Church page 10 in your green hymnals
210 wonderful grace of Jesus
Wonderful grace of Jesus greater than all my
taking away my burden
setting my spirit free
for the wonderful grace of Jesus
preaching
the wonderful delight his precious
greater far than all my sin and shame
O magnify the praise
of the wonderful grace of Jesus
reaching to all the lost
by it I have been pardoned
sent to the utter most
chains have been taken
broader than the scope of minds whose threads have been
for all eternity
and the wonder of Jesus
reaches me
wonderful the matchless grace
of Jesus deeper than the mighty
rolling sea higher than
the mountains sparkling like a fountain
all sufficient grace for even me
broader than the scope of minds whose threads have been
greater far than all my sin and shame
O magnify the praise of the wonderful grace of Jesus
reaching to all the lost by it I have been pardoned
saying father I pray that you would open our hearts and ears
to your words and I feel pastured with your spirit
page 410 your second song faith is the
victory page 410
victory that overcomes the world
on every hand the foe we find
drawn up in dread awake let tens of
ease be left behind and onward to the fray
salvation's helmet on each set
with truth all gird about the
earth shall tremble neath our tread
and echo with our shouts
faith is the victory
O glorious victory that overcomes
the world to him that overcomes
the foe why raiment shall be given
before the angels he shall know his name
can't ask in heaven then onward from
the hills of light our hearts full of a flame
will vanquish all the
roasts of night in Jesus
conquering name faith is
the victory faith is the victory
O glorious victory
that overcomes the world
Good afternoon
welcome to Church Foundation Baptist Church for our evening service. Let's take our bulletins
and go through them real quickly. If you don't have a bulletin would you raise your hand and one of the ushers
will bring you a bulletin. Nobody needs one.
Our verse of the week is on the front page. It says better is the end of a thing
than the beginning thereof and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit
Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 8 and it shows the train
leaving the yard or maybe entering into a new yard. I don't know
I think that's Ryland's subliminal messages. Anyway
our service times, Church Foundation Baptist Church our service times
Sunday morning 10 30 a.m. Sunday evening 3 30 p.m. Thursday Bible studies
at 6 30 p.m. and again I just want to remind everybody that we're not having
Bible study this week. It's going to be replaced with
Friday service which I'll talk about here in just a few minutes.
And our soul winning times are listed below. We had soul winning today. We had quite
a few people out. Did anybody get a salvation today?
Juan, Maddie, yay! That was a tough, tough area.
Not very many people were interested so praise the Lord for
one save. Amen. Alright and our
praise report is listed below. All the salvations, baptisms
attendance. Yes it really was 33 last week. We had the Red Hot Preaching
Conference everybody was at. So our church services were a little
low in number but we had a great time at the Red Hot Preaching
Conference. A lot of great preaching there and so moving on
to our events here. We have tomorrow at 9 a.m. we're going to start
loading the biggest U-Haul we can and taking all this stuff with us. So
everything needs to go. We're not selling it, selling it, selling it
everything needs to go. So I need as much help as I can get to load and unload
that truck. It's not very far up to the other church building. It's just literally
maybe 10 minutes up the road. But if you're coming here please be here by
9 o'clock. If you can be here a little bit early I think I had a couple of people volunteer to get here a little early
to make sure nobody's parking in those spots because they need to get towed
if they are. So I don't want to have people's cars towed but if you can't read the signs
then you shouldn't be parking here. So anyway, let's see
so that'll be, it says 9 a.m. until finished. So that
means we just need to get everything out of here. At the end of church and I'd like
each person, whatever who's in these rows, we'll stack chairs
four high and then we'll have a lot more room to fellowship and we can actually walk
through and stuff. So it'd be kind of neat to do that. So that'd be helpful
also because we're going to be trying to get all these out here
tomorrow. So July 27th which is Tuesday is the cleaning day for
this building. So and then July 29th is the cleaning
day for the new building which is Thursday. July 30th
we're having Pastor Bruce Mejia preaching for us at the new building
at 7 p.m. Friday night. So one time
only. He's not going to be here Saturday or Sunday. So that's the night to see Pastor
Mejia preach. And looking forward to that. And
we'll probably have a big service. I do want to have an ushers meeting at 6 o'clock. So anyway
as an usher, if you can be there at 6 o'clock, please be there. I just want to
go over a few things for the weekend. And if you
can't make it, just let me know. So
I'll just be looking forward to texts that say I can't make it. So anyway
let's see. We got the 31st is the soul winning marathon
that meets at the new building at 9 30 a.m. for breakfast. Soul winning session 1
10 30 to 12 30. Lunch is 1 to 2 p.m. Soul winning session
2 is 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. We're going to be going in our new
area, which is a lot more receptive than the area we're in right now.
And so it's going to be nice. And then August 1st is
our three year anniversary services for Sunday. And 10 30 a.m.
I'll be preaching. Pastor Joe Jones will be preaching for us at 3 30 p.m.
So you don't want to miss that. And then everybody's we're all going to head
out to the Golden Tent after that. And I know Pastor Jones
is Jones and for some Golden Tent. So anyway, we're
a family integrated church. That means the children and infants are welcome during the church services.
However, if you need to utilize them, the mother baby rooms and dad baby rooms
are downstairs. They're clearly marked. And
please reserve the back rows for families with young children. No men are allowed in the
baby rooms and vice versa. Please make sure you're latching the stairs
the gates at the stairs. No food is allowed in the assembly area.
Silence your cell phones at this time. And escorts to vehicles are available
by the ushers. If you need to escort to your vehicles, ladies, if you're a single
lady or if you're just here by yourself with your child or children, please get one
of the ushers to walk you to your car. And you can
donate online at SureFoundationBaptist.com. And the
text giving number is below that. And the tithes and offering totals is
below that. So we're saying happy birthday today. And one more thing
if you're a first time visitor, we're very happy that you're here tonight.
And we have a special gift that we'd like to give you. So please grab this on your
way out. It's just a token for being a visitor or
church. We appreciate you being here. And if there's anything we can do for you, please let us know.
And with that, we're going to sing another song and then we'll receive the tithes and offerings.
Page 136.
Master, the Tempest is Raging, page 136.
Master, the Tempest is Raging, sing it out with me on the first.
Page 136
on the first. Master,
the Tempest is Raging, the billows
are tossing high.
The sky is o'er shadow with blackness,
no shelter or help is nigh.
Carest thou not that we
perish? How canst thou lie
asleep? When each moment
so madly is threatening, a
grave in the angry deep.
The winds and the waves shall obey
my will, peace
be still. Whether the
wrath of the storm tossing or
demons or men or whatever it be,
no water can swallow the ship
where lies the master of ocean
and earth and skies.
They all shall sweetly obey
my will, peace be still.
They all shall
sweetly obey my will,
peace, peace be still.
Master, with anguish
a spirit, I bow in my
greed today. The depths
of my sad heart are troubled,
awaken and save, I pray.
Torrents of sin and of anguish
sweep o'er my sinking
soul. And I perish,
I perish, dear Master,
O hasten and take control.
The winds and the waves shall obey
my will, peace
be still. Whether the
wrath of the storm tossing or
demons or men or whatever it be,
no water can swallow the ship
where lies the master of
ocean and earth and skies.
They all shall sweetly
obey my will, peace
be still, peace be still.
They all shall sweetly obey
my will, peace,
peace be still. On the last,
Master, the terror is over,
the elements sweetly rest.
Her sun in the calm lake
is mirrored in heavens
within my breast.
Linger, O blessed Redeemer,
leave me alone no
more. In the joy I shall
make the West Harbor and
rest on the blissful shore.
The winds and the waves shall obey
my will, peace
be still. Whether
the wrath of the storm tossing
or demons or men or whatever
it be, no water can swallow
the ship where lies the
master of ocean and earth
and skies. They
all shall sweetly obey my
will, peace be still,
peace be still. They all
shall sweetly obey my will,
peace, peace be
still.
Heavenly Father, I love you guys. Thank you for this church, Lord.
Let's pray with the Holy Ghost tonight, God. I hope we preach full.
Help us to pay attention, Lord. Help the kids to sit still and listen, Lord. I pray we'll trust you with our finances, God.
Let's bless God and bless His offering. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen.
Please turn with me to the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis.
Chapter 24. Genesis
24.
The book of Genesis chapter
24.
And Abraham was old and well stricken in age, and the Lord had
blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest
servant of his house that ruled over all that he had,
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, unto 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 clear 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 camels 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 Milcah,
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 lit 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
that the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earing of half
a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten
shekel's 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 Milcah,
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 down his head, and worshipped 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 unto the man, unto the well, and it came
to pass when he saw the earing, 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 ungirded 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's servants,
and maidservants, and camels, and asses. And Sarah,
my master's wife, bare 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, Peradventure
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 from my son of my kindred,
and of my father's house. Then shalt thou be clear from this
mine 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 shall 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 milketh bare unto him.
And I put the earring upon her face, and the bracelets upon her hands.
And I bowed down my head, and worshipped 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 worshipped 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 said, Send me away
unto my master. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel
abide with us a few days, at 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 heard 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, the Hyeroi,
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 Rebekah,
and she became his wife. And he loved her. And Isaac
was comforted after his mother's death. Brother Alex.
Okay, would you pray for us?
Thank you for your word today.
Give us a message and for us to have ears to hear.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Genesis chapter 24. It's been a while since we've been in Genesis.
I've taken a couple weeks off here. So that's the longest
chapter in the book of Genesis. Some of you guys are like
that. But I promise you I'm not going to cover every verse tonight.
I chopped some of it out, but I am going to cover a lot here.
And so I've got a lot to cover. So let's get started here. Let's have a word prayer. Heavenly Father we thank You Lord so much
for this congregation. Lord we thank You so much again for this building that we've
had and the new building we're getting. And let's pray that You would just bless it.
Like You blessed us here. And Lord I pray that You would fill me with Your Spirit
and boldness and power as I preach. I pray that the people would hear what the
Spirit says unto the church tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
So verse number one the Bible says, And Abraham was old and well stricken in age
and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. Remember our last
chapter was basically Sarah died
and that was basically what the whole chapter was about. We went through and showed you
how the Sarah pictures Old Testament
Israel. And so basically Isaac
is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ in chapter 22.
And I'm not going to go too much into types and things like that
but I will cover some things that I thought were interesting in this chapter.
So Abraham's old now, well stricken in age.
The Lord blessed Abraham in all things and Abraham said unto his eldest
servant of his house. And one thing that's interesting is that it doesn't
name who this servant is through the whole chapter. So anyway and it says 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 earth that thou
shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites
among whom I dwell. So he's very adamant about this
he's actually making someone swear an oath
this servant of his and it says, But thou shall
go unto my country and to my kindred and take a wife
unto my son Isaac. So obviously I do believe
that this pictures that you know obviously they're marrying within the family here.
Now back then this was okay because it was close enough
to the beginning but you know once the law came the Bible specifically
says you're not supposed to marry near kin and all that stuff but
for genetic reasons obviously and obviously if you marry
within the family you know you come with the Habsburgs you know the Habsburg jaw
or whatever you don't want to do that. So even animals if you over
breed them you know they can have defects and things like that and so
that's why I believe that God stopped allowing that to happen.
But this is a picture of how we're supposed to marry
within our own family in Christianity I believe. So
the Bible is very clear that we're not supposed to marry unbelievers. We're not
supposed to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. And so
God there are lots of bad things that have happened because of
marriages where one is saved and one is not. And usually the
unsaved one is going to take the heart of that person and
cause them to not do well. Cause them to sin. I mean think about
Ahab and Jezebel. You know Ahab probably wouldn't have been as bad
as he was if he hadn't married her. Some people their spouse drags them
down you know. And it's not a good match up and
God warns us throughout the whole Bible about doing that.
But Abraham understood this and he understood
that it was sinful to allow his son to marry an unbeliever.
And we do have some control parents about who our children marry and obviously
once they turn 18 they can do whatever they want. They can marry whoever they want.
Hopefully our kids don't grow up and act like that in this church.
You know I believe that your children should stay in your home until
you know until they get married and that's what the Bible teaches. Now obviously
people have made mistakes and things have happened and I'm not trying to
pick on anybody or anything like that. But I'm just saying that's what the Bible teaches.
And that a daughter should stay under the protection of her father until she
until he's given or she's given away at the marriage altar. That's what that whole thing
is about. And that's what I believe and that's what I did with my family.
So I believe the Bible when it comes to that.
I think it's really important who you marry. You know and we got to be careful
you know even if someone is saved are they the right person
for you. You know and we just never know. We don't fully know.
But you know you can do your best and like Abraham actually had to go to
a far away place to have someone else go to a far away place for
him because he was too old to do it himself and find a suitable
spouse for his son. Now Isaac's about 40 years old
at this time. So I mean that's pretty
I mean maybe not for this time was that a long time but like for us it'd be like
you're 40 and you're still not married. I mean you know it's odd in
our society but it's not unheard of. So
Abraham is very adamant about the fact that Isaac was not allowed to go
and go to the country himself and seek out the wife.
Which I thought you know which I think is very interesting also but I do believe
this picture is staying with our own family with
saved people. Being the family of God
brothers and sisters in Christ and so on
and so forth. So and some terrible things have happened in the Bible because
of marriages being unequally yoked and we saw it in Genesis 6. Let's flip
back to Genesis 6 verse 1. Now people might
dispute this but I believe that the reason why ultimately
the reason why God flooded the world was because of unequally yoked marriages.
Look up Genesis chapter 6 verse number 1 the Bible says
and it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face
of the earth. That means they're getting married and having children right? And daughters were born
unto them that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair
and they took them wives of all they chose. Now
some people will teach the Nephilim doctrine with this but the
sons of God in the Bible are always saved people.
Throughout the whole Bible that's what it teaches. It's not talking about some
demon-human hybrid or something. First of all everything brings forth
after its own kind. Demons can't have children.
Angels, they're fallen angels. Angels can't procreate
and things like that so that shoots holes through that whole thing.
But what's happening here is that saved men
are going and taking unsaved women
and because why? Because they're good looking. They're being vain.
And so look what it says and the Lord said my
spirit shall not always strive with man for that he also is
flesh yet his days shall be 120 years. So basically
God kind of gives a countdown for when he's going to flood the world
and then all these people turn wicked. The thoughts of their hearts was only
evil continuously and so God flooded the whole world.
Why? Because of unequally yoked marriages ultimately. It's because
of their wickedness and the earth was filled with violence. I get that
but that's how it came to pass. I think
that's how Christian families get derailed. I think
that if a godly man and wife
raise up children and then they let one of them go off
or they let their children just go to the devil or whatever, then that can stop
the whole generation of saved people from coming forth. Look at
Ezra chapter 9. I'm just going to show you a few examples about
the pains of being unequally yoked
and how God feels about it. Look at Ezra chapter 9 verse 10 it says
and now our God what shall we say after this for we have
forsaken thy commandments which thou hast commanded by thy servants
the prophets saying the land unto which ye go to
possess it is an unclean land with the filthiness of
the people of that land. See Abraham didn't want his son to marry
one of these women that he's talking about right here. The filthiness of the people
of the land with their abominations which have filled
it from one end to another with their uncleanness.
Look at verse 12 it says now therefore give not your daughters
unto their sons. Neither take their daughter unto your sons
nor seek their peace or their wealth forever
that ye may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it
for an inheritance to your children forever. See Ezra's just warning he's just like
hey you need to stick with your own kind and it's not
a race thing it's a spiritual thing. And
why is he saying he's saying hey that you can eat of the land because he knows
that if the land becomes you know unequally yoked
then it's going to destroy the faith in that place and then
God's just going to end up having to destroy them again which ends up happening anyway.
So Nehemiah chapter 13 Nehemiah chapter 13 now Nehemiah
he was a little more hardcore about how he dealt with things okay I'm not saying what he did was right
but Nehemiah was just like one of those dudes that was like I'm going to
smack you around you know when the people were coming outside of the temple
and trying to sell things on the Sabbath day he's like I'm going to come out there and lay hands on you
you know he must have been an MMA fighter or something he was pretty tough
but look what it says people were afraid of him they didn't even come back after that so
he must have been a pretty bad dude but look at Nehemiah chapter 13 this is concerning people that are
unequally yoked and people that have married children that believe in other gods
look what it says and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod
and could not speak in the Jews language but according to the language
of each people and I contended with them and cursed
them and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair
and made them swear by God saying you shall not give your daughters unto their sons
nor take their daughters unto your sons or for yourselves
so he contended with them he was fighting with them he cursed them
and smote them he's smacking people around over this issue
and plucked off their hair he's like ripping
their hair out and stuff which again I'm not saying is right and making them swear
by God you know I don't think that's right either but it's a serious issue
because of I mean just think about the flood itself I mean that's big enough right
millions of people died who knows how many but a lot of people died because of that
now look at verse 26 it says did not Solomon king
of Israel sin by these things yet among many nations
was there no king like him who was beloved of his God
and God made him king over all Israel so what's he saying he's
like hey Solomon sinned by what he had 700
wives and 300 concubines I mean that's that's a little over the top
wouldn't you say I mean I got a hard time dealing with just one so
I couldn't imagine 700 plus another 300 extras it's pretty weird
but anyhow
a little too much for me to handle he's different than me I guess but
so it says look at the last sentence there it says nevertheless
even him did outlandish women cause
to sin so what was the downfall of Solomon it was the women
that he married it was all the many strange wives and it calls them strange because
they're not they didn't believe the same as Solomon and so they had
so Solomon ended up turning his heart away from the Lord they turned his heart away from the Lord
and it was not good so turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
6 verse 14 2 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14
and here's an explicit
command from God and there's multiple different ones you can go to the Old Testament
and the law and find lots of them too look at this one it says
be not unequally yoked together
with what what's it say on believers and I
would just say that counts for more than just marriage it's business
don't go into business with someone that's not saved
because what are they going to do they're going to end up embezzling the
money or who knows you're just not going to get along and so
it says for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness and
what communion hath light with darkness and the answer to those
questions there is no fellowship with the righteous and the unrighteousness
there is no communion with from light
with darkness so what's the Bible saying don't marry don't
you know go into business don't have anything to do with people that are
unbelievers unless you're trying to get them saved you know obviously your family members
and stuff like that but like even if your family members are like
living a really wicked life that's not someone that you should hang out with on a daily basis
but when it's talking about in context to
you know what what's going on here in Genesis 24 you know Abraham
understands his principle and he says I want my son to marry someone
that's saved let's look back in our text in Genesis chapter
24 Genesis chapter 24
don't be alarmed that we're only on verse 5 okay
promise I'm going to skip a big section here so
look what it says and the servant said unto him pair adventure the woman will
not be willing to follow me into this land must I needs
bring thy son again to the land from whence thou camest and Abraham said unto him beware
that thou bring not my son thither again so don't
take my son with you no matter what happens it's basically what he's saying
and the Lord God of heaven which took me from my father's house and from the land of my
kindred which 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 shall take a wife unto
my son from thence so Abraham's saying this is going to happen
and so my point
a good point to bring up on this is also that you might have to search far
and wide to find a spouse you know I some
people get this weird idea that you have to marry someone from your own church
and that's just not so maybe there's just nobody you know for you to marry
in a church like ours I mean we got a lot of children that are going to grow up and be
the same age and all that stuff and that's great and if you find someone to marry
here that's cool but I've had people say well
you know I can't I'm going to leave because there's nobody for my kids to marry here
it's like well is that why you go to church so you
can find someone for your kids to marry I mean that's a weird thing to say
you know when we started this church here my kids didn't have
anybody to marry but guess what all of them are married except for one now
you know the red hot preaching conference amen
so you know just
you might have to take your children somewhere else for them to meet other people
you know and as long as they're kind of like you know
they're like faith you know obviously I was preaching there was someone
at a church that we went to and one of the guys
that was there was a Baptist three to thrive guy and he found his wife
at an Episcopalian church and I'm just like they're like
Catholic white you know and I was a newly I wasn't I've only been I was
only saved maybe a year maybe a year and a half at that time and I remember warning
that guy just like you know he's like I was like is she is she saved is she a
Christian he's like oh yeah she goes to the Episcopalian church I'm like really
okay you're just starting a level of zero but
he ended up marrying her and having all kinds of problems with her I think they are still
married though which is good but like the problems that he had
to overcome because of her not being equally yoked were really difficult
so I just it's just not a good idea
to marry someone that is not of the same faith as you
but again you might you know Abraham had to go way back to his old
his old town to find someone for his son to marry
and you might have to do the same thing the place you live the church
you may go to might not have the right spouse for your son or daughter
so look at verse number 8 it says and if the woman will not be willing to follow
thee then thou shalt be clear from this my oath only bring
not my son thither again so he's very clear about that and
it says and the servant put his hand under his under the thigh of Abraham his master
and swear unto him concerning the manner I don't know what the deal is with the hand under the thigh
I mean we'll have to ask Jesus when we get to heaven or something it's just like a custom
that they did when it came to this type of thing it's what I believe but
it says and the servant put okay look at verse 10 it says and the servant took
ten camels of the camels of his master and departed
for all the goods of his master were not in his hand and he arose and went to
Mesopotamia unto the city of Nahor so
I'm just going to talk about this for just a few for a few minutes but this
thing about a dowry so he's taking all these camels with them
he's taking you know in the story if you were listening to the Bible reading he
takes and he gives them bracelets and necklaces and even stuff
to Laban and her mother and to Rebekah
and so a dowry is like basically you
giving the family like gifts and things like
that for when you marry their daughter now this is something that's
it's been done throughout time it's not something that's done in this country
but what is done in this country who pays for the wedding
generally? Anybody know?
The father of the bride is that what the Bible teaches? No it's not.
So like when it came time for
my daughters to get married it's like I ain't paying for their wedding you pay for it
it was free though I mean so
obviously there was some stuff that had to be paid for but like you know that's not
I don't believe that's what the Bible says and if I asked them for a dowry I think they should have
had to give it to me but I didn't ask for anything so
you know the Bible is very clear about the dowry it's not the
wife to be that pays for everything or gives things to
the other family but why is it the opposite in this country?
It just is but I mean people
go by traditions more than what they would go by in the Bible which is not right
so that's not what the Bible teaches. Look at Genesis chapter 34 verse 12
I'll just show you a couple examples of this
now this is
this is
after Dinah was defiled and
the son wanted to marry her even though he fornicated with her first which was wrong
but look at Genesis 34 verse 12 it says
ask me never so much dowry and gift and I will give according as thou shalt
say unto me but give me the damsel to wife so
he's basically saying I'm going to give you whatever you ask for the dowry
and the dowry is what? Whatever he asks for. Money, gold
jewels, camels, yaks, buffalo I don't know
in Africa you know people ask for
a certain amount of cattle for their daughters I mean hey
cattle will get you some money. You got some beef steaks on there
but that's just the way it is
I don't understand why but that's just what the Bible teaches. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 18
so you can forgo the dowry you don't have to ask for
one. King Saul didn't ask David for one he just asked him for a really hard
task. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 18 verse 22
1 Samuel chapter 18 verse 22 says and Saul commanded his servants
saying commune with David secretly and say behold the king hath delight
in thee and all his servants love thee now therefore be the king's son-in-law
so what are they asking for David to marry Saul's daughter
and it says and Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of
David and David said seemeth it to you a light thing to be the
king's son-in-law seeing that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed
and the servants of Saul told him saying on this matter
excuse me spake David and Saul said thus shall
you say to David the king desireth not any what
dowry but in hundred foreskins of the Philistines
I'd rather take the gold but anyway to be avenged of
the king's enemies but Saul thought to make David fall into the hands
of the Philistines so he was trying to trick David into getting killed and so he doesn't ask for
any dowry just a simple thing you know a hundred foreskins like ugh
anyway I'd hate to be the guys that had to do that job so
anyhow but the point I'm making is that dowries
can be asked of the parents of the
man of the man that's going to marry a wife
so anyhow verse 11 back in our text says
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 oh lord god of my master Abraham I pray
that you send me good speed this day and show kindness unto
my master Abraham so obviously you know if you
again if you listen to the whole thing in context the whole
reading that Eli did in this chapter you know it's pretty
obvious that Abraham's servant is saved wouldn't you agree with that?
I would agree with that too so Abraham's servant is obviously a saved man
he's praying to the lord he's asking for the lord to intervene
for Abraham and be kind to him and so
one thing I'd say is that it's a great privilege to work
for a saved boss that treats you right
and it's also a blessing for a saved boss to have
true Christians to work for them you know I think
it's a good trade off obviously you know if
everything is done right you know obviously still just because your boss is a Christian
doesn't mean you can't work hard for him you should still you should work even I would say even
harder for that person and obviously I think a boss should be a good
boss you know and treat his people right pay them right
and all that kind of stuff but growing up I can't even think of a time that
I actually had a Christian boss so but I would
think it'd be a blessing you know at least if you're driving together somewhere you can talk
about the things of God and you know I just think
that we should be faithful and true as a boss if you're a boss a Christian business
owner or whatever you do maybe you're a boss at a
you know you just never know you might have a Christian
come to work for you so you know obviously be a godly boss too
and so you shouldn't be the one that tells that
new person the dirty joke and you find out he's a Christian right
and then you know be a good servant
as a worker so this guy worked for Abraham and obviously
you know he's called a servant so he worked for Abraham
but was also entrusted with a lot of Abraham's stuff
I mean Abraham trusted with everything right so
let's look at Ephesians chapter 6 verse 5 Ephesians chapter 6
verse 5 we should be good bosses
we should be good workers
Ephesians 6 5 covers this beautifully look at
verse number 5 it says servants be obedient to them that are your
masters according to the flesh now this isn't just Christian bosses
this is all bosses right with fear and trembling in
singleness of your heart as unto Christ
so it doesn't matter who you're working for you're ultimately working for Christ that's who you
should like just say hey I'm going to work tomorrow boss and it's Christ
that you're working for right it says not with eye service not just when the
boss is watching not being a little suck up and just you know as soon as
the boss doesn't go yeah it's working so hard
your boss should catch you working you know if your boss doesn't catch
you working you know you need to get better at working so
now unless you're taking a break but that's like the worst possible time for a boss to show
you're like kicked up with your feet on the desk eating a sandwich other people are working
I mean it's not a good look for you so look at verse number 7 it says
with good will doing service as to the Lord
and not to men knowing that whatsoever good thing
any man doeth the same shall he receive of the Lord
whether he be bond or free so God's
going to reward you even if you're
you know you're getting paid but you're going to get paid again by God
when you do a good job working for him also
and it says any masters so talk about the bosses right any masters
do the same thing unto them forbearing threatening if you don't
get that done you're fired you know that's kind of
that's threatening right if you
make one more mistake you're out of here you know I mean nobody wants to work
in that situation where you always just have your boss always threatening to fire you for
everything you do so it says knowing that your master
that your master also is in heaven neither is there respect
of persons with him so you know I
believe that Abraham and his servant had a great relationship
a great working relationship obviously Abraham trusted him and
trusted him to go and find the right lady I mean he trusted him to do
a lot of important things huh I mean it's pretty important who your
children married and he could have grabbed the wrong one if he was a doofus
right like this is her just like totally it's Rebecca instead
of Rebecca or something I mean he could have made that mistake but
Abraham trusted him to do the right thing so your boss should also trust
you to be able to do the right things and so if you send
him to get something and they get the exact opposite
like I'm sure any boss in here has sent their employees to go
get the whatever stretcher right on the job site anybody ever done that
just me when I was a roofer
I'd tell people new people that started working with me go get the
tow board stretcher and the tow boards are the things that they put you know so you can
stand on the roof or whatever I looked everywhere I can't find it you know
I was bad I wasn't saved then so
but anyway we should be good to our employees
we should be good as bosses but we should also be good employees to our
bosses and it's a blessing to have a
Christian as your boss if they're good to you right
so look at Colossians 4.1 Colossians 4.1
Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians
Colossians, Colossians 4.1 says Masters give unto
your servants that which is just and equal
knowing that ye also have a master in
heaven so you want your master to treat you right you treat
your people right they'll work for you right that's the thought there
so flip back to our text in Genesis chapter 24
verse 13 it says
behold I stand here in the well of water and the daughters of the men of the city
come out to draw water and let it come to pass so he's praying
this prayer to God let it come to pass that the damsel to whom
I shall say let down my pitcher I pray thee that I may drink
and she shall say drink and I will give thy camels drink
also so what he's praying is a very specific prayer
that like he's going to know for sure who the right person is
I mean he's really getting down to the details here says let the scene
be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant
Isaac and thereby shall I know that thou hast showed kindness
unto my master so this is his prayer to God and I think
that this prayer actually shows that he really truly did
care about Abraham he cared about his boss his boss treated him right and
he truly cared about him and not only about Abraham but
he said thy servant Isaac so obviously
you know he cares about Isaac also
you know and I think that praying to God to make things plain
for you through prayer is fine now
is God going to have this situation happen every time you pray to him
probably not but you know not everything is going to happen exactly but there's
prayers that I prayed and say and just said hey will you make it really clear
to me and if this happens you know I don't think it's wrong I mean that happens
throughout the whole Bible even Gideon like Gideon he's like well let's see if
the piece of cotton is full of water and then the next time make it dry
you know he went a little overboard but you know I think he just
wanted to make sure he wasn't crazy or something but that happens all throughout the Bible where
people are just like saying well hey if this happens then I'll kind of know
but you know you can delve too far into this where you're just like asking
for a sign for everything that happens I don't think we need to be cares maniacs
when it comes to this kind of stuff because Jesus said a wicked generation
seek it for a sign so if your prayer request is like
Lord if you want me to marry this girl will you make the sun stand still in one place
for a 24 hour period I think that would be a little bit much to ask
you know so we got to be a little bit
realistic so you know God I pray that this
this seaward part if I'm supposed to buy this new Camaro
I don't think that's going to happen for you so
but you know there are some things
that you don't even need to pray for did you know that we don't have to
pray for every single thing if God's word says for us to do something then
we don't have to pray for it if God's word says for us not to do it
then we don't need to pray about that either you know but a lot of people pray about
things that are you know it's misguided
should I go to church yes
Pastor Thompson will you pray for me about this I want to know if I really should go to church
let me see the Lord said yes
that would be a very quick answer
Pastor Thompson or Lord should I go soloing
yes he's already told us to do that right should I take a
job in a small town with no good churches there no
I mean it doesn't make sense why would you move out some
place in the middle of nowhere or move someplace where you know there's no good church
and live in that town I mean maybe
you're going to make a drive or whatever but I would say if you're already going to a good church
then you shouldn't leave that good church to go because you know what's
going to happen when you make a move for a financial reason without
having any spiritual guidance to yourself
your life's going to fall apart trust me it's going to happen
so and I'm not saying don't move I'm just saying if you do move
make sure you have a good church to go to and don't just fake it like yeah there's a Baptist
church there I'll go to that church and then you get there and it's like you got to make
Jesus the Lord of your life you got to repent
of all your sins like oh I thought this was a Baptist
church it is it's just a bad Baptist church right
so Lord should I marry this
unsaved woman can I convert her
make the moon to turn into blood tonight if it's true
it's like that prayer is already answered don't do
it right Lord should I buy
the most expensive vehicle that I can't afford no you shouldn't
the borrower is serving to the lender
you know I mean if you want to just never have you know it's funny because
people get tricked into buying stuff and I've been there believe me
that little slimer car out there I got tricked it was like a hundred
degrees for like two straight weeks I don't know it was like five
or six years ago and it was like one of the driest summers I've ever had here
and I was like driving this little tracker that had like 300,000
miles on it or something it had zero AC and it was scorching hot it had black
interior and it was just
they saw me coming a mile away I thought I was just going to come in there like
I'm not paying more at all for this and this guy just totally just
destroyed me I ended up paying way more for that car
than I should have but the AC still works in it amen
but I could have spent my money a little more
wisely than I did when it came to that but here's the thing like
don't get yourself into debt up to your eyeballs and then you're whining because
I got to work all this overtime now because I bought this stuff and it's just like
hey you shouldn't have got yourself into debt that's not God's fault that's your fault
so you know if you're skipping church to make the ends meet that's wrong
you know go to plan B pay off your
debt but still go to church unless you just want God to doubly destroy you
you know you're already destroyed by all the money that you're
paying out and then you're going to get destroyed for not being in church
so see my sermon from this morning about that
so there's certain things that we should ask for certain things we shouldn't if God's word
already gives us a plain answer then don't try to go he's not going to change his mind about it
I'm the Lord I change not you ever heard that verse before let's look at
verse number 15 it says it came to pass before he had done
speaking that behold Rebecca came out who was born of Bethuel
son of Milcah the wife of Nahor
Abraham's brother with her pitcher upon her shoulder
so that would make I think my estimations
are correct that Rebecca would be Isaac's cousin or first cousin right
and so again that was not wrong at this time now today you'd be like
okay that's a scandal but back then it wasn't a problem
so apparently look at verse number 16 it says in the damsel
it 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
when she had done giving him drink she said
I will draw water for thy camels also until they have done drinking
so isn't that exactly what he asked in his prayer and that was
done so right then he knew he had to have known
that that was the right girl right so I noticed this
that Rebecca was also a hard worker Rebecca was a hard worker
so don't marry some lazy slob alright if someone's lazy
you know even though a wife wives are supposed to be
hard workers too you know
my wife used to work at this Chinese restaurant in a
small town and it was like a buffet place and
what we asked one time the owners were both Chinese
and we asked how he picked his wife and he said I married her
because she's a hard worker
and I thought that was funny at the time but like
you know he had a business and he wanted his wife to work with him in the business so
if he would have married the laziest pretty girl then that wouldn't have been very helpful for him
but you know so there's nothing wrong
with having that in your criteria guys I'm just saying
so Rebecca was very fair she was very fair to look upon
so she was very pretty very beautiful
so but the Bible says in Proverbs 31 30 favors deceitful and beauty is vain
but a woman that fear the Lord she shall be praised so if she's
pretty and she fears the Lord that's a double bonus right there guys so
that's a good thing to look for a hard working woman you know
if she's pretty that's a bonus you know but beauty is vain so don't make
that your only criteria alright Rebecca was also
a virgin it said right so young ladies and
older ladies stay pure you know that's that's
something that God expects you know he expects everybody to grow up and be a virgin
until their wedding day now is that what happens no it's not
what happens does that happen in America no you know most of the
world fornication is a big thing today but I
really want our culture to change at least the people in our church I want that to
be a changed culture where fornication isn't something that's being
done in our church and done with the young people that are
growing up you know and I'm not here to beat you up either if you've already messed up in
this area I'm not trying to hold your feet to the fire or whatever I'm just
saying look there's a lot of young women in here young girls in here
and young men hey don't destroy your life through fornication
go to the marriage altar pure you know she was a virgin
and so was Isaac I'm sure so it doesn't say he was but I'm
sure he was so but
the Bible doesn't say anything different about it so but you know
men if you've been defiled
also or whatever if you've already
you know done this act and you're looking for a virgin wife
you know don't hold some woman to a higher standard than you
have for yourself that's a good piece of advice
because I know that a lot of young men
are you know in our type of churches are looking for a virgin and that's great
I'm not saying you shouldn't or you can't you know I'm not your daddy or whatever
but I'm just saying that like if you've already defiled yourself and then you're
looking for this pure white as snow virgin
you know your standards might be too high I'm not saying
go with like the nearest harlot that you can I'm not saying that okay
I'm just saying that don't you know if you've already
failed in this area and like you just refuse
to marry anybody that's ever had this issue also
then you're kind of being a hypocrite that's all I'm saying so but you can
do whatever you want I'm not saying one way or the other I just think it's kind of strange
when people just have these higher standards for other people than they do for themselves
so a lot of people have screwed up and messed up their lives in these
types of situations but you know there's a plan B you know it doesn't mean
if you've committed fornication it doesn't mean you can't get married it doesn't mean
you know that nobody will marry you so you know
just wait for the right person don't just jump at the first person
that says hi to you at the red hot preaching conference right so
you know they're not all great you know so
anyway but if you've already been defiled don't get defiled
again if you've already messed up don't just keep doing it just change
you need to change so and look at verse 20 it says
and she hasted and emptied her pitcher
into the trough and ran again unto the well
of water a well to draw water and drew for all his
camel so again she's a hard worker she hated she's not
just like a Jehovah's Witness walking to the next door I'll get you water
you just hold on that's not what she's doing she like
she's booking it she's she's she ran
she you know so you know if your potential
you know runs to grab things for you that's pretty cool
right I mean you already know right there you got a hard worker on your hands and one that's gonna
do you know you know take care of your children clean the house
things like that let's see so
verse number 21 and the man wondering at her held his peace
to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not he kind of already should have known this
by now but you know I think maybe he's just still wondering I don't know why
but everything that she's done it's like if she fulfilled
everything that he said so far it's like I would already kind of like bullseye
you know but it says in verse 22 and it came to pass
as the camels had done drinking that the man took a golden earring
of a half a shekel weight and two bracelets
for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold
so I'm not exactly sure how much that is money man
you know no okay well
I mean I'm sure it wasn't light there probably wasn't those like really cheap
earrings that you get at Walmart or something it's probably like really nice
okay so and it was made of gold so anyway
it says 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 Milcah would she bear unto Nahor
she said moreover unto him we have both straw and provender enough
and room to lodge in so you know the hospitality
is good she seems like a really nice girl doesn't she
anybody would want their son to marry someone like this right she's
great so and it says and the man bowed down
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 the mercy of his truth I being in the way the Lord
led me to the house of my master's brother so now he fully
gets it so I heard that when I was
studying for this sermon there was some theory that Rebecca was only
three years old when Isaac married her I don't know if this is the
atheist or whatever trying to throw shade on this relationship
here he's not Muhammad okay so
but tell me what three year old can carry a pitcher of water
you know and run and fill it up and you know
and speak this well I mean most three year olds can't speak this well
so it's a pretty weird theory I don't know
where that comes from but you know they need to do some more
research so anyway very strange
strange doctrine the things you run into when you're studying
for a sermon anyhow so she was definitely not three years old that's
a weird weird strange doctrine so anyway it says and the damsel
ran and told them of their mother's house these things and Rebecca had a brother
and his name was Laban and Laban ran out unto the man
unto the well and it came to pass when he saw the earring bracelets upon his sister's hands
and when he heard the words of Rebecca 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
therefore standest thou wherefore standest thou without
for I have prepared the house and room for the camels so this
is Laban we'll see him later he's Jacob's father
in law and he seems to just be able to zero in on when people are blessed
of the Lord so he just already automatically knew
that he was blessed of the Lord and he's like here you go I've prepared everything for you
and you know it's hospitable you know I don't know what his angle was but
you know he kind of had he was you know
not very good to Jacob at certain times but anyway we'll get to that later on
first so let's skip for the sake of time
whoa yeah we'll skip for the sake of time
to verse 49 because basically he's just retelling the story to
Laban and to his family everything that we just kind of went through so let's
begin again at verse 49 it says now I 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 so
Laban and Bethuel seem to understand things about the Lord that makes me wonder
whether they are saved or not but he also has false gods later on
so I don't know it's kind of hard to tell
maybe he was just a bad Christian I don't know but look at verse 52 it says and it came to pass
that when Abraham's servant heard their words he worshipped
the Lord bowing himself to the earth so this is the second time
we see him worshipping the Lord the first time he bowed his head but then the second
time he bowed himself to the
earth so and obviously we can worship the
Lord in spirit and truth we can close our eyes and bow our heads we
can have our eyes open and worship the Lord we can do all things but to show
the ultimate reverence to God I believe that's prostrating
yourself forth on the ground putting your face to the ground and your hand you know your
hands forward or whatever you know but basically it's you're giving
reverence to God and you're bowing down yourself to him that is the ultimate
reverence that you can give to God in my opinion and so that's what he does right here
so maybe it would have been maybe he felt like it would have been a little weird for him to just
bow down his face to the earth at that time you know when Rebecca she's like what are you
doing you know I don't know if that's why he did that or not but you know
here he just full on doesn't care and he just bows himself to the earth
so that's what I think is the most proper way to worship the Lord
although it's not the only way so you can pray in your car driving to work
you can pray you know standing up you can pray sitting down
you know there's a lot of weird strange doctrines taught about that kind of stuff
but again I think there should be a time in
Christians lives where they do bow their knee to the Lord and pray to him
on their hands and knees at least so
and if you have bad knees you know the Bible says that Jacob worshipped the Lord
you know with his crutch or whatever at the end of his life
you know so he was trying to stoop as much as he could but
there comes a point in time when getting down on your knees is pretty tough right
so look what it says in verse 53 and the servant brought four jewels of silver and jewels of gold
and raiment and gave them to Rebecca and he gave also to her brother
and to her mother precious things so I'm guessing dad
has already passed away I think he has so basically he's
giving this dowry to the brothers and to
mom so and it says and they did eat and drink he and the men
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 brother said let the damsel abide with us
a few days at least at the least ten that's not a few
a few is three right ten is more so that's
several eight several would be seven right so I don't know what ten would be but
anyway and it says after that she shall go
and he said unto them hinder me not seeing that the Lord hath prospered my way
send me a way that I may go to my master 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 I
will go so ultimately they gave you know
they already gave permission for her to go with him but you know
I just I was thinking about this and I think we shouldn't have to marry people that we
don't want to marry you know I think ultimately the choice is
up to you so I don't think a dad should force
his daughter to marry someone I don't believe in arranged marriages you know
in that way you know she did have an option the parents had an option
Abraham sent his servant there to find a wife for his son
and by faith that happened but
you know you shouldn't have to marry someone that you don't want to marry but once you are married
you got to stay married that's what the Bible teaches right so
anyway so she said she'll go and verse fifty
nine and they sent her excuse me away Rebecca their sister
and her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men
and they blessed Rebecca and said unto her thou art our sister be thou the mother
of thousands of millions so I don't
know how many thousands they were talking about but a thousand million is one billion
so they're like be mother to lots of people right
it says let thy seed possess the gate of
those which hate them I believe that's prophetic obviously talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ and what I thought about when I was
studying for this sermon I was thinking
you know that he's going to possess the gates of his enemies and ultimately his enemies
the people that hate God where's their gate at? Hell right
and so you know the gates of hell will not prevail against us
we'll prevail against the gates of hell amen
it says Rebecca rose in her damsels and they rode upon the camels and followed the man and the
servant took Rebecca 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 excuse me so you know the Bible
tells us we're supposed to meditate in God's word day and night
right so I mean this is just something that seems like Isaac
did on a regular basis he went out to meditate I'm not saying he had the Bible I'm just
saying that he was probably meditating on the things of God
so he's a godly man and he was in the field at eventide he lifted up
his eyes and saw and behold the camels were coming and Rebecca
lifted up her eyes when she saw Isaac she lighted off the camel
so to me this is coming up here this is the only part
in the Bible where you're going to see love at first sight alright so ladies just get all warm and fuzzy
right now so it says for she said
unto the servant what man is this that walketh through the field to meet us like she's
all excited right and the servant had said it is my master therefore
she took a veil and covered herself so you know
I think that you know this is probably where the veil comes from
in marriage ceremonies probably I mean I can't be 100% sure of that
but I think it probably is a virgin bride you know they're supposed to wear
white of the virgin bride and they have a veil over their face until
they come up to see their husband you know it's tradition
but it's something that was done in the Bible so I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with that
it says and the servant told Isaac all things that he had done
Isaac brought her to his mother Sarah's tent and
took Rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her
and husbands you should love your wives
when you get married love your wife you know Isaac loved his wife
and you know what the thing about him is that so Abraham had
other wives besides Sarah he married his handmaid that
Sarah gave to him he married other women after Sarah was dead there's nothing wrong with that
but Isaac and Rebecca
he didn't marry anybody else he loved his wife and that's
the way it should be one wife one man one wife till death do us part
it says and Isaac was comforted after his
mother's death so remember Sarah died in the last chapter you know
and this probably has some symbolic meaning I don't want to get too crazy with it
but you know Jesus did weep over Jerusalem when it was destroyed
before it was destroyed didn't he? He wept over Israel
he wanted Israel to be saved he came to Israel
and so if Isaac pictures the Lord Jesus Christ the Gentile
church maybe being the bride or whatever
so the fact that the Gentiles accepted the gospel after the Jews rejected
Christ I think this might be a picture of that I mean
I'm not going to be dogmatic about it but I think it's interesting that
you know I'm sure that it was comforting to the Lord that
other people wanted to receive that message and be saved so
and so remember the death the death of
Sarah also represents the death of the physical nation of Israel
and so now God's chosen people are
anybody that's saved of all nations
so we would be Israel
being here today a real Jew is someone that believes
on Christ if you don't believe on Christ you're not a real Jew
you're not a real child of Israel and so
the seed that it's talking about here is the seed of Christ
and if you're not part of that seed then you have no part with God
so anyway that's Genesis chapter
24 60 something verses 5 o'clock
let's pray Lord we thank you so much for this wonderful
church Lord and this great people you have here Lord just want
to say how much I appreciate every single one of them and Lord I know you do too
pray you bless us as we go our separate ways help us to get all things
done that we mean to accomplish this week with little to
no hiccups Lord I just pray that you'd bless us and everything
that our hands find to do this week in Jesus' name we pray, Amen
our last song
will be page 415
victory through grace page 415
victory through grace
see now on the first
conquering now
victory through grace see now on the first
conquering now and still to conquer
riding the king in his
flight leading the host of all
the faithful into the midst of
the fight singing with courage
and in sync glad in their
brilliant array
of their leader
hear them insulting these saints
now to the strong is the battle
now to the swift is the race
yet to the true and the
faithful victory is promised
through grace conquering now
and still to conquer
who is this wonderful king
when it's early armies which he leadeth
while of his glory they sing
he is our Lord and Redeemer
Savior and monarch
divine they are the stars
forever bright in his kingdom
will shine now to the
strong is the battle
now to the swift is the race
yet to the true and the faithful
victory is promised through
grace conquering now and
still to conquer
Jesus now ruler of all
crowns in their sectors all shall perish
crowns in their splendor shall call
the air shall be army's meldingness
faithful and true to the last
fight in thy mansions eternal
rest in their warfare is past
now to the strong
is the battle
now to the swift is the race
yet to the true and the faithful
victory is promised through
grace man thanks for coming out this Sunday
we'll see you at our new church building Friday evening and then next Sunday
as well. Brother Ramon you want to end us with a word of prayer?
Thank you so much to this great church Lord and thank you for all the things that we were able to do
here in this building Lord and just greatly bless our new church building
and just the work we would do there to glorify you Lord and just thank you for everything
you do for us Lord. We love you and pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Hey could I have everyone's attention
please? Hey it would be great if you guys could stack the chairs up
for high any of the Bibles or song books that are in the chairs
just go ahead and stack on the chairs
okay and we'll come by tomorrow and box them all up.
Alright.
I should be here somewhere.
Thank you.