Latest / Voddie Baucham Sermons / Voddie Baucham - God Protects Hagar and Ishmael

Transcript

Voddie Baucham - God Protects Hagar and Ishmael · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We are rapidly coming to the end of our walk
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: through the life of Abraham. It has been and continues
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: to be an incredible blessing to look into the life
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: of this man and to see what true biblical faith
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: is all about. Oftentimes, to see true biblical faith in
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: spite of Abraham's example. Amen? And to be encouraged that
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: the father of the faithful oftentimes looked like the father
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: of the faithless. So that in our dark days, when
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: we don't exactly trust God the way we ought to,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: we can be reminded that just as Abraham was justified
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: in spite of his frailty and faults, we too have hope.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: There are, as we have talked about before, many instances
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: in the life of Abraham where if we're not careful,
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: we are tempted to sort of moralize the text and
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: miss the point. We go through Abraham's life and we
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: look at Abraham's life as though all Abraham is is
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: one of, you know, Aesop's fables so that we can
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: read the story, grab the moral of the story and
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: and walk out of here trying harder to be better
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: when the fact of the matter is that is not
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: the gospel. Amen? Jesus said that all the Bible is
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: about him. And so as we've looked into the life
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: of Abraham, we've seen time and time and time again
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: that Abraham is more than just a fable to teach
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: us how to work harder at various things. But Abraham
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: is actually a picture to us of the favor of
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: God resting on the life of a man and of
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: a people. And he is also a picture of justification
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: by faith alone apart from our works and really in
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: spite of them, if we're honest. That's the picture that
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: Abraham paints for us. And what's interesting about that is
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: because you take that different lens and place it on
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: the camera, so to speak, and look into Abraham's life,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: some passages that used to seem very obscure all of
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: a sudden come into sharper relief. This morning, we're looking
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: at such a passage. As we look at Genesis chapter 21,
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: verses 8 through 21, We see one of those passages
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: of Scripture that need to be brought into sharper relief
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: for us. And looking at this through the redemptive historical lens, again,
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: recognizing that the Bible is redemptive history. So that phrase,
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and you'll hear that phrase again and again and again,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: redemptive historical. Looking at the Bible through the redemptive historical lens,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, rather than sort of ripping things
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: out of context and turning them into various pictures of
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: works righteousness we look at the bible through the redemptive
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: historical lens and the question is not you know how
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: do we look at the bible like a yearbook because
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: again all of us do we have a tendency to
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: read the bible like you read a yearbook and you
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: know when you got your yearbook the first thing you
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: did was go to the index to find the pages
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: where you were you can't say amen you ought to
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: say ouch all right so we usually read the Bible
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: like a yearbook and we're always looking at the text saying,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: where am I? Where am I? The Bible is about
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: redemptive history. So the question in every passage is, where
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: is God? Where is the work of redemption in the
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: text that sits before me? And if we don't, we
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: get bogged down and that would be easy to do
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: in this passage. And as we read through this passage,
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: I'll just sort of allude to you a couple of
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: places where we could get bogged down. Look with me
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: beginning in verse 8. And the child grew and was weaned.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: And Abraham made a great feast on the day that
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Isaac was weaned. Well, we could get bogged down right there.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: And we could have a sermon about the weaning of children.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: And when the weaning of children is supposed to take
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: place and how the weaning of children is supposed to
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: take place. And whether or not we're supposed to have
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: a feast when children are weaned. That's not the redemptive
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: history in the text. Look at the next verse. But
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: had born, Abraham, laughing. So she said to Abraham, cast
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: out the slave woman with her son, for the son
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: of the slave woman shall not be heir with my
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: son Isaac. Well, there you go. We could talk about slavery.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: It's right here. Live and in color. Happens throughout the scriptures.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Happens here in this text. But this passage is not
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: about slavery either. Look at the next part of the passage.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: of his son. But God said to Abraham, be not
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: We can stop right there. Make a lot of wives
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: real happy. Amen? Yes, pastor. Stop right there. That one
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: right there. Read that again and again and again. Three
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: points and a poem and let's get out of here
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: on that one right there. Listen to your wife. It's
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: not the point of the text. For through Isaac shall
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: your offspring be named. And I will make a nation
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: of the son of the slave woman also. Because He
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: is your offspring. We could actually get bogged down there
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: as well. Is God the author of sin? Is he
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: justifying adultery? Verse 14. So Abraham rose early in the
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: morning and took bread and a skin of water and
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder along
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: with the child and sent her away. and she departed
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: in the skin was gone, she put the child under
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: one of the bushes. Now, it's important to recognize something
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: here as we read. If you read this at first blush,
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: it sounds almost as though Hagar is leaving Ishmael in arm,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: carrying the boy around, The water runs out. She takes
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: the baby and places the baby over here under the
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: bushes so she doesn't have to hear the baby cry
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: as the baby dies of dehydration. And the reason that
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: it would be easy to do that is because if
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: you just take the words and don't put it in
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: the proper context of the timetable, you don't realize that
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: the baby is now 16 or 17 years old and
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: could probably have carried her in the desert. This is
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: a young man that she's leaving with. Isaac is a
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: small boy of either two or three. But Ishmael is
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: 16 or 17 years old while all this is happening.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Verse 16. Then she went and sat down opposite him,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: a good way off, about the distance of a bow shot.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: For she said, let me not look on the death
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: of the child. And as she sat opposite him, she
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: voice of the boy. And the angel of God called
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: to Hagar from heaven and said to her, what troubles you, Hagar?
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: boy where he is. Up, lift up the boy and
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: hold him fast. For your excuse me, hold him fast
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: with your hand, for I will make him into a
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: great nation. This is another one where we could get
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: sort of carried off. We can get carried away here
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: into what it was God was responding to. She cries out.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: The text says the Lord heard the boy's voice. Was
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: it the boy's despair? that tugged at God's heartstrings? Is
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: this a lesson about how we are to pray? Is
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: this a lesson about the kind of prayers that move
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: the heart and the hand of God? That's not what
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: this text is about either. Verse 19, then God opened
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: her eyes and she saw a well of water and
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: she went and filled the skin with water And gave
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: the boy a drink. God was with the boy. And
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: he grew up. He lived in the wilderness. And became
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: an expert with the bow. He lived in the wilderness
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: of Paran and his mother took a wife for him
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: from the land of Egypt. Don't miss that last word.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: She took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. Egypt.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: She went back to the place from whence she had come.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: And it was there that she found a wife for
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: her boy. In this text, I want to lift for
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: you what I believe is the redemptive historical message in
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: this passage. If I had to title this, it would
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: be a tale of three nations. A tale of three nations.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Usually when we look at this, we only see two nations.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: But trust me when I tell you there are indeed
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: three represented here. And God deals specifically with these three
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: nations in this passage of Scripture. And we see redemptive
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: history unfold even further as we continue through the life
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: of Abraham. The first nation we see here is the
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: nation represented by Isaac as God deals with Isaac and
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: preserves and protects Isaac. Look at that in the first
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: few verses, really that first paragraph. And the child, verse 8,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: grew and was weaned. Now, he was weaned somewhere around
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: two or three years old. I know this is unusual
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: for us. We think about weaning children earlier than this,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: but in the ancient Near East, especially in this particular culture,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: children were generally weaned around two or three years old.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: And Abraham made a great feast on the day that
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: Isaac was weaned. Now at this great feast where Isaac
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: was weaned, Isaac was finally given, you know, some solid
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: foods to eat in a symbolic way. There were things
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: that were given to him that he would not have
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: eaten before he was weaned. Also at this feast, he
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: probably would have worn a symbolic garment. And that garment
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: would have been symbolic of the fact that he is
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: now stepping into his role as an heir to his father. Now,
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: this would have been very important for young Isaac because
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: unlike most children who were weaned at two or three,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: Isaac's daddy was over 100 years old. So if we're
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: going to celebrate him being an heir, we need to
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: do it quickly. Amen? Verse 9. But. Everything sounds wonderful. But. However. However.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian. Please note this.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: It doesn't say Sarah saw Ishmael. It says Sarah saw
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: the son of Hagar, the Egyptian. That's very important in
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: the redemptive history here. He's not just Ishmael. He's not
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: just Abraham's other sons. He is the son of Hagar,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: the Egyptian. It's very important to note that. He's the
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: son of the woman who is not the wife. He's
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: the son of the woman who did not have a
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: legitimate right to bring forth the proper heir. He's the
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: son of the woman whose relationship with Abraham represents sin
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: and disbelief. And he's the son of the woman who
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: is the Egyptian. And if you know anything about the
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: rest of the story, you know Egypt plays a very
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: important part in the life of this nation that will
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: come from Isaac. If you notice that the son of
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had born to Abraham, laughing.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: There's a play on words there. Laughter in the Hebrew
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: means just like in most languages, has a couple of connotations.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: On the one hand, there is the laughter for which
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: Isaac is named. That laughter has to do with the
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: joy that Isaac brings. That laughter, however, is also a
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: reference to the mocking that Sarah did when the angel
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: said that she was going to have a child. She's listening, remember,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: back in the tent while the angel's talking to Abraham.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: Sarah's going to bear a child. I don't know if
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: Sarah's drinking something and it's that, you know, That famous
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: moment where we just kind of spilled stuff all over
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: ourselves and we laughed, but she laughed. So it's symbolic
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: of that mocking laugh and also this laugh of joy
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: and merriment. It is the former and not the latter
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: that we see from Ishmael. It's the mocking laugh. It's
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: the sneering laugh. He's 16 or 17. This boy's two
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: or three. And they're celebrating because this boy is the heir.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: He's about the age when he would expect to get
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: his inheritance and strike out and make it on his own,
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: especially in nomadic tribes in the ancient Near East. A
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: young man of his age would have been given an
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: inheritance and set off, had a wife, and started his
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: own family, started his own tribe or clan or nation,
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: if you will. And instead of that happening, there's a
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: party for the little one who's just now being weaned.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: Listen to what Sarah says. So she said to Abraham,
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: cast out this slave woman with her son for, here's why,
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: the son of this slave woman shall not be heir
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: with my son Isaac. The first thing we see as
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: God deals with this first nation that will come from
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: Isaac is that God preserves Isaac's inheritance. God preserves Isaac's inheritance.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: This boy who was much older could already be eligible
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: for some of this inheritance, could already run through some
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: of this inheritance. And so in doing this, God actually
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: preserves Isaac's inheritance. Listen to this from Craig Keener in
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: his biblical backgrounds commentary. There is a contrast between or
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: a contract, rather, in some ancient Near Eastern documents that
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: contains a clause prohibiting the expulsion of the children of
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: the secondary wife by the primary wife. Now, hold on
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: to that, okay? In some of the legal documents that
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: we find from the ancient Near East, we know, because
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: of the customs in that area, a wife, first wife,
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: could not expel the second wife. The situation in Genesis
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: is different on two counts. First, It is Abraham who
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: sends them away, not the first wife sending the second
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: wife away. And second, Hagar has given her freedom, which,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: according to one ancient law code, would mean that her
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: children would forfeit any inheritance rights. Here's what I want
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: you to remember. In Genesis chapter 16, as a matter
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: of fact, don't remember it. Just flip over there. Turn
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: with me to the left. Turn with me to the left.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Because here's the question that you ask. You read this
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: passage of Scripture, and the first question that comes to
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: mind is what? Okay, if God is going to let
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: her go, why didn't God just let her go earlier
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: on when she was giving Sarah a hard time, and
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Sarah said, get rid of her. Go with me back
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: to chapter 16. And look at verse 5. And Sarai
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: said to Abram, may the wrong done to me be
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: on you. I gave my servant to your embrace. And
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: But Abram said to Sarai, behold, your servant is in
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: your power. Do to her as you please. Then Sarai
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her. Now
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: what happens? She flees from Sarah, goes into the wilderness,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: and it's God... who says to her, go back. Look
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: at the text. Look at what happens. Look at verse 10.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Then the angel of the Lord said to her, we're
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: talking about Hagar now, I will surely multiply your offspring
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: so that they cannot be numbered for multitude. And the
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: angel of the Lord said to her, behold, you are
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: name Ishmael because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him. and he
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: shall dwell over against his kinsmen. Go back. You're going
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: to be our son. And here's what's interesting. If Hagar leaves,
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: having been sent out by Sarah, and bears this son, Ishmael,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Ishmael could come back Right about this time that we're
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: reading about in Genesis chapter 21, at 16, 17 years old,
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: his wife having secured, his mother having secured for him
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: a wife, and come to his father, Abraham, and said,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: I am here for the inheritance that you owe me.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: And because Sarah sent my mother away and not you,
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: my mother never gained her inheritance. officially, and I never
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: lost my inheritance officially. Therefore, I am here demanding what
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: is rightfully mine. However, because she came back and because
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: she was later sent away by Abraham, she would have
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: been officially given her freedom and her son would have
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: lost all rights to his inheritance. So what we see
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: here first and foremost in God dealing with nation number one,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: which is represented in Isaac, is that God is protecting
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: Isaac's inheritance. Secondly, God is protecting Isaac from Ishmael. Isaac's
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: two or three, Ishmael's 16 or 17. We've seen brothers
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: kill brothers for less. Already in the book of Genesis,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the names Cain and Abel ring a bell. God is
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: protecting Isaac from Ishmael. It's already been prophesied that his
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: hand will be against his kinsmen. That's already been prophesied
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: about this young man. It's already been said he's going
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: to be a wild donkey of a man. He's going
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: to be against everyone and everyone's going to be against him. Well,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: now there is a young nation represented. It's about two
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: or three in the person of Isaac. And Ishmael represents
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: this other nation. And he knows that there is a
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: rift between him and the child of Sarah. This child
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: who is now being proclaimed the heir. It would not
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: have taken much for Ishmael to do away with Isaac.
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: God is protecting him. Listen to this in Galatians chapter 4,
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: 28 and 29. You have to turn there. We'll turn
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: there in a bit. But listen to this. Now, you brothers,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: the time he was born according to the flesh, he
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: was born according to the spirit, so also it is now.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: In other words, God's word in the New Testament gives
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: us another look into what's going on here in the
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: Old Testament. In this passage, all we get is he
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: laughed and Sarah says she's got to go. Was that it?
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: Was that all? No, no, no, no, that wasn't all.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: There's more to the story. There's a backdrop here. The
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: laugh that Sarah recognized was just the public display of
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: what had already been going on behind the scenes. The
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: text in the New Testament says, that Ishmael actually persecuted Isaac.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: So we have a 16 or a 17-year-old who is
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: actively persecuting a two- or three-year-old, and the two of
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: them are competing for an inheritance. Sarah says, he's got
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: to go. So God protects Isaac's inheritance, but he also
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: protects Isaac's life. from ishmael in this process and i
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: want you to notice what's said here the thing was
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: very displeasing to abraham on account of his son now
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: before remember sarah comes and she says i don't like
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: this abraham says she's your servant do whatever you please
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: why are you bothering me you don't like her get
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: rid of her go get somebody else well now there's
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: a son involved sarah says he's got to go Abraham says, oh,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: I'm not too sure about that. That's my boy. That's
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: my son. He's been with us 16, 17 years. I'm
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: a little bit attached to him. I'm sure we can
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: work this thing out. But God, verse 12, said to Abraham,
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: be not displeased because of the boy and because of
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, Do as
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Notice this. If this is just a woman throwing a tantrum,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: does God come to Abraham and say, listen, man, just
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: so you can have peace, just go ahead and do
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: this sinful thing that she's asking you to do so
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: that you can have peace in your house? No. Absolutely not.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: God comes back and says, you know what? Do what
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: Sarah says. Not Sarah's wrong. Not Sarah's sinful. No, God
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: comes and says, do what Sarah says. She's right on
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: this one. Ishmael needs to go. So God's protecting Isaac's inheritance,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: and he's also protecting Isaac's life. And finally, God is
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: preserving the true line of the Messiah. Look at what
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: he says in that last line. For through Isaac shall
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: your offspring be named. Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: In other words, remember, let's go back. And I know
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: we've gone back here again and again and again, but
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: we're going to keep going back here because we've got
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: to get this. We have to see this picture of
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: redemptive history. We've got to recognize that the Bible is
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: not like Aesop's fables. We're not just looking at little
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: moral stories that are there to teach us principles about
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: leadership or principles about whatever. This is redemptive history. Do
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: we learn things about every aspect of life? Yes, we
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: learn things about every aspect of life. But if we
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: learn these other moral principles but don't get the gospel,
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: we've missed it all. What is this about? This is
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: about Genesis 3.15. If you don't memorize any other place
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: in the Bible, that's important. By the time we finish
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: the life of Abraham, you'll know that there's something important
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: about Genesis 3.15. Genesis 3.15 is the proto-Ewangelion. It's the
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: first proclamation of the gospel. The fall of man has occurred.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: God is pronouncing judgment on And he pronounces judgment on
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: the serpent. I will put enmity between you and the
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: woman and between your seed and her seed. What's going
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: to happen between those two seeds? Well, serpent, your seed
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: will bruise him on the hill. His seed will crush
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: your head. From that moment on, what has the devil
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: been about the business of doing? Destroying the seed. Oh,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: the seed of the woman, huh? Okay. That's chapter three.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: What happens in chapter four? Cain kills Abel. We got
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: to destroy the seed. Next thing that happens, God gives
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: another son, Seth. And then we have this line, 10
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: generations from Seth all the way down to Noah, tracing
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the promised seed. A deliverer is going to come. Noah's
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: a deliverer, but he's just a type of Christ. He's
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: not the promised Messiah. So there's deliverance there through Noah.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: And now just a couple of generations later, here we
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: are at Abraham. Abraham has this promise made to him.
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: This promise made to him about being the father of
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: many nations. But we also know that God is bringing
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: through him this promised seed. We know because we've seen
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: the back of the book that the promised seed is
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: ultimately the person of Jesus Christ. But it's not just
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: anyone who issues forth from Abraham. Ishmael doesn't qualify. Isaac does.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: By the way, in the very next generation, we see
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: the same thing. Jacob have I loved. Esau have I hated.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: The promised seed is not coming through the firstborn Esau.
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: The promised seed is coming through the secondborn Jacob. Well,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: why God? Because it's my business, not yours. This is
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: not about the flesh. I'm doing something here. Well, okay, fine.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: We got Jacob. Well, then how about Jacob? One of
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Jacob's boys is going to bring forth the promised seed.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: How about that one he really likes? How about Joseph? No,
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: Joseph's very important, but it's not Joseph. Who is it?
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: It's Judah. The promised seed is the lion of the
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: tribe of Judah. So in every generation, God points out
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: the fact I'm about something. I'm doing something. I'm fulfilling
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: a promise that I made in Genesis chapter 3 and
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: verse 15, and that promise has to do with the
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: one who will come, who is the seed of the woman,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: whose heel will be bruised by the serpent, but who
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: will ultimately crush the head of the serpent and bring
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: deliverance as I have promised. So God is protecting the
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: line of the Messiah. Well, there's a second nation here.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: Ishmael represents that second nation. And God is even at
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: work there. First of all, God repeats his promise concerning Ishmael.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: Look in verses 13 and 18. Look at verse 13.
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: And I will make a nation of the son of
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: the slave woman also, because he is your offspring. Look
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: at verse 18. He says it to her. Up, lift
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: up the boy and hold him fast with your hand.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: for I will make him into a great nation. Where
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: does this come from? Go back with me to chapter
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: 17 and verse 20. Now chapter 17, verse 15 and following,
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: we have the promise of the birth of Isaac. But
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: in the midst of that, listen to what God says
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: in verse 20. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: multiply him greatly. He shall father 12 princes and I
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: will make him into a great nation. Now that gets
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: us back to the other question. Because oftentimes here's where
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: we want to go. We want to go here and
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: we want to say, well, here they are in the desert.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: And Hagar cries out to God. And when Hagar cries
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: out to God, God responds. And God says, I've heard
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: the cry of your son Ishmael. And so we come
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: back and we say, see, here are principles about how
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: to get prayers answered. If you cry out in desperation,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: God will hear you. And God will change your circumstances
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: because he's heard your cry of desperation. Newsflash. God did
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: what he did for Ishmael because of a promise he
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: made to Abraham. Doesn't matter what Ishmael said under that bush.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: God's keeping his promise. And you can't exactly make him
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: a great nation if he dies of dehydration in the desert. Amen?
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: God's keeping his word. God's keeping his promise. So what
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: we learn here is not, if you want your prayers answered,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: cry out like a desperate woman in the desert. No,
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: if you want your prayers answered, pray God's word back
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: to him. Amen? Pray God's word back to him. He's
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: a covenant-keeping God. He's a promise-keeping God. And he reiterates
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: his promise to the second nation, Ishmael. Secondly, God provides
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: for Ishmael upon his departure and in the desert. Ishmael's
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: leaving because of the soft heart of his father. He
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: leaves with provisions. By the way, without the provisions that
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: Abraham gives them upon their departure, they don't make it
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: to the well. Notice they had just enough to get
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: to the well. They lay down to die. And it's
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: right at the place where they lay down to die
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: that God says, not go over there several miles and
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: then go this. No, he just says, look up. Huh? Yeah, Hagar.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: You made it to the well. The provision of Abraham
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: was just enough for you to make it to the well.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: And now here's provision for you at the well. That,
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: my friends, is the providence of God toward the second nation.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: Toward Ishmael. Providence of God. The mercy of God. The
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: grace of God. Finally, God prepares Ishmael for his calling.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: Remember Ishmael's calling? Wild donkey of a man. His hand
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: against everyone. Everyone's hand against him. In other words, Ishmael's
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: going to be a warrior. Not just any kind of warrior.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: He's going to war with everyone. Everyone's going to know
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: him as a warrior. So not like David. For David,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: it just depended on who you asked. You ask certain people,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: David's this wonderful king, man that for God's own heart,
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: he's this, you know, this harpist, great guy. You ask
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: other people, David, oh yeah, he's a mighty warrior. He
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: wipes people out. Just depends on who you ask. Ishmael,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter who you ask. Who's Ishmael? He wars. With whom?
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: He wars. When? He wars. Where? Listen, He wars anytime, anywhere,
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: for any reason. That's who he is. His hand against
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: everyone and everyone's hand against him. I want you to
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: notice the play on words. The first play on words
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: here in this passage is the word laughter. There's a
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: second play on words here. Look at this. She says,
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: verse 16, then she went and sat down opposite him
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: a good way off, About the distance of a bow shot.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: Isn't that an interesting way of calculating distance? About the
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: distance of a bow shot. And then what does it
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: say later on? Look down in verse 20. And God
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: was with the boy and he grew up. He lived
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: Listen to this. This obscure reference in Isaiah chapter 21,
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: verses 16 and 17. For thus the Lord said to me,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: within a year, according to the years of a hired worker,
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: all the glory of Kedar will come to an end
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: and the remainder... of the archers of the mighty men
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: of the sons of Kedar will be few. For the Lord,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: the God of Israel, has spoken. Who's Kedar? One of
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: the sons of Ishmael. They're known as mighty men and archers.
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: Where's that come from? That comes from Ishmael's time in
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: the desert. God was preparing Ishmael for his calling. Now
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: here's what's interesting. Look at the last line. He lived
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: in the wilderness of Paran and his mother took a
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: wife for him from the land of Egypt. Here's what's interesting.
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: Many scholars calculate the 400 years of Israel's oppression under Egypt,
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: not from Exodus chapter one, there arose a king who
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: did not know Joseph, but from Genesis chapter 21. It
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: was actually the relationship between Ishmael and Isaac that began
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: the hostilities between Egypt and Israel. And that was Ishmael's
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: purpose in the providence of God. Sometimes to judge his
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: people sometimes to rescue his people. For example, as we
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: read further, one of the things that we're going to
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: see is this. Isaac's going to have this son named Jacob,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: and Jacob is going to have these 12 sons. One
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: of them is not going to be liked very well
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: by the others. They're going to put him in a
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: hole so that he can be taken off. He's taken
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: off and he's sold into slavery. Where? In Egypt. Egypt
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: is oppressing Israel. He's not only a slave there, he
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: ends up in prison there. Egypt is oppressing Israel. However,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: he rises from the prison and becomes second in command
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: only to Pharaoh. Why? So that he can oversee the
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: time of plenty so that Egypt can have something during
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: the famine and that Jacob can bring peace. his other
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: sons to Egypt and be cared for because Joseph is
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: in charge of the grain there. In other words, God
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: used Egypt to oppress Israel and then to deliver Israel.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: What happens after that? They go into slavery in Egypt.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: That famous line in Exodus 1, there arose a Pharaoh
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: who did not know Egypt. They're oppressed in Egypt. Newsflash.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: They leave Egypt overloaded with good stuff. And they go
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: into the desert. And they're okay. Why? Because they plundered
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: Egypt on the way out. They're delivered from Egypt. But
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: is that it? Is that all? Is the relationship between
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Egypt and the promised seed over now? No. Matthew chapter 21.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: Look at Matthew chapter 21. I'm sorry. Matthew chapter 2.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: What am I doing? I'm thinking Genesis chapter 21 and
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter 2. Look beginning in verse 13. Now when
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: to Joseph in a dream. and said, Rise, take the
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: child and his mother and flee to where? Egypt. And
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: to search for the child to destroy him. What's happening?
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: The seed of the serpent wants to destroy the seed
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: of the woman so that he doesn't get his head crushed.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: By the way, that's the same thing Pharaoh tried to do.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: He tried to destroy the seed to kill the firstborn males.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: Herod's doing the same thing that Pharaoh tried to do.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: But now, where are they going to get away? Back
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: to Egypt. But listen to this. And he arose and
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: took the child and his mother by night and departed
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: the prophet Herod. Out of Egypt I called my son. Amen. Hallelujah.
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: Praise the Lord for Egypt. God used Egypt in the
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: life of his people. From Abraham all the way down
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: to the fulfillment and the promised seed of Jesus Christ.
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: So it was very important that he fulfilled his promise
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: to Ishmael the daughter of the Egyptian who married an Egyptian.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: That there's a third nation. And that third nation is
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: a spiritual nation. Because there's not just one Israel. There
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: are two. Look with me if you will. Galatians chapter 3.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: Galatians chapter 3. Look at 16 to 18. Let's go
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: 15 to 18. To give a human example, brothers, even
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: not say, and to offsprings, referring to many, but referring
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: to one. and to your offspring who is Christ. This
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: is what I mean. The law which came 430 years
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: afterward does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: so as to make the promise void. For if inheritance
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. God
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: makes a distinction between the child of the flesh and
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: the child of the promise. Isaac is not just significant
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: because of this physical nation that comes from him. Remember,
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: Isaac is significant because of the heir who is going
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: to come, who is the person of Jesus Christ. And
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is not just about the nation of Israel.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ is about the deliverance of God's elect from
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: their sin. There's another nation here. Now go to chapter 4.
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: And look at 421 and following. Tell me you who
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: desire to be under the law, do you not listen
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: to the law? For it is written that Abraham had
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: two sons, one by a slave woman and one by
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: a free woman. But the son of the slave was
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: born according to the flesh, while the son of the
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: free woman was born through promise. Now, this may be
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: interpreted allegorically. Now, we don't have the right to go
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: and do that to the Old Testament on our own.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: But Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: us what God was trying to communicate in Genesis chapter 21,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: verses 8 through 21. Amen? We don't have to wonder. God,
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: was there another meaning here in this passage? We don't
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: have to wonder. God tells us right here in Galatians
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: chapter 4. These women are two covenants. One is from
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: Mount Sinai. bearing children for slavery. She is Hagar. Now,
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She corresponds to the
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: For it is written, Rejoice, O barren one who does
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: not bear. Break forth and cry aloud, you who are
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: not in labor. For the children of the desolate one
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: will be more than those of the one who has
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: a husband. Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: But just as at that time he who was born
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: to the spirit, so also it is now. But what
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: does the scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: her son, for the son of the slave woman shall
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: not inherit with the son of the free woman. Now,
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: do you think that was a sinful statement? Again, at
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: first blush, when you read Genesis chapter 21, it sounds
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: like just an emotional response from Sarah. It wasn't, it wasn't.
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: This was God's design. So brothers, we're not children of
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: the slave, but of the free woman. Paul says, even now,
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: there is this controversy between those of us who are
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: children of the free woman and the others, but please
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: recognize the book of Galatians. What's the book of Galatians
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: all about? The book of Galatians is about the Judaizing controversy,
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: because the Judaizing controversy is this. The Jews are saying, okay, fine,
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: we have Christ, we have freedom in Christ, we have
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: deliverance in Christ, we have forgiveness of sins in Christ,
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: but if these Gentiles are going to get in, They're
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: not in according to the flesh. So at least, at
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: least they're going to follow through on circumcision because somehow
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: they got to become Jews first. Paul says, absolutely not.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: This promise was not about becoming Jews. This promise was
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: about the promised seed, Jesus Christ, coming to save his
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: people and deliver his people. Jews and Greeks. That's why
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: Paul is able to say in Romans 1.16, I am
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: is the power of God unto salvation for the Jew
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: first and also to the Greek. In other words, the
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: Jew also needs the gospel. He makes that clear also
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: in Romans chapter 2. You Jews think you're better? You
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: have the law. Okay, fine. And he has this scenario
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: where It's almost in Romans chapter 2, he's saying, let's
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: just take this hypothetical scenario. You have the Gentile who
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: does what the law says, but he doesn't have the law.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: And you got the Jew who has the law, but
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: doesn't do what the law says. Which one's right? It's
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: not the law. You've got the law and you don't
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: keep the law. And that whole discussion about, is it
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: better then to be a Jew? What advantage then is
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: there to being a Jew? Yeah, there are some advantages,
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: but they don't have to do with justification. Justification is
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: by faith. There is a third nation. Look with me,
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: if you will, a couple of passages, and we'll be done.
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: We've got to look at these. You've got to look
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: at Romans chapter 4. And the beauty of walking through this,
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: and I hope it's been for you as well, the
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: beauty of walking through the life of Abraham is that
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: I have never, ever understood Romans better than I do now. Never,
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: ever understood Romans better. Okay? You've got to understand the
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: life of Abraham in order to understand the book of Romans.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: You have to. Look at Romans 4. And look at
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: 9 to 25. And then we'll look at Romans 9,
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: 6 to 13. Is this blessing then only for the
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: was counted to Abraham as righteousness. how then was it
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: counted to him? Was it before or after he had
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.
• 48:30
  Speaker 1: He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: the righteousness that he had by faith while he was
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: of all who believe without being circumcised, so that the
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: make him the father of the circumcised who are not
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: merely the circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: of the faith that our father Abraham had before he
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: was circumcised. In other words, what does he say? Abraham
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: was counted as righteous before he was circumcised. So now
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: we see two nations from Abraham. Number one, it's wonderful
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: we see this physical nation from Abraham. Praise the Lord
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: for this physical nation that came from Abraham. But Abraham's
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: also the father of the faithful because he was counted
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: as righteous apart from his circumcision and before his circumcision
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: so that the Gentile now has hope of justification apart
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: from the law. You see that? That's the third nation here.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: For the sake of time, you read the rest of
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: that chapter. For the sake of time, let's go to
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: chapter 9. And look at 9, 6 through 13. But
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: it is not as though the word of God has failed.
• 49:47
  Speaker 1: For not all who are descendants from Israel belong to Israel.
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: Not all who are descendants of Israel belong to Israel.
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: And not all are children of Abraham because they are
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: his offspring. But through Isaac your offspring shall be named.
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: Does that sound familiar? He's quoting Genesis 21. This means
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: that it is not the children of the flesh who
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: are the children of God, but the children of the
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: promise are counted as offspring. For this is what the
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: promise said about this time next year, I will return
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: and Sarah shall have a son. And not only so,
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: but also when Rebecca had conceived children by one man,
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: our forefather Isaac, Though they were not yet born and
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: had not done either good or bad, in order that
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works,
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: but because of his call, she was told, the older
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: will serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob I
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: have loved, Esau I have hated. This is not just
• 50:56
  Speaker 1: about the nation that proceeded forth from Abraham's flesh. This
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: is about that nation whom God raises up from every tribe,
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: every kindred, every tongue, every people. This is about God
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: gathering a nation for himself that springs forth from the
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: child of promise. Isaac? No. Yeshua HaMashiach. Jesus the Messiah.
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: That's the promised seed. Isaac is privileged because he got
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: to be in the line. Jacob is privileged because he
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: got to be in the line. Judah, privileged because he
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: got to be in the line. David, he's privileged because
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: he got to be in the line. Solomon, privileged because
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: he got to be in the line. However, they merely
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: got to be links in the chain. But the finished
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: work in God's redemptive history is the coming of his son,
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: born of a woman, born under the law, and born
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: in the fullness of time. In Isaac's day, the fullness
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: of time had not come, but that's okay because God
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: protected his inheritance, God protected his life, and God protected
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: the line. The fullness of time had not come. Are
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: we afraid here in Genesis 21? Are we supposed to
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: be on pins and needles wondering, oh, what if God
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: can't protect the line? Can't protect the line? God raises
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: up Ishmael in order to provide for his people when
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: he needs them to and to persecute his people when
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: he needs them to. God is sovereign. Amen? God is sovereign.
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: So why do you worry as to whether or not
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: He who began a good work in you is able
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: to see it through to completion. Amen? Why? And why
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: on earth do you and I try to muster up
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: enough in ourselves to somehow satisfy God? You know what
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: that is? Here's what we do. Here's what we do
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: when we come to God with our works. Basically, we say,
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: you know, God, I think it was wonderful that you,
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: way back in Adam's time, Gave us the gospel in
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. That was good stuff, God.
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: The fact that after the death of Abel, you gave
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: him Seth. You gave him those next 10 generations. You
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: gave him the ark. You protected the promised seed. Got
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: the promised seed off the ark. Brought them through to Abraham.
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: That was wonderful. Great work, God. You did that, and
• 53:55
  Speaker 1: that was good. You brought forth Isaac, although there's no
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: way those two should have had a child. You brought
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: forth Jacob, and through Jacob, you brought forth his 12 sons.
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: Through those 12 sons, you brought forth Judah, and you
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: promised us the lion of the tribe of Judah. That
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: tribe of Judah went all the way through to David.
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: That's great. It went all the way through David's sons
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: on down to Joseph and Mary, who were part of
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: that same lineage, and you brought us the person of
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, you poured out your wrath
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: on sin and completely satisfied your wrath so that you
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: could be, as Paul says, both just and the justifier
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: of the one who places faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: Christ was actively obedient so that he was completely righteous
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: and kept the whole law so that he could impute
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: that righteousness to us and you can now look at
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: us as complete law keepers. He was also passively obedient
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: in that he died on the cross and took the
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: penalty for our sins so that your wrath would be
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: satisfied and you could embrace me as your child. However,
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: I just thought I'd help you out. By not doing
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: this and starting to do that. Because as I look
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: at this magnificent plan of redemptive history, it just seemed
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: to be missing a contribution from me. Help you if
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: you think like that. And I know you do. Because
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: I do. I just need to be reminded every once
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: in a while God is the one who saves. And
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: my little efforts at righteousness are filthy rags in his sight.
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: That on my best day, I am not worthy of
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: the justification I've received in Christ through faith on my
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: best day. And when I come before God with works,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: I had better come before God saying, look, at what
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: your son has produced in filthy, dirty, nasty, rotten me.
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: Isn't your boy good? That's the only way I better
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: come to God with my works. Amen? That's the only
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: way I ever better come to God with my works.
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: Bringing glory and honor to Jesus Christ. Because Paul asks
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: this very important rhetorical question. Where then is boasting? Isn't
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: that great? There at the end of chapter 3. He
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: walks through redemptive history and he shows what God has
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: done in Christ. And he just asks the question that
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: ought to be asked. Where then is boasting? It is excluded.
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: There's no room for it. So the next time you
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: give your testimony, every time your mouth wants to say I,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: just bite your tongue. Are you a Christian? Yes. Because
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: I used to be this and now I am that
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: and I did this and I, I, I, I, I.
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: Is that your testimony? Next time somebody asks you to
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: give them your testimony, you give them redemptive history. That's
• 57:33
  Speaker 1: my testimony. God did all of this and in the
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: midst of it, For some reason, unbeknownst to me, by
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: his overwhelming, unmerited, undeserved, inexplicable grace, he called me out
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: of darkness into his marvelous light. That's my testimony. My
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: testimony is God's been good to me. My testimony is
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: I don't deserve it. My testimony is on my best day.
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: It makes no sense to me that I'm a child
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: of God. That's my testimony. Hear this. Hear the gospel today.
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: Believe the gospel today. Take hold of the gospel today.
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: Better yet, let the gospel take hold of you today.
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: Let God bring you to that place of repentance and
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: faith to the end of yourself where you can be
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: still and know that he is God.