God's Word for our sermon this evening will be taken from Genesis chapter 18. Genesis chapter 18, I believe, can be found in the Pew Bible in front of you on page 15. We'll read there together about how God appears, how God comes to meet once again with Abraham. We'll read the whole chapter, but focus particularly towards the middle to end of the chapter, verses 16 and following. Before we turn our attention to God's Word, let us ask Him to bless it. Our Lord, as we consider Your Word, we are reminded that we are but one small expression of that great crowd of witnesses. Father, it's stunning to consider how You have preserved Your Word and Your people in the church of Jesus Christ throughout the ages and that today we can be part of that profound plan that unfolds each day. Lord, we pray that as we read Your Word and hear it preached this evening, we might be impressed with the gravity as well as the wonder and glory of what You have called us to share in. O Lord, that we might glorify Your name by bringing good to our families and those around us and by being witnesses to this world of Christ. We ask in His name. Amen. Genesis chapter 18, beginning with verse 1. The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre, while he was sitting in the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. He said, If I have found favor in your eyes, my Lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat so you can be refreshed and then go on your way. now that you have come to your servant. Very well, they answered, do as you say. So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. Quick, he said, get three seeds of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread. Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice tender calf and gave it to a servant who hurried to prepare it. He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. Where is your wife, Sarah? they asked him. There in the tent, he said. Then the Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, will have a son. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure? Then the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, Will I really have a child now that I am old? Is there anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son. Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, I did not laugh, but he said, Yes, you did laugh. When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. Then the Lord said, The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin is so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know. The men turned away and went towards Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Then Abraham approached him and said, Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you. Will not the judge of all the earth do what is right? Then the Lord said, If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake. Then Abraham spoke up again. Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people? If I find forty-five there, he said, I will not destroy it. Once again, he spoke to him, What if only forty are found there? He said, For the sake of forty, I will not do it. Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there? He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there. And Abraham said, Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found? He said, For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it. Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just one more. What if only ten can be found there? And he answered, For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it. When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home. May the Lord bless the reading and now preaching of his word. of Jesus Christ. Remember the last words of our Lord. When Jesus had completed His earthly ministry, He called to Himself that small group of new ministers and He called them to make disciples. And that great commission, Jesus provides for His new and very small early church their purpose, their mission statement, their reason for being to make disciples of all the nations. And as we read through the book of Acts and the letters of the New Testament, we come to see how the organized church, through the means of grace, took primary responsibility in leading the way for that work of making disciples. And we find that that work, the Great Commission, is shared with the covenant families of Christ's church. How God comes and He works with the family, making disciples at home. Calling each and every one of us into that work, that mission that Christ has provided. This evening, we see how God continues to work through the family, making disciples at home, yes, but also working with the family to provide a broader witness to the world around us. We'll consider that this evening from Genesis 18. This God and the family interaction, this witness that we work with the Lord to provide to the world. We notice first this distinct relationship that we have being in covenant with God. And second, our shared responsibility for the Word of God. And third, doing all of it in light of the promised reward that we have in sharing the glory of God. First of all, notice this distinct relationship, our covenant with God. We see it as we look back a little further into the broader story of Abraham. We find that God meets or at least speaks with Abraham first in Genesis 12. He then appears to him in a vision in Genesis 15 and again in chapter 17. And it's important for us to consider, especially children, imagine for Abraham, there was no church for Abraham to meet God in. He didn't have a pastor. Abraham didn't even have a Bible. No, Abraham knew God. Because God graciously chose to meet with him and to speak with him. On each occasion, we find as God meets with Abraham and speaks with Abraham, we find how God reveals just a little bit more about that very distinct and very special relationship that He has made with Abraham and his family. In chapter 12, Abraham learns how he was graciously chosen by God to serve him. And in chapter 15, we read of God making a covenant with Abraham, making a solemn promise to Abraham. Even it appears as we read the text, the imagery that God reveals to him, God committing His own life, as it were, as a pledge to seal that promise that He had given to Abraham. God commits Himself to him and his family that indeed His promised blessing would come. And in chapter 17, we find the sign of the covenant is given. God calling it an everlasting covenant to Abraham, saying that I will be your God and the God of your children. It's amazing how God comes and chooses Abraham and cares for Abraham and gives what is necessary to him and his family that they might rightly know God and mature in their faith and understanding of how to serve God. Even here in chapter 18, we see how this relationship moves to a whole new level. A whole new intimacy is provided to Abraham as he's brought into the counsel of God Himself. Verse 17, we read that God is walking and He says, Shall I say or shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? For Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him. Abraham is brought into the counsel of God. The revelation is distinct here more than just a further understanding of who Abraham is relative to God. God brings him into his counsel and He reveals to him what his acts and providence mean. showing and revealing to Abraham how God's ongoing care and governance of the world is a sustaining of righteousness and justice so that Abraham would not live life in the dark but that he might see how his loving Father is at work to bring about a full and complete answer to His Word. Abraham is brought into the counsel of God to know the acts of divine righteousness and justice in the world. As we summarize this activity of God meeting with Abraham and speaking to Abraham, we see how God first chooses Abraham and then He calls him and that He shares with them this love and this intimacy of a personal relationship with Him. We might even observe how God is sharing with Abraham and his family a measure of His own glory. What a God Abraham has been called to serve. It might remind us of a text in the New Testament. This choosing, this call, this love, this sharing of glory. Doesn't he come to mind? We might think of Romans 8. There, towards the end of that chapter, we hear of how all things work together for those who are called by God according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined, He called. And those whom He called, He justified. And those whom He justified, He also glorified. God calls Abraham and He meets with Abraham and He speaks with Abraham very much as He does for us today, even here this evening. And yet, as we consider how God met with Abraham occasionally. We don't know how many times, but God met with Abraham occasionally while with us. He meets with us each and every Lord's Day. And while God spoke to Abraham occasionally, God speaks to us each and every Lord's Day and assures us of His ongoing presence every day with the possession of His Word and His Spirit. And while Abraham lived by faith in the promised Savior, we live by faith in the present Savior so that we are never alone. We are never left wondering when God might show up next. We are never left unsure of what His will is for us because God is always present with us and He has provided us His Word within our homes and within our hearts. Even we are assured of God's great love for us. Something Abraham could only consider from afar. We have seen God's love poured out for us in the world and that He gave His only Son. That whoever should believe in Him will not perish like Sodom and Gomorrah, but have eternal life. What a great God! What a loving Father! What a gracious King to come and call sinners out of the world, out of destruction, and to shed His love and His grace upon them, embracing them and encouraging them and meeting with them and providing to them all that is necessary in potty and soul, in life and in death. Oh, what a wonderful relationship we have in covenant with God. We see in the second place how God, as He enters into this relationship with us, commits Himself to His Word. See, we have a shared responsibility with God. A commitment to the Word of God. God enters into this relationship with His people and He secures it with His own Word. Calvin on this passage is just so profoundly helpful. what was so rich to study and to follow with Him in understanding and application of these words. Here's a short quote saying that God continues His acts of kindness towards the faithful, even increases them, and gradually heaps new favors of His Word upon those already granted. And He daily deals with us in the same manner. For what is the reason why He pours innumerable benefits upon us? in constant succession unless that having once embraced us with paternal love, having once embraced us as a Father, He cannot deny Himself. You see, God cannot deny Himself by leaving us His children without the strength, without the guidance that we need to serve Him. God cannot deny Himself and as His children, we cannot deny His Word. We are committed with God to uphold the truths of His Word. Read verses here. Verses 17 and following. We see it play out in our passage. The Lord comes and He says, Shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him, for I have chosen him. Or we could say in light of the previous chapters, for I have chosen him and I have given my word to bless him, So that He will direct His children and His household after Him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and by doing what is just. You see, God has given His own Word to sustain us and He has expected from us nothing less than a similar, a parallel, a shared commitment to His own Word. That we are to direct, that we are to command our children to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. For Abraham, this way of the Lord, it was explained to him through God's acts, through God's occasional meeting and speaking, through this conversation about Sodom and Gomorrah. It was revealed to him as he was considering how he should respond to the wickedness of those people. And Abraham responds to what God reveals to him there, showing already within him the expression of the Imago Dei, the image of God within him, longing that Almighty God would indeed do what is right and what is just. Will the judge of all the earth not do what is right, Abraham says. Would you spare these people for the sake of 50? Would you destroy them if there was but merely five left? You see, Abraham is beginning to show within his own life the fruits of his own faith, the kind of righteousness and justice that God Himself expects of His people. Well, that righteousness and justice, that way of the Lord is further explained to Abraham's descendants, the Israelites in the Ten Commandments. And Jesus summarizes it for us in Matthew 22 when He says what? That you, that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our mind, with all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. God has committed Himself to us, brothers and sisters. And as He's committed Himself to us through the promise of His own Word, He calls us to likewise commit ourselves to His Word. He expects that we would respond to His grace and His love and His fatherly care by having a zeal and a passion for His Word. that His righteousness and that His justice would be evidenced through us in our lives as we are further sanctified through meeting with Him. As we are further sanctified by the power of His Word and Spirit. Well, this kind of fruit is evidenced in Abraham's life. To be sure, his faith in the Word of God, his generous hospitality we read of in the beginning of the chapter and His love for His neighbor and also His concern for the righteousness and justice in the case of Sodom. May our family and our friends and our neighbors say the same of us. Brothers and sisters, may we pray that God would work within our hearts and our minds that we would likewise be zealous to have such a witness in this world. To have a love of righteousness. To long for the justice of those around us. And yet, so often, what is it that Christians are known for? It seems too often things other than righteousness and justice. May our families and friends and neighbors be able to see that kind of fruit within our lives for God is committed to His Word and expects the same of His people. Well, all of this, this relationship, this responsibility, it has a broader purpose. Why did God choose Abraham? Why has God chosen us and our families to share in the covenant of grace? We find it in verse 19 of our passage. Verse 19, the Lord says, I have chosen him. And then he goes on to say why. So that he will direct his children and his household after him. That's point one. But then also that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised. And what has God promised? What has God promised to Abraham and his descendants after him, including you and I today. But that Abraham would surely become a great and powerful nation. Verse 18. And that all the nations on earth would be blessed in him. See, God has promised that our labor is not in vain. God has promised that His commitment to the Word and that our commitment to the Word will not be in vain because we have, by virtue of God's own promise, a reward that is waiting for us. As with Abraham, God's blessing will extend beyond us to the world. Psalm 67 takes this promise and it makes it into a passionate prayer that God would bless us, but not only us, that God would work through us to bless the world. It says, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations. May the peoples praise You, O God. May all the peoples praise You. May the nations be glad and sing for joy for You rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. You see, God's Word and His abundance of blessing isn't given to us to make us great, to give us a life of ease, to make us be prestigious in the eyes of the world. God's blessing is given to us that it would abound through us, unto one another, through our families, unto a witness to the world that the world might join us in knowing God our Creator and rejoicing in the salvation that He has brought to us through Jesus Christ and sharing in a reward that is far greater than a bank account, far greater than a degree, far greater than the prestige of our co-workers, a reward that will never perish, spoil, or fade away. Indeed, God's promised reward for His people is a sharing of His own glory. For those whom He predestined, He called. And those He called, He also justified. And those He justified, He also glorified. Brothers and sisters, this world, this life is far greater than you and I. What God has given is not intended to make us great, but is intended to make God's name great through us, among us, and unto the world. so that we would one day be joined by that great cloud of witnesses singing praise and glory to the Almighty God. Praise the Lord for sharing with us such an abundance of love and even a measure of His own glory. Calvin reflects on this passage summarizing its meaning, saying that Abraham was brought into the counsel of God because God would ensure that He would empower him so that he would faithfully fulfill the office of a good household in instructing his own family. He's given the Word of God not for his own sake alone, but for the benefit of his people. And truly, God does not make known His will to us simply that the knowledge of it may perish with us, but that we may be His witnesses to the next generation and to the world. In conclusion, I want to draw a few observations about how this witness looks much the same for us as it did for Abraham. You see, covenant families bear witness to the world through their relationship with God, responsibility to His Word, while anticipating the promised reward, the sharing of God's glory. We see this, don't we, in the faith and life of Abraham. We've seen it this evening in the Psalms and we see it in the New Testament. Consider Acts 2, verse 42. How the New Covenant people and that new relationship with God through Jesus Christ, consider how they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching of God's Word. And the fellowship and the breaking of bread and the prayers. And this isn't simply just an expression of congregational piety, is it? We find that that same kind of piety is maintained in the home. In Ephesians 6, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and your mother and fathers. Do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. What we find is that throughout the Scriptures, indeed throughout history, God and the family have maintained this kind of witness to the next generation and to the world. Maintaining that covenant relationship, a passionate commitment to the Word of God, His righteousness and justice, while anticipating a future that is glorious and beyond description. That is the witness that we can speak of to the world. but what of our generation? What is our witness? What would our family, our friends and neighbors say of Christianity through their interaction with us? Well, you know what some say. And brothers and sisters, may it not be said of us. May we bear witness to the love of God, to the wonder and grace and righteousness of Jesus Christ as Abraham before us, as those cloud of witnesses before us and around us. Spouses, parents, children, it's so good you're here. God meets with us today and He strengthens our relationship with us today, but never let this commitment be just simply checked off your list as if this in and of itself is a fulfillment of what God calls you to do and be in your witness for Him. What a tragedy it would be to respond to the grace and love of God with simply a checking off the list of a Sabbath day commitment that I might then live my own selfish life throughout the week. What a grievous thing it must be for our loving Father who indeed has pledged His own life through Jesus Christ, His Son, to see His children live with such a self-centered, navel-gazing consideration of the world. No, being here is good. God delights to be with us. He delights to meet with His people and to strengthen our relationship, providing us signs and seals of the New Covenant and baptism in the Lord's Supper in order to remind us and encourage us that He is with us, that He is present among us, and that He is to uphold us by His power so that, like verse 19 in our text, we would go out and commit ourselves to what is right and is just. At home, among our neighbors, in the workplace. What a profound witness it would be for Christians to demonstrate their great value and asset to their employers by being hard workers, full of integrity, and ready to commit themselves to the betterment of their employer. Righteousness. Justice. Let that be a witness, a testifying of God's grace in us at work and in the public square. Brothers and sisters, when Jesus completed His earthly ministry, He called us to make disciples. And while ascending into heaven, He blessed His disciples just as He blesses us today. so that we would be His witnesses among all the nations. May it be true for you and I, for the next generation around the world. Amen. Our Father, we do give thanks for Your Word and for Your abundance of love shared with us in Jesus Christ. Lord, continue to cultivate with us this special relationship. Continue to impress upon us the great value and wonder of Your Word while upholding us and enabling us by Your power to be those who long to share Your glory beyond our own individual lives, even beyond our own family, but to work with You as witnesses in Your world. Lord, we ask these things not that our name would be great, but that Your name would be great and that good would be shared with us among our neighbors until Christ returns in glory. In His name, Amen.