Genesis chapter 17, and we're
going to be reading from verse 15. Genesis 17 and verse 15. And God said unto Abraham, As
for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but
Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give
thee a son also of her. Yea, I will bless her, and she
shall be a mother of nations, kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face
and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him
that is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah that is ninety
years old bear? And Abraham said unto God, O
that Ishmael might live before thee. And God said, 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. And as for Ishmael, I have
heard thee. Behold, I have blessed him, and
will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. Twelve
princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. but
my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall
bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.' And he left
off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. And Abraham
took Ishmael, his son, and all that were born in his house,
and all that were bought with his money, every male among the
men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in
the selfsame day as God had said unto him. And Abraham was ninety
years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his
foreskin. And Ishmael his son was thirteen
years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ishmael his son. And all the men of his house,
born in the house and bought with money of the stranger, were
circumcised with him. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. God here in this little passage
that we've read together today repeats the promise of a son
and heir to Abraham. But this time, he also confirms
that Sarah-i, or her new name is Sarah, and that means that
she is going to be the mother of many nations, the Lord God
confirms that Sarah would be the mother to this child. Now in the past, that had been
assumed, but it had not been actually stated. And it may well
be that since there had been quite a number of years, it would
appear to be something like certainly in excess of 10 years since God
had perhaps spoken this directly with Abraham, that Abraham had
looked to Ishmael, to be that one who would be his heir. But
God comes again and he reconfirms and reinforces his purpose to
leave the covenant, this everlasting covenant with Isaac. And so Sarah's
name is changed and that becomes also a mark of this promise and
of God's blessing to Abraham and his wife. And we read that
Abraham laughed, but we should not imagine that that was disrespectful. That laugh was a laugh of joy,
not unbelief towards God. It was a laugh at the joyful
news that here was God again speaking to Abraham, and here
was God again reaffirming that this great promise that he had
made would indeed be fulfilled and forthcoming. Abraham was
amazed at this news given that both parents were so old, Abraham
100 and Sarah 90 years of age. And Abraham believed God, it
wasn't that there was unbelief here, Abraham believed God and
we see that from the words and the actions of Abraham that follow. We see it from the fact that
he prayed for Ishmael, realising that the blessing that was coming
to him in the birth of Isaac meant that any birthright that
Ishmael aspired to was going to pass him by. And it also showed
in the fact that he immediately received this circumcision, which
was the sign of this covenant. both he and Ishmael and all his
house. I might just touch upon that
in a few moments. But there were hundreds and hundreds
of people involved in being circumcised that day. If it was all of his
house, remember that there were hundreds had gone out as armed
men from Abraham's household a few chapters ago against that
confederacy of kings. So we're talking about hundreds
and hundreds of people here and also that Abraham publicly testified
to his faith in God and to his belief in these promises. And you young people who are
listening here at this time, I think that it would be good
for you to realise that just in the same way as Abraham prayed
to God on Ishmael's behalf, so the desire of your parents is
that you too might live before God. that just as Abraham prayed
for Ishmael that he might live before God, so your prayers,
your parents desire that also for you. And that is a good prayer
for parents to make on behalf of their children and indeed
their grandchildren. Let us pray that the Lord would
bless our children and let us pray that our children might
live before God. But God reinforces his purpose. In Isaac, God's covenant would
continue. God's blessing would pass by
Ishmael and it would flow through the line of Isaac. to the accomplishment
and achievement of God's purpose. Now principally that was in the
land possession, it was to flow to Abraham's children through
Isaac. But it is also and more importantly
for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ by whom salvation would
be accomplished and won for all God's elect people. And this
bypassing of Ishmael and the giving of that covenant promise
to Isaac is a picture of God's sovereignty in these great decisions
and in these great purposes. It was God who decided who the
heir of the promise would be. The immediate circumcision of
all in Abraham's house showed the clearness with which Abraham
understood God's instruction and God's meaning in this matter. And as we've already suggested,
it would have been a huge, huge task for all of those people
to be circumcised there on that day. but we can only but assume
that God moved the hearts of all those concerned to conform
to this painful and very personal act. And yet we see that there
was this unity and we're not told how it was actually effected,
but it may be that there were a few who were taught to do it
and then others who were able to perform that circumcision. But all of it spoke of faith
on Abraham's part, faith in God and in the promise of a son to
come and the heritage that that son would possess, especially
with regard to the coming of the saviour of the world. God
revealed his plan and Abraham trusted God's word. And it's
in that sense that Abraham is the father of all who believe. I want to show you one important
thing and then we're finished with this stage of the service
today. It's a good thing for us to remember
and it's an important point. The circumcision didn't bring
Isaac. but it showed that Abraham believed
that a son would be born into his household, that he would
father the son and Sarah would be the mother. God told Abraham
what he was going to do. God told Abraham that he himself,
God, was Abraham's shield, and his reward, that God would be
his defender and God would supply his need, that God would enable
righteousness and grant and bestow that righteousness to Abraham
by another's righteousness. And Abraham believed God. It
wasn't Abraham's act of believing that was counted to him for righteousness
but it was the Lord Jesus Christ whom Jeremiah calls the Lord
our righteousness. It was he in whom Abraham trusted
and Abraham believed. Trusting Christ does not cause
our salvation, but it is the evidence of God's saving grace
in our lives. May the Lord be pleased to grant
us that saving faith. May the Lord open our eyes to
see the Lord Jesus Christ as the alone righteousness of his
people. and may we be caused to trust
in him who alone can take away our sins and bring us into union
with the Holy God. Amen.