and welcome to Steadfast Church. We can go ahead and find our seats. We will get
started right here. Once we find our seats, let's go ahead and grab a hymnal.
310 Jesus. Let's open up the service now with a word of thank you so much for this
church and the wonderful opportunity to serve here Lord. Thank you for all the
souls that were to you this afternoon Lord and all the great works that this
church gets to do and us being a part of it. We just ask now that you fill this
room with your spirit and help us sing unto you and it's in Jesus name we pray.
Alright for our next song, let's go to song number 451. And we'll go through our
announcements. If you need a bulletin please raise your hand nice and high.
That to you is our verse for the week, Jude 7. On the inside hopefully still have the
congratulations to the Scotts. Make sure that you reach out to them if you have
an opportunity and let them know. Congratulate them. We have our service
times. So many meeting times there for each day of the week and our stats below
that. Continue to keep our expecting mothers in prayer there on the right
hand side. Some upcoming events. We have Father's Day in a couple weeks and we're
gonna do Father's Day floats that Sunday. Our next soul winning marathon is gonna
be in Shreveport on June 28th. Really encourage you to plan and mark that
down on your calendar. It's a great opportunity to go soul winning. Very
receptive. It'll be worth every ounce of your time that you spend there and it
would be a pretty much an all-day thing. So make sure that you plan for that.
Looking forward to going out to Shreveport. We do have our totals for the Durant
soul winning marathon that took place on Saturday. Praise God for all the
salvations that we had and for the soul winners that showed up. This morning I
made a long announcement about the team teen summer. My voice is pretty much gone
so I'm not gonna repeat all that. If you have any questions about that please see
me after the service and I can fill you in with everything that you need. There
is a sign-up sheet on the table. Please make sure that if your team would like
to attend that they're marking every date that they can attend on that and
then we'll we'll get those dates the official dates lined out for that in the
next coming weeks. That's pretty much it for announcements. So with that we'll go
straight to our next song of the evening. I'll have Brother Dustin come and give
us that announcement. Next song it's Psalm 150 in your binders, your black binders.
It should be nearby. Psalm chapter 150. Psalm 150. Let's all sing it out together.
Praise ye the Lord. Psalm 150. All plates are being passed around. Go ahead and open your
Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter number 24. Book of Genesis chapter number 24. Genesis
chapter 24, the Bible says, "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 that he had, 'Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and
I will make thee to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that
thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites among whom
I dwell, but thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my
son Isaac.' And the servant said unto him, 'Peradventure, the woman will not be willing
to follow me unto this land. Must thy needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence
thou camest?' And Abraham said unto him, 'Beware thou that thou bring not my son
thither again. The Lord God of heaven which took me from my father's house and from the
land of my kindred and 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 thence. And if the woman will not be
willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clearer from this my oath. Only bring
not my son thither again.' And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham
his master and swear to him concerning that matter. 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. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia unto the city of Nahor. And
he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at
the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water. And he
said, 'O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee send me good speed this day
and show kindness unto my master Abraham. Behold I stand here by the well of
water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water. And let
it come to pass that the damsel to whom I shall say, 'Let down thy pitcher, I pray
thee, that I may drink.' And she shall say, 'Drink, and I will give thy camel's drink
also.' Let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac, and
thereby shall I know that thou hast shown kindness unto my master.' And it
came to pass before he had done speaking, that behold Rebekah came out, who was
born to Bethuel son of Milka, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her
pitcher upon her shoulder. 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 water of thy pitcher.' 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 will draw water for thy camels also, until they
have done drinking.' And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and
ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels. And the man
wondering at her held his peace to wit, whether the Lord had made his journey
prosperous or not. And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the
man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her
hands of ten shekels weight of gold, and said, "Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I
pray thee. Is there room in thy father's house for us to lodge in?" And she said
unto him, "I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milka, which she bear unto
Nahor." She said, "Moreover, unto him we have both straw and provender enough, and
room to lodge in." And the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord, and
he said, "Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left
destitute my master of his mercy and his truth. I, being in the way, the Lord led
me to the house of my master's brethren." And the damsel ran and told them of her
mother's house these things. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban, and
Laban ran out to meet the man unto the well. And it came to pass when he saw the
earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of
Rebekah his sister saying, "Thus spake the man unto me," that he came unto the
man. And behold, he stood by the camels at the well. And he said, "Come in, thou
blessed of the Lord. Wherefore standest thou without? For I have prepared the
house and room for the camels." And the man came into the house, and he
unguarded his camels, and gave straw and provender 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 to eat. But he said, "I will not eat until I have told mine errand." And
he said, "Speak on." And he said, "I am Abraham's servant, and the Lord hath
blessed my master greatly, and he has become great, and he hath given him
flocks, and herds, and silver, and gold, and men servants, and maid servants, and
camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife, bear a son to my master when she
was old, and unto him hath he given all that he hath. And my master made me
swear, saying, 'Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the
Canaanites, in whose land I dwell. But thou shalt go unto my father's house and
to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son.' And I said unto my master, 'Per
adventure the woman will not follow me.' And he said unto me, 'The Lord before whom
I walk will send his angel with thee and prosper thy way, and thou shalt take a
wife for my son of my kindred and of my father's house. Then shalt thou be clear
from this my oath when thou comest to my kindred, and if they give not thee one
thou shalt be clear from my oath. And I came this day unto the well and said, O
Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go,
behold I stand by the well of water, and it shall come to pass that when the
virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her give me, I pray thee a little
water of thy pitcher to drink, and she say to me, both drink thou, and I will
also draw for thy camels. Let the same be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed
out for my master's son. And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold
Rebecca came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder, and she went down unto the
well and drew water, and I said unto her, let me drink, I pray thee, and she made
haste and let down her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, drink, and I will give
thy camels drink also. So I drank, and she made the camels drink also. And I
asked her and said, whose daughter art thou? And she said, the daughter of
Bethuel Nahor's son, who milk a bear unto him. And I put the earring upon her face,
and the bracelets upon her hands. And I bowed down my head, and worshiped the
Lord, and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the
right way to take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. And now if ye
will 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. Then Laban and Bethuel answered,
and said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord. We cannot speak unto thee bad or
good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee. Take her and go, and let her be thy
master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And it came to pass that when
Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the
earth. And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and
raiment, and gave them to Rebekah. He gave also to her brother and to her mother
precious things. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him,
and tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning, and he said, "Send me away
unto my master." And her brother and her mother said, "Let the damsel abide with us
a few days, at the least ten. After that she shall go." And he said unto them,
"Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way. Send me away that I may
go to my master." And they said, "We will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth."
And they called Rebekah and said unto her, "Wilt thou go with this man?" And she said,
"I will go." And they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse and Abraham's
servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah and said unto her, "Thou art our
sister. Be thou the mother of thousands of millions and let thy seed possess
the gate of those which hate them." And Rebekah arose and her damsels and they
rode upon the camels and followed the man. And the servant took Rebekah and
went his way. And Isaac came from the way of the well of Lehi Roy, 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 lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she lighted off the camel. For
she had said unto the servant, "What man is this that walketh in the field to meet
us?" And the servant had said, "It is my master." Therefore she took a veil and
covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things that he had done. And
Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent and took Rebecca, and she
became his wife. And he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's
death. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the Word of God. Thank you
for Steadfast Baptist Church and the admonition this morning to be steadfast.
Please help us to apply the messages that we've heard. Please bless the
preacher now. Fill him with your Holy Spirit to preach with boldness, and
please give us ears to hear in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I want to open by
thanking Pastor Shelley for the opportunity to preach. We're in Genesis
chapter 24. You'll notice in verse number 2 the Bible read, "And Abraham said
unto his eldest servant of his house that ruled over all that he had, 'Put, I
pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the
God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my
son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but thou shalt go
unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son Isaac.'" And we
see here that Abraham, the story in Genesis chapter 24, all revolves
around Abraham seeking a wife for his son Isaac. And practically speaking, this
is not what the sermon is about, but practically speaking, we immediately can
derive that it's okay as a parent for you to have preferences about who your
children marry. That should be obvious. The reason why he's asking though for
the wife to come from his country, his kindred, is because of a spiritual
reason. There's a spiritual reason for this. And what I want to focus on here
in this chapter is not necessarily the carnal lessons we could learn, but I want
to look at some spiritual truths that this chapter illustrates for us. Now just
some background. Abraham, he's at an advanced age by this point in the Bible
and he's been blessed by God. He's got wealth, he's got land, he's got his son of
promise being Isaac and he wants to make sure that Isaac serves the Lord. In order
to do that, well, he needs to meet the right woman. He resides in Canaan near
Hebron at this time. Of course, the Canaanites are evil. He does not want a
wife from them. He does not want a wife or his son from them. Let's look at verse
10. "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master." And just on a
side note, it's verses like this that make me feel like I can really relate to
the scripture talking about camels. Elsewhere you have guys referred to as
hairy and so you know that's a for me there's a real you know deep meaning
there and I appreciate those parts of the Bible. "And so the servant took ten
camels of the camels of his master and departed. For all the goods of his master
were in his hand and he arose and went to Mesopotamia under the city of Nahor."
Abraham sends his servant to Mesopotamia. That's what the Bible is telling us, the
city of Nahor. This is potentially the servant. The servant is potentially the
the guy named Eliezer in Genesis 15, although I can't be dogmatic about that.
At the end of the day, that's not really relevant anyway, so I'm just going to
refer to him as the servant from here on out. But he goes to Mesopotamia. This is
modern-day, I believe modern-day Turkey, Syria, that area of the Middle East, and
he's entrusted with a crucial task. Find a wife for Isaac, a godly future,
essentially, for Isaac. And I would argue that, and hopefully you were paying
attention during the reading of God's Word, I would argue that we see Jesus in
this story. Now, some would say you see Jesus on every page of the Bible, and
it's kind of a spiritual cliche, if you will, but you know, I think there's truth
to that, and certainly the book of Genesis is no exception. We see Jesus, we
see elements of the gospel repeatedly in the book of Genesis. And just to give you
an example, we're in Genesis 24. Well, why don't we talk about just the preceding
chapters, right? Genesis chapter 22 contains the story of the purported
death of Isaac. Of course, we know that doesn't happen. Instead, it's a ram used
that is caught in a thicket, picturing the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
a burial in chapter 23, the burial of Sarah. And here in chapter 24, I would
posit that we have a very strong picture of mankind's response to Jesus. And what
I mean by that is placing one's faith on the resurrected Christ. So the death, the
burial, the resurrection, the gospel appears in the book of Genesis from a
symbolic standpoint, from a symbolic standpoint. And Jesus is all over the Old
Testament. It's funny people these days, and this is a dog that I'm kicking right
now, but I think it's worth it. People they'll say like, "Well you know the Jews,
they believe the Old Testament, they just don't believe the New Testament." It's
like that's a total lie because the the Old Testament clearly points to Jesus
Christ. If they believed the Old Testament, they would believe Jesus. And
you know the Lord Jesus Christ mentions this himself when he talks about that,
hey if they actually did believe in Moses, they would believe in him. But the
title of my sermon is this, Jesus in the Marriage of Rebecca and Isaac. Jesus in
the Marriage of Rebecca and Isaac. And we see Jesus in the story, but more so
man's response to Jesus. Let's look at verse 5, Genesis 24 and verse 5. Again,
Jesus in the Marriage of Rebecca and Isaac. The Bible tells us in Genesis 24
and verse 5, "And the servant said unto him, Peradventure," which basically means
perhaps, "the woman will not be willing," and you see that word right there? Pay
attention to it. You can underline it if you like writing in your Bible, but it
says "willing." "Will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Must I needs
bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest." So the servant is
symbolic of the sole winner. This is someone who's going out to procure a
wife for Abraham, just as the sole winner goes out into the world.
Mesopotamia being the world, that's where the servant is going, but the sole winner
goes out into the world to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and provide a
quote-unquote "wife" to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the servant is symbolic of
the sole winner. We have Abraham in this story, I would argue being reminiscent of
God the Father, and Isaac is Jesus. Rebekah pictures mankind and and I would
say believers, specifically believers, those who have chosen to place their
faith in Christ. And my first point is this, Rebekah's choice to marry Isaac
pictures the free choice to believe on Jesus. Rebekah's choice to marry Isaac
pictures the free choice to believe on Jesus. Notice it said she was willing, or
I should say what if she's not willing. The word willing is used there and the
question is asked what if she's not willing, meaning she had the choice, she
had the decision to make and she could have said no. She could have said no. She
was not forced into this marriage. This is not Islam. She was not forced to
marry Isaac. She had a choice. She had to be willing. Look at verse 8 and if the
woman will not be, there's that word again, willing to follow thee then thou
shalt be clear from this my oath only bring not my son thither again. And this
reminds me of the fact that when we go soul winning if somebody is not quote
unquote willing to get saved well you know what hey we don't have to worry
about that just as sure as the servant was clear from the oath. You know their
blood is no longer on our hands because they are the ones who chose to reject
but what I really wanted you to focus on is that Rebecca had the choice not to go
marry Isaac. She would not be forced to marry Isaac and this reminds me of the
fact that as Christians we are not forced to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's something you have to do through your free will. Nobody is forced to get
saved. You know salvation is the product of a free will decision that you have
made. Salvation is the product of a free will decision that somebody makes to
believe the gospel, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet there's
people out there who actually challenge this point. There's people who are
teaching that mankind is saved arbitrarily. They say mankind is saved
not based on their free will decision, their free will choice to believe on
Jesus, but rather they say that mankind, those who are saved, the component of
humanity that's saved, were saved based on nothing. Based on God picking
arbitrarily who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, let me tell you something.
That's a lie, ladies and gentlemen. That is a lie. It's called Calvinism. Calvinism
is one big fat lie, and the Bible does not teach that at all, and I think we see
a picture of free will on the onset. The free will to choose Jesus. Tipified here
in Genesis 24, now look at verse 12, "And he said, 'O Lord, God of my master Abraham,
I pray thee, send me God's speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.
Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come
out to draw water.'" This is the servant praying to God, and essentially what he's
doing here is he's saying, "Help me to recognize who I should choose for my master's son,"
who is Isaac. And verse 14 says, "And let it come to pass that the damsel to whom I
shall say, 'Let down thy pitcher I pray thee that I may drink,' and she shall say, 'Drink,
and I will give thy camel's drink also.' Let the same be she that thou hast appointed
for thy servant Isaac. And thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness unto
my master." So the servant, he's praying for his endeavor to be successful, and what
he's looking for is a hospitable woman, one who would offer him drink and his camel's
also. And that's how he knows this is the one. That's how he knows this is the one
God has appointed. Now turn if you would to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1.
So the woman who offers drink to the servant and his camels essentially is chosen. That's
the one who the servant would choose. And in the same way it would be those who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ through their free will who are chosen of God. And here's the
thing that again Calvinists will discount completely. The foreknowledge of God. Meaning
He knows the end from the beginning. He knows the end from the beginning. Ephesians chapter
1 and verse 4. He knows what's going to happen in the future. But I had you turn to Ephesians
chapter 1 and verse 4 where the scripture tells us, "According as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love." Now, the Calvinist will look at that and say, "We are chosen," and they
believe it was based on nothing. False. It's based on your agency to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and God knew who those people would be. It's kind of like if you were to
watch a football game and you already know the score. You DVR'd it, you already know
the score, and you watch it on your DVR, just because you can call what the score is before
the end of the game doesn't mean that you're a puppet master controlling everything happening
on the field. Obviously that's not a perfect analog, but I think it's one that can maybe
help us comprehend this. In verse 12, it says that we should be to the praise of his glory
who first trusted in Christ. So the Bible says you first trusted in Christ, meaning
what? Your salvation hinges on your decision. And this is what we do every time we go out
and preach the gospel. We make them make a decision, especially if they're in a false
religion. Hey, do you still want to be a Catholic until you die and go to hell? Or do you want
to change your mind and make a decision for Christ? A free will decision for Jesus. Rebecca,
by the way, was not chosen arbitrarily. She met a certain criteria. You were not chosen
arbitrarily. You met a certain criteria. You believed the gospel and you weren't forced
to do so. Let's go back to Genesis 24. So I think the first picture we see is the free
will choice to believe on Jesus. He's not forcing anyone to get saved. Now in verse
15, as we get to Genesis chapter 24, we go back there. Look at verse 15. It says, "And
it came to pass before he had done speaking." So the servant's praying before he's even
done that behold, this is verse 15, "Rebecca came out who was born of Bethuel, son of Milka,
the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her picture upon her shoulder." She meets
the criteria, she's of the right kindred, and it says in verse 16, "And the damsel was
very fair to look upon," meaning she's attractive. You could use this on your wife if you come
home from work one day, "Hey, thou art very fair to look upon," you could say to her,
and it'll probably make her smile. It's a joke, folks. "A virgin neither had any man
known her, and she went down to the well and filled her picture and came up." So sometimes
prayer is answered very, very quickly. Not all the time, but sometimes it is. Before
he's even done, here comes Rebecca and she meets the criteria of what he's looking for.
We know that. She's very fair to look upon. She's a virgin. She resembles the bride of
Christ, folks. She resembles the bride of Christ. Who is the bride of Christ? Believers.
If you've believed the gospel, if you've believed on Jesus, you're a part of that
group collectively labeled the bride of Christ. Now, let's skip down to verse 53. I'll be
skipping around and we'll look at verse 53. It says, "And the servant brought forth,"
notice this, "jewels of silver and jewels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah.
He gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things." So skipping ahead to the
story, the servant ends up giving, skipping ahead in the story I should say, the servant
gives Rebekah jewels of silver, jewels of gold and raiment. And this is part of his
assignment. This is what he gives her and she accepts it and ends up following him.
Now what does this symbolize? Well these are blessings, obviously. I mean we're reading
the story together. These are blessings, the jewels of silver, the jewels of gold, those
are blessings given to Rebekah. Rebekah received a blessing in spite of the fact that she lived
in Mesopotamia. This is a Gentile region. And this reminds me of how the blessing of
Abraham came on the Gentiles. The Bible tells us in Galatians chapter 3 that the blessing
of Abraham came on the Gentiles through Jesus. It was through the Lord Jesus Christ and in
the same way, this blessing is bestowed on Rebekah through Abraham through Isaac. And
essentially what we have is the lamb's wife is being blessed. I think this is a symbol
of that. The servant ends up handing Rebekah these jewels. And it reminds me of how the
soul winner, the soul winner will hand an unsaved person the blessing of the gospel,
enabling them to also become the bride of Christ. But don't miss this. What else does
the servant give Rebekah in this passage? She also receives raiment, aka clothing,
and that leads me to my second point. The raiment gifted to Rebekah pictures
the imputed righteousness of Christ. Let's look at Romans 4, Romans chapter 4.
The raiment gifted to Rebekah pictures the imputed righteousness of Christ. What
that means is when someone believes on Jesus, they receive the righteousness of
Jesus imputed unto them. Some people say that the word justified refers to this
idea just as if I never sinned. So the perfection of Christ in your identity, it
is placed on you, and you now are righteous, and you go to heaven based on
the merit of Christ and His righteousness, not your own. And I think
this is typified in the Scripture as a garment, putting it on, putting on the
righteousness of Jesus, the robe of righteousness. And the servant gives
this raiment to Rebecca just as the soul winner gives a spiritual raiment to the
lost person when they believe they're putting it on. And look at Romans chapter
4 and verse 6, it explains this concept in Romans 4 verse 6. Even as David also
described it, the blessedness, I think those are the jewels of silver and gold
that Rebecca received, of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness, meaning
the righteousness of Christ is placed on the person who believes without works,
without works. Rebecca received these blessings and it's a parallel to the
blessing of the gospel, but the raiment specifically points us to the
imputation of righteousness, the imputed righteousness of Christ that comes
through faith. Now look at Revelation 19, Revelation 19, the Bible tells us, "And be
found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but
that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God
by faith." How do we receive this? By faith. And you know the righteousness of Jesus,
once you believe on Him, it becomes your own. You now possess it and that's why
the Bible describes it in Revelation 19 in this way, in verse 8. In verse 8 it
says, "And to her," this is talking about the bride of Christ, "was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the
righteousness of saints." So the righteousness of Jesus belongs to the
saints. It is now theirs and that's why it's described in this way. The lamb's
wife is arrayed, if you noticed in the passage it talks about, arrayed in fine
linen, clean, white. Why? Because it is washed in the blood and you know what
the blood is according to the Bible? Precious, just as those stones were that
Rebecca received. Those were precious and it's the blood of Christ that is
precious. It is His righteousness that believers receive, just as sure as
Rebecca received this garment. Meanwhile though, the unsaved, they're also
wearing something. People who are trusting in their works, they're also
wearing something too. It's called a strange garment, folks. It's called a
strange garment and if you look at Zephaniah chapter 1, it talks about this.
They have not on the wedding garment. They have something on that is strange.
It is filthy. It is their own righteousness. You know, Revelation 3, it
tells us, "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." If you
believed the gospel, you've overcome. You receive a white raiment, the
righteousness of Jesus. It is faith that enables us to get that imputation. But I
want to show you the inverse here. I want to show you the complete
opposite. What would be the opposite? We're wearing the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. Well, here's what a lot of other people are wearing in Zephaniah 1 and
verse 8. Zephaniah 1 and verse 8. It says, "And it shall come to pass in the day of
the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the king's children and
all such as are clothed with strange apparel." Strange apparel. So you're
either wearing the wedding garment or you're wearing strange apparel. And it's
those who wear the strange apparel who are punished by God. And spiritually
they're going to be punished with hellfire because they don't have on the
right garment. They don't have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. They're
trying to be justified by their own righteousness. And that is a one-way
ticket straight to hell. It's that easy. Called work salvation. And you know
there's people out there who not only do they have this strange apparel on, but
they're also loud and they're proud about it. They're loud and they're proud
about it. They're called the false prophets of our day. And here's a false
prophet. Let me start over. Here's a type of false prophet. It's called
street preachers. This is a malicious false prophet, a street preacher. And
here's essentially what a street preacher is doing. They're getting up
with a megaphone and a big old sign and they're loud and they're proud about
wearing a strange garment. That's what they basically are saying. They're saying
I'm wearing a strange garment. Not literally, but spiritually that's really
what they're saying when they're yelling and screaming about how you have to turn
or burn, how you have to stop sinning, how you have to be perfect like them,
relying on their own righteousness. Some of them even say you have to be a
homo-nomo. It's like that's not possible, it's called the reprobate doctrine buddy.
But these guys they get up and they're just proclaiming how wonderful they are
and how righteous they are and they're, hey they're in Dallas folks. If you go to
the AAC you might you might see them. But they're up there and here's the thing,
they're wearing a strange garment. That is not the wedding garment that you need
if you want to get to heaven based on the merit of Christ. And here's
something you have to understand. When it comes to this doctrine of an imputed
righteousness, this garment we've received, it's another reason why OSASS is true.
One saved, always saved. It's another one of many reasons. You could argue maybe
this was more exotic, but one saved, always saved. Why? Think about it this way,
I'm not relying on my own righteousness. I have on the righteousness of
Christ. If I go to hell for any reason, here's what you're teaching. What you're
saying is, if you think you could lose your salvation, you're saying the
righteousness of Christ is actually not righteous enough. Because you've been
imputed with that righteousness. If you go to hell, then I guess the merit of
Jesus wasn't enough for you. You know, it's not, that's what you're doing. You're
calling Jesus unrighteous in light of this doctrine. If you think you could
lose your salvation, let's go back to Genesis 24. Rebecca received this raiment
and it's a picture of the imputed righteousness of Christ. And again, if you
think, if there's anyone out there who thinks that they could lose their
salvation in light of this doctrine, what they're saying is Jesus is not
righteous enough. Because guess what? He gave believers His righteousness. If
that's not enough, you know what? You believe in something that I would argue
blasphemous. Let's go back to Genesis 24. Abraham's servant meets Rebekah, then
her family, and they agree to let her go. They agree to let her go. Verse 50, verse
50, "Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, 'The thing proceedeth from the
Lord. We cannot speak unto thee bad or good. Behold, Rebekah is before thee. Take
her and go, and let her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken.'" So
Laban and Bethuel, this is the brother and father, excuse me, of Rebekah, and
they say, "Hey, this is of God." They recognize that this is of God, and they
say, "She's before you. You can take her." Now, they could have thought that the
servant was there to basically abscond Rebekah from them, but that's not. He was
there for. He was there to procure a wife for Isaac, and it was of God. They
recognize that it was of God. Look at verse 54. So they recognize this is of
God. In verse 54 it says, "And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were
with him, and tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning, and he said, 'Send
me away unto my master.' And her brother and her mother said, 'Let the damsel abide
with us a few days, at the least ten.'" That escalated quickly. We went from a few
days all of a sudden to ten days. It's like, man, they are procrastinating. They are trying
to delay the departure of Rebekah pretty badly here. "After that she shall go," they
claimed. Verse 56, "And he said unto them, 'Hinder me not. Seeing the Lord hath prospered
my way, send me a way that I may go to my master.'" So the servant says, "Hinder me
not. Let's go now." And hey, this is a great soul-warning tip right here. When you are
being hindered, hinder me not. This person needs to get saved right now. Someone is trying
to interrupt you or delay the process. You know, the Bible says now is the day of salvation.
And although Rebecca's family is trying to stall that process, it was the servant who
said, "Hinder me not. She's got to go right now because now is the day of salvation."
Look at verse 57. And they said, "We will call the damsel and inquire at her mouth."
And they called Rebecca and said unto her, "Wilt thou go with this man?" And she said,
hold on, let me look him up on Facebook first. She said, "Oh, I don't need no man. I got
government to take care of me." No, that's not how things were back then. There wasn't
a daddy government to help all these single women out so that they don't have to get married
and instead can remain single until they're 40 years old, 50 years old and eventually
just forego marriage completely and die surrounded by a bunch of cats reading their favorite
feminist novel. No, that's not how it works. She says, "I will go." She says, "I will
go." Now, I want you to understand the significance of this. First of all, they're inquiring at
her mouth. Why? Well, because of the fact that, hey, with the mouth, that's how you
get saved. You call on the name of the Lord. And here's the thing about this that you have
to realize. She has never seen Isaac. That's why I made the joke about the Facebook thing
because, you know, women in this scenario, and it's understandable, they're going to
be like, "Well, okay, you want me to go be this guy's wife. What does he look like?"
I think that's kind of important. You know, I don't know if you guys would ever marry
a woman sight unseen, but in this situation, she's being tasked with marrying a dude sight
unseen, does not know what he looks like, has never seen him. And my third point is
this, Rebecca choosing Isaac pictures sight unseen faith in Christ. Rebecca choosing Isaac
pictures sight unseen faith in Christ. Here's the reality, we've never seen Jesus. You say,
I have seen Jesus. The door's over there. Verse 60. I mean, like the only people who
make that claim that they've literally seen Jesus, the man, tend to be a little crazy.
Unless you're talking about the Bible and you're being, you know, smart. Okay, fine.
I'll accept that. Somebody looked up at their Bible. It's like, yes, I get it. Fine. You've
seen Jesus if you looked at this, but that's not what I'm talking about. Verse 60. And
they blessed Rebecca, verse 60, and said unto her, thou art our sister, be thou the mother
of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them.
I believe a shadow of the millennium there where Christians are going to possess the
earth and the earth will act as a gate for those that are in hell. Verse 61. And Rebecca
arose and her damsels and they rode upon the camels and followed the man and the servant
took Rebecca and went his way. Rebecca decides, sight unseen, to go and follow this servant
to draw closer to Isaac, to marry Isaac, without visual confirmation, without having ever looked
at him, unexamined, un-viewed, and they inquired at her mouth, like I said, because, hey, with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. Just as sure as you've called on the name of the Lord without having ever
seen him, Rebekah with her mouth makes this proclamation, I will go having never seen
Isaac. Look at John chapter 20, John chapter 20, and Jesus himself talks about this concept
of sight unseen faith in John chapter 20. We've never seen Jesus, yet we've believed
on him. And it's funny to me because the atheists of our day, they claim that if they receive
some kind of special revelation, if they receive some kind of sign from Jesus, then they would
believe. Now that is, of course, a total lie. First of all, people rejected Christ in his
first coming as he walked on this earth. They'll do it again in the millennium. But additionally,
they have a sign. It's called the Word of God. There's your sign. Like it or lump it.
And so God's not going to do that. You have to accept it sight unseen. That's what these
atheists have to accept. That's what they have to recognize. And in the same way, Isaac,
he wasn't going to Rebekah. He wasn't going to go to Mesopotamia himself to convince her
to marry him. That's not the way this was going to play out. It had to be sight unseen
faith. And in the same way, hey, that's how we got saved. Look at verse 29 in John chapter
20, "Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed
are they that have not seen." Rebecca received a blessing, didn't she? And we see here that
those who believe without having seen, they are blessed with the gospel and yet have believed.
Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. That describes each and every
single one of us who made the same decision in a sense that Rebecca did going to Isaac
without having seen him. We, as the bride of Christ, married "Jesus" symbolically without
having seen him. We walk by faith, not by sight. This is why the Bible tells us, "Whom
having not seen, ye love. Whom having not seen, ye love. In whom though now ye see him
not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Folks, we walk by faith,
not by sight. We walk by faith, not by sight. Just as Rebecca walked by faith and not by
sight. And this is what the Christian walk is all about. Because it's not just salvation,
folks. Every step you take in your Christian life is one in which you're following a master
who you've never seen. You're drawing closer to an individual, to God in the flesh. You're
drawing closer to the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ, having never
looked upon Him with your eyes. It is those steps of faith that we have to take in our
Christian walk without actually seeing where the road may end up that highlight the fact
that, hey, sometimes, even though you can't see what it is that you're walking toward,
that's where faith comes in, and it highlights the necessity of a strong and a powerful faith
to realize, hey, I may not be able to see the end of the beginning, but I'm still going
to do everything in my power to serve the Lord, to do everything He asks me to do to
the best of my ability. I look at the Christian life as a series of crossroads, and you have
to make a decision every time you come up to one. Will you do what Rebecca did and make
the decision to go and to leave and to draw closer to Isaac? Will you make the decision
to go and to leave and to draw closer to Jesus Christ whom you haven't seen just as Rebecca
made the decision to draw closer to Isaac whom she had never seen before? That's the
journey of the Christian life. And I would argue that it's defined by faith in the one
who bled and he died for us and he was buried and he rose again for us and yet we never
actually witnessed that. But that's what we've staked our salvation in. Now let's go back
to Genesis 24 and I want to look at verse 63 when we go back there. Genesis chapter
24, we have sight unseen faith in the one who bled and died and rose again for us. Genesis
chapter 24, look at verse 63. The Bible reads there, "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 Rebecca lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac she lighted off the camel."
So Rebecca goes and meets Isaac here who had been in the field and lifts up her eyes, the
Bible says. Well you know what, there will come a day when we in the same way lift up
our heads and we meet Jesus. As Jesus said in Luke 21, "When these things begin to come
to pass then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh." Isaac
meeting Rebekah physically and we will do the same one day with Jesus. We'll meet him
in the air and those who are alive and remain at this time will look up. Luke 21 says and
they will see that their redemption has drawn nigh. Let's look at verse 65, "For she had
said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant
had said, It is my master. Therefore she took a veil and covered herself." And again Isaac
meeting her just as we will meet Jesus in the air one day. Verse 66, "And the servant
told Isaac all things that had done, or that he had done rather." Verse 67, "And Isaac
brought her 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." We see a marriage,
and this is what the entire story culminates with, the marriage of Rebekah and Isaac. And
she later, of course, gives birth to Jacob and Esau. But the fourth point I want to make
is that the marriage of Rebekah and Isaac pictures the marriage of the Lamb. Rebekah
saw Isaac, and then they were married. And in the same way, the resurrected saints will
see Jesus. There will be a marriage supper of the Lamb, and that occurs in Revelation
19. Let's flip over there for just a moment, and you can see what I'm talking about in
Revelation chapter 19, this marriage supper of the Lamb. So it's kind of the same sequence
of events. Rebekah sees Isaac, they're married. We will one day see Jesus, and there will
be this marriage supper of the Lamb, the marriage of the Lamb, as described in Revelation 19
verse 7. Revelation 19 and verse 7, the Bible says, "Let us be glad and rejoice and give
honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready."
So the marriage of the Lamb is come right here. Revelation 19 verse 7. Isaac's marriage, I think,
to Rebekah is pointing us to this event. There's a lot of things that it pictures, but one of them
is this event right here, the marriage of the Lamb. Essentially, Rebekah and Isaac are united,
just as sure as the saints will be united with Jesus, and they will set up the physical kingdom,
the millennial reign of Christ, the physical kingdom will be set up on this earth subsequently.
Let's look at verse 9. "And he saith unto me, 'Write, blessed are they which are called unto
the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he saith unto me, 'These are the true sayings of God.'"
So the marriage supper of the Lamb, that's when the Antichrist's armies are slain.
And it's kind of graphic, but you know what? It's the Word of God.
Their dead bodies are then eaten by the fowls of the air. That is the marriage supper of the Lamb.
And I think that's what we see, this marriage is I think pictured in Genesis chapter 24.
And it's the bride of Christ that eventually rules and reigns with Jesus after that.
Let's go back to Genesis chapter 24 and I'll get into my last point, Genesis chapter 24.
So I brought up some spiritual truths and some symbolism we can derive from the chapter.
But now for this last point, I want to talk about something more practical and it's an application
all of us can take home with us. It's an application we can all take home with us.
And I want to read verse 58 again, Genesis 24 and verse 58 one more time, and look at it from
more of a practical standpoint. It says in verse 58, "And they called Rebekah and said unto her,
'Wilt thou go with this man?' And she said, 'I will go.' And they sent away Rebekah,
their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men." So my fifth point is this.
This is my final point. Rebekah going from Mesopotamia, the city of Nahor, pictures
forsaking all for Jesus, forsaking all for Jesus to be his disciple. Verse 61. Let's skip down to
verse 61. "And Rebekah arose in her damsels, and they rode upon the camels and followed the man.
And the servant took Rebekah and went his way." So Rebekah left all that she had, folks. She leaves
Mesopotamia, which I think is a symbol of this world. She leaves and leaves her family behind
to draw closer to Isaac. And in the same way, we as Christians are called to make the same decision
to say, "I will go to draw closer to Jesus, to be his disciple, to be his disciple." You know,
the reality is there's more than one way to be sanctified. I know that some independent Baptist
churches apparently don't understand this, but there's more than one way to be sanctified.
You're sanctified as soon as you get saved in your identity, but then we have to be,
and we ought to be, I should say, sanctified in our experience. You're sanctified positionally
when you believe on Jesus Christ, but then you ought to be sanctified practically, in a practical
sense as well, through your everyday life and the decisions you make. And one of the decisions that
you should make, and it's, I think, arguably one of the most powerful decisions you possibly could
make, is to be sanctified in this sense, to say I'm willing to forsake all for Jesus. To be
sanctified in a practical sense, to forsake all for the Lord Jesus Christ, to be His disciple.
I want to put Jesus first in my life. I want God to be the number one priority in my life. Now I
get it. I'm preaching to a Sunday night crowd when there's a guest preacher. That's like extra
points. Not only are you here on Sunday night, but the pastor is out of town. I understand the
audience. And so for you, the application is keep going, keep doing what you're doing. But there's
always areas in our life, there's always something that we could point to in our life and say,
you know what? God is second here. God is third or fourth here in this area. I ought to move
him up to first. He has to be the top priority if you want to be a disciple. And after he bled
and died and suffered in hell for you and rose again the third day, why in the world would you
not want to serve him with everything you've got? It's a reasonable service. You say, but you don't
understand. You know, on Wednesday nights, that's when I go play bingo. And it's like, look, I'm not
saying don't play bingo. I realize it's a weird example. It's all I could come up with. I understand,
hey, you know, you like to go play your bingo. Just how about not on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.?
That's what I'm talking about. I'm not saying you're not allowed to have any hobbies. That's
not what I'm preaching. I'm not saying that the only thing you're allowed to do is stare at
Leviticus all day or you're not right with God. That's not what I'm saying. But you know what?
If there's something going on on a Wednesday night at 7 p.m. that's keeping you out of the
house of God, then that should be forsaken. If you want to be a disciple of Christ, putting church
first, putting the house of God first. You say on Wednesday, excuse me, you say on Sundays I watch
the Cowboys lose every week. Well hey, you know what? DVR the stupid game and watch it the next
day or watch it when you get home. But put Christ first. That's what I'm exhorting you to do and I
think when Rebecca said I will go forsaking all that she had it's a picture of the saved Christian
putting Jesus Christ first and saying I will go from the things of this world to follow God and
to follow Jesus specifically with everything I've got. So what does that look like coming to church
three times a week living according to the Bible hey purging ourselves and cleaning ourselves up
of the sins that we may be struggling with raising our children according to the scripture running
our marriage according to the scripture and let me say that again because it seems to be a battle
that we're struggling with right now running our marriage according to the scripture not the
opinion of man according to the bible you say i want to be someone who could be described as a
rebecca who chose to just forsake all for jesus hey run your marriage according to the scripture
sacrificing for the elect's sake living an aboveboard clean life straight laced purity
standards holiness all the rest of it and you say well how do i do that you walk in the spirit you
walk in the spirit saying i will go i think points us to forsaking all for jesus our reputation our
reputation yeah coming to this church going to churches like this one choosing to put jesus
christ first it may mean losing your reputation you might think you might have to say i will go
from my reputation my reputation's gone it's mesopotamia i'm leaving it behind now they're
writing articles as pastor aus is familiar with now they're writing in the local paper about me
now they're smearing me online now they're talking crap on the internet on social media
my reputation you might have to forsake that you might have to forsake your time there may be
things like i talked about that you do on wednesday nights at seven on sunday mornings at
10 30 or 4 30 and you might have to say i will go from those things because they're keeping me from
forsaking all for jesus you have to reorganize reprioritize your life hey even your own life
there may be a day i don't want this to be anytime soon but we're in a room filled with
post-tribbers here and they may be a day where our lives are in jeopardy for preaching the gospel
but you know i just i have a challenge for you i we talked a lot about the cool spiritual types
and everything like that and how this marriage pictures jesus but i want to leave you with a
challenge which is this don't just be spiritually sanctified in your identity but actually be
sanctified in your experience as well be sanctified practically as well by forsaking all for christ
by saying hey i will go to draw closer to jesus just as rebecca said that to draw closer to isaac
the bible tells us and i'm winding down here in luke chapter 14 so likewise whosoever he be of you
that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple matthew 19 it says and everyone that
have forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands
for my name's sake shall receive and hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life this is exactly
what rebecca did forsaking everything that was familiar even her own kindred to draw closer to
isaac are you willing to do that what are you willing to forsake what teaching do you have to
forsake what activity do you have to forsake hey what person do you have to forsake to put
jesus christ first now for some of us we even had to forsake some of our own family we even had to
forsake those of our own kindred i know exactly what that's like but sometimes hey you might have
to lose your family to gain a family and i feel like that's happened to me i have that testimony
i'm sure others have it as well but i feel like i've lost a family in a sense but you know what
i've gained a much better one anyway and you'll notice that when you make that sacrifice for god
and you do choose to forsake all for jesus christ some of those things that you sacrificed end up
getting replaced with something a heck of a lot better and if i had to choose between those people
that i forsook and my brothers and sisters in christ let me tell you the the choice that i'm
making every single time every single day of the week it's the brethren because i love the
brotherhood i love my brothers and sisters in christ so i said in point one rebecca's choice
to marry isaac pictures the free choice to believe on christ and then kick the calvinist dog a little
point two i said the raiment gifted to rebecca pictures the imputed righteousness of christ
i said in point three rebecca choosing isaac pictures sight unseen faith in christ i said in
point four the marriage of rebecca and isaac pictures the marriage of the lamb with the bride
of christ and we looked at revelation 19 for a second there and then my fifth point which is
also an application i said rebecca going from mesopotamia pictures forsaking all for jesus
christ and i would leave you with this you say i didn't listen to anything you said it all went
over my head i'm bored well i hope you at least listen to this part be like rebecca if you didn't
understand anything that i talked about in this sermon i hope you at least understand this be like
rebecca and when you're faced with the same dilemma that she was faced with to choose will
i go or will i stay will i leave everything that is familiar to me will i leave my family my kindred
behind to draw closer to isaac be like rebecca and say i will go to draw closer to jesus
forsaking what may be familiar what you might have known in the past uh for christ doing it all for
jesus deal with that dilemma the same way she did so we see jesus here in this chapter and i think
we also see a powerful practical point for us to try to follow the draw closer to christ as rebecca
drew closer to isaac now believe it or not i actually could have said more but looking at
that clock back there i think it's a good time to stop so i'm going to go ahead and let's bow our
heads for a word of prayer father in heaven i just thank you lord god for this chapter and i pray
that you would help us to draw closer to your son jesus as rebecca did here with isaac but additionally
i pray that you would help us to recognize christ on every page especially in the old testament where
there are so many shadows and i pray lord god that we if we're ever faced with the same dilemma that
rebecca was that we would make the same decision she did which is i will go in jesus name i pray
amen all right in closing let's go to song number 364 song number 364 standing on the promises song
number 364 let's all sing it out together on that first singing everybody you were all dismissed