Grace Bible Church
PastorTeacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, July 17, 2016
“It is not the critic who counts; it's not the ones who point out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the one who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and may come up short again and again.
Because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but it's the ones who actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions; and who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
"The word of God that is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is a critic of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
It's interesting that in the original Greek language the word hypocrite comes from two Greek words, hypo which means "to be under" and "crites" referring to criticism.
One of the definitions of a hypocrite is one who puts others under criticism.
MAT 7:5 "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
In Gen 12 we find Abram finally coming to geographical obedience but not personnel obedience.
Being in the right geographical location or in the right place is not enough, you must identify and submit to your pastor-teacher and make daily decisions to perceive, metabolize, and apply Bible doctrine to your life.
He did not remain there under whatever means God used to teach him at that time whether dreams, visions, reading the stars or personal contact with the Angel of the Lord.
In bringing along his wife and his nephew, he is bringing along two believers, both are born again and both will be distractions and used for testing in the spiritual life of Abraham.
Those that we actually love the most and those that we are closest to often become the greatest testing at some point in our spiritual advance.
This wealth, which was designed to be a divine blessing will actually become the source of great division and jealousy.
Even materialistic possessions can become a test at some point in our spiritual experience.
Everything you possess, Friends that you have, People you love, at sometime in your advance, become a test.
Everything you possess outside of your soul becomes a source of testing.
When Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated...,he was bringing people and things that would be used for testing him.
Beware of being distracted from doctrine by anything that you have accumulated.......and that means people and things!
Satan doesn't drop was he's doing and then begin to focus his attention on you, he simply has a system that he has developed, called the cosmic system, which is designed to take you away from the plan of God and the reason why you have been created.
MAR 4:19 and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
a. The worries of the world. b. The deceitfulness of riches. c. The desires for other things.
When Abram enters into the promise land, everything that he brings with him to that right place, Canaan, must be tested in the light of doctrine.
Notice that even in reversionism or when believers stop going forward in the plan of God, you can still become wealthy and accumulate things.
You have to have things in reversionism to know how meaningless things really are without God and Bible doctrine.
You can be highly successful and promoted in reversionism just to find out what a terrible thing it is to be promoted without capacity.
To have is nothing unless doctrine is everything.
"they set out for the land of Canaan" reveals that Abram's motivation this time is absolutely correct.
Abram set out for the land of Canaan;
Motivation is very important in the Christian way of life.
COL 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, accomplish it from the soul as to the Lord and not to mankind; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance [escrow blessings]. You serve the Lord Christ."
Concerning the Pharisees our Lord said in JOH 12:43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.
In the Christian life, the believer is either motivated by Bible doctrine in the soul and the filling of the Holy Spirit or by the lust pattern of the old sin nature and Satan's cosmic system which produces human good and evil.
HEB 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two‑edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
1CO 3:13 Each man's work or production will become evident; for the day [of judgment] will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work.
The quality will be determined by the presence of divine viewpoint or human viewpoint as your motivation.
2CO 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one of us [Royal Family of God] may receive what is due him [rewards] for the things accomplished while in the body, whether good [from proper motivation or worthless [evil motivation].
1SA 16:7 "for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart"
JOH 7:24 "Do not judge according to appearance."
1CO 4:5 "Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts."
When we observe the lives of other believers and they appear to be right but if the motivation is wrong, what we see is not right at all.
We cannot evaluate what we see in another believer, that is the responsibility of the Lord who sees in the soul where motivation exists as well as overt activity.
All right things are not right.
While their execution or their overt life appears to be right to you, their motivation is false.
Lot's wife was using Lot and Lot was using Abram.
When he saw that the time came when he couldn't use Abram anymore, then he took off and Abram actually gave deference and honor and courtesy to someone who did not have the authority or the character to receive it.
Bethel represents the place of worship and receiving doctrine and growing in God's word.
The building of the altar is a type of the building up of an edifice or the edification complex of the soul, the soul structure, HEB 13:10.
HEB 13:10 talks about the altar of your soul when it says. "We have an altar, from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat."
The Negev represents not rejection of doctrine but neglect of doctrine.
Here is the father of our faith becoming wimpy, living in fear, lying and asking his wife to lie as well and willing to give her over sexually to the Pharaoh of Egypt to protect his life but not his wife!
HEB 10:38 But My righteous one [mature believer] shall live by means of doctrine; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
Abram has rejected doctrine once again and is now trying his own solutions rather than the divine solutions, his own plans, his own schemes, and his own resources and they are zilch and Sarai will also be affected because of this decision.
Abraham is going to go down to Egypt which is the place of human viewpoint, the place of human security without God, the place of sublimation, the place of escape and the place of total failure for the believer.
Egypt represented the world. It represented the flesh. It represented the system of slavery that you were once involved in.
This instability in Abram's life also leads to instability in his action and in his marriage with Sarah.
Do not be shocked at what believers do when they get into reversionism, their entire life-style changes.
They change in their thinking.
They change in their motivation.
And obviously, they change in their actions.
Abraham is about to change and become wimpy like a silly woman, 2TI 3:6.
Egypt is the place of weakness, cowardice, deception, and failure.
The Hadith, the Muslim second bible which condones lying says in Volume 4 578, that Abraham lied twice for the sake of Allah because of
Sarah and they site this passage.
Surah 2:191 Kill transgressors wherever you catch them.
Surah 2:193 Fight them on until there is no more turmoil or oppression, and until justice and faith in Allah prevails. Let there be hostility to those who practice oppression.
Surah 2:216 Fighting is prescribed for you, and you dislike it. But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not.
Surah 4:74 Let those fight in the cause of Allah who sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. To him who fights in the cause of Allah, - whether he is slain or gets victory - soon shall We give him a reward of great value.