Sermon: Genesis 20 – God’s Faithfulness in Our Unfaithfulness

“When we fail through unfaithfulness, God watches over his promises! ”

Abraham is a man with many blessings… and he seems intent on squandering them by his sins – how do we stack up in that department?

Are we like the Prevaricating Prophet?

“Prevarication” is a fancy word for a lie! In Gen 20, God Himself calls Abraham a prophet and tells Abraham to seek his prayers! But again – like déjà vu we see Abraham again lying to save his skin and expose his wife Sarah to adultery to save his skin.

It would be easy to start “preaching” at this point – like S.D. DeGraaf says – and start exhorting people that they should “do better”… to “work harder” and “not fail” like Abraham has done twice already in Genesis.

That implies we’re really so much better than Abraham! We have such a high view of ourselves. We can think we are SO strong! Scripture reminds us that – until God got ahold of us – we were “dead in sin” (Eph 2). Romans 7 reminds us we are still struggling with our sins and daily need to live in light of the Romans 8, the grace available to those who trust in Jesus Christ! We are constantly in need of a good dose of self-distrust and spiritual caution so we do not fall! “Let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall!” (1 Cor 10:12)

The undergirding reality of Abraham’s life is justification by faith. Genesis 15:6 reminds us that Abraham stood before God not on the basis of his wisdom, strength, or anything except his weakness – his absolute dependance on God’s gracious promises.

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