A Faltering Faith
A FALTERING FAITH
Genesis 12:10-20
Charles Swindoll has written a book about the Christian life that has this captivating title, "Three Steps Forward Two Steps Back. That is such an important concept for us to understand. Satan would have us believe that if we fall, we're finished; if we doubt, we're done. Or he would lull us into the opposite extreme and get us to believe that sin doesn't matter at all. You can just live as you please and God's grace will be sufficient. But the Bible makes it clear that the Christian life is both a gift and a growth. Salvation is a gift given to us absolutely free. God does not require that we live a flawless life and earn salvation on an installment plan. But God does expect us as Christians to grow to maturity. Sometimes, however, that growth is three steps forward and two steps back. But our prayer as Christians ought to be the same as the response of the disciples of Jesus in Luke 17:5, "Lord, increase our faith." Now, I'd like for us, through the study of the life of Abraham over the next several weeks, to increase our faith.
Abraham is the father of the three major religions of the world. He is the father of Judaism through his son Isaac. He is the father of Islam through his son Ishmael. And he is the father of Christianity through his descendant Jesus Christ. Hebrews 11 praises Abraham as a man who demonstrates faith in action. Abraham found out that he could trust God to plan his life and to lead him step by step. Abraham found out that even his mistakes could be used by God if he had a repentant and teachable spirit.
The first paragraph in the biography of Abraham is a great demonstration of faith. God promised Abraham that he would have many descendants. And Abraham believed that promise even though he was old and his wife had been barren. By faith Abraham left his home in Ur of the Chaldees, not knowing where he was going, but he was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. But in this next section of Genesis 12, we read that Abraham experienced a relapse of his faith. A brave pioneer of God became a cowardly prototype of doubt. Abraham had taken three steps forward, and now it appears that he takes a giant step back. Let's examine the story and then apply some lessons about what we ought to do whenever our faith falters.
I. ABRAM'S DECISION
Once Abraham had settled in the land of Caanan, he experienced a serious difficulty. Verse 10 says, "now there was a famine in the land." Once again we are reminded that walking by faith does not eliminate adversity. The bible nowhere says that if you trust God you will always be healthy and wealthy and your children will grow up to be academic all-Americans. On the contrary we are informed, "in the world, you will have tribulation", "The rain falls on the just and the unjust.", "each day has enough trouble of its own.". The bible couldn't make it any clearer. Faith does not exempt us from trouble.
Abraham had done exactly what God had required, he had gone to Caanan. Yet, immediately, it seems, he experienced a severe famine. The rain didn't fall, the grass didn't grow, the sheep were getting thin, and Abraham couldn't see any relief in sight. Charles Stanley said, "When God is silent, there is only one reasonable option, Hang in there and trust Him. He may be quiet but he has not quit on you." I think Abraham grew restless. Because verse 10 adds, "Abram went down to Egypt to live there for awhile because the famine was severe."
Notice there's no indication that God instructed Abram to go to Egypt. I think Abram began to doubt at this point. Had he been mistaken about God's call? Had God brought him here to Caanan only to die? His faith was tainted to doubt. And he followed the trail to Egypt. Everyone was going there; that's where the Nile river was, that's where the water was. J. Vernon McGee pointed out that Egypt almost always pictures the world in the bible. The world draws the Christian away promising a better, easier life. And one other thought, did you notice how the Bible describes Abram's journey to Egypt. "Abram went down to Egypt." Now, I know that's a geographical description of the direction he took. But I think it's also a fitting description of the spiritual direction any of us take when we begin to stray from God's will for our lives. We go down.
II. ABRAM'S DILEMMA
But just as he arrived in Egypt, Abram faced a difficult dilemma. Verse 1 reads, "As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, 'I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live.'" Sarah was attractive and Abraham was perceptive. He could perceive what would happen. He said, "The Egyptian leaders are going to be so captivated by Sarah's beauty that one of the leaders will want Sarah as part of his harem." And that made Abraham's life cheap.
You know, when a believer gets involved in the world, he's always in a slippery place. J. Oswald Sanders said, "Disobedience always brings complications.” What looked like a simple temporary solution -- this trip to Egypt -- became very complex. The bible talks about getting entangled in sin. And Abraham intended to go to Egypt just for some pasture land for his cattle, but he wound up entangled in Egypt.
III. ABRAHAM'S DECEPTION
God's Word often exhorts us to be "filled" with various godly virtues. But what does that mean? How do we know if we are full of those qualities God desires in our lives? Just use your imagination for a moment this morning. Picture in your mind a water-saturated sponge. Now in your mind's eye push down on that sponge with your finger, and you know what's going to happen. Water is going to pour out onto the counter. We immediately see evidence of what fills the interior pockets of that sponge. The same is true of us. We can tell what fills us on the inside by what comes out of us under pressure. And Abraham did what many would do in a similar situation, he practiced deception. Look what he tells his wife to do in verse 13, "Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
In 1991, two researchers, James Patterson and Peter Kim set out to take the moral pulse of America. Using state-of-the-art research techniques, they conducted the largest survey of private morals ever undertaken in any country. The results were published in their book, The Day America Told the Truth. One of the things they discovered is that just about everyone lies. 91% of us lie regularly. One paragraph said, "The majority of us find it hard to get through a week without lying. One in five can't make it through a single day-- and we're talking about conscious, premeditated lies. In fact, the way some people talk about trying to do without lies, you'd think they were smokers trying to get through a day without a cigarette." They discovered in their research that we lie to just about everyone, and the better we know someone, the likelier we are to have told them a serious lie. When asked to define what a serious lie was most peoples' answers fell into four categories: serious lies, they said, are those that hurt other people. Serious lies violate a trust. Serious lies involve crime or legal consequences. Serious lies are totally self-serving, and mask the real truth.
In their concluding remarks the researchers made these observations: There are more serious liars right now (liars who do harm) than at any time in our nation's past. Lying has become a cultural trait in America. Lying is embedded in our national character. Americans lie about almost anything -- and usually for no good reason. The majority of Americans today ( two in every three) believe that there is nothing wrong with telling a lie. Only 31% of us believe that honesty is the best policy.
Now, those observations may seem a little pessimistic at first, but all of us know what it is to be in a tight place. And we say things like,
- "No, really, I love grits. I'm just full."
- "The check is in the mail."
- "I'm sorry, the boss isn't in."
- "I'd love to come to your daughter's recital. I just have a funeral that month sometime."
- "No, I'm not sleeping during the sermon. I'm just resting my eyes."
- "My speedometer must be off, I guess.”
One boy paraphrased Scripture, "A lie is an abomination to the Lord . . . but a very present help in time of trouble."
Abraham resorted to a lie to save his own skin. He said to his wife, "if any of these Egyptians shows an interest in you, cooperate with them and tell them you're my sister and then I'll be okay." Sure Abraham, but what about Sarah? This man who is called in the N.T., "God's friend", stooped to a cowardly lie and was willing even to sacrifice his wife's virtue in the interest of self-preservation. Now, in all fairness to Abraham, this was a half-lie, because Sarah was his half-sister. But she was also his wife.
A lie is a deliberate attempt to mislead somebody. And there are two primary ways to lie; to falsify and to conceal. And sometimes you can mislead just by concealing the truth. The parent asks, "What did you do?” And the teenager says, "Well, we went out to eat and . . . then to her home.” He didn't say a word about in between when they went to a movie that the parents wouldn't have approved of.. Or the mother may say, "You didn't go to an R-rated movie did you?” And the teenager says, "Mom! Would I go to an R-rated movie when you tell me not to?” Well, sure, but you wouldn't tell it. A lie is a deliberate attempt to conceal the truth. And you can do that sometimes, with just a half-truth or an innuendo. Abraham said, "Say you're my sister."
Now, it may surprise you to learn that Abraham's deception worked well. . . temporarily. Look at verse 15, "When Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken to his palace. And he treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels." Everything seemed to be going well, on the surface; Abram's life was spared, Pharaoh gave a generous dowry to marry his sister, and Abram became an important cog in the business machinery of Egypt. But you know what? Material possessions are not always a good thermometer of your spiritual condition. Adversity doesn't mean that God is displeased and prosperity doesn't mean that God approves. The rich man in Luke 12 had so many crops that he couldn't put them all in his barn, yet God called him a fool. Proverbs 16:8 says, "Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice."
Now, although things were going great on the outside, deep inside Abram had to be going through some distress. Abram was accepting these goods under false pretense an his conscience had to bother him. He was separated from his wife and he had to be lonely, not to mention his concern about her welfare. Apparently, Pharaoh had not yet taken Sarah to be his wife, physically. God was protecting her. But surely, Abram's conscience was not so seared that he enjoyed his prosperity without a bit of concern for his wife. Where was she now? Was she okay?
IV. ABRAM'S DELIVERANCE
Now, verses 17-20 reveals Abram's deliverance. "Now the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram, "'What have you done to me?' he said. 'Why didn't you tell me that she was your wife?'" Now the bible doesn't say how Pharaoh put two and two together, but he did. Abram was now put in the uncomfortable position of being exposed as a liar. And that is an embarrassing position. We don't like to admit we didn't tell the truth because that reveals such a lack of character. But Abram's deception was exposed. "Why'd you say, 'She's my wife', so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go.' Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had."
Now, that is a surprising twist in the story. I would expect it to read, "And Pharaoh executed Abram in anger." or, "He kicked him out of the country and kept Sarai his wife." But God delivered and protected Abram and Sarai. Not only were they released untouched, but Abram was permitted to take with him al the cattle and riches that he had accumulated while in Egypt. And what happened to Abram would foreshadow of what would take place hundreds of years later when the Israelites came out of Egypt and took with them a lot of the treasure of Egypt with them. Only divine intervention could prevent tragedy and turn it into triumph
V. PRACTICAL LESSONS
Now, one lesson that I would hope that you would take from this story is; A PERSON OF FAITH WILL BE TEMPTED. When the pressure was on, Abram was tempted to doubt and to lie. I Peter 2:1 says, "Abstain from sinful desires that war within your soul." It may be a desire for a wrong attitude. It may be a temptation for greed, or lying, or sins of the flesh. Sometimes you and I will find the world attractive. Egypt will seem logical. Lying will seem wise. Impurity will look advantageous. Even Jesus had to struggle against temptation. Satan came against him beginning at his baptism and all the way through to his final prayer in Gethsemane. Having a strong faith in God does not exempt you from the appeal of Egypt. A person of faith will be tempted.
And secondly, A PERSON OF FAITH WILL FALL. Abram was not only tempted to sin. He did sin! And that's important for us to remember when we judge our own lives or the lives of others. Sometimes we see Christian people fall into sin and we dismiss them as phony. "Hey, if they were for real as a Christian, they would have never done that!" If we'd had been there and listened to Abram's lie, we might have thought that he could've never been a man of faith. But a person's faith will occasionally fall. We may take three steps forward an two steps back. Abraham lied, on more than one occasion. Moses lost his temper. David committed adultery. Elijah got so depressed that he contemplated suicide. John the Baptist doubted. Peter denied Jesus. Noah got drunk. "Not many noble are called", said Paul. So we need to understand that a person of faith will be tempted. And a person of faith will fall.
But thirdly, A PERSON OF FAITH CAN RECOVER. Abram was given another chance and he made the most of it. He became the Father of the faithful. Maybe I'm talking to some this morning who are in Egypt. You became a Christian years ago, but you've since had a relapse in faith. Your faith has faltered. And you've left behind tax evasion, broken wedding vows, unpaid bills, disillusioned friends and church members . . . and you wonder if there's any hope of recovery. You wonder, "Have I committed the unpardonable sin?” Well, the story of Abram presents some positive news for you. Christ is still calling you back.
Listen to what Abram did to recover. Genesis 13:1, "So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev." The first thing he did was that he left Egypt. He repented. He got out of there. And the first thing we need to do if we want to be delivered is to leave our sin behind. "From Negev., he went to Bethel," verse 4 says. "To the place where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord." If you want to come back, then leave Egypt and come back to what you did at first. Revelation 2:4 says, "I hold this against you; you have forsaken your first love. Remember the heights from which you've fallen, repent and do the things you did at first." Go back and read the bible again, sing those songs again, worship again, have fellowship with Christians again and you'll be restored to faith. So, a person of faith will be tempted, a person of faith will fall, and a person of faith can recover . . .
But this one last truth, and please hear it; IT'S BETTER NEVER TO HAVE FALLEN AT ALL. I'm concerned that as I come to the close of this message that I may unintentionally leave some of you with the impression that sin doesn't matter. Everybody falls, don't let it bother you. Everyone sows there wild oats, that's expected in your youth. That’s not the message I’m trying to impress upon you this morning. The experience of Abram should teach us that God can forgive, but sins always leaves a scar. Every sin can be forgiven of its eternal consequences, but we have to live with the earthly blemishes. Consider the earthly consequences of Abram's sin. He certainly brought dishonor to the name of Jehovah in Egypt. He left in wealth but he did not leave a witness. We nowhere read that Pharaoh devoted himself to God because of Abram's example. And if you read in Genesis 20, you discover to your amazement that Abram repeated the same transgression. "For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, 'She is my sister.' Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.' Abraham did it again!
You see, once a sin is committed it opens the gate and makes it easier to do it again. You can say, "I'm going to do it once just to see what it is like." And then when it's over you can say, "God, I'm really sorry I did that. But no big deal." But you know what? It is easier to do it again. The first lie always makes the second lie easier. The second drink, the second secret rendezvous, the second film is easier than the first. And the third is always easier than the second. And since Abraham had broken the barrier with the first lie, the second lie was easy.
But let me show you another consequence of Abraham's sin. It affected his children. You remember that passage of Scripture in the O.T. that says, "the sins of the fathers will be visited on the 3rd and 4th generations."? I don't think that means that if you sin, God's going to come down and zap your great-grandchild. But what it means is, when you sin, even though you repent and are forgiven . . . your children have a way of emulating that evil bent in your life and magnifying it. Listen to what Abraham's son Isaac said in Genesis 26:1. "Now there was a famine in the land -- besides the earlier famine of Abraham's time -- and Isaac went to Abimelech." And verse 7 reads, "When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, 'She is my sister.', because he was afraid to say, 'She is my wife.' he thought, 'The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.'"
Let me ask you, Where did Isaac get that idea? I'll tell you where he got it. He got it from his father. You say, "Wait a minute. Isaac wasn't even born when Abraham did that." And you're right. But I'm sure that growing up Isaac heard all the stories about how his dad had been so cool, and pulled one over on the king of Egypt. Parents we need to be very careful about boasting about our escapades years ago when we were in school because there are eager ears who glamorize that and want to follow our path. Isaac's son, Jacob, lied about his identity and stole his brother's birthright. And then, timid Jacob's sons lied to him about he whereabouts of his favorite son Joseph. They said he'd been torn apart by wild animals when, in reality, they had sold him into slavery. You see, the sin of Abraham was visited on the 3rd and 4th generations.
And what I'm trying to get at in conclusion this morning is, there's something better than Abraham being restored. There's something better than the Prodigal Son coming back from the far country. And that is, the Prodigal son staying home and being exempt from all the scars of sin. Jude 24 says, "unto Him who is able to keep you from falling" The salvation of Jesus Christ isn't just curing you from the disease of sin; it is preventing you from ever being contaminated and being scarred for life.