I have entitled this message, as I said, Abram's Sin and God's
Grace. We're going to see a picture
of Christ right in the middle, right in the midst of the mess
that Abraham made. He made a mess. There's a message
in the mess. A message. We will deal with
the story of Abram and Hagar and Ishmael and Isaac. We'll
deal with that a little more fully when we get to chapter
twenty-one. Because chapter 21 deals with
that more fully, and that's when the bondwoman is cast out with
her son. We'll deal with that a little
more fully when we get to it, and I'll make reference to it. Abraham and Sarah, like all men and women, make a mess out of things when
they do not wait on the Lord, when they do not seek the Lord's
will, but take matters into their own hands. When we resort to
carnal reasoning rather than God's will and God's We end up in sin and in trouble
every time without fail. Abram was a man just like all
men, but God saves men for his glory. And after he saves men and women,
they become the best that men and women can be, which is still not much. Abram is called the father of
the faithful. But how faithful was he? He was so unfaithful. We've already
seen that, haven't we? And I've commented before Now
that if the average preacher were taking this passage as well
as others, chapter 14 and chapter 12, they would be bragging on
Abraham, Abel, his faith. But we're not here to brag on
men. Abel was a failure. He had a
few successes, but mostly failures. He showed himself faithful a
few times, but very few. Isn't that right? And those of
you who've been with us in this study and have read, even just
read with us, there's only one truly faithful man that ever
lived. There's only one man who ever
lived who could say, I do always those things which please my
Heavenly Father. Always. I am faithful in everything. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the God-man. Only one that's ever been able
to say that. You see, we're not here to brag
on men. We're here to brag on the man,
Christ Jesus, the God-man. We're not here to talk about
man's faithfulness. Because great is his faithfulness,
great is thy faithfulness, small is ours. Even the Father, even
the fellow who's called the Father of the faithful, his faith was
so small. Now, Abram is a picture of man
and his inconsistencies. Man is such an unstable creature.
He's so up and down, isn't he? Consider yourself. Aren't you
that way? Up one day and down the next?
Solid one day and toss to and fro the next? Huh? Faith is an
anchor that holds on to something unmovable. And that's what's
going to keep you from being broken asunder. Christ is that
rock, faith is the anchor that holds to him. But man is such
a picture—Abram here is a picture of man in all his inconsistencies. He's faithful in some things,
but very unfaithful in others. He's courageous in some areas.
Here, Abram went down with a handful of fellows and took on several
mighty kings and all of their armies, going to rescue Lot. We'll show them. But here he walks into town with
his wife, and she has to be a real pretty woman. And he's shaking
like a leaf and asks her to save his neck and says she's his sister. Man, so unstable and strong in
some areas and weak in others. You know, I thought about this.
The man or the woman who is most like Christ is the most stable
person. You can count on that. The person
you can count on the most is the person most like Christ.
The most stable and consistent man or woman is that one who
is like Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, forever. And the man who has grown up
in Him in all things, he's pretty much pretty stable, like that,
pretty consistent. I know a few. I know a few. Now, here's the story. I look
back at chapter 16. Here's the story, and let's briefly
look at man and his sin and a picture of God's grace in Christ here
in this story. Verse 1 and 2. Let's read these
together. Now, Sarai—and that's how you
pronounce her name here. It's not Sarah. It changes to
Sarah later. God changes it. But here it means
it's Sarai. Now, Sarai, Abram's wife, bare
him no children, and she had an handmaid, servant, an Egyptian,
whose name was Hagog. Sarai said unto Abram, she didn't
ask, but she said unto Abram, Behold now, listen up here, the
Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto
my maid. It may be that I may obtain children
by her. And Abram, listen, Now, this was Abram's first mistake. He hearkened unto his wife. Instead
of being the spiritual leader, instead of being strong in faith,
instead of following God's word and God's will as he should have,
this was his first mistake. And this is where man's sin started
in the beginning, wasn't it? This is where it all started.
It started in the garden. Man, instead of—and we inherited
man's sin, not Eve's, Adam. Instead of Adam following God's
clear word and instruction, he listened to somebody else. He
heeded the woman. That's what God said there in
Genesis 3, "...because thou hast hearkened unto thy wife." He
didn't listen to me. He chose what she said over me. Because Adam hearkened unto Eve,
and here Abram hearkens unto Sarai, they fall into a mess. I mean, this is going to be the
biggest trouble that Abram You know the story. This thing
caused, and is causing, God's people, Israel, God's spiritual
people, a mess ever since the beginning. And this really caused a problem.
And it caused trouble between this man and his wife. Now, all
we're really to blame here is for Sarai's doing, wasn't it?
It was her idea. Although the woman is to blame,
hers is not the greater fault here. Just like God didn't charge
Eve with man's sin, but Adam. If the man were a man, if Adam
had been a man, if Abram had been a man, he would have led
and not followed. he would have instructed his
household, he would have been the leader instead of the follower. Right? It reminds me of a story. I have a dear pastor friend who
was selling his home, and let me ask him a certain
task for it. which was they both agreed to
a price and asking a certain price for it. And someone came
along and offered, the price was, I think, $69,000,
like that, something like that. And a fellow came along and offered
to write them a check immediately for, I think it was like $66,000
or $67,000. The man, The man said, we'll take it.
The woman said, wait a minute. He said, come back here, I want
to talk to you. They went back and she said, no, no, no. He
said, yes. She said, no. And finally he
hearkened to his wife. He left the Englishman in their
house for about $54,000. Now here's the story. After it
was all over, The man started telling his wife,
started blaming her. He says, see? He said, see, if
you'd have listened to me, we wouldn't have lost all this money.
We'd have made more money. She said, if you'd have been
a real man, you wouldn't have listened to me. If you'd have been any man at
all, you'd have set your foot down. So he blamed her and she
blamed him. That's exactly what happened
here between Sarah and I and Abram, but the consequences were
much greater than just a few thousand dollars. And I withheld the names to protect
her. I think I've told you that before
and I think you know what I'm talking about. There are exceptions
in every case, of course, between men and women. Manoah is an exception. He and his wife, and I'd love
to preach on that sometime. I haven't yet. Manoah is a pitiful
fellow, and his wife had some faith, and she would have to
instruct him. Well, that happens. There are exceptions. But the
fact is, if a man were a man, as he should be, and studied
God's word, and heeded it, and followed it, and ruled his home
by it, things would go a lot smoother, a lot better. That's a fact. That is fact. Verse 3, And so Sarai, Abram's
wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt
ten years in the land, and gave her to her husband to be a wife. tempted by his own wife. This
is unthinkable. This whole situation is just
like what Abram did to Sarah. You say you're my sister, and
he gave her into the hands of whoever wanted her. Here, this
woman gets this and gives him. This is just unthinkable. You
see what things happen You see, we have a more sure word of prophecy.
We have the revealed will of God in all these areas, and things
of marriage and all that. We have such an advantage over—and
before we fault them too much, they didn't have what we have
to go by. We are without excuse. They were. They sure were. But they didn't
have this instruction booklet. And at any rate, And this is
what men and women do when they do not consult the Word of God,
when the Word of God is not first and foremost in the lives and
the homes and families of men and women. Anything might happen,
right? Anything goes. And this is what
is going on here. And she gives this—and I thought
about this. You know, a man's enemies can
sometimes be those of his own household. That's what the Lord
said in Matthew 10. And this, uh, Sarah here is tempting
him, and I know who's behind it. This is not flesh and blood that
Abrams deal with, somebody else. Just like Adam. Just like Peter. You remember Peter, the Lord's
best friend? How that, one of the Lord's best
friends, how that he rebuked the Lord one time? You remember
that? The Lord was going to Jerusalem, and Peter said, Oh, Lord, don't
do that. They don't do that now. They're going to kill you there.
Let's not go to Jerusalem. Rebuke the Lord. This man hasn't
been around for three years. Fisherman, what's he know? Do
you remember what the Lord turned and said to him? Get back. He
didn't say, Peter. He didn't say, Peter, don't say
it. Get behind me, Satan. And Abram was being tempted by
somebody else here. Abram, being a man, succumbed
to this strong temptation. Can you imagine? He had his wife's
permission. I'm not making light of this.
It's just what happened. His wife said, take her. Being a man that he was, he,
all right. Being a weak man that he was,
Now, both of these, as I said, both of these people represent
believers. Abram and Saraiba are believers. Both of them represent believers
who do not wait on the Lord. But in covetousness and in sensual
pleasure, they resort to carnal reasoning, and both of them sin,
and both of them bear the trouble that it brings. Both of them. They're both to
blame. They're both to blame. And as I said, both of these
people represent anyone. This whole story, really, to
a degree, represents anyone who goes about to establish their
own righteousness in order to be saved, instead
of believing and trusting God's righteousness, which is Jesus
Christ, the son of promise. This whole picture, that's what
it is. God had promised your seed. The covenant is with your
seed, Abram, your seed. And Abram resorted to carnal
reasoning, and so did his wife, and they both said, well, God
hadn't given us a seed. Let's do what we can. Let's help
him out a little bit. That's man in his own works trying
to establish a righteousness. That's what this is a picture
of. But like I say, we're going to deal with that a little more
thoroughly in chapter 21. Now, here's a typical scene here. Look at verse 4 through 6. So
Abram went in unto Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw
that, when Hagar saw that she was pregnant, her mistress Sarai,
because she was barren, was despised in her eyes. She looked down
on her. You can't have children, I can. She looked down on her. And Sarai said unto Abram, when
Sarai saw that Hagar was acting like this, and she conceived,
and Sarai got jealous, and realize what had happened. And look at
verse 5. She says, My wrong be upon thee. She's blaming Abraham. She's blaming Abraham. This is
a typical scene, isn't it? We justify our own sin. by blaming
the other person. Instead of taking our own, instead
of taking the blame, well, I'm wrong, I did wrong, if I hadn't
done this, you wouldn't have done that. Instead of doing that,
you say, well, if you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have done
this. Right? That's such a typical scene here
between a man and his wife. Justifying anybody, justify our
own sin and blame everybody else, so typical. And things end up
getting real ugly, real. And she said, the Lord judged
between me and thee. The Lord judged. Here she got
real spiritual, Stan. She quoted Scripture. She got
in an argument. Well, it's your fault. The Lord
judged between me and thee. Ain't neither one of you worth
two cents. You're both wrong. You both acted
like fools. Verse 6, Abram said unto Sarah,
now here's this wimp again. Faithful, Abram. He's a wimp. Well, honey, you take her, you
do what you want. That's what he's saying here.
You take her, go on, do what you want, show her what's in
your hands. He should have took... He got in this mess for not taking
the upper hand, and now he says, well, do what she feels right.
She's not going to do right. And she dealt heartily with this
woman. Hagrid's the one that seemed to be an innocent party
and all. Huh? She'd be standing by. And this man, this woman conjured
it all up. Now, Abram, like I said, Abram
was a wimp and a wicked man here. That describes him. A wimp and
a wicked man. He shouldn't have done this.
He shouldn't have listened to his wife. He shouldn't have gone
into that woman. Bad enough to listen to her, he shouldn't have
gone into that woman. He knew better than that, didn't he?
He knew better than that. Saria was so consumed with her
home and family, so consumed with having a home and a family,
she resorted to any means to have it. And this, like I said, this man
and this woman are both to blame for the sin that followed. But
listen to this, though. Let me, and I'm giving some,
and everyone here has already entered into what's happened.
Every married couple, anyway. has already related to everything
I've said thus far in some way, haven't you? Or that wimp, or
that woman. And they're both in a mess. It's
both their fault. Though Sarah saw Abram at his
worst, she saw him at his worst. I don't think Sarah, I had an
ounce of respect for him. A man that would save his own
neck and risk his wife? Say you're my sister. I don't
think there's any man in here, I don't care how weak he is,
that would do that. Huh? Maybe he would. Maybe he
would if your head was on the line. Skin for skin, you know. I don't believe Sarah had an
ounce of respect for him. What kind of man would do that? You know, she lost respect for
him, but she should have remembered his best of times. He did pick his home and family
up late, and I bet she protested. Honey, no, no, leave her. We're
going. Where? I don't know, but God
said go, let's go. She should have remembered that.
He showed great faith there. Should have remembered when he
went down to save lots. Where you going honey? We're
going after these kings that got my nephew. How many are there? Fifteen thousand. Well how many
men you got? Three hundred. Honey don't go. I'm going to get my son. I love
him. I'm going to get him. I want
to rescue him. Don't go. I'm leaving. She should have
remembered that. Shouldn't she? She didn't. Does that strike
a chord? Huh? Does that strike a chord? No, she just remembered the worst.
Didn't remember the better. She should have remembered his
best and followed him at any rate. You know, it turned out
all right. And though Abram knew Sarai's
weakness in faith, she was, this woman was a weak woman in faith.
Very weak. This incident shows me that. Later on, when the Lord came
and appeared in a miraculous vision, she laughed. You and
I were talking about that, weren't we? She laughed. She didn't really. She laughed.
She was weak, in fact. Abram should have remembered.
Abram should have remembered that her times of faithfulness
to him, she saved his neck. She said, OK, I'll be your sister
just this one time. She ended up doing it to her.
Saved that old boy's neck. How many times has Cher saved
you? Mine's got me up a mess or two. Cher had. Abram should have understood
her childless plight. She didn't have children, and
this was a terrible trial for her. And he should have reassured
her. Honey, I understand how you're
feeling here. I understand what you're going through. But God
has promised. Let's believe God. I do. Let's just wait now. No, no,
no, honey, I've got to, I've got to wait." I say, on the Lord,
and everything will be fine. He should have remembered her
plot. But they're men, they're a man and they're a woman, aren't
they? And they sin. And here's the terrible results
of it. And it haunted them and troubled him. Now, here's the
picture of Christ in it all. All right? You still with me?
Like Adam and Eve before them, and as with all of their posterity,
this man and this woman fall into sin and shame. They don't
heed the Lord's word. They don't wait on the Lord.
They don't seek his will, his way. They resort to carnal reasoning. They try to fulfill their own
lusts, and they justify what they've done in order to fulfill
their own lusts. They go their own way, a way
that seems right to them, but it's a bad way. And they plunge
themselves into sin and misery. That's man, and that's every
one of us. Every one of us. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loves his people, even Abram
and Sarai. And according to his purpose,
his riches in glory, even Christ Jesus, the seed that's coming,
God had mercy on these two sinful, wicked people. And that's what
they were, weren't they? Weren't they? They were acting bad, weren't
they? But God deals mercifully with
them. They sin terribly, but God deals mercifully with them.
Have you ever heard of a worse situation between a husband and
a wife? Have you ever heard of such a bakery? Say, yeah, last
week. No, seriously. Isn't this a bad
situation? They're not behaving like believers
here, are they? God's people? And if I came into your house,
maybe At times, maybe you'd think, God's people don't behave like
that, don't act like that. Yeah, that's the way that men
and women do at times. Sinners do that. It's bad. There's nothing right about it.
And they all are not. But that's the way they do, sad
to say. But God. Abram sinned. But God. Osiris
sinned. But God. What a mess they got
in! Bud, what a message in the mess.
But God—look at verse 7. Look at it. Here it is. Here's
the picture. Do you see it? So Hagar—Sarai dealt hardly with
Hagar, and she fled. Hagar left, ran away from her
face. In verse 7, it says, And the
angel of the Lord found Hagar by a fountain of water in the
wilderness. by the fountain in the way to
Shur." The angel of the Lord found this
woman by a well of water. Ring a bell? Who is this angel
of the Lord here? Who is this here? Look down at
verse thirteen. It says that Hagar named—called
the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou, God, seest me. An angel of the Lord? It's called
that because God's Spirit, and for—in order for him to appear
to a man or a woman, he had to take a body, didn't he? The Lord
appeared in a body. A. W. Peake says in a theophanic
A theophanic appearance. What's that? It just means that
God was manifest in the flesh. That's what it means. God became
an angel. God took a body to talk to this
woman. Does that ring a bell? I'm trying
to ring the bell. This woman was talking to none
other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Because in Him, the Scripture
says, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. Where? Bodily. That's the reason I believe that
every bodily appearance of God in the Scriptures is Jesus Christ. Christ said, No man hath seen
the Father at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him. How much, Lord? From the beginning. Walking in the garden, the voice
of the Lord came walking in the garden. On and on the picture
goes. Christ comes. Christ comes. Doesn't
it? He keeps coming. Abram just talked
to Him. Not long before that. that priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek? Oh, yeah. Abram rejoiced to see
Christ's day. He saw it. He saw it several
times. He saw heathen. He saw Christ. Over in chapter 18 of Genesis,
he sees him again. Three men came to Abram. One
of them was the Lord. One of them was the Lord in a
body. Over in chapter 32, a man wrestled with Jacob. Who's the
man? Well, Jacob named the place Bethul,
the face of God. I've seen the face of God in
a man. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
here. An angel of the Lord came to this sinful woman, none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ, another bodily appearance. came to this
sinful woman, and of all places he comes to meet this fallen
woman at a well of water." You see, Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, two thousand years ago, today, and forever. The same Lord that appeared to
that sinful fallen woman at a well of water years ago appeared later
on the earth to another woman at a well. woman. It's me. It's me again. A fountain of
water. A fountain of water. You see,
Christ is the angel of God's mercy, isn't it? Jesus Christ
is the angel of God's mercy. Christ is the fountain filled
with blood. It's drawn from Emmanuel's veins,
where sinners plunge beneath that flood and lose all their
guilt. She was at a fountain. Christ is the fountain. A fountain
of water. Christ is the water. The water
of life. He said, if any man thirsts,
let him come unto me. If any man take a drink of this
water, he'll never thirst again. Woman, where's your husband?"
He could ask you that, John. Where's your husband? She said,
I have no husband. That'd be familiar, wouldn't
it? This rejoices my heart to see
Christ. He's saved. Yesterday, this is proof, people. It's another nail in a sure place.
It's another nail, another proof that Jesus Christ is. He that
believeth that Jesus is the Christ Shall I have everlasting life?
He is. This is this fall of the Mormon, look at verse 8. He said
unto Hagar, Sarai's maid, where did you come from? Where are
you going? She said, I'm running. I'm hiding. Does that sound familiar? Where
are you being? Where art thou? Where are you
going? Oh, boy. Look at verse 9. The angel of the Lord said unto
her, Come unto me. Return to thy mistress. Submit
thyself unto her hands. Return. Submit. Verse 10, And
the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed
exceedingly. It shall not be numbered, but
multitude. And you know, the Lord says the same thing to all
of his sinful children. The same thing. He says this
first thing when he appears to us. He says, Where are you being?
Where art thou? Where did you come from? Huh? Where are you going? Look at
you. You're a sinner, aren't you?
That's the first thing the Lord comes and appears. He exposed
that woman at the well. He exposed her sin to her. And
she knew it. And she acknowledged it. Where
you been? Where you going? Adam, where
art thou? I was afraid. I'm naked. Who
told you you were naked? Did you eat of it? Oh, I'm a
sinner, Lord. I am. Consider thy way. See what it says there? Eight,
consider thy way. Whence comest thou? Where are
you going? Where are you going? What's your way? What way would
you go? Consider thy way. Return, then, to thy mistress. Submit yourselves, and I will
multiply." Consider, return, submit, and I will multiply. And the Lord says the same thing
to all his sinful children. Consider where you came from,
and you who were dead and trespassed in sin. Consider the pit from
which you were dug, Henry. Consider it, Erlang. Don't forget
where God found you, and rise above that. Where are you? Where'd
you come from? Where are you going? Where are
you going? If you go your own way, you're going to fall, just
like you were in the beginning, huh? Return. Submit. Commit. Submit. I will. See all that? Consider where you came from,
where you're going. Return unto me, the Lord says.
I'll give you rest. In returning, I will find rest,
he said in Isaiah. Submit, submit, sinner. Cast all your cares upon him.
He cares for you. Cast all your cement thy way
unto me," the Lord said. Psalm 37 says, commit thy way
unto him. Trust also in him, he shall bring
thee to pass. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently
for him, and I'll multiply the blessings. Come unto me, I'll
give you rest. You're running now, aren't you?
Huh? You're afraid? Come unto me, Christ said. You're
a sinner, you've fallen. Come unto me, Christ said, I'll
give you rest. Freedom from guilt, because I've
put away your sin by my blood. Freedom from shame, I've given
you acceptance with God through my righteousness. Freedom from
the penalty of the law, I've satisfied that. I've satisfied
justice. Return, I'll multiply the blessings. Come unto me. return to the Lord
that made you. Verse 11, when the angel of the
Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, thou art with
child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name, and
God shall hear, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction. You
see Jesus Christ in all of this, huh? It's another glorious picture. All this speaks of, here the
Lord comes to a woman with child, a woman with child because of
a man's sin. The angel appears to her and
names him, called his name Ishmael. God shall hear. The angel of
the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, appeared to Mary and
said, you're with child. that holy thing that is in you
shall be called the Son of God. Call his name, God shall hear."
You never thought Ishmael was the type of Christ did you? He is because Christ is all.
And you know, even the wrath of man shall praise him. Call
his name Immanuel, God with us, because the Lord hath heard your
affliction. But God shall hear, God hath
heard your affliction, therefore he given you a son, given you
a son." Is that a picture of Christ? Read on. Now, here's
a picture, people, a prophecy. Verse 12 is a prophecy of the
Arabic nations. Verse 12, Ishmael, you know that
all the Arabic nations, they claim Abram as their father,
and he is. Ishmael they claim as being the
chosen son. Did you know that? Saudi Arabia
and Egypt and all the Arabic nations, that all around Israel,
that all the Arabic nations claim Abram as their father. You know
that Mecca, that shrine? Abram was over there. And Ishmael,
they claim Ishmael. Well, this is a prophecy of all
that. Look at verse 12. It says he'll be a wild man. The sons of Ishmael are wild
men, aren't they? Islamic people. If this tape
gets out, they may come to me, come at me, but it's true. They're
wild people. Wild people. His hand, look at
this, will be against every man. They're against everybody. Aren't
they? They're everybody's enemies.
Iran and Iraq. Ain't nobody likes them. I'm
just talking about them as a whole. I know they're exceptions and
probably fairly decent people, like as far as decent people
go. But this is a prophecy here. You see that, Henry? It's clear,
isn't it? There'd be a wild man against
every, and every man's hand against him. And He shall—the whole world
had to intervene over there in that little country in the Middle
East, didn't it? Had to come against this one
madman. So, Soddam, who's mad, who's insane. That's what they
nicknamed him. And it's, look at it, and he
shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren, right in the
middle of everywhere, everywhere, in the midst of The Israelites
are right there in the midst of them, and so forth. This is
a prophecy of all that, a clear prophecy, another proof of God's
infallible Word, isn't it? All right. Verse 13 says that,
And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her. She
was speaking to Christ, and she called him. He didn't tell her
his name, so she came up with this, Thou God seest me. Well, that's a good name. That's
good. That'll do. Why do you call him
that, Hagar? Because I've looked unto him,
and I've been saved. Look unto me, and be ye saved. Thou, God, seest me. Thou, God,
lookest upon me, and I've looked upon you, and I've been saved.
You've looked upon me in mercy, and I've looked to you for mercy,
and I've received it. Isn't that a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ? God looks down upon these sinful fallen creatures,
and in mercy, God sees us in our affliction and sends his
Son to get us out of this mess, save us from our sin. And we
look unto him. He says, Look unto me, I'm God,
there's none else, and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth,
even a little Egyptian maid, look unto me and be ye saved. And because the Lord hath heard
my affliction, he sent his son, and now I am saved." Wherefore,
verse fourteen, the well was called—this well, see, she was
in a well, wasn't she?—the well of him that liveth and seeth
me. I mispronounced, Be-er-lay-hor. Be-er-lay-hor. Can you do it? It's tough, but I can say this,
the well of him that liveth and seeth, he that liveth forever
and seeth me. Christ said, I live, I'm the
well, because I live, you shall live also. And in me, everyone
that believeth and seeth the Son, everyone that seeth him
and believeth on him shall have everlasting life. Well of water,
it's all of victory, Christ. Oh, such a beautiful picture.
Verse 15 and closing, and 16. And Hagar bore Abram a son, and
Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare. Now see, he
didn't ask her. Where'd he come up with this name? He called
his name Ishmael, Ishmael. And Abram was four score and
six years, or 86 years old when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
And all we like Ishmael. We're sons of fallen women, aren't
we? Sons of sin. Sons of sinners. We're sinners. Ishmael turned
out to be a wild man. A wild ass is cold. That's us,
isn't it? By nature, children of wrath
even, isn't it? We turn out just like that. And
listen to this. All we, like Ishmael, could say
this, we could say this, like David. Behold, I was shaken in
iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved me, has saved me. This woman and her child didn't
But God pays attention to lowly sinners, doesn't he? He comes
in person. It appears to him. Fear not. Return. All right, Joe. You got a message in some of
them? What number did you pick out?
235. Is that right? Remember. Six o'clock service
tonight.