All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to Genesis 16. Genesis 16. I'd like for us to look at the
next verses in this passage of Scripture going verse by verse
through the book of Genesis. And it's verses 7 to 9. So I'm going to read this. I've
entitled this message, Hagar, a type of God's elect. Hagar, a type of God's elect. Genesis 16, verse 7, and the
angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness,
by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's
maid, whence camest thou? And whither wilt thou go? And
she said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai. And the
angel of the Lord said unto her, return to thy mistress and submit
thyself under her hands. Let's pray together. Our father, we thank you all
for this blessed time to meet together and to have the privilege
to hear the gospel. I pray that you'd bless it. I
pray that you'd forgive us. I pray that you'd watch over
us, keep us, according to your good pleasure, for Christ's sake. Amen. Now we have an event that's
set forth in this passage of scripture that takes place in
a wilderness between Canaan and Egypt. fled from the face of Sarai because
of the tension that was created between these two women. Sarai,
being barren, had given Hagar to her husband to be his wife
in hopes of having a son, having an heir. God had promised Abram
an heir. He said that his seed would be
as the stars of the skies. If you could count the stars,
you'd be able to count your seed. And Hagar is now found with child. Now concerning Hagar being given
to Abram by Sarai to be his wife, that's what it says in verse
3, letter part. After Abram had dwelt ten years
in the land of Canaan, he gave her to her husband Abram to be
his wife. Now, I want to make a couple
of points on Hagar's relationship to Abram. I looked up the words
and it says that the wife of Abram, verse 1, now Sarai, Abram's
wife, And then it says in verse 3 that we just read, gave her
to her husband Abram to be his wife. I told you last time I
looked those words up, same word. It's the same identical word.
It does say wife, but I want to make note too concerning some
relationships that were stated between different ones. Number
1, the Spirit of God in verse 4, spoke of Sarai as being Hagar's
mistress. Now look at verse 4. And he went
in unto Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had
conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. Now who said that?
The Spirit of God said that. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. God moved upon holy men and the
Spirit of God, as the Spirit gave them So the Spirit of God
said that Sarai was Hagar's mistress. That means her lady, her queen. And then in verse 5, Sarai referred
to Hagar as being her maid. Look at verse 5. In Sarai said
unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee. I have given my maid into
thy bosom. And when she saw that she had
conceived, I was despised in her eyes. The Lord judged between
me and thee. Now that word maid right there,
here's the meaning of that. It means female slave or woman
servant. And then Abram acknowledged Hagar
in verse 6 to be Sarai's maid. Same one. Look at verse 6. But
Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid... He didn't say my
wife. He said, Thy maid is in thy hand
to do as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dwelt hardly with
her, she fled from her face. And then in verse 8, which Lord
willing we'll look at next time, the angel of the Lord The Lord
God himself said the same thing concerning Hagar. Look at verse
8 and says, and he said, I'm sorry, my mistake. We will look
at this tonight. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid,
whence camest thou, and whither wilt thou go? So obviously, Hagar,
though the word is actually wife, he gave her to wife. The relationship
spoken of between Sarai Abram, the Spirit of God, and the angel
of the Lord sent Hagar to be in a different relationship.
She wasn't a wife as Sarai was to Abram. But, now being with
child, that relationship between the two women has deteriorated
and Hagar has fled from the face of Sarai. Now, we looked a time
or two ago at what picture was set forth by Hagar. She was between Hagar and Saria,
that was an allegory. We looked at that in Galatians
chapter 4. And Hagar is without a doubt
a picture of attempted salvation by the works of the law. We looked
at that. That's what that allegory is.
It's either law or grace. It's either man's work or God's
work. Man's will, God's will. She was
an allegory. She was part of this allegory.
This allegory that was setting forth and her part in that allegory
was she pictured salvation by law. or attempted salvation by
law, by the works of the flesh, shall no man be justified. But
she's also a picture of God's elect and how God rescues his
people, his vessels of mercy. Now, I don't want to make a bold
statement concerning Hagar's true spiritual state before God. That's what I'm saying. I'm not
saying that Hagar was a believer or that she wasn't a believer.
But what I would like to consider is that marvelous picture that's
set forth by Hagar and the Lord's dealing with her. I've spoken
to quite a few. and read quite a few writers
that all seem to feel that Hagar was one of God's elect. That
may be. I don't know. God knows. But
I want to look at the picture that's set forth concerning her.
Now, let's look back at these verses for a few minutes. Verse
7. And here's how the Lord deals with His people. Here's how God
saves His elect. Now, the angel of the Lord, verse
7. The angel of the Lord. Now this
angel can be none other than the Lord of glory Himself. The
Lord Jesus Christ. The angel of the covenant. The
messenger. of the covenant, because look
in verse 10, what this angel of the Lord, the angel of the
Lord said, verse 10, and the angel of the Lord said unto her,
I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered
for multitude. Now, none but the Lord himself
can multiply and give life. The Lord, he said, I will do
it. If he would have said, this angel would have said, the Lord
shall. But that's not what he said. He said, the angel of the
Lord said unto her, I will multiply. So here we have God himself,
the angel of the Lord. And notice what he did. He said
in verse 7, the angel of the Lord found her. The angel of the Lord found her.
Now, Hagar wasn't seeking for the Lord. Hagar wasn't searching
out God. Romans 3.11 says, there's none
that understandeth, there's none that seeketh after God. What was Hagar doing? Fleeing. She was fleeing just
as every man, every woman born in Adam, what they do is they
flee. The Lord was the one that found
her and he found her in particular. Now I would suppose, I don't
know, but I would be willing to assume that she wasn't the
only one in that whole country of sure. She was in the wilderness
of shore. In particular, he found her. She was the one that he came
for. The angel of the Lord found her. Here's the great shepherd of
the sheep, one who leaves the ninety and nine and goes out
and finds the one lost sheep. And he found her. Look where
he found her. It says the angel of the Lord
found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain
in the way to Shur. Now she's in the wilderness and
she's fleeing from Sarai, yet fleeing in her mind from tension. There's some problems in the
house and she's not going to stay there, but she's fleeing
from the only place where there was any hope. She's fleeing from
the place where God was pleased to raise up People! I don't know how many believers
there were at that time, but I do know that Abram was there,
and I know Sarai was there, and that was the only place that
was mentioned where an altar was being used in the sacrifice
of the sacrifices unto the Lord. The only place where the gospel
was faithfully being proclaimed and where God was honored. And
that's where she was leaving. That's where she was fleeing.
The only place where there was any hope. And she's going, she's
leaving. Is that not the state? Is that
not the action? of every man by nature. But until God's pleased to arrest
him, even the vessels of His mercy, that's what they're going
to do. And unless God stops them, there's
no hope. There's no hope. She's leaving,
she's fleeing, she's out there in the wilderness, and here the
Lord Himself is pleased to cross her path. comes to her in power
and truth. Hagar was doing exactly what
she wanted to do. We always do. We do just exactly
what we want to do. She wanted to leave, but she
was where she was according to the will and purpose of him who
worketh all things after the council. of his own will. Don't
ever think that you just happened to show up here. You didn't just
happen to show up. No. He worketh all things, all
things. Hagar is in the wilderness, exactly
where the Lord placed her, where he directed her, that he might
teach her something of herself. placed her in that place by God's
own provision for her sustenance. The scripture says she was found
by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in
the way to shore. Now, what mercy? She's out there in the middle
of nowhere. But there's a fountain there.
A fountain that's on the way to Shur. Obviously, there were
some other fountains, but this particular fountain is the one
if you were going to Egypt. It was by the fountain in Shur that led to that place
that her heart desired. She wanted to go home. That's where she was from. She
wanted to go back. She wanted to go back to that
place. And the scripture declares that's where the Lord found her. Fleeing back to that place of
idolatry. Fleeing back to those gods. And
here the Lord met her. Right there, there's a fountain. There's some water there. But
what graciousness and compassion that God Almighty would place
her in that spot where there'd be something to drink. She was
like Gomer. Here's what Hagar's doing. She's
mad at Sarah, probably mad at Abram. Tension, I'm out of here. I ain't staying. I'm going back
home. I'm going back to Egypt. I'm
going back to that place of bondage. I'm going back to that place
where there's no gospel, darkness, depression, anxiety. And here's where God found her. And she's by a fountain where
she's got something to drink of refreshment. And she's like
Gomer. Now, if you remember Gomer, God
had told the prophet Hosea, He said, I want you to take a wife
of the women of Hortum. I want you to find a harlot. I want you to find a harlot and
marry her. And Gomer was continually found
to be of that wandering spirit, unfaithful, unfaithful. And a
type of all God's elect in Adam before conversion. And Gomer
was being provided for. She'd have gifts. She'd have
food. She'd have all these wonderful
gifts. She'd find them at her doorstep. She'd find them there. And she
always attributed all of these gifts to her lovers. My lovers
gave me this. They just appreciate me so much.
And it was Hosea. that was giving her all of those
gifts and she would attribute them to those that she was being
unfaithful with. But here is Hosea as a type of Christ
that has been taking care of his people. Here was Hosea, a
picture of the Lord, taking care of Gomer in her unfaithfulness,
providing for her, giving her what she needed. Those other,
her lovers, they didn't care about her. They had no love for
her. Hosea loved her. And here's Hagar,
at least for sure a picture. And she's by this fountain. And
there's a picture of the provision of the Lord. She's out there
in the wilderness, like we all are by nature. And how the Lord
took care of us. How many times have I told you
before, when I think back, and I think of all of you that know
Him, you can relate to this, before the Lord called you out
of darkness. How He watched over us and kept
us. How many times in my stupidity,
I think back on things that I've done. I thought, man, I could
have got killed doing that. Things that I thought, you know,
nothing of at the time. But how the Lord preserved me,
kept me, as He does all of His people. And all of these blessings
before we even knew Him. So where did He find her? She's
in the wilderness. All but she's in the, by the
fountain in the wilderness. The fountain that goes to the
way to Egypt and sure. And how did God, hold your place
right there and turn to Hosea. Ezekiel, Daniel, Amos. Hosea, I'm sorry, Hosea is right
after Daniel. Look at Daniel, Hosea 2.14. Hosea 2.14. This is what God
said. Hosea 2.14. And He's telling
Hosea, this is what I'm going to do. This is what I'm going
to do for Hosea, but I'm going to do this to Gomer. Look at
verse 14. Therefore, behold, I will allure
her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her. took Gomer and brought her into
a place, a place of the wilderness, that he could speak to her heart.
And he did that for Hosea's sake, as a picture and type. And here
as the Lord brings us to a realization of where we are in the wilderness
and speaks comfortably to us, speaks to our heart, It just,
we were just like Hagar. We were just like Gomer, going
astray, happy, fleeing, longing to, and the angel of the Lord,
the angel of the covenant found us in the wilderness of our rebellion
and by great mercy delivered us from going down to the pit. Why? Found a ransom. And so he
allows those who are his in their wandering to be brought to themselves
to remember something of their folly and their rebellion born
in Adam and to see something of the depth, the depravity from
which we've been delivered, our desperate need for him. And now having found her, back
in Genesis chapter 16, having found her, The scripture says
in verse 8, and he said, now listen to this, Hagar, Hagar. He called her by name. The scripture
says in John 10 3, to him the porter openeth, and the sheep
hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out. He called her personally, called
them by name, but then he called her and humbled her. He said, Hagar, Sarai's maid,
he knows his own. He knows that we are dust. But these are the vessels of
his mercy that's been given him before the foundation of the
world. those that he's born everlastingly upon his heart, that he stood
for as their surety, and he answers for them and calls them personally
and affectionately. When the time of love comes,
he calls them by spirit and brings them to a true sense of who they
are. Remember when Jacob was wrestling
with the man, the Lord himself? He was starting to break. The
Lord said to him, let me go. Jacob said, no. Oh, not until
you bless me. Oh, how he blessed him. Listen
to this blessing. Listen to this blessing. What's
your name? My name is Jacob. I'm a trickster. I'm a liar. I'm a conniver. I'm
a supplanter. He said, not anymore. Your name
is Israel, a prince with God. That's your name. What a blessing. Hagar, Sarah's maid, then he asked him
a couple of questions after he humbled her, brought her to a
sense of what she really is. He asked her these two questions.
Number one, he said, whence comest thou? Whence comest thou? Where have
you fled from? Where have you come from? Not that the Lord was ignorant
of her flight, not that he needed some information, but for all
of us, that we might realize where we've come from. Where'd
you come from? Well, the first thing I'm gonna
tell you, I've come from Adam. I come from the loins of Adam. He who died in the garden. By
one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. Marvin, where'd
you come from? I came from my father, Adam,
and I'm just like him. I'm born a rebel. I'm a rebel
by birth. I'm a rebel by practice. I'm
a rebel by choice. That's where I come from. What a blessing that God would
bring a man, bring a woman to say, this is where I've come
from. I've come, yes, from my father
Adam, but I did this because this is what I wanted to do.
I've come from a place of life. and fellowship and peace and
safety with God. Born in my father, Adam, but
this is my desire. This is where I'm from. I'm from
rebellion and disobedience. That's where I'm from. Hagar left the place of God's
presence and God's peace and communion. And then he asked
her another question. He said, and whither wilt thou
go? Where are you going? Where are you going? Well, she was going back to Egypt.
That's where she's going. She's going back to worship the
gods of darkness, and death, and danger, and wickedness. And
if the Lord left us to Himself, let me ask you this, where would
we go? I'll tell you exactly where we'd go. We'd go to the
very throne of God, and the books would be opened, and being found
not in Christ without a hope, I tell you exactly where we're
going. We're going to be bound hand and foot and cast into outer
darkness. And there's going to be weeping
and wailing and gnashing of teeth, where the worm never dieth, the
spirit never dieth. That rich man that died and lifted
up his eyes out of hell, he knew where he was. Where'd you come
from and where are you going? But in mercy and compassion,
Grace Hagar was made to be honest. She said, this is where I'm going.
I'm fleeing from the face, now listen to this, of my mistress, Sarah. She knew who she was. The Lord brought her to a sense
of herself. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I'm a sinner. It's where I'm
going. Those called out of darkness
of sin and unbelief are ever ready to own themselves for what
they are and for what they've done. They're made to be honest. And the scripture says, and I'll
close with this, and the angel of the Lord said unto her, return
to thy mistress and submit thyself under her hands. Now do we not
see the mercy of God to draw this fleeing rebel that was fleeing
from the only place, I'm telling you, the only place that's recorded
where there was any gospel was there where Abram was in Canaan.
That's where he was. God blessed him. And now here
she's leaving. And she's like that prodigal
son that was moved upon the Lord. He came to himself. Yeah, Hagar,
Sarai's maid. Where you come from? Where you
going? I'm leaving her. You go back. Go back and you
submit yourself. And this is the Word of the Spirit
of God. You return unto him who is your
Lord. You return to him. This is my
beloved son whom I'm well pleased. You hear him. You go back, you
go back. Spirit of God gives a man a new
heart, removes that heart of stone. And he's willing in the
day of God's power to go back. And that's the way the Spirit
of God deals with the vessels of God's mercy. In our rebellion,
he comes to us compassionately. He finds us in the wilderness
of sin and separation because of our own pride and arrogance. But in mercy, he rests us. arrests
us, stops us like he stopped Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus, making us willing in the day of his power to come
to Christ, to cast ourselves upon his mercy, he that cometh
to me. That's what a believer does.
He's continually coming to him, coming to him. A believer never looks, I came
to the Lord years ago, too long ago. right now. They come right
now. They come right now. Today, you
go back and you submit yourself unto her. I pray that god have
mercy upon us and give us a heart of understanding what the lord
has done to us. Hagar State before god, I don't
know but I can tell you this. He's a beautiful picture of how
god saves a sinner and I pray that he have mercy and save one