Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ.
Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. Our subject today is literally right from the Bible, which it is a lot. I like to use something directly from God's Word, but this is something that God said about Abraham. And he said, For I know him. What Brother Frank just read is an interesting thing. I don't know if you ever paid a lot of attention to this particular passage, what went on, but I think it's very interesting. Abraham one day was visited by three men. Now, the Bible says that Abraham saw these three men and he ran to greet them. And when he got to them, he bowed down in front of them.
That was not normal protocol. In Bible days, if someone was approaching, you would stand out in front of your dwelling and you would wait on them to get to you. That's what made it very interesting with the prodigal son.
The dad ran to meet him. Aren't you glad we have a savior that came to us when we could not come to him? But Abraham obviously runs to these three gentlemen and he gets down on his knees, bows down before him, and he wants to show great hospitality. And verses one and two says that obviously that here they are in the plains of Mamre. And so here's Abraham. Here's Sarah.
They don't have a child yet or anything of this nature. And these three visitors are getting ready to change their lives. What's interesting is they come. Abraham runs out and greets them and says, Listen, stay. We'll get you some water.
Get your feet washed. And just go in and we want to show hospitality to you. And so the three men agree and so they come in and Abraham rushes into Sarah and he says, Make some bread, fast. He says, Get some dough, knead it.
It's amazing. He told her exactly, he said, Get some meal, make some dough, knead it, make some bread. Apparently she didn't know how to make bread so he's going through the whole thing trying to tell her how to do it. And, you know, throwing a pinch of salt here or there or whatever, make sure the oven's at 350, whatever he had to do. I mean, I understand what it's like to have to explain to a wife how to make the food. I understand my, I certainly — don't throw that thing at me, don't you dare do it. That is a joke, it is a bad joke, but it was a good joke. I enjoyed it. And, I do not have any idea what that's like.
I'm picking. But he comes in and he tells Sarah and then Abraham goes and he runs and he finds a calf and he's gonna, he's gonna kill this calf and his servants dress it really quickly. He's trying to make a meal fast. He wants to show great hospitality to these three men. And you say, what's interesting, what is so special about these three men? Well, Genesis chapter 18 verse 1 tells us that it was the Lord, Yahweh, who appeared to Abraham.
Now, that, that's interesting because what it means is, is that this is one of two things. Either this was God who appeared to Abraham in flesh. That is what we call a theophany. That is when God, in the Old Testament, would appear in physical form to an individual. Now, God would never at those times that He did, didn't show His full glory. If you remember, obviously we're not gonna go through the whole thing with Moses and he had to hide in the cleft of the rock and God said, I'm gonna let my glory pass by. I mean, for the first time really, I'm gonna let my glory pass by, but Moses, if you see it, you'd die instantly.
That's how powerful our God is. So God had to hide Moses in a rock, in the cleft of a rock, and God said, I'm not gonna let all my glory pass by, I'm just gonna let the last little bits of my glory pass by. And that was so powerful that Moses, the Bible said, when he came down off the mountain, his face glowed. It was, it was so supernatural that when he came down off the mountain, everybody could tell he had been with God just from the effects of that little bit of God's glory. But when God would appear before individuals in a physical form in the Old Testament, it would be a theophany, but we believe also that Jesus Christ appeared in physical form in the Old Testament.
That's what's called a Christophany. Now what we don't know here is if this was God the Father, if this was Jesus. We don't know if it was a theophany or a Christophany, but what we do know is that it was God.
And here's what's interesting. Abraham somehow immediately knew from a distance who he was. Because the Bible says he broke protocol, if he didn't know who these three men were, he would have stayed at his tent, he would have waited on them to approach, but the fact that he ran and bowed before them means that Abraham knew that this was God. Now what's interesting, this is not the first time that Abraham had had encounter with God. In fact, in Genesis 12, he dealt with this and had this same experience when God first called him. Then when Abraham parted ways with Lot in Genesis 13, God appeared to Abraham. Then in Genesis chapter 14, possibly when Abraham met Melchizedek, God appeared in form there. Then in Genesis chapter 15, when God made a covenant with Abraham, he appeared before him.
When he stated his covenant in Genesis 17, God appeared before Abraham again. What's interesting, these three visitors would tell Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah were going to be judged. But what's also interesting is that during this encounter is when God Himself, be it through Jesus Christ, be it through God the Father, be it through a theophany or a Christophany, He told Abraham that Sarah would become pregnant with a child. And at her age, the Bible says that Sarah heard this and imagine God Himself is telling you this is going to happen and she laughed. And God said, why is she laughing in this story?
You read the entire chapter. Why is she laughing? And Abraham said, well, you know, and he starts making excuses and what it was is she thought, listen, I'm past that time of life.
I can't have a child. This is absolutely ridiculous. And that's where we get the verse, is anything too hard for the Lord?
Is anything too hard for God? And by the way, what we experienced last night, yesterday, and in these last few months and all the stuff with Israel and all these different years, this all culminates from right here where Abraham did not believe the promises of God. And Sarah laughed at that and they took matters into their own hands to find an heir and then Sarah was able to become pregnant and actually have a child and the fight between those two heirs are what we are dealing with today. In the middle of all this, here's what we believe are two angels and either a theophany or a Christophany, an appearance of God or an appearance of Jesus Christ and two angels. We believe these two angels were also the ones that went to Sodom and Gomorrah for judgment after this and they're here to tell Abraham what he did. But here's what's interesting.
I want to catch up the story because what we're going to talk about today briefly, you've got to understand the whole context. Now, may I say this, that Abraham was sitting here dealing with God and with angels. Now you would ask me this, do we deal with angels today?
Yes we do. You say, well, when and where are they? I don't know. Let me remind you of a, I know one thing, I'm not one.
That's all I know. Let me show you this verse to remind you about this verse, Hebrews chapter 13 verse 1. Let brotherly love continue, be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels, unawares.
You say, preacher, do you believe that there are times in our life where possibly could be an angel in physical form that we, yes, I absolutely do believe that. That is why you and I should be very careful to always treat people the way Christ would treat people because you never know who you might be talking to and I'll leave it at that. I want you to notice in Genesis chapter 18 verse 16 as we pick up the story where brother Frank left, you've got to understand all this that's going on. Abraham and Sarah, now they've got these three guests and they know that one is God himself and now he's told this promise and all these things. Look at verse 16. And the men arose from thence and looked towards Sodom and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. Now look at verse 17. And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?
Now that's an interesting statement. God says, you know, do I need to just keep it from him or should I go ahead and tell him my mind? Should I go ahead and tell him my plans?
Should I go ahead and tell him what I'm going to do? Now look at verse 17. Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? Look at verse 18. Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. Look at verse 19. For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him and they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
God was getting ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham's nephew Lot was there. God is literally saying that I believe I can trust Abraham enough to let him know what I'm going to do and when I let him know what my plans are, when I let him know what I'm up to, when I let him know what I'm going to do, I trust him that that's not going to change one thing about Abraham.
I believe and I know him, God says, and I believe that I can trust him by sharing this with him. Now this is one of the most glowing reviews in Scripture that God has ever given anybody. Now might I remind you, was Abraham perfect?
Absolutely not. I mean we have thousands dying in the Middle East still because of Abraham's lack of faith. But just because a person does wrong doesn't mean that God knows the heart.
And may I say something? Often in the Bible, the Bible says that David was a man after God's own heart. I've heard people say, well, why in the world would God say that?
Look what David did. Listen to me. The Bible says we're all flesh. We're all dust. And by the way, in the midst of our failures and our faults, God also sees the good. God knows your strengths and God knows the real you.
It doesn't mean that you're not going to blow it sometimes and you're not going to make a mistake sometimes. But by the way, that's not surprising to God because He knows you. God here literally says, you know what?
Should I hide it from Him? Listen, I, I, I could probably share this with Him because He's going to be blessed. There's going to be a great nation and, and I know Him, He says. And God literally gives some points here why He can trust Abraham. And that's all I want to share with you today. I would ask you this question. Can God trust you? If you were trying to get a job, could you put God down as a reference?
May I ask you something? If God tells you, if God told you the future, would you still keep doing what's right? Now you say, well, it seems like a little bit of a scenario, preacher. Well, now let me tell you how the passage hit me. God set me down and said, listen, Daniel, you're going to have a child.
And this is the health stuff He's going to face His entire life. Would that have changed anything? When I've been mad at God, when I've still wanted to keep pastoring a church, would I, I don't know. May I ask you something? I don't know about you. I'm glad I don't know the future. Because if I knew it, I don't know if I could trust what I would do.
In fact, half of us wouldn't do what we do if we knew the future because we would feel like it wouldn't be worth living it. Could God trust the fact that if He told you something and it wasn't what you wanted to hear and it wasn't the best of news and guess what? It wasn't. Abraham's family was there. He had connections there. If God, can God trust you enough that if He did tell you what He was up to, it wouldn't change you?
Because your character has been set. I want you to notice a couple things. I, I, I thought this was very interesting as I began to look at this. Notice number one I want you to see in verse 19, God knew Abraham. He said in verse 19, 4, I know him.
God said, you know, I think I can trust Abraham and I tell you why, because I know him. Can I remind you of something today? God knows you.
Well that was three of us. Can I remind you of something today to the rest of you? God knows you. Your husband or your wife might not even really know you like they think they do. There might be a whole church full of people that don't really know you.
There might be co-workers that know some things about you, but they don't really know you. But I want to, I want to remind you today, God knows you. God knows your heart. God knows your mind. He knows your habits. He knows your strengths. He knows your weaknesses. God knows you.
You see you and I there ought to be this motivation not to impress people, not to arrange circumstances so we always put on a show to make people kind of think highly about us. You and I need to remember God's the one that knows the real us. And if you and I live every day with knowing God knows me that's gonna change us. It's gonna change my decisions. It's gonna change my actions. It's gonna change my attitude. It's gonna change my spirit to remember that God knows me. Can I tell you something? God knows Daniel Haughtry and that scares me half to death.
How disappointed he must be. I want you to notice secondly here God says I can trust Abraham and here's why. First I know him. Notice secondly here God knew Abraham would lead and not follow. Now look at verse 19. He says for I know him that he will command his children and his household after him. You say okay you're just saying preacher I know he's gonna raise his kids right.
No, no, no. This goes further than that. God said here's what I know about Abraham because his family is even involved in Sodom and Gomorrah. But I believe with all my heart that I can tell Abraham my plans and that's not gonna change the fact that he is gonna continue to lead not follow. And may I say this that God knew that Abraham would command his children and command his household. God trusted that Abraham would do the leading. Abraham would not be the one that would follow everyone else. Abraham would be the guy that would lead the right way even if nobody else was going that way. Abraham would tell the children what to do not let the children tell him what to do.
Can I have an amen right there? We have a generation of people that are letting the children change them. They used to believe such and such but well my kids now they, they got into this and, and, and kids have a way when they get older to make mom and dad look like old folkies you know.
Well you just, you're just stuck back in the thing and you just, you're not up with the times and you're not this and you're not that. Let me tell you something teenagers you better be careful of that because that's gonna be happening to you one day. You're gonna have kids in your house and they're gonna treat you the way you're treating your parents and when it happens I'm glad. Listen I've been around a generation of preachers that used to believe one way but their kids changed them.
And I'm not just talking about kids here. You see God knew that Abraham was not the kind of guy that was gonna be led around by what everybody else was doing. When God said I know that He's gonna lead his household and He's gonna lead his children what that means is this He's a leader not a follower. And I'm gonna tell you what God's looking at can God trust you and let me tell you something one of the ways God can trust you is if you're a leader not a follower.
If you're walking around through life following what everybody else is doing following this culture following trends following all this stuff can I tell you something? God's not gonna consider us trustworthy. And God help us to be a church that leads not follows. Now that's five of us we went from three to five and I'm thankful for that but man I'm gonna say this again may we be the kind of church that is the kind of church that leads not follows. We don't literally turn on the news every week and find out what we need to be as a church.
And we don't find the local trend to find out what's popular now and what's bringing in the crowds. Listen God said I know one thing about Abraham if his kids want to do something that's not gonna change him. He's gonna tell them how things need to be.
Now the kids might not end up growing up doing it but it doesn't change the fact that Abraham knows it's the truth and he's still gonna tell them the truth. I Frank and I were eating this week I thought it was good. By the way Lloyd's not here are you if you're here Lloyd where's your hand? I just want to check make sure Lloyd's not here I got nothing good to say about Lloyd but we were at we were eating at a local restaurant and this man works at the restaurant kind of it's a little bit like a fast food type of place and he works there and was doing trays and stuff and Frank had a logo thing on from our church and we got a couple he said oh he says I go to that church sometimes and Frank said you do he said yeah maybe two three times a month I go to that church and Frank went well about that time I showed up and the guy was talking to me I had a logo shirt on kind of a thing and he says I was just telling him I go to that church two or three times I said well it's a good church I said except for the pastor I said he's kind of a jerk sometimes I said to be honest with you I said but I found in my life you can't you know find everything perfect the guy looks at me and I said you're him aren't you? And I said yeah I told you I was a jerk so you know kind of a thing and we were talking to this guy he said no he said I like coming to your church he says you tell the truth. He said I'm going to tell you there's a lot of churches around here he said I don't go to them he said they try to make you feel all comfortable and all this and that and he said I'm going to tell you I like your music too he said you go to some church it's like going to an ACDC concert. I didn't say that but I like this guy. He said yeah he said you know you preach the Bible he said you go to guys they don't talk about the Bible he said he said you preach the truth of that place I said well man we appreciate your visit and Lloyd thanks for coming I hope you come back. He said well you guys have a blessed day.
About five minutes later here comes Lloyd again. We're talking more stuff he's talking about this and that kind of a thing. And can I may I say this folks listen let's remember this the truth still works. The truth still works. And I told Lloyd I said Lloyd I found out I just learned I'm just going to preach the Word of God and let God do with it what he's going to do.
Here's what's interesting can God trust you? Okay here's one of the best ways to find out are you constantly changing what you think or believe or all this because well this you know there's a whole group over here that feels this well they said this well you know I don't want to feel like I'm out you know I'm kind of stuck old fashioned over here and I can I tell you something we need a generation and we've lost this and generations slowly and I'm not a I'm not a chauvinist or anything of that nature but can I tell you something we need men to be men nowadays. And we need boys to grow up to be men. I don't know what's happening to our children.
You're just like I mean we're a bunch of pussyfooting you know walk around and we're just wimpy and all this stuff. We need to be men and there's still a preacher who's going to tell you that. And God looked down at Abraham and he said you know what he's going to command the children what to do and he's going to command the household what to do. He's going to lead not follow around everywhere not not be browbeat by everybody and afraid to say this and afraid to do that and we need God's people to stand up and instead of following everyone else and trying to be what everyone else is God needs his people to stand up and be truthful and be honest and do what's right. God said I can trust Abraham first because I know him.
Second because I know he will lead and not follow. Notice number three God knew Abraham would live like he led. Look at verse 19 and they shall keep the way of the Lord not the knowledge of the Lord. The way of the Lord. Now can I can I be honest with you this morning walking with God is not a one time decision.
It's a daily walk. We keep God's way by following his word. It's one thing to have the knowledge. It's another thing to practice the obedience. May I say something Abraham didn't just keep the knowledge of God. He kept the way of God.
It was part of his daily walk. Can I tell you something why we've lost a generation of people at times is because the people that led did not live like they led. They said one thing from the pulpit and another thing in life. We have a generation of kids that grew up in a home where mom and dad said one thing but did another.
Mom and dad showed up at church acting one way and the kids know how they lived the rest of the week. Am I right about this say amen. God said you know what I can trust Abraham.
I'll tell you why. Because I know him and I know that he's not going to be the one to just fit in and change like everyone else. That was that was what Lot did. Abraham is going to lead. And not only that Abraham is going to back it up with how he lives. He's going to keep the way of the Lord. By the way may I say something every one of us here at this church as we go off into the community and work jobs and all these things your boss should see you as an individual that lives the way of the Lord. This community should see us as people that keep the way of the Lord.
That means that we act like Christians even when we're not a church. I can see this is going over like a lead balloon this morning. I don't even know what that statement means but my dad always said that.
I've never seen a lead balloon but it couldn't have been very popular. May I show you this next thing. God knew Abraham would try to make the right decision not the easy decision. Verse 18. He said, I know him. I know that he's going to command his household, he's going to command his children.
I know he shall keep the way of the Lord. But notice this, to do justice and judgment. To do justice and judgment.
What does this mean? Justice is how we react to others. Judgment is how we react to God. It means this is your actions and your decisions. To do justice is what you do. Judgment is how you decide. It means this, this is your doing right because you're thinking right.
When you make the right decisions you do the right things. And God knew that if I tell Abraham what's getting ready to happen to his family. If I tell Abraham what I'm getting ready to do it is not going to be an easy decision for him. You know right there if God told you the future of something.
If God said, let me tell you something, you're going to meet a person and you're going to reach out to them, you're going to try to help them, you're going to mentor them, you're going to spend time with them, you're going to try to grow them in the Lord, you're going to invite them to church, you're going to feed them at your house, you're going to take them out to eat, you're going to talk to them, give them advice when they're hurting and they're crying, they're going to come talk to you, you're going to help them and you're going to do all kinds of things. But I'm going to tell you what's going to end up happening in about two years, they're going to stab you in the back, they're going to criticize you, they're going to turn on you, and they're going to make up things, they're going to talk bad about you. Now what are you going to do?
That person shows up. Are you still going to do all that? Are you going to say, uh-uh, if that's how it's going to turn out I'm going to avoid them.
Hello? Am I being honest? If we know this is how this is going to turn out, I'm so glad I don't know the future. It would make it really hard to pastor. Lord knows I struggle enough as a pastor and I'm not the best pastor in the world and preaching the world, I know that, but I'm going to tell you something, if God told you everything that everybody's going to do wrong to you, it would make you not want to do anything for anybody. But God said, I know Abraham, if I tell him what's on my mind, he is going to be willing to make the right decision, not the easy decision. God give us a church. God rise up a church that is willing to make the right decisions, not the easy decisions. I'll let God apply that to your life however is needed.
Can I give you this last one and for sake of time I'm done this morning. But in verse 19 God knew Abraham would submit. Notice what he says in verse 19.
That the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he had spoken of him. God says I think I could trust him. I think I can tell him what I'm up to. I think I could give him the mind of God here and I'll tell you why. Because I believe — listen, I know him and I know that he's going to lead his household, not let them change him, he's going to lead them. And I know he's going to be willing to make the right decision, not just the easy decision. I know he's going to live the walk, not just talk the talk. I know he's going to do that but can I tell you the biggest thing God says? I know that with Abraham I am going to be able to do what I promised him I would do. I am going to be able to fulfill my purpose in his life.
Why? Because Abraham would be willing to submit to the plan of God. And may I say what each of us should want in our life is what God wants for our life. Let me say that again, Coram, what each of us should desire is what God desires for our life. Do you know our greatest purpose should be for God to accomplish His purpose in our life? We should want the Lord to — notice the verse — that the Lord may bring it upon Abraham. We should want God to bring it. We should want God to do whatever God wants to do. We should want God to accomplish whatever God wants to accomplish. Our life should be about letting God do what He wants to do. I don't know how many teenagers we have in the building today but can I really encourage you teenagers, your life should be — I'm sorry, this thing's giving me a fit.
Frank must have warned us at some point, I don't know what's going on with it. Nick's not here, I had to — if you're a teenager here today, the biggest desire of your life should be for God to bring on your life what God wants. For God to bring the person He wants. For God to bring about the things in your life that He wants. God's plan's way much better than your plan. God's purpose is far greater than your purpose.
God said let me tell you why I can trust Abraham, because I know with Abraham I'm going to be able to do what I want to do. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kirtland Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kirtlandbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you.
