Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Genesis chapter 23. Genesis chapter 23. In just a few moments, I'm going to read
and make some comments on this blessed passage of Scripture.
Before we do, let's ask our Lord's blessing. Our Father, before You we come
this morning recognizing that You are coming. There is none
else. You're the Lord, mighty, sovereign,
distinguishing, just, holy, precious. And Lord, before you we are but
grasshoppers and we think upon you this morning by your grace
and ask you according to your infinite mercy, compassion and
wisdom. Lord, help us to worship, help
us to hear, help us to see. Lord, would you bless the word
today to the salvation of your people and the comfort of your
elect, for Christ's sake. Amen. I've entitled this message, A
Tomb for Sarah. A Tomb for Sarah. This whole
chapter Chapter 23 of the book of Genesis is a chapter that
deals completely with Sarah needing a place to
be buried. And Abraham, her husband, coming
to and getting a price. buying a piece of property and
burying his wife. Now I'll tell you, I know that
we can look at this passage of scripture, and I'm going to just
take it and just, first of all, I'm going to go through that
chapter, just make a few comments concerning the historical aspect
of this passage. And then I want us to look Lord
willing, at the gospel. Because if we just only see a place bought for sin to be
buried, what is that for us today? The scripture sets forth, and
I know this for a fact. We're all going to die. Genesis 23, 1 and 2, and
Sarah was 107 and 20 years old, and these were the years of the
life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kerjath, Arba,
the same as Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to
mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Here's a woman, this is
the only woman that scripture records how old she was. Only 127 years old. Wife of Abraham,
loved, and now this woman has gone the way of all mankind.
Verses 3 and 4 says, And Abraham stood up from before his dead,
and spake unto the Son's path, saying, I am a stranger. and
a sojourner with you. Give me a possession of a burying
place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight." Abraham,
who had provided for his wife and life, and that is the responsibility
of a man. That's his wife. Take care of
her. Now he's going to provide for
her in death. He didn't possess any land to call his own, but
his concern was a tomb for his wife, his beloved wife. He wanted,
according to his work right here, that I may bury my dead out of
my sight. He wanted a place to put, out
of sight, his wife that had died. She was going to return to the
dust. Verses 5 to 13, And the children of heaven answered Abraham,
saying unto him, Hear us, my lord. Thou art a mighty prince
among us, and the choice of our sepulchres, bury thy dead. None
of us shall withhold from thee this sepulchre, but that thou
mayest bury thy dead.' And Abraham stood up and bowed himself to
the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. He commanded
with them, saying, If it be your mind that I should bury my dead
out of my sight, hear me, and entreat from me to Ephron the
son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Matpila, which
he hath, which is in the end of his field, as for as much
money as it is worth. He shall give it me for possession
of a buried place amongst you." Ephron dwelt among the children
of Heth, and Ephron, the Hittite, answered Abraham in the audience
with the children of Heth. even of all that went in at the
gate of his city, saying, Name my Lord, hear me. The field,
give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee. In
the presence of the sons of my people, give I it thee. Very
as I did, Abraham bowed down himself before the people of
the land who spake unto Ephron in the audience. The people of
the land saying, But if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear
me. I will give thee money for the
people. Take it of me, and I will bury
my dead there." The owner of that piece of property, Ephron,
he was a man that had obviously, according to this scripture,
deep respect for Abraham and was willing to give him the land. You need a place to bury your
wife? You just pick what you want.
It's yours. None of us are going to withhold
any of our sepulchers from you. You're a prince in the land.
You tell us what you want. But Abraham insisted on paying
for the piece of property. And not only did he insist on
paying for the piece of property, he said, I want to know what
the full value of that piece of property is. I want the appraised
value. I don't want any haggling. I
don't want any negotiation. We're not going to barter. I
want to know what is that piece of property worth. My wife is
worth my efforts, my sweat, my labor in life, and now she's
worth whatever it's going to cost for me to bury her. Verse 14-15, Ephron answered
Abraham, saying unto him, My Lord, hearken unto me. The land is worth four hundred
shekels of silver. What is that betwixt me and thee?
Bury it therefore, thy dead. The price was set. Verse 16-18, Abraham
hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver
which he had named, and the audience of the sons of 400 shekels of
silver, current money, with the merchant. And the field of Ephron,
which was in Matphila, which was before Mamre, the field,
and the cave, which was therein, and all the trees that were in
the field, that were in the borders round about, were made sure unto
Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heb,
before all that went in at the gate. The payment was made. It was witnessed. All those that
were involved heard it, heard the terms. They were not going
to be able to accuse Abraham of not being fair, of leaving
any loose ends, or treating these men dishonorably. He paid the
money. And after this, Abraham buried
Zerah, his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah before
Mamre, the same as in 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 burying place of the sons of Hath. Zerah was
laid in the person's place, a place that was made sure with all the
property tied to it by Abraham's full payment. Now, as I told you a moment ago,
that entire chapter, Genesis 23, whole chapter, is dealing
with a tomb for Sarah. That's what it's all about. Everything,
lost price, this is the price, that's what I'm going to pay,
he paid it, and she was laid to rest. Now having seen the
historical aspect of this chapter, I pray this morning that the
Lord be pleased to show us, give us eyes to see, ears to hear,
the glorious gospel of free grace. What I just told you, what I
just read, is truth. It's truth. But it wasn't a gospel. That shows you how men can take
the scriptures and preach that which is absolutely so, and miss
preaching the gospel. And if the gospel be not preached,
then the Spirit of God does not bless it. Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation. You would ask, are you telling
me that men can stand up and say truthful things from the
Bible and it not be blessed of God? Yes. Oh, yes. I've heard a lot of things that
were said that were true things, but they didn't see the glory
of Christ in it. They didn't see the glory of
Almighty God and the redemption of His people. If you miss that,
You missed it. You missed it. Men can see some
things and miss Christ. Remember this. The gospel is
concerning Jesus Christ, His honor, His glory. Now let's just
go back, and I'm going to go through that chapter one more
time. And Lord willing, show you the
difference between preaching That which is true, historical. I can tell you for a fact, I
didn't miss anything. You read it with me. I read what
was said right there. But Lord willing, let's see the
gospel in this. Here's the first thing I know.
Here's the first thing I know. Back to verse 1, Genesis 23. Here's the first thing I know.
That our fault, and we did fault it Adam, you know that. Our fall
in Adam did not negate, that is, it did not prove to be contrary,
or it didn't contradict God's people being in union with Christ. Our fall in Adam did not negate
or prove to be that which put away our eternal union in the
Lord Jesus Christ. was 107 and 20 years old. These were the years of the life
of Sarah. And Sarah died. Now if we didn't know anything
else, we know this. Why did she die? She died because
of sin. The wages of sin is death. When Adam fell, all that came
forth after Adam died. When man fell in the garden,
everyone fell with him by one man's disobedience. Many were
made sinners. 127 years old. And she died. She died. But I want you to notice
something. Where did she die? The scripture
sets forth in verse 2, Sarah died in Kerjah, Arba, the same
as Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for
Sarah and to weep for her. Oh my friends, she died in Adam.
I mean just the fact that it said she died. I know that for
a fact. She died in her federal head
of Adam. I know that. But there was one
in whom she dwelt spiritually long before she was found in
Adam. Sarah is a picture of the church. Sarah is a picture of the bride
of Christ. Sarah is a picture of God's elect. This is Abraham's wife. Abraham's
a picture of Christ. Sarah, a picture of the bride
of Christ. The church died. When did she die? She died in
Adam. But I want you to notice where
she died. Oh, this is how beautiful, if
we just look and see the Spirit of God. The Scripture says she
died, the Scripture says, in Kurjah, Arba. The same as Hebron. Do you know what Hebron was? Hebron was one of the cities
of refuge. the city's refuge. Where did she die? She died in Hebron. Did she die in Adam? Yes, she did. But I'll tell you
this, she never was taken out from where God had originally
put her. Chosen, given to Christ, placed in Him before the foundation
of the world, When she fell in Adam, her fall in Adam did not
put away her being found in Christ. God hath from the beginning chosen
you, the scripture says 2 Thessalonians 2.13, to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. That's what Paul wrote
to the church at Thessalonica. Chosen in him, Ephesians 1.4,
from before the foundation of the world that we should be holy
and without blame before Him in love. Did she fall in hell? Yes, she
did. Was she dead spiritually? Yes,
she was. Oh, but my friend, look at where
she died. She died in Hebron. That's the city of Ravage. Dead. Dead. Spiritually dead. Children of wrath, even as others.
Painter of God. Came forth. But God, who is rich
in mercy. You think about the mercy of
Almighty God for those chosen in Christ for the foundation
of the world. Fall in at Him, but never fall
from Christ. Never. Eternally loved. Eternally secured. These that
God Almighty has everlastingly loved. He said, they shall never
perish. In fact, John 10.28 says, neither
shall any man pluck them out of My hands. She fell in that. Yes, she did. But never out of
the hand of Him that everlastingly loved her. Yes. God's people fell in Adam, but
never removed from Christ. Abraham led a part of that second
verse. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah
and to weep for her. Humanly speaking, why did he
come? He loved her. He loved her as his wife. He loved her. He came to her,
came to where she was in her death. He came to her, she was
dead, and He came to her. Oh Christ who has everlastingly
loved His people, even while they were dead in trespasses
and sin, came to them. Abraham came to mourn for Sarah. But I tell you, a greater than
Abraham is seen here. A greater than any man. He who
came to where we were, came, the Scripture says, forth to
seek and to save that which was lost. This is what I know from
this passage of Scripture. Our fault in Adam, never put
away. Our union in Christ, never. Here's
the second thing I know. Christ, Jesus the Lord, has ever
stood as the surety for his sheep. Look again at verses 3 and 4,
And Abraham stood up from before his dead, and spake
unto the sons of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner
with you. Give me a possession of a burying
place with you. that I may bury my dead out of
my sight. Oh, my heart just rejoices. I look at that and it says, Abraham
stood up. Oh, what need did we have? I know that the scripture says
forth that our great high priest, when he had finished the work,
what did it say? He sat down. But before he sat
there, he stood up. Rose to the need. I had to look
up, stood up. I had to see what it meant. Here's
what it is. And you think of our need being
met by our great spiritual Abraham. Here's what stood up means. It
means to rise. To abide. To accomplish. To continue. to endure, to help,
to hold, to raise up all the blessed security of him that
has stood, who has ever stood, wisdom himself, Proverbs 8, that
says, I was ever before him, and my delight was the sons of
men. It says, Scripture says in Abraham
verse 3, Abraham stood up from before his dad. His dad. Notice how Sarah is described
here. A picture of the church. Eight times in this chapter right
here, Sarah is referred to as his dad, your dad, my dad, my
dad. Eight times the Scripture sets
forth this beautiful truth. When we fell in Adam, Did we
die spiritually? Absolutely did. Absolutely. No
knowledge of God. No love of God. No hunger. No thirst. No care. Dead in trespasses and sin. But let me ask you this. Whose
dead was she? Abraham said, she's my dead.
She's mine. She belongs to me. She's dead. And she can do nothing, absolutely,
to provide herself a place to hide or to put away the sight
of her death in the eyes of Abraham. That's what he said he's going
to do. I'm going to put her death out of my sight. I'm going to
bury her from before my eyes. The sheep, though fallen in Adam,
They're His sheep. They're my sheep. My sheep. Maybe Lord's sheep, but His sheep. They've never been a goat. They're
His sheep. John 10, 16, the other sheep
I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. Matthew 15, 24, I'm not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I've come to bury my dead. We're
going to see in just a few minutes what a glorious picture when
you talk about burying his dead one. Verse 4, I'm a stranger and sojourn
with you. Abraham owned no land of his
own. Scripture says Christ had no place to laze in. Foxes his
hold, birds that nest. He came to this world, a stranger. Word is actually an alien. He
wasn't from here. A sojourner. One that temporarily resides. That's what it means. John 1.14 says the word was made
flesh and dwelt, tabernacled, just tabernacled. 33 plus years sent into this
world to do the will of Him that sent Him. It was finished and
He'll send it back into heaven. Ever living to make intercession
for us. But why did He come? Why? His reason for coming is beautifully
pictured in Abraham's answer to the sons of Heth. He said
in verse 4, I'm a stranger and a sojourner with you, give me
a possession of a buried place with you that I may bury my dead
out of my sight. Why did he come? Why did Abraham
come to where Sarah was right here? Why did Christ come? Abraham, we saw, was there to
secure a place of rest for his bride. He wanted her body to
be put out of sight. The pollution was surely getting
ready to take place. She was of the dust, and she
was going back to the dust, and he was going to put the evidence
of that pollution. He's going to put it out of his
sight and out of everybody else's sight. That's why. That I may
bury my David out from before my eyes actually is what that
is. Oh, do we not see the work of
our Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world as a stranger
and a sojourner to put away the reason, the effects of his people's
death. He was going to put away sin. Why was she going to go back
to the dust? Sin. Why was that body going
to decay? Sin. Why? The frail creatures. Children of dust. If his people's
sin would be put out of his sight, there's only one way that that's
going to happen. Only one way that sin and death, the effects
of rebellion, is going to be put away from the eyes or out
of the sight of our great spiritual Abraham. How's that going to
be? He's going to have to be made
what she is. He's going to have to be made sin and suffer the
penalty for that which held her and everyone like her. Can't
you? Tell you what, He doesn't put
it away. It's never going to be put away out of His sight. Luke 5, verse 12. Let me just
read the description to you. Luke 5, 12. The scripture says
the Lord had come into a certain city, came to pass when he was
in a certain city. Behold, a man full of leprosy,
a man that was eaten up, full of it, who seeing Jesus fell
on his face and saw him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou can
make me come. Lord, if you're pleased, how
is the stench of her rebellion? How is the evidence of her death? How is it going to be put away
out of the sight of Abraham? Let me ask you this. How are our sins going to be
cast as far as the east is from the west? How are we going to
be delivered from the pit of destruction? How are our sins
going to be cast behind the back of Almighty God? How is it that
God will not impute, look upon His people in condemnation? How? I tell you what's going
to happen. Their sins are going to be put
out of sight of Almighty God. Here's the third thing I want
to ask you. What was demanded to put away our sins? The scripture says forth that
Abraham had spoken to Ephron, the one that owned the peace
property. Ephron, picture of God's law,
what's it going to cost? He told him, 400 shepherds of
silver, that's what it's going to cost. What was demanded to
put away Our sins, our great spiritual Abraham paid. Abraham said, I want to know
what the full price is. I want to know what the retail
value is of that piece of property. 400 shekels or so. What is the
full payment to put away out of the sight of Almighty God?
that which held us captive, put away our, that's going to be
put away. What's it going to take? I'll
tell you what it's going to take. It's going to take the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, Abraham stood up, bowed himself
to the people, children of heaven, not in worship, but in submission
to Almighty God. Terms were agreed upon. Land
was violated. Abraham paid it. Oh, but whatever
did he pay for our redemption? The full money, that's what it
is, the full amount, for as much money, that's what Abraham said
to Ephron, full payment for the purchase of our eternal soul.
And he took our place, Calvary. He exacted exactly what was due
for our sin and rebellion against Him. And the sword of God's wrath
was plunged. Abraham weighed out 400 shekels
of silver. Christ paid with His precious
blood and weighed in the balances of God's justice and judgment
and wrath. One is the very heart of our
Savior. It's consumed. Paid in full. What more is old? What's old? Abraham paid the full amount
in the witnesses, in the eyes of all that were there. And I'm
telling you, before heaven, earth, and hell, it was finished at
Calvary. Abraham weighed out some silver. Christ who shed his precious
blood, the law was satisfied, and peace was established between
God and his people by the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he
bore the eternal weight of God's justice in his own body. He openly conquered that which
held us captive. The Scripture says in verse 17,
the field of Ephron, which was in Matphila, which was before
Mamre, the field, the cave, which was therein, all the trees that
were in the field, that were in all the borders round about,
were made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the presence
of the children of heaven before all that went in at the gate
of the city. He bought everything and paid
for everything that went with that piece of property. I'm telling
you, when the Lord Jesus Christ laid down His life at Calvary,
He laid down His life of sin. All those that had been before
Him, historically, He was before all men. But all that were there
during the time he was there, and for all that he would ever
say, I love that, I read that, he bought that piece of property.
What did he buy? Well, he bought the land, the
field, he bought the cave, he bought the trees, everything
that was there. Abraham had established a piece
of property that he wanted to buy. And that's what he bought. This is what I want. What do
you want? We'll give it to you. No, you won't. No, you're not.
I'm going to buy it. That reminds me of when David
went to the threshing floor of Arona. Remember that? David had
sinned against God, and God demanded payment. sacrifice. David went there to buy at the
threshing floor, you know, articles to sacrifice, used to sacrifice. Orona wanted to give it to him.
David says, no, I'll sacrifice nothing unto the Lord that hath
cost me nothing. Amen. He bought all that was
there, all the boundary. He owns us truly by gift. from his father, but I tell you
this, he owns us by purchase. You're not doing it. You've been
bought with a price. Just like Abraham paid in full
that property, he owned it by right. Our great Abraham purchased
the plot. And the scripture says in closing,
says he, after this, verse 19, Abraham buried Sarah, his wife,
in the cave of the field of Machpelah. Actually, Machpelah means two
caves. Double. It means double. Two
caves. Double. He bought the field of
Machpelah before Mamre. Look at this again. The same
as in 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 burying place by the Son of Heav'n." You know what's so
precious to me? I know she died in Adam. We established
that. But you know, she died in Hebron. She died in the city of refuge.
But look where she's buried. In the city of refuge. I quote
Brother Scott, where God puts a name, that's where He keeps
it. That's where he's established. Abraham, I read on to closing
Abraham, was Sarah, Abraham, Isaac, Rebecca, Leah, Jacob,
they were all buried in that tomb. Poor Augustine. Poor Augustine. They're all buried
in the end. Their guilt had been put away
out of the sight of Almighty God. There's no condemnation
to them for being Christ Jesus. Before His eyes, in Christ, holy
and without blame, before Him in love. Oh, may the Lord bless
these words in our hearts. You know, when you hear the gospel,
it brings the swig in. History's interesting. I like
history. It's interesting. But I tell
you, the gospel is precious. To you, therefore, that believe,
He is precious. Amen.