Good singing. Sure sounds good
down here. All right, go back to Genesis
25, and I look forward to dealing with The verses speak of Rebecca,
those two children struggled in her womb. We may look at that
Sunday. No promises, but we may. But tonight, we're going to look
at one verse, verse 11. It came to pass after the death
of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac dwells
by the well Lehiroi. Lehiroi. The well Lehiroi. I've been practicing that all
week, and I'm still in trouble. There's not a Hebrew bone in
my body. So I'm Scotch Irish. It's real
hard. Lehiroi. That's as good as I
can get it. And there's so much here, and
this is how we know this is God's Word. This is not just information
where He dwelt, but this is another gorgeous, beautiful picture of
our Lord's grace and mercy and of Christ. The stories of God's
chosen people throughout the Scriptures often involve a whale. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, these
men, All three of them, there are stories of them at wells. And even women, Hager, we're
going to look at, Rebecca, Rachel, Moses' wife, Zipporah, at a well. These wells are, whenever the
Scriptures talk about fountains, that's a well, a river of water
underground or something deep where rivers of water run. And they're names like Beersheba.
Beer-sheba, does that ring a bell? Well, Beer-sheba. Abraham dug
that well, and it means the well of an oath. There was a covenant
made there. Jacob's well, and then this one,
the higher oil. Fountains and wells. As I said,
a well is a deep, something deep. Not a cistern, mind you, but
something deeply dug that contains rivers of water, precious God-given
water to satisfy the thirst and wash away the filth and refresh
those who need refreshing. Whales are often spoke of in
God's Word. And these whales, every one of
them, this whale here tonight, you know what these whales become. I don't need to tell you, but
I will. They are the Word of God. They
are the grace of God. They are the Christ of God. the blood of Christ, the fountain
filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins where sinners
plunge beneath that blood and lose all their guilty stains.
And Zechariah 13 says this, there is a fountain opened to the house
of David, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for
uncleanness. And in Isaiah 12, It says that
they shall with joy draw water from the wells of salvation. And I hope we'll do that tonight
with joy, to draw from this well. And though they go through the
valley of Baca, a dry and arid place, and make it a well. God's dug a well there for His
people to go through. All right. Now it says here,
It came to pass after the death of Abraham that God blessed his
son Isaac. and appreciate and be thankful
for. He is like last Wednesday night's
message, those who have been given a love for the truth, those
of us who have received a love for the truth. I hope we will
see tonight how blessed we are that God has made us to dwell
by this well. God has caused us to dwell here. Isaac was Abraham's son. Isaac was the heir. Isaac was called the seed of
Abraham. Isaac is called the son of promise. The son of promise. That is,
God promised Abraham that in his seed, Isaac, that Isaac would
be his heir and the people of God would be blessed through
him. Isaac was a son of sovereign grace. Not like Ishmael who Abraham
and Hagar got together by their will and by their works and produced
this son, Ishmael. Isaac was a miracle son. Isaac
was born by the sovereign power of God. He was a gift to an old
man who was dead and an old woman who was dead too. And what I want us to see first,
he does represent Christ without a doubt. But he also represents
us, every son of God. After Abraham's death, God blessed
Isaac. After Christ's death, God blesses
us and causes us to dwell by this well, Mahiroi. Let me read this to you and then
we'll look at Galatians. But Romans 9, and these are verses
you know well, but Romans 9 says this. It says, they that are
the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.
People that make a decision, free will decision, or people
that are, you know, they're not the children of God. Or neither
because they're born not of blood, not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but of God. Promise. Children of promise. Given to Christ. I'm going to
give you. Christ Abraham represents Christ. God said to Christ, I'm going
to bless you and everybody in here. I'm going to give you a
people. And you're going to go die for
them. You're going to live for them. You're going to die for them.
And because you live for them, made a covenant like Abraham,
and die for them, I'm going to bless them through you. They're
your seed. The seed of Christ. Children
of promise. We're saved by this promise of
God. And all the promises of God in
Christ are what? Yay and amen. Certain. Alright? The children of the promise are
counted for the seed. Listen. This is the word of promise.
At this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And the
promise was a virgin shall conceive and bear a child. And then here
in Galatians 3, look at verse 6. It says, As Abraham believed
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore
no death. that they which are of faith
the same are the children of Abraham. What faith? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted on him for righteousness. Abraham, Christ said, saw my
day, didn't he? He rejoiced to see my day, and
he was glad. Well, I have too. I've seen the
Lord Jesus Christ, and I rejoice in Him, in the Lord, and I'm
glad. And so it's counted to you, to
whoever believes God, believes God's Son as righteousness. You're a child of promise. God's
promised that. You're His seed. Verse 9, "...they which be of
faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." See that? Down in verse
26, "...you're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."
And down in verse 29, "...if you be Christ's, Then you're
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. God can't lie. God has given us eternal life.
So like Isaac, we are children of promise, children born not
by the will of the flesh, but of sovereign grace, a miracle. We're all miracles of God's sovereign
grace. According to that promise he
made with Christ before the world began, you give them a children.
children. And like Isaac, we all dwell
by the well of the High Lord. Now, where do you remember hearing
that? This is not the first time this
well is mentioned. Anybody remember hearing that?
Genesis 16. Go back there. Genesis 16. The first mention of this well
or this fountain It's found back in Genesis 16 where the Lord
looked upon an Egyptian woman, a heathen woman, a slave who
was run and scared. And the angel of the Lord found
her by this fountain, by this well, a sinner, run and scared,
and spoke peace to her heart where she found grace in the
eyes of the Lord and found mercy. And the Lord sent her back to
her master. Now, what a picture this is.
Genesis 16, verse 7. Do you remember that? The angel
of the Lord found Hagar by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by
the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarah's maid,
whence camest thou? Where are you coming from? And
where are you going? She didn't know where she was
going. And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress. And
the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return. Return to thy mistress. Submit thyself unto her hand. And she did. And she found mercy.
And look down at verse 13. And she called the name of the
Lord that spake unto her, Thou God, seest me. For she said,
Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore,
the well was called Beer." That's well, beer, beer. The well, the
high royal. For behold, it's between Kadesh
and Bereth. It's the first mention. And every
child of God, every one of God's elect, like Hagar, though they feel banished, though
they feel cast out, you know, she was lifted up in pride. over
her mistress because she was with child. And she was cast
out and she was banished. And she was running scared. And
all of God's people, before he deals with them, are lifted up
with pride. And he comes and he brings them to the end of
themselves. And he sends his angel of mercy,
like he did to Hagar, with the word of God, a sure word, If
you'll return, if you'll repent, you'll find mercy. The devil
will go back, and he shows them all a fountain filled with blood. A fountain of mercy. A deep,
sweet well of blood. Oh, Christ is that fountain.
And the Word of God is this fountain. The Christ of God. The Word of
God is this fountain. The Word of God, like He did
to Hagar and like he did to another woman at a well, exposes us. That's the first thing it does.
He must. The Lord must expose us. He must reveal our sinfulness
to us, our pride, our utter rebellion against Him. Then after He exposes
us, the same word covers us. The Lord empties us. It's got
to be empty. He only fills empty vessels.
Once He empties us, He fills us. The Word of God convicts
us. There's no comfort without conviction.
That's what the Holy Spirit does, convict. And whoever He convicts
of their own sin, He will comfort them by showing them Christ,
the sacrifice for their sin. The Word of God pierces the heart
like a sword. It's a two-edged sword. pierces
the heart over sin, breaks the heart. The only good heart is
a broken heart. But the same Word that breaks
the heart and pierces the heart heals us. It pours in oil and
wine, the balm of Gilead. The Word of God creates a thirst. It makes us realize, I'm dying
of thirst and didn't know it. And that same Word fills us. It fills us with the water of
life. Go to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. And this well, this
water of life, the Word of God, is the well of higher oil. Thou, Lord, seest me. Listen
to this. Hebrews 4. You turn to Psalm
139. Hebrews 4. It says the Word of God is quick,
life-giving, powerful. It's the only thing that's going
to convict a man or woman of their sin, a young person. It
is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the biting
asunder of the soul and the spirit, the joints and the marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And
there's no creature that's not manifest in His sight. Thou, Lord, seest me. Lehiroi.
There's no creature that's not manifest in His sight. All things
are naked and open under the eyes of Him with whom we have
to do it. We need to be stripped. The Word of God does it. It strips
us naked before it closes us. Look at Psalm 139. David was
a man after God's own heart. All of God's people are. All
of God's people have received a new heart from God. And they
cry with David. They begin this way, you've searched
me, and they end this way, search me. They love it. They want God to search them.
That's why they pray. They know He has. They know He
sees them. They know He knows them better
than they know themselves. And what gives them fear also
comforts them. Thou, Lord, seest me. You know
me. That's what you read in Psalm 103, my favorite psalm. The Lord knoweth our prayer. And we're glad of that. It scares
us because we know our sinfulness. We don't know our Savior just
like He knows us. But He delights to show us. We don't know Him
like we ought to. But David says here in Psalm
139, O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. This is what
the Word of God does. It searches us. It makes ourselves
known to us. It makes Himself. Thou knowest
my down city, mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest, or surrounds
my path, my lying down, art acquainted with all my way. There is not
a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before, laid Thine hand upon
me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me." You know, people in the world,
we thought about this recently. The reason people don't want
to come and hear the Word of God or turn away their ears from
the truth is because it's convicting. Because the Word of God tells
the truth about us, and people don't want to hear the truth
about themselves. They'd rather believe a lie. But not God's
people. We want to know, don't we? And this is why Enzis was saying,
search me. Search me. Find out what I don't
know. And this is wonderful. It's both
a terrifying thought, but he knows my thoughts. He knows your thoughts that you've
had since you've come in here tonight. Have they all been pure? Have they all been good and clean
and lovely? Thoughts of God? Prayer to God? Do you not worship Him in spirit?
What person in here could possibly say that? Nobody. Nobody. That both scares us, but it also
comforts us. He knows us. He himself was compassed
with infirmity. He was made in the likeness of
sinfully, but without sin. He knows the temptation. He knows
what we're faced with. He was. And he knows we're not
capable. We just don't have it in us to
not sin. He did, and He has mercy. What a blessed thought that is.
This is wonderful. He knows me. Like a parent knows a child better
than a child knows itself. Like a parent was just like that
child, and knows their infirmities, knows their weaknesses, knows
their ignorance, knows their propensity to fall. What a blessed
thought that is. Oh my, thou knowest me. David
goes on to say, where shall I go from your presence? Whither shall
I flee from thy presence? Down in verse 11, he says, if
I go wherever I think it's dark, the darkness shall cover me.
The night is light about me. Darkness hideth not from thee.
The night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are
both alike to thee. Where do men and women do their
evil? Darkness. Darkness. But we know. It's all
alike to God. It's all alike. We don't run
and hide from Him. Do it. Like Adam. We don't. We run to Him. We run to Him. That reminds me of John 3. Listen to this. You can turn
if you want to. Probably best if you did. But John 3. Our Lord said this. And He said,
this is condemnation. John said this. John 3, verse 19. This is condemnation. Light is coming into the world.
We have it in John 3, verse 19. Men loved darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil. But everyone that doeth
evil hateth the light. Neither cometh the light lest
his deeds should be reproved. Pharisees didn't Our Lord said,
if I hadn't come, you'd have no sin. You'd have a cloak. You'd
cover up your sin. Everybody thinks you're something.
Now I've exposed you. And so they hated Him. Sinners
did. It says, He that doeth truth, that is, believeth on the Lord
Jesus Christ, He that loveth the truth, no matter what it
says about Himself, He that loveth the truth cometh to the light,
listen to me, that His deeds may be made manifest. Even the
bad ones. And that this work that God has
done, that God did it. And back in Psalm 139, that's
why David ends his prayer by saying, Lord, search me, O God,
and know my heart. Well, David, don't you know your
own heart? No, we don't. There are things lurking there
that you're just not aware of. You don't know what you're capable
of doing. And tomorrow I might reveal it. So what we need to
say, what David did, search my heart. See what's lurking there
that I don't know about. He's not saying, I don't know
if there's any evil there, but see if there is. Oh, no. He's
saying, there's much there that I don't know about. Expose it
to me. Show it to me. Get rid of it. Create in me a clean heart. Renew
within me. There was never a man with a
heart more like God and for God than David. He says, renew within
me a right spirit. He got in a bad spirit. He had
a bad heart. Is that possible? Yes, he did.
And he said, give me a clean heart. Clean it up. I didn't
realize I could act like this. Help me. Search me. Search me. Isaac dwelled in a place where
he knew he was being seen by God. That's where he wanted to
dwell. In view of God. Thou, Lord, seest
me. That's where we want to be. In the sight of God. You know
how many times it says that? In the sight of God. In the sight
of God. David said, in thy sight have
I sinned. In thy sight. My, my. All of God's people say
that with David. And like Isaac and Rebekah, there's
a blessing. Every time we mention Isaac,
he's a married man now. Rebekah is with him. Rebekah
is now his bride. She's with him. Isaac dwelt there,
and Rebekah did too. Isaac and Rebekah both dwelled
by the well in God's sight. And this is the well where water
is, where the angel speaks to sinners. The same place the Lord
spoke to Hagar. He meets with Isaac. He meets
with all the sons of Prom. He meets with us. Jude asked
our Lord one day, the apostle, Jude the apostle. Not Judas Iscariot,
but Jude the apostle. He asked the Lord one day, how
is it that you will manifest yourself by self unto us and
not unto the world? How is it that you will reveal
yourself unto us and not to the world? That we may know that
we are your children and that you set us apart from the rest
of the world. And the Lord said this, if a man loved me, he will
keep my words, he will lay hold of my words as something precious. It's something they need. Life.
Words of life. Peter said, I'm not going anywhere.
These are words of life. And the Lord went on to say,
And my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and
make our abode with him. We'll dwell there. We'll dwell
with you. Our Lord said, if my words abide
in you, you abide in me, and my words abide in you, he it
is that loveth me. So that's where He dwells. That's
where I want to dwell. That's where we do dwell. We
get away from the well sometimes, seem to, but that's where we
dwell. In Him we live, move, and have
our being. All the blessings of God are
in Him. Alright, now look at verse 11 again. And it says that
God blessed his son, Isaac. He dwelt, by the way, in Lahairoa.
I'm getting it now, Lahairoa. God blessed his son. Whose son?
His son. Saint Abraham's son. God blessed
his son, Isaac. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called sons
as he is. sons of power. God blessed his
son, Isaac. The reason we read all these
verses were because if you with the naked eye would look at these
two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, who does it appear that God blessed? Isaac is childless. He is at
this point 60 years old. He has no children. Down there
we read he begged the Lord to give Rebekah a child. But he has no children. While
Ishmael has twelve. Ishmael has twelve sons and they're
princes. They're rulers. They live in
castles. Isaac lives in a tent. They live in castles. They're
called princes. Everybody knows them. They're
rich and they're famous and they live in big castles. Isaac and
Rebekah dwell in a tent and have no children. But it says God
blessed his son Isaac. The blessings of God are not
temporal. The blessings of God are not
material. The blessings of God are not in castles, health and
wealth. The blessings of God are in Jesus
Christ if he makes himself known to you like he did Isaac, and
you dwell by the well of Nairoa, even if it's a tent. That's the
blessings of God. You remember the story of Hannah
and Cana, her husband? Hannah was barren. Seems like
every woman that was really blessed was barren. Right? Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah. They were barren. Oh, but they
ended up being fruitful. Remember Hannah? wanted a child so bad, and Elkanah
said to her, listen to this, Elkanah, her husband, who represents
the Lord Jesus Christ, he said to her, he said to Hannah, Am
I not better to thee than ten sons? Who's blessed? We're sitting in the basement
here tonight. Well, so-called churches all over can't build
buildings big enough. to hold the crowds that are eating
husks while we're drinking from the
well. Who's blessed? Those that are
chosen, called, that know Christ and dwell in the Word of God,
that dwell in Christ, and Christ dwells in them. And then she
had a difficult childbirth. She had a difficult childbirth.
And she said, I asked for a child, but I didn't ask for this. That's
what she said. I wanted a baby, but now he's
killing me. Why am I like this? Why is this
happening, this struggle within me? And I'm not going to go into
that. Look at that son they made. Alright,
let's do it. Ishmael had 12 sons. It sounded
like all of them were pretty good sons. Princess, nobleman,
didn't say any problems with those boys. I think when Isaac
had two sons, they were both no count. God blessed Isaac. The oldest
son hated God, sold the birthright for a pot of beans, and his youngest
son was a chink, a scoundrel, cheated his dad and cheated his
brother and went running. Can I say it? But God said, and
this is a promise, Jacob had our love. He was about 50 years
old, 60 years old when the Lord came to him and laid hold of
him. I think Isaac lived to see that.
I don't know. I forget. I didn't look it up. Maybe he
didn't. Maybe he didn't. But God blesses us. See the things we think. See,
all blessed be the God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according
as He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
things, places, in Christ Jesus, according as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love, that we may dwell
with Him forever. predestinate us on the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ Himself, all to the praise of the Lord.
Who is blessed? We are. We are blessed more than
anybody on earth. The Lord blessed Isaac. He has
blessed all his chosen seed, more than all the rich, famous
people in this world. Not many wise men, not many mighty,
not many noble are called, but you see your calling brethren,
don't you? And here's the purpose of God now. Go to John 4. You knew we had
to go there, didn't you, Irene? Here's the purpose of God in
telling us about Isaac being at the well. John 4. Because if you're looking
for the Son of Promise, you've got to find Him at the well. No clearer picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ in all Scripture than the man Isaac. The son of
promise. The seed in whom all are chosen. And you'll find our Lord Jesus
Christ at the same well where Isaac was living, where Hagar
found mercy. John 4. I want you to listen. You may not realize this, but
I brought this up. Some amazing things happened
at Wales. Hager found mercy at the well.
Abraham's servant, remember, he kneeled down by the well and
said, Oh Lord, the daughters of maidens come to draw water. Let it be her. And Rebecca came. Isaac's bride came. And Isaac,
that's where Isaac dwelled back in chapter 24, it says that's
where he came from. He came from the well, Lehiroi,
to meet Rebekah. That's where he was. That's where
he lived. He came out to meet her at the
well. Jacob met Rachel at a well. That's right. He rolled the stone
away from the mouth of the well. So Rachel could feed her. Rachel
kept sheep. Moses met his wife, Zipporah,
at a well. And you're going to meet your
husband there. The Lord Jesus cried out. In fact, this woman
did. Created a thirst. John 4, it says in verse 4, he
must needs go through Samaria. Why? One of his elect was there. Come to a city of Samaria called
Sychar near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph."
Now, Jacob's well was there. Jacob's well? This is the Lord's
well. He owns it. He is the well. He,
wearied from his journey, sat on the well. I thought about
that. I never really thought about it. He sat on that well.
I bet that was forbidden. This was a sacred well to the
Jews back then. This was a highly esteemed well. They highly esteemed it and venerated
this well. Jacob's well. Sacred ground.
You don't just sit on that well. Christ did. That's His well. That's His well. That's His water.
And His bride is coming. His wife is coming. Like Rebecca. Like Rachel. Like Zipporah. And it says in verse There comes
a woman of Samaria to draw water. And down in verse 13, our Lord
said, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. And that woman said, Give me
this water. But I may never thirst again, nor come here again. I
want to keep coming back to this well." And then the Lord said,
created a thirst, and He convicted her of her sin. He said, you've
been married five times, and you're a miserable, unhappy woman,
and now you're living in sin. But you're religious, and you
don't know what you believe. And then the Lord said, the hour
comes The true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth. A woman said, I know a Messiah is coming called Christ. He'll tell us all things. He
said to her, I have to speak unto thee. And she dropped her water pot. She dropped her water pot and
her religion and that dude she was living with. And our Lord said in that last
day of the feast, Amen thirsts. Let him come unto me and drink. And as the Scripture saith, out
of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Ho, everyone
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, the well, the high water. Okay, stand with me. This is Your Word and how we
rejoice in it and marvel at it. No scriptures of any private
interpretation. No man wrote these things. They're
just too marvelous, too glorious, too wise, too mysterious, too
hidden to the natural eye. Oh, Lord, how we thank You that
You have revealed these things unto us and our children, revealed
Christ in us. This well of water springing
up. We thank You, Lord. You've given us an understanding
that we might know Him that is true and we're in Him that is
true. The true God in eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ.
And caused us to dwell in Him and He in us. This is hope. Hope of eternal life. Christ
in us. The well, the water, the Word,
the Gospel in us. How we thank You. that we receive
the love for the truth, for Christ Himself. Lord, we live in this
dry and thirsty land, and like David, we say, our souls thirst
after Thee, O God. O Lord, continue to bring us
back to the well, back to the well, back to Bethel, back to
Beersheba, the well of the oath, the high arrow, the well where
Thou seest us, and give mercy to sinners like Hagar. Oh Lord,
thank you for these people. Bless them. Bless them. Let this
word spring up in days ahead. They might drink afresh from
it in days ahead when they need it, out in this dry, dry and
barren place, this valley of bacon. It's in Christ's name
we have met here tonight and give thanks. Amen.