(soft music) - Good morning. - [Congregation] Good morning. - Welcome to Westminister
Presbyterian Church. We are thankful that you are here. If you're visiting with us this morning, a special welcome to you. Let me give you a few
announcements before we begin. You'll see in your bulletin on page six, that our missions committee
is offering an update to the 2021 missions fund disbursements. You can review that on
your own this afternoon, but let me just remind you
that our missions budget is kept separate from the
ordinary church operating budget. And so our tithes and our
offerings toward missions require a special designation. So please continue to
pray for our missionaries and give if you are led to do so to the missions work of our church. Number two, you'll see on the next page, let me remind you again, of the congregational meeting next Sunday, after each of the two
morning worship services. I have a special interest in
this congregational meeting. You can read about the details, but let me just say what a joy it's been almost at a year mark to serve here as a pastor on staff here, to have my family here and it's a true delight, and we're looking forward to next Sunday. And then finally, please
keep on your calendars. The new events that are
taking place in late August, August 22nd, our fall kickoff Sunday, where you will learn much more about all of the new fall activities and Sunday school classes
that will be offered. And then remember August 25th, the first regular Wednesday
night gathering of our church, beginning with dinner at 5:30 to 6:30 with activities for the whole church. We hope that this is a
wonderful anchor for your week if you're able to fit it in. And we look forward to
seeing what the Lord will do over the course of the coming months through that gathering. Well, we've come to worship the true and living God this morning. And so hear these words from Psalm 16. "The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup, you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for
me in pleasant places. Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance." (soft music) - The call to worship this morning is from Isaiah 60:1-3. "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the
Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness
shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples, but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light and Kings to the
brightness of your rising." Let us pray. Our father in heaven, we worship and glorify you today, come and see what God has done. He is awesome in his deeds
toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land. They pass through the river on foot. We rejoice in you, oh Lord. The God of our salvation. We shout for joy in all the earth for you and your great goodness. And for the glory of your matchless name have rescued us from sin and death. You have delivered us
unto glory in Christ. We pray, oh Lord, that you
would bless our worship today. Commune with us according
to all your promises, which have their yes and amen in Christ. And we lift our prayers and indeed our hearts to you this morning in Christ's name and by the
power of his intercession in our behalf, amen. People of God, our father in heaven is faithful. His promises are sure. For Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Let us stand and sing
the first four verses of "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past". ♪ O God, our help in ages past ♪ ♪ Our hope for years to come ♪ ♪ Our shelter from the stormy blast ♪ ♪ And our eternal home ♪ ♪ Under the shadow of your throne ♪ ♪ Your saints have dwelt secure ♪ ♪ Sufficient is your arm alone ♪ ♪ And our defense is sure ♪ ♪ Before the hills in order stood ♪ ♪ Or earth received its frame, ♪ ♪ From everlasting you are God ♪ ♪ To endless years the same ♪ ♪ A thousand ages in your sight ♪ ♪ Are like an evening gone ♪ ♪ Short as the watch that ends the night ♪ ♪ Before the rising sun ♪ - Amen, please be seated. This morning we have the
great privilege and joy of receiving two more communing
members to our church. You remember that this
past year fifth graders who participated in the communicants class went through a detailed curriculum led by Elder Eric Elder. That class then interviewed
individually with the session, examining them as to
their profession of faith, their understanding of the church. And then those students
were presented before you to take public membership vows. Well, Annalise LeBlanc and
Connor Wynne were out of town, when that class took their public vows, but they're here this morning. So I want to invite Annalise and Connor to come stand right over here. And as they're coming, let me remind you that every child born to members of the church of Jesus Christ are members of the covenant of grace. They are signified as
such in their baptism and in the wake of that
baptism as infants, they are loved in the church. They are kept by parents who
confess the name of Christ. They are prayed for that
they would receive and rest in all that their baptism signifies. What this means at Westminster is that our children are members of Westminster Presbyterian Church, but they become communing members when they take public vows and are examined by our session and then they have a right to the table of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and to all the rights and privileges that come with being a
member of Christ church. I had the great privilege of baptizing one of these two individuals, but it is my great delight to pose these questions to both of you, Connor and Annelise. So as I ask these questions, would you please respond from
the heart with a hearty I do. Do you acknowledge
yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving his displeasure and without hope save
in his sovereign mercy? - I do. - I'm gonna make it through this. Do you believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ is the son of God and savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is
offered in the gospel? - I do. - Do you now resolve and
promise in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit that you will endeavor to live as becomes followers of Christ? - I do. - Do you promise to support the church in its worship and work to the best of your ability? - I do. - Do you submit yourselves
to the government and discipline of the church and promise to study that is to promote its purity and peace? - I do. - Amen. Well, I have a quick
charge for both of you and I've chosen as a text, Hebrews 13:5. This is what it says. "Keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you
have for he, God has said, I will never leave you or forsake you." These are the words
that God spoke to Joshua when Joshua led the people
of God into a hostile land. God said, I will never
leave you or forsake you. And God says them to you as you grow up in a hostile world. But notice what God says at the beginning of this verse. He says, keep your life
free from the love of money and be content with what you have. You both have so much. You have parents who love you, you have siblings who
cheer for you and love you, you have a church that's welcomed you. You have ample opportunity
to grow and to achieve, to use all that God has
given you for his glory and we all want that for you. The problem is that we all have hearts that are prone to grumble, and prone to complain, prone to be discontent. And what's going to keep you
from that discontentment, what's gonna keep you fighting
against that tendency. Now that you've made
your profession of faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, well, it's this it's to remember that you have a God who will never leave you or forsake you. Connor and Annalise, you can be free from the love, a slavish love of material things. You can be content with
whatever the Lord brings. As Paul said, he learned to be content in every circumstance and you can do this because you have a God who will never leave you or forsake you. By faith, you are united
to the Lord, Jesus Christ and his spirit dwells within you and he is at work in you for his glory and he will never stop that work and he will bring you all
the way home to himself. Well, let's pray. Father in heaven we thank you for this wonderful reminder
of your faithfulness from generation to generation. We thank you for Connor and for Annalise. We pray that our church
would welcome them well, that we would encourage them, that they would encourage us. And that your glory might shine as the work of the gospel is made manifest in the lives of all of our
members, young and old, would you sustain and keep them and give them contentment in all things for you are the God who will never leave them or forsake them. We praise you and pray
this in Jesus name, amen. Well, let's stand and
sing the remaining verses of that hymn 30, "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past" ♪ The busy tribe of flesh and blood ♪ ♪ With all their lives and cares ♪ ♪ Are carried downward by your flood ♪ ♪ And lost in the foll'wing years ♪ ♪ Time like an ever-rolling stream ♪ ♪ Bears all its sons away ♪ ♪ They fly forgotten as a dream ♪ ♪ Dies at the op'ning day ♪ ♪ Our God our help in ages past ♪ ♪ Our hope for years to come ♪ ♪ O be our guard while troubles last ♪ ♪ And our eternal home ♪ - Our father and our God. We thank you for the salvation wrought in the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We thank you that in your
infinite and unsearchable wisdom, you appointed in the fullness of time to bring the promises made to Abraham to fruition in Christ. Just as you said to Abraham, and you shall all the nations be blessed. We thank you for the communion of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We thank you for the promise of Christ's return in glory and power that he will come again to
judge the world at the last day. Keep us until this day that we might be found
amongst the sons of Abraham in Christ's name, amen. Please be seated. ♪ Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ Just to take Him at His Word ♪ ♪ Just to rest upon His promise ♪ ♪ Just to know thus saith the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus ♪ ♪ Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend ♪ ♪ And I know that He's always with me ♪ ♪ Will be with me to the end ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him ♪ ♪ How I've proved Him o'er and o'er ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, for grace to trust Him more ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh, for grace to trust Him more ♪ Let us continue in our worship as we stand and sing the doxology. ♪ Praise God from whom
all blessings flow ♪ ♪ Praise him, all creatures here below ♪ ♪ Alleluia, alleluia ♪ ♪ Praise him above, ye heav'nly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia, alleluia, allelu-ia ♪ - Please be seated. Let us go before our Lord with a prayer of confession
and intercession, let us pray together. Our father in heaven, you are worthy to receive our worship for you are the living and true God. We praise you because at one time we were separated from Christ without hope and without God, but now in Christ Jesus, we who once were far away, have been brought near
by the blood of Christ. We thank you for your son Jesus, who went to the cross and
endured his suffering for us. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, he was raised from the dead. And now he's at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf. Lord, we know that we
have sinned against you by turning away from your commandment. The scripture says that is your will. That we should be sanctified, that we should avoid
the sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed. We confess we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed. Lord, forgive us. We ask that your grace would teach us to say no to ungodliness
and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives
in this present evil age. The scripture also calls
us to put our hope in God. Yet we must confess. At times we put our hope
in wealth and this world, when we are under great life pressure, we rely on ourselves
rather than rely on you who raised the dead. Father, forgive our unbelief and our sins, and by the power of your Holy Spirit, help us to place our hope in the promises of your word. We now pray for those who daily battle against
sickness and pain, injury, and advanced age. We pray for Mitchell Everett's father, Jean O'Callahan, Jonathan Jakes, Gayelord Langley, Susannah Betsill, Doris Price, Walter and Margy Sandell, Linda Estile, Devon Bradley, Austin Cook, John and Inez Hunt, Martha Akins. And we also pray for our
former elder and staff member here at Westminster, Dick Haymes, who is in ICU receive medical
treatment from stroke. You are the great physician and we pray for your healing
touch on their bodies. Grant them the peace that
surpasses all understanding. And we also pray for their faith in you that they may hold fast to your promise of eternal hope in our Lord, Jesus Christ. We now pray for missionaries of the gospel of Jesus around the world and missionaries whom we support. We thank you that we can
be able to support them in prayers and with finances. Father help them to do all things through your wisdom and
guidance during this time. Protect them and help
them to have full health and remain strong during
this challenging time. We now ask for your
blessing upon your church, strengthen us with the
word and the sacraments. Grant your church, health,
safety, unity, discernment, and much fruit in their labors. Finally, we pray that
your church would grow in the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that we may walk in a
manner worthy of your calling fully pleasing to you. We praise you and we pray
in Jesus's name, amen. Let us continue in our worship by standing and singing the Gloria Patri, please stand. ♪ Glory be to the Father ♪ ♪ And to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ As it was in the beginning ♪ ♪ Is now, and ever shall be ♪ ♪ World without end, amen, amen ♪ - Amen, please remain
standing as you're able for the reading of our
sermon texts this morning. It comes from Genesis 25:1-11. You will want to either open your Bible or read along in your bulletin because there are a number of Hebrew names that you'll probably
want to see as I read. As I read these verses, please remember that this is God's holy and inspired and inerrant word written for you and for me this morning. "Abraham took another wife
whose name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were
Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. Abraham gave all he had to Isaac, but to the sons of his
concubines, Abraham gave gifts. And while he was still living, he sent them away from
his son Isaac eastward to the east country. These are the days of the years of Abraham's life, 175 years. Abraham breathed his last
and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years and was gathered to his people. Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, the field that Abraham
purchased from the Hittites there Abraham was buried
with Sarah his wife. After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi." Amen, please be seated. And let us ask for the Lord's help as we consider his word together, let's pray. Our father in heaven, in the midst of these
names and lists and words, we pray that through them, you would speak to our hearts. That the very power of
the Lord Jesus Christ would lift us upward and
forward to our heavenly home and that you would make us
a forward looking people. Father, I pray that by
the power of the spirit, you would satisfy us in
the Lord, Jesus Christ and wean us from all of those things that compete for our hearts. We pray this in Jesus name, amen. Periodically this summer we've looked at key
moments in Abraham's life from the book of Genesis. It's taken us 100 years in
the light of Abraham's life to get where we are now in Genesis 25. It's been 100 years since
he answered that first call in Genesis 12, to head
into the promised land. And now we come to the record
of his death in chapter 25. It's one of the reasons that we sang as our opening hymn this morning, "Our God, Our Help in Ages Past." it's on page four in your bulletin. If you were to look there, you'd see in the bottom left-hand corner, that that hymn is written by Isaac Watts. Isaac Watts is a famous hymn writer. He's written other hymns
that you would know "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," "Joy to the World." But this hymn, this hymn is taken from Psalm 90 and it speaks so
eloquently about mortality, about the passage of time and of history and yes of God's enduring faithfulness from generation to generation. This is a classic hymn
of Christian comfort. It's also become one of
the favorite funeral hymns in the English speaking world. It's often sung at state
funerals, for example. Most recently at the 19th state
funeral of the United States for President George Herbert Walker Bush. I wanna draw your attention
to the sixth stanza. If you would, turn to page four in your bulletin, the sixth stanza says this. And by the way, the word sons here refers to both men and women. It's been updated in some hymnals, but not in ours. It says time like an ever rolling stream bears all its sons away. They fly forgotten as a dream, dies at the opening day. It's a humbling line. It's a very honest line, isn't it? Time, time is that ever rolling stream that bears all creatures, no matter how great, no matter how famous, no matter how unknown time
bears all its sons away. I think our culture has
trouble talking about death. We hide it, we deny it, we sanitize it, we naturalize it, we say that death is just
a normal part of life, but that's not the way
the Bible speaks of death. Death is the last enemy, death is abnormal, death is the consequence for sin, death is also universal. Studies show that death is 100% effective. What if I told you that
there was a way to die full, to die full of years? Yes, we certainly pray for that. But more importantly,
to die full of peace, full of stability, full of confidence, confidence that you would outlive the ever rolling stream
of time into eternity with the God who made
you and who knows you, the ability to die full knowing that your, that your defense is sure as we just sang. My guess is that you would want that. I certainly want that. I want that for my family. I want that for you. Our text this morning speaks
of a man who died full. Look with me at verse eight of our text. It says "Abraham breathed
his last and died in a good old age, an old
man and full of years." Yes, the English translation. Other translations say he died
full of years, full of days, but the original Hebrew simply says Abraham died an old man and full. Another translation, The New American Standard says Abraham died an old man and satisfied. See when you take away the
words of years or of days, it means something slightly
different, doesn't it? He died satisfied. He died full. And I think that hits
the nail on the head. But satisfaction is another thing we have trouble with, isn't it? If we have trouble speaking about death, we have even more trouble
finding satisfaction. Many years after The
Rolling Stone sang about it. And that's an, that's an
older reference, I realize. Our social media streams, the illusion of a perfect
life erode our satisfaction, a disillusionment, even the self-harm we see
among young people today demonstrates it. The ever rolling stream of time never seems to bring satisfaction. So I wanna ask you again, is it possible to die full and satisfied? Is it possible not only to die this way, but to live this way? Well, our text says yes. In order to do so, we need to turn our eyes
back again to Abraham, that man of faith. Specifically, we wanna turn our attention to three aspects of his life and his death listed in our texts. Three aspects that we
would do well to emulate if we were to die full or live full. The first thing we're gonna
see is that Abraham died a recipient of the promises of God, he died a recipient of
the promises of God. This is where some of those Hebrew names are going to come into play. The focus of our text is not however on his material gain or his familial gain, but on his salvation. Number two, Abraham died having made his faith
in those promises plain, he made his faith plain during his life. And there are a few details in our texts that show us how he did this. And number three, he died in view of God's
glorious plan for the world. So he died a recipient of God's promises, he died having made his faith plain, and he died in view of God's
glorious plan for the world. Let's look first at how Abraham died, a recipient of the promises of God. This is right off the bat. The main function of all these names that are listed here, they remind us that God told Abraham all the way back in Genesis 12, and then again in Genesis 17, that he would be the
father of a holy nation. And not only the father of holy nation, but the father of many nations. Let me read again from Genesis 12, God said to him, "I will make of you into a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so
that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you, I will curse. And in you all the families
of the earth will be blessed." And we've talked about how that promise of a temporal kingdom to come from Abraham is ultimately a spiritual promise of an eternal and permanent kingdom to come through the Lord, Jesus Christ. The kingdom in which Abraham hoped. And then in Genesis 17, God says this. "No longer shall your
name be called Abram, but your name shall be called Abraham for, I have made you the father
of a multitude of nations." That's what Abraham means, the father of a multitude, God says, I will make
you exceedingly fruitful and I will make you into nations and kings shall come from you. Now, when God spoke the original words in Genesis 12 to Abraham, he and Sarah were childless. Other texts speak of Abraham
as being as good as dead. He waited 25 years for
his first child to come and at age 90 God gave
Sarah the power to conceive. And at age 100, Abraham became the father of Isaac, the promise son. And again, he knew that
it was through that son would come the Messiah
and savior of the world, whose kingdom would be an
eternal and permanent version of the national kingdom
to come through Israel. And Isaac's birth was but a tiny example of God's supernatural power to intervene and to save, even in the face of human weakness and fear and doubt and
the promises of God, Abraham wasn't perfect,
he doubted at times, in fact it was that fear
and uncertainty and doubt that led him into the arms
of Hagar, the Egyptian in Genesis 16 to have Ishmael, but it was not through Ishmael that Christ would come, it was through Isaac and Isaac's birth. Indeed, the whole record of the patriarchs from Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob, demonstrates for us
that what God promises, God sovereignly fulfills. And so now we come to Genesis 25 and we learn that God not
only gave Isaac to Abraham, but God gave Abraham another wife, a woman named Katurah. And with her, he had six more sons. Now, little inside baseball here, we don't know whether
Abraham married Katurah before or after Sarah died. The texts calls Katurah, his concubine, which might suggest that
Sarah is still alive. In this case, it would have been a polygamous marriage, it would have been against God's design. And yet verse one calls
Katurah, his wife, another wife and literarily Genesis 25 comes after the record of Sarah's death. So we really don't know
when he married Katurah, but here's the point, either way the names of
the sons of Katurah here are meant to confirm to
us that God was faithful to fulfill the promise to make Abraham the
father of many nations. He dies a recipient of
the promises of God. In fact, the names that are listed here become the names of many lands that surround the nation of Israel. Bear with me here, as we walked through just
a few of the names listed. First in verse three, Sheba and Dedan. These are the sons of
Katurah's second son, Jokshan. Sheba and Dedan become the name of lands along a very popular caravan route in the Arabian Peninsula. Now you may not find
that very interesting, but what is interesting is that these sons, grandmother, Katurah's name means incense or spice and her sons and
grandsons trade in spices. You know, a figure from Sheba in fact. The Queen of Sheba comes
to visit King Solomon at the height of his kingdom. And what does she bring him as gifts? In 1 Kings 10, she brings
a retinue of camels with gold and spices and precious stones. Well, look at the fourth son
of Katurah, Midian, Midian from him came the Midianites. Now you remember the
Midianites become enemies of the people of God in Israel, in the book of Judges,
Judges six and seven, we see the Judge Gideon
fighting against the Midianites. And then let me identify one more, Ephah, the first, Ephah the first son of Midian. Ephah founded a city on
the east of the dead sea and Judges 6 says that its
camels could not be numbered. All of these names, Midian and Ephah and Sheba announced to us that God has been faithful to Abraham, he's given him Isaac, the miracle child, and he's giving him the
sons of many nations. And we're meant to understand
that with all of this, God is faithful to provide the eternal spiritual fulfillment of all of these promises. To bring about an eternal kingdom through the Lord, Jesus Christ for Abraham and all those who walk in the footsteps of Abraham. And I think this is
what it's means for us, that the first way to
live and to die full, to die satisfied is by receiving by faith, the spiritual fulfillment of all of God's promises to Abraham. We're meant to understand
that we dare not live, we dare not die without receiving and resting in the Lord, Jesus Christ. We can put it this way, that the Bible's ultimate
view of satisfaction of living full, of dying full, does not rest on what we have or what we've done, or what even we leave behind. As good and as right as
those things might be, the Bible's vision of
living and dying satisfied rest upon God and upon what he has done, upon what he gives to you and to me, beyond our strength, beyond our ability and even in the face of our
sinfulness and weakness. The God and the gospel gives us himself. He gives us himself as our salvation and our dwelling place and he does it through the person of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And this is what Abraham learned. He learned that his satisfaction must come from beyond this world. It must come through God's power. It must come ultimately
through Jesus Christ who came to this world, who now reigns over this world. He alone is sufficient to say, he alone is sufficient to satisfy. And so sometimes we need
to discipline ourselves and look away from our social media feed, even look away from ourselves and turn our eyes upon Jesus and look full in his wonderful face. That the things of the earth
would grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. We're going to say more about Christ and the fullness that
he brings in a moment, but we need to recognize
this is the first way that Abraham died full. He died a recipient of the
saving promises of God. Number two, Abraham died
having made his faith plain. We see this in verses five through 10. This is the biblical way. Not only does God call us to receive and rest in Jesus Christ as
he's offered in the gospel and we receive him by believing
in his person and his work. But we understand that
when we believe on Christ, when we're United to him, his Holy Spirit dwells within us. And God actually gives
his redeemed people, the power to manifest their faith in the way that they live. This is the biblical way, we rest on Christ by faith and then that faith has
manifested in our lives. True faith, true saving
faith is an active thing, it's a visible thing. I remember James in
the New Testament says, show me your faith apart from your works and I will show you my faith by my works. This is a Jesus teaching kind of thing. Jesus said, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide. So we need to ask ourselves, how did Abraham make his faith plain, even in his dying days? Well, he made his faith
plain throughout his life, we've seen that throughout the narrative of Abraham's story in Genesis 12, when God called him to leave
everything that he had known. By faith, he went out
to that promised land, not knowing where he was going. We saw in Genesis 22, we called it that final exam of faith. When Abraham consecrated
everything that he had, even the, the life of the covenant son to the altar of God, Abraham believed by faith that God, if necessary would
raise his son from the dead in order to fulfill his promises. And now here again at the end of his life, Abraham makes his faith plain. Look at verses five and six. It says, "Abraham gave
all he had to Isaac, but to the sons of his
concubines, Abraham gave gifts. And while he was still living, he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country." You see Abraham knows that
for all of the good gifts that God had given him. For all the material gain, for all the population of his family, for all the sons that
had been born to him. Abraham knew that Isaac alone is the son of the covenant. Isaac alone carried in himself the hope and the salvation of the world. And so Abraham didn't get lost in the material gains of his life. He kept his eyes upon
heaven to the very end. He knew that Isaac was
the holy one to God. He knew that in Isaac lay the seed of the church of Jesus Christ. And he demonstrated this. He made manifest his faith by giving what he had to Isaac. He gives gifts to the
other son, certainly, but notice that our text says, that he actively removed
all rival offspring away from Isaac. He wanted to protect the holy line of the Messiah to come. So we might ask ourselves, how does this apply to us today? We know the church is
to be holy to the Lord, but we can't ship away the fallen world from our lives, from the lives of our children
and our grandchildren. Well, one of the ways we can follow in the footsteps of Abraham I think, one of the ways we can
make our faith plain is by prioritizing the things of God in our lives, in our homes. We can prioritize his word and
his worship and his people. We can understand that
we are to live lives that are separate from the
fallen world in which we live. God says to be holy as he is holy. It's one of the reasons why
Christians in the New Testament, I believe in children and grandchildren are to marry people only in the Lord, they're to marry a Christian. It's also why God calls us to be diligent about what our eyes see and what our minds entertain. If we can't geographically
separate ourselves, and God doesn't necessarily
call us to do that, he does call us to be separate how we live in the world, not to live for the world. We are to live out of
the resurrection life of the Lord, Jesus Christ as members of his heavenly kingdom. And the great paradox is this, that in this fight of faith, to be holy to the Lord, God will give a satisfaction
and a fulfillment that the world cannot take away. I remember many years ago, when I was going off to college, I was 18 years old. And the church where we were going had the youth group together and had the parents come. And for the seniors in high school, they had the parents
read a text of scripture to their departing son or daughter. Let me just say, if you didn't do this, if you didn't have this
done for you, it's okay. But I do remember the text that
my father read on that day, it was from Colossians 2. It said this. "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. According to human tradition, according to the elemental
spirits of this world and not according to Christ. For in him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all
rule and authority." Isn't it interesting that that text says to all Christians, you
have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority? When Christ comes into your heart, by the power of the Holy Spirit, he fills you. So I wanna say that if you're
a Christian this morning, if you have been filled in Christ, if you are filled with his Holy Spirit, you have all that you need to make manifest your faith
in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Not for boasting, not for show, but simply to live genuinely
in the world for Christ. Let me say this. If you're older in age, does your family see
your faith made plain? Do they know that you're hoping
in the Lord, Jesus Christ? Amid all the struggles, all the pains, all the trials of life. Do they know that you're
a believer in Christ that you're resting in his
death and resurrection? Don't let your family members guess whether you really knew the Lord. The Bible gives you a wonderful picture of growing in old age. And it is not the shaking of the fist against the dying of the light. This is what Psalm 92 says. It says, "The righteous
flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord, they flourish in the courts of our God, they still bear fruit in old age, they are ever full of sap and green to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in him." Maybe we all pray that we
would grow into old age with that kind of faith
manifested in our lives. Abraham made his faith plain in death. The text then says in verse eight, he was gathered to his people. He was gathered to his people. Now some people think that this is a hint, that he was buried in an ancestral plot, that this phrase is used elsewhere for people who are buried
with their ancestors. But it can't be true of Abraham because he was buried in a cave, only with Sarah, his wife. This phrase gathered to his people is used of other people. Aaron and Moses, for example, who were not buried in
an ancestral plot, no. I think this phrase is
intended to communicate Abraham's entry into life after death. He had a hope beyond the grave. And he was gathered with his people in the hope of entering into heaven, of knowing the life of
the resurrection to come. He died full, he died satisfied, he died having made his faith plain. And this brings us to
the third and final way that Abraham died full. He died a recipient of
the promises of God, he made his faith plain and third he died in view
of the glorious plan of God for the world. This is important for us
to gather this morning. We die, we live full by recognizing that we are actually not
the center of God's plan. And yet we know that we are participants in the glorious plan of God, a plan that certainly will be realized. We see this in Abraham's life in verse 11. It says, "After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac, his son." This communicates to us that God is carrying on the covenant plan. Isaac will carry on the
blessing of God for the world. He will be the one through
whom Christ will come. I noticed that the text says that he settled at a place
called Beer-lahai-roi. This is the place where
Hagar, Abraham's concubine back in Genesis 16, huddled with Ishmael in
the wilderness by the well, when God saw them and provided for them, he visited them. Isn't it interesting that
the son of the covenant goes to live in the
place of the exiled son? Perhaps this means that Isaac is taking the place of Ishmael, that he's occupying the
spotlight in God's plan. But I think there's a hint here that the blessing of God through Isaac will extend even to the regions of the outcast son and
daughters of the world. Beer-lahai-roi literally means the well of the living one, my seer. God is the one who sees, God is the one who provides, God is the one who will not
leave Katurah's offspring, even Hagar is offspring, even the nations of the
world without a blessing. We know that this is true, not only from Genesis 12, when God first called Abraham, in you all the families of
the earth will be blessed, but we see this in later
revelation unfolding. So to drive this home, I want us to turn in our
Bibles to Isaiah 60, Isaiah 60. I want you to remember those names that we listed before Isaiah 60, Isaiah, the
prophet is telling Israel what God will do for her after the exile, when he will lift them out of darkness, by sending Jesus Christ to them. This is what Isaiah says in Isaiah 60. I'm gonna read the first seven verses. "Arise, shine, for your light has come. And the glory of the
Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness, the peoples, but the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you and nations shall come to your light and Kings to the
brightness of your rising, lift up your eyes all around and see, they all gathered together, they come to you, your sons shall come from afar and your daughters shall
be carried on the hip. Then you shall see and be radiant. Your heart shall thrill and exalt because the abundance of the
sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations
shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall come to you. The young camels of Midian and Ephah, all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense and shall bring good news, the praises of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar." Now this, this is one
of the sons of Ishmael listed later in Genesis 25 shall be gathered to you. The Rams of Nebaioth, also a son of Ishmael
shall minister to you. They shall come up with
acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify my beautiful house. Not only the sons of Katurah, but all the nations of the world are blessed through Abraham. As through Abraham, Jesus spreads his salvation
to all who receive him by a faith made plan. The New Testament unpacks this in Acts 15, as Peter looks back to the Old Testament and speaks of foreign nations called by the name of the Lord. And all this because in Isaiah, we learned that Jesus was appointed to be a light to the Gentiles that he might bring salvation
to the end of the earth, all the way to you and
to me here in Atlanta. This is God's glorious plan. It is to gather and to bless the nations of the world in Jesus. And when we see it unfolding
before our eyes and scripture, it's like standing on the
edge of The Grand Canyon, where you feel so small
and yet so fulfilled because you're witnessing
something glorious before your eyes. And the scriptures are telling us that we can live and die full, because Jesus will
fulfill this global work. Elsewhere in Isaiah 53,
wonderful servant song. We read that this Messiah,
Christ shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord
shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul, that is through the cross, he shall see and be satisfied. Friends the way in which
we can be satisfied is Jesus being satisfied by
his global work of salvation. We can be satisfied in death
and can live full in life because Jesus will be
satisfied with his work. Friends, God really is
our help in ages past, he is our help for years to come. He has given us the promises of salvation in the Lord, Jesus Christ. He calls us to make that plain and to understand that
we are living within his glorious and sure plan for the world. May you receive those
promises as Abraham did and delight in them. May you make your faith plain
in the world as Abraham did, and find great satisfaction in it. And may the living God, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob be your guard while your troubles last. And may he be our eternal home. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we pray for this. We pray that in the midst
of a confusing world where so many voices
are pressing in upon us, that we would live satisfied by your supernatural power alone. We know it can only come from you. So fill us father and bring us all the way to our heavenly home. We pray this in Jesus name, amen. Well, as we prepare to
come to the Lord's table, let's stand and sing the
first couple of verses of our final hymn "Christ
for the World We Sing." Let's stand and sing. ♪ Christ for the world we sing ♪ ♪ The world to Christ we bring ♪ ♪ With loving zeal ♪ ♪ The poor and them that mourn ♪ ♪ The faint and overborne, ♪ ♪ Sin-sick and sorrow worn ♪ ♪ Whom Christ doth heal ♪ ♪ Christ for the world we sing ♪ ♪ The world to Christ we bring ♪ ♪ With fervent pray'r ♪ ♪ The wayward and the lost ♪ ♪ By restless passions tossed ♪ ♪ Redeemed at countless cost ♪ ♪ From dark despair ♪ I ask that you remain
standing as you're able for the reading of the
words of institution. Paul writes for, I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he
was betrayed took bread, and when he had given
thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you, do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this as often as you drink
it in remembrance of me, for as often as you eat this
bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's
death until he comes, whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the
Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the
body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then. And so eat of the bread
and drink of the cup. Please be seated. Jesus instituted the Lord's supper on the evening of the Passover meal. It may seem strange to describe what we're about to do as a meal, because especially since we
adopted these little vials, there's not much to eat. It may not be entirely satisfying to you. The smallness of this bread and cup is however not designed to
communicate to our hearts, any insufficiency in the
work of the Lord, Jesus, it is designed to communicate to us that his work is finished, that all that is necessary
for your salvation and your eternal satisfaction has been accomplished
by his person and work. At the same time, the smallness of this meal does communicate something else important, and that is that full satisfaction. Consummate fullness lies
ahead for the people of God. There's something right in the fact that the ever rolling stream of time doesn't bring satisfaction in this world because the people of God are a people who are awaiting the marriage, supper of the lamb. When we will be free, not only of the power of sin, but the very presence of sin. And we will see our savior face to face and be satisfied forever and ever. Fix your eyes upon that coming marriage supper of the lamb, as you take these elements in your hand. And as you do, let me remind you that this is not the table of Westminster Presbyterian church, it is the table of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And he tells us in his
word that this table is, is not for those who
haven't trusted in Christ. So if you have not believed
on the Lord, Jesus Christ, if you've not rested in him, if you're not seeking
your satisfaction in him, the word of God says, to allow these elements to pass you by and know that Christ
offers himself to you, even this morning. And yet if you know that this world has no ultimate satisfaction to give, if you know that you must flee
to the Lord, Jesus Christ, and you have done that by faith, then come and commune
with him in a special way, fixing your eyes of faith upon him, as you take these elements in your hand, eat, drink, and be satisfied
in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Let's pray together. Father, we pray that you would use this additional means of grace to seal upon our hearts everything that we've
heard from your word. That we would indeed
know that Christ is full, full of life, full of goodness, full of forgiveness, full of mercy, and that we can be filled in him who has become the head
of all rule and authority. Father send your Holy Spirit, knit us closely to Jesus and use these elements to
build us up in his image. We pray this in Jesus name, amen. Our Lord Jesus on the
night when he was betrayed, took bread and after giving thanks, this has been done in his name. He took bread and he broke it and he gave it to his
disciples and he said, this is my body, which is given for you, take and eat. (soft music) The body of Christ given for you, take and eat. - In the same way Jesus
took the cup and said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for men for the remission of sins. Take and drink. Let's pray. Our heavenly father, we thank you that you have
fed us in this sacrament, united us with Christ and given us a full plate of the heavenly banquet in your eternal kingdom. Send us out in the power
of your Holy Spirit, to lead and work for
your praise and glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Now let us conclude our worship service by singing hymn number 447 the remaining verses, three and four, "Christ for the World We Sing" ♪ Christ for the world we sing ♪ ♪ The world to Christ we bring ♪ ♪ With one accord ♪ ♪ With us the work to share ♪ ♪ With us reproach to dare ♪ ♪ With us the cross to bear ♪ ♪ For Christ our Lord ♪ ♪ Christ for the world we sing ♪ ♪ The world to Christ we bring ♪ ♪ With joyful song ♪ ♪ The newborn souls whose days ♪ ♪ Reclaimed from error's ways ♪ ♪ Inspired with hope and praise ♪ ♪ To Christ belong ♪ - Receive the Lord's benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace, amen. (soft music)
