Today I want us to be looking
at Genesis chapter 24. There's actually 67 verses in
this chapter, and there's no way we can cover all these chapters
in today's message, so I'll probably split this message up into two
parts. And the title of the message is, Abraham seeks a bride for
his son Isaac. Here in this chapter, as we tried
to look at in the last couple of weeks about Abraham, he was
chosen of God, set apart by God, and God had given him a son,
Isaac. And God tried Isaac and told
him to offer up his only begotten son to him, and he obeyed God. And now, Sarah, his wife, is
dead. It's just Abraham and Isaac.
And Isaac, I mean, and Abraham chooses or is going to pick out
a wife for his son Isaac. Now that's what this chapter
is about. But Abraham is just a picture. He's, as we saw last
week, talked about allegories. Abraham is a picture, an allegory.
He, in this chapter, he represents God the Father, the covenant
God, who is determined to save a people and make them the bride
for his son. And Isaac's pictured as his son.
Rebecca here, she's pictured in the chapter as the bride,
and the servant is a picture of God's preacher that God sends
out. to go get him a bride for his
son as we go out and preach the gospel of his grace and proclaim
his honor and his glory. Abraham could have went down
himself to the place he was going to see that he sends the servant
to Mesopotamia. He could have went down himself
and got the bride, but he didn't. God can do whatever that he wants
to do. He's God. He doesn't ask permission,
and he doesn't have to give a reason why he does something. But our
God has been pleased to save sinners through the foolishness
of preaching. He sent his servant, he sent him on purpose and for
a reason. This chapter we see how that
God sends his servant, his preacher, to cross the path of all his
elect. And as they hear the gospel,
they are convicted, they are convinced, and they are made
willing to leave everything and come to Isaac, whom she never
saw, not with her physical eyes. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Without faith, it is
impossible to please God. So let's just begin reading in
verse one. And I pray if you have a Bible
that you may take your Bible and just follow along with us.
It says, And Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and
the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said
to his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that
he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will
make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God
of earth, that thou shalt not take a wife. unto my son of the
daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell. But thou
shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife
unto my son Isaac." He tells his servant. Now we know from
other scriptures that this was probably had reference to Eliezer,
but in this chapter his name is not mentioned. Why? Because
he's not important. God's preachers are servants.
Paul said that he was the servant of Jesus Christ. That means he
was the bond slave. A bond slave is one who served
his master willingly and lovingly. And this servant, he's Abraham's
servant. His name is not mentioned because he's not important. God's
preachers, they're just voices just crying in the wilderness.
We're just He said he put this treasure in an earthen vessel,
that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
And who is sufficient for these things? We're not important. God is the one that's important,
then Isaac Christ is the one that is important. Abraham was a wealthy man. wealthy
man. And everything that Abraham had,
he gave to his son Isaac. And everything that God the Father
has, he is putting to the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything
is given unto him. And Abraham here sends his servant
to find a bride from his own people. from Mesopotamia, where
he came from, a bride who would share with everything that Isaac
had. She'll be his wife. She'll be
one with him. She'll share his glory and the
glory of his father's kingdom, everything. And that's what God
is doing in this world today. He is sending his preachers,
sending them, to preach the gospel to his people. And his elect
will hear, his sheep will hear, and they'll come and they'll
be made willing in the day of his power. This was an honorable
service. Can you imagine the honor of
being sent by Abraham on this errand? He knew the seriousness
of the word. This is not something to be taken
lightly. We're sent into this world to
find a bride for our beloved Isaac, for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord said in Romans chapter 10, how can they preach? Except
they be sent they can't just because a man calls himself a
preacher doesn't make him a preacher preach God's preachers God's
preachers are sent and they are sent with a message a Message
that honors God and a message that honors his son and anybody
that comes with any other message is not sin of God God did not
send them. And when I think about something
being sent, he knows where he wants him to go. He tells him
where to go. He doesn't just haphazardly just say, well, you
go anywhere you want to. He said, this is where I want
you to go, to that place. Nothing was more important to
Abraham's heart. Nothing was more important to
Abraham's heart than finding a bride for Isaac. And nothing
is more important to the servant of God, nothing, than preaching
his gospel and honoring his dear son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He recognized, and all God's
preachers do, and I know God has to remind us, but of this
awesome, awesome responsibility, this burden that's laid upon
a man to preach and to tell people that have never seen Isaac, never
seen Abraham, to try to describe to those people what he's like,
his character, his attributes. People that have never seen God
with their natural eyes and we try to describe God as he's revealed
in the scriptures, his attributes, his characteristics to people
and those people are going to believe by grace. The servant had to represent
and speak for Abraham and Isaac before people who never knew
his master nor his master's son. They did not know him. Now in verse five, as this servant
was bidden and sent to preach this message, to go out and find
a bride for Isaac, he has questions, and rightfully so. He said in
verse five, and the servant said unto him, perhaps the woman will
be not willing to follow me. Unto this land must thy needs
bring thy son again into the land from which thou camest.
And Abraham said unto him, Beware that thou bring not my son thither
again, the Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's
house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto
me, and that swear unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this
land. He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take
a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be
willing to follow thee, then shall there be clear from this
I knoweth, only bring not my son thither again. And the servant
put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and he
sware to him concerning this matter. He says, okay, you're
sending me to find a bride, to go find a woman. that has never
seen you and never seen Isaac. She's never heard about your
greatness and your power and your glory. Well, what if she
ain't willing to come? What am I supposed to do? Now,
that's a legitimate question. What are we supposed to do? He
says, perhaps the woman will be not willing to come. He says,
must I needs bring thy son down to the land from whence thou
camest? What if she's not willing to leave her family, her home,
and leave everything? What if she's not willing? He's
not the lassoer. He's not the binder up and bringer. She has to be willing. But what
if she's not willing? I want you to see this. Now this
is very important. And Abraham gives him an answer.
And he tells him more than once. He said that God will go before
you and prepare the way. That's what he said in verse
seven, the Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's
house and from the land of my kindred, which spake unto me
and swearing to me, saying unto thy seed will I give this land. He shall send his angel before
thee and thou shalt take a wife. You notice that word shout? It's
not a hope so or think so, she's coming. He said, don't you worry
about that. I'll send my angel before you,
and I'll prepare her heart. I'll do something. God arranges
all these things. We do have questions. We go,
well, what's going to happen when we get there? God says,
leave that up to me. I'll take care of it. You just
do what I've told you to do, what I've sent you to do. As we go into this world and
preach the gospel of God's grace, the Holy Spirit quickens whom
he will. He will bring them, he will make them willing. And
the work does not, you know what he's telling? He said the work
don't depend upon you. It ain't depend, the burden's
not laid upon your shoulders to make her willing. I'll do
that work. You just do what I've sent you
to do. And I'm glad it doesn't depend
upon me. We preach and we leave it in God's hands. The preacher's
responsibility, now listen to me, begins and ends with the
matter of faithfulness. I must be faithful to my master,
to honor him, to exalt him, and to magnify him. Now listen to
me. This is probably encouraging
to that servant. If a man is called of God and
sent by God, God will supply all that man's needs. God will
protect and preserve him in his work. God will order his steps
and God will crown his labor with success. And that no man
who knows that he is sent and that man who knows that he is
sent of God will endure all things for the elect's sake. He will
not let anything turn him aside from what the Lord has sent him
to do. Wherever she is, he'll find her. And he will tell her about his
Lord. And that's his mission. And he's
faithful to that. Once the servant is cleared from
his message, once he's delivered the message, once he's clearly
set forth who God is and who the God's dear son is, he is
cleared of his responsibility, verse 8, and if the woman will
not be willing to come, willing to follow thee, then thou shalt
be cleared from this mine oath. Only bring not my son thithered
again. Now listen, we are not responsible for the
salvation of sinners. We are only responsible for the
proclamation of salvation in Christ. That's what I'm responsible
to do. God never called any preacher to save anybody. You hear all
these preachers bragging about how many they've saved. They've
never saved none. They maybe have converted them to the religion,
but they never saved one. God's the one that does the saving.
He's the one that makes people willing. But listen, what he
strictly, Told this servant to do, do not compromise the message. Whatever you do, do your not
to take Isaac down to where she's at. He says, what if she won't
come? She's never saw him. Well, let's
take her down there and let her see him. And then let her, let's
see if she wants him or not. Now listen to me. Whether the
woman comes or does not come, whether Isaac has a bride or
doesn't have a bride, something is more important than having
a bride. Isaac's honor is at stake. Isaac's honor must be
maintained. Beware, be absolutely certain
that thou bring not my son thither again. You cannot take him to
where she's at. And he repeated it. If you didn't
hear me, I want to make this clear. If she don't come, you're
not to take Isaac where she's at. You go. You're sent by me. And your responsibility is just
to tell those people and tell that woman about him. that everything has been given
to him. And you ask her, are you willing to give up everything?
Are you willing to leave your father and your mother and your
home and everything? Are you willing to do that and
go be his wife? That's the question. That's the
question. Something is more important than
the salvation of sinners. Let me say a few things on that
right there. I've had people ask me, they
say, well, how many do you have in your church? People are hung
up on these numbers. I want people to come to know
Christ more than anything in this world. But more than that,
I want to honor him. Salvation's in his hands. And
when people are just interested in numbers with how many that's
come, they're gonna do anything to get what they want. They say
that the end justifies the means. We'll use whatever means we want
to. Look what we've done. Look what we've gathered in. If men will not come to Christ,
if men will not believe the gospel, we don't bring Christ down on
their level. We cannot and we do not alter the message, trim
it off to make it more acceptable. You say, well, preacher, If I
believe what you preached, why preach? I preach because God
said he'd save his people. That servant went and he said,
she shall be willing, she shall come, and she did. And all God's
people are going to come. We preach the gospel to every
creature. He has commanded us to go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature and leave it in God's hands.
Not strike while the iron's hot. Not to try to change the message. The message today appeals to
men. God's message honors God. The
gospel honors Christ. That's the difference. People
don't want to hear that message anymore. Tell them something
they want to hear. Tell them that Jesus loves everybody.
Tell them that Jesus wants to save everybody and God just is
willing to save everybody, not want anybody to perish. Well,
I'll tell you this, if God didn't want anybody to perish, nobody
would perish. We're not going to trim off the message. We're
not going to trim it off to make it more acceptable. Paul talked about the offense
of the cross. What he was saying is the preaching
of Jesus Christ is offensive to the natural man. Why do you
think they tried to kill him? Why do you think that when they
preached the gospel there that they laid hold of James in the
book of Acts and killed him? Why do you think they were always
trying to kill him? Why do you think the scribes and the Pharisees
would not stop till Christ was crucified? Why? It wasn't so much of what he did,
it's because of what he said. And when people understand what
you say, they just don't like it. Our Lord said, if you let
another man come preaching another gospel and another Jesus and
they'll gladly receive you. And our Lord said, don't you
compromise this message. And the reason we are in the
shape we are in our country is because the message of the gospel
has been compromised. We will not alter our message
and we will not alter our methods. You show me, and I don't want
to seem to harp on this, but you show me anywhere in the scriptures
when Peter or Paul or anybody else preached, they asked anybody
to come to the front of a church. Where did these methods come
up from? Who come up with these ideas? We that preach the gospel
preach the gospel and we leave it in God's hands. And God is
able to make people willing. God is able to convince that
person that they're a sinner. And he's able to make them willing
to come to Jesus Christ. We will not alter. We will not
use other methods. You said, what other methods
are you talking about, Will? People use gimmicks. They have... This Sunday and that Sunday,
they'll have pinto bean suppers and all kinds of things. They
have put on clowns and they will use entertainment, they'll use
music, they'll use anything to get people to come. And they bring Christ to them.
They say, won't you accept Jesus as your personal savior? They say things like this, that
God has done everything he can to save you, now it's up to you.
He's just waiting for you to do something. Well, if He's waiting
on me to do something, I'll never go because I'm dead in trespasses
and sins. But what I want you to see, this
is what He's saying here. Don't you alter the message.
Don't use any other message. You preach and you leave it in
God's hands. Leave it in His hands. The honor
of Christ's name is a paramount concern in preaching the gospel. I'm going to honor him. I'm going
to accept him. He's king. He's lord. He's master. Bow to him. He's not up for you to do with
him. It's not up for you to accept him. The question is, will he
accept you? If you was to go into a king's
presence, would you just rush in and say, king, I just don't
think you ought to sit on the throne. How far do you think
you'd get? The question is, will that King,
will that King allow you into his presence? He's King. All things, all things have been
committed into Christ's hands. And all that have been sent and
preached to Christ, honor him. Here's the acid test. If that
man does not honor Christ, if Christ does not get all the glory
and salvation, that man's a false prophet. And that's just where we're at
today in religion. People are using everything,
every other method, every other gimmick and gadget, whatever.
They just want to get numbers and they got their mega churches
and they've got all these people and they've made them two-fold
more the child of hell than themselves. But I can tell you this, our
Lord said, you don't believe because you're not my sheep.
But he said, my sheep will hear my voice. And God will send them
a preacher that will cross their path. And I pray God will cross
your path with the gospel. And I pray he has. I pray that
he is. I pray God would give you faith
to look to his son and quit looking to yourself. You just suppose for a minute
that this servant was to compromise, he says, and to bring Isaac down
to Rebekah. Now you just picture this. Okay,
he goes to Mesopotamia and she don't want to come. She says,
well, bring him to where I'm at. So he goes, gets him, and
he takes him all the way to where she's at. That would make Rebekah
more important than him. And is this not where we're at?
They've tried to make man God. This would be a vital denial
of God's covenant of his promise and of his power to save. So
he was just not able to make her willing. God, let's find out who God is. God is able to do whatever he
wants to do. And God does make, he says he
made his people willing in the day of his power. God can either save you or leave
you alone. He's not bringing Isaac to where
you are. The spirit of God comes to where you are and preaches
the gospel to your heart and brings you to him. Just like
he fetched Mephibosheth and brought him to David. You can't come,
but he makes you willing. You're not willing. Man by nature
will not leave everything and come to him. If Isaac was to do that and go
down to where Rebekah was at, Isaac would have never had Rebekah's
heart. And if she had not been willing to forsake her family
for Isaac, if she had not been willing to give up everything
for him, he'd have been better off without her. That's salvation. People want to accept Jesus as
their personal savior, and they want to look to him, they want
him a fire escape, and they wanna have everything else in the world,
and it cannot be. Our Lord said, if you love your
father, and your mother, and your daughter, and your sons,
and I'm gonna paraphrase, your job, your home, your reputation,
or anything else, even your own life, You cannot be my disciple. And that's where the rub's at. That's where it's at. So that
caused that, what would that, it'd kill me to do that, that's
what I'm talking about. And if Isaac were willing to
come down to Rebekah, she'd have been better off without him.
But I'm glad to say today we do not have to compromise the
message of the gospel. We do not have to bring Christ
down to man. We preach a message, a message
of grace and mercy and kindness. A message that brings men, that
brings sinners to Christ. We don't court the favors of
men or we don't fear the frowns of men. We're not changing the
message and we're not going to change our methods. God never
has. The same gospel that God preached
to Abraham and called Abraham out of the Ur of the Chaldees
is the same gospel God still calls sinners today. The same
gospel. People say, well, how are people
saved in the Old Testament the same way? God's an unchanging
God. God didn't say, okay, let's come
up with another plan. Now this one don't seem to work. People carry this book that we
call a Bible, and they have no idea what it says. They don't
know how God saves sinners. They don't know God because they
don't know his characteristics. God is God. He's God. He did not have to send his servant
to Rebecca. If he had not sent the servant,
she would have never come. The greatest curse on any community
is when God leaves them in the dark. Don't you listen to me. He didn't send him to everywhere. He said, you go to Mesopotamia. Didn't he? You go get a bride from Isa. We read verses 10 through 14.
As the servant, as he now leaves, he's been given, he's been told
where to go. He's been told what to do, that
he's to honor Isaac, to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, and not
dare not compromise that message. It's not for him to say, okay,
I've thought, I've come across the desert. I believe, I just
don't think that message will work. I think I'll just change
it a little bit. I just don't, you know, if I
tell her that she ain't going to want to come, so let's do
something else. Oh, no, he's not going to do
that. In verse 10 it says, And the
servant took ten camels, the camels of his masters, and departed
for all, watch this, for all the goods of his master were
in his hand. And he arose, and he went to
Mesopotamia unto the city of Nahor. And he made his camels
to kneel down without the city, about a well of water at the
time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw
water. He says, well, where am I going
to find women? He knew that a well was a place
where women would come. A lot of times in the scriptures
we see this, Jacob met Rachel at the well. Moses met his wife
at the well. And where's he gonna meet her?
He goes to a well. His camels need water, he needs
water, and he knows this is where women come to get water. And
that's where he goes. Oh Lord God, and he prays. And
he said, oh Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me
good speed this day and show kindness unto my master Abraham.
Behold, I stand here by the well of water. and the daughters of
the men of the city come out to draw water, and it come to
pass that the damsels to whom I shall let down my pitcher,
I pray thee, I may drink, and she shall drink, drink, and I
shall give thy camels drink. Also let the same be she that
doth appointed for thy servant Isaac, and thereby shall I know
that thou hast shown kindness unto my master. We'll finish
up, we'll stop there today, and we'll begin there next Sunday,
Lord willing. Amen.