As Few as 10

The Scepter of Wickedness in the Kingdom of God

(Genesis 18:22-33, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 30, 2014)

[22] So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD.

God sent agents of judgment against Sodom. When they went out toward that city, Abraham stayed with the great I-AM. Abraham cared about Sodom, and he prepared to make a plea for the city, despite the fact that it was a very wicked place.

[23] Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? [24] Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? [25] Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” [26] And the LORD said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
[27] Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. [28] Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” [29] Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” [30] Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” [31] He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” [32] Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.”

Abraham grounded his intercession in the character of God. He looked for God to have a steadfast commitment to those who were righteous. God's determination to treat the righteous differently than the wicked was the only real hope for the entire city. The mercy of the Lord for as few as ten people of covenant faith would have stopped the destruction of Sodom.

[33] And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

Abraham's unusual conversation with the Lord eventually came to an end. The Lord went His way and Abraham went home. We intercede, but only God can save.

Put the Word to Work: There is a difference between the righteous and the wicked. We cannot ask the Lord to pretend that the wicked are righteous. We can ask Him to preserve both the wicked and the righteous because of His steadfast love for the righteous. The church, as a humble people of faith, prayer, and obedience, is the salt of the earth, but what if the salt loses its flavor? God will not let a wicked land be preserved forever. A day of division is surely coming.

Our righteous Mediator, Jesus, has not only interceded for us. He died for our sins. May this same Jesus have mercy on us. May His steadfast love for the faithful make a substantial difference for a city that insists on keeping its distance from the Lord of love.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 125:3 – For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous, lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.

Gospel Reading—Matthew 16:5-12 – The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

The Promises and the Laughter

Surrounded by the Promises of God

(Genesis 17:15-8:21, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 23, 2014)

[15] And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. [16] I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” [17] Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” [18] And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” [19] God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. [20] As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. [21] But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

[22] When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. [23] Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. [24] Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. [25] And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. [26] That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. [27] And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

Sarai (princess), would be Sarah (another form also meaning princess). The promise that God made to Abraham would be through her. God had a plan for Ishmael too, and he would even receive the sign of the covenant, but Isaac, the son of Sarah, would be the child of the promise.

[18:1] And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. [2] 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 [3] and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. [4] Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, [5] 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.” [6] And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” [7] And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. [8] 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.
[9] They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” [10] 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. [11] Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. [12] So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” [13] The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ [14] 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.” [15] But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
[16] Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. [17] The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, [18] seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? [19] 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 justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” [20] Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, [21] 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.”

God appeared to Abraham in the arrival of three men as His special messengers. They received Abraham's table fellowship and he and Sarah entertained angels (Hebrews 13:2). They came to renew the Lord's covenant promises to Abraham and Sarah, this time giving a specific time when the elderly couple would have a son.

Even though Sarah was surrounded by the promises of God, she found it very hard to believe. Her laughter would fit into the Lord's plan, since their son would be called “Laughter” (Isaac), as God had earlier revealed.

The messengers from the Lord also brought news of His coming judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah. Disobedience against the Lord was no laughing matter. It was time for everyone to wake up. Abraham was to exercise spiritual care for his entire household. All of those associated with him were “to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice.”

Put the Word to Work: Is it ever safe to turn against God? Keep the way of the Lord.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 125:2 – As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.

Gospel Reading—Matthew 16:1-4 – The Pharisees and Sadducees demand signs

The Real Truth About Circumcision

A Mountain of Love—and Justice Satisfied

(Genesis 17:1-14, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 16, 2014)

[17:1] When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, [2] that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” [3] Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, [4] “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. [5] No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. [6] I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. [7] And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. [8] And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

God called Abram to “walk before” Him and to be “blameless.” What did this mean? The Lord was instructing His servant about the good life of covenant blessing. Abram took up the posture of a worshiper, surrendering himself to the Lord. He fell on his face before God. The Lord had already entered into a covenant arrangement of promise with Abram. The best response to God's unilateral grace to mankind has always been complete surrender to His will.

Abram would now be “Abraham,” the father of a multitude—even a multitude of nations. The Lord had a plan for Abraham's offspring that would be bigger even than the provision of the land of Canaan. The Lord who would be a God to Abraham and his Offspring would also fulfill an earlier promise to make Abraham a blessing to all the people groups of the earth.

[9] And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. [10] This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. [11] You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. [12] He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, [13] both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. [14] Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”The promise of God to Abraham was sealed with a sign of the covenant—circumcision, a pledge of total obedience to the Law (Galatians 5:3), and therefore a desperate plea for a Substitute who would fully obey the Law and then be cut off from the people of God for our salvation (Romans 4:11). The ultimate meaning of circumcision was revealed through the death of Jesus on the cross (Colossians 2:8-14), where Christ died the death we deserved.

Put the Word to Work: We need more than signs and seals to live appropriately as people who have received God's promise. We need grace and grace-empowered blamelessness. This is more than the Law could ever give us. It is a great gift of the Holy Spirit to the church. It is more than Mount Sinai. It is Mount Zion, where the sacrifice for sin was slain, and where Jesus reigns.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 125:1 – Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

Gospel Reading—Matthew 15:32-39 – Jesus feeds the four thousand

Seeing the God Who Sees

(Genesis 16, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, November 9, 2014)

Sarai had become impatient.  She was getting up there in years, quite possibly beyond the natural years of childbearing.  God had promised her husband an heir, but apparently this was not going to come about through her.  God had kept her from having any children.  So there must be another way to make sure God’s promise of an heir came to pass.  Sarai had a strategy.  She would give her servant, Hagar, to her husband as a wife so that Hagar might bear Abram a son who would be considered Sarai’s own.  This practice was accepted in the culture.  When Sarai proposed the idea to Abram, he went right along with it.  At first the plan seemed to work beautifully.  Hagar became pregnant.  At last, Sarai would have a child to call her own.  The only problem was that Hagar was going to bear this child, not her, and Hagar began to rub it in.  She had a reason to feel superior to her mistress.  She began looking with contempt on Sarai and Sarai could feel it.  Sarai’s strategy to deal with her barrenness was now making life miserable for her.  So she complained to Abram.  “I gave my servant to your embrace and now she is acting like she is superior to me.  You are responsible for this!”  Abram responded, “Do whatever you want to her”.  So Sarai began treating Hagar with harshness and the woman fled.  So much for Abram’s child, still in Hagar’s womb.  So much for Sarai’s plan.

Sometimes we become impatient with God or discontent with the afflictions he has brought into our life.  Sometimes we think his promises need a little help from us.  So we come up with strategies that God never wanted for us and only make things worse.  Can we trust God to take care of us and fulfill his promises without our strategies?  Or think about this: Can we trust him to secure forgiveness of sin and eternal life for us?  He does not need our help in this.  All we brought to the table was our sin and need.  God supplied all the grace through his Son.  If we think we can add to what he has already accomplished through Christ, we insult him.

The story now follows Hagar.  She fled the oppressive hand of her mistress and headed toward Egypt, her home country.  Yet God had other plans for her.  While his intention was to give Abram an heir through Sarai, Hagar’s offspring was still Abram’s, and God desired her to return to them.  So he sent after her his messenger, the angel of the LORD, who it seems was himself a manifestation of God.  The messenger told her to go back and submit to Sarai.  God would bless her and multiply her offspring.  If you were Hagar, would you want to go back?  Yet her response was not complaint.  Her response was wonder and amazement that God took personal interest in her, that God saw her and cared for her and her child, that God even appeared so that she might see him.  She calls him a God of seeing, for she had seen him who saw her to watch over her.  There might be difficult days ahead, but Hagar could face them because she had seen the God who cared for her.

God has made promises to us which he intends to keep.  He has also appointed affliction for our life according to his good purposes that may be far bigger than we can see.  Rather than invent our own strategies which only cause more problems, let us find strength looking to this God who cares for weak and lowly people like us in our affliction.  He has even come after us to show himself to us in the person of his Son, who is the very image of God and the manifestation of his glory.  The wonder of seeing this great God who looks after us is enough.

Put the Word to Work: We often try to handle our afflictions with our own strategies, which does not turn out well.  Yet God does not need our help in fulfilling his promises.  Seeing this God who sees and loves us gives us strength to face the afflictions he has appointed for our lives.

Memory Verse from the Psalms of Ascents: Psalm 124:8 – Our help is in name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 15:29-31 – Jesus Heals Many

What is Godly Watchfulness?

Midnight Comes

(Matthew 25:1-13, Preaching: Stephen Magee, November 9, 2014)

[25:1] “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. [2] Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. [3] For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, [4] but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. [5] As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.

The Kingdom of Heaven is real, and we want to be sure that we are rightly preparing for it. Jesus, when He was completing His teaching ministry and preparing to go to the cross, told a parable about this to His disciples.

In this parable a distinction was made between the wise and the foolish. The wise were prepared; the foolish were not. All became drowsy and slept, but all were not equally prepared when one particular midnight came.

[6] But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ [7] Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. [8] And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ [9] But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’

This particular midnight came with a sound—a message that was an announcement: “Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” Oil was needed for the lamps. The wise had it; the foolish did not.

The foolish hoped the wise would be generous with their oil. But the wise were not willing to take the risk that generosity might lead to disaster. Their suggestion for the foolish: Go buy some oil from dealers in the middle of the night. Not that great an idea...

[10] And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. [11] Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ [12] But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ [13] Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.Yet the foolish went for it! They had nothing better they could do. They were not prepared for a delayed arrival of the bridegroom. The result for them was very sad. They were locked out of the marriage feast. The groom did not even acknowledge them as his.

We are not left in ignorance concerning the point of the parable. “Watch therefore.” Readiness for the arrive of the husband of the church is not about knowing the hour. Midnight comes. Everyone will be surprised. Readiness is about hearts that are eager enough about the kingdom of heaven to prepare for any eventuality concerning the timing of the coming of the Lord.

Put the Word to Work: The church was being warned by the Lord that His coming again might seem to be delayed. They needed to cultivate watchfulness. What does it look like to wait well for the coming of the Lord? Denying or just ignoring the kingdom of heaven cannot be part of holy waiting. What can we do to set our hearts on things above (Colossians 3)? How can we do the mundane, the everyday, as those who believe that the hands of our husband are with us in everything good?

Other Readings:

Amos 5:18-24 – Let Justice Roll Down

Psalm 70 – O Lord, Do Not Delay

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – The Coming of the Lord

He Has Done It!

We have escaped!

(Genesis 15:1-21, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 2, 2014)

[15:1] After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” [2] But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” [3] And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” [4] And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” [5] And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” [6] And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Abram believed the promises of God, and the Lord credited to him the righteousness that would come from one of his distant descendants. The Lord would give Abram as many descendants as the stars in the heavens. God would see to it that He Himself would be both Abram's shield and his very great reward.

[7] And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” [8] But he said, “O Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” [9] He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” [10] And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. [11] And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
[12] As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. [13] Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. [14] But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. [15] As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. [16] And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
[17] When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. [18] On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, [19] the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, [20] the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, [21] the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

God “cut” a covenant with Abram in order to demonstrate the certainty of His promise to His friend who was looking for assurance in a hopeless situation. Like the great kings of Abram's day, God set up a covenant renewal ceremony with Abram. Normally the weaker party in the covenant would be forced to walk through the cut up beasts as a vivid reminder to him of what would happen to him if he did not keep the obligations placed upon him by the more powerful ruler. In this case, it was our great God who walked through the pieces as miniature symbols.

The Lord had a plan that would continue for centuries after Abram's body rested in the grave. He knew about events that involved not only the Jews but also the Egyptians and the nations that once inhabited the land of Canaan. In fact He had plans for His Son to face the curse of the covenant, to be “cut” for our sake, so that God's salvation would reach all the nations.

Put the Word to Work: The Lord has done it! We have escaped through the righteousness and blood of the Son of God. This covenant ceremony was a further unveiling of the content of our hope. The Substitute who would secure our salvation would not only be the offspring of a woman; He would be God Himself. Passages like this strengthen faith in God and His Word.

Memory Verse from the Songs of Ascents—Psalm 124:7 – We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 15:21-28 – The faith of a Canaanite woman