Today we are attempting to finish the seventeenth
chapter.
Last Sunday, you will remember, we studied the
first eight verses and so we're beginning with
verse nine and reading through verse twenty-seven.
Genesis chapter seventeen and verse nine.
God said further to Abraham, now as for
you, you shall keep my covenant.
You and your descendants after you throughout their
generations.
This is my covenant.
Now you will notice in the next verse,
it will be said, it shall be the
sign of the covenant between me and you.
And this is one of those occasions in
which by metonymy, the word covenant is to
be understood as covenant sign or covenant condition.
The covenant as you know has already been
spelled out in the promises that were given
to Abraham and then ratified by the sacrifice
in chapter fifteen.
And so we are to understand the word
covenant in verse ten in the sense of
covenant sign.
As the following words make, I think, very
plain.
This is my covenant which you shall keep
between me and you and your descendants after
you.
Every male among you shall be circumcised.
And you shall be circumcised in the flesh
of your foreskin.
And it shall be the sign of the
covenant between me and you.
And every male among you who is eight
days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations.
A servant who is born in the house
or who is bought with money from any
foreigner who is not of your descendants.
A servant who is born in your house
or who is bought with your money shall
surely be circumcised.
Thus shall my covenant be in your flesh
for an everlasting covenant.
But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin, that person
shall be cut off from his people.
He has broken my covenant.
Then God said to Abraham, as for Sarah,
now just in order, I've been reading Sarah,
I've been reading this Sarah as Sarah right
along, but just for the sake of noting
the difference, let me read it.
As for Sarah, your wife, you shall not
call her name Sarah, but Sarah shall be
her name.
So far as we know, these two words
mean essentially the same thing.
One being the more archaic form and Sarah
being a more recent term.
There is, however, one little difference that may
be significant.
You can tell from Sarah that perhaps this
word is related a little more closely to
the name for the covenant keeping God, Yahweh,
or Yah as it is found in the
Old Testament.
And so there may be some significance in
that this name is more closely related to
that.
But so far as we can tell philologically,
these names are the same.
Some have suggested the first means princely, and
the second clearly means princess.
So with that, we will read on.
Verse 16, And I will bless her, and
indeed I will give you a son by
her.
Then I will bless her, and she shall
be a mother of nations.
Kings of peoples shall come from her.
That, of course, is why she is called
princess.
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed,
and said in his heart, Will a child
be born to a man one hundred years
old?
And will Sarah, who is ninety years of
age, bear a child?
And Abraham said to God, O that Ishmael
might live before thee.
One of the ancient Targums or Aramaic paraphrases
of the book of Genesis has an addition
to that verse.
O that Ishmael might live and worship before
thee.
And so the sense of living is to
live in the blessing of God's covenant blessings.
But God said no.
That's a very revealing illustration of how God
answers prayer.
He always answers prayer, but sometimes no.
And this is a case.
But God said no.
But Sarah your wife shall bear you a
son, and you shall call his name Isaac.
Isaac means laughter.
And I will establish my covenant with him
for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after
him.
And as for Ishmael, I have heard you.
Behold, I will bless him and will make
him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly.
He shall become the father of twelve princes.
Incidentally, their names are given later on in
chapter twenty-five of this book.
And I will make him a great nation.
But my covenant I will establish with Isaac,
whom Sarah will bear to you at this
season next year.
And when he had finished, when he finished
talking with him, God went up from Abraham.
Then Abraham took Ishmael his son and all
the servants who were born in his house
and all who were bought with his money,
every male among the men of Abraham's household,
and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in
the very same day as God had said
to him.
Now Abraham was ninety-nine years old when
he was circumcised in the flesh of his
foreskin.
And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old
when he was circumcised in the flesh of
his foreskin.
In the very same day Abraham was circumcised
and Ishmael his son.
And all the men of his household who
were born in the house or bought with
money from a foreigner were circumcised with him.
May the Lord bless this reading of his
inspired word.
The subject for this morning in the exposition
of the book of Genesis is the sign
of the Abrahamic covenant.
One of the most striking truths of Abraham's
story is the willingness of the eternal God
to enter into a relationship with man like
the familiarity and intimacy of friendship.
As you may know, three times in the
word of God Abraham is called the friend
of God.
It's a remarkable statement, each one of them,
but the thought of a man being the
friend of God is astounding.
In the Old Testament, in that terrible moment
when news came to Jehoshaphat of Judah that
a formidable alliance of heathen nations was now
arrayed against him, the great king stood in
fear before the Lord God and prayed this
prayer, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
art thou not God in the heavens?
Art thou not ruler over all the kingdoms
of the nations?
Power and might are in thy hands so
that no one can stand against thee.
Dost thou not, O God, drive out the
inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel
and give it to the descendants of Abraham,
thy friend, forever?
Then in the New Testament, James, the brother
of our Lord, who has written the most
practical epistle in which he has set forth
the relationship of faith and works, has a
clause concerning Abraham, and he was called the
friend of God.
The New Testament writer commenting upon the Old
Testament and its reference to Abraham as the
friend of God.
I'm sure that if we looked at this
just humanly, however, we would say that the
most significant reference to Abraham as the friend
of God is the one in which Jehovah
himself uses the term of Abraham.
Now, of course, we know that all of
the Bible is inspired and if one of
the prophets should call Abraham the friend of
God, or if God should call him the
friend of God, those statements have equal authority.
But nevertheless, it is very significant that the
same one who in the same context is
called the Lord, the first and the last,
I am he, is the one who says,
but you Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I
have chosen, descendant of Abraham, my friend.
Isn't it a wonderful thing to be known
as the friend of God?
Now, Webster says that a friend is one
who is attached to another by affection or
esteem.
That's a human definition.
It's not nearly full enough to encompass all
that the Bible says about the friendship of
God and Abraham, because the friendship of God
and Abraham is the friendship established by the
Abrahamic covenant.
And in this relationship, Abraham becomes God's friend
by virtue of the fact that he was
chosen by God.
Now, we know from other statements in the
Bible that down in the ages of the
past, or back in the ages of the
past, God already had upon his mind the
choice of Abraham.
But he chose him.
And the time came when he justified him.
And then in the present part of our
study of Abraham, he is on the way
to sanctification and ultimately to glory.
So that to be the friend of God
encompasses the choice of God, the justification of
God, the continuing work of sanctification, and ultimately
glorification.
Well, Abraham had a great experience.
His experiences still continue.
He is enjoying, never as he did on
earth, the privilege of being the friend of
God.
This pattern of involvement is precisely the same
found between us and the Lord.
And maybe this is one of the minor
reasons at least why we are called, we
who have believed in Jesus Christ, the offspring
of Abraham, or Abraham's seed.
There is a relationship between us and Abraham
that reflects the relationship that Abraham had with
the Lord God.
In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus speaks
about this.
In John chapter 15 and verse 15, he
said to the apostles in the upper room,
no longer do I call you slaves, for
the slave does not know what his master
is doing, but I have called you friends.
For all things that I have heard from
my father, I have made known to you.
No longer slaves, but friends.
And in the context of that 15th chapter
of the gospel of John, in an earlier
verse, the Lord had said to them, I
have loved you.
And then in the 16th verse, he says,
I have chosen you.
And he said also, I have appointed you
that you should bring forth fruit.
And so we find the same kind of
pattern.
It is the choice of our Lord Jesus
Christ based upon the love that he had
for them.
And that choice and that love had as
a distinct aim and goal, appointment for a
specific service and sanctification or growth in holiness.
So the pattern then is the same for
us as for Abraham.
And that pattern is the pattern of divine
initiating grace.
Isn't that a great expression?
Divine initiating grace and faith obedience, but a
faith obedience that is given by God.
And the result is a friendship that we
cannot merit, which is not earned by the
things that we do, but is bestowed upon
us in grace as God through the Holy
Spirit works in our hearts and minds to
bring us to trust in him who died
for sinners.
There are certain evidences of the establishment of
the relationship, and we are reminded of some
of them here, specifically the sign of circumcision.
For the covenant had a sign.
The New Testament says that the sign of
circumcision or that circumcision was a sign of
justification by faith and of the necessity of
purity in life.
We shall talk about that in more detail
in just a moment.
But these are the things that mark out
the friends of God.
In the case of Abraham, he was a
man who had by the grace of God
been brought into this experience, and finally he
had been circumcised.
And of course the necessity of purity in
his life was expressed in the opening part
of this chapter when God said to him,
walk before me and be thou blameless.
So the marks of a true believer are
the marks of the work of God in
his heart and in his soul and the
resulting evidence of that life in his daily
experience.
These are the things that mark out the
true children of God.
Now with that in mind, let's turn to
the passage that we're looking at.
And first of all, in the opening verses
of the section beginning with the ninth verse,
we have the stipulation set forth concerning the
sign of the covenant.
Now there are a couple of things that
I would like for you to notice.
First of all, I want you to notice
just a simple fact of structure because I
think it will help you in reading the
Bible.
Incidentally, one of the reasons that we expound
the text in Believer's Chapel, generally speaking, in
an expository way, book by book, is not
simply to preach to your problems.
That's a very, that's a very difficult thing
to do and furthermore it's probably something that
only an omniscient person could do effectively.
We don't usually try to do that kind
of preaching.
In first, and in second place, it's embarrassing
and wrongfully embarrassing in the sense that we
seek to mark out certain people as specially
needing the work of the Word of God.
We all need that constantly and how much
better it is to expound the whole of
Scripture so that we can get the whole
of the counsel of God and allow the
Holy Spirit to make the applications to the
various problems that we have.
Now I feel that in preaching one of
the aims should be when you leave the
preaching of the Word of God you should
be able to read that passage and understand
it better than you ever have before.
So our aim, one of our greatest aims
in expository preaching, is to bring those who
listen to it to the place where they
can read it for themselves and so far
as that passage is concerned you don't need
some little minoture pope up here to interpret
the Word for you.
We want you to be able to do
it for yourself.
Now there are a few things that help
us and this I think is one.
You will notice in verse three and four
we read, and Abram fell on his face
and God talked with him saying, as for
me.
Notice that little clause, as for me.
Now what is unfolded in these wills and
shalls that we looked at last week is
the divine activity.
But in verse nine notice the change.
And God said further to Abraham, now as
for you.
And in the Hebrew text these clauses or
phrases are opposed one to the other.
So that in the first we have the
divine activity whereas now here the stress will
rest upon the responsibility of Abraham and those
who are part of that covenant.
So now as for you, you shall keep
my covenant, you and your descendants after you
throughout your generations.
Let me make one other statement here.
It needs to be made I think.
We're going to talk about circumcision.
Now that can be an indecorous matter to
bring up in a congregation of mixed sects
such as this.
In fact, one commentator commenting upon this chapter
said there's hardly a section of this chapter
that could be preached on, maybe a part
down here.
But he was anxious to avoid the stress
upon things that might be embarrassing, not proper
in a mixed audience.
Now we won't go quite as far as
that, but decorum does demand that we give
just as little detail as necessary.
To circumcise was to cut off the foreskin
of the male or female sex organ.
Now in the Old Testament the circumcision of
females is not referred to at all, but
it did exist.
The circumcision of the male is the important
thing.
Now the circumcision or the act of circumcising
was something that was practiced not only in
Israel but also among other nations, in Egypt
for example.
But there was something very different about the
circumcision of the heathen or the pagan.
And the difference was simply this, that this
circumcision is associated with a covenant.
It has a specific meaning.
And so we'll bear that in mind when
we talk about circumcision.
It has to do with the cutting off
of the foreskin of the male sex organ.
Now notice in this opening statement in verse
9 that no details are given.
The important thing is commitment to the covenant.
God's brand upon the males in Israel was
circumcision.
So he said you shall keep my covenant.
He does not spell out details because the
fundamental thing is the commitment to the Lord
represented by obedience to this particular requirement.
Now I think that's rather interesting because later
on at Mount Sinai, God will fill in
a great deal by way of detail.
He will set forth a whole manner of
life encompassed in the Mosaic law.
Now this may help us if we have
difficulty in the relationship of the believer to
the Mosaic law today.
It may help us to realize that holiness
is not restricted to the keeping of the
Mosaic law as is the opinion of some.
Some feel that if you do not put
yourself under the law of Moses, the Ten
Commandments, and even some of the civil and
social laws, you cannot really have holiness and
you cannot preach holiness.
I remind you of the fact that for
2,000 years men walked with God without
Mosaic law.
Mosaic law is not necessary for a holy
walk with God.
In fact, the two individuals of whom it
is said they walked with God were men
who were not under Mosaic law.
Enoch walked with God.
He didn't know anything about Mount Sinai.
Noah walked with God.
He did not know anything about Mount Sinai.
Now it was the same God and the
same high principles of holiness prevailed.
So let us remember that.
And we have here a call from God,
walk before me and be blameless.
And the obligations of the Mosaic law are
not spelled out at all.
Well, what about circumcision?
We've mentioned the fact that it was practiced
in other lands.
So far as the origin of it is
concerned, we do not really know its origin.
Unfortunately, we just don't have enough data.
It is possible that it originated with this
call of Abraham.
Some have sought to support that, and perhaps
that's true.
But we do know this, that regardless of
the source of the practice, it is only
in connection with Abraham's circumcision that covenantal relationships
are set forth.
But what is its meaning?
That's the important thing.
And I want to say, I'm not sure
that I understand everything that there is to
be understood.
Well, I could say that about anything in
the Bible, but especially about this question of
circumcision.
And let me also say this is a
very difficult subject, and I hope that you
will try to follow as closely as you
possibly can.
It's not easy to speak about the significance
of this ancient rite.
But I'm going to suggest to you that
the circumcising of Abraham and of the males
in Israel included at least these four spiritual
significances.
First of all, it included or it referred
to the removal of the body of the
flesh.
Now, what I would like for you to
do is to turn with me to the
New Testament in order to read with me
the New Testament commentary upon circumcision as it
pertains to the removal of the body of
the flesh.
And so will you turn with me to
Colossians chapter 2, and will you listen as
I read verse 9 through 11.
But 11 is the important verse, and so
I'll begin reading as you find Colossians 2,
11.
But for in him all the fullness of
deity dwells in bodily form, and in him
you have been made complete, and he is
the head over all rule and authority.
And in him you were also circumcised.
Now, of course, Paul is speaking metaphorically here,
figuratively.
And in him you were also circumcised with
a circumcision made without hands in the removal
of the body of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ.
And he explains in the verse that follows,
having been buried with him in baptism, a
baptism also made without hands probably, in whom
you were also raised up with him through
faith in the working of God who raised
him from the dead.
So Paul is saying that when Christ died
and when he was raised again, you were
identified with him in his death, his burial,
and his resurrection.
That's one of Paul's great doctrines of union
with Christ on the part of the believers.
He's our representative.
We share in all of the activity that
was his.
But in verse 11, he identifies this with
the removal of the body of the flesh,
so that in the identification with our Lord
in his death, burial, and resurrection, we are
in the sight of God, those who have
had removed the body of the flesh.
Now, that is, I think, one of the
primary significances of the work of circumcision.
It was designed to be an illustration, a
figure, even a type of what was accomplished
when Jesus Christ died.
So I suggest to you that circumcision was
intended to refer to the removal of the
body of the flesh.
Now again, without, for purposes of propriety, without
going into details, there were natural impurities associated
with the male sexual organ, which circumcision was
designed to correct.
Furthermore, if you'll remember that the male sexual
organ is the source of the semen from
which the generation of the race proceeds, you
will see immediately that the idea back of
circumcising has to do with the removal of
impurities.
And consequently, too, since it is the source
of generation, the source of life, and the
source of the propagation of life, it is
suggested by God in this, that what we
have here is representative of the original sin
of man and of its provision in the
saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So that what is represented by circumcision has
to do with the putting off of the
old man and the putting on of the
new, or the removal of the body of
the flesh.
Franz Delitzsch, one of the great interpreters of
the Old Testament of the last century, after
having cooperated with another writer in a book
on the Pentateuch, wrote his own new commentary
on Genesis, and in that commentary he wrote,
as sacrifice arose from the feeling of the
need of an atonement, so did circumcision from
the feeling of the impurity of human nature.
So represented then in the act of circumcision
is an illustration, it is an illustration of
the fact that in the death of Christ,
we who are identified with him have been
removed from the sphere of the old man
and translated into the sphere of the new
creation in Christ.
Therefore, you can see this is a very
important thing.
In the fifth chapter of the book of
Joshua, the children of Israel having forgotten to
circumcise the males for a generation, had to
be circumcised again, and the whole nation was
circumcised, and it took place at Gilgal, meaning
rolling.
And the idea back of that was the
rolling away of the flesh.
And it was to Gilgal, incidentally, in the
conga of the land that they always came
back to, because it's from the place of
the denial of self and flesh that one
gains victory in spiritual life.
But there at Gilgal, God said that was
the rolling away of the reproach of Egypt.
So circumcision then signifies the removal of the
body of the flesh, it signifies the removal
of the reproach of the world, the association
that we have with the world by nature,
the purification that God intends to accomplish in
the lives of all of his saints.
In other passages in the Old Testament, this
becomes figurative, and Moses will speak about circumcise
the foreskin of your heart.
And again, the figurative sense of it is
expressed in the fact that the heart is
really the thing that lies back of this
practice.
Now there are people who have difficulty with
these matters, but you see God is trying
to strike at the root of the problem
of human nature.
Thoreau, who was not noted for good biblical
things, said there are a hundred men hacking
at the branches of evil to one who
is striking at the root.
Well, God was trying to strike at the
root of evil, original sin, in giving them
this right so that they would think about
this, for they thought deeply about these things.
A preacher by the name of Seth Joshua
once told how he met a man who
said he could not swallow what preachers called
original sin.
Mr. Joshua said to him, my good fellow,
there's no occasion for you to swallow it.
It's inside you already.
So it is.
It's something with which we have to contend.
And this is one of the purposes of
circumcision, to stress the removal of the body
of the flesh as suggestive of the fact
that those who belong to the Lord are
those who have truly received the grace of
justification, but whose lives then are characterized by
a growth in holiness and purity.
That's the first thing that circumcision appears to
suggest.
Now we have already said that it signifies
faith righteousness.
It is the apostle Paul in Romans chapter
4 who makes that point.
And I'd like for you to turn to
that passage too, because it's another comment by
the apostle on the Old Testament.
The apostle, incidentally, it would be interesting to
have him sit in our audiences and hear
us preach, wouldn't it?
But in some ways I'm kind of glad
he's not here.
But in other ways I feel that if
he were here he would say, well, you
are right on this point at least, because
I was turning to his own work and
giving his interpretation of the Old Testament.
In Romans chapter 4 and verse 11, now
remember in this chapter Paul is arguing against
those who thought that it was necessary not
only to believe in Christ, perhaps, but also
to be circumcised in order to be saved.
And he was making the simple little point,
you haven't bothered to look at the numbering
of the chapters in the book of Genesis.
Why it's in the 15th chapter that it
says that he was justified, it's not until
the 17th chapter that Abraham was circumcised.
And so it's obvious that his justification didn't
depend on circumcision.
So his answer is simply this.
Genesis 15 comes before Genesis 17.
But in making his comments he defines circumcision.
And he received the sign of circumcision, this
is Romans 4 11, a seal of the
righteousness of the faith which he had while
uncircumcised.
So circumcision was given as a sign or
seal of the righteousness that came by faith.
So ideally when the males were circumcised it
was designed to represent the necessity of a
true faith relationship to the Lord.
And ideally when the children of Israel grew
up and believed in Jehovah, then the sign
of circumcision was truly a sign and seal
of a faith righteousness.
It was never intended to be a righteousness
by works.
But human inability to take the doctrine of
sin, original sin, frequently transforms the things that
God intends to be illustrations of faith principles
and practices and experiences into works.
But it was a sign of faith righteousness.
It was to mark out the children of
Israel as distinct from the pagans and heathen
about them.
Every Christian is to be marked out as
different from the world.
Separate.
Now our separation is the separation of a
faith righteousness and a measure of holiness, growth
and holiness, in our daily life.
There is a third thing that circumcision signified.
It signified a commitment to the Lord.
Well that of course is simply the other
side of the removal of the body of
the flesh.
But it is stated in the Old Testament,
I think, very plainly in Jeremiah chapter 4
and verse 4.
Now we'll take time for a cup of
tea while some of you find Jeremiah.
But will you turn to Jeremiah chapter 4
and verse 4.
And will you listen as I read.
I'll begin at verse 3 and I'd like
for you to read it for yourself.
So don't hesitate to turn there.
And if you cannot find Jeremiah, there is
an index that you can look it up.
We all have to start there sometime.
Verse 3, for thus says the Lord to
the men of Judah and to Jerusalem, break
up your fallow ground and do not sow
among thorns.
Now notice the first line of verse 4.
I'm reading from the New American Standard Bible.
Circumcise yourselves to the Lord.
Here it's not circumcise the foreskins of your
hearts as in Deuteronomy 10 and 16.
But circumcise yourselves to the Lord.
Then he says and remove the foreskins of
your heart.
In other words, circumcision signifies the removal of
the body of the flesh, the old man.
But it also signified then the commitment to,
positively, to the Lord.
Because holiness is not only negative but positive.
And both aspects are true of the purity
that should characterize us.
Legalism frequently intrudes when attention is given to
the negatives.
Do not, do not, do not, do not.
And frequently the negatives are things that we
can do very easily.
I remember when I grew up in churches
it was, when I first came in among
evangelicals, I was puzzled.
Do not smoke.
Do not drink.
Do not go to the theater.
Do not wear lipstick.
That was especially for you ladies.
It was all right to go to the
beauty parlor but not to wear lipstick.
And so on.
Do not listen to the radio.
Later on it was do not listen to
the TV.
And things like this.
These are the tendencies of human nature because
you see people can do those things.
I could stay away from the theater.
I could stay away from other things.
And I certainly could stay away from lipstick.
And so if you, if you did these
things you were thought to be spiritual.
But they were negatives.
It's very easy to get entrapped in negatives.
Some of which may be good of themselves,
but not to be approached from the standpoint
of legalism.
The positive is so important because when a
person is committed positively, positively to the Lord
and develops that personal relationship to him positively,
it won't be long before the true negatives
begin to disappear.
So circumcise yourself to the Lord.
That's important.
So this signified commitment to the Lord.
And then finally from the 14th verse of
the 17th chapter of Genesis, it signifies commitment
to the Lord's people.
We read, but an uncircumcised male who is
not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,
that person shall be cut off from his
people.
He has broken the covenant.
So the circumcised belong together in a company
of the fellowship of Israel.
And likewise today those who belong to our
Lord Jesus Christ are a company of people.
When we believe in him, we're not simply
an individual saved by grace, but we are
more.
We are part of the body of Christ.
And so it signified a commitment to the
Lord's people.
There is some possibility of a parallel with
baptism here, but that would take a lengthy
period of time to discuss.
And I think Mr. Storms has discussed that
certainly adequately in recent studies in the adult
class in this room, so I'll pass that
by.
Let me say this.
This question of circumcision must have had some
very personal and practical significance for the children
of Israel.
It was an extremely personal right, of course.
Now, let me just say this.
It had special significance for parents.
It had special significance for the wife of
the man.
And it had special significance for the man
himself.
For the parents of the man, it would
confirm the fact that they had been faithful
in transmitting the seed given them in their
nature by God to a son from or
with whom God had blessed their union.
For the wife of the Israelite, it would
be a sign to her.
It would confirm her and give assurance to
her that the individual to whom she was
married and who would share with her his
life was a true follower of the covenant
of Abraham.
And it would give her encouragement and assurance
as she gave herself completely to him to
know that this obedience to the command of
God had been carried out.
And she would therefore have greater hope that
God would bless their union and bless their
family.
And to the man himself, it was a
daily testimony that he and his family were
consecrated to the God of Abraham.
It was a reminder to him constantly of
his obligations and especially of his privileges, that
he belonged to Israel, the chosen people of
God.
Well, you can see that this was a
very significant thing, and therefore it is extremely
significant when someone defies it.
And we read of that in verse 14.
But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin, that person
shall be cut off from his people.
He has broken my covenant.
That would be the evidence of rebellion.
And when a person refused to submit to
circumcision, it was a sign that he was
out of harmony with the God who gave
this ordinance.
Incidentally, you will notice that the ultimate guilt
is not the parents.
It does not say in verse 14, but
an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in
the flesh of his foreskin shall have his
parents cut off from the people of God.
Because ultimately the responsibility tended to attach to
the individual involved.
So that the human responsibility rested finally on
the individual.
And if he should discover later on what
the word of God said and that the
right had not been performed upon him as
an infant, then it was his responsibility to
be circumcised even if he was as Abraham
at age 99.
Now we turn briefly and consider the participation
of Sarah in the covenant.
Remembering that up to this point no specific
word has been given that Sarah is to
be the mother of the promised seed.
Now one might have thought that if he
had thought deeply about this one might have
come to the conclusion that Sarah must be
the mother because does not the revelation of
God teach that the union of a man
and wife should be monogamous.
That is polygamy seems to be excluded by
the initial provision to Adam of a wife.
And he might then have reasoned from that,
that if poly, that if monogamy is the
teaching of God's revelation then Sarah must be
the mother.
But up to this point there is no
direct word that Sarah is to be the
mother of the seed and thus the unhappy
incident with Hagar.
Well we read now beginning with verse 15.
Then God said to Abraham as for Sarah
your wife you shall not call her name
Sarah a Sarah but Sarah shall be her
name.
So she's to be given a new name
just as Abram's name became Abraham, exalted father,
father of a multitude, without any but one
child up to this point.
So Sarah if her name meant princely she
is to be called princess.
And she's called princess because kings shall come
for from her.
So just as God's confirmation of the covenant
to Abraham is marked by the change of
his name and the seal is given.
So here Sarah too is given a new
name which more beautifully expresses the fact that
she is a princess.
I've known lots of female princesses but she's
the princess so far as I'm concerned.
So far as the Bible is concerned I
should say.
Now Abram's response is incredulous reaction and I
can certainly understand.
Abram fell on his face that was what
he did more than once you know.
That's not bad perhaps he had some marks
on his face from sudden falls.
But we read in verse 3 and Abram
fell on his face and here again in
verse 17.
That's not a bad place for the godly
to be on their face before the Lord.
So he fell on his face before the
Lord and as he did he said within
his heart well he laughed first.
He laughed.
Now there's some kinds of laughter that are
the laughter of joy that is the laughter
of joy.
For example when an extra point is kicked
that means the game.
Or when a field goal is missed by
the opponent that means the game.
A lot of good laughter takes place then.
Hearty laughter.
Well this was laughter and I think in
this case it was the laughter of faith.
Now later in the next chapter Sarah will
laugh too but her laughter happens to be
the laughter of unbelief.
But his I believe is probably the laughter
of belief although there are some things that
could be said otherwise.
But since God does not reprove Abraham I'm
rather inclined to think that it was incredulous
reaction but believing in its essence.
And so he said shall a child be
born to a man 100 years old and
will Sarah who is 90 years old bear
a child?
And he couldn't resist it because for 13
years now Ishmael had been growing up and
he had become attached to this young man
who evidently was a very manly kind of
man and no doubt had won Abraham's heart.
And so there came from Abraham an evidence
he was not yet completely sir completely sanctified
for he said oh that Ishmael might live
before thee.
And when he says live he means live
in worship that is live in the sense
of possessing the relationship of covenantal union.
Oh that Ishmael might live before thee.
Perhaps he thought Ishmael was the seed you
see.
He had the child.
Could it be 13 years?
Could it be that Ishmael is the seed?
No special word had been given him evidently
that Sarah was to have the seed.
Now God replies in a very interesting way.
He first of all says no.
Now you would think that here is a
father who loves a son 13 years old
he's become become very attached to him and
he speaks out of great love and devotion
to Ishmael and certainly all of a father's
desire that the child might have the blessing
of God.
Oh that Ishmael might live before thee.
You cannot help but sympathize with Abraham for
his petition but God is not a person
who has moved to change his purposes by
our pleas.
Please remember that.
Now he does bless Ishmael as we shall
see but so far as his purpose is
concerned that purpose is an inviolable purpose.
So the answer is no.
That's a great lesson in prayer.
Sometimes the answers are no and we must
bow to them.
Sometimes they are yes.
Sometimes we must wait but the answer comes.
It's no in this case.
Now he will go on to say that
he has heard Ishmael but before he does
let me read verse 19.
No but Sarah your wife shall bear your
son and you shall call his name Isaac.
Which means he left.
In order to remind Abraham every time he
looked at Isaac you left.
Every time he looked at Mr. Laughter he
thought about how incredulously he had responded to
the word of God.
It reminded him too of the fact that
Isaac was a supernatural son.
Last week I said just as supernaturally as
when God said let there be light there
was light so he spoke to the dead
bodies of Abraham and Sarah and said let
there be Isaac and Isaac was conceived and
born.
So call his name Laughter.
God has a sense of humor.
Mr. Laughter.
I imagine that did a good bit for
Abraham's sanctification too.
And he said I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant for his
descendants after him.
Now I have been saying all along and
I know you're saying I know what you're
thinking Dr. Johnson's overemphasizing this.
No I'm not.
I'm not.
If you want to come and argue with
me I'll be waiting up here for you.
But I am not overemphasizing this.
Do you know why?
Because there are so many people who say
he's overemphasizing it when they really don't believe
what I'm talking about at all.
It's their way of avoiding the issue.
What we have here is God's distinguishing grace.
No for Ishmael.
Yes for Isaac.
Now there is no way in which we
can avoid the significance of that and fortunately
the apostles are our best guides.
Do you know how Paul got all of
those horrible things?
I put that in quotes because I of
course think they're great, wonderful.
Do you know how he got all of
those horrible things in Romans chapter 9 when
he talks about foreordination, about how God has
mercy to whom he will have mercy and
how he hardens whom he will harden?
Do you know where Paul got all of
those things?
Did he go around the corner one day
in Jerusalem and find them written in secret
handwriting from God?
No he got them from the study of
the Bible.
He just studied the Bible and he read
the Bible and he pondered it and he
realized these were the things that God was
saying in the book of Genesis.
Now let me read you from the ninth
chapter of the epistle of the Romans.
Listen to what Paul says and notice the
application.
He's just arguing from having read this very
chapter that we're talking about.
But it is not as though the word
of God has failed for they are not
all Israel who are descended from Israel.
Neither are they all children because they're Abraham's
descendants.
But through Isaac your descendants will be named.
That is it is not the children of
the flesh who are the children of God
but the children of the promise are regarded
as descendants.
And then having talked about God's purpose according
to his choice he adds so then it
does not depend on man who wills or
on man who runs but on God who
has mercy.
You see this is God's purpose according to
the election of grace.
And so Ishmael is excluded.
The purpose of God does not encompass him.
Now if you've got some better idea of
how this ought to be done I'd like
to hear it.
But if I hear it you have to
give me my give me the privilege of
responding to it.
Because there is no better way to do
what has been done than the way that
God has done it.
It also is a test of our true
submission to the word of God.
So it was no for Ishmael but it
was yes for Isaac.
Now God is a benevolent God.
He is a loving God in two senses.
There are certain people he loves with the
love of choice.
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.
That's the choice.
But so far as the love of benevolence
is concerned he's been good to all of
us.
He's good to you.
He's allowed you to live all of these
years and have an opportunity to hear the
word of God expounded for all of the
years of your life in order that you
might respond and believe and become a member
of the family of God.
He's been long suffering to you when you've
spoken against him and argued against him and
despised his word and refused him and contemned
the mercy that he has given to you.
So he is good and benevolent and he
is good and benevolent to Ishmael.
Whether Ishmael ultimately came to heaven or not
the Bible does not tell us.
It's possible that he did but he was
not in the purpose and plan of God
so far as the Messiah was concerned.
Listen to what he says.
As for Ishmael, verse 20, I have heard
you.
Behold I will bless him and I will
make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly.
He shall become the father of twelve princes
and I will make him a great nation
but my covenant I will establish with Isaac
whom Sarah will bear to you at this
season next year.
So the covenant is confirmed with Isaac who
is to be born.
Ishmael is blessed but the purpose of God
is through the supernatural son Isaac an illustration
of the supernatural son who will come the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Well you know I've seen a lot of
presidential news conferences.
I don't see quite as many now as
I used to.
Not quite as interested for some reason these
days but anyway I do remember that when
everybody gathers there will somebody somebody will say
ladies and gentlemen the president of the United
States of America.
Everybody quiets down or maybe there's some clapping.
Well that's kind of like Abram's manifestation of
God to him.
That is God appeared to him but when
the time comes for the conference to end
you know the president just walks off the
stage after having said thank you.
That's the end.
He doesn't say now do you mind if
I leave.
He just leaves.
Well that's what we read in verse 22
and when he had finished talking with him
God went up from Abraham and the result
as you know is that Abraham will me
immediately set out to obey the commands that
had been given to him a beautiful illustration
of the obedience of faith.
Well our time is gone.
Let me just mention to you this.
Abraham's experiences are in some ways unique.
There is only one Abrahamic covenant but nevertheless
the experiences in essence are experiences that are
open to us.
They are the experiences of faith and trust
and in the sphere of life in which
he has placed you it is in that
sphere that you are to have the experience
of faith and trust.
In other words all of the questions that
affect your daily life are questions that are
to be decided as Abram's destiny was decided
in his relationship to the Lord God.
You are my friends the Lord Jesus said
if you do what I command you and
Abram was a person who responded in this
instance in faith.
I'd like to close by just asking you
if you will when you leave to read
the words that Mr. Meyer has written in
response.
Oh friends of God he says why do
you not make more of your transcendent privileges.
Life is really one long talk with God
one long Emmaus road journey.
May the Lord help us who have believed
in the Lord Jesus to treat it in
that way.
We are his friends and we are his
friends when we do that which has been
commanded us.
Take advantage of your opportunities to come to
know God to know him truly in your
experience and you will find that the blessings
of life will be yours.
If you're here this morning and you are
not a friend of God you may become
a friend of God through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ who offered the atoning sacrifice
shedding his blood for the remission of sins
and the forgiveness of sins is offered to
all.
Upon the basis of trust in him if
through the Holy Spirit you have seen your
sin.
Your sin has been covered in the cross
of Calvary and may God bring you to
trust in him and receive as a free
gift everlasting life.
Don't leave this auditorium without the personal word
to the Lord in which you receive as
a free gift everlasting life.
Let's stand for the benediction we are so
thankful to the Lord for the word of
God the difficult sections as well as the
simple ones and we thank thee for this
account of the right of circumcision and all
that it meant.
Enable us Lord as those who have been
circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands
reflect in our lives the purity that will
glorify thee.
May grace mercy and peace go with us
for Jesus sake.
Amen.