Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. You don't need to have heard
last week's message, but if you did hear last week's message,
I preached upon the passage in Numbers chapter 10, verse 29,
where Moses said to his brother-in-law, we're going on a journey to a
place where the Lord said, I'll give it to you. Come with us. we will do thee good, for the
Lord has spoken good concerning Israel." And his brother-in-law's
reply was, I will not go. That was his response to the
gospel. I will not go. Now, I want to look at a passage
of Scripture in Genesis chapter 24 where the response is different.
Verse 58, And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Will thou
go with this man? And she said, I will go. I've entitled this message, I
Will Go. The book of Genesis, the first
book in the Bible, has been said to be the seed plot of the whole
Bible. Every doctrine of the New Testament
is stated and illustrated in the book of Genesis. Genesis
does not only tell the story of creation, but it tells the
story of the new creation, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, you'll remember that the Lord said, you search the scriptures,
and in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me. And this book of Genesis testifies
of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel. It's not just old
stories. People call it the Old Bible.
You can't possibly understand the New Testament without the
Old Testament. And the verse that I just read
came out of the longest chapter in Genesis. And it's the story
about Abraham sending his servant to find a bride for his specially
promised son, Isaac. And in this passage of Scripture,
we have a beautiful picture of gospel preaching. Now, what is
this thing about a man standing up and preaching from the Word
of God? What is it supposed to mean? Now, in this long chapter
and long story, it's an allegory. It happened indeed, but it's
allegorical to teach us something. Now there are five people in
this chapter. Abraham represents God the Father. Isaac is a beautiful type of
the Lord Jesus Christ and how much he's a type throughout the
scriptures of Christ. He was born supernaturally the
way the Lord was. His mother had already gone through
the process of menopause and he's born supernaturally. We
have that Beautiful story of him in Genesis chapter 22, where
Abraham was to offer him up as a sacrifice to God. And he bore the wood and the
fire up the mountain for his own execution. And we know the
Lord supplied a substitute for him to die in his place as the
ram. So he's such a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Rebecca. in this story is a type
of the church, the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the angel
of the Lord in this story is a type of God the Holy Spirit. And the unnamed servant, some
think he was Eleazar, but he's not named in our text. Eleazar's
name comes up in Genesis chapter 15, some 60 years before this,
and it could have been the same servant. Maybe it wasn't, but
the servant was unnamed. He represents the preaching of
the gospel. And Abraham commissions him to
go and find a bride for his son Isaac. Now we read in verse one
of Genesis chapter 24, and Abraham was old and well-stricken in
age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest
servant of his house that ruled over all he had, put, I pray
thee, thy hand under my thigh, And I will make thee swear by
the Lord, the God of heaven, the God of earth, that thou shalt
take not a wife unto my son of the daughters of Canaan, among
whom I dwell, but that thou shalt go into my country, into my kindred,
and take a wife unto my son Isaac." I want you to go back to where
I'm from and bring a bride back for my son Isaac, somebody of
mine own kindred." Now, this is picturing the preacher going
to preach in order for the bride of Christ to hear and to respond. Now, you'll notice in verse 14
of this chapter, the servant says, Hereby shall I know that
thou hast appointed this one for Isaac. Now the servant knew
that whoever Isaac had for his bride would be the one God appointed
for him. It says the same thing in verse
44 of our text. Let the same be the woman whom
the Lord hath appointed out for my master's son." Now, when Eliezer,
this nameless man, I shouldn't have called him Eliezer. We don't
know what his name was. But when he goes out looking
for the bride, he knew it was the one that God had appointed. Now every gospel preacher knows
when they're preaching the gospel that they're looking for God's
sheep. They're looking for that one God appointed to salvation. Every gospel preacher believes
the glorious truth of God's electing grace. This man knew that he
would be finding the woman that God had before appointed. What is election? God chose who
would be saved before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1-4,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him." Now this man knew that God had appointed the bride that
he was looking for. In verse 5, the servant gives
his fear. And the servant said unto him,
after Abraham told him to go do this, the servant said unto
him, Peradventure, the woman will not be willing to follow
me into the land. Must thy needs bring thy son again unto the
land from whence thou camest?" Now I can see where he had some
fears about what was going to take place with this woman. She may not believe my report.
She might not believe when I tell her of the greatness of my master
and the greatness of his son. She may not believe that report.
She may not be able or be willing to love and marry someone she's
never seen. Now that's what he was going
to be calling on her to do. I want you to come with me and
be married to someone of great wealth that you've never seen. She might not have been willing
to do something like that. She might not have been willing
to leave her homeland and go to the land of promise. It could
be that the covenant was meaningless to her. Now, the servant says,
what do I do if she's not willing to come and follow me back here?
Do I need to bring Isaac to her? Do I need to make things easier
for her? Do I need to change things to
accommodate her so she'll be more likely to believe, so she'll
be more likely to fall in love with Isaac? Do I need to market
this and package this and make it easier for her to comply with
the terms? Abraham said, don't you dare. Beware that thou do such a thing. There is to be no compromising
of the message, no compromising of the gospel, no attempt to
make it more attractive to the flesh. God does not negotiate
with sinners. The message is not to be changed
to make the sinner more likely to comply with the terms. All
that is, is compromising the gospel. Abraham said, don't you
dare do that. Now let me repeat the statement
I just made. God doesn't negotiate with sinners. There are non-negotiables. The Bible is the word of God.
This is not up for debate. It claims to be the Holy Scriptures,
inspired by God. Literally, God-breathed. That's what the Bible claims
to be. It's either all the Word of God, or it's not the Word
of God at all. There's no in-between. And the
Bible is the Word of God. That's where we get our message
from, the Holy Scriptures. God wrote a book, and he who
is so powerful that he can create the universe out of nothing can
inspire men to write a book and keep it preserved throughout
the centuries. God is God. That's a non-negotiable. He rules. He reigns. He is all-powerful. He's absolutely
sovereign. He's utterly independent. He's
immutable. He is who He says He is in His
Word. That's non-negotiable. We're
not going to try to soften that to make sinners more likely to
accept Him or receive Him. Men are who the Bible says they
are. completely evil. God saw the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That means that if God leaves
me to myself and doesn't do something for me and intervene, I will
go to hell because I am by nature, choice, and practice dead in
trespasses and sins. Man is who the Bible describes
him to be. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. And salvation is as the Bible
describes it. Here's why a sinner is saved,
because God, before the time began, chose that sinner to be
saved. If that sinner is saved, it's
because Christ took that sinner's sin and took it to himself and
put it away and completely made a full payment in that sinner's
room instead. That sinner is saved because
God the Holy Spirit comes irresistibly and invincibly and creates life
in that sinner's heart, giving them the grace to believe the
gospel, and they will. Everybody that God elected Christ
died for and God the Holy Spirit gives life to will persevere
looking to Christ only all the way to the end. Now that message
is not to be softened to make it easier for the sinner to receive. Now look what he goes on to say
in verse 7, He says, the Lord God of heaven, which took me
from my father's house and from the land of my kindred, in 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 hence." You don't have
to worry about the results. God the Holy Spirit will cause
the results to take place. The preacher's powerless in this.
I can't make somebody believe, but the Lord will send his angel.
God the Holy Spirit that will move in that sinner's heart and
cause them to want to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And if
the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt
be clear from this my oath, only bring not my son thither again.
Now, if the woman won't Comply? Well, you can't make her comply,
and you're clear of the oath. You're not responsible. It's
God the Holy Spirit who will go before you and make that woman
willing. So we go on reading, and the
servant took ten camels of the camels of his master and departed,
for all the goods of his master were in his hand. Oh, listen
to me. The gospel is all the goods of
God. It's so glorious. It's worthy
of God. It's all that he has. It's all
that he is. The gospel is his glorious gospel. And that's the message we bring.
And this man brought 10 camels loaded with goods. And I have
no doubt that this represents in gospel preaching, the 10 commandments
are preached in this sense. You haven't kept one commandment
one time. Now that's part of gospel preaching. You haven't
kept one commandment, the Ten Commandments. I haven't kept
one commandment one time. And if I believe I have, all
I prove is I don't really understand the law. But the Ten Commandments
is also the Ten Commandments fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ.
paying for God's sin, for the sins against God, and taking
that sin upon Himself, and giving His perfect righteousness, His
perfect obedience of the Ten Commandments to the believer.
Now, the servant comes with this glorious message, and he thought,
here's how I'm going to know When this woman comes to draw
a well, if I say, give me to drink, and she gives me to drink,
and then she gives my camels to drink also, I will know that
this is the woman the Lord has appointed." So before he even
stopped speaking, Rebecca comes. He doesn't know for sure that
she's the one. She was a very beautiful woman,
the scripture says. And he said to her, would you
give me something to drink? And she gave him something to
drink and willingly got water for all 10 of his camels. Can
you imagine how much work that was to provide water for 10 camels? And he knew this is the one. He was excited. This is the one. She is complying to what I've
asked. Verse 15, It came to pass, before
he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born
to Bethuel, son of Milcah, wife of Nahor, which was Abraham's
brother, and the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin,
neither had any man known her. And she went down to the well,
and filled her pitcher, and came up. And the servant ran to meet
her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little of thy water.
And she said, drink my lord. And she hasted and let down her
pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink. And when she had done
giving him drink, she said, I draw water for thy camels also until
they have done drinking. And she hasted and emptied her
pitcher and ran again to the well to draw water and drew for
all his camels. And the man was wondering, held
his peace to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous."
Now, there's two things that are pointed out about Rebecca.
She was very beautiful, very fair to look on, and she was
willing to do what the servant asked. Now, Christ's bride is
very beautiful and willing. You see, He's made her so. The
reason Christ's bride is beautiful, the reason God's elect, the reason
every individual is beautiful to God, is because they're clothed
in the very righteousness of Christ, and they look just like
Christ. He made them beautiful, and He
made them willing in the day of His power, and they're all
willing to be saved by the grace of God. They're all willing to
love one they've never seen. They're all willing to follow
one all the way to the end that they've never seen. They're beautiful,
and they are willing. And they respond to the gospel. Now, she now brings him to her
home. You see, she's of the family
of Abraham's brother. And remember, Abraham said, I
want a bride out of my home. And she brings him to her family
to let them know of this glorious news. And they bring this man
in to eat supper with them. Now we read beginning in verse
32, "...and the man came into the house, and he ungirded his
camels, and gave straw and profaner for the camels, and water to
wash his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. And
there was set meat before him, but he said, I will not eat until
I have told mine errand." I'm not here to be provided for. I'm here to give the message
of my Master. That's what my purpose is. It's
to give the message of my Master. And he said, the Lord have blessed
my Master greatly. Now he's talking about Abraham
as a type of God the Father. Oh, the blessedness of the Blessed
One. He is infinite. He's holy. He's omnipotent. He's all-powerful. He's omniscient. He's all-wise,
all-knowing. He's omnipresent. There's nowhere
you can be where He's not. He is independent. He has no
needs. He is immutable. He cannot change. Oh, the greatness, the holiness,
the absolute justice, the glory of God. And look what he says
next. And Sarah, my master's son, bare
a son to my master when she was old, and to him hath he given
all that he hath. God has given everything to Christ,
and all that God has for the sinner is in His Son. God will
not speak to nor be spoken to apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're going to be saved,
it's going to be for Christ's sake. All God has, He's given
to His Son. And the only reason any believer
will be saved is not because of anything they've done, but
because they're in the Son. All God has for this sinner is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my beloved Son. in whom I am well pleased." Notice
he didn't say, with whom I'm well pleased, in whom I'm well
pleased. That's why Paul said, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him. All of God's mercy, all
of God's grace is in His Son. Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you." Now, this is good news because nothing is expected of
me to contribute to save myself. It's all in Christ. Is that good news to you? It's
all in Christ. So he tells Rebecca's family
about what had taken place, about how he said the one that gives
me something to drink and offers to give water to my camels, that's
the one the Lord has appointed. And lo, all of this happened. He recounts the whole story and
he says in verse 48, after he saw that this was the one, I
bowed down my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord
God of my master Abraham, which hath led me in the right way
to take my master's brother's daughter into his son, And now,
if you'll deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And
if not, tell me that I may turn to the right hand or to the left."
You know, the gospel calls for a verdict. The gospel calls for
a verdict. Tell me. Well, they said, ask
Rebecca. Ask Rebecca. We can't speak for
her. Ask Rebecca. And they said, give her 10 months
first. Give her 10 months to stay with
us, then she could come. And the man said, no, it's got
to be right now. You see, faith is for right now. If you look to something you're
going to do in the future, or if you look to some experience
of the past to give you assurance, you've missed Christ. Faith is
for right now. The command is now to believe
the gospel. Anything else that works, if
you're looking to the future or the past, you're believing
it works somehow. The command is right now to look
to Christ only. Verse 58, And they called Rebekah
and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said,
I will go. She was going to go to be the
wife of a man she'd never seen. But I have no doubt that she
had listened to everything this servant said with regard to Isaac,
and she wanted to be with him. She said, I will go. Thy people
shall be willing. in the day of thy power, whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely. She said, I will go. Verse 61, and Rebekah rose in
her damsels, and they rode upon the camels and followed the man
that was leading them to Isaac. And the servant took Rebekah
and went his way. Now Isaac, came from the way
of the well, Lahoroi, for he dwelt in the south country. And
Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide. And
he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah, she'd never seen
him before, she lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac,
she got off her camel She hit the dirt. You see, if you ever
see who He is, it will bring you down. What did Isaiah say when he saw
the Lord? Then said I, woe is me, I'm undone. She came down and she covered
herself with a veil. You see, when you come into Christ's
presence, you know you need his covering. You know you need his
righteousness to cover your naked soul. She comes to him for a
covering. And the servant told Isaac all
the things that he'd done, and Isaac brought her, Rebekah, into
his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became
his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after
his mother's death. Isaac sees his bride and he loves
her. You see, the love of the Lord
Jesus Christ to his bride actually is eternal. And he knows who
they are. Behold, I've loved you with an
everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
have I drawn thee. The servant brings Rebecca, who
is willing to come. And when she does see Isaac,
she goes down. She sees her own sinfulness,
perhaps for the first time, but Isaac loved her. Oh, the love of the Lord Jesus
Christ, it's eternal. It's saving. It never had a beginning. It'll never have an end. Husbands,
love your wives as Christ also loved the church and gave himself
for it that he might present it to himself a glorious church. not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing. That describes every Rebecca,
everyone that makes up the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. So here we have a beautiful illustration
of gospel preaching in this story before us. This is Todd Nyberg
praying that God will be pleased to make himself known to you.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon
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