Tonight we're turning in our Bible to the book of Genesis chapter eighteen. Genesis chapter eighteen. Now before we go any further, let's just look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we thank you again for the school of faith. We pray that these lessons learned in the school of faith will go with us. and enable us to indeed grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, conforming us to the image of thy dear Son. For we pray giving thanks in the Savior's name. Amen. This is now the fourth lesson in the School of Faith, and it has been taking us two Sunday nights to go over each one of these lessons. And it will take us to Sunday night to go over this fourth lesson in the School of Faith also. Abraham is the dean of the School of Faith. And when a person is saved, they are automatically enrolled in this school. And we have seen in the examination of the life of Abraham, how to, first of all, walk by faith. Then we saw what it means to war by faith. To walk by faith is Genesis twelve and thirteen. How to war by faith is Genesis chapter fourteen and fifteen. And then how to wait by faith, the most difficult of all. Genesis chapter sixteen and seventeen. And tonight we want to begin with what it means to work by faith. So let us begin at verse one. And the Lord appeared unto him, that's Abram, in the plains of memory, and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. And he looked up his eyes and looked, and those three men stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I upon favor in thy sight pass not away I pray thee from thy servants, Let a little water, I pray, you be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your heart. After that ye shall pass on, for therefore ye come to your servants. And they said, So do as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened unto the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly, three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the heart. And Abraham ran into the herd and fetched the calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young man, and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them, and they did, set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. This is as far as we will go in our Bible reading tonight. If you read this chapter, fourteen times you read the expression, the Lord, and two times in this chapter you read the expression, thy servant. And you'll notice in verse three, he says, Pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. And again in verse five, are ye come to your Now, I don't think that Abraham knew immediately that he was speaking to the Lord Jesus and the two angels. I believe Abraham was quite shocked that three pilgrims would be traveling in the heat of the day. You see, in the east you travel in the early morning, not in the heat of the day. And here we have the Lord Jesus and two angels coming and paying a visit to the home of Abraham, the servant of God. Now, when you read this chapter, this is a chapter that abounds in great theological studies. You could spend a long time in the theological studies that are contained in the eighteenth chapter of Genesis. And yet Hebrews, the book of Hebrews, when referring to this incident, simply says... Be careful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Spurgeon used to say, and I like this expression, he said, our homes ought to be so godly that angels could visit us and not know that they were out of heaven. It isn't that way, is it? It ought to be. That's a great statement, isn't it? Let me quote it again. Our home should be so godly that angels could visit us and never know if they are out of heaven. Now we want to examine what it means to serve God by faith or what it means to work by faith. Abraham, the servant of God, is the one who is before us here. And as we do, we need to take inventory. You need to take inventory. Every merchant at some time or another must take inventory. He has to find out what he has. He has to know what he sold. And he has to know what he needs to buy if he's going to stay in business. Now, if you don't know what you have, and if you don't know what you need, and if you don't know what you have done, you don't know where to go. and it's still in the Christian life. Now we need to answer four very simple questions from this chapter and the next one. We want to answer four questions. Now, this entire chapter, and as we ask these questions and as we seek by God's grace to answer them, when I ask the first question, I don't want you to think that I'm treating the Word of God lightly. I am not. But we need to take inventory. Question number one. Am I taking care of my body? Am I taking care of my body? You see, the first thing that we notice in this chapter, we see Abraham sitting in a tent door in the heat of the day. Abraham is ninety-nine years old. If you have ever been to the east, you know something about how hot it can get in the heat of the day. I'll never forget my first day of work in Nigeria. We left here in October. I scraped frost off the windshield of my car that morning before we drove over to Bob and Mary Bryson to have breakfast. From there we went to the airport. from there to New York and from there to Lagos, Nigeria. And when I got off the airplane, it was over ninety degrees and about ninety-eight percent humidity. And it was warm. Dr. Dick told us the first day that we were at work. He said, the best thing you can do after lunch is lie down. I said to myself, I don't lie down. I'm going out and work. Well, I didn't listen. And that afternoon I went out to work, and I still remember walking out in that pathway, watching out for snakes and looking into the bush. And I went out to work, and we had gotten a lot done in the morning. But that was the only day that I ever worked in the afternoon. I learned my lesson that day. For that evening I had one of the most splitting headaches I ever had in my life. I didn't listen. I didn't take care of my body. You see, it's the custom of people in hot climates, the Latin American countries, the countries of the East to take time off in the heat of the day. It's a healthy thing to do. And here we see Abraham taking care of his body. He is God's servant. And all that a servant can give to his master is time and a body. A servant has nothing else. Now the body that you were born with is structured by God. And I had an identity crisis. Long before the psychologists ever knew there was such a thing. You see, in grade school, I wasn't too coordinated. And when the kids picked up sides to have a baseball game, you know it's an awful feeling when you're always the last or the second last to be picked. You know it's an awful thing. See, I was a bookworm. I learned when I sat in class I could make the day go rapidly. If I didn't take time out to goof like the other kids did and look around, I read. The boy when I got out was swinging at a baseball or a big ball. I couldn't even hit it. Uncoordinated. And you know, it does something on the inside. Oh, you cringe. Oh, I just wish you'd picked me next. But, you know, it just doesn't happen. It just doesn't happen. Well, all I can give God is my body and time. I have nothing else. Well, you see, friends, if God wants to write a book, he needs someone with fingers and a typewriter. If God wants to write a song, he needs someone with hands and ability to write a book. to work on a manuscript. If God needs someone to play an organ, he needs someone who has feet and hands and mind and the ability to play. That's what he wants. And if God wants someone to cook a meal for a missionary, he needs someone with hands and a body that he's willing to do it. You see, our body is God's tool. It is also God's temple. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells within us. But our body is also His treasury. Second Corinthians chapter four, verse six says, We have this treasure in an earthen vessel. That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. Oh yeah, the vessel may be earthen, but it's important. Here we have Abram taking care of his body. Now we evangelical, those of us who love the Lord, we may not be guilty of wasting our substance in riotous living. It may irritate us when our neighbor comes in in the late hours or the early hours of the morning, drunken. Or we may get up in a restaurant and move from the table because somebody may be well-meaning but not knowing any better. They're thoughtless. They blow smoke all over. You see, we aren't guilty of those sins that destroy the body. You see, we do it in other ways. We're like the bride in the Song of Solomon many, many times. Solomon chapter one verse six she said I'm a keeper of vineyards but my own vineyard I have not kept now I'm not berating anyone I have my own concerns to deal with in this area I have a difficulty saying no to people it has been a difficulty of mine all my life to say no And sometimes you have to say no. And since I came home from Bermuda in October of last year, I've said no a couple times. It isn't the easiest thing to do. All I can say is simply this. You only have one body. You want to be God's servant? Then you have to take care of it. Don't tempt God. Because God gave you your body to use for His glory. It is His tool. It is His temple. It is His treasury. Don't debase your body. Don't waste your body. Warren Wiersby... has written some great accounts of various giants in the Christian faith. They appeared in Moody Monthly a number of years back, and then it appeared in book form called Walking with the Giant. They are the biographies of some great men who have been used by God in the evangelical church, in the work of the church. And he tells about, he writes about William Sancter, for instance. William Sancter was a great preacher in Great Britain, a Methodist preacher, who was greatly used of God. And Ruseby said that he accomplished more in one lifetime than many preachers do in two. But in nineteen sixty-seven, he came down with progressive muscular atrophy. And he spent three years dying. an awful thing. His son found scraps of paper and a notebook in Dr. Sancter's desk after his deceased. And this is what he wrote. A busy life is so full, but no time to think. No time for rich, rewarding meditation. No time for prayer. No inner light. No quietness. Hence rush invades restlessness. Repetition. No new thought. A revelation from God. And in his notebook he had two columns. One on the one hand and one on the other. In the one column he wrote, I rushed about too much. I can't rush at all now. I talk too much. A little talk not tires me. I don't pray enough. I didn't pray enough. The other column has said plenty of time for prayer now. I was proud of my health and my work. Now health is gone and work is limited. I never really had time to look. Now plenty of time to look. And then he wrote, the trouble was with the will. I lashed the body on, imprisoned in a timetable. I must run in reverse. Don't use the lash on the will. Do only what you want. Don't be imprisoned in a timetable. That's what he said. If he thinks there was a hardworking man, it is possible that in the midst of all his work, he didn't take care of his body. How are you treating your body? Our brother Sutton quotes often, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. whereby ye are sealed until the day of redemption. Well, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. How are you treating your body? That brings me to the second question here, come from Genesis chapter eighteen. It is this. Am I giving Jesus Christ my death? Am I giving Christ my best? Now, if I'm going to work for Jesus Christ as His servant, then I need to give Him my best. Now, what I'm about to say may shock you, we do not serve people. We serve Jesus Christ. In Second Corinthians, chapter four, verse five, we read ourselves, your servant, for Jesus Christ. say, we serve Christ, not people. This is a law that our Lord laid down, and I want you to turn with me to Exodus chapter twenty-eight. In Exodus chapter twenty-eight, we have God's ordination for the priesthood. And I want you to notice a few things in Exodus chapter twenty-eight. Verse one. And and take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office, even Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eliezer, and Ithamar, Aaron's son. And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and for beauty, and thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the Spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him. Why? That he may minister unto me in the priest's office. Am I giving the Lord Jesus my best? Notice verse forty-one, where we read, And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and these sons with him. and shall anoint him and consecrate them and sanctify them that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. And you may say to me, Oh, yes, that's okay. That's under the Old Testament. Well, let's turn to the news. Turn with me to Acts chapter thirteen. In Acts chapter thirteen, the opening verses, we have the call of God of the first missionary journey of Paul. And we have God's desire for those who would go forth from the great church at Antioch, which became the missionary church of the New Testament. In verse one, we have the list of those who ministered to the Lord there. And there were, verse one, in the church that was at Antioch, certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas and Simeon, that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Mena-en, which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch and Saul, and as they ministered to the people. No. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work where I have called them. So you notice, you serve God. Am I giving Christ my best? That's a good question. Am I ministering unto him? Now I can't speak for others, but I must speak for myself. My wife knows that I don't like to be away from my study on Saturday night. For after I have prepared my sermon, I have to prepare my own heart. I have to tell the Lord, Lord, here's my message. I'm not preaching to please myself. I'm not preaching to please a congregation. I want to minister to you. I want your heart to be happy with what I'm going to give to your people tomorrow. Now, beloved, when you take that attitude toward a Sunday school class, when you take that attitude toward playing the piano or toward ushering or toward playing the organ or toward singing in a congregation, it lifts it to the highest level. You can't get any higher. You're not leading people down an aisle when you're ushering. You are ministering to the Lord. You are not teaching a Sunday school class or singing it. You are ministering unto the Lord. And here in this chapter, we have Abraham giving to the Lord his best. Did you notice? Immediately he got up and he began to serve. Me? If I would have been in Abraham's shoes, I might have said, say, fellas, it's time for my siesta. You know, I'm ninety-nine years old. Just take a good look at me. I need all the rest I can get. Now, if you wait till it gets a little cooler, then I'll do something for you. Right now, Well, it's time for me to just take it a little easy. No, that wasn't Abraham. You see, Abraham didn't know the Apostle Paul. But if he had read the Apostle Paul where Paul says, be instant in season and out of season, Abraham would have been the man who said, Amen, brother. That's exactly how it is. You see, he ministered to the Lord immediately. But then second, he ministered to the Lord personally. Now in chapter fourteen, you'll notice that Abraham had three hundred eighteen servants who were trained in his own house. All he would have had to do is lift a finger and move his head, and one of those servants would have gone and done something. But not Abraham. He got up and he ran. Isn't it nice, beloved, when you can write a check, And then you can pray, Here, Lord, bless this check and let somebody else do the work for me. Isn't that nice? Now, I believe in writing check. But you see, I believe in supporting the Lord's work. And after this morning's lesson in First Corinthians chapter nine, we all should. On the other hand, never look at a check as a substitute. Are you giving the Lord your best? Abraham ministered unto the Lord immediately. Abraham ministered unto the Lord personally. Abraham ministered unto the Lord speedily. Did you notice he ran to meet them? Then he ran into the tent to Sarah. Then he ran into the herd to get a calf, tender, and young. He's ninety-nine years old. He ran. Now in the east, men don't run, especially when they're ninety-nine years old. And you see, in the parable that our Lord told of the prodigal son, it shocked his hearers when he told of the father running to meet the son, when he was returning, when he saw him a great way off. It shocked his hearers, for in the east you don't see men running. But Abraham ran. He served the Lord speedily. And if you notice, he said, just wait here under the tree until I fetch a morsel of bread. He brought a Thanksgiving dinner. He ran into the tent and he said, Sarah, Make three measures of fine. Notice that word, fine. Make the best. Make the best. Fine flour, fine meal. He didn't say it, Sarah. Are there any leftovers around? You know, often we give the Lord leftovers. Leftover energy. I've often seen people sleep through Sunday morning. Leftover energy. We give him leftover money. After everything else is paid, then we give to the Lord. Leftover time. If I have any time left over, then I'll give it to the Lord. The Lord doesn't get the first fruits many, many times. He gets leftovers. After I take care of me, then I'll think of the Lord. And we wonder why we're so dismal spiritually. He said, Sarah, three measures of fine meal. Three measures. My. That was enough to feed a family for three days. Yeah. You know, I mentioned I don't like to stay out late on a Saturday night. I don't like to go out dining on a Saturday night. Because after I get home, I know it on a Sunday morning. I can't give the best to the law. It just doesn't work that way. I know some people think that I'm some kind of a recluse sitting in my study with my head between the covers of a book. And he just doesn't want to come out on a Saturday night. But that's not what's important, friend. Self-preparation is important. See, on the Lord's day, people come for bread. Our Lord says, if any of you that is a father and his son ask for bread, will he give him a stone? Now, we may give stones and they may be polished. If they love it, if their stones are hard and cold, they will never satisfy. The children need bread. And that's what we have to give. Oh, it's well for Sunday school teachers and for preachers to stay home on a Saturday night and not give leftover energy and leftover thinking. on Sundays. And then Abraham didn't go to the butcher either and say, and he bargained today. Where's that old sick car that was moving around here? I might be able to get that cheap and give it to these people. No, he ran into the herd and he fetched a young calf. And the scripture says, it was tender. It was good. What are you giving to God? Are you giving God leftovers? Often that's what we do. We have something that we can't use anymore, so we give it to the missionaries. I had one missionary tell me, I got a whole bunch of these wire clothes hangers to hang my clothes on. They were all rusty when they came. And the humidity over here, don't people use their heads? But the missionary told me, I couldn't hang a one garment of mine on the hangers that they send. And these people think they're doing us a favor. And all they're doing is giving us more junk. And it takes up time and space. leftovers. Is this what we give to God? Am I giving the Lord my best? Here is my body. Here is my best energy. Here is my best time. Here is my best effort. David said a wonderful thing when he said, I will not give unto the Lord that which costs me nothing. John Henry Jowett, who succeeded Campbell Morgan, as pastor of Westminster Chapel said, ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing. And he's right. Now, Abram, Abraham, he not only served the Lord immediately, he not only served him personally, he not only served him speedily, but he served him generously and he served him joyfully. He didn't complain about it. He wasn't an elder brother who complained, who griped. He did it joyfully. He served the Lord with gladness. That's why David says we should serve him. Serve the Lord with gladness. He didn't serve him with sadness. But more than that he served the Lord humbly. As they were eating under the tree, he stood by. waiting to run and get them something else if they wanted more. But more than that he served the Lord cooperatively. Did you notice how he got other people involved? He got Sarah involved. He got a young man involved with a tender calf and good. He had everybody around him serving in the blessings. You know it's one thing to have your own minister. But it's more wonderful, friends. When in your ministry, you can get others involved. There are some servants of God who are so selfish. They guard their ministry like a little kingdom that has to be protected. This is not the way Abraham was. So my question, are you giving to God your death? Are you taking care of your body? Are you giving to God your death? Now if you're here tonight and you're not saved, there isn't a thing that you have that you can give. You can't give to God anything. Because there is nothing that God will accept from you. In order to give to God, you have to be his. And if you're not his by the blood of Calvary's cross, there's nothing that you can give to him. First of all, you have to be his by divine grace. And then when you're his by divine grace, Then you can serve the Lord. Then your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Then your body is the treasury of God. You have this treasure in an earthen vessel. Then you can give to God your best, your best energy, your best time, your best of everything you can give to Him. But not until then. For until you've been saved by divine grace, you're lost. And you're lost in a way so desperate You can imagine how desperate a situation you're in if you're lost. The Word of God declares that a lost person is hanging by a thread. There is only one step between you and death. The person who is not saved has one foot in the grave, in the physical grave, and his other foot is on a banana peel. It really is. And only God can save you. And the only way to be saved is through the work of Calvary's cross. Until you're saved by divine grace, there isn't a thing that you can give to God. Because there is nothing about you that God will accept. Until you are made the righteousness of God in Christ, for that is all that he will accept, there is nothing that you can give to him. First of all, you must receive Christ. as Lord and Savior. And then you're made the righteousness of God in him. And then you can give to God not only your best, but then you have the responsibility also to take care of your body. All our lessons, beloved, in working by faith. Let's pray together. Our Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for salvation, which brings us into the family and enables us to walk, to war, to wait, and to walk by faith. Help us each to recognize that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. and that all that a servant can ever give is time and a body and help us, O God, to be delivered from giving you leftovers. And we pray that our homes will be so heavenly and godly that the angels could be in our midst and not know that they ever left heaven. Oh, what a privilege that would be. And it's possible because the Spirit of God dwells in us. We ask you now to take the word and search us for Jesus' sake. Amen.