Would you turn with me to Genesis
chapter 46? Jacob is going down to Egypt. What would happen to him if he
didn't go to Egypt and if he stayed in Canaan? Well, he would
starve to death. There wasn't any food there at
all. So he was forced to go down to Egypt. And he was getting
there by way of the wagons that Joseph had provided for him out
of Egypt. And that picture's vague, as
we saw last week. But before he goes into Egypt,
the place of food, the place of safety, he stops in a place
called Beersheba. I've entitled this message Beer
Sheba. I just want to read the first
verse right now, Genesis 46, and Israel, Israel and Jacob
are the same person. As a matter of fact, the Lord
willing, next week I want to bring a message on his two names,
Israel and Jacob. But Israel took his journey with
all he had and came to Beer Sheba and offered sacrifices unto the
God of his father, Isaac. Now, when he arrived in Beersheba,
he slew a lamb and offered up a sacrifice to the God of his
father, Isaac, who was the son of Abraham. Now, you know that
every word in Scripture is significant and every word in Scripture is
important. There is no filler space. What
is the significance of Beersheba? Why did he find it necessary
to stop in Beersheba before he went down into the land of Egypt? Well, the word Beersheba means
the well of the oath. The well of the oath, and we
read about it first in Genesis chapter 21, would you turn with
me to Genesis chapter 21? Beginning in verse 25. Now we're going into Jacob's
grandfather's life, Abraham. This is where Beersheba is first
mentioned. Verse 25, And Abraham reproved
Abimelech because of a well of water which Abimelech's servants
had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, I want not
who had done this thing, neither didst thou tell me, neither yet
heard I of it, but today. And Abraham took sheep and oxen
and gave them unto Abimelech, and both of them made a covenant.
And Abram set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And
Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs
which thou hast set by themselves? And he said, For these seven
ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness
unto me that I had digged this well. Wherefore he called that
place Beersheba. because they swear both of them.
Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba that Abimelech rose
up and Bichol, the chief captain of his host, and they returned
unto the land of the Philistines. And Abraham planted a grove or
a tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord,
the everlasting God." Now there is the first mention of Beersheba. And then If you notice in Genesis
46, 1, he says he offered sacrifices unto the God of his father, Isaac.
I want us to look at Isaac's experience of Beersheba. And
this is really where we're going to spend most of our time. Turn
to Genesis chapter 26. Now, Beersheba is the place that
Isaac ended up settling down. This was his home. This is where
he made his residence. This was his address here in
Beersheba. I look in verse 23 of Genesis
26, and he went up from thence to
Beersheba. This is speaking of Isaac, Jacob's
father. And the Lord appeared unto him
the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father. for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply
thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake." And he, Isaac, built an
altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched
his tent He settled down there, and there Isaac's servants digged
a well. Now, here is now Isaac's hometown. Now, before I go on, I want to
point out in this passage of Scripture the work of the Trinity. Now, I see the work of the Trinity
in this passage of Scripture. Now, what I'm saying, I don't
understand, but I believe it's revealed in the Scripture. God
is one God. Here, O Israel, the Lord thy
God is one God. There's only one God. God is one God revealed in three
distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Now, the word Trinity is not
found in the Bible, but the teaching of the Trinity certainly is found
in Scripture. Hold your finger there in Genesis
and turn to 1 John chapter 5. Now, how in the world this is,
I don't know. I don't know how God can be one God revealed in
three distinct persons, three separate personalities, yet one
God. How that is, I have no idea,
but I believe it. Look here in 1 John 5, verse
7, For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, Remember, he is
the Word, and the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. That's the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. There are three that bear record
in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. Not one person of the Godhead
is less God than the other person. God the Holy Spirit is not less
God than God the Father and God the Son. God the Father is not
more God than God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. One God
revealed in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit. And in this passage of scripture
in Genesis, I see the work of the Trinity in salvation. Now, all three persons of the
Godhead, and that's a scriptural work, the Godhead. I don't know
if I really know what it means, but the Bible uses that word,
the Godhead, for all three persons of the Trinity. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All three persons of
the Godhead had a specific work in this thing we call salvation.
The salvation of the sinner. The Father elects. The Father
chose who would be saved before time began. Now, if you are saved,
if God has done a work of grace in your heart, it's because God
the Father chose you to salvation before time ever began. I love
the lection. I really, I love election. It comforts me. It's a reminder
to me that salvation is all of grace. As all election tells
us, salvation is all of grace. God the Father elects, God the
Son redeems. You see, God the Father gave
to God the Son, before time began, his people, the elect. He gave
them to him to be their representative, and his work is to redeem them.
That's what he did on Calvary Street. He redeemed everybody
the father gave him. And then there's the work of
God, the Holy Spirit. He gives life. He gives spiritual
life to those the father elected and the son redeemed. Now, all
three works. Listen to this very carefully.
It's very important. All three works, which are part
of the one work, are essential to the salvation of the sinner.
There's no salvation without the election of the Father, is
there? If God didn't choose the people to be saved before time
began, would anybody be saved? Absolutely not. The Father's work is absolutely
essential in salvation. There's no salvation without
the redeeming work of Christ on the cross. If Christ didn't
die on the cross, nobody would be saved. And there is no salvation
without the regenerating work of God, the Holy Spirit, giving
a man a new nature. You can't believe, you can't
repent, you can't love, you can't hear the gospel, you can't understand
the gospel without the work of God, the Holy Spirit. Now, where
you have one of these works, you have them all. One is not
more essential than the other, and one is not less important
than the other. When we talk about the work of
God in salvation, the work of God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit, understand one is not more important than
the other. One is not less important than
the other. They are all absolutely essential
in salvation. You see, salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is of the Father. Salvation
is of the Son and salvation is of God, the Holy Spirit. And
let me show you how this is all brought out in Ephesians chapter
one. Would you turn with me to Ephesians chapter one for a moment? I want to lay this foundation
so we can see the work of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
in this passage of scripture in Genesis. And look what he
says in verse four. according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before it. And there's the work of the
Father, in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His wherein he hath made us accepted
in the Beloved." Now, there's the work of the Father. And then
we read of the work of the Son, verse 7, "...in whom," the Beloved,
"...in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who walketh all
things after the counsel of his own will. That we should be to
the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom you
also trusted. After that, you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation. In whom also after
you that you believed or having believed, you were sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise, there's the work of God, the Holy Spirit.
which is the earnest of our inheritance into the redemption of the purchased
possession under the praise of his glory." Now, there we have
all three persons of the Godhead, their work in the salvation of
the sinner. And if we make any one aspect
of the work of the triune God and salvation less important
than the other, or one aspect more important than the other,
We've missed them all. That's how important this is.
I'm saved by God, the Father. I'm saved by God, the Son. I'm saved by God, the Holy Spirit. Salvation is of the Lord. Let us make man in our own image. God, the Father. God, the Son. and God the Holy Spirit. Now
go back to our text in Genesis chapter 26. Now. Verse 23. And he went up from
this to bear Sheba. And the Lord Jehovah, the God
of glory appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the
God of Abraham thy father. Fear not, for I am with thee,
and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's
sake. There is the work of God the
Father. Now what happens next? Verse
25, And he built an altar there. Now what do you build an altar
for? You don't build an altar to come and kneel on or to come
to. An altar is built for one purpose, for a bloody sacrifice. That's the only purpose of an
altar. He's building an altar there for that sacrifice, which
represents the work of God the Son. And then we read in verse
25, and he called upon the name of the Lord. Now, that's the
work of God, the Holy Spirit. The only way that you and I are
truly going to call upon the name of the Lord is through the
work, through the invincible, irresistible saving grace and
work of God the Holy Spirit. That's the only way I'm going
to actually do this thing of calling upon the name of the Lord. Now,
let's think about what he said. Let's take everything a phrase
at a time. He went up to Beersheba and the
Lord appeared unto him the same night and said, I am the God
of Abraham thy father. Whatever kind of God I was to
Abraham, then that's who I am now. You see, whatever God was,
He is. And what He is, He will be. He said, I am the Lord. I change
not. Aren't you thankful for that? He is the only one you can count
on for this. He changes not. How you do it? Well, it depends
on how I'm feeling at the time. People always ask me how I'm
doing. I ask people how you're doing. Well, up, down, up, down,
here, there. I'm the Lord, he says. I've changed
not. However I was to Abraham, that's
the way I am now. Now, look what he says next.
He says, fear not. And here's how come we can fear
not, for I am with thee. Now he says to Isaac, and this
is said to every believer, I am with you. Now wouldn't you like
to hear the God of glory say to you right now, I am with you. I want to hear him say that to
me. I want to know he's with me. Now how is it that God can
be with me? What's this all about when he
says, I am with you, fear not, I'm with you. What this is a
reference to is union. Union with the Lord Jesus Christ,
union with God. Now let me show you this in the
scripture. Turn to John chapter 17. I'm with thee, I'm not far away from
you, I'm not against you, but I'm with you, with you by union.
I'm in him, he's in me, therefore I'm with him and he's with me.
John 17. I want to begin reading verse
20. Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word,
that they all may be one. Now that's what union is. One.
One. that they all may be one, as
thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent
me, and the glory which thou gavest me I have given them,
that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one, that the world
may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou
hast loved me. Father, I will that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world." Now I want you to listen
to this. If you're a believer, you are with the Lord right now. By union. You're one with Him. Who He is, you are. Where He
is, that's where you at. You're at. What He is, you are. Now that's a mystery. I don't
understand it. I mean, how in the world can you understand
that? But I believe it. 1 John 4, 17 says, As He is, So are we in this world right
now. How is he? Well, he's seated
at the right hand of the Father. You know who else is there? I'm
right there with him, in the person of my substitute, in the
person of my representative. Is he holy? You better believe
he's holy. You know who else is? Me. Every
believer. I'm one with him. Whatever he
is, I am. And the reason he can always
say he's with us, if I'm one with him, wherever he's at, I
am. Isn't that wonderful? Wherever
he's at, I'm at. He's always with me. Lo, I am
with you, even unto the end of the world. He said, I'm with
you. And look what he says next in
this verse. He says in verse 24, Fear not for I am with thee
and will bless thee. And multiply thy seed for my
servant Abraham's sake. And look at the promise. He says,
I will bless you. Now, this is called in Beersheba,
the well of the oath, and here's the oath it's speaking of. I
will bless you. I will multiply your seed. Now,
listen carefully. This is wonderful. When God wills something. It's already taken place. When God wills something, it
works like this. He says, I will bless thee. I
will bless thee. Now, I want the Lord to bless
me, don't you? I want his blessing. He says, I will bless thee. And
when he says, I will bless thee, it comes out like this. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us. God's will is so supreme. It's
so absolute that when he wills it, it becomes not something
that's going to happen. It's already happened. It becomes
history. And history cannot be changed. It's not something that we think
is going to take place. It's something that is there.
That's the way God's will works. It's already. He said, I will
bless you. Therefore, I have been blessed
and I have every blessing. This is not just me, everybody.
He blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly blessings
in Christ Jesus. He said, I will bless you. Now, I want you to
think about this. When the father. You know, he
said to all of his people in their covenant with the Lord
Jesus Christ and their representative, he said, I will bless you when
the father elected you. How certain is your salvation? How certain? Let me tell you
how certain. It's so certain that it already
is. You know, people say, I'm sure for
heaven as if I'm already there. That's not a very good statement.
I'm not sure for heaven as if I'm already there. I'm sure for
heaven because I already am there. In Christ Jesus, I'm there. If
he elected me, my salvation is absolutely certain. Like it that
way. Do I understand this? Not very
well. Matter of fact, not at all. Do
I believe it? Absolutely. He said, I will bless thee. Not
I will if, but I will. Salvation by the promise of the
Father. There we see the work of the Father in salvation. And
notice, he says he does it for somebody else's sake. And this
is where the joy comes into it. And this is where the assurance
comes into it. He says, I'm going to bless you. I'm going to multiply
what you receive. Pray for me. Not when you're
saying, what if the Lord had to find a reason in you to bless
you? Well, He doesn't. But every blessing
He gives is for somebody else's sake. It's for the sake of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 4, 32 says, Be ye kind,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. So what does Isaac do in response
to this? Verse 25, he hears the work of
the Father. I will bless you for Abraham's
sake. And what does he do in verse
25? He builded an altar. Now, there's only one purpose
in the Bible for an altar. It's not to come down and kneel
down on either. The only purpose for an altar
is for a sacrifice. You take the slain animal and
place it upon the altar of blood sacrifice. Now, those the father
elected, he gave to the son, and everything the son did, he
did as a representative. He never did anything privately.
Everything he did, he did as a representative. When he kept
them all, he kept them all for somebody. He did what he did
as a representative. When he died on Calvary's tree,
he died for somebody. Now, here's the question I want
to consider. Why did Jesus Christ die? Now, that's the work of
the Son. Christ Jesus died as soon as
he heard of the work of the Father. He builds this altar. This represents
the work of the Son. Why did the Lord Jesus Christ
die? He never sinned in His person. He never committed sin. Holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than
the heavens. Jesus Christ the Lord in His person never sinned. So why did God kill him? There's
only one answer to that question. Because he was guilty. Because he, all, all that sin is, all that sin
is, he was made to be. Now this is where this union
comes in. I've been talking about union with Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ became what I am on Calvary Street. Did he sin in his person? No. This is so far above me. I don't
understand it, but I believe it. I'm more mystified by it
than I ever have been. I'm more awed by it. I see more
glory in this than I ever have. Christ Jesus became what I am. He became guilty. When the Father
forsook Him, why did He forsake Him? Because that's what He had
coming. That's what he deserved. That's
what I deserved. He became what I am. He became all that sin
is, and God killed him. And just as truly as he became
all that sin is, I become all that he is. What's in you? It's good stuff, isn't it? What's
it? Is He accepted by the Father?
Is He perfect before the Father? Is He holy before the Father?
Is He altogether lovely to the Father? Is He beautiful to the
Father? That's things. God looks at me
and He's saying nothing but that which attracts Him and sees me. Someone with Christ. How beautiful
is Christ to the Father? That's how beautiful I am. A
real substitution took place. He built an altar. Now, when
Christ died for the elect, how clean did they become? How holy
did they become when Christ Jesus died for the elect? Remember,
I asked you how certain the salvation of the elect were when God chose
them? Well, it's absolutely certain. Well, in like manner, how holy
did God's people become when Christ Jesus the Lord died for
them? Well, Hebrews 10, 14. says this, wherefore by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. That's how
perfect God's people become. This is absolutely essential
in salvation. How essential is the work of
the Son in salvation? How essential is what I'm talking
about? Why you say it's absolutely essential, you're right. And
next, we have the work of the Holy Spirit in salvation. Look
in verse 25. And he built an altar there and
called upon the name of the Lord. Now, you might ask, well, where
are you getting the Holy Spirit out of that? He called upon the
name of the Lord. What's that got to do with the
Holy Spirit? I don't see the Holy Spirit mentioned
there. You call on the name of the Lord,
why don't you call upon the name of the Lord? Is this something that came from
you? Or is this something that God caused you to do by His Spirit? He called upon the name of the
Lord, and the only way a man will do that is because he's
been given life. A new nature that was not there
before. Now listen to me. That nature
that I was born with, It never calls upon the name of the Lord.
It has no interest in calling upon the name of the Lord. An
old man is not what it calls upon the name of the Lord as
it's assisted by grace. It's the new man that calls upon
the name of the Lord. You see, we believe the Bible
teaches total and practical. What's total and practical mean?
You know, generally people think total depravity, well that means
everybody's just real bad and wicked and so on. Well, we are.
How else do we know that that's not what total depravity means? That's part of it. When we talk
about total depravity, when the Bible speaks of total depravity,
or there's none righteous, no not one, there's none that understands,
there's none that seeks after God, they've all gone out of
the way, they've together become unprofitable, there's none that
do us good, no not one. What it's talking about is the
complete depravity of every aspect of our humanity. I can't understand the gospel.
God's got to give you a mind to understand it. I don't have
a heart that will receive Christ. He's got to give me a heart to
receive it. You'll never receive Christ unless He gives you a heart to
do it. I can't believe, I can't repent,
I can't love, I cannot do any of those things. I can't do anything
but sin. That's it. No spiritual life
in me at all. He must give me And when he does that, when he
gives me this new heart, you know what I do? I call upon the
name of the Lord. That's what saving faith is.
It's calling upon the name of the Lord. We read about Abraham
calling on the name of the Lord there when he planted that grove
in Beersheba. Isaac called upon the name of
the Lord. Jacob called upon the name of the Lord. What does that
mean, called upon the name of the Lord? Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Now we see here, just from that
scripture I just pulled up on Romans chapter 13, this has such
good salvation, doesn't it? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. There's no salvation without
this calling upon the name of the Lord. Now, whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's one of
my many favorite scriptures. Sometimes it's all God. Whosoever. There's a real wide word. I can get myself into that group.
Whosoever. Thank God for the whosoever in
the scripture. I'm a whosoever. Now I am. I am a whosoever. So far so good. Whosoever. Here's the important
word. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. Now, the name of the Lord, that
doesn't seem to be calling his name audibly. The name of the
Lord is who he is. The name is the person behind
the name. Now, let me show you that from
the scripture. Turn to Exodus 34. I want you to see this. Exodus 34. Verse 5, And the Lord descended
in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the
name of the Lord. 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
that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children
under the third and the fourth generation. And Moses made haste
and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. So we see
from that, the name of the Lord is who he is. It's His attributes. It's His justice, His mercy,
His grace. I mean, whatever attribute He
is. Now, when I call upon the name of the Lord, you know what
I'm doing? I'm saying, Lord, save me by Your salvation, by
an act of Your will. Will by salvation. Lord, save
me by Your justice. Save me by Your mercy. Save me
by Your wisdom. Save me by whoever You are. That's
who I'm asking Him to save me by. Lord, save me by Who you
are. That's the important word. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. And I like this too. Here's the
easy part. And it is easy. Whosoever shall call. Lord, help! Help me! Save me! You can call on the Lord's name.
If you don't, it's because you won't. Isn't that so? If you
don't, it's because you won't. You can call on the Lord's name
right now. Here's the sure word, whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. If you call upon his name, you
shall, there ain't no doubt about this, you shall be saved. Now, that's the work of God,
the Holy Spirit. When he does his mighty operation
of grace, his almighty operation of grace in a sinner's heart,
you know what they do? They call upon the name of the Lord. So there we have the work of
the Father. I will bless you. We have the work of the Son.
He built that altar for the sacrifice. That's who I'm calling on. I'm looking to his sacrifice
right now. I'm looking nowhere else. I'm looking to his sacrifice
and the work of the Holy Spirit is to cause us to call upon his
name. Now, let me conclude in verse
25 of Genesis, Chapter 26. Now, what did he do? Well, he built that altar, he
called upon the name of the Lord, and I think this is so interesting.
He pitched his tent there. This became his address. This
became where he lives. He pitched his tent and he settled
in right there. Here's why I'm staying and I'm
not leaving. This is what is called in Scripture,
abiding in Christ. And right here, what I've been
talking about, this is where I live. This is where I find life. This is where I live. I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. It's where I live. Right
here. All my hope is right here. The work of the Father, the work
of the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of the
Christ and God. That's all my hope. I'm pitching
my tent right here. You're not going to find me going
anywhere else. By God's grace. I don't want to go anywhere else.
I pitch my tent. Right here. This is my address.
Salvation is of the Lord. That's my life. And what happened
next? Isaac's servants digged a well
there. I dig a well right here. This
is where I expect to be nourished. Right here with the waters of
the well of the oath. This is what I drink. I pitch
my tent here. This is where you'll find me.
And this is what I drink. Salvation of the Lord. Salvation of the Father in divine
election. Salvation of the Son in definite,
particular, successful redemption. Salvation of God the Holy Spirit
in his life-giving power that causes us to look to Christ and
nowhere else. That's what he causes us to do,
to call upon the name of the Lord. Now back to Genesis 46. Now before Jacob goes into Egypt,
and Israel took his journey, verse 1, with all that he had,
and he came to Beersheba. You think you can see why he
came to Beersheba? That's a good place to come, isn't it? He came
to Beersheba and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father, Isaac. I believe I can see why Jacob
stopped in Beersheba on his way to the land of Egypt. That's
a wonderful place. Let's pray together. Lord, the great God of glory. God, the
Father, God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit. We come into
your presence only in the name, the blessed and high and holy
name of thy dear son, our Redeemer. And, Lord, we confess that our
salvation is wholly accomplished by you, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. And, Lord, we ask that you would
give us grace to call upon thy name, give us grace to pitch
our tent right here and give us grace to dig our well right
here. Bless this message for the Lord's
sake. In his name we pray. Amen.