Our God is Faithful

Introduction:

Amen.

Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 21.

We continue our study in this awesome book Genesis.

We are going to push through chapter 21 because I really want to be in Genesis 22 next Sunday as we are getting close to Easter.

And we have been looking at a man called Abraham since Genesis 12.

Abraham is from a pagan land, called by God and blessed by God.

And although Abraham is a man of faith, Abraham has not always been faithful.

And as we have looked at Abraham’s story and his family, we have seen Abraham at times be faithful, but at others times, he acted unfaithfully.

And the moral of the story with Abraham, and every character of the Bible.

As the sermon is titled: OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL.

In every moment of every day of our lives, in trials and tribulations, mountains and valleys, when the dust settles and we look back our lives, God has always been faithful.

Now, before we jump into Genesis 21 let’s pray.

Prayer: Father, we thank you for being faithful and good to us. We thank you loving us and caring for us. We thank you for saving us and redeeming us. With grateful hearts we come to you now, and with grateful hearts we live our lives. Lord, give us more faith. Increase our faith. Help us to walk with you and to grow. We ask now that you will bless the preaching of your word. Give me the words to preach. I do pray that you will save the lost. Forgive me of my sins. In Jesus name, Amen.

Introduction: Maybe you have heard the hymns by William Cowper: “O for a Closer Walk with God” and “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” Those are two classic older hymns of the church, but Cowper himself experienced little of the grace of which he wrote. And article states, Tormented that he had committed the unpardonable sin and hounded by rumors of an illicit affair, he had a nervous breakdown.  He attempted suicide several times and spent time straight-jacketed in a mental institution for his own protection.  For the last quarter of his life, he avoided church entirely. It truly is an interesting story.

Well, we must ask. What are we to make of such a man? A Christian hymn writer who did such things? Was he a hypocrite, a fake?  Or was he a struggling believer caught in the struggles of life, who was able to express his faith only in his music.  In one of his other hymns, it is said to be rejected by many church-goers because of its emphasis on the blood of Christ, but we do hear his testimony in the words.  After beginning with “there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins,” it sings “redeeming love has been my theme and shall be ‘til I die.”

Oh, what redeeming love should be the theme of all our lives. Was it not the theme of Abraham’s life, the God of all creation, showed his love and faithfulness to Abraham, even though abraham wasn’t perfect. We remember and see his lack of faith when he had Ishmael. We remember two times he would give his wife away.

But God’s promises and redemptive plan is sure to happen.

Now, as we look at the first two verses in Genesis 21, let’s see that God will alway fulfill his promises.

God will always fulfill His promises.

Genesis 21:1 “The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.”

Genesis 21:2 “And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.”

So it’s finally time.

The promised son has come. It’s been 25 years of waiting for Abraham and Sarah.

And vs 1 says, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. She had a son.

And this son would be the son that kings and nations would come from.

This would be the son that the Savior of the World would come from.

And it’s finally time, Sarah conceived, and had a son.

And the son came and she was old and Abraham was old.

We see this this reminder over and over they were old.

vs 5 says Abraham was 100 years old.

Imagine being 100 years old.

Most 100 year old can’t take care of themselves much less take care of a baby.

Most 100 year old have issues with mobility and their diet, and here at their old age they have a child.

The point is clear, that this was truly an act of God.

God promised it.

God kept his word.

In this story, the glory can go to no other. Only God.

Because OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL AND HE WILL ALWAYS FULFILL HIS PROMISES.

listen to the scriptures.

1 Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

2 Thessalonians 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”

Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

God will always do what he says he will do.

When it seems like he has forgotten, don’t fret because he keeps his word.

God is not like man, he keeps his promises.

He’s also not like man because, sometimes we might be willing to do something, but are incapable of doing it.

Our God can do anything.

He never gets sick, he doesn’t run out of time, he’s not too busy.

He can do the impossible.

Genesis 18:14 “Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Luke 1:37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.””

Aren’t you glad you have a God who is trustworthy.

A God who is worth waiting on for. Waiting on his promises.

Are we waiting faithfully? As Abraham had to wait.

Will we be found that all we do, all we say, our stuff and our money, does everything about us show that we are waiting faithfully for God’s promises.

Well, here’s a promise. Jesus is coming again. And his coming is imminent.

Will we be found faithful.

God is faithful to fulfill his promises.

But God will also remind us of His blessings.

God will remind us of His blessings.

Genesis 21:3 “Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.”

Genesis 21:4 “And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.”

Genesis 21:5 “Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.”

Genesis 21:6 “And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.””

Genesis 21:7 “And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.””

God will remind us of His blessings.

What do I mean by that?

Well, they named the child Isaac.

Isaac means he laughs.

Now, Sarah once had already laughed at God in unbelief of the son would come.

Sarah also tried to take things into her own hands and fulfill the promise with Hagar.

But Sarah now laughs with God.

The name isaac, so everytime Abraham and Sarah say the name Isaac, they say he laughs. They are reminded of God’s blessings.

Reminded of her her unbeleif in laughing at God.

Sarah didn’t always believe the child would come.

But even when she didn’t believe, God kept his promise.

You see the story, once again, points to the goodness of God.

God is good and God is faithful to us.

Titus 3:5 “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of

OH, we can only imagine the joy when the child was born. The laughter.

Oh, my God, You did it. Praise be to the one who is faithful and true.

And once the child was born. He was named Isaac, and he was circumsiced on the 8th day.

Something I read yesterday about this. This is facinating. Why do they circumsice on the 8th day.

In the 1930s, Danish researcher Henrik Dam and American researcher Edward Doisy found that which was required for blood to clot. They won and shared the 1943 Nobel Prize in Medicine for this research. You see The human body has 2 blood clotting elements. One of them is called Vitamin K. Now, Vitamin K is not formed in the body up until the 5th to the 7th day. The 2nd clotting factor which is essential is called Prothrombin. It surprisingly enough develops to 30% of normal by the 3rd day of life and after that, peaks at 110% on the 8th day, just before leveling off at 100% of normal.

So If vitamin K is not present when a baby boy is circumcised, the baby will bleed to death. So circumcision at day 7 could mean death.

Therefore, The reason why God established Day Eight for circumcision is that vitamin K peaks in a newborn at 8 days of age. The 8th day is the optimum day for circumcision because of the highest presence of the clotting factor vitamin K.

For a surgery like this, the 8th day of life, is the best day of the child’s entire life to do so.

Wow, I’d say, when God tells us to do something, it’s for a reason.

You the Bible and science lines up. Because the Bible is always true.

And if science doesn’t line up with the Bible, the issue isn’t the Bible, it’s the flaw of science. We’ve seen that in the develpment in science for hundreds of years.

So that’s Sarah, Abraham, and Isaac.

Now, that the child has come, there are some difficult decisions to make.

When we have difficult decisions, God will give us the direction we need.

God will give us the direction we need.

Genesis 21:8 “And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.”

Genesis 21:9 “But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.”

Genesis 21:10 “So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.””

Genesis 21:11 “And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.”

Genesis 21:12 “But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.”

Genesis 21:13 “And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.””

I just want to make this quick point here.

The Child grew, Sarah said get rid of them. Remember two wives is one wife to many.

Talk about drama in this household.

You see this is against God’s design for the family.

That’s what satan and the world does, takes what God does and distorts it.

Instead of man and woman in marriage, it’s man and man, or woman and woman. or man and woman and don’t get married.

But here it’s man and woman and woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if efforts were made to try to legalize polygamy in the future.

Sarah says get rid of them, but This displeased Abraham.

Why? well, because he’s his son.

You see Genesis 16:16 says Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born.

That would make Ishmael 14 when Isaac was born, but vs 8 says Isaac was weaned. Which happened from ages 2-4.

So Ishame was 16-18 years old.

I have a 16 year old son, I couldn’t just sen him away. I love him.

Imagine the conflict here.

Conflict causes pain, and conflict is often caused by sin.

So in Abraham’s conflict, God comes to him and gives him direction.

Do as Sarah says? Now, Sarah this isn’t a prooftext for me to do everything you say.

But gave Abraham direction here.

He helped him in this situation in this conflict.

And something unexpected happens.

An unexpected promise, the child, ishamael, would be a great nation.

God will care for the broken hearted.

Genesis 21:14 “So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.”

Genesis 21:15 “When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes.”

Genesis 21:16 “Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.”

Genesis 21:17 “And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.”

Genesis 21:18 “Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.””

Genesis 21:19 “Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.”

Genesis 21:20 “And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.”

Genesis 21:21 “He lived in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.”

So we have this woman and her son, in the desert, banished.

Seemingly near death. And God comes to them.

Oh, what a blessing that God comes to us in our greatest times of need.

And God comes to her and hears the voice of the boy.

I’d like to give you seven things to do when you are broken hearted.

cry out to God in prayer. As did God heard the cry of the boy.

Listen to God’s word. As God speaks here.

Obey God, when he speaks, do what he says, as Hagar did here.

Accept God’s call on you life. As Hagar and Ishmael had to.

God will be with us in all we do.

Genesis 21:22 “At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army said to Abraham, “God is with you in all that you do.”

Genesis 21:23 “Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.””

Genesis 21:24 “And Abraham said, “I will swear.””

Genesis 21:25 “When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech’s servants had seized,”

Genesis 21:26 “Abimelech said, “I do not know who has done this thing; you did not tell me, and I have not heard of it until today.””

Genesis 21:27 “So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a covenant.”

Genesis 21:28 “Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.”

Genesis 21:29 “And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?””

Genesis 21:30 “He said, “These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand, that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.””

Genesis 21:31 “Therefore that place was called Beersheba, because there both of them swore an oath.”

Genesis 21:32 “So they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his army rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.”

Genesis 21:33 “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God.”

Genesis 21:34 “And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.”

In all of life, as we deal with people, at work, at school, in business or pleasure, there is an examle here.

In our relationships, we must keep a good testimony. God is with you in all you do. “May we be consistent and faithful”

In all our relationships, the best thing for them, if that we have a good testimony.

Also, recognize the good in others. Abimilech was good to Abraham. He gave him back his wife, gave him livestock, and land. He was good to Abraham.

In relationships, we must also deal with conflict honestly. There is this conflict here.

What’s the best thing to do in conflict? Be honest and talk it through. It takes humility and sacrifice. Relationships are give and take. We aren’t always righte even though we think we always are.

These two worked it out.

Made a new committment to each other.

But in all we do, it should lead us back to worship. That’s was Abraham did here in vs 33.

No matter what happens between us and others. I pray it all goes well.

On the good days and on the bad days. Rain or sunshine.

Our God is constant. He has been faithful. And he is worthy of all our worship, just as we see in Abraham here.

In closing:

Do yo believe God will always fulfill His promises. That God will remind us of His blessings. That God will give us the direction we need. That God will care for the broken hearted. That God will be with us in all we do. Do you believe that?

Well, as the promised Son arrived, there was another promised son. Jesus. isaac had a miraculous birth just like Jesus born of a virgin. Both Isaac and Jesus were named by God. Both Isaac and Jesus were born at an appointed time by God. Both Isaac and Jesus brought great joy to their mothers.

But it is Jesus and Jesus alone who is the Savior of the world. He is faithful and true. He is.

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus?