“Abraham said about his wife Sarah, ‘She is my sister.’ So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.” vs2

It was all Abraham’s fault. We can be men of faith, and yet unbelief seizes us. We can serve the Lord, love Him, and yet fail dramatically, right before the promise is experienced.

God promised Abraham the blessing, and he swiftly gave his wife to another man in fear and unbelief (Gen 12:10-20). 25 years later, He confirmed the blessing, and Abraham did the same thing! Thus, unbelief is with us in the beginning - when we first receive the promise - and it is with us as the promise is being fulfilled.

Personally, I feel as if God is with me in a special way. He’s given me insight in how to preach, after asking for many years selfishly or not asking at all [James 4:2-3]. I take the words of Jesus Christ - the words that He gives by the Spirit - and preach them to others [1 Cor 2:13]. I knew the message was Jesus Christ crucified from the first day I preached, but I didn’t know the Spirit - without any human contribution - was the method for many years later. This blessing of God has liberated me with confidence, like Abraham, believing that what God has promised - to use me and bless others - God will surely perform. Rom 4:20-21, “Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.”

But, am I now without sin? Have a reached a level of spirituality without faults and failures? Am I now a superman, worthy of the blessing? No, I’m a sinner still! Not merely by theory and doctrine, but by practice, temptations, and struggles within. Yet, is the promise taken away because I’m unworthy? No. He gave it to me many years ago, and when He decided to use me, after stripping away everything else, showing Ishmael to be a failure, I’m still receiving the promise through failure.

It doesn’t depend on us at all, and THIS is how we must take the promise, walking with God. It is not our morality, not our worthiness, and not our power. Peter said, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Or why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of the fact [Acts 3].” He turned their attention back to Jesus Christ, saying, “Jesus Christ, by the power of God, is the reason that this man can walk: it is by faith in Him [vs16].”

This is the gospel: It is NOT BECAUSE OF US, and when we learn to walk in this, then we’ll walk in peace, and the power of the Spirit is ours. It is not my words, my cleverness, or my manufactured zeal; it is faith in what Christ has earned, and faith in the Spirit to do what no man can do, taking the words into the heart of the spiritual.

Bless God for the fact that we rest, even though we are sinners, but this is the walk of faith: It is Another Man’s righteousness, Another power, and the goodness of Someone Else operating in us; it is not us at all, and the results are real. God delivers.

Secondly, God is the One who keeps all of us from sin, so that no man can boast [vs6]. “Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, ‘Yes, I know that you did this with integrity of your heart. I have also kept you from sinning against Me. Therefore I have not let you touch her.” Left to ourselves, we are as depraved as possible, and everything the unbeliever does is without faith. We must not boast in our goodness, as if we are better than others, but we must boast in God, and if we do so, then we are saved by grace, because all is free.

One of the chief principles of grace is believing that all is by grace. As soon as you meet a man boasting in himself, you’ve seen a false prophet who turns you away from God, no matter how subtle. Election is grace. It is all of God, and any gospel that’s not all of God is not of God at all.

Finally, God protects His people [vs7]. He told Abimelech, “Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.” We do not have to fear. If we’re protected when we’re wrong, then how much more as we do right? If He chastens us in love, then who will stand against us, as we graciously advance the gospel?

We need to get away from all fear and serve the Lord boldly. We are not starting fights but standing for truth. We are not haters of men but haters of the sin that destroys them. We are not troublers in Israel, but calling sinners to happiness. We expose false prophets, so that people can have hope.