All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn back to the book of Genesis chapter 17 and as we're
considering this amazing passage of scripture, there's a There's
a blessed conversation that has taken place between the Lord
of Glory and the object of His mercy, Abraham. God has been
pleased to reveal Himself unto His people. And He's revealed
Himself unto Abraham. Abraham, 99 years old. And 24 years after the Lord was
pleased to call Abram out of his land of birth, out of Ur
of the Chaldees, God has been pleased to reveal to Abraham
his purpose to give Abraham a seed. He's going to give him a son
by his wife Sarah, and she's 90 years old. The Lord has graciously allowed
Sarah to come to an age in her life where, humanly speaking,
women don't have children. at that age. Ninety years old,
she's past that age of childbearing. But she's going to have a son,
she's going to have a child by Abraham and it's going to be
according to the Lord's will. Now, I read that and I thought
to myself, there was two things that struck me immediately. Number
one is that nothing is impossible with the Lord. And secondly,
we're instructed, wait on the Lord. Listen to this passage
in Psalm 37.7. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for him. Fret not thyself because of him
who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked
devices for pass. Wait. Wait on the Lord. The Lord has promised His people. The Lord will provide. So we
wait. But oh, the blessed promise that's
given to those that are taught to wait on the Lord, taught in
heart. Moses told the children of Israel
while they were at the Red Sea, fear ye not, stand still. Now, is that not a word of instruction
for all of us? Stand still. Stand still and
see, behold, the salvation of the Lord, which he will show
you today. Wait on the Lord. The Lord met
with Abram, told Abram, I am the almighty God. You walk before me and be thou
perfect, and I will make my covenant, that covenant of mercy, that
covenant of compassion between me and thee. I will multiply
thee exceedingly. And the scripture says, And Abram
fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, Wait on the Lord, Abram heard
it, and it broke him, and he fell on his face. Jacob, whenever
Jacob was beseeching the Lord, he's getting ready to meet with
Esau, and the Lord is delivering him and speaking to him, and
Jacob says in Genesis 32, verse 10, I am not worthy, of the least of all the mercies
and all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant."
Is that not the heart of a believer? One taught something of God's
compassion. He told Abraham, I'm going to
have my covenant with you. And it broke him. Gracious familiarity
with the Lord. But for those that know Him, nowhere in the Scriptures do
we find that God's people, having had the Lord reveal Himself to
them, seeing the deliverance of the Lord, no place do we ever
find them speaking of the Lord in a careless, frivolous way. But rather, we behold them with
respect. and with fear, a reverential
awe before the Lord. Whenever the Lord caused the
footsteps of Moses, Moses going up into the mountain, Jethro,
his father-in-law, had sent him to take care of the sheep. And
the Lord directed his steps to come to this place where God
was. It was in a bush, a burning bush. And Moses, he saw the bush, and
he said, I'll turn and see now. This great thing. And the scripture
says whenever Moses approached that bush, Exodus 3, 5, and 6,
the Lord spoke to him. Out of the bush, he said, draw
not nigh hither. Put off thy shoes from off thy
feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. God was there. The Lord was in
that place. Ground was the same ground as
everywhere else, but God was in that place. The Lord told
him, he said, where you're standing is holy ground. Moreover, he
said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God. Psalm 89.7 says, is greatly to be feared in the
assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them
that are about Him." I hear how the world speaks of our precious
Savior. Men refer to Him as just Jesus. You don't find His apostles referring
to Him as Jesus. They don't speak to Him, Lord,
Master. we refer to our our lord. We
refer to him as the lord Jesus Christ. We speak with respect
and those that are regenerated by his holy spirit, those who
by the grace of god have been made to grow in grace and in
the knowledge of our precious savior, our lord Jesus Christ,
they're they're with appreciation, with admiration,
and with esteem. Job said in Job chapter 40, God's
speaking to this just man, is what the Lord said, just Job. Job is speaking unto the Lord,
but the Lord's gonna correct him. on the way that Job's speaking. In Job chapter 40, verses one
through five, the scripture says, moreover, the Lord answered Job
and said, shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? He that reproveth God, let him
answer it. And then Job answered the Lord
and said, behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will
not answer. Yea, twice, but I will proceed
no further." God's people speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. They
speak of Almighty God with respect, admiration. Well, having heard
the Lord declare his will and purpose to give Abraham and Sarah
a son. Now, Abraham who has watched
Ishmael, his son, he's 13 years old, and he's watched this boy
grow up. And like all parents, they love
their children, they love them. Now, Abraham has heard the Lord. He's heard what God has said.
And he asked the Lord something concerning Ishmael in verse 18
of Genesis 17. And Abraham said unto God, O
that Ishmael might live before Thee. Abraham is not contradicting
what God said. He's not asking the Lord to alter
his purpose, his will. That's never going to happen. The Lord doesn't change. He's
not asking that Ishmael be preferred over the son of God's promise. But he's asking the Lord that
Ishmael might be remembered by God, not forsaken of the Lord. The Lord, he's asking to be gracious
to Ishmael, that Ishmael might be safely preserved and live
in the presence of God. Abraham did what the Spirit of
God has taught God's people to do concerning their lives, their
walk, their families. Philippians 4, 6, be careful
for nothing but in everything. Everything. Is there anything
that's not worthy to be prayed about? The scripture says, be
careful for nothing but in everything. By prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. I think so often of that leper
that came to the Lord and he said, If you will, you can make
me clean. The issue was not the Lord's
ability. The issue was God's will. And
this is what Abraham asked. He said unto the Lord, O that
Ishmael might live before thee. Abraham requested, he made his
supplication before the true and living God, God Almighty,
the sovereign God. And he knew, Abraham knew, he
knew God, he believed the Lord. He knew that Ishmael's standing
before God was a standing that would not be established by himself
or by Ishmael. Salvation is according to the
Lord. Salvation is of God. The scripture
admonishes us in Proverbs 22, 6, train up, give instruction,
teach. Train up a child in the way he
should go, and when he is old, now listen to this promise, he
will not depart from it. How many times have we seen children
raised up under the sound of the gospel? Parents that bring
and cause their children to hear the truth, to hear faithful,
faithful preachers of the gospel. And then in time, they come to
an age where they leave home. They don't come anymore. You
say, how can this be? Train up a child in the way he
should go. When he's old, he will not depart
from it. How can that be? It's so emphatic. Well, here's the answer. Only
the Lord can train up a child. And God trains up all His children.
They shall all be taught of God. That's what the Scripture says.
All of God's people, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Why? Because God trains up His children
in the way they should go. And when they're old, they will
not depart from it. Why? Because they're kept by
the power of God through faith. So Abraham asked, he asked, oh
that Ishmael, may live before thee." Abraham knew there's nothing
too hard for the Lord. Can the Lord save him? Yes. Will
the Lord save him? If he's pleased to do so, peradventure. One of God's people faithfully
trying to preach the gospel and teach and admonish God's people. And Paul the apostle says, one
may plant, one may water, But God must give the increase. So
therefore, what we do is we spread our request before God. Verse
19, and God said, Sarah, thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed,
and thou shalt call his name Isaac. And I will establish my
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after
him. Now here, the Lord has answered. He's asked, and the Lord has
answered. And the Lord reveals and declares
that Sarah, the object of God's mercy, covenant grace, is going
to be the bearer of the son of promise. His name is going to
be Isaac. Laughter. One chosen to be the
recipient of God's grace in Christ Jesus. was the son of God's choice. He said in verse 19, Thou shalt
call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him. His seed being not every one
that would ever proceed. He doesn't say that or mean that. The Scriptures never bears that
out. But it's all that the Father has chosen like him, but ultimately
he's the seed, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ himself, in whom
all of God's people are chosen. That's the heart, there's the
foundation of that everlasting covenant. It's with the seed
himself. Verse 20, and as for Ishmael,
I have heard thee, You know, that's what Ishmael
means. God hears. As for Ishmael, I have heard
thee. The Lord hears. He hears the
prayers of his people. And the Lord said, behold, I
have blessed him. I will make him fruitful. I will
multiply him exceedingly. 12 princes shall he begat. and I will make him a great nation."
Ishmael was born of man's will, man's ability, and would never
be the one set forth in type to be a picture of God's blessing,
God's promise, God's sovereign power, and mercy is bestowed
upon whomsoever he will." Whatever Ishmael's spiritual state was
before God, I'm not here to debate that. I'm not here to speculate
on that. Some say that they think he was
a believer, some not. The scripture doesn't say that.
The scripture does set forth that God told Abraham, I'm going
to bless him. He said, I'm going to multiply
him and I'm going to make him fruitful. Twelve princes shall
he beget. I'll make him a great nation. God's blessings are bestowed
in a general way On all men, the scripture says in Matthew
5 45, he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. So all temporal
blessings. are from the Lord. And this is
what the Lord told Abraham he was going to do for Ishmael and
his posterity. But the establishment of the
Lord's covenant was with Isaac. Verse 21, but my covenant shall
I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at
this set time in the next year. Through Isaac, all the spiritual
blessings everlastingly promised through the Messiah, blessings
that would surely be bestowed upon all God's people, Jews and
Gentiles, all of God's elected grace, blessings established
upon the surety of Christ's incarnation, his life, his death, his resurrection,
his glorious ascension back to the Father. All of this is what
set forth God's promise, covenant grace through Isaac. And verse 22 said, and he left
off talking with him. And God went up from Abraham. That is the word there means
he ascended. Abraham watched him. He ascended in a visible way.
It makes me think of when the Lord was meeting with His apostles
for the last time, and He was speaking to them, and He was
giving them promise to wait on Him until the Spirit would be
poured out upon them. And Scripture says that He was
talking to them. He was taken up from His disciples. And that's when those two angels
were standing Spoke to Him, you men of Galilee, why stand you
here gazing into the heavens? This same Jesus that you see
going up, He's going to return in like manner. From Abraham,
he saw this was no mere human being. This was no earthly messenger,
but rather this was God himself, the covenant God, the God who
hears and blesses and bestows his mercy and compassion on whomsoever
will. He told Abraham at this time
next year, you're going to have a son. Sarah's going to bear
a son. And the scripture says, and this
is what just blessed my heart just to read these, and I'll
read these last verses. Concerning Abraham's faithfulness
and his obedience, his immediate obedience. And Abraham took Ishmael,
his son. and all that were born in his
house and all that were bought with his money, every male among
the men of Abraham's house and circumcised the flesh of their
foreskin in the self same day as God had said unto him. And
Abraham was 90 years old and nine when he was circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin. You know, you think about the
submissiveness of this man. God told him, this is the token,
you'll be circumcised, all of them in your family, and that's
exactly what he did. And Ishmael, his son, was 13
years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
In the self same day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael, his
son, and all the men of his house born in the house and bought
with money of the stranger were circumcised with him. God's word,
God's command is the heart and the desire of God's people immediately. Ecclesiastes chapter nine, verse
10. I'll just close with this. Ecclesiastes nine, verse 10. The scripture declares, Whatsoever
thy hand findeth to do. The Lord had spoken to Abraham.
The Lord gave him a command. I want you to, this is the token.
This is the token of the promise. I want you to be circumcised.
All of them in your house, all of them that pertain to you. And that was Abraham's heart. That was his desire. Whatsoever
thy hand findeth to do. Do it with thy might, for there
is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither
thou goest." We're going to die. All men, all women, we're going
to die. And God's people, they desire
to follow the Lord. The Lord said in John chapter
10, verse 27, hear my voice. I know them and
they follow me. That's the desire. David said
in Psalm 119.60, I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments. I pray that God bless this to
our hearts today. that it might be to the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the encouragement and settling
of God's people. For the Lord's sake and our good,
amen.