Turn back to Genesis chapter
13. Genesis chapter 13. Lessons to learn that we can learn from
Genesis 13. Lessons to learn from Genesis
13. That's what I titled it. I read this over. I read it last
week and this week and today. And that's what stood out to
him. Here's some lessons for us to
learn. These things were written, the
Scripture says, for our learning. Our learning. Now, Abraham leaves
Egypt. Basically gets kicked out of
Egypt. And he goes back to the house of God where he had left. And he takes Lot with him. And Lot's going to prove to just
be a problem to Abraham. He's just going to be a problem.
You know, he gets captured by some kings and Abraham has to
go and capture him back and bring him back and restore everything
back to him. He just proves to be a problem for Abraham. But Abraham comes back to the
house of God. And everything looks well. Everything
seems to be fine. But not for long. Not for long. I told someone the other day,
believing the Gospel does not make us immune to trouble. It
does not make us immune. That was my mother I was talking
to. We were talking. And I said, believing the Gospel
does not make us immune to troubles and heartaches. We still have
them. I think they're harder on us for the simple reason we
have more understanding. We have more understanding of
what's going on. But let me give some lessons
here that I jotted down today. First of all, don't leave the
place of worship over trouble. Don't ever do that. A famine
came in the land. And what did Abraham do? He took
his family, his wife and his nephew and his herds, and he
went to Egypt. He left Bethel, the house of
God. He left the altar, the worship
of God. I'm not saying he quit worshiping
God, but he left that place that was established. Don't do that. There's nothing but trouble in
this world. The friendship of the world will
only and always lead to trouble in the end. It has nothing for
us. Absolutely nothing for us. Stay
where God has placed you and look to Him to provide. These
are things that just come to me today as I read this. Just stay where God has placed
you. He'll provide. God will provide. And always
attend the place where Jesus Christ is preached He's the food we need. He's what
I really need is Christ. I need Him. He is all my hope
at all times. Christ is all my hope. He's all
I need at all times. Forsake not the assembly of yourselves
together, Paul said in Hebrews, as the manner of some is. Well,
I can worship God at home. If you worship God at home, you
will be here to worship Him also. I guarantee you. If you do not
worship Him here, you will not worship Him at home. You can
mark that. You can write that down. That's
so. But some left over what they heard. They didn't like it. Once
they heard it. Once they began to hear it, they
thought, I don't really believe that. Some left over trouble. But Paul says, There is a special blessing on
this. There is a special blessing when the church comes together. The Lord said where two or three
are gathered in my name, they are mine in the midst. Did he
ever promise that anywhere else? Well, there are more than two
or three here, not right now. Abraham's trouble. started when
he left Bethel and went to Egypt for help. When he left the altar,
the place of worship, the place of the sacrifice. He didn't do
those things in Egypt. He didn't build an altar in Egypt.
You don't read of that. No, not at all. It would be better
to starve at Bethel than to go to Egypt and be filled. That's
the truth. It would be better to live in
a shack here and hear the gospel than to go and find a job somewhere
else, live in a mansion and not have the gospel. That would be
the advice I would give as the pastor. I would tell any young
person, don't give this up over a better job somewhere where
you don't have the gospel. Don't do it. Don't do it. It's evident Abraham had some
spiritual maturity. yet to be done spiritually growing
up. Abraham did not have the altar
in Egypt. It was not until he came back
that he called on the name of the Lord. You don't read where
he called on the name of the Lord like this down in Egypt. It wasn't until he was brought
back to Bethel and brought back to the place of the altar there
in verse 4, unto the place of the altar which he had made there
at the first. At the first. And there Abraham
called on the name of the Lord. What did he do? He worshipped
the Lord. That's what he did. To call on the name of the Lord
is to worship Him. And when Abraham came back, he
worshipped God for who He is. No doubt he gave thanks for bringing
him back out of that place. But then there's trouble. And
there's trouble of the worst kind in the family. Trouble of the worst kind is
in the house of God, in the family of God. Trouble of the worst
kind. There's nothing that is more
sad or more dishonoring to God like trouble among God's people.
Division. Fighting. That's why Paul wrote
to those Corinthians, the troubles that they had so much of. Part
of it was that. We really have nothing to fall
out over, do we? Not if we're brethren. If we
are brethren in Christ, I'm telling you, we have absolutely nothing
to divide over. Nothing. Not at all. If the gospel is
not an issue, there's nothing to divide over. But what's going on here also
is a real trial of faith. Here's a real trial. This is
going to bring out a real trial of faith right here on
Abraham and Lot. Both of them. And Lot fails the
test. Lot fails the trial. Abraham
proves to truly love Christ above all. That's why I wanted you
to sing that song. Abraham proves to love Christ
the Lord above everything. We'll see that as we go along
here. Lot failed. Lot was a believer. He's called
a righteous man. But a miserable believer. But
he failed. Abraham exemplifies the character
of a believer. The Scripture says to live peaceably
with all men. And Abraham did it. He did it. Now, what's the cause of the
problem that has risen up between, it says, between the herdsmen?
Here between Lot's herdsmen and Abraham's herdsmen, their servants. Here's the reason for the problem.
Riches. Riches. That's the whole reason
for this problem is riches. Both had much livestock, which
caused a strife between the servants. And if not taken care of, sooner
or later, there would have been a strife between the masters.
Abraham. God gave him some wisdom. Abraham
dealt with this problem before it became a real problem. How many families have split
over riches? I have two uncles that don't
They don't hardly speak to each other. Somebody talked to me
the other day and said, I wish you'd talk to them. If God would
save them, that's what I'd talk to them. That's what I'd like
to talk to them about. You know what they're upset about? You
know what they won't talk to each other about? One of them
took some pictures out of the house after my grandparents passed
away that they thought didn't belong to the other one. Pictures
hanging on the wall. And both of them are very well
off. And they won't talk shit over
some pictures. I tell you what, there have been
many more families split up over riches than over poverty. A lot more over riches than over
poverty. Listen to this. Here's their
problem. Here's why they had this problem.
For their substance was great, so that they could not dwell
together. Isn't that sad? I wrote out past
that. Sad, sad, sad. They could not
dwell together because their substance was great. Wouldn't
it have been wise if Lot, being the younger one, and Abraham
the elder, and Abraham the spiritual father of that family, wouldn't
it have been wise if Lot would have said, would you sell off? I'll just sell mine off. I'll
just cut back. If he'd have thought of the welfare
of his soul, of his family, of his wife and his children, if
he'd have just thought of them, but instead, Couldn't let go.
Couldn't let go of it. It had him. It had him. You'll
see here in a minute. And here's Abraham's wise counsel. God had given this man some wisdom. Let there be no strife. Abraham
calls his nephew. This is his nephew. He's not
even his son. This is his nephew. And he calls him and says, Let
there be no strife. That's grace. That's grace at
work. I was talking to Donna Bell yesterday. We were talking about grace in
the soul. And we were talking about this. Grace reigns wherever
it is. Where it is. Where it exists. It reigns. That doesn't say we
don't sin. That doesn't say we don't get
upset. But we get over it. It reigns. If the grace of God
is in you, I promise you, it will prevail. Greater is He that's
in you than He that's in the world. Greater. And Abraham said this, Let there
be no strife. We be brethren. We're brothers. This is the real family. We are
brethren. And Abraham said, we're not going
to fight over this. We're not going to come to blows
over this. We're not going to separate, but we're not going
to separate mad. He said, you know, you've got
this many and this many and I've got this many and the land cannot
contain it. We'll just separate, but we're
not going to separate mad. We are brothers and sisters.
In Christ, that relationship will not be dissolved. Every
other relationship we have will absolutely be dissolved. But
not this one. Not this one. You can't get rid
of me. I can't get rid of you. It will not be dissolved. We
are brothers and sisters in Christ. God's family is to be at peace
with one another. Look over in Philippians chapter
2. Philippians chapter 2 and verse
3. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men." He said, let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory. Put an end to it. Put an end
to it. Abraham's love to God, his love
for God's glory, God's honor, and his love for his nephew,
his love for Lot. It went beyond just being a nephew.
His love for Lot far exceeded his love for his possessions.
Now that kind of love is of God. When you're ready to give up
everything. Abraham had the right. Now listen,
he had the right to everything. He could have said, Lot, our
men are causing trouble here. They're not getting along. And
this is not going to become a problem. I want you to go over there.
I want you to take this part of the country and I'll take
this part of the country. But oh, Abraham reveals His love to God, His love to
Christ by letting these possessions not possess Him. He let them
go. He let them go. He says there
in verse 9, listen to this, in verse 8, And Abram said unto
Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee,
and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen, for we be brethren.
Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray
thee, from me. If I will take the left hand,
then I will go to the right. If I will depart to the right
hand, then I will go to the left. This is the patriarch. Abraham
is now over 75 years old. And he's saying to his nephew,
he's probably 30, 40, maybe. He might be around that age.
He said, you just make the choice. I'll take what's left. That takes grace now, that takes
grace to do that. He said, you go and you take
what you want, I'll take what's left. Only grace will enable
a man who has the right to it all, who has the right to it
all, give up all worldly possessions in order to keep peace. Abraham said all this is not
worth us being at odds with each other. None of it. When there is strife in the house
of God, the enemies of the gospel, now listen, the enemies of the
gospel have fuel for their fire when there is strife among brethren.
Did you catch this when I read this? Look back to verse 7. And there was a strife between
the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle.
And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land." Did
you catch that? You know what he's saying? Here's
what he's saying. They were watching us. He's saying these Canaanites,
these Perizzites, Lots are watching us. We're being observed. We're being observed. The witness
of the Gospel is being destroyed by our conduct. That's the only
reason that they mention that right there. You cannot sin alone. You cannot fight alone. Somebody's
watching. Somebody's going to be hurt.
Somebody's going to say, Thought you'd believe the gospel.
Thought you'd all believe the gospel. And just destroy the
witness. Isn't Satan subtle? So subtle. And then Lot makes a bad choice.
Abraham said, let's separate. Lot should have said, I mean,
Abraham is the patriarch here. He's the one God called to go
out. And Abraham no doubt told Lot
about him. And Lot believed and he went with him because he says
that Lot was a righteous man. So evidently he believed what
the message Abraham said or told him. And he believed what was
revealed to Abraham and he leaves. And now he's gotten this worldly
spirit about him. And Abraham said, let's separate.
Lot's like, OK. OK, let's separate. We'll do
that. And listen to this, and Lot lifted
up his eyes instead of lifting up his heart to God and pray
and seek the Lord's will and to seek His mercy, he lifted
up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan. Oh, isn't that
a beautiful place? I bet he was just like going,
You know, you try to look at something and you act like you're
not looking at it. He's probably just looking around. But he's
got his eye on the plains of Jordan. It's well watered everywhere. We won't have to go through that
famine again. He remembers that famine. It was well watered everywhere
before the Lord destroyed. Now here, listen. Before the
Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord,
like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zor. You notice what
it looked like? Now here's something that's going
to get him. Remember, they went to Egypt.
Abraham, this is going to follow Abraham for many years. Abraham,
because of this famine, left the house of God, left the altar
of God, went to Egypt. Spent some time in Egypt. Now
they've come out of Egypt. They've come back to the house
of God. They've come back to the altar, to the place of worship.
And then Abraham said, let's separate here because we've got
some problems. And you know what Lot saw? That land looked like Egypt.
Egypt got him. He went down there and he enjoyed
Egypt. He enjoyed the flesh pots of Egypt. And when he left there
and he looked around, he said, that looks just as nice as Egypt. Man, he remembered everything
about Egypt. And what did he do? He chose Egypt. Instead of
staying with God's man, he left. He left. And like I said, this
one sin of Abraham followed him for a long time. Hagar. She has Ishmael. Ishmael, he
becomes a real problem to Isaac. But you know where Hagar came
from? She came out of Egypt with Sarah. When they left and came
back to the house of God, they brought Hagar with them. Followed
them. That one sin right there just
followed him for so long, it just followed him. And here's a very sad ending
in verse 11. And they separated themselves
from the other. What did they separate over?
Think about this. Abraham. Covenant made with Abraham. The house of God, there where
Abraham was at, the altar, the sacrifice, the worship, true
worship. And they separated over some stinking cattle. Livestock. Animals. It's sad what men separate over.
It's just sad. But Abraham stayed in the place
God called him. Where did he stay? Canaan. The
land of promise. He stayed there. And Lot went
after all that stuff. Lot dwelled in the plains, it
says, and pitched his tents. Towards Sodom. Imagine his wife had something
to do with that also. She liked that lifestyle in Egypt. He liked that lifestyle in Egypt.
Kids get a good education there. They have a good education system
maybe. A good reason to go back to Egypt. A good reason to go
that direction. Look at all the opportunities
our children can have Down here in these cities. We don't have
to live in tents anymore. I'm sure they thought of all
the things that they could be blessed with. All the things
that they had. And they took off. And he pitched his tent
towards Sodom. Trials prove who we are, don't
they? Trials prove it. They reveal strength of character.
They reveal faith. They reveal it. Lot was a believer,
I can say it, but he was a miserable believer. But I tell you what,
he was a miserable believer by his own choice. He chose that
land of Jordan. Abraham could have chosen. But
Abraham, no, he stayed right there. He learned his lesson.
When he went down to Egypt and gave up his wife and then got,
you know, all that went on and went back to the house of God,
Abraham said, I'm sure he thought I ain't going back there. He
learned what this world was all about. He learned something about
it. But old Lot better he didn't.
He went right back there. And Lot's life ended. You know how his life ended?
In a cave. Committing incest. And he got drunk. That's how
the tribe of Moab started. I believe it was the Moabites.
They started by incest. But his life ended in sadness. It ended in sadness. The men
of Sodom, it says, were wicked and sinners. In other words,
Lot, you know better. Shun every appearance of evil,
the Word of God says. Lot, you know better. The men
of Sodom are wicked and sinners. You know he knew that. He knew
that. Yet Lot went there anyway. And
you know what? He actually became a prominent
citizen. Because when the angels came,
guess where Lot was sitting? In the gates. Elected to the
city council. He became a prominent city among
those Sodomites. And the Scripture says he vets
his soul every day with those people. You make some choices now. You've
got to deal with it. You've got to deal with it. Blessed are those who walk not
in the counsel of the ungodly, but sit in the seat of the scornful. Blessed. Blessed. Sitting among the wicked will
not change the nature of the wicked. They're still wicked.
You won't rub off on them, I promise you. You will not rub off on
them. And after the separation, you
know, it says over in Isaiah, God called Abraham alone. His father went out with him.
God had to kill him. Lot continued with him. God separated
them. Now Abraham is alone. He's finally separated from his
father's house, his own country. I mean, it took a while, didn't
it? It took a while to get that separation. But it finally happened. And then God spoke to Abraham.
Stay with the man whom God speaks to and whom God speaks through.
Stay with that man. And God reaffirms the promises
to Abraham. And Abraham, and I want you to
notice this. Let me see if I can find my place. Verse 14, And
the Lord said unto Abram, Asterlot was separated from him. Boy,
a lot of you if you'd have stayed around, you could have heard
this. Abraham would have told you about it. But he left. And I've had to miss services
in the past, but I've always thought, and I've often thought,
What did I miss tonight? What did I miss tonight? Lot, what did you miss when you
separated from Abraham? Lift up now thine eyes and look
from the place where thou art, northward, southward, Eastward,
westward, for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give
it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the
dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of
the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk
through the land, in the length of it, in the breadth of it,
for I will give it unto thee." Then Abram removed his tent and
came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron. and built there an altar unto
the Lord. Listen, Abraham gave up all for
Christ. Now listen, he gave up all for
Christ, yet he was given all in Christ. He said, I'll give
it all to you. All things are yours in Christ. What did Abraham lose? Absolutely
nothing. Absolutely nothing. What did
Lot lose? Everything but his life. He didn't
lose his soul, but he lost his family. He lost his influence. He lost everything. He lost the
land that he went to possess. He looked over there in Jordan
and saw it was well watered, went down there and got some
land and ended up inside them. And what did he lose? Absolutely
everything except his life. Everything. Abraham gave it up and gained
it all. Lot chose it all and lost it. He lost it. And the last thing
Abraham did, the last thing we read here in this chapter that
he did was what? Build an altar. Worship the Lord. After the Lord
reaffirmed the covenant, the blessing, Abraham built an altar
and worshiped the Lord. You never hear that of Lot never
built an altar. You never hear of Lot building
an altar in Sodom. What was that altar for? It was
for worship. It was to offer the sacrifice
on. It was to shed the blood and
offer the sacrifice on. It represented Jesus Christ.
Christ is our altar. He's our altar. I'm going to
end with this. Follow after Him. Here's the
greatest lesson to come out of this. Follow after Him and let
these things go. If it needs be. If it needs be. If it needs to come, let it go.
Seek peace and pursue it. Now let me close by reading Matthew
chapter 16, which we will be looking at Sunday, Lord willing. In verse 21, from that time forth
began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go
unto Jerusalem. and suffer many things of the
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be
raised again the third day. Then Peter took him and began
to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord, this shall
not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offense unto me, for thou
savest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake
shall find it. For what is a man profited if
he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of
Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, And
then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily
I say unto you, there shall be some standing here which shall
not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in
his kingdom." Why does a man profit if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul? It's not worth it, is it? Little pleasure in sin for a
season is not worth an eternity of suffering. Not worth it. Truly, Christ is all. He's all. All right, Mike.