I ask you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to Genesis 24. Genesis 24. I started this chapter about a week ago. We went through
the first few verses and it's been such a blessing to me. I'm
going to take a few more verses in Genesis 24. Abraham, a picture of the Father,
has entered into a covenant with his eldest servant, who is a
picture of the Holy Spirit. And it's concerning the servant
going out and obtaining a bride for Abraham's son, Isaac, who
is a picture of the Lord Jesus. And this glorious covenant between
Abraham and his servant concerning Isaac is a beautiful picture
of the everlasting covenant of grace between the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. And this covenant is the absolute
picture and type of the assured redemption and salvation of all
those that God has everlastingly loved in Christ. Now, from this
picture in Genesis 24, we see that the Father, the Heavenly
Father, is not passive in the calling out, choosing, searching
out of God's people, but the Father was the one that ordained
it. And the Spirit of God blows,
Scripture says, as the wind. Sovereign in His movement. Sovereign in His purpose. And
He calls out those that God Almighty has chosen. According to Ephesians
1, according to 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, God has chosen the people
that He's going to save. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter
9, whenever someone would, and I know the Spirit of God anticipated
what men would say, you know, is that right? Is that right? You go back and read Romans chapter
9 and see what God has to say concerning Almighty God choosing
a people. Who art thou? Oh man. Oh man. that replies against
God. Does the thing formed have a
right to say to Him that formed it, why have you made me thus? We bow to what God Almighty has
to say. Who are we? Who are we? Let the
potsherds, let the broken pots of this world, you know, argue
and fuss with the potsherds of this world. Let God be true. Let every man a liar. So, this
covenant between Abraham and his eldest servant, a picture
of the everlasting covenant of God's grace, it had, if you're
in Genesis chapter 24, it had one stipulation. I got to looking
at this the other day and I thought, I want to make sure that I bring
this out. It had one stipulation. It's
found in verse 8. Now look at this, Genesis 24
verse 8. And if the woman, he told him,
Abraham told his servant, he said, you go to my land, you
go where I'm from. Don't go in the land of Canaan,
where the Hittites and all of them had not been put out yet.
Don't look there. You go back where I'm from, where
God has been pleased to show mercy. He showed mercy to me,
Abraham said. Go back there and that's where
I want you to look for a bride for my son. But you listen to
this stipulation, verse 8. And if the woman will not be
willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this
my oath, only bring not my son thither again. Now, this is what
Abraham said. You go find a wife, the Lord's
angel will go before you, will guide you, direct you. But if
you cannot find a willing bride for my son, you can't find a
woman. If you've done your utmost and
you can't prevail on anybody according to my terms, then you're
going to be free from this oath. that we've entered into. He told
that servant in verse 2, latter part of verse 2, "...put, I pray
thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will make thee swear by
the Lord." What he was saying was this, you swear by the covenant
that God's made unto me that you're going to do just exactly
what I'm asking you to do. And if you can't find a woman
willing to come If you've told her concerning my son, then you're
blameless. It's an oath that you've entered
into me. Now, here's the implication. If in the midst of a world filled
with unbelief and sin, spiritually dead sinners, Here's the oath
according to God's everlasting covenant of grace as being pictured
in this oath right here of Abraham sending his servant to find a
bride for his son Isaac. If the Spirit of God enters into
this world and there be no one willing to come No one willing
to bow. No one to have a heart for Christ. No one to have a heart for repentance. And what is repentance? Let me
tell you what repentance is. It's not turning over a new leaf.
Repentance, you look this word up, it has everything to do with
thinking. And here's what it means. To
think differently on how God justifies a sinner. That's repentance. To think differently. If you cannot find, if the Spirit
of God cannot find one person willing to come, willing to come,
then the covenant of grace has no foundation. If Almighty God
cannot find a willing bride, willing to come, willing to bow,
willing to love, then the Son of God will have no bride in
heaven. You're not going to have a bride in heaven that didn't
want to come. You're not going to have a bride
that's unfaithful, you know. So here's the thought. This stipulation concerning a
willing heart, it comes right down between man's will and God's
will. The difference between grace
and works Now you listen, let us all listen here. May we all
be thankful for this blessed scripture, Psalm 110 verse 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of
thy power. Do you know when a sinner, by
the grace of God, comes to Christ? You know why he comes? Because he wants to. But here's
the issue. Why did he want to? Why did he
want to? It's because in regenerating
grace, the Spirit of God gave him a new heart. He gave him
a new will. He created a new man from above,
from heaven. He birthed him. Every man, every
woman born in Adam is born with a will that is dead toward God. Ezekiel chapter 36 sets forth
that Almighty God says, I'll give you a new spirit. I'm going
to write my law. I'm going to give you a new heart
and I'm going to write my law, the law of the love of Christ
on that heart. And you're going to be my people
and you're going to know it. I'll be your God and you'll know
it. Does a man or a woman come to Christ willingly until the
Spirit of God gives them a new heart? No. No man can come except
it were given unto him of my Father. Now he said you go and
if you can't find a woman willing, then there's no No bondage here, no binding of
this right here. So Abraham's servant swearing
to Abraham concerning the finding of a wife for Isaac, he left. He's going to go to a place of
Abraham's choosing. He's going to find a bride, just
as the Spirit of God calls out the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ,
those that the Father has chosen before the foundation of the
world, and the Spirit of God gives them a new heart. They're
willing and they come. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. They don't come kicking and screaming
and no some. You that believe, let me ask
you this, do you want to come? Yeah. Why didn't you come before
the Spirit of God gave you a new heart? Because you didn't want
to. Do you know we all do what we want to do? That's what I
do. I do just exactly what I want
to do. If I can, if I can pull it off, I'm going to do just
exactly. So here's the bride. And so the scripture says, and
this is where I stopped with verse 9 last time, verse 10.
I'm going to try to go to 10 to 14. 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 he went to Mesopotamia,
unto the city of Nahar." Now here's Abraham's servant. And
if I be correct, I know that Abraham had a servant according
to Genesis 15, 2 named Eleazar. And that was the servant that
had been with him. It may have been Eleazar, but it was his
eldest servant. I can tell you that for a fact.
He took the camels. These camels and all the goods
of Abraham set forth. The wealth of Eleazar's master,
Abraham. And concerning, though, the wealth
and the power of the Heavenly Father, He is the omnipotent,
omniscient, omnipresent owner of everything. The Spirit of
God, who according, Neil, to that everlasting covenant of
grace, He's the one that has agreed, just like this elder
servant, has sworn allegiance to Abraham. The Spirit of God
is God's chosen means of procuring that which Christ has purchased.
The Father gave Him a people. They're His in electing grace. And Christ bought them, paid
the debt. What did they owe? They owed
two things. They owed a debt to God's broken
law. What does scripture say? The
soul that sinneth is going to die. I've sinned against God, you
have too. We owe a debt. What did Christ do? He was made
us. I can't explain that. But what
it says, He was made sin. He was made what we are. He knew no sin. But He went to
Calvary and absolutely bore in His own body those sins became
His. When He died, whose sins were
they? They were His. Mine iniquities, Psalm 40, have
taken hold upon me. Was He made, was He personally,
had He personally sinned against God? No! He knew no sin, let
me be clear on that. He personally did not rebel against
God. But He was made what we are,
and when He bore our guilt, you listen to me, He hung there on
that cross, Guilty, Chuck. If he was not guilty, if he was
not made sin, if he was not the guiltiness, then God's not just. God killed an innocent man then.
You say, you try to explain that any further, I can't do it. I'm
telling you everything I know, right now. And the Spirit of God entered
into that everlasting covenant. He's always entered into the
covenant. It's everlasting. He said, I'll get them. I'll
go get them. I'll get them. And that's what's
happening. What am I doing? I'm preaching
the gospel. I'm telling you what God the Father has done. I tell
you what God the Holy Spirit has done. And I tell you what
God the Son has done and what God the Spirit has agreed to
do. And this elder servant right here, this is much, much deeper
than just a story of history. This is how God saves a sinner.
And so this servant, he took the camels and he said, the goods
of his master, everything that Abraham owned, which is a picture of the Father, the Heavenly Father.
That master, all the goods of the master was in his hand. Let
me ask you this, how much is in the hand of the Holy Spirit?
Everything. Why? He's God. He's God. Who's more God? The Spirit of
the Father. They're one. And so here's the
eldest servant. He goes, it's all a picture of
the Heavenly Father, who the earth is the Lord's, the fullness
thereof. All that was necessary in the
accomplishing, in the fulfillment of Abraham's desire, picture
of the Father's desire, God's going to provide. He put everything
in the hands of that servant. He said, Now, you go get him. David said concerning Mephibosheth,
well, don't you love this word? He said, is there any of the
house of Saul left that I might show mercy to for Jonathan's
sake? One boy, lame on his feet, Mephibosheth,
he's in Lodibar. He said, you go fetch him. You
go get him and you bring him to me. Well, verse 11, he made
his camels, to kneel down without the city by a well of water at
the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to
draw water." Now I want you to take note where Abraham's servant
made his camels to kneel down. He said it was near a place that
women would go out to draw water. And here we behold the Lord's
angel, one that's been sent before Abraham's servant. That's what
Abraham told him. He said, God sends his servant,
he'll guide you and direct you. And he directed him to this very
spot, that spot of God's choosing, the very spot that God would
lead Isaac's wife to come. Remember, Rebecca, the one that's
going to come, she's a picture of the bride of Christ. And so
the servant of Abraham, the picture of God's spirit, has been brought
to that very spot that Rebecca, and what are they going to do? He's going to cross her path.
She's going to cross paths with Abraham's servant. Oh, the miracle
of predestinating grace. Almighty God that determines
the destination beforehand. Those are beautiful words. Election. Election. Predestination. Those
are biblical words. These are precious words, you
know. Truly, the steps of a good man
are ordered by the Lord. When Moses was in the desert, Do you think luck brought him
to cross paths with that burning bush? Or was it the power of
Almighty God? There's no such thing as luck. I read something. Let me just
read this to you. Joshua. I'm going to read this. Joshua
chapter 5. And verse 13, talk about predestinating grace, crossing
the path, when God Almighty is pleased to cross the path of
His people. In Joshua 5, verse 13-15, it
came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up
his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against
him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him
and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? As far as Joshua knew, that was
just a man standing there with a sword in his hand. But you
listen to the answer of this one that Joshua spoke to. And
he said, Nay, no, but as the captain of the host of the Lord,
am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to
the earth. and did worship, and said unto
him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? And the captain
of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off
thy foot, for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua
did so." You know who he was talking to? He was talking to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you for us or for them? He
said, I'm God. I'm God. when Almighty God is
pleased to cross paths with one that the Father has chosen and
given the Son, that the Son has redeemed, when God's pleased,
the Spirit of God is going to direct them to that place. And
now having gone to that place of Abraham's pleasure by the
directing of the angel of the Lord, he finds himself now at
this well. Look at verse 12, and he said,
O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed
this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham. The servants
of God know, know their need, know the necessity of communion
and prayer, seeking the Lord's leadership and direction from
one who only can accomplish that which he's purposed. Here's Abraham's
servant, and he appeals to the God of covenant. Listen how he starts off. He
said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, You who are the God of covenant. You know, the Lord had told Abraham
in Genesis 15, 1, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding
great reward. Almighty God had revealed to
Abraham, I'm the covenant God. I've chosen you. I've given myself
to you. I am your reward. I gave me to
you. I'm going to read some out of
Exodus chapter 2. Exodus 2, 23. Listen to this
blessed passage concerning the covenant God. Exodus 2, 23. It came to pass in the process
of time that the king of Egypt died. and the children of Israel
sighed by reason of the bondage. And they cried, and their cry
came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their
groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham and
Isaac and Jacob. And God looked upon the children
of Israel, and God had respect unto them. Here's this servant,
and he comes to the place where the The Lord has directed him
to stop. He stopped by this well. And he begins to pray. And he
prays to the God of purpose and promise and power. The God who
regenerates sinners. He prayed to the God of Scripture.
He prayed to God Almighty. Not the God that wants to try
to help somebody if they're let to. He said, I'm praying unto
you, O Lord God of my master, Abraham, I pray thee, send me
good speed this day and show kindness unto my master, Abraham. Why didn't he say unto me? He's
there as an ambassador. I'm representing him. I'm representing
Abraham. He prayed depending upon the
one that he knew, heard his prayer, bowing with an attitude of submission
to the good providence of the God of heaven, the one who knew
the whole of the matter and would surely do that which was pleasing
in his sight. And he prayed with a heart of
submission to the good pleasure of God. Behold, verse 13, I stand
here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of a
city come out to draw water. God's wisdom, God's power directed
that servant to be exactly where he was, that well of water. that
which was a beautiful picture and type of the water of life
Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when the Lord said
in John 7, 37-38, If any man thirsts, let him come unto Me
and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. This servant was standing where
the Spirit of God directed him to go. He was waiting on whoever
the Spirit of God would send, asking for God's leadership. And the Spirit of God set forth
that this servant prayed this prayer in closing. 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 shall say,
Drink, and I will give thy camels 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,
as we consider this prayer, and I'm going to purposefully It
has taken our time to go through this 24th chapter of Genesis
because of the beautiful picture of how the Spirit of God calls
out God's elect. But as we consider this last
verse right here, that prayer, I want you to listen. to that
prayer and listen to how specific that servant was. He had a specific request. He petitioned the Lord with a
certain sign from heaven that this woman would act in an exact
manner. Now, we know that when we pray,
we pray and we ask according to God's will and God's leadership
and God's direction, and we never in a presumptuous way insinuate
that we're suggesting our will to His will. We don't do that. But when the Lord of glory was
praying in the garden of Gethsemane. He prayed in a specific way. He said, Father, if this cup
pass from me. Now, what was the cup? That he would die? No, that wasn't
the issue. He came into this world to die.
The issue was him being made sin. He was going to be made
sin. If it be possible that this cup
pass from me, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. But the fact that the Lord hearkened,
I want to make that clear. We don't dictate to God. Lord,
if it's your will, I want you to do this, that, and the other.
And if this happens, and if this happens, and this happens, then
we don't. But the Spirit of God has moved
upon this particular servant of the Lord to pray a prayer
specifically asking God's direction, God's will, for the calling out
of a wife for Isaac. And here was the miracle in this
thing. We're going to see this the next
time we look at it, Lord willing, next time. But the fact that
the Lord hearkened to Abraham's servant's prayer, and we're going
to see that it was just exactly what it proved that he was praying
according to God's will. Praying, being directed by God's
Spirit, and not praying in a rash and disrespectful way. Often,
here's our lesson concerning that prayer. Often, we don't
dictate to God our will. But as we pray, if the Lord moves
upon your heart to ask for something, for someone, praying
for someone specifically, We pray submitting ourselves, Lord,
I pray if it be your will. We often pray this. I find myself
thinking about my kids and grandkids, and I ask the Lord, Lord, I pray,
would you have mercy upon my children? Would you save my grandchildren? Lord, I've got a grandchild that's
going through a problem right here. Lord, and this is the situation.
And I'm asking you. I'm asking you if it be your
will. Lord, if you... We do pray specific things. We find ourselves. But we don't
dictate to God what God's gonna do. I can tell you who God's
gonna save. I know who He's gonna save. He's gonna save all that
He's everlastingly loved in Christ. Lord, if it be according to your
covenant of grace, if it be according to your will, would you save
this person? I pray God have mercy today.
I pray that God Almighty move today and save his people. I don't want to dictate to God
what my will is, but I do pray that the Lord have mercy. I pray
God have mercy. We don't know what to pray. But
the Spirit of God helpeth our infirmities. And obviously from
this scripture right here, we can with confidence say that
when the Lord is pleased to move upon our heart to pray specifically
for something, we preface everything we pray for with this, Lord,
not my will but Thine be done. If God's pleased to save my kids
and my grandkids and my family, for that I'm thankful. But if
He's pleased to let them go the way of their own choosing, direction,
stuff like that, He's still God. And I pray that God have mercy
upon us today, for Christ's sake. Amen.