Genesis 23 in verse 1. And Sarah was 107 and 20 years
old, 127. These were the years of the life
of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjath Arba,
the same as Hebron in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to
mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. Now, as I was reading through
this chapter and studying it, I found it incredibly relatable,
and really for two separate reasons. Number one, this appointment
that Sarah keeps, death, we're all going to keep it. I think
it says two times in Chronicles 18, the soul that sinneth, it
shall die. Doesn't say it might, it says
it shall. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. And you see the
connection there. Death, because of what? Sin. Both of them inescapable for
men, both the sin and the death. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. And then comes the judgment. And it cometh right quick. James said this, James 4.14,
he says, for what is your life? It's even a vapor that appeareth
for a little time and then vanisheth away, just like that. It's over. And Paul gives us good advice,
if you can call it that, as to what to do with this time. He
says, see then that you walk circumspectly, diligently, not
as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are
evil. Days are evil because we're evil,
and we go to stand before a holy, and a just, and a sovereign God."
And he says, you have a short amount of time. Very, very short.
It's vapor. Redeem it. Use that time wisely. Do what?
Seek Christ. Seek him while he may be found. Call upon him while
he is near. Seek to be justified by him.
Seek to know him and to be known of him. And that's not just good
advice, that's life or death. So it's relatable on that first
point. We all make that appointment. And here's the second reason,
and I hadn't thought too much about this one. If you or I are
blessed in a loving marriage that endures, one of us is going
to bury the other one. I thought a little bit about
her burying me, but I haven't thought any about me burying
her. And between the two, I prefer the first option. But in the event when we do,
we're going to have the same reaction that Abraham had here. We will mourn and we will weep
for that loved one. And so someone might ask, is
that okay to mourn and to weep for that loved one? Is not God
sovereign? Did he not take Sarah at his
appointed time exactly when he purposed to? Does he not promise
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the cold, according to his purpose? Doesn't he say
to give thanks for all things? For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you." Isn't all that true? It absolutely
is, and it was absolutely true for Abraham. This whole chapter
is devoted to him burying his wife, his bride. This is a great
trial in his life, a very sad time. Here in chapter 23, go
to chapter 24 and read the first verse of chapter 24. This is
the very next thing the scripture has to say after this great thing
for Abraham. And Abraham was old and well
stricken in age, And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. Even this thing? Even this very
hard and difficult thing, this burying of his wife, his love,
this woman he had built a life with? Yes, even this thing. Yes,
all that's true. God is sovereign. Everything
is for our good. And yet, it's great to mourn. It's exactly
what you're supposed to do. It's good for that loved one.
And it's for this reason. That's not unbelief. That's not
warring with the will of God. What it is is this. It's a symptom
of love. And I had never considered this before. But even in human
love, death doesn't dissolve it. Someone dies, someone we
love, they pass on. They go on. Do we just immediately
stop loving them? That earthly relationship dissolves
and just boom. I don't feel that affection anymore.
No, it continues on. That death doesn't dissolve the
love. It certainly didn't with Abraham
here. That's why he wept and he mourned for his dead bride. Now, what is this story about? Abraham, his bride dies. His loved one dies. He goes to
weep and mourn for her, and then he stands up to fulfill a responsibility.
He's going to secure for her a resting place, and twice in
this passage of scripture described as sure. It's an absolutely sure
resting place, but that's not the story at all. The story is
Christ, how he loved his bride, who was dead in trespasses and
sins, and how he went to secure a sure resting place for us. That's the story. Now, I wanna
read through it once, make a few comments, we can get our bearings
in the story, go back three very short points, and I pray the
Lord would show us the gospel from this passage of Scripture.
So look here, look at verse one again. It says, And Sarah was
107 and 20 years old. These were the years of the life
of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kirjathar by the same as Hebron in the
land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for
Sarah. and to weep for her." Notice this was intentional.
It says it came to her. He came into her. He came into
the tent. He had carved out a particular amount of time, a particular
time just to mourn and to weep for his bride who had died. But
once the time for mourning and weeping was over, he stood up
to fulfill the responsibility. I've got to find her a sure resting
place, a place she will be safe for the eternities. Here's what
he does. Look at verse 3. And Abraham
stood up from before his dead, and spake unto the sons of Heth,
saying, I'm 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. Now notice that wording. It's
so very important. This really doesn't have anything to do with
Sarah at all. This is all about Abraham. He says, my dead, she's
mine. Just as that death didn't dissolve
his love for her, didn't dissolve his ownership of her either.
He says, that's my dead. That's my bride. Death doesn't
dissolve that. And he says, her corruption,
it must be buried out of my sight. Soon that body would rot. It
would stink. It would come to corruption.
Abraham says, it's got to be out of my sight. I have to take
her corruption, her pollution, and I have to put it out of my
sight so that I can't see it anymore. This is all about Abraham.
Keep that in mind. Now, look at verse 5. 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 sepulchers,
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." Now, notice for a second
the respect that Abraham shows these children of Heth, right? And it's interesting to see this
respect because in this relationship between Abraham and these children
of Heth, Abraham holds all the cards in this transaction. Where
are they? They're in a city called Kirjath
Arba that's in Canaan, the Promised Land. You go all the way back
to Genesis 12. You go all the way back to Genesis
17. On two separate occasions, the Lord had already promised
Abraham that land. He said, I'm going to send you
into Canaan. I'm going to give you that land. It's going to be yours
and your posterity after you. Go into it. It's yours. I'm promising
it to you. He hadn't taken possession yet,
but that was his land. He had it by promise. He could have
walked up to these sons of Heth and said, all right, I'm taking
that cave and that field right there, and if anybody's got anything
to say about it, you can start paying me rent because you're
on my land. And factually, he wouldn't have
been wrong. He would have been absolutely right. He had it by
promise. He's holding all the cards. God is for Abraham. He
is not for the sons of Heth. God had promised Abraham this
land before he would even take possession of it. Didn't promise
it to the sons of Heth. And yet, he approaches them in
meekness and gentleness. He says, I'm a stranger and I'm
a sojourner here. Doesn't even talk about the fact
that it's all his. I'm just a stranger. I'm a sojourner here. In meekness
and gentleness, he goes after this parcel of land to bury his
dead bride. And then when they say, take
it, take whatever you want, you're a prince, he bows himself to
these inferior people here. What respect, but what a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here is the understatement
of understatements. Greatest understatement you'll
hear all day. Between this relationship between
God and men and that great transaction, he holds all the cards. It's
the greatest understatement you've ever heard. It's so much more
than that. He is absolutely sovereign. Concerning God and man, he holds
all men in the palm of his hand to do with them as he sees fit. And what rights do we have in
all this? We have absolutely no rights. None whatsoever. We
have sent away all our rights. He holds all the cards. He is
the one who is in possession of everything and can do whatever
it is he wants. And yet, this is what Paul said
to the Corinthians. Now I, Paul, myself, beseech
you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. And he says in another
place, just five chapters before that, now then we are ambassadors
for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you. We literally beg you. In Christ's
stead, be ye reconciled to God. That's how he speaks to sinners.
That's how he speaks to people who have absolutely nothing.
Got no good works to recommend me. I've got no power. I've got
no ability. I deserve to go to hell. That's
it. With meekness and gentleness,
this one who controls all the cards, and he says, come. I beseech
you. I pray you. I'm not mad at you. I've put away your sin, there's
no wrath saved up for you. I'm not mad at you, now you don't
be mad at me. Be ye reconciled to God. It's my favorite gospel
concept right there. Christ died for sinners. Now,
look at verse eight. Abraham speaks to these 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
for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the
cave of Machpelah, 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 bearing place amongst you." Now, Abraham had given great
care to this sure resting place for his bride. He had already
picked it out, Machpelah. And what that means is a double
or a double portion. Macpila, that's where Sarah has
to rest. There's only one place that she
can rest, and I can be sure she'll be safe. It has to be in Macpila,
that place of the double portion. He's very careful about this
thing. There's an issue. Somebody has a claim on that
land. This man named Efron. Abraham says, Ephraim's going
to come up and he's going to tell me what I owe him for it.
This is very, very important. Ephraim's going to come up with
a number, I'm going to buy him out, and whatever Ephraim says
he's owed for that, whatever makes him whole, whatever makes
him right, that's exactly what I'm going to pay, not a penny
less. I'm going to pay everything, and it's for this reason. If
he doesn't pay it all and completely and utterly buy Ephraim out,
Ephraim will always have a claim to that site. He'd be burying
his bride in a place that wasn't sure. It would be unstable. Ephraim
could always come back and he could always have a claim. But
if he pays everything, everything that could possibly satisfy Ephraim,
that means that is his purchased possession for his bride and
she is sure forever. So that's exactly what he's going
to do. Look at verse 10. And Ephraim dwelt among the children
of Heth, and Ephraim the Hittite answered Abraham and the audience
of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate
of the city, saying, Nay, my lord, hear me. The field give
I thee, and the cave that is therein I give it thee, and the
presence of the sons of my people give I it thee. Bury thy dead.
And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land,
and he spake unto Ephraim and the audience of the people of
the land, saying, But if that will 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 between 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, current money, with the merchant." Now here's what I
want you to notice there. Who's the driving force in this transaction?
It's Abraham. Abraham says, you set the price,
Ephraim. Tell me how much I owe you. I am going to buy you out. I'm going to make sure you have
absolutely no claims to this land. Abraham's the driving force.
Abraham is making demands of himself, and he's satisfying
those own demands right there. 400 shekels of silver, what's
that worth today? I have absolutely no idea. Read
some people, and they said it was a whole lot. Other people
said not so much. I don't know, but I know this. It was current
money with the merchant. You know what that means? means
it's spent anywhere. You go to any merchant around
town, you throw that silver up on the table there, you buy anything
you want. There was nothing that was out of your reach. I want
that, throw the silver up. Nobody would say, no, that's
no good here. You can buy anything you want with this money here.
Now look, go to verse 17. And the field of Ephron, which
is 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 possession in the presence of the children of Heth
before all that went in at the gate of his city." A land survey
was conducted. Abraham throws the money, those
400 shekels of silver, he throws them up on the table, says, I'm
buying that piece of land. Machpelah is now mine. And they
go out and they survey it. And they account for every rock,
every blade of grass, every tree, every bush. They make sure it's
all there. And they come to Abraham and
said, what you've purchased, it's all there, all present and
accounted for. And in this number of great witnesses,
we declare that is all Abraham's forever. No one can ever have
a claim to this ever again. Everything is present and accounted
for. It's sure unto Abraham for the eternities. Now, look at
verse 19. And after this, Abraham buried
Sarah, his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah before
Mamre, the same as Heber in the land of Canaan. And the field
and the cave that is therein were made sure unto Abraham for
possession of a bearing place by the sons of Heth. You know
who else would be buried there? Whole family. Sarah goes in,
and a little while later, Abraham. A little while later, Isaac and
Rebecca. A little while later, Jacob and Leah. The whole family,
the patriarch goes in, and the whole family rests with the patriarch
in Machpelah, this cave of the double portion. It preaches itself,
doesn't it? I think we all got it up to this
point. Where's the gospel in all this? Three easy points. Our story begins where salvation
begins, with love that not even death can dissolve. The first
piece of information we get in verse 1 is Sarah's age at death. She was 127 years old, and that's
interesting for this reason. She is the only female in scripture
where her age is actually recorded at her time of death. She's the
only one. It is also one of only two times in scripture that something
is numbered at exactly 127. First time is here in reference
to Sarah's death. And the second time is kind of
an obscure place. I'll read it to you. This is
Esther 1-1. Now it came to pass in the days of Ohasuerus. This
is Ohasuerus which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia over
107 and 20 provinces. Death and a reign. I seem to
remember Paul saying something about that. Romans 5.14, nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, and it didn't stop there. It
continued on to every generation after them, all the way down
to you and me. Death. Is he talking about physical
death? Yeah. More importantly, he's
talking about this, Romans 5, 12. Wherefore, as by one man,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. He's talking about spiritual
death, what the scriptures call dead and trespasses and sins.
Every man born in this world is born this way, dead, dead,
graveyard dead. And here's what it is. The illustration
of Stera tells the story, how we're all born to this world
naturally. Abraham walks in, his bride is dead. He weeps and
he mourns over her because he loves her. Here's the first question.
Can she reciprocate that love to him? Can she show him any
love whatsoever? Her corruption has to be removed
out of his sight. Abraham can't see it. He can't
see any corruption on her whatsoever. Her corruption has to be moved
out of his sight. Can she do anything to remove
her own corruption? Can she stop it? Can she stop
that decay? Not in any way. He has to procure
for her a sure resting place, one that can never be touched.
He will pay a great sum. Can she help at all? Can she
come up with any money? Can she ever put herself in that cave,
that cave of the doubling? She has to be carried there.
That's what it means to be dead in trespasses and sins. Can a
man in his natural form love God? No, he can love an idol.
He can love an idol that's not sovereign. He can love an idol
that needs man to do something for him so he can do something
for man. He can love that God because that God puts man in
the driver's seat. But this sovereign one who will do what he will,
with whom he will, when he wills, he can only hate him. That is
it. And Todd said something this morning, and I haven't heard
him say that in a while. If we want to know how bad it really
is, how bad we really are, you don't go looking in here. You
don't see the full story. You go to the cross. That's where
you find out how much the natural man, that old man, how much he
hates God. We killed God's only son. He can't stop his own corruption. He can't stop sinning. Sin is
what we do. It's what we think. It's what
we are. We can't make up for it. We can't make atonement for
our sins. We can't put ourselves in Christ, that one place of
safety and shelter. Absolutely cannot. And I'll tell
you what, folks, that would be enough to end human love. You
find me someone who is against me, who is warring against me,
who is trying to destroy me, destroy my family. I will have
absolutely no love for that person. Thanks be to God that the love
of Christ for his people and the love of the Father for Christ's
people, it's not like that at all. It is eternal. And I make an issue of saying
this for his people because our illustration does. Look at verse
three. And Abraham stood up from before
his dead. Whole lot of people died in Kerjeth,
Arbor. That's a big old city. Canaan's a big old land. Did
he go along, did he claim all the dead in the city? Did he
go and weep and mourn for all the dead in that city? No, he
had a bride. He had one that he was in union
with, and he always had been. And that's who he loved, and
that's who he mourned for, and that's who he wept for, and that's
who he would go to procure the sure resting place forever for
that one. See, his love is particular.
It is for the elect. Here's how the love of God works.
I don't understand this. I simply believe it because this
is what the book said. Every member of the elect, we share
that eternal union with Jesus Christ. And it's this real. This
is how real it actually is. When Christ loves us, he is loving
himself. That's what the book says. He
is loving himself when he loves us. That's how tight and real
that union really is. When the Father, who does the
Father love? Any mistake about this? The Father loves one God-man,
His Son, Jesus Christ. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. All the Father's
love is on one man, Jesus Christ. And that connection between Christ
and His church, His elect, is so real. When the Father is loving
His Son, He is loving everybody who has always been in His Son
with that eternal love. Now, everybody He loves, and
He doesn't love everybody. He loves His bride. He loves
that one He shares the union with. What does He do for everybody
He loves? David read it this morning. Turn
over to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2, and look at verse
1. What did Christ do for his dead? Ephesians 2, 1. And you hath
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. For everybody
he loves who is dead in trespasses and sins, this is what he does.
He gives them life. This is the first thing right
here. What do we mean by that? Todd gave the greatest explanation
of it I've ever heard this morning, but I'm going to give it a shot.
Two respects. Number one, he gives us a new
life before the Father. Now, where is she buried? Where
is Sarah buried? In that cave of Machpelah, that
cave of the double portion, a doubling. Truly, in Christ, he is doubled. Everything he's done, whatever
his history is, his perfect law keeping, his perfect obedience,
his perfect faith, everybody in him is doubled as mine too.
He did it, and I did it. I have a new history in Him to
where His walk is my walk before God. His righteousness is my
righteousness before the Father. It's doubled. Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received, this is past tense, doubled. for all her sins, conformed to
the very image of Jesus Christ, so much so that as He is, so
are we in this world. And that's because He took on
my life. He bore our sins in His body
on that tree, and He bled and died. And now, when the law looks,
every member of the elect over sees nothing but the perfect
righteousness of Jesus Christ. He's blameless. He's righteous.
I have nothing to say to this man. Perfection in every way. Life, you hath he quickened.
It's more than just spiritual life, I have a new life before
the Father. But he also does that, he gives
us spiritual life. A new man, a new nature. What does he sound
like? Well, I know this, that new man,
everything Paul says after this, he knows it is absolutely true
about himself. Read this, look at verse two. Where in time past, You walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others, just like everybody else. You ask
anybody who has life, Christ has given them life, ask them
this question, why do you have it? What did you do? Did you stop doing some particular
sin? Did you start doing this particular thing? Did you become
incredibly holy? Start volunteering in a soup
kitchen? What did you do? How did you, why do you deserve
this? Why do you have this life? And this is their answer right
here. This is the only answer. Nothing. Children of wrath, just
like everybody else. I was born in the world the same
way everyone else was, a God hater. a sinner, absolutely nothing
more, done absolutely nothing more. Why then? Why do you have
it? Verse 4, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love
wherewith he loved us. Why do I live? Well, here's the
reason, because he loved me. eternally because I share a union
with him that is unbreakable and eternal. He loved me in Christ. For Christ's sake, the Father
is merciful to me because he put away my sins and now he showers
me with his mercy because of who I'm in and who I'm connected
to. What's the reason? What sets you apart but God? That's it, that's all we've got.
But God, that is a response of a man who has life. What's the
reason? I was like everybody else, but
God, he did it all by himself. Notice the time frame here. Verse
four, but God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith
he loved us, when? Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, ye are saved. That's what eternal love looks
like. He loved us before the foundations of the world were
ever built, because we were in Christ. We come to this world,
we sinned in Adam, we fell. The love endured, because we
were in Christ. We're born in this world individually,
dead in trespasses and sins, and yet his love for us endures.
He saves us in our experience. He gives us life. And what do
we have to do for the rest of our days? drag around this old,
dead nature with us that never believes God and never bows the
knee and roars all the time, and yet, He still loves us. And in the ages to come, when
faith becomes experience, when hope becomes sight, and the only
thing left is charity, love. He will still love us eternally,
always. Why? What is the reason for that?
Because before all that, because before there is anything else,
There was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world for those
particular people, and so therefore that love could endure through
the centuries and through time, even in all our disobedience.
Every one of those disobediences were always already paid for
with his precious blood before the world ever began. His eternal
suretyship ensures that love lasts forever. Now, speaking
of eternal suretyship, because of Christ's love for us, a covenant
was made. They had this place by promise.
Sarah is buried in this place called Machpelah in Canaan, and
that was promised to Abraham long before he made this purchase.
That was a covenant, a promise between God and Abraham that
he would have this patch of land. Now, go over to Genesis 17. I want you to read this. This
actually asks, as an illustration of the covenant of grace, This is where the Lord promises
Abraham the land. He gets into a covenant with him, enters into
a covenant. But this is a type of the covenant of grace. Look
at this, Genesis 17, verse seven. And I will establish my covenant
between me and thee and thy seed after thee and their generations
for an everlasting covenant, an eternal one, to be a God unto
thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and
to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger.
all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I
will be their God." The Lord starts out. He says, Abraham,
here's what I am going to do. I'm going to be a God unto you,
and I'm going to be a God unto your seed after you. Your whole
posterity, literally a God for you. I'm going to give you the
land of the Canaan. I'm giving it to you. I'm giving it to all
your seed, everybody who is in you. I'm making this promise
to you, and when I make it to you, it affects all of them,
everybody in you. Now, Abraham, you have to hold
up your end of the bargain. Look down at verse 10. This is
my covenant, which ye shall keep. This is what you have to do.
Between me and you and thy seed after thee, every man child among
you shall be circumcised. Now, I don't know much about
circumcision, but I do know this. Abraham was 99 years old when
he circumcised himself. It was incredibly painful. And
it took something away. Him and his entire house, his
whole posterity after him. That's a picture, folks, of the
covenant of grace. before the world ever began, because of
that eternal love, the Father and the Son entered into a pact.
The Father said, I'm going to be a God unto you and unto your
people. Everybody who is in you eternally, literally a God for
them, a merciful God, a gracious God, a forgiving God. I'm going
to receive them as sons and daughters. But here's what you're going
to do. This is what you have to do. You have to go and you
have to suffer bearing their sins. And through that death,
you will take their sin away. so that I may be just and the
justifier of the ungodly. That's the covenant. And as soon
as the covenant was ratified and the attorneys passed, it's
over. It's done. Before Abraham ever
made the purchase of this property, it was his by promise, and salvation,
folks, is by promise through covenant. Everybody who's in
that covenant All of us in Him, we reap all the benefits of that
covenant. The Father blesses. The Son gives. He's the one who
does. We reap the benefits of that
covenant. Sonship, acceptance with God, righteousness, all
the beautiful things of being a son and a child of God, salvation.
We have that because of this covenant that is by promise.
Third point, that which was promised in time was carried out or what
was promised in eternity was carried out in time. Now, this is what the writer in Acts
said. said, Take heed therefore unto
yourselves and all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood." Abraham made a purchase, 400
shekels, and he got the land and he made it sure, the bearing
place for his bride. Christ had his own blood, and
that was his purchase price. Here's my question, though. Why
did he have to die? Now the first answer to that
question is because it was the eternal will of God that Christ would
come, that he would redeem his people by himself through his
own work with absolutely no help from them, that he might achieve
the maximum glory for the Godhead. That's the first answer. But
in the mechanics of this whole thing we call salvation, why
the death? Why the slaughter? Why the wrath?
Why is all that necessary? It's because of who God is. He
is a holy God, and He is a perfectly just God, and He cannot pass
over sin. Wherever He sees it, He must
punish it. He is a righteous God, and His
holy law is a manifestation of His righteousness. Now, we see
that with Ephraim of Zohar. Do you remember him from the
story? Abraham wants Machpelah. He wants that cave of the doubling
and the field that goes with it. He says, but somebody's got
a claim. He's got first claim as a matter of fact. This Ephraim,
his name means calf, bull, strong, unwavering, Zohar, white, purity,
righteousness. What is God's holy law? It is
strong, it is unbending, it is unwavering, it demands absolute
perfect righteousness and it has first claim. Lord cannot
deal with any man on the grounds of mercy or grace or acceptance
until this issue of sin, this issue of justice, has been meted
out. He is a just God and a Savior. The law had to be satisfied.
And we see that in the story. Who's the driving force in the
story? Abraham. Abraham says, Ephraim's going
to set the price. He's going to tell me what he needs to be
satisfied. He's going to tell me the price so that I can buy
him out, so he can have no claims to this patch of ground and my
bride ever again. That's what Christ did with the law. Tell
me what they owe. Give me the exact amount that
they owe. That's exactly what I'm going to pay. That's exactly
what I'm going to suffer. I'm going to put away all their
sins so that, law, you have no claim on them, that they are
free from the law. Reckon yourself dead to the law.
It's over. Law you have, no claim on them.
They are mine. They are sure forever. They're
bought with a price. God is just. And this is the
reason the cross was necessary, so this scripture could be fulfilled.
Exodus 34, 6, and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed,
The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering
and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and will by no means
clear the guilty. Impossible with man. Impossible
with humans. God found a way to be just and
justify the ungodly, and that cross is the way. There the law
is completely and utterly satisfied. Ephraim has no claims, and we're
sure. They took a census of the field.
They went through literally every single rock, every blade of grass.
This all belongs to Abraham. Before he took possession, he
said, make sure it's all there. Before I lay this money up, it's all
there. We'll make sure it's all there. He lays the money up.
All of a sudden, it's yours. present and accounted for and
it's yours forever." When Christ said, it is finished, we were
His purchased possession and sure. That is unshakable, immutable. That can't change. My sin can't
change it. My unbelief can't change it.
Nothing can change it. It is slated in the eternities
because He purchased us with His own shed blood and it's sure. Now, where do I fit in in all this? God loves His bride. He loves
His people. He entered into a covenant with
His Son that they might be saved. He promised salvation through
His Son. Christ came in time. He paid
the sin debt for every one of His people. He kept the law for
them so that they are sure, sure for heaven, sure for eternity.
As He is, so are we in this world. Where do I fit in all that? Go
back to Genesis 23. I want you to look at verse 8. We've been looking at Abraham
as a type of Christ, let's look at him as a type of the believer. Verse 8, 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 for me to Ephron the son of Zohar. Now, notice that Ephron answers
awful fast. He's in the audience. Abraham
won't even speak to him. Abraham goes to the sons of Heth
and he says, I'm not even going to do business with Ephraim.
I need you to entreat. I need you to make intercession
for me. I can't have anything to do with him. Here's where I stand with all
these folks. My only hope of salvation is that Christ entreats
from me. I can't approach God's holy law.
If I'm judged on the grounds of what I do or what I have done,
if salvation is in any way up to me and what I've done, I am
lost. I need one to entreat for me,
to go do business with the perfect justice of God, do business with
his holy law, keep that law for me, put away my sins, make atonement
for me. My only hope is he entreats for
me, he makes intercession for me. And folks, that's exactly
who Christ died for. That's exactly who God loves,
those who must have Christ to be their intercessor. Now let
me show you another piece of encouragement here. He bows twice
in this story here. The first one is in verse six.
He bows after hearing this. Hear us, my Lord. There art a
mighty prince among us. In the choice of our sepulchers,
bury thy dead. None of us shall withhold from
thee his sepulcher. You see that word withhold? means
literally to restrain, to keep from, to inhibit. Does the sovereignty
of God hold me off in any way? Restrict me? Does election restrict
me in any way? Does it hold me off in any way?
No, absolutely not, it doesn't. How did Abraham deal with the
sons of Heth? He held all the cards and yet he dealt with them
in meekness and gentleness. How does Christ deal with sinners?
Come unto me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest. I beseech you by God, be ye reconciled
to God. This is for sinners. It was for
sinners Christ died. If you're one of these people
that can't approach the law on your own, it has to be all of him.
There's no restrictions. There's only one restriction,
one inhibiting factor. You have to come with nothing.
Absolutely nothing. Nothing good to recommend you.
No merits of your own. No power of your own. Simply him. That's
it. That's the only restriction.
Your sin can't hold you off. He can't be too bad. Well, Abraham's
money, what was it like? It was current money with the
merchant. Could buy anything. There's no sin too great. There's
no sinner too great that his blood cannot redeem. That's the
power of his blood. It's current money with the merchant.
So here, he bows here, and I bow here, too. There's no restrictions,
folks. Come to me, all ye who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. The door to a sinner is
wide open. There are no restrictions. Here's
the second time he bows, verse 11. This is Ephraim speaking. 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. The first time
he bows is when he heard there are no restrictions, no one's
gonna hold you off. And here's the second time he bowed, when
he said it's yours, it's always been yours. If you're a sinner
in need of mercy, and your only hope is Christ intercedes for
you right now. That's all you got. It's yours. It's always been yours. And notice
how he approaches it. Free for nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Costs you absolutely nothing.
Costs Christ everything. Costs you absolutely nothing.
Bury your dead. The promise is yours. Take it. Folks, if you're one of these
people, my only hope, Christ is my intercessor. He's the one
who did the work. He's the one who secured that
sure resting place. It's yours and it's always been
yours. You've always been loved with the Father in Christ. That
covenant, I make it unto you and your seed, you're the seed,
always been in Christ. He came to this world, he bore
the sin, your sin, he put it away, he purchased you, and that
stance, it's immutable, it can never change. You can't send
that away, you can't alter that in any way. You are sure, you
have a sure resting place in and with him. Our double portion. I've enjoyed this.