Devotional Materials. Week Commencing Sunday 20th March 2022
Call to worship
‘The Lord’s love is surely not exhausted nor has his compassion failed; they are new every morning, so great is his constancy.’ (Lamentations 3:22, 23)
‘The nearer you go to God, the nearer he will come near to you. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.’ (James 4:8a, 10)
It is easy to be absorbed with concerns and burdens that we carry. But here is opportunity to remind ourselves afresh of God’s great love for us. He knows our situations/troubles. He wants us to lay these burdens before Him. Draw near to Him and you will find Him faithful and strong. This is what our first hymn celebrates: ‘O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. Our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home.’
Opening Hymn
‘O God our help in ages past’ 498 (Piano)
Isaac Watts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4WCLlC-LLs
Opening Prayer
Lord God we worship You. We see you in Your majesty and power. You are the Creator, who has always been. From ‘everlasting to everlasting’ You are God. You brought forth the earth. We praise You for it and the wonder of its life; for the beauty of landscape and sky; for the variety of seasons, animals and plants, for their intricate interdependence and for making us to be part of it all.
You have not left us alone. You are our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. You have given us many material helps- our health and food, the shelter and care of our homes, the love and loyalty of our friends. But where we face difficulty or lack, even in areas such as these- we still look to and rely on You as our hope. Not giving way to fear, or compromise, but knowing our true home is found in You. Thankyou You invite us to dwell in Your shelter; to find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. You are our dwelling place. Nowhere else. Have compassion on us. Satisfy us this morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad today and all our days. Amen.
Hymns
‘Bless the Lord, O my soul’ (Ten Thousand Reasons) MP 1259. (Guitar)
Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4PmiOBkxH4
‘Here is love vast as the ocean’ MP 987 (Piano)
William Rees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crRs75ZX_nA
Prayers
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for you have brought everything into existence, you are great and mighty in power. Be our strength in times of weakness, uphold us when we are down, protect us at all times; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Lord, we wait, we watch, we long for you. Renew our powers, refresh our spirits, restore our well- being, for you give new strength to the faint and powerless. May your church be found working among those who lack resources or rights. May we seek to care for those who cannot care for themselves. We pray for the lowly and the humiliated. The elderly and infirm. We pray for all relief organisations and care homes. Lord, be to them a tower of strength.
We pray for the great powers of the world, the strong nations, and mighty governments; may their power be used properly that the poor are protected, the weak are not exploited, and no one is oppressed. We think particularly of the Russian and Ukraine conflict and for a speedy resolution and end to it. We pray you would convict Putin and other Russian leaders of their sin before you- the greed, the selfish ambition, the murder and violence and bring them to repentance. We know human beings are tempted by the devil. He offers power and ownership of the kingdoms of this world ‘all this I will give you, if you will bow down and worship me.’ (Matt. 4: 8, 9) But You lord Jesus resisted that temptation and said ‘Away from me Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ We pray You would be at work redeeming and bringing good out of this conflict, and that as a result many will return to a true worship of You.
We give thanks for all who have cared for us in times of weakness, for those who have uplifted our spirits and given us a new hope. We pray for our friends and loved ones, especially any who are finding life difficult at this time. We pray for our community that may feel neglected or rejected.
We pray for all who are in weakness of body, mind or spirit, for all who have come to the end of their own resources. We remember all who are losing their mobility or agility, those who are losing their memories, and all who have lost their grip on reality; for those who no longer trust in anyone, and those who doubt the love of God; for all who are caring for loved ones in illness. (Quiet to pray for individuals)
Lord, be to them a tower of strength. Great are you, O Lord, and mighty is your power. (Mainly taken from ‘Traces of Glory’ David Adam)
Reading. Genesis 20
1Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, ‘She is my sister.’ Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3But 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 is a married woman.’
4Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, ‘Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? 5Did he not say to me, “She is my sister,” and didn’t she also say, “He is my brother”? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.’
6Then God said to him in the dream, ‘Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.’
8Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. 9Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said, ‘What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.’ 10And Abimelech asked Abraham, ‘What was your reason for doing this?’
11Abraham replied, ‘I said to myself, “There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.”
12Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. 13And when God caused me to wander from my father’s household, I said to her, “This is how you can show your love to me: everywhere we go, say of me, ‘He is my brother.’ ” ’
14Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15And Abimelech said, ‘My land is before you; live wherever you like.’
16To Sarah he said, ‘I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offence against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.’
17Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, 18for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelech’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Hymn
‘There is a redeemer’ MP 673 (Piano)
Melody Green
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldRcFz7rK7w
Sermon. ‘Abraham the trouble maker’
The Bible tells truth about all people, and that includes God’s people. It does not hide the fact that Noah got drunk and exposed himself (Gen.9:20-23). Or that Moses lost his temper (Numb.20:1-13), or that David committed adultery and plotted the death of the woman’s husband (2 Sam.11). Or that Peter denied the Lord three times (Matt.26:69-75).
Here we have the shocking repeat of Abraham’s sin he had committed 30 years before in Egypt. If you remember back in this series Genesis Chapter 12 we read how the famine was severe, so Abraham went down to Egypt and made an agreement with his wife Sarai. She was to say she was his sister. Abraham reasoned the Egyptians would take his life if they knew she was his wife. Pharaoh took Sarah into his harem. But then returned her to Abraham when the Lord intervened. Now in Chapter 20 we read of Abraham repeating the same deception. We don’t know why he decided to stay in Gerar at this time. Perhaps Abraham had some kind of business dealings in mind. We know Abraham was again fearful that people there might kill him because of Sarah. Verse 11 tells us he thought there was no fear of God in Gerar- indeed the people there were to become known as the dreaded Philistines- so Abraham again refers to Sarah as his sister. And this time Abimelech, this Philistine King, takes her into his harem.
Thirty years on from the initial deception, Abraham and Sarah had seen many answers to prayer, many miraculous proofs of God’s care and protection. Their faith had been tested and God had not failed them. But Abraham has forgotten. Here Abraham walks by sight and not by faith. He had lost sight of the God who is Almighty, who could do anything and who had covenanted to bless him. He had lost sight of God’s love.
Rather, Abraham’s mind is filled with fear of man. Fear of man and faith in God cannot dwell together in the same heart. Proverbs 29:25 says “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe”. Are you fearful that a mere human being has your life in their hands? Psalm 27:1 says “The Lord is the strong hold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?”
Perhaps Money has become your security and you are tempted to trade the truth to gain financially. There may have been something of that in Abraham’s motivation on both occasions. Today we face increasingly difficult times economically and financially. Basic necessities are at stake. You may be tempted to take matters into your own hands and twist the truth in order to save yourself. But the Lord calls you to put your trust in Him and His promise afresh: Jesus says “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or wear…Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (See Matthew 6:25-34)
Don’t allow fear to quench faith. Fear will lead to compromise and a poor outcome. Faith in the Lord sees what He will yet bring about and trusts in His promise to provide for you.
Abraham and Sarah had convinced themselves they were not telling a lie. It’s true Sarah was the daughter of Abraham’s father, but not of his mother. It’s easy enough to justify a lie. Reasons will present themselves to your mind. But it was still a lie. The truth is Sarah was more wife than sister to Abraham. By deliberately withholding that information Abraham was conveying a false impression. God saw the lie in Abraham’s motive- his words may have been correct but what Abraham did here was shameful in God’s eyes. It was cowardly and dangerous:
Abraham knew other men would have shown interest in Sarah- he admits as much, but Abraham is still content that Sarah be made vulnerable in this way rather than risk his own safety. Further, the day before Sodom was destroyed, God had already promised Abraham their long awaited son would be born within the year. At this point Sarah may have already been pregnant with Isaac. Through this deceit Abraham could easily have lost his wife and his son to Abimelech.
Abraham compromised Sarah, he risked Sarah’s virtue. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had a cheap view of sex, even Lot was prepared to sacrifice the virtue of his virgin daughters to a lustful mob. Here, it doesn’t seem to bother Abraham that Sarah might be known by another man in the biblical sense! He doesn’t seem to have that proper understanding of a man being jealous for his wife as God is jealous for His people. He’s lost sight of the Marriage Ordinance; that sex was intended by God to cement that 1 flesh union between husband and wife (Gen.2:20-25, endorsed by Jesus: Mark 10:6-9). He’s unconcerned about these things.
But God is very concerned! He comes to Abimelech in a dream and says to him “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman”.
Just because Abraham and even Sarah had justified the course of action in their own minds it didn’t make it right. Their outlook is the way many people today think about ethics. Many today are moral relativists. They might not call themselves by that name but that’s how a majority of people make their decisions in life. One survey found that every 3 out of 4 adults questioned now believe that truth is relative to the person and his or her own situation. The same survey among teenagers found that nearly all thought moral truth depended on the circumstances. At its most blatant some young people think its okay to have sex before marriage since they say they can’t afford a wedding or to set up home together. Or, its okay to lie if by so doing you avoid confrontation with parents or some other perceived trouble that is to be avoided.
Moral relativists would say of Abraham and Sarah- “That’s what seemed best to Abraham, and if Sarah went along with it then that’s okay- they made the best of a difficult situation as best they could and although the moral standards seem loose to some, well that’s the way their culture was”. You see Moral relativism thinks that values shift according to the society you are in. This ideology says a person’s judgment about what is right or wrong is merely an expression of his or her childhood training, cultural experiences and conformity to the majority views of the group. Values evolve over time and are different for different people. For the moral relativist ethical values are determined by these factors. But the biblical basis for morality is in stark contrast to this view. The Bible insists that moral truth is rooted in God’s character, not created or determined by man. Romans 2 describes how even gentiles not having the Jewish Law still have the requirements of that law “written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness” (Romans 2:15). God, by His Spirit speaks into a person’s conscience.
Another significant contrast with moral relativism is that God’s precepts are not relative but absolute. The Judeo- Christian ethic insists for example, that it is always morally wrong to rape a child; it is always morally right to love one another; it is always morally right to be kind to the mentally ill; it is always morally wrong to commit murder; and in response to Abraham and Sarah’s course of action; it is always morally wrong to commit adultery. The Christian’s moral choices should be informed by these clear precepts revealed to us in God’s Word. We are to act by principle and not according to moral relativism. Of course it’s tempting to adopt the easier view of moral relativism, justify what is in reality sin and progressively deaden the voice of our conscience. But this has dangerous implications for ourselves and for those with whom we come into contact. Beckwith and Koukle in their book “Relativism” write
“If relativism were true, this would be a world ‘in which nothing is considered evil or good, nothing worthy of praise or blame. It would be a world in which justice and fairness are meaningless concepts, in which there would be no accountability, no possibility of moral improvement, no moral discourse. And it would be a world in which there is no tolerance
You cannot use culture to judge right and wrong because a changing culture cannot provide a fixed standard for morality. Only God’s character, revealed in the Bible, provides a reliable measure for morality.
God’s Moral Law is universal, and He was certainly speaking into this pagan king’s conscience. Indeed, Abimelech seems to know what God’s moral law requires better than Abraham. Here he is the nobler of the two. Abimelech gets up early in the morning to set things right. Although the Lord does not say He will wipe out his people, Abimelech understands enough to realise that this action offends God’s holiness to the point where this could be the outcome. He is quick in summoning his officials to get the situation sorted out. He has enough moral awareness of God to know that sin is serious!! Further, in verse 9 we see Abimelech recognises an objective guilt has been brought upon him and his people by this action. This is even more amazing when we consider he did not know Sarah was Abraham’s wife when he took her. He initially protests a clear conscience in doing so since he was ignorant of the fact. And in verse 6 the Lord acknowledges this. That would be enough for most of us to think we were morally off the hook. But Abimelech recognises he is still guilty before God because his action is objectively an offence against Him. Further Abimelech restores Sarah to Abraham with generous gifts and assures her of future protection. Here is a virtuous pagan!!
When I studied for my teacher training year- PGCE- I wrote an extended essay entitled “Which basis for the teaching of moral education in schools?” You’ll be pleased to know I came up with God’s nature and the moral law as my answer. This wasn’t the answer my text books were giving me. These were heavily influenced by moral relativism. I had to go back to the Bible and Christian thinkers to begin to understand where we get our sense of right and wrong from (If you are interested in following this up read first chapter in CS Lewis “Mere Christianity”, fuller treatment of this issue in his “The Abolition Of Man”.)
In my study for that essay I found a common misunderstanding made by the non-Christian writers. They thought that Christian thinking could not accommodate the idea of the virtuous pagan! They reasoned that non- Christians know certain thing are right and wrong and live accordingly independent of Christian revelation. Non-Christians know that lying, stealing, murder, racism, for example, are wrong. As far as they were concerned that was their argument against Christianity as the basis for morality. But that is to fundamentally misunderstand the Christian claim. Christianity didn’t invent a new morality. God’s moral law has always been, it presses down on every person’s conscience whether they believe in Him or not. This has been the case through all ages including before the coming of Christ. The moral law emanates from God Himself. This is clear as we have seen, again Romans 2 describes how even gentiles not having the Jewish Law still have the requirements of that law “written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness” (Romans 2:15).That man has a sense of right and wrong is one of the biblical evidences of God’s existence.
When you see programmes on the television about men and women who risk their own lives to save others, people who make incredible sacrifices to care for members of their family- they are not all going to be Christians! Non-Christians can hear God speak to them through their conscience and act morally. Some have even given their lives for others in warfare. There’s no secular basis for dying to save another; you won’t get it from so called evolutionary ethics- survival of the fittest. The basis for such high moral action is found in God’ nature. God laid his life down for us in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ. The person who acts in such a fashion may not understand what is driving them to act in that way- but it is God speaking to them through their conscience which urges them to so do
A close look at Romans 2 makes it clear that not all pagans fit into the permissive category described in Romans 1. Although sexual immorality is a major problem in our culture it would be a mistake to think every unbeliever is guilty of this sin. Romans 2 describe a category of people who are morally aware. Who are law- keepers. Today that would include people who are not Christians but who want to live decent lives, or people of other faiths. They are tempted to judge the permissive crowd described in Romans 1. But actually, Paul says, you who think you can be right with God through your own virtue are also under God’s wrath and face His just condemnation too. In Romans 2 Paul explains this is because these people are also guilty of sin. Even the God fearing Jew- says Paul- is guilty of the sins described in Romans 1- not necessarily sexual immorality, but other sins are listed there- greed, envy, strife, deceit, slanderers, boastful and so on. Paul’s argument is that no outward keeping of the Law can clean the person within. There is a moral pollution in every person coming from their sinful nature. So, even the virtuous pagan; whether secular or religious cannot be justified before God that way.
In Romans Chapter 3 Paul spells out the implication- all are “under sin”, no one is truly righteous, “not even one”, since even the most virtuous law keeper is aware of inner sin which is unacceptable to God’s holiness. Paul had tried that way of being right with God himself. But his attempts to earn his salvation had fostered pride, self-righteousness and even the desire to kill those who didn’t agree with him. By the end of Romans 3 Paul declares “No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin”
Before God, none are righteous, all are under sin. All includes everyone. All includes Abimelech and it includes the cowardly Abraham. All includes every Christian too. We Christians are not justified before God by our own virtue. For example, every Sunday we have opportunity to confess our sins here. According to 1 John 1 if a Christian claims to be without sin they deceive themselves, rather “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (verse 9). The Christian has been cleansed by God and now desires to please Him and live worthily of Him, but every Christian knows they are a work in progress. God is changing us, making us like Christ but sometimes we fail, perhaps spectacularly like Abraham here. We don’t justify the sin. We’re not excusing it. We don’t want to sin, when we do we usually suffer its consequences and regret it, but it happens.
So someone might legitimately ask “Aren’t Christians also facing God’s righteous condemnation and judgment along with the virtuous unbeliever?
No they are not!!
Look again at our passage.
Who is going to face prompt judgment and punishment for their sin here? Abraham the trouble maker, happy to save his own skin at the expense of his wife’s virtue or the virtuous Abimelech whose sin was with a clear conscience?
It’s Abimelech!! God has already struck him and his household with some kind of lethal infirmity- partly to prevent Abimelech from having sexual relations with Sarah, but this is a judgment from God on Abimelech, and it’s clear his life will be forfeit if he doesn’t get things sorted out quickly! On top of this God requires that not only must Abimelech return Abraham’s wife to him, but Abimelech must ask Abraham to pray for him if he’s going to continue to exist on the earth!! Now hold on a minute- isn’t this the same Abraham who created all this trouble in the first place?? You can imagine 2 boys who end up fighting, one boy started it by pushing the other, but what if the pushed boy gets all the blame! What if the pushed boy has to apologise to the boy who initiated the trouble? That boy would not be a happy bunny!! Isn’t God going to take Abraham to task here for what he’s done?? Well… No!! Abraham belongs to God in a way that Abimelech doesn’t. Abraham is a prophet- as verse 7 indicates- in that capacity he can pray for Abimelech, but there is a more fundamental reason why Abraham is accepted by God and will not face punishment for his sins.
To understand why we must turn to Romans again. Remember in Romans Chapter 3, Paul has established that all are under sin, no one will be justified before God according to their own virtue. Instead he says that God has provided us with His own righteousness “a righteousness from God” (3: 21) He adds, verse 22 “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe”. He goes on to explain there that every person has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory- the standard is not in comparison with others- we all fall short of God’s perfect holiness.
So what is this righteousness that God has provided? It is the giving of His only Son. Jesus Christ, the perfect One who took all our sins on himself. Jesus payed the penalty we should pay for our sins- he took the punishment for sin that we deserved for our sins. This was his mission all along, which he ultimately accomplished on the cross “It is finished” he cried and now we Christians who have trusted in God’s righteousness provided for us in Christ are accepted by God. Paul puts it like this “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement (that is the one who would turn aside his wrath, taking away sin), through faith in his blood”
So a Christian is one who does not boast of any virtue of their own- “where then is boasting. It is excluded” says Paul. We are “justified by faith” says Paul. God justifies those who trust in His provision of righteousness, not through their keeping of the Law. And in Romans Chapter 4 Paul cites Abraham as a person who is also justified by faith. That explains why Abraham does not face punishment and judgment for his sin in our passage from Genesis 20. Paul cites Genesis 15:6 “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness” (4:3) He adds: “The words “it was credited to him”, were written not for Abraham alone, but also for us to whom God will credit righteousness- for us who believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” Abraham does not face punishment for his sins because he is justified by faith and that is true for every Christian too.
If you are not a Christian here this morning I would urge you to see that Moral relativism is no basis for morality. The truth is we are all under sin, we are all objectively guilty before a Holy God. We cannot merit Salvation through our own virtue, and where we judge someone else we too are guilty of sin. But here is God’s provision of righteousness. Here is His grace- His undeserved favour towards you. See all Jesus has brought about for you through the cross. Trust Him for this and so be justified by faith before Him. Trust Him for this and on the Day of Judgment God will credit righteousness to you.
If you are a Christian you are justified by faith- this passage should be of great encouragement to you. In Christ you are now a son or daughter of God. God does not reject His children when they sin any more than a parent rejects a disobedient son or daughter. Abraham was justified by faith and had a righteous standing before God. Our justification does not change; we are accepted in Jesus Christ no matter what we are in ourselves. Yes, you are a work in progress, God has cleansed you and he is working change in your life. But this morning perhaps you are conscious of some sin gnawing away at you that has brought disrepute to God’s name. Do not despair. Go alone, as Abraham must have done, and confess your sins with tears and childlike trust. Trust in the patience and forgiveness of God, so evident revealed at the Cross, and let His love, as consuming fire, rid you of concealed and hidden sin. It appears Abraham and Sarah learnt the full lesson of faith through this episode. Never again do we read of them questioning God or His provision for their lives. They made a new beginning and so can you.
Communion Hymn
‘When I survey the wondrous cross’ MP 1126 (Piano)
Isaac Watts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK8kYlBn_qI
Communion
Final Hymn
‘Facing a task unfinished’ MP 126 (Piano)
Frank Houghton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-YxQok6cPA
Blessing
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all ever more
David Barnes 16/3/22