Thinking as we were singing that
last song, the songwriter said, I know that
my Redeemer liveth. He's going to stand on this earth
again. He's coming back. And while I
was thinking that, I thought, what if it were tonight? What
if the Lord came back tonight? I tell you one thing I think,
if I knew he was coming back tonight, I think I'd see things
a little differently. I wouldn't be taken up with things
that just are so distracting to me, things that just don't
matter. I think I'd want to just tell
you all, those that love him, know him, Look forward to seeing
you on the other side. I pray God bless our hearts tonight.
Bless his word. Turn with me to Genesis 24. Genesis
24. A covenant has been entered into
between Abraham and his eldest servant. Servant that he trusted. That blessed picture and type
of that covenant that was entered into eternally by the Father
and the Son and the Spirit. An agreement covenant. All things settled before the
foundation of the world for God to save a people of his choosing. And in this covenant, the servant
asked a question. What if the woman is not willing
to come based on what I tell her about Isaac. That was his command. You go get a wife, you tell her
about my son. What if she doesn't come willingly?
I'll get Isaac, bring him back. Come back whence you come. Abraham told him, he said, beware.
If she doesn't come willingly, if she doesn't want to come,
if she doesn't come out of love, hunger, desire for my son based
on what you say about him, then you're clear. You've done what
I've asked you to do. What we're doing is we're proclaiming
to the world who the son of God is. That's what we're doing. God Almighty has a Son according
to His covenant. That's a mysterious thing to
the world, but here's the thing. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit
of God, the Father. One God. But according to covenant
mercy, one God expressed in three persons. Now there's no controversy
there. According to covenant mercy,
the Father chose the people. The Son, eternal generation from
the Father, is the God-man mediator. God, God Himself, who has taken
upon Himself flesh. And the Son, to the Father according
to the covenant, who will obey the Father's will to redeem a
people, pay their debt. And the Spirit of God in regenerating
grace, blowing like the wind. We don't know where He goes,
we don't know where He comes from. He goes where He will, moves,
directs. They that are led by the Spirit
of God, those are the sons of God. And He's going to direct
God's people, put them under the sound of the gospel, and
when it pleases God, He's going to remove a heart of stone, He's
going to give them a new heart. Going to make a new person there,
created in righteousness and true holiness. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. So this servant, this minister
of Abraham's told, he said, now you go, said in verse three,
he said, don't go to the daughters of the Canaanites. Don't go to
the cursed. Take out of my kindred, go to
my country, and take a wife under my son. I don't know who the
Canaanites are. I don't know who they are. I
don't know who the elect are. I don't know who they are. But
here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do just exactly what
the Lord's called me to do. And this is what the Lord's called
me to do. One thing. Preach the gospel. That's what
Paul told Timothy. Preach the word. That's all I've
called you to do. Preach the word. Spirit of God moved John the
apostle to write this. God's people are gonna hear.
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, they follow me.
And all that the Father giveth me, they're gonna come. So here's
what we're gonna do. I want us to consider just a
few verses, verses 10 to 15. Tonight, Abraham has given his
servant the commission. The servant put his hand, scripture
says, under his thigh and swore to him before the Lord, the God
of heaven and earth, I'll do it. And the servant took ten
camels of the camels of his master and departed, for all the goods
of his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia
under the city of Nahar." Now here we see again in type the
surety of the success of Abraham's servant. All that was required
for the commission for the calling of the bride was provided by
Abraham. Abraham commissioned him and
he's going to provide for him. Abraham's servant was not left
to provide for himself. It says, the servant took ten
camels of the camels of his master of Abraham. And he departed for
all the goods of his master. Everything belonged to Abraham. And he gave them to that servant.
That servant was not going to have to fend for himself. He was on a mission. A mission
from Abraham. And the requirement for the journey
to seek the bride and to bring her back Not only her, but everything
that she needed. She's got stuff. She's probably
got servants. I don't know, whatever. All of
that for that new home was provided. Abraham provided. And let me
ask you this. Does not our Lord provide all
of our need? This is what Apostle Paul, my
God, shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. That servant wasn't going to
have to go out and figure out, I don't know how I'm going to
get there. No, the camels, all the goods were in his hand. Paul
was moved by the Spirit of God to say in 1 Corinthians 9, who
goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? You know, the ministry
is compared to a war, a battle. We don't wrestle with flesh and
blood. The problem is the spirit. They're
all spiritual, spiritual problems. Flesh and blood is not the issue. And when somebody's called, you
take a soldier that's called to fight, you know what's supplied
for that soldier when he goes, Everything. Everything. Everything he needs. Everything
he needed. Bear, how much did you supply
for yourself when you went overseas? Nothing, nothing. You have your
uniform, you got your food, they're gonna fire your weapon. Whatever
you need, you're gonna have. Who go with the wartime? Now
who? support. He needed supporting and the
provision. He was called to duty. He was
called to obedience. And Abraham called him, commissioned
him, supplied his need, all the camels and all the goods. Our
Lord, He supplies all of our needs. Let me tell you what we
have. I got to thinking about this. What does a believer have? that has been supplied by the
Lord. We're called, we're called, we're
servants of the Most High God. What do we have? Let me tell
you the first thing we have. We got a new heart for obedience. I didn't supply that. I'll give
you a new heart. I'll give you a new will, new
spirit. He's given us the earnest of
our inheritance, the Spirit of God. Who supplies that? It's God. God, I didn't supply
that. You didn't supply that. We've
been given all the blessing, the spiritual blessing, the scriptures
talks about the whole armor of God. We've been girded about
with truth. And think what we need for this
journey through this world. We're in a world now. We're in
a world and we're on a mission. We're obedient servants of the
Most High God. And He's supplied us with all
of our needs. He's given us the gospel. We've got the gospel of God's
grace. We've got the shield of faith, the breastplate of righteousness. Our feet have been shod with
the preparation of the gospel of peace. We've got the helmet
of salvation, the sword of the Spirit. And He's given us heart
to pray. Stay in communion with Him. We seek Him. And He's ever present. All we need. What do I need?
I need Him. And He says, I'll never leave
you. Say, I'm going to be with you.
I'll be with you. So this servant arose and he
went to Mesopotamia. He went to the city of Nahar.
Who is that? That's Abraham's brother. Brother,
they went there led by the Spirit of God. That's what Abraham told
him. He said in verse 7, the Lord
God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, from
the land of my kindred, spake unto me, that swear unto me,
saying, unto thy seed will I give this lamb. He shall send his
angel before thee, and thy shall take a wife. Unto my son from
thence. Verse 11 said, And he made his
camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water by
the time of the evening. Even the time that women go out
to draw water. Now, we know this. Our Lord rules in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. He's the Lord. He rules. That's our confidence. That's our confidence. Our God
reigns. And there's times when the Lord
so orders things that are just beyond the comprehension of men's
understanding. Whenever Moses went into Egypt,
God told him, He said, you go tell Pharaoh, let my people go. He did. Pharaoh didn't. And God sent plagues, sent 10
plagues. And Moses would tell him, this
is what's gonna happen. And buddy, it happened. And there
were frogs, and there was lice, and there was darkness, and there
was blood, and there was finally that last plague. God told Moses,
he said, you kill a lamb. Tell the families, kill a lamb.
Put the blood on the door lintel post. I'm gonna come through. If the blood's on the door, I'll
pass over you. If it's not, firstborn. Every
family, man, cattle, everybody. They're gonna die tonight. And
they did, they did. Pharaoh let them go. At those
plagues, miracle of God's grace, beyond comprehension. They got
backed up to the Red Sea. There's the Red Sea and here
comes the Egyptians. What are they gonna do? God told Moses,
you tell the people, stand still and see the salvation of your
God. Told them, said, lift up that rod in your hand. Lifted
up that rod, a wind blew all night long and parted that sea
and that water stood up. And the children of Israel walked
across on dry ground, dry ground. They got to the other side, the
Egyptians came in, and the water closed in on them, and they saw
that. They murmured against God, and
God supplied rock of water out of a rock, and the rock followed
them. You think that rock really did
follow them? It was right there. That rock was there. Every time
that rock was there, it was just there. And water was just coming
out of the rock. Manna from heaven. There's times
that God supernaturally, just amazingly, does that which He
does. And men, there's no explaining
it except that the Lord was pleased to do it. But then there's times
when The Lord is pleased to do things that we behold that are
commonplace, we would call miraculous, but we behold them. And this
happened right here. He made his camels to kneel down
without the city by a well of water at the time of even. Why? Well, it was the time that
the women go out and draw water. And what was he doing? Well,
he was seeking a wife for Isaac. And where would a woman come
to draw water? They're going to come. They're
going to come by this well. And the Spirit of God moved this
man to come to the place where, naturally speaking, women would
be there. They come to that well to draw
water, and the very place that the steps of that servant had
been ordered by the Lord, steps of a good man, are ordered by
the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. And so he's come to
the place that would seem, in the servant's mind, this is appropriate.
And he was moved to do that which was very instructive of all God's
people. That he's come to a place and
he's not presumptuous. Come here tonight. We've met
tonight. You say, well, this is when we
normally meet. I know that. This is when we
normally meet. We normally meet here. But you
know what? We're not presumptuous. Somebody
said, well, we've been doing this for 65 years here, but we're
still not presumptuous. Look what he did. Verse 12. He said, oh, Lord God of my master
Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day and show
kindness unto my master Abraham. I have absolutely no ability. to convey this message to anybody's
heart. I've told you before, I got a
set of notes, I've looked up the references, I've gone over
them numerous times, checked them, rechecked them, still find
myself at times, you know, writing something down wrong, just didn't
catch it, but I try not to, I try to make sure, I don't want to
presume on anything. And I know that it's scriptural. I'm convinced this is the word
of God. but I'm not presumptuous. We ask the Lord. Lord, that's
what He did. Oh, Jehovah, God of my master. You see that
word L-O-R-D. You know what, the heart of that,
the heart of that, that's the covenant God. That's Jehovah,
Father, Son. Oh, covenant God of my master,
Abraham. Have mercy. Have mercy on my
master. There's a hunger found within
God's people to commune with God. Pray and seek the one who
alone can That's what that leper came to
Him. He said, Lord, if You will, You can. I know You can. Will
You? If it be Your will, He sought the one who is able
to do that which He's purposed to do. Pray, pray, pray. Prayer is that spontaneous outpouring
of the heart, the desire of the heart to seek the God of all
grace. Pray to Him. It's a heart expressing
and seeking the Sovereign. Oh, Lord, God of my eyes, Master.
So the servant prays, and he prays unto the Lord with purpose.
And he prays unto the One who promised, One who's all-powerful. And he prayed expressing that
which he knew was only possible from the Lord. He said, I pray
Thee. Send me good speed this day.
Show kindness unto my master, Abraham. He was praying dependent
upon the one that he knew heard him. Our God hears. He hears. He hears the prayers of his people.
He was bowing to the providence of good, good pleasure of the
Lord. The Lord alone who knew the matter I've told you this before, I'm
just burying my heart here to just tell you, a lot of times
I'll be reading a scripture, and I'm just honest with you.
I'll read it, especially when I'm in Proverbs. I'll read that
for the first time, and I'll do just like all of us do, and
I don't know what that means. And this prayer will come to
my heart, Lord, you wrote this. Lord, you wrote this. You know
what it is. Lord, would you please tell me?
If it please you, would you tell me, Lord, that I might be able
to tell your people and be what you've commanded me to do, comfort
them. Lord, that's what you've asked
me to do. I pray, send me good speed today. Show kindness to
my master. It's the Lord, Philippians 2.13. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and do of His good pleasure. And then he said in
verse 13, Behold, he's still praying now. I stand here by
the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out
to draw water. He's at a well. He's at a well. He's waiting because it's where
it's just Knows the Lord directs his path
and he's waiting on a woman and here he is, this is in childlike
faith. I looked at that and I thought,
you know what? I thought, how tender. Now he's praying unto
the Lord that spoke this world into existence. That spoke the
word and it was. The God that sees The hearts
of men, looks on the heart, he knows, he's omniscient, he knows
everything. And I thought to myself, behold, I stand here
by the well of water. That was so, just childlike faith. Lord, I'm just standing here.
And the daughters of the men of Siddiq come out to draw water.
Lord, this is where they come. I mean, how tender. I thought,
don't you think the Lord knew that? But I think he was just
bearing his heart, Lord, I'm standing here. This is where
the women come. But I thought, how tender that
he was by a well that set forth him who is the water of life. It was the Lord that said in
John 7, 37, 38, if any man thirst, let him come unto me. and drink. And he said, Lord, I'm standing
here by a well. Women are going to come here. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. And so here's the servant. He's
been brought providentially to that place that magnifies him
who is the fountain. of living water. And there he
stood praying and seeking and waiting on God's direction. And
then he said in verse 14, he said, let it come to pass that
the damsel to whom I shall say, let down thy pitcher, I pray
thee, that I may drink. And she will say, drink, and
I will give thy camel's drink also. Let the same be she that
thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know
that thou hast showed kindness unto my master. Now it's evident that the prayer
of this servant was a very specific request. He petitioned the Lord
with a certain sign. And he asked the Lord that the
woman of God's choosing would act in an exact manner. Lord, I'm asking you, let it
come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall
say, let down thy pitcher. I pray
thee that I may drink. and that she'll say, drink, and
I'll give you camels, drink too. Let that be the woman of your
choosing. Now here was a man that was trusting
God. Let it come to pass. Let it come
to pass. that this will happen, and the
scripture says in verse 15, and it came to pass. Before he had
done speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel,
son of Milcah, the wife of Nahar, Abraham's brother, with a picture
upon her shoulder. Now, I'm gonna end right here.
We'll, Lord willing, pick up next time. But I thought, what
a blessing. to behold the Lord bringing to
fruition exactly what this servant had asked. Now obviously the
Spirit of God put that in his heart to ask that. And the servant
asked just exactly what he did. He let it be accomplished, let
it fall out. and before he had finished speaking. Now, you know, here's a fact that proved, number
one, that this servant was praying according to the will of the
Lord, because it came to pass. He was praying, being helped
by God's Spirit, because he didn't know what to pray. I know that.
He didn't come up with those words. These scriptures right
here are God-breathed scriptures. When we read that, and he said,
and he said, and she said, and she this, all scripture is given
by inspiration of God. So that was God speaking right
there. He said to this man, you ask me this. You ask this. But
I want to look at something. Turn to Psalm 81.10. I have read this scripture before
this came to my mind, and I thought, Lord, help me here. And we all
need some help right here. Psalm 81, verse 10. I am the Lord, thy God, which
brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Open thy mouth wide,
and I will fill it. I'll speak to myself, for myself,
and you just answer for yourself. I ought to be ashamed. I ought
to be ashamed. Open your mouth wide, and I'll
fill it. Matthew 7. Matthew 7. Matthew 7, verses 7 to 11. Matthew 7, 7. Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek,
and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. Everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth. To him that knocketh it shall
be opened. What man is there of you? If his son ask bread,
will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he
give him a serpent? Know how to give good gifts unto
your children. How much more shall your Father,
which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him? He was there to find a wife for
Isaac, the son of Abraham that God had
promised His blessing. I am your shield and your great
and exceeding reward. This man asked, and before he
finished speaking, the woman came up while he was
praying. You know what that means? She
had to start walking before he started praying. Isaiah 65, 24, it shall come
to pass that before they called, I will answer. And while they're
yet speaking, I will hear. Spirit of God surely put in Rebecca's
heart to leave exactly when she did. Now you've heard her tell
a prevenient grace, grace before grace. Here she was, she started
coming, she's gonna go get us some water, and as she was coming
there, before she got there, maybe moments, obviously, before
she got there, the servant of Abraham started praying, started
asking. And the Lord moved her to come
up while he was praying, and then what she's about to do is
gonna be exactly the fulfillment. We'll look at it next time. But
I think to myself, how wonderful to behold the truth of God's
word. You ask me. You have not because
you ask not. You ask not. First Kings 9.3, and the Lord
said unto him, I've heard thy prayer and thy supplication that
thou hast made before me. The righteous cry, and the Lord
heareth. and delivereth them out of all
their troubles." This servant had been commissioned to go to
Abraham's kindred. And it's amazing, before, now
she hadn't said anything, She hadn't said anything. She walked
up, the scripture says, and she's got her picture on her shoulder,
but look, it says in verse 15, it came to pass that before he
had done speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born
to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahar, Abraham's
brother, with her picture upon her shoulder. She didn't say
anything yet. She's gonna tell him that in the next few verses,
but she didn't tell him anything yet. The Spirit of God told us
who she was. This was Abraham's great-niece,
the granddaughter of his brother, Nahar. And God's going to bless
it. And I pray that the Lord bless
it to us tonight as we behold the miracle of God's grace that
was so direct and order and charge, the obedience of God's people,
the blessing of God upon the servant, Abraham. May He bless us. Amen. All right.
About Marvin Stalnaker
Marvin Stalnaker is pastor of Katy Baptist Church of Fairmont, WV. He can be contacted by mail at P.O. Box 185,
Farmington, WV 26571, by church telephone: (681) 758-4021
by cell phone: (615) 405-7069 or by email at marvindstalnaker@gmail.com.
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