Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Good morning, everybody.
I'm just going to invite up Nate to share and read Genesis 18 for us.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: Genesis 18.
And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Marmora.
As he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 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, o 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, cease of fine flour, knead it and make cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, 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.
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 women had ceased to be with Sarah.
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, after I am worn out and my lord is old, shall I have the 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 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. Then the men set out from there and they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I was about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, for I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and and justice, so the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. And the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grave. I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.
Abraham intercedes for Sodom.
So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom. But Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city. Will you sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it?
Far be it from you do such a thing to put the righteous to death with the wicked. So the righteous fare as the wicked. Far be that from you. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?
And the Lord said, if I find at sodom50 righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered and said, behold, I have undertaken to speak of the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.
Suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for the lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.
Again. He spoke to him and said, Suppose 40 are found there. He answered, for the sake of 40, I will not do it.
Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose 30 are found there. He answered, I will not do it if I find 30 there. He said, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 are found there.
He answered, for the sake of 20, I will not destroy it.
Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again. But this once, suppose ten I found there.
He answered, for the sake of ten, I will not destroy it. The Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham. And Abraham returned to his place.
[00:04:43] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Nate. I just want to start by saying it is such a privilege to be able to stand up here and share what the Lord's put on my heart for you guys. This morning I was in my morning liturgy at Unique, and we spoke this over, and it really landed on my heart that God really wants to equip us with evangelistic hearts. So I'm going to start off with a little bit of context of who is Abraham? Abraham. His original name was Abram, and he is one of the central figures in the Bible, and he is a founding patriarch of Israel. In Genesis 12, God calls him out of a place called Ur and calls him into somewhere new that he will show him.
God makes a covenant with him, promising a land a great nation and blessing to all nations through him. And we see that in Genesis 12, verse one through three.
So in Genesis 15, God formally establishes that covenant, promising descendants as numerous as all of the stars. And in Genesis 17, Abram's name becomes Abraham, which means father of many nations.
And circumcision is given as the sign of the covenant in the Old Testament. And God promises Sarah will have a son within one year. So by the time we reach this part in Genesis 18, Abraham is living in Canaan. He is waiting for the Son that he's been promised, and he's already in a deep covenant relationship with the Lord.
So now in Genesis 18, the Lord appears to Abraham again, but this time it's in a surprisingly ordinary setting. He's in his tent in the heat of the day, resting from probably what would have been his day's work. And what follows is both a very deeply human and real encounter, yet an encounter that is so divine and majestic at the same time.
What follows is a kind of hospitality. Sarah's laughter, a promise, and then a sobering conversation about sodom. In Genesis 18, we're not just reading a story about hospitality and judgment. We are watching what happens when man comes close enough to God that God trusts him with his burden. So the chapter opens quietly. In verse 1, the Lord appeared to Abraham. The Lord. This is his covenant name, Yahweh. And this is not Abraham climbing a mountain with wind or fire or. Or earthquakes. This is God initiating an encounter with Abraham.
He is resting in the heat of the day. Nothing dramatic or overly spiritual looking, but God shows up. And this for me, already tells us something about evangelism, that our mission does not begin with strategy or our own strive. It begins with divine encounter with God.
And I want to tell you that no matter who you are or what you've done or what you've done in your past, the Lord wants to encounter you afresh today. Even if you're not completely sure if you trust him or know him yet, he wants to encounter you and initiate encounter with you.
In verse two, before he knows, he bows. Abraham looks up and he sees three men. And at this point, everything hasn't been made completely clear. The full revelation unfolds gradually, yet Abraham responds immediately. With honor, he bows to the ground.
We don't know if he fully understands if it was the Lord at this moment, but the narrative kind of suggests that the recognition unfolds gradually.
But here's what matters is that he treats the moment as holy before the Lord.
Sometimes obedience needs to come before our own understanding. And I do this all the time. I think you, you know, Esther, can you understand what the Lord's gonna do before he's actually unfolded all of the events? And sometimes you need to take a step back and realize the Creator of the universe knows so much more than our little brains. So sometimes obedience needs to come before understanding. And sometimes the reverence and the all that we have of the Lord will then unlock the revelation. That is when, when we stand before the Lord and we are obedient because he is God. That is when the scales will come off our eyes and we will be able to see with clarity.
He essentially says in verse three, don't pass me by. We see this urgency inside of him. We see this longing to host and desire not to miss what the Lord is going to do.
And in my life, I've definitely seen that in different ways. When I was about 14, 15, I used to have crippling anxiety and panic attacks. I wouldn't be able to walk into supermarkets, walk across beaches. I struggled to go into schools. But the Holy Spirit was starting to work inside of me and I had this desire not to miss what the Lord was doing.
And there was this one time I was invited out to do some street evangelism. And for 14 year old Esther, that is like your worst nightmare. That's like going out, first of all, going out on the streets and talking to strangers, then talking to strangers about your faith as well. That's big.
So I went and did it because I was like, no, I feel the Lord pulling me to do it. So I went and did it. And the first man I went and spoke to, I walked up to him with a welcome to church invite and in front of him broke down in tears, crying on the floor, hyperventilating, had to look around and count the colors around me for about 20 minutes. And that happened the first time and the second time and the third time. But it got easier and easier and easier because 14 year old Esther had a desire not to miss what the Lord is doing. So I want to tell you this morning that you don't have to have a crazy, charismatic personality or be extremely extroverted to have a desire not to miss what the Lord wants to do with you.
There's evangelistic hearts are first hearts that do not want God to pass them by.
Then we move on to the servant heart. Watch how Abraham moves here. He hurries, he chooses the best calf. He involves Sarah and he stands whilst they eat.
There is no hesitation in him at all. He was resting in the heat of the day. But suddenly these people come and he immediately serves.
There is something so profound here that he doesn't say, hey, what blessing are you going to bring me? Or what's in it for me? But how can I immediately serve? And that wouldn't have been perfect in his situation because he would have been sat there resting whilst it's the hottest part of the day, probably having a rest from his day's work. And people turn up and he decides to simply serve. It's not always convenient or comfortable, but it's the heart. You have to receive it. That's what matters. There was this one time a while ago, I was standing at a bus stop and I turn to the bus stop and see about 24 women dressed in light pink silk pajamas on a Hindu bridal party.
And they were all like having a good time. And I felt this thing inside of me of the Lord telling me to go and tell them about Jesus. And I was like, no, I really don't want to today. I really don't want to go by myself and chat to all these women. But he told me to, so I decided to do it anyway. And I started talking about Jesus. And one by one the whole group of people start laughing at me. And it's not like nice laughter, it's like mean girl laughter. But I like pressed on. And then suddenly one woman pipes up and she goes, hey guys, stop. Let's listen to her.
So they all fall silent. And I was able to share the gospel with them. And that one woman responded to the gospel. And for me that was worth it. But it was a moment of horrible uncomfortability where it wasn't necessarily convenient.
So then the promise comes after the service.
It's after the meal was prepared that the Lord says, sarah will have a son.
Sometimes we can want promise without the right posture, but God entrusts his promise to his servants.
When Abraham involves Sarah, he also like he's not commanding her coldly, but like Phil Daniels was talking about last week, he's inviting his household into encounter. If we want to cultivate an evangelistic culture, we don't pressure people, but we can invite them along. When you're meeting with a friend to tell them about Jesus, invite some of your other friends along. And when you're going out on the street, invite your friends along. We can invite people to encounter Jesus. We can't manufacture a burden for the lost, but we can invite people along with us to encounter Jesus.
And then comes the promise. Sarah laughs because from every human perspective, A barren womb, an advanced age, and they've been waiting for this for years, is an absolutely absurd concept. But God responds, is there anything too hard for the Lord, too difficult for the Lord? And in the Hebrew here, it carries over the word too hard or too difficult, carries over as too amazing, too wonderful, too extraordinary. Is there anything too wonderful for the Lord? And here's why it matters in evangelism. Because if God can resurrect a womb, he can resurrect a heart. We see at the beginning of Genesis, he brings light out of darkness. We see him bring dead bodies to life, and we can see him resurrect hearts. In our community today, we often look at cities and friends that are seeped in habitual sin. And we think it's impossible. But Genesis 18 reminds us that God creates life where there is no life. And he is the same God who saves people today.
But then the chapter shifts and we ask, why Abraham? But God says, shall I hide Abraham for what I'm about to do? And this is like, hide Abraham from what you're about to do? This is a bit staggering.
Why does God include him? And then verse 19 gives us the answer. Because I have chosen him that he may direct his children to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.
Abraham wasn't chosen because he was morally impressive or perfect. He comes from a background where he falters, he lies. He comes from a place of idolatry. And how many of us come from a place of idolatry? You may not be thinking of a golden calf, but when we talk about the kind of the will to want to, for example, the love of money, the love of wealth, the love of Social Security and status, the love of self.
So many of us come from places of idolatry, and so did Abraham. And he wasn't a natural candidate, but God called him anyways. And he calls us today to respond to that. He was responsive. He obeyed when he was called, and he walked with the Lord. God shares his plans for people who walk in his ways. He wants to choose you to carry his heart, because intimacy leads to entrusted responsibility.
Then we move on to the outcry of Sodom.
The outcry is great. It says in verse 20. The word outcry is used elsewhere in the Bible as well. It's not just merely talking about private sin. It's talking about injustice and violence and suffering. Because God hears the cries of cities, and he hears the cries of cities today. In Newton Abbot, in Totnes, in Bovey, Tracy, In Exeter. He hears the cries of his people.
He hears the broken homes. He hears the addiction, the exploitation, and he hears the quiet despair. He hears those moments when you're in your room and you think, I can't do this anymore.
He hears those moments when you're crying out to him and you don't know what to do because you don't know what to put your hope in. He hears every single one of those moments. He knows your heart and he loves your heart.
Evangelism for us is not us deciding these people are bad and need help. It's us responding to a God who hears their pain.
Then Abraham stands before the Lord. The two of the men move towards Sodom. But the text says in verse 22, Abraham remained standing before the Lord. And for me, this sentence just changes everything. He could have gone home after receiving his promise. He could have gone home and celebrated. He could have focused on his own blessing, He. But instead he stays. Because friendship with God is what produces us. Courage to ask for the hard things, to push deeply in prayer for the people we know and love, who are lost and don't know the true living hope. Abraham begins pleading, what if there are 50 righteous, 45, 40, 30, 20, 10? He draws near and he calls himself dust and ashes. And he continues persisting. And his negotiation isn't selfish, but it's compassionate intercession for people.
And this is evangelism at its root. Who are the people that we've been interceding for? Who's been on your heart?
And then I move on to, are we available?
This question isn't first, how do we reach the lost? It's, are we close enough to God that He can share his burden with us?
Do we host Him? Or are we too busy resting in the heat of the day to look up and see Him? Are we willing to run and hurry and give our best? Are we willing to stay in prayer when other people walk away because God wants to share his heart with you if you are ready to receive it?
A while ago, I was doing some street evangelism, and we had set up our coffee station and we had the band all set up and ready to go. And we did about two hours of it. And there was a few really productive conversations and it was time to set down. So we were loading everything back into the vans and.
And everyone was piling in. But out of the corner of my eye, I see this man, like speed walking towards the station. And I knew inside of me that I needed to go and share the gospel with him. So I start running after him, but he's still speed walking. So I start speed walking with him and ask if I could walk and talk with him. And he says, yeah, of course. And he was Russian, I'm not going to try and do a Russian accent, but he was a Russian man. And some people, you feel this kind of like, oh, I need to kind of slowly like get them into this, have a chat with them, build up your trust with them before you can share the gospel. But I felt complete freedom in the Holy Spirit at this moment to just share the gospel with him. So I shared the gospel with him. Probably got it a bit wrong, but shared the gospel. And he immediately turned to me and said, what do I need to do to respond?
And I was a bit taken aback because there have been people who have fobbed me off all day and this man was completely ready after hearing the gospel to respond. So we prayed and he invited Jesus into his heart and repented of his sin. And. And then I got him connected with the church before he was able to leave the train. And his name was Sashka and he was the first person I ever led to Jesus. And I want to tell you it is the biggest privilege of your life when you can lead somebody to encounter Jesus.
At the end of this chapter, Abraham returns to his place. He doesn't control the outcome because, you know, some people will be saved and some people won't. And this book here is a little leather book I have, and it's of the names of people who have encountered or heard or responded to Jesus that I've talked to.
And let me tell you, very, very, very few people have completely dismissed me altogether.
You would be surprised going out to talk to people, the amount of people who are open and ready to receive the gospel because everybody is searching for something to put their hope in. Everybody is searching for the truth and. And we have the truth that will set people free.
So in this book I'm just going to read out some names. We've got Martha and Robin, we've got a motorbike shop man. We've got a man on the common who was a Polish man, a protester from the Ivory Coast, Cameron, three young freshers. We've got Justin, Guy, Daniel. Honestly, this book goes on and on and on and I could read out the stories of the people who have responded.
And for the people who haven't responded, that breaks my heart. But I know I would much rather stand before God having pleaded for their salvation, rather than knowing I had stayed silent because faithfulness is measured by obedience, not results.
And for people, we intercede and we speak and we love and we return to our place, trusting that the God of all earth will judge rightly.
And you know, there is a greater intercessor than Abraham. There's a gospel thread running through the whole metanarrative of the Bible.
Abraham stood before God pleading for a wicked city. Yet centuries later, another one would stand in that gap. Jesus did not bargain down numbers, he became the righteous one. And where Abraham said, will you spare them for 10?
Jesus said, I will die for all of them.
And when Abraham said, will you spare them for 10? Jesus said, I will die for all of them. And now we are reconciled to God and we are invited into that same ministry of reconciliation.
So in Genesis 18, God shows us a man who hosted God, who served quickly, who believed the impossible and stood in the gap.
Evangelism isn't just about hype or personality or natural gifting. It's about friendship with God that overflows into intercession for cities.
God wants to encounter you today and he wants to share his heart with you today.
And if you are somebody who wants to have a heart willing and ready to serve God, if you want to receive his heart for the lost and you want to grow in obedience, yeah, it may feel a little bit awkward and uncomfortable at times, but the Lord truly sees and loves your heart.
So I want to encourage you, if you want to respond to that now, to place your hand on your heart and close your eyes as an outward expression of an inward moving of the Holy Spirit, to say yes to receiving God's heart in you. And if you agree, you can say Amen at the end.
Lord, don't pass me by.
Let me host you by the power of your Holy Spirit. Come and dwell inside of me, Jesus. Share your heart with me. Place people on my heart and help me to be obedient and servant hearted. You are my living hope and I thank you that you hear my cries and know my heart. Help me to know you, God, and make you known. Amen.
Thank you.
