him, and (B) to be a blessing, Gen. 12:1, 2d.
2. Abram had INITIALLY heeded God in Genesis 12:4-9, but under the DURESS of a bad famine, he had then FAITHLESSLY left Canaan, the land God had assigned him, for Egypt, Genesis 12:10.
3. However, that move had ONLY led to MORE trials, Gen. 12:11-20!
4. Learning from this lapse of faith, Abram RETURNED to GOD'S WILL -- to STAY in CANAAN and BE a BLESSING, Gen. 13:1-9:
1. Realizing he had seen only more trials by his faithless trip into Egypt, Abram returned to Canaan, and to the altar at Bethel where he had first proclaimed God to the Canaanites, to renew his testimony of his faith in God, Genesis 13:1-4; 12:8; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 47.
2. Abram then APPLIED God's WORD in LIVING, Genesis 13:5-9:
1. He applied God's Genesis 12:2d call to be a blessing in his life:
1. A strife arose between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot, for, in the human viewpoint, (1) the land could not support the herds of both men (2) and of the Canaanites, and (3) staying in Canaan in another famine would only add to the crisis, 13:5-7.
2. Thus, Abram applied God's call that he be a blessing, 12:2d: regardless of the pressured threats in the human viewpoint of (1) another famine, (2) the price for having lesser pastures and (3) the needs of the Canaanites, Abram gave Lot first choice of pasture in faith in God's provision for his needs (12:7; 13:8-9).
2. Abram applied God's Genesis 12:1, 7 call to stay in Canaan, the land God gave him regardless of the human viewpoint threats of (a) Lot's use of the better pastures, (b) Abram's greater risk of loss in famines (c) and the needs of the Canaanites, Gen. 13:9; 12:1b, 7!
5. Abram's UNCONDITIONAL CHOICE in FAITH to STAY in GOD'S WILL led to GREAT BLESSING, BUT Lot's choice by way of his OWN VIEWPOINT led to a DISMAL END, 13:10-18:
1. The Genesis 13:10-18 text presents an obvious contrast between Lot and Abram regarding HOW both men used their eyes: Lot heeded Abram's offer in using his eyes to lust for the lush Jordan Valley, Gen. 13:10; in contrast, GOD had Abram use his eyes to see how He would bless him in giving him all the land he could see, Gen. 13:14.
2. That CONTRAST exposes the VASTLY DIFFERENT RESULTS of functioning in unbelief as one relies on his own viewpoint under pressure versus trusting God and His Word, Genesis 13:10-18:
1. Lot responded to Abram's offer by selfishly viewing and choosing the luxuriant Jordan Valley for its provisions, like that of Egypt, that would keep him from facing more famines, 13:10-11; 12:10.
2. Abram then chose to stay in Canaan where God assigned him even if it left him at greater risk of loss in the human view , 13:12a.
3. The contrast in the results of these choices was huge, 13:12b-18:
1. Lot pitched his tent near Sodom in the Jordan Valley, a wicked city, Gen. 13:12b-13. This led to (1) Lot and his family being captured when Sodom was attacked (Gen. 14). (2) Lot also later lost his wife by premature death in God's judgment, and (3) saw his surviving daughters with him fall into degrading sin all due to the family's exposure to Sodom's evil influence (Genesis 19).
2. In contrast, (1) God told Abram to lift up his eyes in faith that (2) all the land he saw in every direction, including the land Lot had just chosen , would become his, Gen. 13:14-15. [Burg Beitin near Bethel has a great view of Palestine, especially of the land Lot chose, and possibly was the place from which both men surveyed the land, H. C. Leupold, Exp. of Gen., 1974, vol. I, p. 437.] (3) God promised that all of this land would be his (4) and that of his descendants (5) forever, (6) and that He would make Abram's offspring as numerous as the dust of the earth, Gen. 13:16. (7) God then told Abram to go through the land, staking his claim to it in faith in this promise, Gen. 13:17.
3. In faith in God's promise, and in thanksgiving, Abram moved to Hebron where he built an altar to worship the Lord, Gen. 13:18.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ as Savior to receive eternal life, John 3:16. (2) If tempted by the PRESSURES of life's trials to function by our own viewpoint versus heeding Scripture, may we recall the huge contrasts of blessing or its lack that their choices in this realm produced for both Lot and Abram, and SO be HIGHLY MOTIVATED to HEED SCRIPTURE above our OWN viewpoint!

Lesson: Relying on his own view under duress, Lot had a dismal end; resisting his own view under duress to heed God, Abram had a great end.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

Several events have occurred since last Sunday a. m. that show God is prodding us to see the value of trusting Him over our own view:

(1) Last Sunday evening, in a service that is often our least attended one, a Church member testified she had lately spoken to many longtime believers she knew who attend other churches, people who are needing "something more" than what they get in their churches. They have become tired of all the program "fluff" they see, so she had recommended our Church to them since we feed people God's Word, and she testified she was sharing this news with us to encourage us!

After the service, another believer spoke with me, telling how the content of that evening message addressed needs he had recently faced in people he had met in his life who were in errant doctrine!

As my wife and I later drove out of the Church parking lot, I told her, "The Lord was encouraging us through these people tonight!"

(2) Then, as I entered my office last Tuesday morning to begin preparing this sermon, and I was in prayer, asking God for His help to minister in blessing for this body, I found a message had been left on the answering machine from a young mother in New Hartford. She wanted some questions answered regarding our Vacation Bible School that she had seen advertised by V. B. S. our sign out front.

When I returned her call, she was very animated! She wanted to know if she had to be a member of our Church, or if she had to pay to enroll her children, and I explained this was all unnecessary. She wanted to know what we would teach, so I explained the series this year was on the spiritual conflicts children face, and she was intrigued! She enrolled her children, and closed by stating emphatically, "Okay then, I'll see you with my two children on June 23rd at 9 a.m.!"

I admit I felt a bit sheepish after the call -- I had not expressed as much excitement as she had! It was another example of what God has done for us over the years, to encourage us that He WILL bless our efforts, but OUR part is to ACT on FAITH in His WORD that He will be with us to help us as we disciple others, Matthew 28:19-20!

If struggling in a trial with the CHOICE of relying on our OWN VIEWPOINT versus doing the REVEALED will of GOD in line with SCRIPTURE, RECALL the Genesis 13 CONTRAST between LOT and ABRAM, and opt for ABRAM'S choice of faith! Only THERE can we know God's blessing for SURE in the END!