July, 1943
THE K I N G ’ S BUS I NESS
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“A’s” tell us many Important things about AbTaham. If he had not been a man of faith, he never would have acknowledged the altar,-and he would not have been approved by God; We shall cut these “A’s” to show how,Abraham had faith. [Cut the bot toms apart Paste each piece on the cardboard when cut out. Cut through the top and middle bars-of the first "A” where they join the right, upright. Use the upright for the letter, “I.” Cut through the center of the middle bar of the third "A," and through the top G-enest« 18:23 And Abraham drew near« and «aid* W ilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24 Peradventure there be :fifty right«. eous~ within the city: wilt thou/also de stroy .. and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked; and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge o f. all the earth do right? 26 And the, Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. . 4 27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold how, I have' taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: 28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous i wilt thou destroy, all the city for lack of five? And he* said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it. 20 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake. 30 A nd ' he said unto him. Oh let not the Lord be angry, aiid I will speak: Per adventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there* 31 And he said, Behold now, ,1 have taken upon me to speak unto the Lords Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And .he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s' sake. 32 And he said* Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this oncet Peradventure * ten shall be found there.- And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake. 33 And the Lord w^nt his way, as soon as he had left communing; with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place* LBSSON TEXT: Genesis 18:23-33. GOLDEN TEXT : «The effectual fervent prayer of a rightfeous man availfeth much” (Jas. 5:16). DEVOTIONAL READING: John 17:1-11. Outline and Exposition I. T he F reedom E xercised N THE PREVIOUS verses, the Lord gave Abraham a revelation con cerning the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sinfulness. For the child of God, every revelation of coming punishment from Him should lead.to intercession for those who are involved, not to mere specu lation. A study of prophecy is worse than Useless—it is indeed positively harmful—if it leads only to vain con jectures. Instead of presuming to fore cast the outcome of any war, or
bar where it joins the right and left uprights. The, left side of this “ A” turned over and placed on the right side will make a “T.” The top bar makes the top bar for the “I.” ,Cut the top bar from the fourth “A” where it joins the uprights, andsyou have the bottom bar. for the “I,” leaving the letter “H.” ] We now have the word “F-A-I-T-H.” I: trust this will help Us to under stand better why Abraham was called a man of faith. He acknowledged the altar and was approved of God. whether some character in current history is or is not the Antichrist, it would be more profitable if the people of God Would begin to plead with God for those upon whom judgments are about to fall, and to plead with them before that judgment does fall. Having been taken into the Lord’s confidence, Abraham approached Him with full liberty. He had nothing to ask for himself; everything concern ing himself had been settled, and he was free to plead for others. The Christian today has the same freedom, and is exhorted to “draw near with . . . full assurance of faith” (cf. Heb. 10:22). There can be no true interces sion as long as one is uncertain about his own standing before God, but once the personal questions are’ settled, and settled righteously, intercession for others can begin. II. T he H umility R evealed Throughout Abraham’s prayer there was perfect humility. While asking largely, he m a n i f e s t e d a proper humility as being a creature before the Creator. He was not among those who rush into the presence of God and begin to demand things of Him. There is an offensive familiarity with God which is adopted by some Chris tians. }t lowers dignity, and in some cases it actually denies to God the glory and reverence that are due Him. Over and over Abraham declared he had no real right to ask, but he pleaded for forgiveness and to be heard by God. Abraham did not take BLACKBOARD LESSON
anything for granted excfept the fact that he was dealing with a righteous God who could do nothing but the right : iii. - T he E ncouragement Abraham knew the answer to the question, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” (v. 25), and this knowledge brought encouragement But Abraham knew also that he was dealing with a God who could not overlook iniquity nor become a re specter .of persons. He knew God was impartial, and on this ground he drew near to intercede. Abraham would ask for nothing outside the limits of per fect righteousness. It might be asked whether Abra ham’s intercession was stopped be cause of "nature’s limitations, or be cause he felt sure Lot and his family would be preserved from the judg ment Did the Spirit of God cause the asking to cease, or did Abraham feel he could ask no more? It may be noted that he made six requests and then ceased; some think that six, be ing man’s number, indicates Abraham had come to man’s end. It could also be noted that perhaps some other method of punishing Sodom might have, been found had Abraham per-, sisted in asking favor for the sake of only one righteous person. There was a day when Jerusalem might have been saved from judgment had only one righteous man been found irt it (cf. Jer. 5:1), and a day- when God declared that that city might have been spared had He been able to find one “man among them, that should . . :. stand in the gap” (cf. Ezek. 22:30). At. any rate, Abraham might have had the truth familiar to us, “met ought always to pray,- and not to faint” (Lk. 18:1), and have failed to exercise his full powers in relation to it. It Was Abraham’s ceasing that moved the Lord to depart, not the Lord’s leaving that caused Abraham to-cease,his requests. Over all the story might be written that revelation of future judgment should lead the believer to earnest intercession on behalf of those in volved in the coming judgment, and such intercession should go on as long as this age of grace continues. Points and Problems' 1., We find in Genesis 18 a Hebrew interceding for a Gentile city. In his original call, God had called Abraham to be a blessing to all the families of the earth (12:3). And in this interces sion for the people of Sodom, de praved sinners that they were, we should discern the beginning of that universal priesthood to which Abra ham and his seed were divinely- chosen. It was . a noble beginning of a glorious ministry, and although the
AUGUST 9,1942 ABRAHAM’S INTERCESSORY PRAYER G enesis 13
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