To Abraham and His Seed 3 This is an edited version of the lecture titled, "To Abraham and His Seed" which was preached on May 26th, 2007.   And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward, and westward."    Genesis 13:14   The Flesh that Follows the New SelfThere are many problems around us. There may be financial problems, problems with your health, or problems regarding your faith. There are various kinds of problems. When it comes to such problems, you can get a better perspective of yourself when you quietly reflect upon yourself at a place where brothers and sisters are gathered than when you are on your own thinking about the problems. We should know how God works. The Bible says, "Being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:20). If I did not experience difficulties and hardship, would I have repented and been able to organize my thoughts? It would be helpful for us to keep in mind that all the trials that we encounter as we live in this world and even a leaf that falls from a tree are meant to show us something so that we might have a conversation with God.The Bible is not merely an account of historic events. In some ways, the same is true of the trials that we encounter. It is through the trials that Abraham faced, Abraham's actions during the trials, and Abraham's accomplishments that we come to examine our lives in this world. And when the difficulties have passed, we can see what has happened in our hearts.We will take a look from Genesis chapter 13 verse 10. And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD. And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you." Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.  (Genesis 13:10-18) Genesis chapter 13 explains that Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan and gradually moved southward. He crossed the land of Canaan from top to bottom and went down to Egypt. And Abram returns from Egypt to the land of Canaan with great riches. This is the story in the beginning of chapter 13. But there is always one person with Abram on his journeys, aside from his wife, Sarai. It is his nephew Lot. At the end of Genesis chapter 11, it says that Abram's father, Terah, died after Abram left Ur of the Chaldeans, before he entered the land of Canaan. In accordance with the verse, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1), the complete separation between Abram and his father is revealed.When we read such stories, we might bring to mind our past selves. As the Bible says, "... that our old man was crucified with Him" (Romans 6:6), it is through the words of the Bible that we come to consider our lives, where we once had the fate of sinner that could not be saved. As you read the word and contemplated it, your problem was solved, you discovered that all your sins have already been forgiven through Jesus, and you surrendered yourself to God. You refer to the experience of your old self being nailed to the cross as "being born again." This is described in great detail in Romans chapters 4, 5, and 6, which we enjoy reading. Just as Abraham left his father's remains and went far away to the land of Canaan in accordance with God's words, there was a day when each of us as individuals left our old selves and was born again as God's sons. Even though there is a verse that says, "... our old man was crucified," the apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 7, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"(verse 24). When we were first saved, we thought that we became innocent, but as time passes, we find that we are the same as before. We commit the same sins we committed before. I too have asked myself, "I am definitely saved so how is it possible that I do this?" and I have agonized over it. When you first realize the gospel, your conscience becomes sharp. You reflect upon your active and living conscience in light of the words of the Bible, but as time passes, it becomes dull. Meanwhile, you come to see that your flesh is still alive and squirming in your heart.In the same way, Abram, who had submitted to God's words and was separated from his father Terah, had his nephew Lot that always followed him. Lot represents our flesh. Even though we have been born again through the words of the Bible, we still have thoughts of the flesh, which we inherited from Adam. This is represented through the person called Lot. Lot was captured in a war, and he was saved by the hand of an angel at the time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Through Lot, we are able to see plainly an image of ourselves living in the world in the corruptible flesh. When Lot was with Abram, Abram said to Lot that the land was too small for the two of them to inhabit together. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. ... "Is not the whole land bofore you" Please seperate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left." (Genesis 13:6, 9) Abram said these cold words to Lot. We have our born-again spirits within our thoughts and consciences, but when we examine ourselves honestly through the words of the Bible, we can clearly see that the thoughts of God-which He wants us to have-and the thoughts of the flesh-which try to force God's thoughts out of our minds-coexist. A person who is not saved could not possibly understand; nothing new has been started in them so everything is mixed up. A person that has once been allowed the life of God in his heart through the words of the Bible comes to know clearly what the Bible wants of him.In this flesh that we received from our parents flows the blood that we received from Adam. This blood is holding us, our thoughts, and much of our actions, but we do not like to think about the struggle that is happening within us. We keep ignoring such thoughts. However, there is in the voice of Abraham - the forefather of faith in the Bible - the acceptance of such a fate. He says, "If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left." It says that the land was not able to support Abraham and Lot living together. We have the power to distinguish clearly-as you might cut with a knife-the desire to live for God and the gospel and the desire to live for my flesh. We must think about this in light of the words of the Bible, and we cannot help but acknowledge it. From the time referred to as, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1), there was a conflict as in the words, "Then God said, 'Let there be light;' and there was light. ... God divided the light from the darkness"(Genesis 1:3-4); the same struggle still continues in our hearts as we have born-again spirits. We can see it little by little through the relationship between Abraham and Lot. River Jordan Could Not Be Crossed with the LawAnd Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered ev

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