Laughing at God

Found something that I just wanted to read today, something that we all need to be reminded of. We often hear about the importance of preaching sermons, the importance of delivering sermons, and the discipline of preparing sermons, and how important all those things are, and indeed they are. It is important, and in many ways there is a famine in our land because of a lack of the preaching of God's word. But there is also a responsibility when it comes to listening to sermons, even the preparation of listening for sermons. And George Whitfield, that famous evangelist in the First Great Awakening, preached a sermon entitled Directions how to Hear Sermons, and he had six major points when it came to the listening of sermons and the hearing of sermons that we all need to be diligent about. And I just want I just wanted to read those. I came across those again in my reading this week and just just wanted to read this. Here are those six directions. First, I direct or entreat you to come to hear them not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty, says if you want to be a good sermon hearer, a good sermon listener. Number one, don't come out of curiosity, come to hear and do your duty. Number two. Second, not only prepare your heart before you hear, but also give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the word of God. Prepare your heart before you hear, and give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God. Third, do not entertain any the least prejudice against the minister. Do not entertain at all the least prejudice against the minister. And aren't we all guilty of that. You go somewhere and I don't for whatever reason you go, you're there, and maybe you didn't necessarily want to be there. Maybe somebody brought you here today and you didn't want to be here today. You didn't intend to be here today, y'all, I don't want to hear this guy. Really really doesn't matter. You have an opportunity to hear the word of God. Don't allow your prejudice against the esture of the word to cause you not to hear the word of God, even if it's awful. You know you've heard the expression to the meat and spit out the bones. Even if we find ourselves in a situation where we're listening to something that we don't necessarily want to be listening to, or listening to someone that we don't necessarily want to be listening to. Don't allow your prejudice toward the preacher to keep you from hearing God's word. Fourth, as you ought not to be prejudiced against, so you should be careful not to depend too much on a preacher or think more highly of him than you ought to think. Amen, don't be prejudiced against the preacher of the word, and don't think too highly or depend too much on the preacher of the word. Have your Bible open. Check everything. The Word of God is inherent and infallible. The preacher is not. Amen, check it out. You know, preachers misspeak all the time. You know, we've had we've had laughs around here on a number of occasions because of something that was said, you know, from the pulpit that was an obvious you know, sort of you know, faux paul, if you will. But again, there are things that are said that are sometimes not intended. There are things that are said that are sometimes in error. Because we are all in process, don't think too highly of any preacher, or you get to the point that you're not listening to the word, that you're not listening to what's being said, and then you're not being a Borean. Don't ever get to that point. That's how many people end up in error. That's how many people end up sitting and listening to heresy because they hold the preacher and far too high esteem and do not discern when they're listening to a sermon. Sixth and last, if you would receive a blessing from the Lord when you hear his word preached, pray to him both before, in and after every sermon, to endure the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put in practice what he shall show from the Book of God. To be your duty. Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. Pray for the reacher and pray for yourself. Pray that the preacher would be faithful to the word, and pray that when he's faithful to the word, you'll hear it and you'll do it. I think it's important for us to remember that we're called not to be passive listeners. Passive observers, and we try to even create this service in such a way that we're engaged, that we're involved. We read these lengthy passages of scripture for a number of reasons. Number one, because we're commanded in the Bible to pay attention to the public reading of the scriptures. How many times have we been in services where the scriptures were not read extensively at all. We're commanded. It's not recommended. We're commanded in the New Testament. The New Testament Church is commanded to give attention to the public reading of the Word, and so we do it because of that. We also do it to create a hunger in us and appetite in us, and to discipline in us. We need to hear the word of God. We need to hear the word of God. And there's also a discipline involved in hearing the preaching of the Word. And unfortunately, here's what's happened in our culture. Because this is sermon number one, then we'll get to sermon number twenty minute. But unfortunately, here's what's happened in our culture. I was taught in seminary, I was trained in seminary that my sermons need to be our sermons need to be Our preaching professor said this, Are you ready for this? Your sermons need to be eighteen to twenty two minutes in length. That preaching professor taught us that your sermons need to be eighteen to twenty two minutes in length. Why get this? People have been conditioned by our culture to only give attention to that much material. Your average sitcom is thirty minutes long, but that's only about twenty two minutes of sitcom content. So here's what preaching professors are saying to young seminarians all over the place. Don't rebuke your people for being lazy, don't challenge them to something higher. Capitulate to the culture, and treat the Word of God with the same level of reverence that you do the Simpsons. That's what they're saying. If television shows are conditioning people to only give that much attention, don't push for any more than that. And if you've been around here for any length of time, you know that we are absolutely committed to that principle here at GFBC. So for the next eighteen to twenty two minutes times two, let's turn our attention to Genesis chapter eighteen. We have arrived at Genesis chapter eighteen. We've made it here as we're going through the life of Abraham, and as we're being blessed by the life of Abraham, challenged by the life of Abraham, and prayferally seeing in a fresh new way and by fresh new way. Here's what's interesting, you know, people, we think we need something relevant, we need something fresh. Well, what's been relevant and fresh as we've gone through the life of Abraham is that we're actually seeing the Gospel in the life of Abraham. Amen. You don't get more fresh and more relevant than that. And as we've had conversations, you know, as we preach through the life of Abraham, it's been such an incredible blessing. And Paul and I both and that just incredible blessing. If people have come to both of us and said things like, you know, what an incredible privilege it's been to hear the Word of God, to hear the Old Testament, to hear the life of Abraham afresh and anew as we look at the Gospel in the life of Abraham, and not little moralisms that wind us up and tell us to leave out of here and work harder and do better. Amen, anybody else had about enough of that? I just all right, all right? So here we come to Genesis chapter eighteen. And on last week we looked at this picture of faith, the faith that we see in Abraham, and we looked at true faith, and one of the points that we made was that true faith was linked inexorably to the Word of God. Now this week we're going to kind of circle up and deal with that issue of the Word of God, because if we just sort of leave that out there, then what we look at, especially in the light of our culture, because if you remember, on last week we looked at faith the definition of faith in our culture versus the definition of faith from a theological perspective. How if we don't deal with that improper definition, then we're talking about something that the Bible is not communicating. Well, the same is true when you use the term God's word the Word of God. And if we're not careful, we look here in the life of Abraham and we say, well, yeah, great, when God visits me and speaks to me audibly, then I'll have that kind of faith as well. So we have to be careful even with the way that we think about the doctrine of divine revelation. And so we see that here more acutely and more clearly in chapter eighteen, and it reads, and the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of memory, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. It's beautiful picture here, and again, the ancient nearies no air conditioning. So you have these tints from hides, and in the evenings you close them in order to protect yourself from the elements. But during the heat of the day you would open a flap at the front and at the back so that the wind could sort of come through, and you could kind of get a breeze in the midst of the heat of the day. So here's Abraham and he's sitting at the door of his tend. He's on the inside so that he can have some shade, but the flaps are open so that there's a breeze coming through the tent. It's mine in his own business. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the earth and said, oh, Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves. And after that you may pass on, since you have come to your servant. So they said, do as you have said. And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, quick three, say as a fine flour, knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and young, and gave it to a young man who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree while they ate. Now here's what's interesting. When you look at the traditions in the ancient Near East, what you discover is this that what Abraham is doing is he is showing. It seems to us extraordinary the kind of hospitality that he's showing, But this is actually customary in the ancient Near East. If a stranger comes through, there is no oh, there's no Marriotte, there's no holiday in there's nothing like that stranger comes through your land, you show hospitality to that stranger. For a couple of reasons you do this. At number one, you show hospitality because from a biblical perspective, you are to be kind and generous to strangers. But secondly, this was also a way to turn potential enemies into allies, so you show this hospitality. Another part of the custom was this, and I didn't know this before this week. A part of the custom is what you bring is always more than what you offer. Do you notice that here that Abraham does that what he brings is more than he offers. Just stay here for a while. Let me go get you some water. They got cakes and milk and yogurt and meat. By the way, in the diet of the ancient Near East, meat was not something you ate regularly, so this is a special here. He's treating this like a banquet. These strangers have come, and there's a banquet here prepared for these strangers. Now, we could spend our whole time just talking about the hospitality that Abraham demonstrates here, but let's move on. Verse nine. They said to him, where is Sarah, your wife? And he said she's in the tent. The Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. Isn't that a tactful phrase? The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah, filled with faith, shouted, Hallelujah, May it be so. No, she laughed to herself, saying, after I am worn out and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure? The Lord said to Abraham. Why did Sarah laugh and say? Shall I indeed bear a child? Now that I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? What a question? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it, saying I did not laugh, for she was afraid. He said, no, but you did laugh. How about that I didn't laugh? Oh no, you did see you next year, you and your son. And so here we see a picture of divine revelation, this picture of the word of God. Folks understand this. We cannot know God unless God reveals himself to us. Let me say that again, we cannot. We are incapable of knowing God unless God reveals himself to us. And God reveals himself to us in two particular ways. When we see these two ways in the scriptures, number one through general revelation and number two through Special revelation. And let's look at those for a moment. Look with me, if you will, in Romans chapter one, and let's look at General Revelation in Romans chapter one, look beginning at verse eighteen, so eighteen through twenty three. For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made, so that they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him. But they became feutile in their thinking and their foolish heart were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. This is what the Psalmist points to. The heavens declare the glory of God. That's general revelation. So you look out at creation and you see creation screams there is a God. By the way, general revelation is why you see worship in every culture, wherever you go, whatever corner of this earth you find yourself on, there are individuals who are responding to what they've seen in general revelation. They're responding to what they've seen as the heavens declare the glory of God, as the heavens declare that there is a God. But unfortunately, what we end up doing is worshiping birds and animals and four footed creatures. Unfortunately, what we end up doing is taking virgins and dropping them down into volcanoes in order to appease the gods so that the volcano doesn't errupt anymore. We recognize that there is something beyond ourselves, but general revelation can only get us so far, and In addition to general revelation, which screams to us there is a God, there must also be special revelation, which says, oh, by the way, here's who he is. By the way, that's precisely what we see in Acts chapter seventeen, is it not. When Paul comes in Acts chapter seventeen and he says, you know, I can see that you are a very religious culture. I've looked around at your statue, and you've got these statues to all kinds of gods. There's even one that's written to an unknown god. He says, Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, I'm now going to explain to you. In other words, the general revelation thing has brought you to a place of paganism. And I'm glad you've seen general revelation. However, general revelation in and of itself does not get you to a point where you know the God of the universe, where you know who he is, where you know what he's done, where you know what he's required. There also has to be special revelation, and that's what he adds there in Acts chapter seventeen. And special revelation is the word of God. Special revelation is what we see here. For example, in Abraham, special revelation is God communicating to his people through various means. Special revelation is God breaking through general revelation and explaining general revelation. So Abraham is not left here to believe in the possibility of God or in the idea of God. But Abraham is met here by the God of the universe, who specifically reveals himself. It's very important he specifically reveals himself. There has to be special revelation to get us to the Gospel. Listen to this, Charles Hodge says about special revelation. While therefore it is admitted not only that the infinite God is incomprehensible, and that our knowledge of him is both partial and imperfect, that there is much in God which we do not know at all, and that what we do know we know very imperfectly. Nevertheless, our knowledge, as far as it goes, is true knowledge. God really is what we believe him to be, so far as our idea of him is determined by the revelation which He has made of himself in his word, in the constitution of our nature, in his word, and in the person of his son in general and in Special Revelation? Do we know all that there is to know about God? Know? We do not. Can we know all that there is to know about God? Know? We cannot. But we can know what God has revealed about himself. And God is revealing himself specifically here to Abraham. Listen to this from B. B. Warfield. According to the scriptures, therefore, special revelation is a historic process, an organic system, a continuous divine act directed to destroying the power of sin, to the building up of the Kingdom of God, to the restoration of the cosmos, to the summing up of all things in Christ. In this historic process, God makes himself known as the God of Grace, and every element that enters into it is a substantial constituent of this special revelation properly taken. Therefore, special revelation is the redemptive process itself, conceived as a manifestation of God's nature and character. God doesn't just want us to know that there's a God. Wants us to know who God is. And general revelation can get you to there's a God. But general revelation doesn't get you to this is who God is. So Abraham is not left out there to just have this sort of nebulous faith. But God specifically reveals himself to Abraham. God specifically communicates himself to Abraham. God specifically gives his word to Abraham. And it's the word of God through which we know the person and work of God. In other words, Abraham was visited by God. We see that in the text four things that demonstrates that Abraham was visited by God. Number one, the text refers to the men and or at least one of them, as the Lord. We see that in verses one, ten and thirteen. Look at verse one, and the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of memory. Go down. In verse ten, the Lord said, go down. To verse thirteen, the Lord said to Abraham. So the text identifies this as the Lord and the Hebrew as Adeni. The text identifies the one communicating as ad Ani as the Lord as God. So this is God revealing himself to Abraham. Secondly, Abraham refers to the men, or at least one of them, as the Lord. We see that for example in verse three. Look in verse three, and he said, Old Lord, if I have found favor in your sight. Now, it's interesting that Old Lord in your Bibles ought to be capitalized. And the reason it ought to be capitalized is because it's different that what happened than what happens when Sarah makes a comment about her Lord Abraham. This is a reference to the Lord. This is not an honorific title. This is a clue here that we're talking about God. Thirdly, these men demonstrated omniscience. Look in verse ten. Look at verse ten. The Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, shall have a son. What do you need to know in order to make that statement? By the way, then again in verse fourteen, he reiterates the statement. Look at verse fourteen. Is anything too hard for the Lord at the appointed time? I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Several things. Look at just these seven things here, just at least these seven things. Just sort of jotted these things down that had to be known in order for that one line to be communicated. Number one, they knew that Sarah would conceive. Number two, they knew when Sarah would conceive. I'm gonna come back here a year from now, which means you got to conceive about three months from now, for me to come back a year from now in order for you to have that child. They knew whence she would conceive. They knew what Sarah would conceive. You're going to have a son. They knew that Sarah would deliver, not just that she would conceive, but that she would deliver. And we know that tragically, not every time a woman gets pregnant does that come through to fruition. They knew that she would deliver. They knew when Sarah would deliver. They knew they would visit again when Sarah delivered. They knew for a fact, not that they hope, not the Lord willing will be back, but they said, will be back. And they knew that. Sarah laughed to herself in the tent. How do you get all that? This is God? This is God? But there's the difficulty here of the pronouns that are used. Look with me, for example, back in the first part of this the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of memory. As he sat in the door of his tent. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. Is it the Lord or is it three men. Are these men or are they are there angels? Here are the possibilities. Number one, this is the pre incarnate Christ with two angels. This is the pre incarnate Christ with two angels. And we've seen examples of the pre incarnate Christ showing up in the Old Testament. Here this would be the pre incarnate Christ with two angels. Second possibility, this is the pre incarnate Christ as three angels. Thirdly, it's some other configuration. You want to know which one? I do too, wish I did, but I don't. Here's what I know. I know that Abraham sees three men. I know he refers to the three men as the Lord. Either one of the three or all three he refers to as the Lord. I know that this passage presents itself, especially when you look at what happens at the end of chapter eighteen and again in chapter nineteen. It's getting ready to destroy Solomon Gomour as the Lord Almighty. Who is acting here? I don't know. But what I do know is that somehow God has revealed himself in three persons. And that ought to sound familiar to us, should it not. God sort of makes a habit of revealing himself in three persons, does he not? He does? And here God has revealed himself in three persons. Listen to this from the exp Bible commentary. I look the way they put it. The explanation seems to be that the three men as such are to be understood as the physical appearance of the Lord to Abraham. In other words, though God himself did not appear to Abraham in physical form, the three men are to be seen as representative of his presence. In much the same way, the burning bush of Exodus three two through three was a physical representation of God's presidents, but yet presence, but yet was not actually the physical presence of God. In such a way, the actual presence of God among his covenant people was assured, but without leaving the impression that God may have a physical form. Was God contained in this physical form? You can't contain God in this physical form. By the way, there's some other realities with which we have to deal here. But he said, listen to this Exodus thirty three twenty. You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live, so God says to Moses John one eighteen. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father. He has explained him. Look at this John six forty six. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father one John four to twelve. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. The text does not communicating the idea that somehow Abraham saw the fullness of the Triune God. The text, however, is communicating that the Triune God revealed himself to Abraham, and therefore what was communicated was the word of God. Man would never see a physical manifestation of God until the person of Jesus Christ, until the virgin birth brings about this almost incomprehensible reality, that God would wrap himself in flesh, that he would take on the form of a man, that he would live as a man, that he would die as a man, and that he would be resurrected and descend into Heaven in a body. But we're not at that part yet. We're still in Genesis chapter eighteen. So in Genesis chapter eighteen, God reveals himself to Abraham. God brings his word to Abraham, and he brings his word to Abraham somehow in the form of these three men. But Abraham recognizes that this is God. This is God. Thirdly, Abraham's experience is not normative. Abraham's experience is not normative. You've heard that from this pulpit on a number of occasions. That rule of hermeneutics. When we are reading the Bible, when we are interpreting the Bible, narrative is not normative. Amen. Just because something happens in the Bible doesn't mean that that's the normative way that things happen. Did God reveal himself to Abraham through these three individuals, whether they are angels or whether it's the preincarnate Christ with two angels, or whether that did God do? This is God speaking to him? Yes, God is speaking to him. Does that mean that you are I need to expect God to say, send three angels or the pre incarnate Christ and two angels, or three individuals who could be angels but somehow represent the pre incarnate Christ to give you or I specific individual revelation from God. No, absolutely not. Why because I say so? No, Turn to the left and look at the Book of Hebrews. Look at Hebrews chapter one. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days He has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he created the world. Please hear me on this. Jesus Christ is the final ultimate revelation of God. We don't get new revelation in this sense from God. That's why, as I said last week, our Bibles are leather bound, not spiral bound. And so that is why Paul can say in Galatians, if we or an angel from heaven comes to you preaching in another gospel other than what has already been communicated and finalized. If you start getting something else from someone else, even if they even if they are a heavenly being who comes and gives you something else, let them be a cursed Why because He has spoken to us in his son. That's why Peter can say in tewod Peter chapter one and verse three. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and excellence. That's why Paul could say, for example, and two Timothy three sixteen. And following all scripture is God breathed and profitable for teaching, rebuke, and correcting and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be adequate, thoroughly furnished to every good work. God's given us what we need. God's given us his revelation. So did God communicate to Abraham in this way? Absolutely, get it to Abraham in this way? Is that now normative for the Christian life? Absolutely not. That's not normative for the Christian life, not at all. The Book of Hebrews makes this clear. Second Timothy makes this clear. Second Peter makes this clear. Absolutely not. We have God's word to us. We're not looking for another. Listen to this. A couple of different things here that I want to read for you. First, from the Cambridge Declaration, they a put quite a fine point on it. We reaffirm this is thesis number one on solo scripture, the Ineric scripture to be the sole source of written divine revelation, which alone can bind the conscience. The Bible alone teaches all that is necessary for our salvation from sin, and is the standard by which all Christian behavior must be measured. We deny that any creed, counsel or individual may bind a Christian's conscience that the Holy Spirit speaks independently of or contrary to what is set forth in the Bible, or that personal spiritual experience can ever be a vehicle of revelation. Why is this so important? Let me tell you why this is so important, Because we've come to question this, and we've come to doubt this. And why have we come to question this and doubt this because several individuals who are careless, some who have that theology, but others who are just careless, who do things like this. They stand up in the pulpit and they start telling a using an illustration, and they go back to a time in their life, God's calling on their life, or God's provision in their life, and they'll do something like this, and they'll say, and there I was in this horrible situation, and God spoke to me, and God said, you just hold on, I'm going to see you through this. You know what they just did, that's heresy. They just said that they got new revelation, just like Abraham did. They just said that Hebrews chapter one is not true. They just said that tewod Peter chapter one is not true because they said that the God of Heaven spoke to them, that the God of Heaven told them something. It was just for them, wasn't for anybody else. God spoke to me, God said to me, God told me. Folks, Can I just urge you to never ever ever use those phrases under any circumstances. Don't ever ever ever say God told you anything unless you're getting ready to quote a verse of scripture right after it. Otherwise you're in doctrinal error, You're in heresy. Narrative is not normative. We have the final ultimate revelation of God. Stop going around telling people that you have this special line of communication with God that has been closed off for everybody else since the end of the Apostolic age, so that now he tells you what to do. What is that? Oftentimes it's pride, it's arrogance, and it's heresy. You know what it also is? Oftentimes, Here's what I've discovered in my little informal pastoral survey. Usually when somebody says to me God told me or God said that means they're getting ready to say something to me that's probably not biblical, and they don't want me to question it, because if you start something with God said or God told me, then the person comes behind you and says that he didn't. That person's in shaky ground. They may as well be saying that the Bible is not true because the God of Heaven told you something, and they're denying has been spoken from the mouth of the Lord. I know what you're saying. Here's what you're saying, because this is what people always saying. Well, I don't mean it like that, then don't say it like that. If we know that from a theological perspective that is imprecise, incorrect, and heretical, then don't do it anymore. Just stop, just quit. Well, then what am I supposed to say? I mean, I'm sitting here and there's a person over there, and I just feel like I'm supposed to go witness to that person, and I go witness to that person and they get saved. How about saying I looked at that person and I felt like I was supposed to go witness to that person, and I went and went to that witness to that person and they got saved. Why do you all of a sudden have to turn it into I am the new Moses, and God spoke audibly to me, unlike he speaks to anybody else. And he told me to go and do that. Because here's what I know. If you go and do that and you fall flat on your face, you're probably not gonna come back and say, you know, God told me to do it, and I fell flat on my face. Why well, because that doesn't make you sound like the new Moses with an open channel to heaven. God told me to invest this money. Yeah, a whole lot of people right now broke, busted and disgusted. God told me to invest this money. Now the money's gone. Sure, God told you to do that. We got to be careful in our language. We have to be precise in our language. Did this happen to Abraham? It absolutely happened to Abraham. Is this God's means or modes of divine revelation coming forth beyond the apostolic age? Absolutely not. That's why we have a Finally, God's revelation lays a foundation for blessing and for judgment, Ladies's foundation for blessing and for judgment. Here's what's interesting here. In verse eighteen, God shows up, and God shows up in our chapter eighteen. God shows up in chapter eighteen, and there's a foundation for blessing. There's a child who's getting ready to come, This male child who is getting ready to come. The promised seed is getting ready to come. We're about to get one step closer to the Messiah who was promised in Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen. We're about to get one step closer. We're about to get one child closer. Do you see that there's this limited number of children, there's limited number of heirs through whom they must Siah is going to come, and we're about to take one giant leap closer to the Messiah being born into this world. And it's gonna happen through this couple who's long beyond childbearing years. Where one step closer is getting ready to happen. There's great blessing. God shows up and we know it's going to happen. Specifically, what happens next. God shows up and we know Sodom and Gomore is about to be toast. Why because the God of Heaven speaks not only to bless but also to judge that too is tied inexorably to divine revelation. There no two ways about it. You know, when Jesus shows up in Revelation, he's this war it's unbelievable warrior. My favorite picture of Christ is there when he comes on the horror with the sword on his thigh, name written. Oh man, that picture right there. I can just read that over and over and over again. That's my Jesus right there. Everybody has this picture of Jesus. Lowly, Jesus making mile with the lamb on his shoulders. Ah, warrior with the sword on his thigh. That's my Jesus right there. You know what's interesting. His tongue is also referred to as this double edged sword. Isn't that interesting? His word as an instrument of judgment. God shows up in Genesis eighteen, and he speaks, and he speaks in one tent, and it says blessing. It speaks in another tent, and it says curse. It speaks in one tent and it says, your wife is going to be the mother of many nations, and a year from now it gets kicked off. It speaks in another tent and it says, your wife's going to be a pillar of salt. Speaks in one tent, and it says you and all those around you are going to be blessed. It speaks in another tent, and it says everybody around you is going to be destroyed with fire from heaven, and you're barely going to get out of here with you and most of yours. See, when we hear the word of God, we've got to be very careful that we don't become the kind of people who trust God to bless us, but never open our ears to the possibility that the same God, by his word will judge us. The person of Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ. On the one hand, you look at the cross, and as a follower of Jesus Christ, I look at the cross and I say, Amen, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. It was there that my sin was nailed to the tree. And because of what God did there on the cross, I'm forgiving and I'm on my way to glory. You look at it from the other perspective, and the lost person looks at the cross and it says, this is the extent to which God will go to judge sin, and if he will punish and crush and kill his own son for the sins of his elect. What do you think he will do with you? You unrepentant worm, same cross, same word, same God. And so when you hear the word of God, do not harden your heart. Whenever you hear the word of God, repent believe. Wherever you are in your walk, when you hear the word of God, repent believe. I pray that I never come to the place where I hear the word of God and all I go away with is Wow, I'm glad. I was so affirmed today. I'm just good, aren't I? No, every time I come away from the word of God, my prayer is that my attitude is one of repentance and belief. Yeah, but didn't that just how you get saved? Yep, yeah, it is. And it's also the way you live the rest of your days. Repentance and faith. Whenever you hear the word of God, don't harden your heart. Repentance and faith. Young people, there are some of you in this room and you're wrestling. Maybe you're just coming to that place where you're getting it. You're being catechized, and the catechism is no longer just stuff that you memorize. It's no longer these words that you sort of throw together. But you're coming to a place in your life, young man, young woman where you're beginning to get it, You're beginning to understand, and sometimes that makes you scared, and you begin to ask yourself questions like am I a Christian? Like mummy like daddy? Or you begin to ask yourself questions like did I really understandstand? But when I trusted, when I believe, when I came to faith, did I really understand? Did I really get it? Did I really know it? Well? You got two options when you come to that point. Option number one, you just twiddle your thumbs and worry for the remainder of your days. Option number two repentance and faith. What do you do? Repent? Believe. When you hear God's revelation spoken forth, you repent and you believe, regardless of where you are, regardless of your circumstances. That's what you do. That's what you do, knowing all the while that when God's word is spoken forth, there is blessing and there is judgment, and it is only by His grace that we find ourselves on the appropriate side of the ledger. Repent, believe, be saved. Let's pray