Leading The Way

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Up next on Leading The Way audio, the 18th chapter of Genesis and faith lessons revealed through the life of Abraham. Here now is Dr. Michael Youssef.

Dr. Michael Youssef: If you look at Genesis 18, you're going to find it's a remarkable chapter because all aspects of friendship with God are in this chapter. All evidence of his friendship with God is in this chapter, and yet the word 'friend' or 'friendship' is never mentioned here.

Look at it with me. Abraham was called God's friend three times in the scripture, but not in the chapter where evidence of friendship is clear. Three times. The first time is in the book of Second Chronicles, chapter 20, verse seven.

Let me set the stage. Israel at this time was Judah, who suffered a great deal from their enemies. They have always been harassed by their enemies. They were facing two powerful enemies, the Amorites and the Ammonites, and they were really in terrible danger.

So Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of the people before the temple and he petitioned God. Here's what he said, listen: "Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham?"

James 2:23 says, "the scripture fulfilled in the saying: Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend." But truly the most powerful, the most amazing passage is found in Isaiah 41:8 because God himself, for the first time, God himself declares that Abraham was his friend.

Here it is: "But you, Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendant of Abraham, my friend." How do you like to be called God's friend? Well, you can be. As a matter of fact, there is a key verse here, which is verse 17, that indicates and shows clearly that special friendship.

In verse 17, chapter 18, here you see God's friendship so implicit with Abraham: "Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do?" You see, that is a friend trusted a friend. In fact, God's friendship with Abraham makes it very, very clear that no matter who you are, no matter where you've been, no matter what you have done or have not done, today you can be a friend of God.

Today God desires to be your friend. If you are not experiencing the friendship with God at this very moment, it is not because of God's reluctance, but it is because you have allowed a sin or a person or something to come between you and God's friendship. I pray to God today that this will be changed.

Look at verses three and four. Abraham opens the door of his tent wide and welcomes the Lord. And the Lord willingly enters and provides friendship and companionship to Abraham. Now you remember at the very beginning, when Abraham, who lived in what is today modern-day Iraq, when God appeared to him for the first time.

And he said to him, "I want you to leave your family. I want you to leave your possessions. I want you to leave your country. I want you to leave the near and the dear. I want you to leave everything that is remotely familiar to you and I want to take you to a land that you don't know, you've never been there before. I'm not only going to show it to you, I'm going to give it to you."

And Abraham, the Bible said by faith, did exactly what God said. And from that moment, God did not deprive Abraham of his friendship, did not deprive Abraham of his companionship, and he walked with Abraham. Here the Lord sits with Abraham. What a beautiful picture. The Lord eats with Abraham. The Lord walks with Abraham.

Here is a fact: friends talk to each other. Friends share thoughts with each other. That's why verse 17 is a crucial verse: "Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do?" That's what a friend does. He shares, even though God is God and Abraham is a man, but God tells Abraham, confides in him.

And God's friendship with Abraham gave Abraham boldness to ask on behalf of his rebellious nephew Lot and his family. And God answered his prayer. Enjoying the Lord's company, sharing secrets with each other, the Lord hearing and answering his intercession—these are all clear indications of a deep friendship.

In Genesis 18, obviously, the Lord's appearance this time is different from other times. He did not appear to him in a dream. He did not materialize as El Shaddai, but the pre-incarnate Christ himself showed up with two angels, one on each side.

And Abraham immediately recognized that these are no ordinary visitors. These are very special people. So in an act of worship, Abraham would bow down at the feet of the pre-incarnate Christ as if to say, "My Lord, I'm Abraham. I know you know me, and if you are pleased with me, stay with me."

Don't miss what I'm going to tell you, don't miss this, because I want you to comprehend Abraham's longing for the Lord's companionship. And I believe with all my heart that the Lord will answer that prayer. If you express longing for a true fellowship and friendship with Jesus, he will show it. He will answer it.

And then Abraham rises up from worshipping to go into sacrificial mode, bringing his best and offering it as food to these heavenly visitors. Beloved, listen to me. Worshipping and sacrificial giving are the Siamese twins of a Christian discipleship. Because to Abraham this was not just a lip service. He worshipped and then he rose to sacrifice.

Verses six to eight, Abraham springs into action. To Abraham, friendship with God was not lip service. It involved action. It involved a sacrifice. Sarah, too, graciously responds in unity with her husband to honor the Lord. No wonder the Apostle Peter in First Peter 3, of all the women in the Old Testament, he selects Sarah to illustrate godliness.

Listen to me: Sarah was not perfect, did you hear that? Neither was Abraham. But with resilience, she showed her mettle under pressure of the unexpected. Verses 9 to 12, you see the Lord asks for Sarah by name. And asking for Sarah by name is loaded. It's not that simple. Don't skip through it.

He did not say, "Abraham, where is your wife?" because he would have immediately maybe thought, at least, pointing to the mother of his son whom he wanted to live before God and be the one, Ishmael. God did not want to confuse anybody. He's a God of precision. He asks for Sarah by name.

Beloved, let me tell you something: Jesus asks and speaks and knows you by name. He calls you by name. He doesn't say, "Hey there, blondie." "Hey you, brown eye, come here." He doesn't say, "You housewife over there." No, no, no, no, no. He called Zacchaeus to come down from the tree by name.

He called Nathaniel by name and he saw him before he saw Jesus. He called Saul of Tarsus by name on the road to Damascus. And he calls you by name. He knows you by name. He loves you by name. And he cares for you by name. Beloved, I'm convinced, I'm convinced that whenever we forget this fact—that God knows you by name, calls you by name, loves you by name—when we forget that fact, it is the cause of most of our troubles.

And so in verse 10, the Lord repeats the promise of the coming son by Sarah. Now those of you who are astute and following this say, "Now wait a minute, Michael, didn't he just give that promise in chapter 17 in the last message?" Yes. But you see, Abraham heard that promise, but he didn't tell Sarah. You say, "How do you know that?" I'm going to show you in a minute.

And you see, the Lord knew that Sarah is eavesdropping from inside the tent, and he wanted to make sure that she hears it. And so in Genesis 17, God prepares Abraham for that supernatural shock. It is a supernatural shock in any way, shape, or form.

But Abraham did not want to tell Sarah, and we don't know why. Probably he didn't want her to have a heart attack. And so in Genesis 18, isn't that like our Lord, in Genesis 18 he personally shows up to tell Sarah. Verse 12, Sarah just could not fathom that a 90-year-old woman could have a baby. From a human point of view, her reaction is very understandable. It really is.

Why Abraham was reluctant to tell her—he's a 99-year-old man looking at his 90-year-old wife and he said, "Sugar cup, guess what? We're going to have a baby." As I said, it's enough to give her a heart attack. But instead of a heart attack, she laughs, not knowing that anybody was listening.

So the Lord asks Abraham—he didn't ask Sarah, I don't want you to miss these things—he asks Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh?" Beloved, I personally think that this is a rebuke to Abraham more than it was for Sarah. Do you know why? For not passing the good news to his wife.

Verse 14 is one of the many favorite verses in the Bible: "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" Can you say that with me? "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" And the answer is "No." Amen. James tells us that we ask but we don't receive because we ask wrongly, we ask selfishly, we ask ignorantly.

Is there anything too difficult for the Lord? And the answer is no. We're the ones who need to learn the lesson of what to do with what he gives us. You see, when Jesus said, "He who is faithful in little will be faithful in much," he gives you little and he watches. He sees what you're going to do with it.

You see, in the book of Numbers, chapter 11, verse 23, God said to Moses, "Is the Lord's power limited?" In Jeremiah 32:17, Jeremiah said to the Lord, "Nothing is too difficult for you." In Luke, chapter one, verse 37, when the angel announced, Gabriel announced to Mary that she's going to have a child.

And she said, "How can that be? I'm a virgin, I've never been with a man," and he said to her, "For nothing is impossible with God." If believers at this time truly, genuinely, honestly believe these words, we would have every church in America to be packed to the hilt, not on Sunday morning but at prayer meetings.

But like all unbelief, it always leads to more sin. You see, there's nothing wrong with experiencing some doubt, with momentarily unbelief or disappointment, whatever it is. It's how long you stay there that matters. Because if you don't get out of there, it's going to lead you to deeper sin.

And this is what happened here. You see, her laughing did not stop there. Her laugh of unbelief did not stop there; it led her to lying. Unbelief always leads to more sin. She denied that she laughed. But beloved, listen, don't miss this: as a result of that encounter with the Lord, as a result of that encounter, she became a great woman of faith.

No wonder in the book of Hebrews, the Epistle to the Hebrews 11:11 says, "By faith Sarah herself received the ability to conceive even beyond the proper time of life since she considered him faithful to his promises." Beginning at verse 16, you see a beautiful picture. It's an absolutely beautiful picture of Abraham walking with the Lord, communing with the Lord, fellowshipping with the Lord, communicating with the Lord.

Again verse 17, the Lord said to Abraham, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do?" Psalm 25:14 says, "The secret of the Lord is for those who fear him and he will make them know his covenant." In the book of Amos, chapter three, verse seven, it says, "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret counsel to his servants the prophets."

And so the Lord confides in Abraham as if to say, "Abraham, my friend, there is a disaster looming on the horizon. And it's in your backyard, Abraham. Sodom and Gomorrah is overgrown with immorality. The cup of iniquity is full to the brim. Judgment is on its way. My patience has run out. The abomination has reached bottom."

Let me ask you honestly, have you ever thought, have you ever taken time and thought what is God saying to us? You don't have to be a prophet to answer that question. You don't have to be a seminary graduate. All you need to do is read Romans 1.

I have no doubt in my heart that the Lord is saying, "My patience is running out. The nation that once honored me now despises me. The nation that once wanted to be a city on a hill now is provoking me with their abomination. The nation in whose pulpits my gospel rang across the world is now preaching falsehoods.

The nation who once took the gospel to the ends of the earth and now has become so self-centered that they are drunk on entertainment and on self-worship. I have no doubt the Lord is saying that the nation that once fasted and prayed and humbled themselves in repentance and seeking my face and now use my name as a curse word.

The nation that once revered my son is now forbidding his name from being mentioned in public. My beloved friends, God's cup is getting filled to the brim each passing day. I'm actually also convinced that God's judgment already began. But you know what the saddest part? There are so many believers totally oblivious to it.

God the Holy Spirit began to depart from our shores, leaving us to our own devices. God is about to leave us to the consequences of our choices. Look with me please at verses 23 to 33. Here you see an incredible level of maturity that Abraham has reached.

Oh, we've seen him in Egypt. We've seen him lying, we've seen him fearful, we've seen him angry, we've seen him trying to settle for second best. We've seen him. Thank God the Bible shows us all these characters, put them under a microscope. They don't kind of wash them out and take them to the laundromat and starch them and cover them with cellophane and place them on a pedestal and said, "Now you need to be like this."

Thank God the Bible doesn't do that. And we've seen him. But now we see him reaching an incredible level of spiritual maturity. He had come a long way. Why? Because he immediately began to intercede on behalf of his unsaved family members.

Let me ask you this honestly, let me ask you this: when was the last time did you actually take hold of God—and I'm not talking about a day or two, a week or two, a month or two, a year or two—that you have taken hold of God's promises and you never let go?

You say, "Well, Michael, I prayed for a certain period of time and I just think it might not be according to the will of God." How do you know the will of God? Did God tell you not to pray about that? I believe God will answer—and I know I'm putting my neck all the way out there—a prayer for an unsaved child because First Corinthians 7 said they are sanctified in the believing parents. That means God has a special plan for them. Don't ever give up. Don't ever give up. Can you say that with me? Don't ever give up.

If you want to know the level of spiritual maturity, if you want to know the level of your spiritual maturity, measure the time that you spend in prayer on behalf of a lost person. But there's one thing you need to understand about this whole negotiation that Abraham was getting into with God, you know, first 50, 45, 40, 35—it wasn't an auction. It's just a cultural thing. That's all it is.

This is just the way how things are done back then, but I hate to tell you, that's how things are done even now. They bargain and negotiate for everything. And that's what Abraham is doing; it's nothing really unusual. Let me tell you this as I conclude: there are three things the Lord always does before he withdraws his hand of blessing. Three things.

First of all, he holds an inquest on the moral condition before judgment comes. He holds an inquest. Secondly, what he does here, he becomes really accessible to his people's earnest intercession. He's very accessible to you. And the third thing is the faithfulness of the righteous. No matter how small in number, they will make a difference. They will make a difference.

God agreed that even if there were 10 people in Sodom and Gomorrah, he was not going to destroy it. He went all the way to the bottom and I guess Abraham in his heart of hearts was hoping there are at least 10 people. But alas, there were no 10 people in Sodom.

But in honor of his friend, he saved Lot and his family. Every day, every day we are watching with our own eyes the beginning of what Jesus calls in Matthew 24, birth pangs. We're seeing the beginning of it. The hour is here. Labor pains are coming in shorter and shorter intervals. The question is: are you fearful or are you rejoicing? Jesus said when you hear these things, lift up your heads for your day of your redemption is drawing nigh.

Announcer (Male): How about you? Are you fearful or rejoicing? We understand that life's situations often generate fear. So if you'd like to speak with someone about what you're experiencing, please consider a conversation with the Leading The Way pastor or counselor. Start your confidential conversation at ltw.org/jesus.

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