and checked my email. Brother
Clay Curtis, I don't know if any of you received his bulletin
by email. Anybody? At any rate, he had
two articles written on Genesis 21. I like that when that happens. Both excellent. I'm glad that
I read what he said because we said the same thing. I was glad. Genesis 21, what a wonderful,
wonderful story and gospel picture this is. Let's read verses 1
through 8. And the Lord visited Sarah as
he had said. And the Lord did unto Sarah as
he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bare
Abraham a son in his old age. at the set time of which God
had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of
his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son
Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto
him. And Sarah said, God hath made
me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me." And
she said, who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should
have given children such? For I have borne him a son in
his old age. And the child grew and was weaned,
and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And the Lord visited Sarah as
he had said. A beautiful story, a true story
of how the Lord in sovereign mercy and grace miraculously
caused a barren old woman to produce a child. The Lord miraculously
caused her to receive seed and conceive and put life in her,
a son in her. And it caused her to laugh or
rejoice. And all who hear about it, she
said, will laugh with them. And this is a greater story.
There is a greater story within this story of how God still is
doing the same thing. How God in sovereign mercy and
grace creates spiritual life in dead, barren centers. Puts
Christ in, Christ the seed of life, in a dead center, causing
them to rejoice. and God their Savior. And I rejoice. The Lord visited Sarah. Country folk over the years use
language like this, don't they? They pay you a visit. That's
what country people do when they come to see you. They pay you
a visit. I believe most of the language that country folk have
adopted comes from Scripture. This is a scriptural term. The
Lord paid Sarah a visit. What is man? David wrote. That you should be mindful of
him. Or the Son of Man that thou visitest him. Listen to this
in Luke 1. This is what Zechariah said upon
the birth of his son John. He said this in Luke 1. Blessed
be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed
His people." And he went on to say, "...through the tender mercy
of our God, whereby the day spring from on high hath visited us."
David one time said this, and may we all say this, cry out
this cry, O Lord, visit me with Thy salvation. And may we cry
that for ourselves and for our children. Lord, pay them a visit. Would you please? Better yet,
you cry that. Lord, visit them. You do it.
Right now. Right now. Oh my, the Lord visited
Sarah as He said. As He had said. According to
His Word. The Lord does what He Says He's
going to do it every time. The Lord does what He purposed
to do. He said the Lord did unto Sarah, verse 1, the Lord did
unto Sarah as He had spoken. Just what He said. All things
are according to God's will and God's purpose. Known unto God
are all His works from the beginning of the world. Nothing happens
but what God has already ordained. What God has already written.
There's no new thing under the sun. It's already been predestined. It's already been ordained by
God. Wow, the world hates that. I
am so glad that God has ordered all things, and they're certainly
according to His will and His purpose and His wisdom. Oh, my. And all of God's people, their
names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the world
began, and everything about them has been ordained for their good,
for their good and His glory. Thank God. God said this in Isaiah
46, Yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. I have
purposed it, I will do it. I will do it. Thank God. All things are purposed and all
things are written. Go back to chapter 17. to Sarah
exactly what he said he would do. Back here in Genesis 17 is
when the Lord said he would do it. And Sarah didn't hear it.
She will, but she didn't hear it then. But God spoke it. Genesis 17, verse 19, God said
to Abraham, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou
shalt call his name Isaac. and I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him."
Abraham, as we've already seen very clearly, is a type of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's why he's in the Scripture.
He is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the covenant head
of his people, whom God spoke to in a covenant before the world
began, before his bride was ever around. and told him, you're
the one I'm going to bless. You're the one I'm going to bless
all people through. You're going to see your seed
and be satisfied. That's the Lord Jesus Christ,
of whom Abraham is a type of. And Sarah is a picture of his
bride, his wife, the church, all of his people. And God gave
orders concerning us to Christ. who came and fulfilled that covenant. And look at chapter 18. Now,
Sarah heard this. You remember we looked at this.
Sarah overheard this. She was in the tent. In verse
10, he said it again. You see, God repeats Himself.
He doesn't say anything new. He just says the same things
over and over. He has the same thing to say
to all of His people. In verse 10, He said, just as
18, Verse 10, I will certainly return unto thee according to
the time of life. And lo, Sarah thy wife shall
have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door behind him. Oh, my. Sarah shall conceive. Well, did she? According to the
word of the Lord, the purpose of the Lord, the will of the
Lord, did she? Yes, she did. Look back at the text. And it
says in verse 2, For Sarah conceived. The Lord visited Sarah as he
said. The Lord did unto Sarah. Who did what? Who told who what
they were going to do? Who came to who? Who found who? Who did what unto who? Who did
this? Salvations of the Lord. He's
the one. He did this to Sarah. Sarah is
passive. Sarah is a recipient. Sarah did
nothing. She's a receiver of all that.
The Lord did it all. So it is in salvation. And it
says, Sarah, conceive. She gets no glory for conceiving.
Conceiving means to receive seed. The receiver gets no glory. The
giver does. Right? Oh, man, a man can receive
nothing except it be given him. Salvation is a gift bestowed,
not offered. of bestowed. It's an act of God
upon us, an act of God in us, not an offer to us, but an act
upon us, for us, by Christ, by Christ, for us, by the Holy Spirit
in us. It is God's work. And Sarah,
as Paul wrote in Hebrews 11, by faith she received strength
to conceive. Now, this is a miraculous thing.
that this old barren woman would have a child in her old age.
This was supernatural, wasn't it? Supernatural. An old woman
can't bear children. A 90-year-old woman can't have
children. It ceased to be with her as it
was the way with women, right? Well, here's the truth of the matter
of salvation. We're born dead in trespassing sin. We're born
dead. Man is dead. Barnard used to
say graveyard dead. That means he can't do anything.
He can't do anything. He's dead. And salvation is a
miracle of God's grace. That he has to do this work to
create spiritual life. It's not an act of the human
will. Man's dead. He will not come. It's not an
act of man exercising his faith. He's dead. He doesn't have any
faith. He has to be given faith. Faith
is not the thing that causes life. It's
proof of life. Faith doesn't give life. It just
proves there is life. Calling upon the Lord doesn't
give life. It proves he's already given
life. So Sarah conceived. She received the seed. It was
miraculous. It was supernatural. But now
listen. Here's the amazing thing about
it. It happened by ordinary means. It happened the same way everybody
has a baby, doesn't it? A woman can't have... Well, we're
going to hear about how there was a young maiden who had a
child without the seed of man. And that's altogether different. But no human being has ever been
born on this earth without the seed of man being put in the
womb of a woman. And that's what happened here.
Now, the average person would say, what's miraculous about
that? There's nothing miraculous about that, is there? Hold on
now. There are women in here who thought
they could have children and couldn't. Right? They know it's a miracle. They
know it's a gift, don't they? The Lord just wasn't pleased
to give that. And then there are those who couldn't have children,
who thought they couldn't have children, like my wife, but did. Now that's a miracle. That's
a miracle. And salvation is a miracle. The natural birth of a child
is still a miracle. It's still a miracle. God gives
natural life. But it happens so often by ordinary,
common means that men and women don't recognize it and don't
give God the glory for it because it happens so often. Yet it's
still a miracle. Is there anything more amazing,
more wondering than to see a little baby come out of the womb of
a woman, a human being in all of its fullness, a child in perfection? That's amazing, isn't it? Amazing. I'll tell you something more
amazing. to take a dead, worldly, sin-loving, world-loving, God-hating sinner and put Christ in him
or her and cause them to rejoice in Him whom they once gave no
thought. Cause them to hate what they
once loved and love what they once hated. Cause them to be
where they did not want to be and not be where they used to
want to be. To do a complete change. It's new life. It's not just turning over a
leaf. It's a new heart. It's new life. They are born
from above. This is the greatest miracle
of all. And it's the act of God. The
act of God. You must be born from above. And even though religion pretends
that this happens, religion is full of all these so-called born-again
Christians. Alright? And they abuse the means. And they give the glory to the
means. And they say, because this person, you know, called
on the Lord, the Lord saved, because this person let him into
their heart, because this person walked down the aisle and all
these means that they think gives birth. That's not the case at
all. But God is still giving supernatural,
miraculous new birth from above by this seed, by this miracle
that he puts this seed in the heart of a dead sinner and actually,
literally puts Jesus Christ in them. You can't see Him. People
can't see Him. But He's there nonetheless. This
is a miracle. And He uses common means. Okay? Common means. It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that bled. God has
always used the same means. Same means. A man with a Bible? Just a man, yes. He's just a
man. He doesn't save them. The preacher
doesn't save them. His preaching doesn't save them.
But lo and behold, by the Spirit of God, in His time, when He
says He'll send that Word, which is the incorruptible seed, will
not return void. It is the power of God unto salvation. And put that seed in a dead sinner's
heart, and boom! Life begins. That's a miracle. Who hath despised
a day of small things? Oh, my. And I never grow tired
of seeing it. And we'll keep waiting for it
to happen again. We're going to keep doing the
same thing. Same old voice, yes. Same old preacher. Same people.
Same place. Same pew. Same book. Same Bible. Same message. But when God says,
when God says so, It takes that same... Opens your eyes. Opens your heart.
And I love when that happens. It's proof to me. You know, you
keep hearing the same voice over and over again. And it will even
lull you to sleep. Lull you to sleep. My grandparents
used to live by a railroad track. And I mean, it was about 40 feet
from a railroad track. And I remember when we first
went there and spent the night as children. We were out in the
country, Tecumseh, Georgia. About ten people lived there.
And we first went there as children and slept in their old feather
bed, about three or four of us in the same bed. And that night,
that train came through. Oh, I thought he was going to
run over us. I thought he was coming through
the house. He shook the house. He shook the house. We were all
shaking. Three nights later, not a one
of us woke up. Same train. But the point is,
we can hear the same voice over and over again, even low as to
sleep, but in God's good time. As he said, in his set time,
when God is pleased to speak, That voice becomes the voice
of the Son of God. And that's a miracle. And I know
it's a miracle. I know it's a miracle. Lo and
behold, someone who never called, calls. Someone who never cried
unto the Lord, Lord Satan, suddenly cried. Oh, my. Life has begun. Lord, do it,
please. Let's pray for ourselves and
for our children. What do you say? I hear you. You know, if Abraham hadn't gone
in to Sarah, she wouldn't have had a child with him. Wouldn't have had a child. If
you don't call on the Lord, you won't be saved. You don't seek the Lord, you
won't find him. Right? That's right. So call, seek, and you shall
find. Ask, and it will be given unto
you. But you know, God made her willing. God made her willing. God created in her a desire that
I believe had long gone. Long gone. It says she received
strength to conceive seed. Lo and behold, Abraham one night
looked at Sarah, and she saw something in him she hadn't seen
in years. I think this is a good picture actually. I remember
hearing message after message after message, hearing Christ,
and I heard the best preacher ever to stand in a pulpit. I
heard a man standing up declaring the altogether loveless Son of
God with power, and I saw others fall in love with Him. But I
didn't see in Him any beauty that I should desire. There was
no comeliness in Him that I should desire. I didn't hear anything.
in him that I desired him. No, no. But one day, I did. One day, I did. And that was
my dad. I used to look at him as just my dad up there. He's
just a preacher. That's just what he does. One
day, I didn't see or hear my dad. I heard the voice of the
Son of God through the preaching of the Gospel. And I fell in
love with the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, I did. I saw sparks flew. Like old Boaz was flirting with
Ruth. Remember that? Oh yeah. Yeah,
he's wooing her. He's drawing her. This is what we call irresistible
grace. Irresistible grace. Now, Paul
said this, I speak a mystery concerning Christ and His church
and this union of Christ in His bride. That's why we are conceived
in the natural way. That's exactly why. Because it's
such a glorious picture how Christ comes to His people and puts
His seed in them and creates this divine. It's a glorious
picture. To the pure, it's pure. To the pure, it's glorious. And
it gives Him all the glory. And it really is. A one, a union,
until the two become one. Never to be separated by anyone,
ever. Never. New creature. At the set
time. And you know, the world argues
against God's sovereign purpose and will and preordination of
all things and predestination of all things. And they say,
well then why this or why that? This is our hope. This is our
hope for our children and those that we know, those that we want,
wish to be saved. This is our hope that if God
purposed it, nothing's going to stop it. That if God has chosen
them, they're coming. I mean, they're running wild,
they're out there nowhere, and nobody can bring them back. Now,
hold on now. If God has chosen those at one,
buddy, they're coming. You watch and see if the prodigal
doesn't come home. That's our hope, isn't it? That
was my parents' hope for me. Nobody could get through to me.
Nobody could convince me. There's only one that can. And if He has purposed it, that's
our hope, you see. We try. We fail. The Lord doesn't
try. He doesn't fail. The set time. in the fullness
of time. I can't wait. I just happen to
believe there are others sitting in here right now who are dead
and in the fullness of time. I can't wait to see their eyes
open, their ears open, their hearts start to beat, their eyes
spring a leak, and then confess the Lord Jesus Christ whom they
didn't care for before. I can't wait. But we'll have
to. Alright, verse 3 says, Abraham
called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah
bared to him, Isaac. Abraham called his name Isaac.
When did he do this? Before he was born. Who did this
now? It wasn't Abraham, it was the
Lord back in chapter 17. The Lord said this in verse 19,
you will call his name Isaac. You'll have a son and you'll
call his name I wrote it down wrong, 1719. Yeah, called his
name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant
with him. The Lord named him. The Lord is the one that called
his name, and the Lord is the one that brought him forth. And you know the Lord calls his
own sheep by name. He calls all his sheep by name.
And that's who called you. And Romans says, you're called
to be saints. And he wrote the names of all
of his people before they were born, the children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil. Not of works,
but of him that called them. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
and Esau have I hated. And God put their names, every
one of his elect people, in the last book of life before the
world began. And when they're born, their
mothers called them by that name. They don't have a choice. I'm
so glad. Oh, I'm glad. And verse 4, it
says in our text, Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days
old, as God had commanded him. Here's what the Word says about
all of God's people. Now, you know, circumcision is
not outward in the flesh. He is not a Jew, which is one
outward. Circumcision is of the heart. And every one of God's
people are circumcised. Male and female. Circumcised. This is what is done to them
by the Spirit of God, by Christ. "...in whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands, and putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Do you
remember us studying that? What is that? That's Christ crucified. That's what happened. When He
shed His blood, He shed in circumcision. That's what Christ did. He bore
our sins in His own body on the tree. We're circumcised by Him. By Him. Oh, my. And then verse
5, it says of Sarah, here's what happened. Here's Sarah's reaction. You notice how all this was done
to Sarah. Said concerning Sarah. And now finally, she is made
aware of it, and she experiences it. There is an experience. Salvation
is not having an experience, but it is an experience. It's
a lifelong experience. In fact, how can you be born
from above, blind and now see, deaf and now hear, and it not
be an experience? And what I'm saying is, it's
not like religion calls it, you know, this emotional experience
whereby they gave their heart to Jesus, and from that day forward,
they're trusting in that decision that they made and that emotional
time that they had down at the altar. No, no, that's not it.
Not it. But Sarah did. She had a child
born that time. And that child came forth. And
she experienced it. It was a wonderful experience.
Verse 6, Sarah said, Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh. God hath made me to laugh. Do
you remember back when she laughed the first time? And the Lord
rebuked her. She heard about this. She heard
about this miraculous child that was to be born. She laughed.
She mocked. She mocked at that. I did too. There was a time when When I
mocked this, when I thought this was a bunch of foolishness. And
you did too. But God. There was a time when
I thought, oh, it's all a hoax. Oh no, there's nothing to this
at all. Until I experienced it. And people argue against the
truth until they experience it. People argue against the new
birth until they experience it. People argue against all of this
until the time when God comes like Saul of Tarsus and says,
it's hard to think against the prince. Who do you think I am? I've come to you. Now you're
mine. Now what do you say about that?
Now she's laughing. A different kind of laughter.
Now she's rejoicing. Abraham laughed back then. When
the Lord told Abraham and Sarah over her, she laughed. She snickered. She mocked. But Abraham laughed.
He laughed. He rejoiced. He rejoiced. And now she's rejoicing too. Some of you in here have the
unconverted, unsaved loved ones who laugh at your religion, who
mock and scoff at your religion. Oh, may God, oh, may the Lord
be pleased to come to them and cause them to rejoice with you.
Won't you rejoice? My dear brother in here came
to me and said, pray for my wife. Well, verse 6, Sarah laughed. God has
made me laugh and all that hear will laugh with me. Yes, Sarah,
I laugh with you. He's made me laugh too. He made
you laugh. He made you laugh. dead sinners raised to life,
oh, how they laugh, how they rejoice in God our Savior. And
she said, who would have said? Why, who would have thought it?
Who would have ever thought this, that Sarah would have a child? And that's what they said about
me. And that's what they said about some of you. That's what
you said about him, wasn't it? Who would have ever thought it?
Who would ever dream that this old fellow would be sitting in
the worship service rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ? Who
would ever, let alone standing up preaching? Oh, my, what a
miracle this is. Laugh with me, would you? Oh,
my. I have borne of him a son in
old age, that this rotten, no good, hellion, God-hating hellion
who is bearing fruit to the glory of God. Isn't that amazing? And
the child grew, verse 8, and was weaned. And so are all of
God's people. They grow in grace in the knowledge
of their Lord Jesus Christ. And the more they grow in grace,
the more they're weaned from this world. That's what growth
in grace is. See, you started out loving the
world, hating God. And then it changed. Then you
begin to love God and start hating the world. And the more you grow
in grace, the more you love Him and the more you hate this world.
He winged you. He winged you. The more you love
Christ, the less you love these things. And the more you're willing
you are to depart and be with Him, which is far better. Abraham
made a feast that day. Same day he was weaned, he made
a feast. This gospel used to be positively
distasteful to me. I didn't want to hear it. I was
brought. I was forced. I was made to sit
here and eat. Like when I was a child, they
made me eat green vegetables. It's awful. One time, they forced
me to eat green beans. They did. And I hope this doesn't
gross you out, but I started eating them and they came back
up. And my dad looked at Mom and said, don't ever make him
eat those again. Well, you know what? I grow them now. I can't think of anything I like
better. I can make a whole meal out of green beans. And there's nothing I enjoy more
than hearing this gospel preached. Now, that's a miracle. And I feast on it. And heaven
someday, you're talking about a feast. What are they going
to be doing? Oh, it's all about the food. Hold on now. Hold on. It ain't about the food. Well,
it depends on what your food is. Christ, we feast on His body
and His blood. And we're going to feast, we're
going to be at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Christ our Passover.
And we're going to feast on Him as He opens up the Word, the
bread of life. And our hearts are going to burn,
and we're just going to be so full to overflowing as He feeds
us with this manna. Amen. Okay. May the Lord bless
you. Yeah.