As Joe was mentioning the various
folks that we remember in prayer, he mentioned Cora Holbrook, and
she has a birthday tomorrow. And so if you, well, it would
be a day late now if you send her a card tomorrow, but if you
want to give her a telephone call, something like that, I'm
sure she would appreciate it. We're so thankful for Cora and
for the whole family. Longevity runs in that family. And they're such a blessing to
our congregation. As I was arranging my thoughts for a message
tonight, actually I was kind of tempted to just go directly
to chapter 24. which is a chapter that a good
many of us are familiar with, and I'm kind of excited to get
to chapter 24, because there is the search for a bride for
Isaac. Such beautiful gospel truths
set forth in chapter 24. But then I thought, well, I'm
going to read through chapter 23, And I didn't even get out
of the first verse before I decided, I don't want to skip this chapter. This chapter is also very rich. And I hope that the Lord will
have some things from these 20 verses that will be a blessing
to you this evening. Let me read these verses to you. As I say, Genesis chapter 23
in verse 1, and our subject is going to be the death and the
burial of Sarah. And Sarah was 107 and 20 years
old. These were the years of the life
of Sarah. By the way, I found it to be
interesting that I cannot find the age of any other woman in
the Bible mentioned. If you can, let me know. She's
the only one whose age is mentioned. Her age is mentioned when she
had Isaac, and her age, 127, is the age at which she died. I don't know what the purpose
of that is other than to teach us even more fully that when
she gave birth to Isaac, it was such a miracle. Because even
years before that, 25 years before that, the Lord told Abraham he
would have seed And even back then, Sarah said, I'm old. I'm
old. Well, you're going to get older
before you do have the promised seed. But just kind of an interesting
thing there. These were the years of the life
of Sarah. The second verse. And Sarah died
in Kerjeth Arba. the same as Hebron in the land
of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for
Sarah and to weep for her. 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.' And
the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, Hear
us, my lord. Thou art a mighty prince among
us. In the choice of our sepulchres,
bury thy dead. None of us shall withhold from
thee his sepulcher, 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, and he communed 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 Machpelah. And by the way, you might want
to make a note of this or remember Machpelah means double cave. There are actually going to be
several people who will be buried in this cave. Sarah's going to
be buried here. Abraham is going to be buried
here. Isaac is going to be buried here. Rebecca is going to be
buried here. And Jacob is going to be buried
here, not Rachel. Jacob, she'll be buried somewhere
else. And Leah will be buried here. So here's a double cave, large
enough for several people to be buried in it. Verse nine again, let me read
it. That he may give me the cave of Machpelah, double cave, which
he hath, which is in the end of his field. For as much money
as it is worth, he shall give it me for possession of a burying
place amongst you. And Ephraim dwelt among the children
of Heth, And he from the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience
of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate
of his city, saying, Nay, 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. Bury thy dead. And Abraham bowed himself, bowed
down himself before the people of the land. And he spake unto
Ephraim in the audience of the people of the land, saying, But
if thou wilt give it, I pray thee, hear me. I will give thee
money for the field. Take it of me, and I will bury
my dead there.' And Ephraim 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 therefore thy dead. And
Abraham hearkened unto Ephraim, and Abraham weighed to Ephraim
the silver, which he had named in the audience of the sons of
Heth four hundred shekels of silver, the current money with
the merchant. And the field of Ephraim which
was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre the field, and the cave
which was therein, and 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 Heth, before all that went
in at the gate of his city, And after this, Abraham buried Sarah,
his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre,
the same as 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 sons of Heth." May the
Lord bless the reading of His Word. Our Father, we are so grateful
for the Scriptures. These precious words that speak
to us of eternal matters, of life and death, and of the salvation of sinners
in, through, and by the Lord Jesus Christ and His sacrificial
death upon the cross of Calvary. We thank You, Father, that You
have left on record the salvation of so many sinners before us. People who were just like us
by nature, and yet to them You showed sovereign mercy and grace. You saved them through the Lord
Jesus, the Son of God, that One who would be the Son of Man.
who would come into this world to lay down His life as the ransom
price for your people. We ask, O Lord, as we visit this
portion of Scripture tonight, that You would impress upon us
the seriousness of death, and though we may live long lives
upon this earth, Sarah lived 127 years. Those are the years
that you gave her, yet she died. And this is what shall befall
all of us unless, Lord, You're pleased to come back soon to
receive us unto Yourself. And we're thankful that when
the day comes for our departure, that You have promised to us
You'll never leave us and You'll never forsake us. Indeed, the
day of Sarah's death was the day when she became absent from
this body and present with the Lord. She entered into paradise. And oh, what joy filled the heart
of that dear saint of God. That dear woman who had been
a faithful companion to Abraham for so many, many years. That
one whom you called by your grace, even as you called Abraham her
husband out of her of the Chaldees, so you called Sarah. And we know
that she was a woman who believed God. For we have the very testimony
of Scripture about that in Hebrews chapter 11. Lord, we lift up these that have
been mentioned tonight, several, realizing the frailty of the
flesh, and we ask that You would give comfort and strength as
You're pleased to do. We ask that there would be a
restoration of health, to these, if it would be Your will, for
the ones who sorrow. We're thankful that they sorrow
not as others who have no hope. We pray for the Groover family.
We're thankful for the grace of God that was given to Brother
Walter and Lord Comfort, Betty, and all of the family with the
assurance that to be absent from the body is indeed to be present
with the Lord. And we thank You, Lord, for another
death and another burial that we read about in the Word of
God. And that is the death and the burial of our Savior. But
unlike the body of Sarah, and later the body of Abraham and
of course all of the Old Testament saints with the exception of
Enoch and Elijah. Their bones lie in graves unmarked
and no one even knows where their dust is but you. But Lord, there's another death
and burial that we read of and we rejoice in because that's
the death and the burial of our Savior. And unlike all of these
others, no rotted bones, no flesh consumed by worms, no corruption
whatsoever came to His body. Our Lord who died for us was
buried and rose again. the third day according to the
Scriptures, and He ascended back to the right hand of God. And
we rejoice that our Savior is life, and He gives life to spiritually
dead sinners like ourselves. We're thankful that we have been
brought to know Him and the power of His resurrection. and we rejoice
in our great Savior. So, bless tonight, Lord, as we
go into the Word of God, and give us an understanding, and
may this be a precious time of worship for each of us. We ask these things in the name
of Christ, our glorious Savior, and for His sake. Amen. We were first introduced to Sarah
back in Genesis toward the end of chapter 11 and the beginning
of chapter 12. God called Abraham out of Ur
of the Chaldees. Abraham was one of the elect
of God, one of the sheep that God gave to the shepherd, the
Lord Jesus Christ in covenant grace before the world began. But God not only gave Abraham
to his son. He also gave this woman by the
name of Sarah to the Son of God for safekeeping and for salvation,
for deliverance from her sins. God called her by his effectual
grace just like he called Abraham by effectual grace. And both
of them departed out of Ur of the Chaldees. Understand, they
were both idolatrous people. But God sought them and God found
them. And you were an idolatrous person
when God sought and found you. All of us were. You say, I didn't
bow down to a rock. No, you worshipped yourself.
That's who we worshipped. We worshipped ourselves. We were
the very center of our attention. And then the Lord sovereignly
and effectually drew us through the Gospel that He had delivered
to us by man. It's quite amazing that God uses
men to speak to men and women about the things of God. He could
have had angels preach this Gospel, but angels have desired to look
into the subject of redemption, but they can't comprehend it
because they don't know what it means to be a sinner and then
to be saved from your guilt. They don't know anything about
forgiveness. They don't know anything about
the necessity of blood redemption to be reconciled to God. That's
for saved sinners to know. And God saved Abraham and Sarah. And they were a great blessing
to each other. After a few years, having brought
them out of Ur of the Chaldees, of course, God had promised to
Abraham and Sarah that they would have a seed. And when that didn't
happen, Abraham didn't have a son, Sarah, she came up with this
bright idea that she would give to Abraham her handmaid. And he could bear a son through
her handmaid, Hagar. Which he did. Oh, how impatience will get us
in trouble. How necessary it is to wait on
the Lord. Well, as you know, in time, God
gave Isaac to Abraham and Sarah. Meanwhile, Ishmael was growing.
He's growing. He's getting older. That son
Abraham had by the handmaid. And when Isaac was about, oh,
three years old or so, it was Sarah who said, cast out the
bondwoman and her son. The bondwoman's son shall not
be heir with my son. And Abraham saw the wisdom of
that. And I thought about this a little
bit. You know, sometimes as men, We
think we have all the answers and we know we're the head of
the family and rightfully so. But I'll tell you men, we can
oft times learn some things even from our wives. Because it was indeed Sarah who
said, you've got to cast her out. That bond woman's got to
go. And she's got to take that boy
with her. And of course that happened. Then a few years later,
God told Abraham to take Isaac up on Mount Moriah and offer
him as a burnt offering to the Lord. Which Abraham did. We don't read that he told Sarah
where he was going. He just went and did what God
told him to do and he believed God. And of course, Abraham in
his own heart went through with killing that boy. Killing Isaac. He believed that God would raise
him from the dead. But God found a substitute for
Isaac because Isaac, in some ways, he's a picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ because the wood was laid upon him and laid upon
him means he was the one for whom the wood was obtained. So the wood was laid on him and
they went to the place of sacrifice. And then when Isaac got up on
the altar on top of the wood, he's a picture of our Savior,
he's the willing sacrifice. With our Lord Jesus, there was
no hesitation. There was no delay. There was
no fear. He went willingly. He's the willing
sacrifice. As a lamb is led to the slaughter. Well, He is the Lamb of God and
He knew exactly where He was going. He was going to die the
death of substitution. This is the work for which the
Father sent Him in the world to accomplish. And our Lord Jesus
died in the stead of His people just like God sent a ram and
that ram was caught by its horns in the thicket And God said to
Abraham, kill the ram in the stead of Isaac. And so Isaac was released. And
once again, God reminded him of that glorious promise that
in his seed, the nations of the earth would be blessed. You know, as I thought about
this, Genesis chapter 22, I think we could kind of call that Abraham
the man of faith. Abraham the man of faith. But when we get to chapter 23,
we may call this Abraham the man of grief. The man of grief. We'll look at four or five things
here. First of all, the passing of Sarah. She's 127 years old
and she died. Her death was joy for her, entering
into the presence of the Lord, going to paradise. But it was sadness for Abraham. I don't know how many anniversaries
they celebrated together. And then, in a moment, ordained from old eternity, his
wife is snatched away from him, leaving a void in his heart and
in his life. Sadness is left behind. For Abraham,
for Isaac, his dear mother passes away. We know, no surprise to any of
us, the children of God, we experience death, deaths in our families,
just like the wicked experience deaths. But here's the thing
of it, for those of us who know God, And we have some degree
of confidence that our loved one who has passed away, that
they rested in Christ Jesus, they looked to His bloody death,
they looked to His righteousness, they looked to the Son of God
for all of their salvation, even in the midst of grief. There's
thanksgiving. There's thanksgiving. a blessed hope that a child of
God has, an expectation of future blessing. Because we know though
death does enter into our homes, put all the locks on your doors
that you want to, when death is appointed by God to enter
in, death's going to go right through the locked doors. and
death will pass right by the doctors, and the hospitals, and
the nurses, and death will find the one that God has sent Him
to lay hold of. We're all going to die, but believers
do not die the death of the wicked. There's no separation from God. There's no judgment in the death
of a child of God. We don't die because of something
that we've done. We die because of what happened
in the garden. And in that sense, we die indeed
because of sin. But it comes to the righteous
just like it comes to the wicked. That's a debt we're all going
to have to pay unless the Lord comes back pretty soon. The children
of God. We experience death. We must
die. Abel died. That's the first death
in the Bible. The first death of a human being
was Abel. And he was murdered. He was murdered
over religion. False religion rose up against
true religion. Grace was patient. Grace was considerate of others. But not works. Religion by works
will strike out against religion by grace. There is a warfare
that started there in Genesis chapter 4 and it is still going
on today. And the wicked still hate the
righteous. It will always be that way. Abel
died. Broke Adam and Eve's heart. I'm
sure they wept a bucket of tears. but death visited and Abel was
taken. You see, death is the great leveler. And it is no respecter of persons. It comes to the poor, it comes
to the rich. It comes to the righteous, it
comes to the wicked. And while we can be certain that
Sarah entered into the presence of God, still Abraham, the Scripture
says of him, he mourned and he wept. He mourned and he wept for her. To mourn, the meaning is, that's
something he did in private. with a broken heart. To weep, that's what he did in
public. You see, mourning is excessive
grief. Job knew something about grief. He got word that his ten children
had died. Children for whom He had offered
a sacrifice, you will recall. He rent His clothes. Oh, He blessed
the name of God. He worshipped God. But His heart
was broken. You see, the same sorts of things
that happened to the vile and the wicked and the ungodly. happened
to the children of God. Mourning and weeping are certainly
natural for someone you love greatly. But for those of us
who know the Lord, we sorrow not as others who have no hope. Sarah was a child of God. She's
a believer. You can read Hebrews 11, a testimony
to her God-given faith. Yet she died. Don't presume you'll live another
day. If there's something you need
to say to your husband, to your wife, to your child, to your
brother, to your sister, to your neighbor, whoever it is, if there's
something you need to say to them, you ought to say it now.
If there's a hug you need to give, you better hug them now.
You have no promises tomorrow. Death may come. Death may enter
in through your door. But I think of Sarah. She breathed
her last and entered into paradise. Don't know much about paradise.
It's glorious. She went to be with the Lord.
And ever since that day, you think about this for thousands
of years, She's been enjoying eternal bliss with her God. Fellowshiping with her God. Worshipping
her God. And she has put off the flesh. The flesh, that's our problem
anyway. This flesh that has a sinful
nature, And we're quick to blame things on Satan. I don't think
any of us are important enough for Satan to fool with us. It
only takes a third string waterboy demon to foul us up. You know? We're so sinful, so evil. But then to be done with all
that. That'd have to be heaven. And remember this, heaven, I
have people ask me a lot, where is heaven? What does it matter
where heaven is? All that matters is who, who
is there? The Savior. That's all that matters
is to be with the Lord. Where'd they go? Where'd Sarah
go? Went to be with the Lord. Where
is that? Don't know, but wherever it is,
God be glorious if He's there, because it's glorious because
He is there. She was a child of God. And Abraham wept for her. Consider the life of Sarah secondly. Now I know the life of Sarah. Her life was overshadowed and
eclipsed, greatly surpassed by the life of her husband. And
I'm sure she was quite satisfied that it was that way. She was
a submissive wife. But look over with me in Isaiah
chapter 51. Isaiah chapter 51. I'm going
to give you three references here very quickly. First of all,
Isaiah chapter 51. You see, Sarah is held up in
the Word of God for us as a woman whose life was an example to
all women who were followers of the Lord Jesus. And most people would be shocked
if they found out Not Mary, but it is Sarah that the Holy Spirit
holds before us as an example of a woman who loved the Lord
and who believed the Lord. Not Mary, the mother of our Lord's earthly body, but Sarah. Look at Isaiah 51.1 and 2. Hearken to Me, ye that follow
after righteousness. Is that you? That's me. I'm going to pay attention because
I follow after righteousness. I want righteousness and it's
the righteousness of Christ. Christ the Savior. The Lord our
righteousness. Ye that seek the Lord. I'm a
seeker, aren't you?" He said, well, hadn't you found Him? Yeah,
I found Him. I still seek Him. I seek Him all the time in the
Word of God. I seek Him in providence. He says, look to the rock whence
you're hewn and to the hole of the pit whence you're digged.
Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah who bore you. for I called him alone and blessed
him and increased him." In other words, Abraham, he's the father
of the faithful. We know that. You can read in
the book of Galatians and find that. He's the spiritual father,
the symbolical father of those who believe on the Lord. And
this woman, Sarah, symbolically, she's the mother. She's our mother
who believed the Lord. There's no question of what she
was a sinner. We know that. When she insisted that Abraham
take Hagar. Why'd she do that? Because she's
a sinner. Impatient. Couldn't wait on the Lord. And yet, she was faithful to
her husband. And she stood by him all through
their marriage. Even, even, I remind you, even
when he said, now Sarah, you're beautiful. Thank you, honey.
Appreciate you saying that. I'm sure she said it. Well, he
said, now wait a minute, let me finish. You're so beautiful. When we go into Egypt, if those
men down there find out that you're my wife, they're going
to kill me to get to you. You don't mind telling them a
little lie, do you? What you want me to say? Tell
them you're my sister. And you know what she said? I'll
do it. You talk about a woman who stood
by her man. She did. She stood by her man. And the same with Abimelech.
Same thing. Same thing. Oh, and she and her husband worship
God together. Blessed is that family. Blessed is that home where husband
and wife are in union about this matter of worshiping the Lord
together. What a blessed house that is.
You may have all other kind of problems, and everybody's got
problems. You do. I do. We all got problems. But oh, how blessed we are, and
how blessed our house is. For all these years, my wife,
with me, we're pulling in the same direction. Loving the gospel. Loving Christ Jesus like you
and Charlie love the same gospel. You see a successful house, it
isn't where lots of money is made, got lots of property. Did you know that when Abraham
sought for a burying place for his wife and he bought that piece
of land, and he bought it for 400 shekels of silver. That's
the very first transaction of land mentioned in the Bible,
and it's to buy a piece of ground to bury somebody. And that's
all he ever owned. Think about that. That's all
he ever owned. But he and his wife, they worshiped
God. Worship God. And look at Hebrews
11. Let me give you this real quick. Hebrews 11. And I'll tell you,
husbands, you got a wife who loves the gospel, bless the name
of God for that. And wife, you got a husband who
loves the gospel, thank God for that. I know people whose husband
and wife go in different directions. That's tough. I can't imagine
such a thing. But they're some of the people
of God. That's what they live. That's the life that they're
living. Oh, how blessed! You say to your
wife, you say to your husband, Aren't you excited to go to the
house of God today? We're going to go worship. We're
going to hear about Christ again. We're going to hear about beloved
redemption again. Isn't that wonderful? Both of
you come together. Hebrews 11, faith chapter. She believed God. This woman that God gave as a
gift to Abraham, And this man that God gave as
a gift to Sarah? You know, she's Abraham's helpmeet. That comes from Genesis, the
second chapter. Helpmeet. You know what it means?
To help with feeling. That's what that means. To help
with feeling, with love. When God made a helpmate for
Adam, He made her out of a bone. But He didn't take the bone from
Adam's head for the woman to rule over him. And He didn't take the bone from
Adam's foot that he could trample over his wife. But from a bone in his side.
She's to be loved, cared for, provided for, and protected. And blessed is the man whose
wife is to him, as Sarah was to Abraham, a true helpmate. One who labors out of love. Hebrews 11, 11. Through faith. Through faith also Sarah herself
received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child
when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had
promised." This is what she held on to, the faithfulness of God. And all of you who are the children
of God and you who are watching by way of the internet, isn't
that what you hold on to? The faithfulness of God. It says
in 2 Timothy, though we believe not, yet he abided faithful. He abides faithful. And Sarah
held on to that promise. God's faithful. And then look
at 1 Peter 3. And this is a very powerful scripture
here, 1 Peter 3. And this is where the Lord really
sets forth Sarah as an example to all of you ladies. Let me just start with verse
1. Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands,
that if any obey not the word, that if you marry a husband who
doesn't love the gospel, they also may without the word be
won by the conversation of the wives. I see you. I see your attitude. I see you
reading the Word of God. Be an example to them. Verse
2, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear,
fear of God, whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning
of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or putting on of apparel. Well, thank God for the beauty
that God gives to women. But there's a different kind
of beauty that's far more important. It's an inner beauty. An inner
humility. A heart that loves the Lord.
Seeks His will. Loves to worship. Loves to hear
the Gospel proclaimed. But let it be the hidden man
of the heart, and that which is not corruptible, even the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight
of God of great price. For after this manner in the
old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves,
being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed
Abraham. She had this inner beauty. And the Lord says, you ladies,
you ladies who love the Gospel, pay attention to Sarah. She obeyed
Abraham calling him Lord. In other words, speaking of him
and to him as the one who had authority over her. She was submissive
to her husband. And I know to preach that kind
of way today or even talk that kind of way today is really out
of line with today's society. But God has established order
in the home. The husband is to love the wife
as Christ loved the church. And husbands, if you love your
wife as Christ also loved the church, then I would say to you,
your wife will be in subjection and thank God for you. That's
just the way it works. This is the order God has established. Now watch this, even as Sarah
obeyed Abraham calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long
as you do well and are not afraid with any amazement, you're not
scared to death of Him. You're not fearful of Him. You
respect Him. You're thankful for Him. As down
there in Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham says to Sarah, I need
to talk with you. Okay, honey. What's up? The Lord, not one of our gods here
in Chaldea, but the God of creation has been speaking to me and He
has said to me, you've got to leave Ur of the Chaldeans. You coming with me?" She said,
well, of course I am. Of course I am. She was a submissive wife. She was agreeable to her husband.
And when he said, we're going into Egypt, she said, well, let's
go. Imitate her submissive spirit. Her humility. Oh, to find a woman who is humble,
who loves the gospel, who is supportive of her husband, who
stands by him through thick and thin, who isn't looking to get
wealthy. I don't want to be wealthy. I don't want to be rich. I want
to be your wife. I want to be the mother to your
children. And we'll worship God together.
The Lord will take care of us. That's the way Sarah talked to
Abraham. God will take care of us. And
sometimes you husbands know we need the encouragement of our
wives. And thank God, I'm thankful for
my wife who is always encouraging me. And been many times during
the ministry that things got a little tough or I got a little
discouraged and she's been there. A helpmate. Oh, thankful for a
helpmate. Well, go back to Genesis 23,
and I can kind of summarize the rest of this pretty quick. Look
at Abraham's condition. Here's the third thing real quick.
Look at verse four. This is how he spoke to the people. Now, he's been in this area probably
20 years now. He and Sarah have been there
about 20 years. And he speaks to the sons of Heth. Now, they
didn't have, you know, back in those days, they didn't go to
the courthouse. If you think about buying a piece of property
and sign the deed and all that kind of stuff, the legalities
and get it surveyed, it wasn't like that. They had judges who,
like, set at the gates of the cities. they'd take care of legal stuff,
and if you bought a parcel of land, there wasn't signing any
papers or anything like that. There were those witnesses there,
and they said, yeah, that's what it means. They made it sure.
They said, yeah, this property belongs to Abraham. They paid
400 shekels of silver for it. So he speaks to these men at
the gate, and he says in verse 4, I'm a stranger and a sojourner
with you. And isn't that the way it is
with all God's people in this world? We're strangers here. Our gospel
is strange. Our message is strange. This
way of salvation we believe through substitution and satisfaction,
it's so strange. What do they believe up there
at 13th Street Baptist Church? They believe some strange things
up there. Strange things. Well that's because
grace is strange to a man who believes works. It just doesn't
fit to him. And he said, I'm a sojourner. Stranger means I'm an alien.
My citizenship isn't here. That's what Abraham is saying.
And our citizenship isn't here, so don't get so tied up with
things that are going on here. This is not your home. Your citizenship
is in glory. And you're just a sojourner here.
You're just spending some years here. And then he seeks out A burial
place. And of course, as I read through
this, I'm sure you saw that it seemed like to begin with it
would be given to him. But Abraham doesn't want that. This is a man who, you
remember back when he rescued Lot? And all of the people who
were taken into bondage when those four kings took the king
of Sodom and took all those people captive, and he took Lot, and
that's when Abraham got interested. And after it was all over and
Abraham went out with his men and they won the battle, and
Abraham got a lot back and all his stuff and got back all the
other captives and all the stuff of the kings, the king of Sodom
said, I'm going to make you a wealthy man. And Abraham said, I don't
want anything you've got. And here he is in Ephron, He said, I'll give it to you. Sometimes when people say, I'll
give you something, they don't really mean they're going to
give it to you. They want you to counter-offer with, well,
I'll pay for it. Oh, that's not necessary. Well,
how much do you want for it? Well, okay. He'd go back and
forth. That's kind of the way it is
here with Abraham and Ephraim. But Abraham said, I'll pay for
it. And though God had made all these
promises to Abraham about seed and land, remember that? Almost everywhere He promised
him seed, He promised him land. And yet Abraham didn't own any
of it. I'll tell you a quick story.
When I was in college, We had some super holy people on campus,
these guys. And they'd go out and they'd
lay their hands on a car or on a piece of property and then
maybe if there's a car lot, then the man who owned the car lot,
he'd go, what can I do for you? He said, I'm claiming this car
for Jesus. And my father owns everything
in this world and I'm one of his children. That means I own
everything. God told me to tell you to give
me this car. I never found any of them that
was successful with that approach. But Abraham, he could have honestly
said, God gave me this land. He could have said that and that
would be the truth. But he didn't. He said, I'm going to pay you
for it. And the first piece of land that
was ever sold was to bury a dead wife out of His sight. And as you go through this, as
I read through it, I really don't need to say much more about it.
Aren't you impressed by the integrity of Abraham? how honest he was. To all of us who know the Lord,
we should in all of our dealings be above board, very transparent,
honest, and humble. You know what they said of Abraham?
They said, you're a mighty prince among us! He said, I'm just a
stranger and a sojourner. One thing they recognized about
Abraham, he was a man who believed his God. They didn't know his
God. They knew their gods. Because
their gods were right where they left them yesterday. And every
once in a while, they'd take them off the shelves and dust
them off. But Abraham, he's different. They said, you're a prince. And
literally, you're a prince with your God. What a good reputation. Tell you what, when a child of
God passes away in a community, he or she will be missed. because
they were the finest person in that location. I sure do miss
so-and-so. He was a nice fellow, wasn't
he? She is a nice woman. Yeah. I miss Sarah. And Abraham missed her. But you
know, it wasn't too long down the road Oh, death's going to
come for him, and it did. And he went to glory. So they
had a grand reunion. Brother and sister in the Lord,
not husband and wife anymore. And together with all the saints
of God, they'd been worshiping for all these hundreds and hundreds
of years. That's a sweet story, isn't it? And I know the day of separation
has got to come. I know that. Time of grief. This left a hole in Abraham's
heart that I'm sure the Lord filled the
void. Abraham missed his wife. And you who have lost a spouse,
just a void there. But one of these days, we're
going to leave this old world behind, and we're going to enter
into glory. And the former things will have
passed away. All things become new. And all
of us together, worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Enjoy His presence. Those of you who've had loved
ones die in Christ Jesus, as we have, I just can't imagine
how gloriously thrilled and joyful and thankful they are. And it's
not gonna be long, we'll go too. And that'll be just fine, be
just fine. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for the spiritual
life you've given us in Christ Jesus. Thank you for a wife who
loves godliness and holiness, loves the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus, loves the message of grace, of blood redemption. And Lord, thank if these other
wives here, and husbands as well, folks who love the gospel of
sovereign free grace. And we know the day is going
to come when we must part ways. One must be taken and the other
left. Until that day, We shall with
thanksgiving continue by your grace to worship together, pray
together, rejoice together, and enjoy the gospel together. And
then we'll enter into everlasting glory. And you'll wipe away all
tears from our eyes. Lord, we bless you. We thank
you for this sweet story. of Abraham and Sarah. And we
thank You for the sweeter story of the death and the burial and
the resurrection of our Savior. In His name we pray. Amen.