WEBVTT 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.640 This morning's reading is Genesis twenty one. 00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:27.199 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:33.439 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:45.119 Abram called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Samar Sarah bore to him Isaac, and Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:52.159 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him, and Sarah said, God has made laughter for me. 00:00:52.399 --> 00:00:54.640 Everyone who hears will laugh over me. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:59.759 And she said, Who would you have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:02.640 Yet I have borne him a son in his old age. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:08.159 And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:13.120 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham laughing. 00:01:13.439 --> 00:01:21.599 So she said to Abraham, Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:25.200 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:31.760 But God said to Abraham, Be not displeased, because of the body because of the boy and because of your slave woman. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:42.799 Whatever Sarah says to you, do she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named, and I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:50.799 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:53.840 She departed and wandered in the wilderness of Bersheba. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:58.719 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:07.200 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, Let me not look on the death of the child. 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:11.120 And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:17.599 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, What troubles you, Hagar? 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:21.360 Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:26.560 Up, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:32.719 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:34.879 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.840 He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:42.879 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. 00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:49.759 At that time Abimelech and Fikal, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, God is with you in all that you do. 00:02:50.000 --> 00:03:02.719 Now therefore swear to me here by God that you not deal falsely with me or with my descendants, or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:05.120 And Abraham said, I will swear. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:13.120 When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized, Abimelech said, I do not know who has done this thing. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:16.080 You did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today. 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:21.280 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:29.439 Abraham set seven Ewlambs of the flock apart, and Abimelech said to Abraham, What is the meaning of these seven Ewlambs that you've set apart? 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:36.080 He said, These seven Ewlams you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:41.120 Therefore that place place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:43.280 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:48.879 Then Abimelech and Fikal, the commander of his army, rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:54.719 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God. 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:57.759 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:03:59.199 And so read God's word. 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:01.199 Good to welcome you. 00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:18.319 The final thing as we get into it that I'd like to say to you is, I guess by way of confession, uh I'd like to confess uh something uh on uh behalf of my wife and I as I get into this passage, uh, that we have a uh a guilty pleasure that we like to watch. 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:19.680 It's just finished. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:25.279 Um, and that is uh that I must confess to you that we rather enjoy watching Married at First Sight. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:28.319 I don't know if you've ever seen this program. 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:32.480 Uh we certainly don't endorse this way of conducting relationships. 00:04:32.639 --> 00:04:38.240 Uh, but the uh the principle behind the TV program, if you've never seen it, where have you been? 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:52.160 Um but if you've never seen it is that uh people who have never met one another obviously fill in uh a questionnaire and they are complete strangers, but they're matched by experts uh who match them up. 00:04:52.319 --> 00:04:56.480 We are convinced that we would be better experts and matching people. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:03.439 And the first time that uh these two complete strangers meet is on their wedding day, right? 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.600 Uh where everybody's dressed up and it's we all we've got to start our life together. 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:18.160 And uh and so the ceremony begins and uh the couple begins their life in the experiment, and they make vows and promises uh to one another. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:26.800 And 85% of the time by week 10, when the series is ended, the the relationships have completely detonated. 00:05:27.120 --> 00:05:31.839 And I think about another 10% in the in the weeks afterwards. 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:46.160 Uh, you hear people going off and leaving their their spouse that they met at first sight, saying things like, oh well, I actually wasn't ready for a relationship, and uh, oh, I just have to be true to myself. 00:05:46.639 --> 00:05:52.720 And uh and so they they leave the vows and the promises that they made 10 weeks ago. 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:53.680 It doesn't really matter. 00:05:53.839 --> 00:06:02.079 Married at first sight doesn't have any particular uh commitment to it. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:09.279 Those promises are so easily done away with, they're completely chip paper disposable. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:26.319 And it just seems normal that people would do that, that people would walk away when they don't feel like they're uh particularly satisfied by the relationship, when they don't really feel uh uh engaged or or fulfilled in it. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:31.680 It just seems normal for people to break their promises all the time. 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:34.879 We expect people to break promises. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.920 We certainly expect our leaders uh to break promises. 00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:43.519 That's why I guess so many people are cynical and skeptical when it comes to politics. 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:52.160 Promises are broken by those who we love, promises are broken by those who we look up to, promises are broken by uh by parents and spies. 00:06:53.360 --> 00:06:57.439 Some of you have had promises broken that have been profoundly hurtful. 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.680 And then there are times when we ourselves have been the promise breakers. 00:07:05.279 --> 00:07:10.079 When actually we have walked away from those things that we have vowed. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:16.879 Even faith can sometimes feel like a bunch of broken promises. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:30.160 Maybe that's why actually people are skeptical about any claims that God might make or that we might make here on a Sunday morning on his behalf. 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:41.680 People have trusted institutions and religious leaders, had relationships with them in the past that have left people feeling hurt. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:59.360 And so the idea of trusting someone or trusting an institution or entrusting yourself to God is a scary prospect because actually what you have experienced is when you have left yourself vulnerable, you've been left let down. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:02.319 People have broken their promises. 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:10.160 That can leave us jaded when it comes to God and the claims of of Christianity. 00:08:10.959 --> 00:08:15.920 We kind of wonder, well, is is God just kind of is he all talk as well? 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:20.720 So many people in in my life have been all talk. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.040 They've said one thing and they've done another. 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:25.040 And is God like that? 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:39.519 If you notice that that actually a lot of the time when we're when we're feeling hurt, we project that upwards and we project those uh those negative experiences upwards on our view of God. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:42.240 I think, well, is God just like that? 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:45.200 Is he just all talk as well? 00:08:47.039 --> 00:08:54.080 And as we've seen, as we've been going through the Abraham narrative, these sorts of emotions are part of the normal human experience. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:09:05.200 Both the Abraham and Sarah have doubted whether or not God will make good on his promises in various ways at various points through their life that we've been following up until this point. 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:12.399 But here in this passage, the thing to come away with is what we were singing in the kids' song. 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:18.480 That God's not all talk, that God does actually always keep his promises. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:30.559 And that if you can put roots down into that, and if you can begin to build your life on that, you're building on something that will never be shaken. 00:09:30.639 --> 00:09:32.399 You're building on someone who won't walk away. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:35.120 You're building on someone who isn't all talk. 00:09:36.480 --> 00:09:49.519 And so my hope this morning is that as we look at this passage, we'll we'll see three things that uh God always keeps his promises, he keeps his promises through the pain, and he keeps his promises even in the mundane. 00:09:50.399 --> 00:09:53.360 Those are the three things this morning. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:57.279 First, God keeps his promises. 00:09:57.679 --> 00:10:11.759 The passage opens immediately after Abraham had nearly jeopardized uh his family again, he had given Sarah away again and had lied again. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:22.799 And yet, the passage opens, and we see that the long-awaited son is born. 00:10:23.200 --> 00:10:27.120 Isaac has arrived, hurrah! It is wonderful. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:30.320 And look at the repetition in verses one and two. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:38.399 If you're uh, in order to look at the repetition in verses one and two, it uh would be good for you to have chapter 21 of Genesis open in front of you. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:44.080 Pull it up in Bible Gateway on your phone, English Standard Version of the Bible, and we're looking at verses one and two. 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:46.399 Or if you've got a Bible app, look at it there. 00:10:46.720 --> 00:10:54.000 Because the repetition here is on uh is emphasizing what God had said, what God had promised. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:55.360 Verses 1 and 2. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:11:00.799 He visited Sarah as he had said, he did to Sarah as he had promised. 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:06.559 Sarah conceived at the time at which God had spoken to her. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:11.200 He did exactly as he promised. 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:17.759 The long-awaited son, the son through whom all of the nations of the world would ultimately be blessed. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:19.600 He's finally here. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:29.600 Despite all of the failures of Abraham and Sarah, despite all of the doubts, despite all of the questions, he's born just as God had said. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.240 And what's the most surprising thing about these verses? 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:42.080 The most surprising thing about these verses is not that Isaac is born, but it's how matter-of-fact it all is. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:56.559 That actually in the grand scheme of the passage of the chapter, so little time is given to talking about the birth of Isaac, the son of promise, the son that Abraham had longed for for 30 years at this point. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:02.159 You would expect trumpeters, angelic hosts coming and announcing, you'd expect more details. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:03.440 Did she have an epijal? 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:04.159 How was the labor? 00:12:04.799 --> 00:12:05.360 Did she go on? 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:06.159 You know, how was it? 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:10.159 We would expect more details, but no, Isaac was born just as God had said. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:11.200 Why? 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:14.159 Why is there no dramatic buildup? 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:16.159 Why is there so little detail? 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:19.120 Why is it so matter-of-fact? 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:24.559 Because as far as God was concerned, it was never in doubt. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:27.840 As far as God was concerned, it was never in doubt. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:36.480 It's as though, with the brevity, God is challenging us and he's kind of saying, sorry, did you did you think that I was all talk? 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:39.519 You didn't think that I was all talk, did you? 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:41.919 Did you think that I wouldn't make good on that? 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:44.159 Of course I make good on it. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:45.919 I'm the promise keeping God. 00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:47.919 I always keep my promises. 00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:50.480 I promise that I did, and I did it. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:51.440 Let's move on. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:53.120 The story continues. 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:56.159 It's amazing, really. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:10.720 Sarah and Abraham both did struggle to believe that God would be good to his word at various points. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:20.960 But the the brevity and matter-of-factness of these verses is so much better than their failing and faltering faith. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:29.600 Because what it shows us is that all of their failures, all of their doubts, never jeopardize the promises of God. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:37.519 And that's really good news for us because that points us again to the fact that God is the God of grace. 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.679 He is the God of undeserved kindness. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:52.320 He makes promises and he keeps them, and his keeping them is not based on the clarity of your faith. 00:13:53.919 --> 00:13:58.879 He keeps them and his keeping them is not based on whether or not you would ever have any doubts. 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.879 He keeps them because of who he is. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:08.159 Because he is enduringly faithful, even when you are faithless. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.759 God has made promises similarly to us. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.960 Promises made to us in Jesus. 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:23.759 In Jesus, he has promised to forgive all who would come to him. 00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:33.519 He has promised that in that forgiveness would be an adoption into his family, to be a son, a daughter of the king. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:46.559 A promise to change us, a promise to persevere with us through all of our foibles and failings, through all of our faithlessness, and to preserve us until the end. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:52.879 To keep us in his love and to be God to us forever. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:15:06.720 And so when we struggle, when we falter, when we fail, when we make stupid decisions like Abraham does more than once, does that jeopardize God's promises? 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:10.000 Do we make them less sure? 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:11.759 No. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:13.679 No, we don't. 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:16.960 Because they're not grounded in us in the first place. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:23.360 They are grounded in the promise-keeping God who will see them done. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:30.000 This, friends, is the essence of faith. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:31.679 You want to know, do I have faith? 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:32.799 Here's the question. 00:15:33.039 --> 00:15:34.639 Do you take God at His Word? 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:37.360 Do you hear His promises? 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:41.519 His promises to be God to you, His promises to forgive you, and do you trust them? 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:43.360 That's faith. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:45.600 Do you take God at His Word? 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:50.559 Do you believe that when He speaks, He speaks truthfully and isn't just all talk? 00:15:51.360 --> 00:16:08.080 The reality is that we actually stand in a much better position than Abraham and Sarah, because we see the full technicolor culmination of all of the things that Abraham and Sarah were glimpsing at, straining to see down the corridors of time. 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:13.120 We see them all fulfilled ultimately in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:17.360 And so for us, the the certainty is more assured. 00:16:17.679 --> 00:16:19.279 But the call is the same. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.840 The call is to take God at His Word. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:28.559 To trust Him, to trust His promise, to trust His promise of forgiveness and of new life. 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:31.840 Do you take God at His word? 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:36.879 And look at Sarah's response. 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:41.360 Sarah responds with joy. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:47.600 Verse six, and Sarah said, God has made laughter for me. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:49.279 That's what Isaac means. 00:16:49.759 --> 00:16:54.080 And everyone who hears will laugh over me. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.240 She laughs with joy. 00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:58.799 She cannot believe it. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:11.119 If you remember back to chapter 18, just three chapters ago, she laughed a kind of cynical numbness at the promises of God. 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:17.279 But now God has turned her cynicism into joy and delight. 00:17:19.440 --> 00:17:24.640 Her response is how we ought to respond when the God of grace shows up and visits us. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:35.519 When he shows that he is good to his word, when he fulfills his promises, even though we have had nothing to do to deserve or to merit them. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:37.200 What's our response? 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:43.680 It's to look with laughter and joy and delight that God would do that for us. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:54.079 That I just as she looked down at that newborn and the smile, her face hurt, because she just couldn't stop smiling. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:56.720 That God would be so good to his promises. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:10.240 So it is for every Christian that actually that that sense of delight, that sense of joy, that God would be so good to us that he would keep his promises despite ourselves, despite our failings. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.359 An appropriate response of faith is to be joyful. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:39.920 Abraham also responds, and I'm sure he responds with joy, but one of the things that the passage focuses in on is that Abraham uh takes the boy and uh circumcises him. 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:40.640 This is verse 4. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.720 Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old. 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:49.359 This is what God had told him to do back in chapter 17. 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:51.519 When you give him the sign of circumcision. 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:55.599 If you're new, you get to go and you can go back and you can listen to a whole sermon on circumcision. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:56.160 You're welcome. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:58.079 It's up there on Spotify. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:06.799 But not getting into all of that, the point simply is that Abraham responds with obedience to God. 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.839 God has shown up, he has shown him his grace, he has made good on his promises. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:16.720 Sarah responds with joy, and Abraham responds with obedience. 00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:18.319 He does what God said. 00:19:19.440 --> 00:19:24.799 And taking those two things in tandem, that's kind of the Christian life, folks. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:32.319 Joy in God, listening to him and doing what he says. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:40.880 Not in order to earn the promises, but in response to the promises already made and delivered. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:47.680 In joyous, gratitude-filled obedience to the God who has loved you. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:53.119 That is what we see here from Abraham and Sarah. 00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:55.680 And so it's worth reflecting on this morning. 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:01.759 Does the have you experienced the goodness of God to you? 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:04.319 Have you seen him make good on his promises? 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:18.720 Have you seen how it is that he has come and he has lived and he has died and he has rose again for you to secure your forgiveness, to adopt you into a new community, the church, into the family of God? 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:27.599 That he has promised to make you a new creation in Christ, that he has promised to keep you secure in everlasting, nail-pierced at hands. 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:32.640 And in embracing that, does that give you joy? 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:37.119 Can you enjoy God this morning? 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:54.400 Can you reflect on him and think even if this is hard for those of us who have been Christian for um for lots of years because these things aren't new, and so we get kind of familiar, and familiarity tends to breed, if not contempt, at least I kind of go, Oh yeah, I know that. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:21:03.279 But it's worth kind of sitting back and going, actually, the salvation that God brings is truly wonderful. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:07.920 It's amazing that he would love the likes of me. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:10.880 This is grace. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:13.599 Delight you this morning. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:21.440 Are you listening to him to what he is saying to you for your life? 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:26.480 Are you responding to him in grace-fueled obedience? 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:30.720 God always keeps his promises. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:36.880 Secondly, God keeps his promises even through pen. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:40.799 God keeps his promises even through pen. 00:21:41.200 --> 00:21:45.839 Now, the narrative takes a sad turn. 00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:50.319 When we go on, we we read about how Isaac was weaned. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:54.160 Now in the ancient Near East, um, that was a big deal. 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:58.319 Uh the child at this point, Isaac's around somewhere between two and three. 00:21:58.480 --> 00:21:59.680 Okay, so he's not six months old. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.640 Old. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:02.799 He's between two and three. 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:07.920 And the weaning of a child was a cause for celebration because of infant mortality and all of those things. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:14.880 And so Abraham throws this big party to celebrate Isaac's weaning. 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:22.240 And that means that Ishmael, his older brother, is at this point about 16, 17 years old. 00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:24.480 So he's a he's a teenager. 00:22:24.640 --> 00:22:31.759 And we read in verse 9 that Sarah sees Ishmael laughing at the boy. 00:22:32.559 --> 00:22:40.319 Look at me in verse 9, but Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:55.200 And this laughter here, there's every indication in the text to indicate that this laughter was not a laughter of joy and delight at his little brother, but a laughter of mockery. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:03.440 A kind of a looking down on the on the child, on the little one, and going, This is who you were waiting for? 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:07.920 I mean, probably every older sibling uh looks at your younger siblings like that. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:10.400 This is what you really wanted? 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:10.960 You know. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:17.039 Ah, spot the ones with younger siblings. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.559 Looking down, going, he's mocking. 00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:24.240 This is the one through whom all the nations of the world will be blessed. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:24.960 Him. 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:35.200 The point is that he is mocking, stand in mock standing in mockery over this over the son of the promise. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:44.240 He's mocking the promised one, the one through whom God would ultimately work to bring blessing to the nations. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:59.440 Sarah, therefore, who it seems must have always struggled with the presence of Hagar and Ishmael ever since her terrible ideas in chapter 16. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:07.039 She goes to Abraham and she demands that the son and the boy and his mother should be sent away. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:14.000 This is clearly a very difficult thing for Abraham to contend with. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:16.000 And that's very understandable, isn't it? 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:27.920 Abraham, uh, before uh back in chapter 17 had pleaded with God that actually uh that that Ishmael would be would be kind of incorporated in, that he would be the one who would inherit the promise. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:28.240 Why? 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:30.720 Because he's a dad and he loves his boy. 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:37.680 So this idea of having to send him away is it's very difficult for him. 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:46.400 And yet God comes to him and says, Do as Sarah is advising you to do. 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:48.000 Send the boy away. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:55.759 Maybe you kind of you kind of bulk at that slide and go, why would why would God say that? 00:24:56.480 --> 00:24:57.920 Why would God do that? 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:00.000 That seems strange. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:01.920 That doesn't seem kind. 00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:09.839 There are at least two reasons why God would do this. 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:17.519 The first reason is that Ishmael is sent away because of Abraham. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:19.279 Let me explain. 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:22.240 Ishmael is sent away because of Abraham. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:41.839 You would think that in the in the story of Abraham's life that we've been going through since September, that the arrival of Isaac would be the high watermark of Abraham's story, that it would be the peak of his faith. 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:58.880 But his faith does not crest here, but rather in the next chapter, there is more work to be done in Abraham's heart before we see the high point of his faith next week. 00:25:59.680 --> 00:26:09.039 Now God has already promised, he's already promised Hagar, and he has promised Abraham that the boy will be okay. 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:18.000 He has promised Abraham that the boy will grow up, he will survive, the princes will come from him. 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:25.279 And so at this moment, he is asking Abraham to trust him again. 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:27.519 He's saying, Can you trust me with this? 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:28.880 The boy will be okay. 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:33.920 You can send him away because he's going with me. 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:35.759 I'm not going to leave him. 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:38.319 Trust me. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:39.759 Trust my promise. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.160 You've just seen me fulfill the promise with the birth of Isaac. 00:26:44.240 --> 00:26:45.759 Now trust me with Ishmael. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:48.799 Entrust him to me. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:53.200 Let go of his hand and let me take it. 00:26:55.440 --> 00:26:56.799 In little ways. 00:26:58.319 --> 00:27:00.799 Abraham is every parent at that point. 00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:08.640 Because every parent at some point must entrust their child to the promise and care of God. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:17.039 The second reason why this occurs is for us. 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:21.039 Ishmael is sent away for us. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:24.319 And what do I mean by that? 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:28.079 Let me just explain again what I'm doing. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:39.039 Sometimes it's worth just kind of stepping out of the sermon and just giving a little bit of comment on how it is that I'm interpreting passages. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:51.680 This is so that actually when you come to read the Bible for yourself, you can see the things that I'm seeing rather than just thinking that Mark is some sort of magic man who comes up with these great interpretations. 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:55.680 So let me just make one brief um kind of methodological comment. 00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:05.839 The New Testament, uh, places like 1 Corinthians 10, um, Paul tells us there how we ought to read the Old Testament. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:18.799 And how we ought to read the Old Testament is in this way: that the Old Testament is a essentially a worked out in history case study of how we ought to live. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:29.759 That those things were written for us in order to understand the characters of the character of God and the character of human nature. 00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:41.680 And so the things that we read in the whole in the Old Testament are not just simply history lessons, but things for us to learn about God and his working in the world. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:52.319 So the question then is, what is uh the sending away of Ishmael teaching us about God and how he works? 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:58.000 And thankfully, there is a lot of uh there's a lot of work already done on that for us. 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:01.920 Ishmael is sent away in order to teach us something. 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:06.640 He is sent away in order to teach us this. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:11.119 He is the son of the will of the flesh. 00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:12.079 That's the point. 00:29:12.240 --> 00:29:15.599 He is the son of the will of humans, not the will of God. 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:20.640 This was Sarah's idea to Abraham in Genesis 16. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:24.000 He comes from flesh, not from promise. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:33.119 And he sent a way to show us that none of us lay hold of the promises of God by our own efforts. 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:34.000 Do you see? 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:44.400 None of us lay hold of the promises of God, become sons or daughters of God because of human will or exertion. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:55.440 We only become sons of the promise as a gift of grace, trusting in the promise. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:58.880 This is what uh what Paul lays out. 00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:00.720 He talks about this in Galatians chapter four. 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:10.559 If you're making notes, just write Galatians chapter four, go and read it this afternoon, where he's saying, he draws this metaphorical contrast between the son of Hagar and the son of Sarah. 00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:14.240 And he's saying the son of Hagar represents the flesh. 00:30:14.400 --> 00:30:17.759 That is you trying to work your way into God's favor. 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:26.079 And he says, you must send away the son of the flesh, you must send away all of that thinking that you can earn God's love. 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:28.640 He said, You can't. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:36.079 He said, You must rather embrace the son of Sarah, the son of the promise. 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:43.359 It's only by trusting the promise, it's only by grace can you become a child of God. 00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:51.759 He's saying that if you follow the son of Hagar, the son of the slave woman, you yourself will become a slave. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:59.200 You yourself will be enslaved by to constantly trying to work to get yourself into God's good books. 00:30:59.279 --> 00:31:02.000 And it will never really satisfy you, you'll never be assured of it. 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:10.319 Whereas actually, if you trust the Son of the Promise, you'll be free because you yourself will be a son and not a slave. 00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:11.599 That's the point. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:14.079 Ishmael is sent away for us. 00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:20.079 Or even in John 1 that we'll read in our Carl service. 00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:34.480 Remember that prologue of John, where it says, To him, oh sorry, to those who received him, that's Jesus, he gave them the right to be called children of God, not born of blood, or the will of the flesh, or the will of man, but of God. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:48.799 The sending away of Ishmael is an illustration for each of us that we do not lay hold to the promises of God by our own strength or goodness or position, but only by his grace. 00:31:51.039 --> 00:32:03.359 So Hagar and Ishmael are sent away, and just as he as God did when Hagar was pregnant, he shows up again to both comfort and provide. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:09.839 They're wandering in the wilderness near a place called Beersheba, and they run out of water. 00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:20.960 In the scorching heat of the day, Hagar lays the boy down in the shade of a tree and goes some distance away because she cannot bear to see her son perish. 00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:32.960 There God speaks to her and reminds her of what he had already promised, that he is the promise-keeping God, that he's going to make Ishmael a great nation. 00:32:33.119 --> 00:32:37.759 And then he opens her eyes to see a well there in Bersheba. 00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:40.160 And so Ishmael lives. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:42.079 And we read that the Lord was with him. 00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:44.079 This is verse 20. 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:48.720 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. 00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:56.319 He lived in the wilderness, became an expert with a bow, and he ended up getting married to an Egyptian woman. 00:32:58.480 --> 00:33:00.960 Ishmael here is not the son of the promise. 00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:05.359 He's not the one through whom all the nations of the world will be blessed. 00:33:05.599 --> 00:33:08.400 And yet, God is gracious to him. 00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:10.160 Isn't that interesting? 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:18.240 He's still a recipient of God's grace, a recipient of the grace that is common to all mankind. 00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:28.000 There's no indication that Ishmael becomes a follower of Yahweh, a follower of God, and yet God is still gracious to him. 00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:30.559 And that is true for us too. 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:33.839 In the Bible, there are two types of grace. 00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:41.519 There is God's saving grace that we often talk about, how you cannot merit your own salvation, you cannot make God love you. 00:33:41.839 --> 00:33:51.599 God instead is undeservedly kind to you and saves you, makes you his own, forgives your sin, that God's saving grace. 00:33:52.400 --> 00:33:58.160 But there is also a second type of grace, that is God's common grace. 00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:04.960 That is his grace to everyone, whether they recognize him or not. 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:09.280 So the psalmist says the rain falls on the just and the unjust. 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:11.840 Because that would be weird, wouldn't it? 00:34:12.320 --> 00:34:15.840 If actually only the crops of righteous people got watered. 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:17.039 You think, why is there a rain? 00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:18.320 Why does the rain stop here? 00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:18.719 No. 00:34:19.199 --> 00:34:20.960 God makes the rain to fall on everyone. 00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:22.400 That's his common grace. 00:34:22.719 --> 00:34:28.480 He is kind in some ways to all mankind, whether or not they recognize him. 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:34.800 It is worth then thinking, well, maybe you're not a believer here this morning. 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:36.480 Perhaps you should ask yourself the questions. 00:34:36.639 --> 00:34:38.000 Well, look back at your life. 00:34:38.239 --> 00:34:46.320 Look around at your life right now and think, oh, are there moments where actually God is at work and I'm I'm not actually seeing it? 00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:50.480 Maybe I should be more attuned to his fingerprints. 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:52.880 God works to keep his promises. 00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:58.239 He works to keep his promises even though things are painful. 00:34:58.559 --> 00:35:02.159 He was committed to Ishmael because of his promises. 00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:09.280 Even though it was painful for Abraham, it must have broken his heart to send the boy away. 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:12.800 But he knew the promises of God. 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:16.159 And despite the tears, he trusted him. 00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:19.599 God keeps his promises through the pain. 00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:25.679 Finally, God keeps his promises even in the mundane. 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:29.599 God keeps his promises even in the mundane. 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:34.400 The chapter ends very strangely. 00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:41.840 Oh my goodness, Ishmael's being sent away. 00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:46.079 It's like Jerry Springer, and there's all this family tension and what's going on. 00:35:46.719 --> 00:35:48.320 Jerry Springer's a dated reference, isn't it? 00:35:48.559 --> 00:35:49.280 But there you go. 00:35:50.079 --> 00:35:59.199 And then the chapter ends with, and so there was um there's this well, and uh there's something about sheep and an agreement. 00:35:59.360 --> 00:36:01.760 And you think why? 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:04.639 Why are we finishing like that? 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:07.840 That was my work this week. 00:36:09.840 --> 00:36:11.679 Abimelech appears again. 00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:12.960 Good to see him. 00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:14.960 He uh we saw him last week. 00:36:15.119 --> 00:36:16.719 He appears regarding this well. 00:36:16.880 --> 00:36:34.239 The issue of the well seems to be this Abraham had dug it, um and uh and yet Abimelech's men had uh had seized it for their use, uh, which in the scorching climate of the Middle East was uh uh was a pretty uh big problem. 00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:37.679 Water was a uh precious commodity. 00:36:37.920 --> 00:36:43.679 Abraham had dug the well, and yet Abimelech's men have taken operation of it. 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:53.360 And so Abraham goes and he makes this treaty with Abimelech and gives him a gift, gives him a gift of seven new lambs, and they swear an oath. 00:36:54.320 --> 00:37:00.159 And so in the end, the well indeed belongs to Abraham. 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:02.400 Brilliant. 00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:04.960 But why? 00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:07.280 Why are we reading any of this? 00:37:07.920 --> 00:37:13.760 I think that the key comes in verse 22, at the very start of the narrative. 00:37:14.960 --> 00:37:25.119 First three words at that time at that time What time? 00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:30.079 The time that Hagar and Ishmael were being sent away. 00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:32.239 At that time. 00:37:33.360 --> 00:37:35.360 It's not clear exactly when. 00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:50.880 It doesn't seem to be immediately after, it seems to be around the same time as around the same time that Abraham was negotiating a dispute about securing a well, God was working. 00:37:51.679 --> 00:38:01.599 Abraham was seeing livestock and livelihood, but God was seeing a teenage boy and his mother and the keeping of his promises. 00:38:03.119 --> 00:38:12.000 Abraham and Abimelech swore an oath and called the well Bersheba, meaning place of the oath. 00:38:12.480 --> 00:38:27.920 But they had no idea that God himself was keeping an oath that he had sworn seventeen years ago to a pregnant teenage girl that he would bring her son to fruition and make him great. 00:38:28.960 --> 00:38:38.239 And so in her desperation, she finds herself in Bathsheba, and she looks up and she sees a well. 00:38:39.679 --> 00:38:40.880 Here's the point. 00:38:43.360 --> 00:39:01.360 In your life, you're making decisions, and choices about livelihood and love, and all around it, God is doing ten thousand other things, and you maybe get to glimpse three of them. 00:39:03.119 --> 00:39:04.960 You've all made decisions in your life. 00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:12.159