Finishing Well
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Tonight we resume our study of the book of Genesis. We will not spend much time reviewing what we have covered so far but you can easily flip through your Bible and see. I would also encourage you to go back and read the first 22 chapters so that you can accurately place where we are in the book.
When we left off last spring we saw the sacrifice of Isaac, kind of. God had commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a test and Abraham was willing to go through with it until the last moment when God stopped him. This served as the final major event of Abrahams life that is documented. Now we are transitioning from the great patriarch Abraham to his son Isaac. Tonight we will see his wife Sarah die and Abraham obtain a burial site for her. Next week the search for a wife for Isaac will begin as he becomes the main character.
Through our passage tonight we are going to see that the promises that were made to Abraham do not stop with him, even into death God’s covenant continues. This is seen as Abraham purchases a burial site as a first fruit of the inheritance still to come.
Lets now read this story and then we will dive in.
Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from before his dead and said to the Hittites, “I am a sojourner and foreigner among you; give me property among you for a burying place, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.” The Hittites answered Abraham, “Hear us, my lord; you are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will withhold from you his tomb to hinder you from burying your dead.” Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.”
Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” Ephron answered Abraham, “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, was made over to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, before all who went in at the gate of his city. After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah east of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. The field and the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as property for a burying place by the Hittites.
This passage is one that winds down the life of Abraham in the narrative of Genesis as he buries his wife Sarah. Here he mourns for Sarah and seeks to find a place to bury her. Abraham identifies himself as a sojourner and foreigner among the people of the land, this is important and we are going to come back to it. The people of the land respect Abraham greatly and call him a prince of God, recognizing his stature before God. They offer him any land that he wants because of this and he tells them what land he wants and that he will pay for it. There is some haggling over this for a bit bit Abraham is adamant that he will pay for it no matter the cost, and the cost was a lot. This cost shows the deep value of the promised land. This burial site and field mark the first part of the promised land that Abraham was promised to inherit. It is the first fruits of the promise showing that the ultimate fulfillment lies beyond this world. This site becomes the family burial ground and we will see many of Abraham’s descendants in the elect line buried here.
Tonight I want to focus on Abraham finishing well and see how we can live our lives in a way where we too can finish well.
Living as a Pilgrim
Living as a Pilgrim
In verse 4 Abraham says that he is a sojourner and foreigner among them. He did not settle down with them but continued in his nomadic lifestyle. The thing with this lifestyle is that it was one that was fully reliant upon God. It says in Hebrews 11.9-10
By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Abraham was living as a pilgrim. His eyes were not set on the worldly things but he realized the true gravity of the inheritance that was promised to him and his eyes were set on the kingdom of God, not on anything earthly. The author of Hebrews goes on and further explains in Hebrews 11.13-16
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
Abraham did not fully receive the things promised but his eyes were not set on them but rather on God. He was seeking something better because he knew that this was not his home, his citizenship was not here on this earth. It says in Philippians 3.20
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
These things must be true for us here today too. We must live as pilgrims. What this means is that during our time here on earth we must not have our mind set on earthly things, we need to keep our mind set on the kingdom of God. When everything that we do is focused on this we will organize our lives in the way that we should. Our motivations will be set where they should. And whatever happens we will know that we were successful.
One of my favorite preachers from history is Martyn Llyod Jones. He was a Welsh preacher who pastored Westminster Chapel in London. Near the end of his life he said that he had spent his entire ministry preaching towards revival. His greatest desire was to see a great revival and he was convinced that he would see just that. He never did though. At the end he said that God merely put him here on this earth to begin to pave the way to the next great revival and that his efforts were not in vain but that someday that fruit would come through the people that were brought up under his preaching. His sights were set higher. Just as Abraham looked towards the inheritance promised by God, Lloyd Jones looked towards revival. Yet in both instances they never saw fully what they were looking towards. Yet they still remained faithful unto death because they knew that God had everything under control and that his plan is perfect.
Our eyes should be set on heaven knowing that is where our true citizenship lies.
Being Known as Godly
Being Known as Godly
The second thing that we see about Abraham finishing well is that he was known as godly by the people that he was around. Listen to what is says in verse 6, they say that he is a prince of God! They see the relationship that he has with God and they respect that.
Abraham had lived among the Hittites for some time and his conduct bore witness to his faith. Take for example his treaty with Abimelech in chapter 21. Abimelech recognized this relationship too and Abraham delt well with him. The people had seen Abraham and they knew his manner of life and that it was one that honored God.
In our own lives how are we viewed? I will say that living as a Christian in our world does not always mean that we are viewed well like in this story but it does mean that we are viewed as living for God. Some may even see that you have a relationship with God through your manner of life. Maybe someone that lives neat you sees that you treat them well and that you go somewhere every Sunday. That alone is a testimony to your life.
When I was growing up I did not live as godly of a life as I wish I would have. I was not discipled any and I did not run after God. I needed help and didn’t get it. Even still though I tried to live like I thought I should, often stumbling. One thing though I remember is that many people would say things like don’t cuss around Daytona, he is a Christian. I don’t think this made much sense and I still don’t but even still I was known as someone who followed God.
What are our lives speaking about? Does our life reflect that of Christ or does it reflect the world?
Investing in the Eternal
Investing in the Eternal
The final thing that I want to look at tonight about what Abraham did to finish well was that he invested in the eternal. Abraham was promised a great nation and until this point he had never owned land. He lived as a sojourner, this was a nomadic life of traveling with the herds. When seeking to buy a burial site though Abraham knows it must be in the promised land. Abraham does whatever it takes to make this land indisputably his. Even to the point of paying over 100lbs of silver for it. This was a very high price even by their ancient standards. To Abraham though this was nothing because this was an investment into the promises of God which are eternal. His purchase of this land was an eternal investment.
Abraham was not concerned with the things of this world he was focused on eternity. When we think about our investments we need to think about where they are. This goes for more than just money too. Now I hope that you all are doing financially well someday and can invert financially into your church and other ministries. But this goes for time as well. Are we investing our time into brain rot or are we investing it into growing in our faith, are we investing our time into worthless things or into eternal matters by sharing the gospel.
Our investments are important and we need to seek to make them have an eternal impact.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Abraham did not always do what he should have and he made mistakes but tonight we see the last spot he is the main character and he finishes well. The things that we see are things that we can all learn from; he lived knowing this world was not his home, he lived in a recognizably godly way, and he lived with his investments set on eternity.
What an example we are given from the great patriarch Abraham. All that he did was an overflow of something though. It says in Genesis 15.6
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
This kingdom minded godly life is an overflow of the saving faith that Abraham had. Before he put his faith in God Abraham was a godless man, after he put his faith in God he was molded by God into the great patriarch. In the same way we cannot have these things be true of us without a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
Just like Abraham we have a great need of salvation because of our sin. All the things that we do that are against God. Our sin separates us from God and we cannot have a relationship with him. Jesus came and gave his life to pay the price for our sins and then three days later he rose from the grave. It says in Romans 6.23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The price of our sin is death and Christ died that death for us.
To receive this salvation we are called to put our faith in Jesus. Faith is a belief and a trust all wrapped into one. This is the way to salvation, the way to forgiveness for your sins. From here you can begin to be shaped by God and someday finish well.
