Brethren, if you will, let's
turn back to Genesis 23. Genesis 23. I thought this was fitting that
tomorrow would be the burial of the Queen of England. I'm
going to read today about the burial of Sarah. Picture the Lord's church throughout
time and the sure resting place that she was given. I want to
go through this. I just want to touch on a few
things. I always tell you, I say, if you want to, if you've got
questions, you've got questions, what about this? Sit underneath
the sound of the gospel. God's man in that time, if it
ain't here somewhere else, move there, go support them. Sit underneath
the sound of the gospel, and over time, all your questions
will be answered. It may take six weeks, it may
take six months, it may take six years, 16 years, I don't
know. But throughout time, I won't know it's being answered, but
it'll be answered for you. I'm gonna say some things this
morning, it's gonna take guts to say in this part of the world. Don't take no guts where land's
$500 an acre in Eastern Kentucky. You can put a whole plot of your
family out there, that ain't no big deal. What I'm gonna say
today is gonna take some backbone. I pray the Lord will give it
to me. This is a sure resting place of Sarah, and of the Lord's
people. This is approaching, it's just
past, I'm glad I don't have an accurate number. I've deleted
several messages and several of my notes I threw away. A couple
times I've preached off of handwritten notes and sometimes I haven't
had notes. This is about the 400th time I've stood in front
of you and preached to you. That's a bunch, eh? Just here
in Genesis alone, this is about the 50th time we've met together
And I've stood up in front of you and spoke to you from the
book of Genesis. At least, conservatively, that's
25 hours I've talked to you about Genesis, about what the Lord's
done, what he's done throughout time to his people, with his
people, for his name's sake. We get one more today, don't
we? I pray, Lord, let us see our Redeemer once again in this
hour. I'm gonna make some comments as we go through this. and then
I want to run as fast as I can." And he'd said, I'm going to run
as fast as I can to the gospel. I said, all right, I hope I don't
keep you too long. Genesis 23, we'll begin in verse
one. And Sarah was 107 and 20 years
old. That's the only lady buried in
the scriptures with recorded age, 127 years old. Well, I could get into the numerology
of that. Man's days are limited to 120.
Seven's perfection. And I can sit there and study
that till I miss Christ, clean hearted. You get that? She lived
a long time. Her and Abraham was married at
least 100 years. Wasn't it? 110 years maybe? 105? Long time they've been married. She was 107 and 20 years old. These were the years of the life
of Sarah. Their last trial that was recorded was Ishmael being
kicked out and then Isaac going up that mountain with his father.
And for at least 25 years, no trials, just peace, just peace. Isn't that wonderful? It's 25
years of just worshiping God, living in the community, gathering
with his people, preaching the word, rejoicing in him. For 127
years Sarah walked this earth and she was a feisty one. There
was times she spoke out a little bit and she mocked God, laughed,
said, how am I going to have a child? And then the Lord told
Abraham why she laughed. And then she answered. So I wasn't
laughing. Hold on now. And then she saw
Ishmael laughing at that son that the Lord had promised and
she said, you take that bond woman and Ishmael and kick them
out of here. That bond woman can't be, the
bond child can't be with a free child. Can't mix works great.
Get him out of here. She was right in doing so. In the Old
Testament, it shows so much sin. The New Testament, oh, she's
so forgiving. The faith of Sarah. Think how forgiving she was.
Twice her husband sent her off to being a harem. She was so gracious and forgave
him. Stayed with him. She called him Lord. How did
she do that? It ain't got squat to do with
Abraham. She said, what if every time I told you to do something,
you say, yes, Christ, not to me, but that's who's speaking
it, right? She knew that. She knew that
was who, who she, who put Abraham over her. She knew the Lord.
She believed him. Once life was put in her, she
mocked before. Then she said, Oh, look what
he did. Oh, that's wonderful. Life was
put in her. That's when it happened. That's
when I had. Verse 2 says, And Sarah died in Kirjath Arba, the
same as Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn
for Sarah and to weep for her. He wept for her. He wept for
his wife. God's prophets, once the law
comes about, God's prophets are not allowed to touch a dead body
unless it was close family. My brother Don said whenever
a prophet's spouse or child died, they wasn't supposed to act like
their cat died. They can mourn like somebody else could. Abraham
came to mourn his wife, to weep for her. If the Lord takes Kimberly
first, I'm gonna weep. Not for her, that she's in a
bad place. I'll rejoice for that. I'm gonna
weep for me. Miss my friend that's been with me for so long. I'm
gonna weep for her. And if I go first, I hope she'll
weep a little bit. At least one or two tears, right?
But he wept for her. And Abraham stood up from before
his dead and spake unto the sons of Heth, saying, I'm a stranger
and a sojourner with you. Where's he at? Land of Canaan,
wasn't he? Ain't that his land? They said, that's my land. Y'all
gonna give me what rightfully is mine. I demand it. You're gonna do it my way. Boy,
what we ought to learn from Abraham. He said, I'm a stranger here.
I'm a sojourner with you. Give me a possession of burying
place with you that I may bury my dead out of sight. He was
respectful to those around him. He wasn't entitled, was he? Was
he entitled? It's my right. It's my right
to bury my wife. Now you give me some land. No,
he was respectful. He said, I'm just a visitor here.
I'm just sojourning, I'm passing through. Give me a possession
of a buried place with you. Verse 5 says, And the children
of Heth, answering Abraham, said unto him, Hear us, my lord, thou
art a mighty prince among us. Remember what we saw with Abimelech
last week? For five years, Abraham lived in the sight of Abimelech.
And Abimelech said, I know you're God's man. What about those great
big trials? He saw them, but he saw them
on a Tuesday morning too, didn't he? He saw how he dealt with
the greeter at Costco, or how he dealt with that person under
a pump of gas, or that bum on the street, or that prostitute
that bumped into his car. He saw him day in and day out,
and he said, I know God's with you. And these men here, these
children of Heth, they said, my Lord, they are a mighty prince
among us. They respected that man. Why? Because he walked through this
world like a man that believed God. He wasn't playing religion
on the weekends. That's what he does to them when
it's Monday, I've got to get my work mind on. No, he's a child of
God on Mondays too, just the same as he was Sunday. They weren't
no different, they knew that. They didn't go to church with
him, they didn't believe the God he believed, but they respected him. He believed
God, he acted on his word. They said, Hear us, my Lord,
thou art a mighty prince among us. In the choice of our sepulchres,
bury thy dead. You go pick the best spot you
want, we'll give it to you. It's yours. None of us shall
withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy
dead. Dana, one of us, it don't matter who you ask, if you say,
I want your best sepulcher, they're going to say yes. You go pick
which one. We love you, Abraham. We love you. And Abraham stood
up and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children
of Heth. Not that he bowed to them, he
bowed himself. He humbled himself to these people. He wasn't uppity.
You get that? He bowed himself. And he communed
with them, saying, if it be your mind that I should bury my dead
out of my sight. He didn't want to see Sarah corrupted.
He didn't want to see that body bloating. There was a time limit
on this. He wanted to get her, get her buried, get her out of
sight, remember how she was. I'll bury my dead out of sight.
Hear me, I entreat thee, entreat for me to Ephron, the son of
Zoar, that he might give to me the cave of Machpelah. I don't want to get on a word
study. Machpelah, you know what that means? Double. I want the
cave of double." This shore resting place he's about to secure, that's
the same place where it says, we have received double for all
our sins. Same word. He said, I want the
cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field.
For as much money as it is worth, he shall give it me for a possession
of a bearing place among you. Whatever it's worth, that's what
I'll pay. You listen to me. Did Abraham say, can I get a
discount because this is. That's cheapening, isn't it?
Don't you do that. You pay full price. Lord ain't
broke. All money is his money. If we know the God whose earth
and the promise thereof as he is. I'll pay whatever it's worth. It'd be fine. OK, don't do that. And Ephron dwelt among the children
of Heth and Ephron the Hittite. I answered Abraham, the audience
of the children of Heth. Ephron come down there, and he
answered in front of everybody, even of all that went at the
gate of this city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me. I've heard
you, hear me. The field, give I thee. And the cave that is therein,
that cave you're wanting, I give it thee. I'll just give it to
you. In the presence of the sons of my people, give I it thee. Bury thy dead. I'm gonna give
this to you. That's what you want. You just
take it. You ain't paying me no fair market price. You take
it, and we'll give it to you. Didn't this happen in fourth
Abraham? That king of Sodom, that's the first thing that comes
to my mind. After that battle of the four kings that defeated
five kings, and him and 318 men went and killed all those people,
recovered Lot, recovered all the people of Sodom, the king
of Sodom come to him and said, I'm gonna make you wealthy. Take it. Take
anything you want. Take all the spoils you want.
Take it. And he said, I ain't gonna dare
do that. Say you made Abraham great. No. And he was fearful, wasn't he?
This man came and said, Take it. I give it to you. I give
it to you. I give it to you. Everybody's watching me give this to you.
Ain't you supposed to not let the right hand know what the
left hand's doing? And Abraham bowed himself down
before the people of the land. And he spake unto Ephron in the
audience of the people of the land, saying, But if thou wilt
give it, that's in italics, isn't it? Let's read it without that.
Verse 13. But if thou, I pray thee, hear
me. If you'll listen to me, you keep
saying all these good things about me and how great I am,
you're so thankful I'm here with you, and you'll do all this stuff
for me. Why don't you listen to me? Why don't you just do
what I tell you? Will you listen to me? But if
thou, I pray thee, hear me, I will give thee money for the field.
Take it of me, and I'll bury there dead. I'm going to pay
you, or this ain't happening. And Ephron answered Abraham,
saying unto him, My Lord, hearken unto me. You keep calling. This is God's
prophet looking at him. And he says, you talk me up good.
Won't you hear what I have to tell you? You listen to me. Ain't
nothing changed. You listen to me. I got to talk
now. My Lord, hearken unto me. Verse 15. The land is worth 400
shekels of silver. Hear how much that is? She was buried. God devoted a whole chapter to
Sarah being buried. He gave 20 Versus to this. Kevin Barry, I know out here
in California, me and Cameron's been looking at plots. It ain't
cheap as it is back home. It's expensive, isn't it? You
know how much 400 shekels is? $103,000 in today's money. Well, actually 2019, I don't
know what it is now. That's expensive, isn't it? That cost a lot? $100,000. That's a lot. Well, we're gonna see what the
great price was, what this represents here in a minute. This was the
first financial Transaction we hear recorded. He said, my Lord,
hearken unto me. This land is worth 400 shekels
of silver. It's worth $100,000. But what's that between me and
you? You're wealthy. I'm wealthy. I ain't worried
about no $100,000. I like you. Bury therefore thy dead. Ephron's
getting up on a pedestal a little bit, isn't he? Man, he's wearing
his halo so tight, he's giving other people around him a headache. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron,
and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, He didn't even pay
attention to him. Didn't even answer him. He just
did what was right. He did not explain. He did not complain.
He did what was right. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron,
and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named
in the audience of the sons of Heth. Four hundred shekels of
silver. Current money with the merchant.
He was current with the merchant. He wasn't in arrears. He was
paid up in full. And the field of Ephron, which
was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave
that was therein, and all the trees that were in the field.
He got the field, he got the cave, he got all the trees, and
all the borders round about, they were made sure unto Abraham.
There's no punctuation there. You see that? End of verse 17. It was made sure unto Abraham
for possession in the presence of the children of Heth before
all that went in at the gate of his city. And after this,
Abraham buried Sarah, his wife, in the cave of the field. in
Machpelah before Mamre, the same as Hebron in land of Canaan.
And the field and the cave that is therein were made shore unto
Abraham for a possession of a bearing place by the sons of Heth." This
place, this shore, this one that was made shore, we're going to
see at the end what that means. This resting place that was made
shore unto Abraham, this is where he buried Sarah, this is where
he buried Isaac and Rebekah and Jacob A whole bunch of us put
in the same place, isn't it? Same place. They're buried there
in this cave. I don't want to be dogmatic about
this because the scriptures aren't, but they're consistent. Our Lord
was buried in the ground. When we profess Christ, once
we believe and we profess Him in believers baptism under the
truth as we're commanded to by our Lord, we go under the water
because He was buried. We were buried in Him. His prophets,
they were buried. I will be buried. I'm going to
be put in the ground. Face up. Look up on that day
and hope of the resurrection with great care. With great care,
that's how we treat our dead, with great care and respect.
People say, well, Osaw and his boys were brought back and they
burned them when they got them from the Philistines. Yeah, they did that so their
bodies wouldn't be taken back from the Philistines and they buried
the bones. Well, King Asa, They had a great
fire for him. Yeah, they had a big bonfire
full of incense. Doesn't say nothing. It said in Chronicles, they buried
him. They buried him. Well, it's expensive. Yes. Great cost for Abraham, wasn't
it? Great cost in our day. What was
the cost of cross being buried? Almighty God coming to this earth
and dying and going into the ground. Oh, man, that's heavy,
isn't it? Cross burial was planned. Great
care was taken. Joseph Arimathea on Nicodemus
out there. 100 pounds of aloe myrrh. You
ain't gonna hide that in a coat pocket. You know that? I bought
100 pounds of chicken feed the other day and I had one on each
shoulder. You ain't gonna hide it. That stuff's kind of condensed.
I don't know how big aloe myrrh is, but it's gonna be a lot.
People's gonna know. It's gonna show on you. It's gonna come
out. This is not just about biblical
truth, about biblical burial. That's not what this is. This
isn't a bedtime story for somebody just to fill some time. Lord
didn't waste 20 verses here to tell us about how Sarah was buried
just so we knew what cave she would be in if we want to go
dig it up. This is the gospel. You get that? How you dress,
how we dress, that's the gospel. We are robed in Christ's righteousness,
isn't it? Ain't much for me to compare
a little bit. Not wear pajamas to church. No better. I don't
need to tell us things. We're roving His righteousness.
He speaks life in how we speak. Do we blaspheme Him? Say God's
trying to do something. Boy, God just wants you to just
let God. Nonsense. Not the God of the Bible, is
it? That's not the God we know. What about how we're baptized? Baptismo. Immersion. I'm immersed
because I'm immersed in Christ. Go to the pool of Siloam and
wash. Yes, Lord. Obey Him. What about the Lord's
table? We don't take grape juice. Well, Dr. Welch had a good game
plan, just so happened to come up with that heretical doctrine. He's the one that invented grape
juice. That's convenient, isn't it?
Follow the money. Nonsense. I'll be buried as my
Lord was because this is the gospel. Here's what was promised
to his children, not just Sarah, not just Adam, to you who believe,
to me. This is the good news to those
that will die in Christ. This is a promised land. Where
was she buried? What did the Lord tell Abraham?
He said, you're going to go to a land I'm going to give you
and get up on top of that mountain. You see everything around you?
Your seed's going to inhabit this. And he said, I'm a sojourner
there. Wait a second, which one is it?
The Lord gave him that land Canaan, that's where they was. He's talking
about spiritual Canaan in them, his spiritual seed. Sarah was
buried in the promised place, that shore resting place, it
was promised. Look here in verse 2. And Sarah
died in Kirjatharba. The same was Hebron in the land
of Canaan. Sarah was to rest in the promised
place of Canaan. And it was made sure, made sure. Does that mean it was certain?
It sure does. There's another surety we have, and it was made
sure. Paul tells us in Galatians 3,
for the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise.
There's something you got to do to be buried, to have a sure
resting place. You got to make yourself right
with God. I got to start doing this. I
got to start doing that. Well, if that's by the law, there's
no inheritance. He said, but God gave it to Abraham
by promise. What sure resting place does
Abraham have? What God promised? What sure resting place does
a believer have right now in 2022? God's promise. That's what we have. To believers,
the believer's place of rest was determined before sin ever
entered into the garden. What we looked at this morning,
wasn't it? Because of his namesake, that's where it all started.
Paul said, "...for the children not yet being born, neither having
done any good nor evil, that the purpose of God according
to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth."
That one that promised is the one that calls. That one that
calls is the one that sanctifies. That one that sanctifies is the
one that redeems. The one that redeems is the one that keeps
you faithful to the end. Well, they used to be faithful.
They used to preach the gospel. No, the Lord's people are faithful
to the end, ain't they? looking unto Christ. If a sinner
is going to have a sure resting place, it must be founded on
the promise of Almighty God. It's got to be that eternal promise.
Like in Samuel 23, it says, although my house be not so with God,
the last words of David, and he's talking about his body,
because there's a couple of children he has pretty good. Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation, this is
all my desire, although he make it not to grow. I don't feel
like I am joyous all the time. The Lord ain't made that grow
yet. It don't matter, he's still all my desire. Why? He made a
covenant, he promised. That sure resting place is because
he done it. That is the same for all who
believe. Every one of them. Isaiah wrote that. He said, Ho,
everyone that thirsts, come ye into the waters. He that hath
no money, come ye, buy and eat. Come ye and buy wine and milk
without money, without price. Wherefore do you spend for that
which is not bread, and your labor for that which is not satisfied?
Harken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and
let your soul delight itself in me. Incline your ear and come
unto me. Here and your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. How long is everlasting? When
did that start? Infinity that way, and infinity
that way. Our minds can't wrap around,
our computers can't compute that. That covenant four times, it's
the promise, the everlasting promise that He gave. Our rest
is founded on the Word of God, not the works of our hands. On
His promise, His covenant, His doing, and not ours. So first,
that place that Sarah was laid, that was the place of promise.
That's what the Lord said was going to happen. I'm going to
give you this land. That's where you're going to be. That's where your
children are going to be. That's where she was put. Second, it
was purchased. The full price was paid for this
resting place. It says in verse 8, Genesis 23,
8. And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind that
I should bury my dead out of sight, hear me, and entreat for
me to Ephron, the son of Zoar. that he may give me the cave
of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field
for as much money as it's worth. He shall give it to me for the
possession of a burying place amongst you." Full price was
paid for where Sarah was buried. And it was expensive too. Abraham
got up early. He mined his pennies and the
dollars took care of themselves. He sweated on his brow and he
saved up to serve God, and he had a place to put his wife.
You get that? That's the practical side of
it. Jesus paid it all. Not half, and you pay the other
half. Not, I'll pay 99 pennies, and you gotta pay the last penny
to make a dollar. He paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had
left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Not
most, but all the way. What's in the hand of the believer
to do when the full price of redemption, of a sure resting
place, an eternal resting place, what's the believer to do when
we see that it's all paid, it is finished? What John tells
us. Believe Christ, love your brethren.
That's part of them 400 messages I preached to you. I did that
on purpose. I come here preaching 1 John. Believe Christ and love
your brethren. He said it's finished. Amen. I believe that. Why? Because
I believe Him. It's not a fact, it's a person.
And I believe the person, because I know the person. This theologian
studying... I study God. You don't know Him.
How can you study somebody you don't know? You don't believe
what He says, or you do it. If I said, that ceiling's gonna
fall right here in two minutes, if I really believed that, I'd
take a step over, wouldn't I? That's just... Chicken's got
a head that big, got enough sense to get out of the rain, don't
it? He said, finished. I believe that because I believe
him and you who believe him too. We walk in a green. I believe
what he says in his work may not understand it, but it's so
there's going to be a new heaven and a new earth. What's it going
to be like, Kevin? I don't know. Give me 60 years. I'll tell you
all about it sometime in that time frame. I'll know. I don't
know, but I believe him and it's going to be better than I could
think because I'm going to be with him. I'm going to be made
like him. Can you imagine that you're going
to be without seeing child of God? What's that like? I don't know. You believe it? I sure do. And I don't have anything
to do with it. You believe that? I believe that too. If we agree
on those things, we walk in agreement. We're fellows in the same ship.
If I'm in one ship and you're in another ship and I say, let's
have some fellowship. You ain't in the same ship. Gotta
be together. We're fitly framed together.
The Lord takes those stones and hands don't touch it. He rubs
them together. And there's gonna be little bits and pieces flying
off as they're rubbed together. And he fitly frames us together. We are united in Christ, made
one by his blood. We are family, made family by
his dying. That's what he said on the cross.
He knew the pain his mother was gonna suffer. Watched her son
die there. He saw his mother and he saw
his disciples standing by him. There was John. And he loved
him. And he said to his mother, woman,
behold thy son. Physical son's going to die on
the cross today. You see John, right there is your son. And
he said to his disciple, John, behold thy mother. Y'all family
now. And from that hour, that disciple
took her in his own home. You're mine now. You're family. Family first, ain't that right?
Family first, buddy. This is family now, fellows in
the same ship. Our Lord said, Mark 10, Verily
I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands
for my sake and the gospels, but he shall receive a hundredfold
now in this time. Does that mean now? That means
now in this time. Houses, and brethren, and sisters,
and mothers, and children, and lands with persecutions. gonna sting a little bit. It
ain't gonna be just little roses all the time. And in the world
to come, you know what they're gonna get? Eternal life. You have eternal life, and I
have eternal life right now. What's a biscuit? What's a bag
of dog food? You need you a car? Take mine.
If you scratch it, total it. I got good insurance. It don't
matter. What was purchased? For starters,
redemption was, wasn't it? Are you your own? Or are you
bought with a price? I'm my own man. Stomp your foot. We're bought with a price. We've
been redeemed. We've been purchased. We're given that robe of righteousness
of Christ. We're covered in Him. And what
a price that came out. Our redemption was expensive.
That righteousness was expensive. How expensive was it? We were
made the righteousness of God in Christ. At what cost? What price? He was made sin for
us who knew no sin. You got a good calculator? You
got a good slide rule you can figure out how much that cost?
It's expensive. Knowing the person that did this.
Knowing the work of Christ. Knowing that love. That everlasting
love. He loved us. Made us children. Now we have some wisdom, don't
we? You gonna kick that dog as hard as you did last week? I
don't know if that was in the bulletin or not, but I read it
this week. It was a good article. If it ain't in there, I'll send
it out. How you gonna treat them employees
you got, or your employer, or your teachers, or your students?
Or your co-workers? Now you got a little wisdom walk
in this world, don't you? It's like those sons of Heth. Boy,
they respected Abraham, why? He knew who God was. He had a
little bit of wisdom. Now we're given that new creation.
We have an incorruptible seed in us. We are set apart for God's
use. I'm not my own. I'm bought with
a price. I'm His. I hope certain things happen. I'd like it a
certain way. I like air-conditioned electricity. That's great. But
I'm the Lord's. If He moves me to wherever, that's
where I'm going to be. Do I like it? It don't matter
if I like it. I'm His. That's what He wants. That's
what's going to happen. We've been purchased, we've had
some wisdom, we're set apart, we're made holy. As holy as we
will ever be. You're going to grow in grace.
You're going to grow in knowledge and understanding. If a new life's
been in you, that's incorruptible seed. Don't you dare say it's
corruptible. What God says is holy is holy,
Peter. Don't you despise the day of small things. The creation
we have in us is completely holy. because of that payment of blood,
that propitiation, that mercy seat, that bloody accepted sacrifice,
the person and his work. What's that mean? I just gave
you four things, didn't I? Paul worded it this way, but
of him, of the father's eternal covenant, of that promise before
time, you are in Christ, who of God has made unto us wisdom. How can I be wise? I know him
and righteousness. How could I, how could I have
acts of a holy nature? That's his. His doing. His everything. Sanctification and redemption.
That's all in him. What was promised and purchased
for the child of God? Absolutely everything. Everything the holy God we've
offended requires has been provided for us. It's been promised, declared
before time, and it's been purchased. And it's more abundant. That
life is more abundant. It's exceedingly abundant. A sure resting place was promised,
a sure resting place was purchased, and it was proclaimed. The justice,
the right, the lawfulness of it, how accurate this was, how
proper this was, how right it was, it was proclaimed. Look
at verse 15. My Lord hearken unto me, Ephraim
said, the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver. What's
that betwixt me and thee? Bury therefore thy dead. And
Abraham hearkened unto Ephraim. He heard what he said. And Abraham
weighed to Ephraim the silver. which he had named in the audience
of his sons of Heth, 400 shekels of silver, current with the merchant,
right in front of everyone. He said, I'm gonna pay you, and
I'm gonna get current right now. Don always said it, pay your
bills. That ain't hard, is it? You got bills to pay, pay. You
start considering what bills the Lord paid for his people,
S-D-E-G-N-E ain't no sweat no more, is it? What needs done,
do that. That's a child to figure that one out. But it was proclaimed
right in front of everyone. This payment of full price. This
was not a backroom deal. You understand that? Well, I
have this knowledge, but nobody has to know about that. That's
going to come out. What is that telling us? When the father saw
cross payment, when that payment for sin Go read Matthew 27 sometimes.
Can you get through that and worry about a football game? This earth went dark for three
hours. The S-U-N went down when the S-O-N did. God turned his
back on God, made him sin, unleashed his wrath. Sin ain't gonna go
unpunished. The world knew. the world knew. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. All mankind saw that, and some
of them didn't give a hooey. That's interesting. Let's go
take a nap. Maybe it was an eclipse. But there was an empty tomb also,
wasn't there? The Lord made sure us a resting place. His resting
place became empty. And everybody knew that. Those
guards went in and said, that stone's moved. Where is he? He said something about coming
out of the grave. He's going to be in there three days. Jonah,
I think I had something to do with it. What did he say again?
They never wrote down. And they went running to the
Pharisees. Now, when they were gone, behold, some of the watch
came into the city and showed them to the chief priest and
all the things that were done. They said, there's what happened.
And them grave clothes, they're folded up. This wasn't in a rush.
Somebody didn't do this in a day or night and try to get that
body out of here. This was planned. The right payment was made. And
this is proclaimed. We've seen it. And when they
were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave
a large money into the soldiers. saying, see, say ye, his disciples
came by night and stole him away while he slept. Here's a bunch
of money. You go say that you saw some people come take Christ
out of that tomb. And if this has come to the governors, we'll
persuade him to secure you. If it comes, find out our life,
found out, we'll go to bat for you. And took the money and did
as they were taught. And this is a saying that's commonly
reported among the Jews until this day. This wasn't done in
the back room. This was proclaimed publicly
and everybody knows it. We have a place of rest because there's
an empty tomb. Well, this sure resting place
was by promise. It was purchased fully at full
price. It was proclaimed and it's practiced. It's going to play out. It has played out and it will
be played out. We'll be brought and made to lie down in a city
of refuge. That's what Hebron was. That
was one of the six cities of refuge. Right there, right in
the middle of it. Where was she laid to rest? The
city of refuge. How'd she get there? She was
dead. Yeah, somebody else brought her. I have a hard time going
to church, you know. Well, we got drop ceiling, so
if you got four buddies to lower you through, they ain't got to
bust no tiles up. You'll be all right. Need to go to the hospital grocery
store. We'd sure find a way there, wouldn't
we? She was brought there. It says
in verse 19, and after this, Abraham buried Sarah, his wife,
in the cave of the field of Machpelah. before Mamre, the same as Hebron
in the land of Canaan. And the field and the cave that
is therein were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a
bearing place by the sons of Heth." That's City of Refuge. Remember that City of Refuge?
That's where those people guilted manslaughter. You done something, you don't
know you did it. You went to war. I got a combat
patch twice over from the 1st Infantry Division, Big Red I
know I went to war. There was a time I was at war
and didn't know it. I sat in a pew under the right pastor,
the best one in our generation's ever heard of. I sat there and
listened to him day in and day out, and I saw him in public,
and I knew a whole bunch about him, and I knew what all his
scriptures meant, and I had my doctrine down to a T. And then God one
day showed me I was at war with him. I didn't know that. I didn't
know I was fighting his son tooth and toenail. I was a manslaughter. And I ran to the city refuge.
And I didn't go look at the city refuge, and I didn't go tell
other people this is what kind of city refuge is made out of.
I went to the gate, to the door, crossed the door. And I said,
I'm guilty. I said, come in. You live here
till the high priest dies. How long can we stay in that
city refuge? That high priest's never gonna die. I told you that
the other day. He's after the order of Melchizedek. There's
no beginning with him. There's no ending with him. We are safe
and secure. We are protected. This was promised. It was purchased. It was proclaimed.
It's practiced on. This actually happens. The Lord
said, they shall save his people from their sins. He ain't going
to lose a one of them. And we're protected in him. He's
our city refuge. He's our Hebron. We're brought there. Laid there. We ain't moving. How long was
you safe in that city or refuge? Long as you didn't leave it. Will I be faithful to the end?
I won't be. God keep me. You've saved me. You've gave me life. Keep me
living until the end. You must do it. That never changes.
That never changes. I have peace, isn't it? You got a resting place? I sure
do. You worry about where they're going to lay you when you die?
to be absent from the body to be present with the Lord. It
was made sure we're made to lie down in green pastures until
our high priest dies and he shall never die. In verse 17, the field
of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field,
the cave, which was therein, and all the trees that were in
the field that were in all the borders round about it, everything,
everything were made sure unto Abraham for possession. Verse
20, that's the first time it's mentioned. Here's the same thing
again. That's one word, we're made sure. Verse 20, and the
field and the cave that is therein were made sure unto Abraham for
a possession of a bearing place by the sons of Heth. How can
we know? Now if I tell you, I'll be there
Tuesday. I may be there Tuesday, I may
not be there Tuesday. I can't do that. Well, if you go to Heth,
this is yours forever. Well, maybe it is, maybe it ain't.
How can it be made sure? It means we're made sure. It's one word. It means risen. Raised up. It was raised up to
Abraham. How can we know that this promise
will come to pass? How can we know that that payment was effectual? It was proclaimed in my heart
and not just in my head. I'm not 18 inches from salvation.
How can I know that? How can I know I'll be eternally
protected and safe? Christ is risen. He's risen. The Father is well pleased with
him. And in a great seminary term,
all the work is D-U-N done. It's plum done. Ain't nothing
else to do but praise him. But praise him. He's risen. Everything
he said come to pass. Every bit of it. And I'm learning
it more and more and more every day. He's proving His Word to
be true to me again. Well, don't you believe Him?
Of course I do. And I'm going to learn something else tomorrow. I want
to learn of Him. And that's important. You know
why that's so important? I mean, this is... Hear me, child of God. I'm reaching a toolbox. You listen
to me. You pay attention to me. Shake
my finger. Do one of those. If the dead raise not, If I'm
not putting the ground, looking up, waiting for Christ, I'll
be with him, but this body. If the dead rise not, if there's
no resurrection, as he said he would, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
if there's no eternal hope from these things, if it's just a
good time, bad story, and then we're going to end up being worm
food. If Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, you're
still in your sins. where it made sure to you? That's
made sure to me, why? Because he's risen, isn't it?
We have a promised place. Won't be long. James said what
this life is like of April, didn't it? Oh man, I'm telling you.
Somebody asked me how old I was the other day. And I was off
by three years. I don't expect you to remember
my birthday. I ought to, it's mine. It's getting quicker and
quicker and quicker and quicker, isn't it? Life's of April. We're
going to meet the God we offended, and we'll either stand in Christ,
perfect, accepted, beyond measure, completing Him, or we'll stand
next to Him in comparison to Him. It'll be one or the other. I take it serious. I want to
tell all men that. Amen. Let's pray together. Father,
thank You for this hour. Thank You for this Word that
You've given us, Lord. Allow us to see Christ in it.
Think on him, seek his glory and his kingdom before all else. Allow us to walk this earth,
Lord, around sinners, these eternal souls that don't know they're
at war with you. Allow us to be a light in this
world. Don't let us bring reproach on
the gospel. Don't let our witness be discredited and ruined because
of what we are. Oh, keep us. as you promised
you will. Protect us as you promised you
will. Allow us to see that effectual payment and allow us to proclaim
it, Lord. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel. Thank you for this hour. Forgive us for what we
are. It's in Christ's name that we
ask it. Amen.