(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen, right so we're up to part two now of Genesis chapter 24 and last week we looked at verses 1 to 28 and we first briefly looked at Abraham not wanting Isaac to marry a daughter of the land and we looked at how that applies to today and we applied that to marrying unbelievers and looked into that in depth but we also looked at how there was a picture there too and some might see it as a picture of soul winning. I believe that much of the story in this chapter is a prophecy and symbolism of the replacement of the physical nation, the remainder of Israel, the Jews, with believers, the children of promise, with Abraham representing God the Father, Isaac representing God the Son and the servant representing the Holy Spirit and we went into that a bit last week going to Abraham's kindred representing believers to find a bride for his son. Now which could apply to both the first church and subsequent churches and we looked at a bit of both but as opposed to getting a bride from the Canaanites among whom Abraham dwelt represented the remainder of Israel which was on the most part by the end Judah, right? And if you think about it, when did the first church really start forming? If you think about that it was at the start of Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, wasn't it? And when I say the first church, I'm not talking about the church in the wilderness, I'm talking about the New Testament church started forming before the New Testament ultimately started, right? And it was at the start of his ministry and although he chose his disciples, turn to John chapter 17, you might think well yeah but didn't Jesus Christ, it was Jesus Christ who chose, well he did choose him, ultimately Jesus Christ is God, God chose those disciples. And it's also described as the Father having chosen them which is what we're seeing here with Abraham choosing where to send his servant. Remember Abraham here picturing God the Father sent his servant picturing the Holy Spirit to go to basically find but ultimately I think a picture of believers to form this first church. In John 17 Jesus is praying to the Father and it says in verse 6, John 17 6, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me, what did he say? Which thou gavest me, yeah, out of the world, thine they were and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me are of thee, for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them and have known surely that I came out from thee and they believe that thou didst send me. I pray for them, I pray not for the world but for them which thou has given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine and thine are mine and I am glorified in them, because it's one God yet three persons. Verse 11 says, and now I am no more in the world but these are in the world and I come to thee. Holy Father keep through thine own name those whom thou has given me that they may be as one as we are. While I was with them in the world I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition that the scripture might be fulfilled. Talk about Judas Iscariot. So clearly we see there that we're seeing that God the Father gave them. And if the picture is a replacing of the physical nation with individual churches, then that began with the first church, didn't it? That began with the first church, which seemed to be literally hand-picked from what we've just seen there. And obviously we hear Jesus Christ talking about that as well. However, being hand-picked didn't override their free will. And verse 6 here said that they kept his word where we are here, that that was their responsibility wasn't it? And that's our responsibility as well, right? Keeping the word of God. Look, just because you're saved doesn't mean you're going to keep the word of God. And obviously we have to preach that regularly because there's crazy false doctrine out there that people get pulled into a little bit. They think it's going to automatically sort of be these perfect people because they got saved. And that's not the case, is it? That's the choice that we make. There's free will and we see it emphasised often in Genesis 24, the free will. We see that in the story, but I want to focus in on verse 7 of Genesis chapter 24 before we move on. With the first church in mind, where it says here in verse 7, the Lord God of heaven, verse 7 of Genesis 24, 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. Now last week I suggested that it could apply to the soul winner. If we apply it to the original New Testament church, there sure was a soul winner sent first, wasn't there? Turn to Mark chapter 1 where we see that angel, another word by the way for angel being messenger, sent first to prepare the way. As we've just seen here, he shall send his angel before thee. Mark 1 and verse 1, says the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the son of God, this is Mark 1-1, as it is written in the prophets, behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee. Now this is referring to the prophecy of Malachi about John the Baptist. It says in verse 3, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptise in the wilderness and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. John preached like we do for them to repent of their false way, doesn't he? And they went out unto him all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem and were all baptised of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. So John went before him and prepared that way with many of those original disciples being disciples of John. Then back in Genesis 24, 7, it said this, let's see it again, it said the law God of heaven which took me from my father's house from the land of my kindred and which spake unto me and it sware unto me saying, unto thy seed will I give this land, he shall send his angel before thee and thou shalt take a wife to my son from thence. And when relaying the story in verse 40 of Genesis 24, the servant says and he said unto me, verse 40, the Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with thee and prosper thy way. Thou shalt take a wife for my son of my kindred and of my father's house. Mark 1 and 3 said, make his paths straight. Malachi 3, 1 says, behold I will send my messenger, he shall prepare the way before me. For me, I think, look, there's a clear picture there and for me that messenger going before is symbolising John the Baptist and he's preparing the way for the bride, for the first church. We then saw after that, we saw Rebecca, and this is just a recap, I'm going to show you that hopefully as we go through the second half as well, we then saw Rebecca fulfilling the criteria that the servant was looking for, being willing to distribute from the well to others and for me the well pictured the word of God as she was willing to distribute, we saw that, what a great example she was, something that the increasingly insular remainder of Israel have failed to do, back to our picture, they weren't, by this point they weren't giving a gospel to anyone, they didn't even believe the gospel, they weren't going forth with the word of God. She ends up watering 10 camels too, which is a lot of water, whether or not we know exactly what they picture, she was still obviously clearly willing to distribute a lot of water, for me that represented the word of God. The servant gives her some bracelets and an earring, we looked at the decorating of God's church through the fruits of the Spirit, we looked at that last week, then we finish with Rebecca being willing to provide for the servant's needs. Verse 23 said, and said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray, that this is servant's speaking, 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 Milch, of which you bear unto Nahor. She said, Moreover unto him we have both straw and provender enough of room to lodge in, and a man bowed down his head and worshipped the Lord, and he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my father 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 our mother's house at these scenes. Let's pray before we continue with the rest of the chapter. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word, I thank you for this great chapter and just so many lessons we can get from it. Please help me to teach and preach those just clearly and accurately tonight now, Lord. Help everyone to have a tent of ears, Lord. Help me to just preach this message as you'd want me to, Lord. And help everyone to just really find a way of replying the bits and pieces they can for their lives. In Jesus' name we pray all this. Amen. Okay, so, Rebecca for me, verse 28, damsel ran and told them of her mother's house at these scenes. She picked the zealous soul winner. Okay, and like I talked about last week, when God's looking for a church, looking for a church of future, he's looking for people that are going to do the work. Okay? That's what a real church is about, it's doing the work. Yeah, it's a great place to be, it's great to have the fellowship, it's great to have the time together. We enjoy, hopefully, the preaching, the singing together, the worshipping of God, but it's also a place of work, isn't it? We come here together to be sent out to work, right? And in verse 29 it says, 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 and 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. Now this bit for me pictures soul winning. A picture of soul winning. He saw, and we talked about this last week, I believe they're an example of the fruits of the spirit, the earring and bracelets, he saw the fruits of the spirit upon his sister, he heard the words of her, but was it just her words? No, she said, Thus spake the man unto me. Who does the man represent? The servant. For me, I think it's quite clear, the Holy Spirit. So she's speaking, but she's saying what the Holy Spirit's saying, and don't miss the ingredients there. He heard her words, she didn't just write them down, by the way, he heard her words, okay? Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. She relayed what he, representing the Holy Spirit, spake unto her. Again, it ain't your words that gets people saved, it's ultimately the Holy Spirit that gets people saved through you. And what are the words of the Holy Spirit? The words of God, right? No one's getting saved without the word of God. It ain't happening. I don't care, you know, how well you can word it, how well you can try and persuade someone and everything else, there has to be the word of God. You preach the gospel to people, there has to be the word of God. People can agree with you and go, Oh yeah, yeah, I get all that and everything else, but without the word of God, they ain't getting saved. Okay? Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, okay? And it's after that you heard the word of truth, then you're sealed with the Holy Spirit promise, right? Okay, and don't miss the final ingredient. He saw the fruits upon her. That's what I believe those earrings embrace. So he saw those fruits, what came forth from the servant which represented the Holy Spirit. Matthew 5 16, you don't have to turn and it says, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. I spoke about this recently with family members, okay? Sometimes it takes a bit longer, doesn't it? Okay, we looked at 1 Peter 2 12 before, which again you have to turn and it says, Having your conversation on is among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. It can take longer with some family members, can't it? Sometimes it doesn't always work out, okay? I'm not saying you're going to get them saved in the end, but some it can take a while, and sometimes they do eventually, you know? I've talked to a few people over the years, people that have been Christians for a long time, pastors that you know, who kind of, it's over many years of families just start getting saved, you know? Over many years of seeing their good works, seeing that light shine before men, starts to make them take notice of what's not a fad. They're not just some backslidden joke where it's like, yeah, a so-called Christian. And it's not that that's what gets them saved, because people go too far with the lifestyle evangelism. However, it can be an extra, extra ingredient to salvation, can't it? Especially to those close to you. But here's the thing, it's not just family members. Don't miss this when soul winning too. I think we've got to be careful that we don't miss that when we're out soul winning, that we also still want to shine that light. We still want to be good people when we go to that door. We don't want to be walking up people's drives, you know, and trashing the place, or you know, being especially carnal on the way up. But you don't have to be the opposite, some people go too far obviously with this, and the holier than now types. But look, you know, even with rejections, when people reject us, we knock every door, we're going to knock every door next year as well, we're going to knock every door the next year. You know, we want to make sure that when they reject us, that we're still shining that light as much as possible. Look, sometimes the rejection includes people trying to threaten to kill you, okay, but it's quite rare, okay. Usually, look, sometimes it's tempting isn't it, we can all get in the flesh, it's tempting to just say something cutting back, just to give a little comment, a little something else, but we don't have to because maybe next year, maybe they've said some rude things, you just have taken it, turned the other cheek, you go off up the driveway, and next year when someone comes back, maybe over that year they felt a bit bad about that. They've thought actually, yeah, they weren't actually, they didn't say Jehovah's Witnesses, did they? They did actually say Baptists, and that was pretty rude. You know, maybe you don't know what might change, and they might think, yeah, and that person, they were pretty good, they didn't just start slating me or picky on me or anything else. Perhaps it's not them, perhaps it's the neighbour observing. Maybe the neighbour across the road sees how you handle that person shouting, being rude, being, you know, slamming the door in your face, and you just move on and carry on, and I think all of that can be an ingredient, can't it? And here we see, he saw that, the earring, the bracelets, but the fruits, real fruits, we looked at last week being love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance against such, Galatians 5 says there is no law. But here's the thing, it's not dissimulation. We don't show these fruits because we're purposely trying to show them. We show these fruits because ideally those fruits should come out of us. The more we live for God, the more we do things for God. There's a difference, and people can see when you're faking it. And the wiser people get, the more they can see when people fake this stuff. And they can fake it for a while, they can fake it, but a lot of the time they don't want you too close to them because eventually the real them starts coming out. And obviously we don't want to be fakes. But anyway, back to where we were, in verse 30, it says, and it came to pass when he saw the earring and 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. The result was that he came unto the man, represented the Holy Spirit, and behold he stood by the camels at the well. And he then asked him to come in. It says in verse 31, and he said, Come in now 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. So we see the result, obviously, for me, of what's a picture of so many. And he ungirded his camels and gave straw and provender for the camels, a 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 for me, it makes you think of when Jesus Christ said in John 4.34, Jesus said unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me in to finish his work. Look, God, God, and for me, we're seeing God the Holy Spirit represented here. He's got stuff to do, because a lot of us would probably be preoccupied with the food after a long journey, wouldn't we? Let's get the food on board, then we'll deal with it. But not here. And here we see, you know, him saying, No, I've got something more important to do first. And sometimes I think we should maybe remember that. Sometimes it's a bit we're a bit too tempted to deal with the flesh first. And he said, I am Abraham's servant, and the Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great. And he has given him flocks and herds and silver and gold and men's servants and maid servants 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 had. Isaac clearly picturing the Lord Jesus Christ to me. John 3.35 says, The father loveth the son, has given all things into his hand. We see here that he has given him all that he had. OK, again, just to remind you that that is a picture there. Verse 37, And my master made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of the Cainites, in whose land I dwell. The picture being of Judah, where God dwelt in the Old Testament. But thou shalt go unto my father's house and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son. The picture being believers as seed and that seed being Christ. Verse 39, And I said unto my master, Peradventure the woman will not follow me. Still emphasising the free will. OK, like we've seen emphasised many times. And he said unto me, The Lord before whom I walk will send his angel with thee and prosper by way. And thou shalt take a wife from my son of my kindred and of my father's house. For me, picturing John the Baptist there. Verse 41, So he 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 look, we've always had free will to follow or not. That's always been the case. Everyone's always had free will, whether or not they not only get saved, but whether or not they then choose to follow God. OK, verse 42 says, 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 picture 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 had appointed out for thy master's son. So picturing what God was looking for in that first church. And like I preached last week, you could add subsequent churches after that. OK, God's looking for that. He's looking for work. He's looking for people that are willing to go and work and do things for him. And just a reminder, because I say this many times, there are people around the world that are like, if we had a church, then I'm sure we would start doing things for God. Or we just deserve a church. So we need a church here. And they're saying we need a church here because we don't have a proper, soul winning, hard preaching, King James believing, King James Bob believing church. But that ain't good enough. Like there needs to be the reason to have a church. Now, don't get me wrong, sometimes that people can go out, right? People would go out as a pastor in somewhere, you know, kind of middle of nowhere and just start kind of preaching the gospel and slowly build your church and everything else. But ultimately, look, even with that, God needs to see that and maybe his family and maybe others at all in that area that he's going to bless somewhere where there's people that are going to serve. Right. And it ain't good enough to be like on to churches like ours and many other churches. We need a church because we listen to NIFB preaching. Look, great. You listen to good preaching. Really pleased for you. You listen to the best preacher around. Great. However, you need to be willing to work, right? Willing to serve. You need to be getting together, soul winning and doing stuff. And that's what we're looking for. We want to find people out there that are willing to work for God as well as listening to the good preaching, right? If you can get sent out from 1000 miles away and go and go and preach the gospel, then great. For me, you're like, you're getting there. But if you just sit there and you watch all the sermons about soul winning and you sit on your backside, that doesn't mean that you're ready for a church, right? Okay. But anyway, here we see that that she, for me, she pictures that. She pictures what God's looking for. And it says in verse 45, it says, And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebecca came forth with her picture on her shoulder, and she went down into the well and drew water. And I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee. And she made haste and let down a picture from her shoulder and said, Drink, and I'll give thy camels drink also. So I drank, and she made the camels drink also. So picturing zeal, the distribution of God's word. This is a zealous person. She's distributed the word of God. And for me, she's picturing at least what God's looking for in a church. And I asked her and said, Who's daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethwell, Nahor's son, who Milka bare unto him. And I put the earring upon her face and the bracelets upon her hands. Again, we looked at last week, I believe that pictures of fruits of the Spirit with the servant representing the Holy Spirit. And I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord and blessed the Lord God and 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 you 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. Which is ultimately what God is looking for in a church, someone that will deal truly with God. Right? That's what we need. Look, that's what he wants is a church that just deals truly. A church that isn't going, Well, I kind of do this bit, but I don't know about that. Just go, What's the word of God say? The word of God say we should do this, we should do this. The word of God says we should preach this, we should preach this. Right? What does the word of God say? And here, you know, he said, Look, tell me, if you're going to deal kindly and truly, tell me, and if not, tell me that I may turn to the right hand to the left, saying, I'll just go somewhere else. The Laban and Beth will answer, said, The thing proceedeth from the Lord, we cannot speak unto the bad or good. The basic saying, Who are we to debate it either way? God's will be done. And that's a great attitude as well, isn't it? Comes from the Lord. We're not going, What are we going to say? He's going to do what God says. Right? And again, shows for me, they picture being safe people there as well for me. Verse 51, 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, bearing 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. So again, more fruits of the Spirit with Laban and Beth will benefiting from for me submitting to God's will here. They benefit too. They submitted to God. They received precious things in return. And look, you know, people get blessed. And here's another thing as well. Look, families ultimately get blessed. As much as you might think, Well, my family don't seem to care, don't seem to listen. I bet a lot of you, you've got families out there, at least maybe little things, little things have gone in, little changes, maybe. And I'm talking about the unsaved family out there, let alone the ones that actually do get saved as well, right? And they do benefit from you. They benefit from your walk. They benefit from seeing you be that shining light, especially over the years. Don't forget that as well. Yeah, some go the opposite way and end up being like your worst enemies. Okay, but often it's not like that. Often you'll see they will benefit. Here we're seeing like them benefiting, and obviously they seem to be a picture of being saved as well. Okay, then verse 54 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 said, Send me away unto my master. So after it was sorted, they then ate, they tarried or abode, they slept there, then it was time to get going. Now verse 55 says, And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us a few days, at least ten, after that she shall go. Now they're basically saying, Look, hang around a bit longer. Okay, you can hang around as well. They're probably thinking, This guy's pretty cool. He's throwing out the jewels and stuff as well. And they're thinking, look, and they're saying, Look, why can't she stay a little bit longer? And he said unto them, hinder me not, seeing the Lord with the cross with my way, send me a way that I may go to my master. And here's the thing, when it comes to working for God, there's no time to lose, is there really? There really isn't. Life is so quick, isn't it? And as you know, I'm not, you know, I'm no age really, but I tell myself that. Some of you younger folks are, yeah, right. But the older you get, it doesn't know I've got it quicker, doesn't it? Every year, it seems, that year went by really quick. And everyone you speak to says the same, right? And the older we get, the more, look, life just flies by. And you don't want to spend half your life thinking, I'm going to do this next week or next month or next year. You just want to get on with it, don't you? Because it is a vapour and there's a lot we can do for God. And you don't want to look back and you just come and think, Why don't I just get on with it? And there is no time to lose. When God has something for you to do, just get on with it, right? And sometimes you know God has something for you to do, don't you? You know that there's something he wants you to do. Maybe, look, maybe he's prospered your way, like he said here, he said, hinder me not, seeing the Lord has prospered my way. Maybe he's prospered your way to get you into church, in one way or another. Get busy, right? Maybe he's found a way, he's worked a way out for you to be able to get here on a Wednesday night, for you to be able to make that, you know, three to five, for you to be able to make those Saturday marathons, for you to be able to find a way to be close to something else. Just get on with it. Because the thing is, he gives you that choice, it's still free will. So it's not, well, if God really wants me here, he's just going to keep sending me this and dangling carrots and make your way. Look, maybe he's given you an opportunity, he's given you a way, he's given you maybe a job opportunity, maybe he's given you a house opportunity, he's given you that and you've just dilly dallyed. And really, what's a dilly dallying, really? We have a saying to my kids, I'm going to try and get this right as well, which is delayed obedience is disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. And that's pretty true, isn't it? Yeah, you say come here now and they come here 20 seconds later. Disobedience, isn't it? Yeah, delayed obedience is disobedience. I think it works the same with God. And how long is that offer there for? Now, I'm not saying rush into foolhardy things, which you don't know clearly of God, okay, so be careful with that as well, because there are people that are just impatient and everything's just kind of like, you know, just a quick kind of spur-of-the-moment decision, okay? We should be wise in what we do, we should be kind of diligent in our plans and everything else, but sometimes God just gives you an opportunity. Maybe he's given you a gospel opportunity, maybe you're with someone that you've always wanted to preach your gospel to and suddenly you've got that time alone with them. But it doesn't last long, does it? And I put my hand up, I've failed at this before. I'm like, right, I need that one-on-one time. I get that one-on-one time and then I just kind of delay it, delay it, and then suddenly it's gone. Why did I let that go? I had that time. I wanted to ask God to give me that chance and I delayed, I kind of held off, I knew it was gonna be a bit awkward, the introduction to it, and it's gone. And sometimes he gives you an opportunity, doesn't he? But that opportunity doesn't always, that window doesn't always last that long. Maybe that window wouldn't have lasted that long there. Maybe she might have changed her mind over that ten days. Maybe the jewel stopped coming out. Maybe the servant, you know, she's asking questions about Isaac and she's like, oh maybe, you know, maybe this isn't quite right. Dad nearly killed him a few years back. I don't know, this is gonna be a confusion, you know, I don't know. But what I'm saying is that, look, when God opens a door for us, okay, we want to walk through that door, don't we? And I'm sure many of you can look at times and think of times in your life when God's opened a door for you and maybe you haven't taken it. And maybe that door slammed shut in your face and he said here, hinder me not seeing the Lord had crossed my way, send me away that I may go to my master. And they said, we will catch the damsel and inquire at her mouth. Sorry, we will call the damsel, they didn't catch her, they called her. We'll catch her in a net. No, I'm kidding. 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. Now, Rebekah's free will is very clear in all of this, isn't it? Okay, we've seen throughout this passage, just so many times, where it's just emphasizing the free will of Rebekah, emphasize the free will of Rebekah. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 30, because our free will in life is clear. Clear as day we have free will in life, okay. Throughout the Bible you're just seeing so much free will. And I remember preaching a sermon on this, and I only really just touched, like, scratched the surface with it. You have free will to be his church ultimately in the first place. We have free will to be. You have free will to come to this church, did you know that? God didn't force you to come here, he didn't drag you along here, and you do have that choice. And it's your choice, ultimately, whether or not you come here. And you have free will to serve him in the church, so you have free will to come to the church, and you have free will to go soul-winning. You have free will to read your Bible, you have free will to pray to God, you have free will to sing like, you know, you're really singing to the Lord, and you have free will to kind of mutter, mumble and murmur under your breath. You have free will to do many things, don't you, in life. You have free will to make many choices. We're often, I believe, often presented options in life, aren't we? So often there's an option in life, and a lot of the time the option is God's way or not God's way, isn't it? And so often, if you think back, there are times when you almost, you're constantly coming up to these crossroads in life, and you can have the choice to do this, or you have the choice to do that. And God gives us that so often. Here she's asked, will thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. The Holy Spirit didn't get her in a headlock, and I believe, I really believe he represents the Holy Spirit. He didn't get her in a headlock. He didn't throw a net over her and drag her off. They didn't catch her, okay. And look, the reality of it is, we're often presented options in many ways, and in Deuteronomy 30 we just see just clear options presented here, yet there is still a large amount of moronic Christians, some of them will be saved, okay, a lot aren't, who believe some version of Calvinism. It's complete nonsense, absolute nonsense. And what it is ultimately is, it's people that don't really read their Bibles, or at least, you know, I'm talking about the Saved Ones, who just get pulled into this stuff, because they haven't really read through their Bible and just seen the amount of free will times. So they just, they're just like, man, this person teaching this uses all these long words and like theological words and terms, who am I to question this? He must be right. And a lot of often when you talk to these people, because really, where's it coming from? At least the ordering of it all together comes from a man, John Calvin. And subsequent men after that, trying to teach this lack of free will, and people just get impressed by people, don't they? They get impressed by men, they put a man up there and they don't just read their Bibles. Because if you read the Bible, it doesn't take long to see the choice between the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or not. I mean, it's pretty early on, isn't it? You know, I mean, straight, straight away in the Bible, you get choice within three chapters of the Bible. Yeah. I mean, and these people come out with this junk all the time, the sovereign God, sovereign God, like God is just pulling strings and everything else. It's a mockery, really. It's a mockery of the word of God. But look, what does he say here? In Deuteronomy 13, verse 15, he says, see, I have set before thee this day. So he set, who set? God. I have set before thee this day, life and good, death and evil. God presents you with choices. Now, with that in mind, the devil has a purpose, doesn't he? The devil has a purpose. Because the devil presents you with a choice. He presented Eve with a choice at the beginning, and really, also with that, he presented Adam with a choice, whether or not he was going to hearken unto his wife, or what he should have done was just shout her into line, okay, but he didn't. And he does have a purpose. The false prophets have a purpose. Now, don't get me wrong, we still hate the false prophets, but they do have a purpose, don't they? Because what they do is they present an option, and if you think about it really in life, there are a thousand different shades of false prophets presenting an option to people to choose, and they can have their own flavour. There's a different flavour of religion for everyone, pretty much, isn't there? And there are, I mean, a thousand isn't even, that's just a massive underestimation. There's like a millions, millions and millions and millions of false prophets out there presenting options, aren't there? In various different ways. And with that in mind, and just think about this as well, we know the devil presents an option, the false prophets, as we know the traditional false prophet standing behind some form of pulpit or even an altar or something ridiculous or something else, but the church dividers present an option, don't they? The church division-causer, the person trying to either pull you out from inside or outside or anything else, they present an option to you. Do you want to choose to go God's way, or do you want an excuse to go the other way? And as saved people, not just the unsaved, as saved people as well. All these people are just constantly presenting us an option, we're constantly being presented an option in life, and we make a choice, don't we? Well here he says, in that I command thee, so he said I've set before thee this day life and good, death and evil, in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply, and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land, whither thou goest to possess him. So we're commanded, but it's up to us if we obey. So he commands, why is he commanding if he just pulls strings and you're just going to do as you do? And I don't think anyone here hopefully has ever had their head turned by Calvin. No, maybe you have before, but I'm saying I hope no one here right now, you know, has their head turned by Calvinism, but just why is he commanding you? And obviously here we're talking, he's talking to the nation of Israel here, but why is he commanding them if they're just going to do as he tells them? Well they're not, because they're commanded, they have the choice, but if thine heart turn away, okay, it's an option, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, so it's your choice again, here we're saying it's their choice, I denounce unto you this day that you shall surely perish, and that you shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess him. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you, he set before us choices, right, life and death, blessing and cursing, therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. And it's not just for us either, it's for our kids as well. So all these people that spend their lives blaming God for this has happened, that happened, and what happened to this child, this one, look, it's down to us really, the responsibility is on parents really, isn't it? It's your choice how you live and what you do and how you behave, and then the knock-on effect is onto our kids as well. He said, therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. It's not God's fault that people reject him, and then they're like, I can't believe he let this happen, and it's so many people like that, aren't they? Well, I stopped believing in God after he did this, or didn't let this, or did that. He didn't even like serve him in the face, he didn't even believe really, he didn't even put your faith in Christ in the first place, yet now you're blaming God that he hasn't pulled every string that you want. I mean, it's crazy, isn't it? He said that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, that thou mayest cleave unto him, for he is thy life, and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land, which the Lord swear unto thy fathers to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. So, clearly we all have the freedom here, we see the freedom to God's children, the children of Israel, the nation here, they still had a choice. Okay, we all have choices of life. Calvinism is absolute nonsense. Okay, don't ever let that pull you in, don't get bamboozled by the theological terms. The idea is to disqualify your opinion, that's what this, that's what people do, it's just a classic tactic. See, all over the world people just start using terms that you shouldn't understand, that should end the argument there, right, because you don't understand the words. Okay, it's nonsense, absolute nonsense, okay. Just a load of word salad rubbish. But, back in Genesis chapter 24, we see Rebecca constantly given this choice, and Rebecca representing the church, and for me the first church, for me we're seeing even there, they had the choice. Now, they were selected, yes, they were who we wanted, but they still had the choice to come to the Lord Jesus Christ to follow him, right. And it says here, and they sent away Rebecca their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, this is verse 59, and his men, and they blessed Rebecca 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 Rebecca arose in her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man, and the servant took Rebecca and went his way. Now, a few things to look at here, okay. Look back at chapter 22 quickly, where Abraham had just offered Isaac as a burnt offering, but got stopped at the last minute, okay. Genesis chapter 22, and we look from verse 15, Genesis 22 15 says, and the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven a second time, and said, by myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou has done this thing, and has not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, as the sand which is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. So this seed singular is the Lord Jesus Christ possessing the gate singular of his singular enemies, and I went in depth in chapter 22 and previously about how that is referring to the Lord Jesus Christ defeating death, the gates of hell not prevailing against it. Revelation 1 18 saying, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death, okay. And it's in Jesus Christ that we're all blessed, okay. Verse 18 there where you are says, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou has obeyed my voice. Well back in Genesis 24 we're seeing a similar prophecy, but this time in the blessing of Rebekah, and it says in verse 59, they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, this is her mother and brother, 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 a gate of those which hate them. And at first glance it could be that the seed plural possessing the gate of those that hate them, okay that's how you could see that, let thy seed possess a gate of those that hate them, but I think it's those that hate the thousands of millions of saved people. So thou art Our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions and let thy seed possess a gate of those what which hate them. Talking about the thousands of millions with our seed being Jesus Christ again possessing the gate being held and it's a reminder that because they hate Christ they hate us too because that's why they hate him that's why they hate she's a mother of thousand millions through the seed being Jesus Christ they hate you because they hate Christ they hate all of us because really they hate the Lord Jesus Christ and turn to John chapter 15 because it can be a bit of a shock at first the level of hatred these wicked people have it can be a bit shocking and sometimes you kind of have to pinch yourself you're like wow I mean where does this level of hatred really come from I mean seething hatred you know from these types of people you'll turn to John 15 first John 3 13 we read Marvel not my brethren if the world hate you why did you say Marvel not because we do Marvel sometimes I mean what what have we got to this point like absolute just just hatred of you hatred of everything about you hate you everything you've ever said done and everything else for people that sometimes claim to like you come for and often for me they show their true colors by the level of hatred they have because it's not normal okay really is it it's not normal for example the types of people that stalk churches that they've either been kicked out of or left it's just not normal it's like it's not normal to be listening to sermons like three four six months a year down the lot like that's not normal it's like move on with your life like just sitting there just you can imagine you know it's just like the hate it's like what's wrong with you like get a life obsessing over preaching like months and years I like that that's I mean it's super weird isn't it it's like that is a level of hatred and obsession that normal people don't have it's not normal for example in another angle for the family members to obsess over how you raise your kids it's just not normal they don't do that with the other members of the family they don't do that with the family members who like you know drop their kids with all sorts and do you know take them to the pub all afternoon on a Sunday and whatever else they don't care about any of that but they obsess over you raising your kids teaching them the Word of God that's not normal that level of hatred really for the things of God it's not normal it's not normal for people to try their hardest to get you out of a proper church whether that's the family members the the old friends whether it's the people that have previously been the church that's not normal so why are they so obsessed why do they so desperately want you out because really it's you they hate okay they hate you hate me they hate you and they they just they just want to get you out of really living it living a proper decent life for God however they try and angle it and everything else and with all with all of the guile the slander the crazy behavior they really just show their true colors don't they they just show they're not of God because normal people normal Christians that you and I have rubbed shoulders with over the years everything else don't behave like that regardless of what angle it is in John 15 Jesus said to the disciples if the world hate you you know that it hated me before I hated you and look these you know a lot of these people they'll be the ones at the end going Lord Lord have we not prophesied in our name in our name of course that devil's in my name we've done many wonderful work you know that's just a pride they're so heady they're so high-minded it's so private that they actually commit they have to convince themselves otherwise they probably would have committed suicide already they have to convince themselves that somehow they're God's people but really who do they really hate they hate the real Jesus Christ I know usually it's some form of work some form of giving up this you know their life change or whatever sins they've given up and everything else he said you know that hated me before hating you if you were of the world the world would love his own but because you're not of the world but I've chose you out of the world therefore the world hateth you remember the word that I said unto you the servant is not greater than his Lord if they have persecuted me they will also persecute you they don't marvel at this yeah if they have kept my saying they will keep yours also he's saying look but however those are for me saying those that want to get saved will get saved right through you it doesn't have to be the Lord Jesus Christ personally but then he says in verse 21 but all these things they will do unto you for my name's sake because they know not him that sent me and that's really what it comes down to and what does he say to them I never knew you depart for me he that work iniquity and the haters what do they really do however they try and angle it whatever their latest angle the latest way whether it's people in your private life whether it's the church attackers whatever these whatever angle it is all they do is they just expose that they don't know God so they do they just expose themselves and more and they and they can't resist just can't help it because the hate is brimming so it's just more and more whatever they can try and pull you away whether it's like I said people you know people you don't know people that you used to know it's just it and all they do is expose themselves but don't let that upset you is there's only one place to go so go back to Genesis 24 because in verse 60 it says and they blessed Rebecca and said unto her thou art our sister be thou the mother of thousand millions and let thy seed possess a gate of those which hate them that seed is Jesus Christ that gate is hell that gate is in hell that's a gate of hell and that's where they're going so it can be frustrating and sometimes and you know what I mean you know I'm getting to the point with this where you just realized with these types of speed you just got to ignore them because they're really pathetic and they're and they just they just the more you ignore them all they just expose themselves more and more and more and more and it's funny really you know you just got to find a way laughing it's good there we go again you know just think out what sad existence right just hating on God's people finding ways to somehow try and prove that really you're justified to hate on God's people anyway but let's look at another interesting part of that passage said in verse 59 and they sent away Rebecca their sister and her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men so notice the people mentioned here Rebecca who's their sister and her nurse singular and Abraham's servant and his men and they blessed Rebecca and said unto her thou art our sister be thou the mother of thousand millions and let thy seed possess a gate of those which hate them and Rebecca arose and her damsels suddenly we've got the damsels now and they rode upon the camels and followed the man and the servant took Rebecca and went his way where these damsels come from the damsels come from now how many camels were there do you remember how many camels away ten camels yeah ten camels and the wording seems like the servant took Rebecca but the damsels rode upon the camels would you agree says a Rebecca rose in her damsels and they rode upon the camels and followed the man okay they're clearly following the man again represented the Holy Spirit and the servant took Rebecca and went his way so they followed the man represented the Holy Spirit so do these well 11 damsels total with Rebecca possibly represent the 11 disciples if we're going with that first church and everything else you might do again open for discussion afterwards though and verse 6 he says and Isaac came from the way of the world the high Roy for he dwelt in the south country now this was where Hagar first fled and met the Lord the high Roy and Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the even time he lifted up his eyes and saw and behold the camels were coming so in case you're wondering okay no he wasn't sitting there in some sort of Buddhist pose okay okay and and and some someone in verse 2 you know you turn to some 100 19 because when men of God meditate in the Bible it's always combined with the Word of God okay that's what I think we just see time and time again it's combined with some form of the Word of God someone to says of the blessed man but is the light is in the law of the Lord and in his Lord of the meditate day and night and the psalmist is some 119 verse 15 some 119 and verse 15 the psalmist says I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways in verse 23 princes also did sit and speak against me but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes in verse 48 my hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments which I have loved and I will meditate in thy statutes verse 78 he says that the proud be ashamed for they dealt perversely with me without a cause but I will meditate in thy precepts and in verse 148 148 mine eyes prevent the night watches that I might meditate in thy word by the way if you ever just want some reminder about how amazing the Word of God you just read Psalm 190 it's just such a great Psalm isn't it but I'm all about the Word of God but but for me like in other examples in the Bible like Joshua like Paul's instructor Timothy Isaac is meditating now on the things of God on obviously the word as it had been revealed to him to that at that point okay he's not meditating just sitting there going you know and everything else for me he's thinking about the things of God to some degree they're depending on what you believe about the Word of God at that point but verse 63 back in back in Genesis 24 says this and Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide and I was thinking just look at that as well probably nice reminder as well sometimes you know we think about meditating on you know on the law day and night and I don't know for some I find it hard sometimes at night time after I've done this after I've done study or tried you know to try and then also add some extra Bible reading on top and the eyes are going and everything else maybe the eventide is a bit of a better time for that right maybe not last thing at night before you go to bed if you find that hard maybe a little bit earlier you can really think about the Word of God to give me a long gap kind of between first thing in the morning and last thing at night as well if you're not in the things of God if you're not you know it either in church or or trying to prepare sermons and things like that he said and Isaac went out to meditate in the field of the eventide that's not like at night that for me is as evening is starting and he lifted up his eyes and saw and behold the camels were coming when Rebecca 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 walks in the field to meet us and the servant has said it is my master and therefore she took a veil and covered herself right so she's she's approaching he's in he he's in the he's in the field he looks up he sees them coming she comes off the camel and she then takes this veil and covers herself now there was apparently and again I don't know how accurate this is a customer monks betrothed women went about to be married now that custom does kind of continue now in certain cultures and still even in Western culture to some degree some women will wear a veil you know and you know approaching the altar and things like that I don't know exactly how and when and etc that started and when I say the altar that's kind of the classic church whether you see here is it but people will do that still now I don't know if they were or what then however I do believe that this is the final part of our picture with the veil representing the veil that separated the most holy in the sanctuary the veil hung in that last temple in Jerusalem but what happened to it was rent or ripped ultimately removed in two when Christ died with the birth of the New Testament yeah which was the official start really the official start at least of the New Testament Church pictured here by Rebecca Rebecca's removing of the veil as she marries Isaac so that for me is kind of the final piece of that and we see she puts a veil but that's removed obviously as she marries Isaac which is then that that becoming the wife as we see for example the picture in Ephesians 5 the bride of Christ him representing Christ and the start of the New Testament Church and it says in verse 66 in 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 and that that is the end of Genesis chapter 24 I hope you know you've kind of got some there's a few different different points going there but for me that that is a great picture there isn't it and that's what I believe that is I hope you agree I hope I've explained that well we're gonna finish up in prayer how many father thank you for well just the richness the depth of the Word of God Lord and just just just how amazing it is just how much that we you know we can see things prophecies foretellings that see just you know pictures of things that happened thousand years later and just just just how amazing the Word of God is Lord and we thank you for that we thank you that we have such a great Bible and also that well we thank you for the many lessons that we've got out of that chapter as well that hopefully we can apply to our life especially the soul-winning and they're wanting to be though that sort of productive church member like we see that that picture of that great productive Rebecca there and just help us to apply some of these lessons to our lives this week Lord help us to all get home safe and sound tonight please and until return safe and sound on Sunday for another day in your house in Jesus name for all of us amen