Chapter 18

In chapter 18 we have seven characteristics of a believer in fellowship; in chapter 19 we have seven characteristics of a believer out of fellowship. Both Abraham and Lot are believers. In chapter 18 we have a picture of Abraham in fellowship. Remember that Abraham was called the friend of God—2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 61:8; James 2:23—because from this point on, from the time of his prayer failure here, Abraham generally was in fellowship. What are the characteristics of e believer in fellowship in Old Testament times.

Verse 1—first characteristic. A believer in fellowship is the object and recipient of divine revelation. “And the LORD [Jesus Christ] appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.” Mamre means wealth, prosperity. The tent door is the operation of the faith-rest technique. Abraham is in fellowship, he is operating under the faith-rest technique, he has come to the place of great spiritual prosperity. “And the Lord appeared” – principle: Only when we are in fellowship can we take in the Word of God for profit and benefit and application.

Verses 2-8, second characteristic. A believer in fellowship is friendly and hospitable. The Word changes believers and here is a friendly attitude toward strangers.

Verse 2 – “…and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground.” This indicates a mental attitude of grace.

Verse 3 – “And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant” – idiomatic for ‘Stay a while.’

Verse 4 – “Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet.” That means, Enter my house.

Verse 5 – this is filled with idiom but it means in effect, stop here for a while and I will provide food for you. And they agreed.

All of the things we see in verses 2-8 point to mental attitude—joy, inner happiness, inner beauty and power.

Verses 9-10, the third characteristic. A believer in fellowship is the recipient of promises from God. One of the three persons is Jesus Christ, the other two are angels, and they all appear as men.

Verse 10 – the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. “And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time [cycle] of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” When Sarah heard this she laughed, but she didn’t laugh out loud, it would have been impolite. She laughed inside.

“according to the time of life” is literally, ‘according to the norm or standard of human cycle’ – the fact that there will be procreation and nine months later there will be a child. That is all he is saying, though it isn’t clear in the English. This is a promise. Believers in fellowship are the recipients of promises from God.

Verse 11 -- The fourth characteristic: A believer in fellowship suffers for blessing. “Now Abraham and Sarah were old.” When the Bible says you are old, you are old. Sarah was past the menopause. For years now they have been in this state; their situation is hopeless, and this is the issue once again of human versus divine viewpoint. As far as Abraham and Sarah were concerned they were in the status quo of suffering for this reason. God had given them a promise that they would have a child, but humanly speaking they couldn’t have a child. The suffering was the fact that they were unable to have children. In this suffering situation comes great blessing to them because it was hopeless, there was no human solution. But Abraham “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” Therefore he was blessed through suffering.

Verses 12-15 -- The fifth characteristic: A believer in fellowship does not resent the divine rebuke of loved ones. Abraham loves Sarah very much but he takes her rebuke without resentment.

Verse 12 – Sarah laughed [Isaaced] inwardly. And she is going to carry Isaac inside, and when Isaac is born he is going to be called Isaac. “After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure” is not what the Hebrew says at all. She says, “Shall I have sexual relationship, my lord being old also?”

Verse 13 – “Why is Sarah laughing?” There is no way she could hide this, she knows that this is the Lord. Only the Lord could know of this silent laughter.

Verse 14 – “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” We have to answer that question when we face hopeless situations. In other words, do we have a problem in life that the Lord cannot solve?

Verse 15 – Why did Sarah lie when Jesus Christ could read her mind? She is frightened, so she immediately wants to deny it all.

Verses 16-32, The sixth characteristic: The believer in fellowship has a prayer ministry for others.

Verse 16 – Abraham shows them the way to Sodom. What the Lord really wanted to do was get Abraham away from the tent so He could tell him what was going to happen in Sodom. The flowing verses indicate that the Lord is very longsuffering and goes to the greatest extent to keep from judging, and He is going down for the final trial of Sodom.

Verse 22 – the two angels departed for Sodom, “but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.” Here is Abraham the prayer warrior. He is going to make intercession.

Abraham understands doctrine, he is interceding on the basis of his understanding of the character of God. His intercession is bold but it is a boldness based upon doctrine. Principle: All boldness in prayer, all boldness in operation, is based upon the knowledge of doctrine. Abraham petitions to spare Sodom for fifty believers.

When the Lord agrees in the following verses the principle remains the same. Abraham understands the character of the Lord and he has a definite number in mind. Out of the whole city of Sodom, some quarter of a million people, Abraham knows of ten believers. He is sure that if he can get the Lord to agree to ten that Sodom will be saved for the sake of Lot, his nephew whom he loves.

Here is the power of persistent prayer, but the power and the courage and the faith of Abraham are based upon a knowledge of doctrine. Assurance, confidence, stability, power and faith all come from knowing and applying doctrine to experience.

Verse 32 – Abraham was sure after this that Sodom would be saved. But what Abraham did not say, the Lord knew because He reads minds. Abraham’s desire was that Lot might be saved, preserved physically. And that is exactly what is going to happen. Abraham’s petition has to do with saving Sodom but his petition will not be answered. However, behind the petition is a desire, the preservation of Lot, and Lot will be preserved.

Note chapter 19:27. Abraham gets a shock. This disillusioned him. He didn’t know at this time that Lot had been delivered and assumed that Lot was a part of the dust and ashes down in the valley. Because at this time he did not see the difference between petition and desire he became temporarily disillusioned. Chapter 20 tells us how Abraham got out of fellowship through the mental sin of disillusionment. God had given His word that if there were ten believers in Sodom He wouldn’t destroy the city and Abraham assumed that there were ten believers when he just didn’t know all the facts. God knew what Abraham was driving at in his prayer, He knew that he wanted Lot to be preserved. Lot and his two daughters were holed up in a cave and Abraham thought he was dead. Therefore Abraham became disillusioned.

Many times believers become disillusioned because they don’t understand the Word. They say that something doesn’t work, it doesn’t work for them. Really it is because they are misinformed, they do not have all the facts.

The seventh characteristic: A believer in fellowship has the right mental attitude toward those who wrong him—Genesis 19:27-29. Why did Abraham get up early? Because he was concerned about Lot. Abraham loved Lot, but what has Lot done for Abraham? He tried to cheat him in business, then he tried to cheat him out of the best part of the land.