Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

INTRODUCTION

John Paton was a missionary to the cannibal tribes of the New Hebrides islands in the 1700s. The amount he gave and lost in the name of Jesus while there is staggering. Perhaps the most poignant picture of this is captured in his recollection of being forced to climb a tree to avoid being killed and eaten by the very people he’d come to serve. Paton had seen some members of the tribe warm to his benevolent intentions. Being made aware that others wanted to kill him, these friends told him to climb the tree so they could defend him. Of his time in the tree he writes,

Being entirely at the mercy of such doubtful and vacillating friends I, though perplexed, felt it best to obey. I climbed into the tree and was left there alone in the bush. The hours I spent there live all before me as if it were but of yesterday. I heard the frequent discharging of muskets, and the yells of the Savages. Yet I sat there among the branches, as safe as in the arms of Jesus. Never, in all my sorrows, did my Lord draw nearer to me, and speak more soothingly in my soul, than when the moonlight flickered among those chestnut leaves, and the night air played on my throbbing brow, as I told all my heart to Jesus. Alone, yet not alone! If it be to glorify my God, I will not grudge to spend many nights alone in such a tree, to feel again my Savior’s spiritual presence, to enjoy His consoling fellowship. If thus thrown back upon your own soul, alone, all alone, in the midnight, in the bush, in the very embrace of death itself, have you a Friend that will not fail you then? (Piper, You Will Be Eaten by Cannibals).

Last week I asked you to consider the first thing you think of when you hear the words “missions” or “missionary”. This story is meant to help you consider today the first thing you feel as you consider missions and the first activity you associate with missionaries. Do you feel excitement? Nervousness? Confusion? Frustration? Fear? Sadness? Vulnerability? Apathy? Do you imagine being chased up a tree by cannibals? Blazing a trail in some remote village? Street preaching in a foreign land? Friendship evangelism? The point of this sermon is to help you sort through the many possible feelings we’ve felt and applications we’ve imagined in light of God’s word. And all of that in order to help launch us into faithful, God-glorifying feelings about and engagement in world-missions. Again, let’s pray in earnest that God would grant these things to us.

HONORING GOD WITH OUR MINDS IN MISSIONS REVIEW

I opened last week’s sermon with three primary convictions. First, God’s word is our sufficient guide for missions. That means that the bible alone must determine our understanding and practice of missions. Second, the bible teaches that until Christ returns God means His people to be continually engaged in missions. Engaging in missions, then, is not optional or occasional in this life. And third, when it comes to missions (along with everything else in life), right thinking leads to right feelings and right feelings lead to right action. And for all of those reasons I chose to spend the first week (last week) highlighting what the bible says about how God’s people are to think about missions. This week, then, I mean to highlight what the bible says about how we’re meant to feel about and act in missions.

Since our feelings are determined by our thoughts, it’s critical that we think right things. That’s why last week’s sermon was first. The things we feel need to be rooted in those truths. As a quick refresher, then:

* Missions is doing cross-cultural ministry where ministry is the process of calling people to follow Jesus because of our love for God and others.

INTRODUCTION

In his book, Missions, Andy Johnson paints a beautiful picture of what healthy engagement in missions might look like in a local church. He writes, “Imagine a local church where the congregation’s mission to the nations is clear and agreed upon. Elders guide the congregation toward strategic missions. Missions is held up as a concern for all Christians, not just the niche ‘missions club.’ The tyranny of new trends and demands for immediate, visible results holds no sway. Members see missions as the work of the church together rather than the personal, private activity of the individual. In this church, members see missions as a core ministry of the church, not an occasional short-term project. Relationships with missionaries are deep, serious, and lasting. Joyfully giving to missions is a basic part of the church’s budget, not merely the fruit of occasional and desperate appeals. And members actually value missions enough that some want to uproot their lives and be sent out long-term by the church.” (Andy Johnson, Missions, 19). This, he argues, “flows primarily from finding one’s missions agenda and methods in the bible” (20).

We’re not perfect, but by God’s grace, the tremendous work of our missions team, and your continued prayers and support, there isn’t a single clause in that paragraph that doesn’t describe the heart and increasing practice of our church. Let’s truly praise God for that, Grace.

Welcome, once again, to missions week. I love that the missions team has made this week an annual priority. I also love that it is a significant reminder and plea. It’s a reminder of God’s call to the Church to engage in world missions and that we need to care well for the missionaries we’ve sent. And it’s a plea for all of us to engage more fully in missionary work—sending, supporting, or going. Without the help of the missions team, and without the help of missions week, it’s far too easy for us to neglect these things.

With that, here’s my main conviction regarding missions that I want to impart to you: Until Christ returns God means His people to be continually engaged in missions. And with that, the line of thinking that drives my sermons is this: We will never engage as God means us to engage in missions if we don’t feel as God means us to feel about missions. And we will never feel as God means us to feel about missions if we don’t think as God means us to think about missions. To say it in a slightly different way: right thinking leads to right feelings and right feelings lead to right action.

For all of those reasons I mean to spend this week highlighting what the bible says about how God’s people are to think about missions. And next week I mean to highlight what the bible says about how we’re meant to feel about and act in missions. Let’s pray that God would do all of that and more in us and through us.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY “MISSIONS”?

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “missions”? How about “missionary”?

A flood of thoughts come into my mind. I think of the missionary heroes of the past and the way their biographies have inspired me (Jim Elliot, John Patton, Amy Carmichael, etc.). I think of support raising. I think of martyrdom. I think of David Platt (who probably discovered and converted three new people groups already this morning). I think of strange doctrine. I think of zealous young people. I think of being naked in Africa. I think of challenging food and bathroom situations. I think of the Cross conference and Urbanan. I think of heaven and hell. I think of scary things. I think of the greatness of God.

Some of those things are good and significant and true. Some are incidental, personal, and false.

22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do. 23 Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will 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.” 24 And Abraham said, “I will swear.”

25 When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized, 26 Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.” 27 So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant. 28 Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart. 29 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30 He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.” 31 Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath. 32 So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.

INTRODUCTION

In our chapter for this morning Abraham had one descendent according to God’s promise. Around 600 years after the events recorded in this chapter there were hundreds and hundreds of thousands. All of them, led by Moses, sat on the edge of the Promised Land awaiting God’s command to enter. As they did, certain questions filled their minds: 1) Who is our God 2) Who are we? 3) How did we get here? 4) What does God want from us? 5) Where is God taking us? In order to answer these questions (and more), God inspired Moses to compile and share the first five books of the bible (including Genesis) with the Israelites.

Throughout our time in Genesis we’ve already seen the beginnings of the answers to several of those questions. Interestingly, in Genesis 21 we find a few more pieces to each one of them. In particular, we find further clarification with regard to who God is (#1)—“the Everlasting God, who the Israelites are (#2)—Abraham and Isaac’s children, how they got there (#3)—Abraham entered the Promised Land (Beersheba) as a sojourner, what God wants from His people (#4)—to be a light to the world, and where God was taking them (#5)—into full possession of the land He’d promised Abraham.

In other words—and here’s the key—many of the answers to the questions ringing in the Israelites ears as they awaited entry into the Promised Land and first received Genesis, were directly tied to the two main covenant promises God made to Abraham. That is, as we’ve seen, God promised Abraham countless descendents and a land for them to dwell in. The people who first received Genesis were the fulfillment of the first promise and the land before them was the fulfillment of the second. In our passage for this morning, then, we trace the beginning of the family of the promise into the beginning of the land of the promise.

The main points of this sermon, the main ways to pray, and the main takeaways for us, are: 1) God is eternally greater than you could ever imagine and 2) God means His people to be a light to the world. Let’s pray for God’s help in appreciating and applying both.

THE REASON FOR THE STORY

If you’ve heard the sermons over the past several weeks you’ve noticed that I’ve begun each with a “provocative” question. I didn’t plan that. In fact, it wasn’t until last week that I even really realized I was doing it. That said, this week’s text lends itself once again to such an introduction.

Genesis 21:1-21 The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. 10 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.” 11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.” 14 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. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 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.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 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? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 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. 20 And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

INTRODUCTION

I’d like to introduce this sermon by giving you two sets of questions to consider.

First, what’s the longest time you’ve ever had to wait for the fulfillment of a promise—from the time someone told you they’d give something to you or do something for you and the time they actually delivered? What was going on inside of you as you waited? Did your trust grow or shrink as time passed?

Second, what’s the least amount of time that has lapsed between someone blessing you and you feeling a sense of discontentment—from the time you’ve felt significant joy at receiving some gift and a return to frustration? Have any of you lasted less than a minute? Coming at it from a different angle, have you found any relationship between the size of the blessing and the length of time between it and your next bout of discontentment?

Well, in this passage we find a bit of both. After 25 years the child of the promise was finally born! According to God’s promise, Isaac finally arrived. Sarah in particular was filled with joy. All seemed to be right. Can you imagine the sense of gratitude and gladness and relief Abraham and Sarah must have felt? After all of that, how could they ever doubt again? And yet, within a paragraph another conflict had already arisen. In all of this,

1 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you, and all who are yours.”

8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” 11 Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.'”

14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” 17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 18 For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

INTRODUCTION

What’s the most number of times you’ve ever committed the same sin; a sin which you knew was a sin and had already suffered some measure of its consequences? Is it in the double digits? Triple? Quadruple? Well, in our passage for this morning we find Abraham in round two. That probably doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was a pretty notable sin. For a second time he led his wife into almost the exact same sin of deception and marital unfaithfulness (12:10-20). He tried, once again, to pass his wife off as his sister to avoid being harmed by a pagan ruler. Worse yet, as we’ll see, this was Abraham’s premeditated plan from the beginning (13). Right on the cusp of the birth of the promised son, Abraham and Sarah found one more way to test God’s patience and promise.

Through this repeat offense and the events that follow, however, we’re given a handful of vital lessons; lessons on the nature of worldly wisdom, God’s unbreakable promises, ultimate and immediate justice, God’s design for prayer in the life of the faithful, and we even get a step-by-step guide to repentance.

Read Genesis 19 online.

INTRODUCTION

I’m not sure that there are many passages in the bible that describe a greater level of wickedness than this one. If these events don’t cause your stomach to churn, then your conscience definitely needs to be recalibrated. But at the same time, if you think you are so very different from the sinners in this chapter, then your understanding of the gospel definitely needs to be recalibrated as well. Likewise, if you don’t wonder at the severe judgment of God in this passage, then you’re not paying attention. And at the same time, if you don’t marvel at the covenant mercy of God, then you don’t quite understand what you’re seeing.

I mentioned last week that this particular visit from God—the one that began in 18:1—was meant to accomplish three things. First, in vs.1-8 we saw that God wanted to eat with Abraham; demonstrating His friendship with Abraham and His intention to fulfill the covenant quickly. Second, in 9-15, we saw that God wanted to make sure Sarah was a believing participant in the covenant; He did so by reminding her of His unending power in the face of her doubt. And third, in 22-33, we saw that God came to see if the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were as wicked as He’d heard and if so, to destroy them. Well, this morning, we find God’s examination of Sodom and Gomorrah and His resulting judgment.

The main point of this text/sermon, then, is that we find great wickedness in mankind and even greater mercy in God. Please pray with me that God would impress us with the depth of our sin and the greater depth of His grace.

THE ANGELS ARRIVE IN SODOM (1)

You might remember that this part of the story began (back in chapter 18) with three “men” (who were actually the LORD and two angels appearing as men) visiting Abraham and Sarah (18:2). It is curious, then, that v.1 says only the two angels went on to Sodom and Gomorrah.

1 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening…

For reasons not told to us, both Abraham and the LORD chose to stay back. And yet we’ll soon see that the LORD was present in spirit and Abraham in prayer.

Upon arriving, the angels found Lot…

1 … sitting in the gate of Sodom.

The fact that Lot was sitting at the city gate meant that he was a man of some standing in Sodom. Given the nature of the city, this is not a compliment. It is a sad, even if subtle, indictment of Lot’s affection for this city. Worse yet, it is merely the first of several such displays that we’ll see in this chapter. Where Lot should have been repulsed he was attracted. Where he should have had both feet in the kingdom of God, he had one in Sodom. Grace, if you find yourself indifferent to, comfortable around, or worst of all attracted to wickedness, you have found yourself in a very dangerous spot; just like Lot.

LOT SHOWED GREAT HOSPITALITY (2-3)

In spite of all of this, in a manner very similar to Abraham, Lot extended great hospitality to his visitors.

1 When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Like Abraham, Lot was sitting upon the arrival of the “men” (Abraham in his tent and Lot at the city gate). Likewise, both Abraham and Lot rose immediately upon seeing their guests only to bow before them, both pleaded with the men to stay with them, both washed the men’s feet, both provided a “feast” to the men,

Genesis 18:16-33 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the LORD said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the LORD said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the LORD went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

INTRODUCTION

Here’s an important question that we all need to answer. It’s one that I thought I knew the answer to long before I actually did. How bad does someone need to be before it is just/fair/right for God to condemn them to death? Growing up I assumed I was good with God because: 1) I believed in Him, 2) I tried to do some things He liked (like going to church occasionally), and 3) Because I wasn’t as bad as the really bad people. In other words, I imagined hell to be reserved for those who outright denied God and for the famously wicked people like Hitler and Satan. So let me ask you, is it ever fair for God to send someone to hell? And how bad does someone need to be before it would be right for God to do so? The answer to those questions is at the heart of this passage.

In the beginning of chapter 18 we see that God visited Abraham and Sarah. In vs.1-15, which we looked at last week, we saw two specific reasons for this visit. First, God wanted to eat with Abraham; demonstrating His friendship with Abraham and His intention to fulfill the covenant quickly. Second, God wanted to make sure that Sarah was a believing participant in the covenant; He did so by reminding her of His unending power in the face of her doubt. Having completed these two tasks, God turned his attention to a third reason for...

Genesis 18:1-15 And the LORD appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on- since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10 The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

INTRODUCTION

If you could have anyone over to your home for a meal—living or dead—who would it be? Your favorite author, musician, or athlete? Perhaps a relative you’ve lost or one you never met? Maybe you’d go a bit more historical. A famous world leader, philosopher, or inventor? What would the meal consist of? What would you eat? What would you like to talk about? What questions would you ask or what would you like to share? It’s an interesting thought experiment.

Well, in our passage for this morning Abraham had God over for dinner. And in this meal we find an awesome example of godly hospitality in Abraham and through it an awesome expression of God’s favor and friendship with Abraham. We also move closer and closer to covenant fulfillment as God puts His power on display yet again. The main points of this sermon, then, are that God was pleased with Abraham, even as Abraham was pleased with God, and that nothing could stop God from expressing His covenant pleasure in and through Abraham. Thus, while Sarah still had more to learn of the power of God, Abraham seems to truly have grown in faith. Let’s pray that we too, by the power of God, might experience the pleasure of God, through our pleasure in God, and that all of that would work out in our inviting others into all of that.

COVENANT HOSPITALITY AND FELLOWSHIP (1-8)

Given the fact that there was a 13 year gap between chapters 16 and 17, it’s probably a good idea for us to wonder about the timeline between 17 and 18. Because 18:1 doesn’t mention Abraham by name (“the LORD appeared to him” and “He sat by the door of his tent”), it’s understood that this next section of Genesis, this next scene in the Abraham story, is a continuation of the last. This is confirmed by the same timeline of Isaac’s birth (“this time next year”) within the two chapters. That’s not to say that there is no gap between ...

Genesis 17:15-27 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”

22 When he had finished talking with him, God went up from Abraham. 23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all those born in his house or bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26 That very day Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. 27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house and those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.

INTRODUCTION

If you were here last week you would have heard me say that Genesis 17 is fairly neatly divided into four parts. You would have also heard me preach on the first two of those parts; vs.1-8 describe God’s reaffirmation of His covenant with Abram and its blessings, and vs.9-14 describe the new sign of the covenant, circumcision . This morning then, we’re going to consider the last two parts; vs.15- 21 which gives a few new specifics of the covenant, and 22-27 which reports on Abraham’s faithful response to all of this. Again, all of this occurs 13 years after the events of chapter 16, and almost all of it is communicated through a direct revelation from God to Abraham.

The big ideas in this text/sermon are these: God always keeps His promises, His promises are always better than every alternative, and living wholly/entirely in light of them is the only path to a fresh start and true joy. Let’s pray, yet again, that God would help us to understand all of His promises, to receive them in unwavering, joyful faith, and to use those two things combined to truly make us a light to the world.

NEW COVENANT SPECIFICS GIVEN (15-21)

As we’ve seen a number of times already in Genesis, God made a covenant with Abraham. The heart of the covenant was a promise that God would be Abraham’s God; that is, that God would give Abraham righteousness, have fellowship with him, protect him, provide for him, bless him, and that God would do this for Abraham and his offspring forever. In addition to this, the two primary covenant blessings were that Abraham would have countless descendents and gain a land that was fertile and secure.

As if that were not enough, throughout the twenty-some years that Abraham was forced to wait for the covenant promises to take effect, God continued to add to His promised blessings. We saw some of those additional blessings last week. This week we find even more as God continued to give new specifics on the covenant.

New Name for Sarai (15-16)

The first thing to see is another new name. Within chapter 17, God revealed Himself by taking on a new name (God Almighty, El Shaddai).

Genesis 17:1-14 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

INTRODUCTION

13 years passed between the end of chapter 16 and the beginning of 17. Think about that. Abram and Sarai were already antsy about the promise in chapter 16. Chapter 17 opens 13 years later and still nothing. How many of us have struggled to wait 13 months? 13 days? 13 hours? 13 minutes? 13 seconds?! It must have seemed to them that God had forgotten them or, worse yet, that He had played a cruel trick on them. The text doesn’t say that God was silent for 13 years, but it doesn’t say He wasn’t either. Could it be that He really left them without a word in their longing for that long? We don’t know for sure.

What we do know for sure, however, is that when Abram was 99 years old God appeared to him again, identified Himself in no uncertain terms, and commanded Abram to trust wholly in Him. We also know that God did so to reaffirm the covenant He’d made with Abram and (finally?) begin to usher it in.

The main points of this text/sermon are (once again) that God is King, His commands are always good, His promises are always sure, and consequently patiently living in light of these things is the only thing that makes sense. The main prayer, then, is that God would grant us the grace to acknowledge Him as king, delight in and obey His commands, and trust in His promises and timing.

REAFFIRMING THE COVENANT AND ITS BLESSINGS (1-8)

Genesis 17 is fairly neatly divided into four parts. We’ll consider the first two parts this week and the second two next week. The first part, 1-8, describes God’s reaffirmation of His covenant with Abram and its blessings. The second part, 9-14, describes the new sign of the covenant. 15- 21, the third part, gives a few new specifics of the covenant, and the final part, 22-27, reports on Abram’s (then Abraham’s) faithful response to all of this. Almost all of this is communicated through a direct revelation from God. That is, the vast majority of chapter 17 records the very words of God spoken directly to Abram.

With that,