Genesis 22:15-23:20 - 2009 - Skip Heitzig

[Music] so let's turn our Bibles to Genesis chapter 22 and we'll pray together father we thank you for the lessons that are all over your word no matter where we turn old or new testament the Spirit of God moves through the Word of God to the people of God we have come to learn we have come to study we have come to apply ourselves and I'm thankful for a hungry group of believers that want to know what the whole Council of God is and means to them personally in this day and age thank you for it in Jesus name Amen now I want to just clear something up because toward the end of our study last week we talked about the place where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac it was one of the mountains God said he would show him which was mountain Moriah Mount Moriah back then in Abraham's time was simply a hill that rose up as part of the landscape there was nothing much around it except a little Township called Salem eventually called J Buse eventually called Jerusalem but it was the peak of a mountain as years went on a temple was built on that mountain it was the Temple of Solomon later on the Temple of Nehemiah rebuilding the Temple of Solomon later on it was enlarged by Herod and in the new testament a temple was there as well but much larger if you were to look at the mountain through history you would have to picture and toward the base of the hill that's where the city began J Beus Salem and then Jeb use when David occupied that territory and eventually Solomon built the temple he two up on the slope of the hill as the city extended outward on upward on the hill the temple was built not on the top but on the slope of the hill follow me the top is still here the cities down here somewhere up in the slope that little town or that temple was built by Solomon it was destroyed by the Babylonians it was rebuilt under Ezra and Nehemiah when Herod the Great got into town he wanted to make an extravagant place so he built a retaining wall on part of that slope filled it in and made it flat 35-acre platform 35-acre flat platform called the Temple Mount if you go to Jerusalem today and you stand on the Mount of Olives you can look at it the Temple Mount that flat platform from the days of Herod the Great is still there today but that temple platform and where the temple stood on Mount Moriah is not the top of Mount Moriah the top of Mount Moriah is still further to the north on the outside of the city walls it rises it Peaks and then it goes back down where the temple stood is not the top where Gaga was is the top Gaga thha is the place Jesus was crucified you follow me now in Abraham's day again there were no temples there were no buildings it was just rolling hills and topography when God said take your son and sacrifice him on the mountain the top of Mount Moriah would naturally be the place he would have taken Isaac so we have a picture of Abraham sacrificing his son or almost whom God calls his only begotten son he was dead in Abraham's mind and heart for three days until the angel stopped the night from being plunged in it would have been on the top of Mount Moriah and when Jesus was sacrificed by his father it was in the same spot where Abraham almost sacrificed his only begotten Son so I wanted to clear that up because I did have a few questions last week about where the temple stood was that the top or not and it was not so yeah I hope that clears it up now we're gonna pick up in verse 15 and finish verse down to verse 24 and then into chapter 23 now I have a question for you as we begin do you want fellowship with God how many how many would raise their hands say I want it I really want fellowship with God okay now I raised my hand as well but I wonder if we understand what we're saying we want because the idea fellowship is to share like experiences with another person Abraham in chapter 22 enters in to the deepest form of fellowship with God that I believe is possible now listen to what Paul says in the New Testament then I'll get back to this Paul the Apostle in Philippians says that I might know him that I might know him I want to know God that's what we raised our hand just a minute ago and said I want to know God I want to fellowship with God now listen to what he says but I might know him and the power of his resurrection we're going to yeah yeah I want some of that I want to fellowship with that - I want power in my life that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and the Fellowship of his suffering being made conformable even unto his death okay now we're going on now wait wait a minute first part I like not too sure about part two resurrection power I want that fellowship with God and resurrected power want that one power in my life but what about the fellowship of suffering you see for a moment in time Abraham and God were in the same club they both knew what it was like to sacrifice their son they were on the same page in the same club in the same activity in deep sorrowful fellowship with one another that's the deepest form of fellowship I bring that up to offer this possibility what about seeing your times of trial your times of suffering your times of heartache as an opportunity to meet God in a way you could not meet him any other way I'm gonna fellowship with God in this deep dark Valley this horrible awesome moment this terrible time of sacrifice and loss how about that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and the Fellowship of his suffering being made conformable even to his death we're in a period of loss in Abraham's life in chapter 22 the offering of his son he didn't go through with it but for a period of time he was willing to do so and in his own mind his son was dead for three days before that resurrection so to speak of Hope when the angel stayed his hand and he didn't plunge that knife into his son's heart and as I mentioned last week all of heaven must have stopped in amazement to look on earth and see how a man could love God but thousands of years later on the very same piece of real estate all of heaven marveled to see the demonstration of how God could love mankind in offering his only begotten Son on a cross now in verse 15 it says the angel of the Lord called out of heaven to Abraham a second time and he said by myself I have sworn says the Lord because you have done this thing you have not withheld your son your only son blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies your descendents Abraham in other words well one day occupy the land of their enemies the Canaanites they're gonna occupy it it's gonna become the Promised Land not the land of Canaan it'll become Israel in your seed verse 18 in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice verse 18 is the very first occurrence of the word obey in the Bible and I told you that I tell you whenever we have the rule of first mention here's the first time obeyed is noted here is God from heaven noticing and rewarding Abraham not for how he felt not for how he thought but for what he did he's obeying God it's a huge huge thing it's it's it's the evidence of faith true faith will be faith that obeys it's obedient faith because you obeyed it's not that you thought you would obey it's not that you you you you just had pleasant feelings about me but you you did what I said all of Abraham's life required obedience now he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness but that faith that he had was shown by obedience for example God had said to Abraham leave your hometown or the Cal DS did he do it yep you say well he didn't go all the way he went to her and yeah but when God finally said leave her an and go to that of cane and did he do it yes when God told him to wait by faith upon the promised son did he do it yep and when God told him to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah did he do it well he went to do it and he obeyed and he would have done it but God again stayed his hand God noticed his obedience it's the long obedience in the same direction now I draw your attention to the phrase your seed in verse 18 very very important here's what I want you to know in the Bible there's four ways the term seed is fulfilled there's four different definitions of Abraham seed number one his natural seed his natural descendants physical descendents of Abraham ie the Jewish people that's the seed of Abraham number two natural - spiritual seed these are believers in Christ who are Jewish people Romans chapter nine 10 and 11 as opposed to those who believe not the seed of Abraham number three usage of the term seed the spiritual non-physical descendants of Abraham that is anybody who by faith believes in Christ and is justified by faith like Abraham was non Jewish but Gentile that would be me and most of you your spiritual descendants of Abraham Romans nine mentions that Galatians chapter three mentions that and here's the fourth application the ultimate seed who is Jesus Christ all of those are used in various applications in the Bible physical or natural natural spiritual three spiritual and number four the ultimate seed who is Christ now I'll just give you that reading Galatians in Galatians and you don't have to turn to it you can write it down if you want because it'll be done by the time I get to it Galatians 3:16 now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made he does not say n to seeds as of many or plural but as of one and to your seed who is Christ now all of the world was to be blessed to Abraham's seed and that means physical descendants of Abraham's spiritual descendants of Abraham as well as the ultimate seed Christ all of the above are true think what we would be missing if the Jewish people were not around if there were no Jewish people well number one we'd be missing our Bible I couldn't say turn in your Bibles tonight because we would have no Bibles to turn to we would have no Ten Commandments that was part of the Covenant God gave to them the Ten Commandments very important to us it's the basis of our jurisprudence system in most Western civilized nations number three we would have no Savior he came through the lineage of the Jewish nation and without a Jewish Jesus we would have no Christianity no salvation he's the ultimate seed and so that promise really is of the gospel in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed because you have obeyed my voice so Abraham returned to his young men and they rose and went together to bear sheba and Abraham dwelt at bear sheba question why does verse 19 say Abraham returned to his young men how come Isaac didn't return remember what Abraham said to them back back in Chapter well we're in chapter 22 it last week he said the lad and I will go up yonder and worship and we will return to you so why doesn't the text say they both returned just Abraham returned I don't quite know but it is interesting that though obviously Isaac returned as well because he wasn't sacrificed there is no mention of Isaac from the time of this almost sacrifice until we see him in a couple chapters when he reappears with his bride his Gentile bride there's an absence and then he appears again as he meets his bride as he comes again with his bride and with his bride we see them it's just something to note maybe it means something maybe a doesn't maybe it's one of those little fingerprints of the Holy Spirit because obviously the sacrifice on Mount Moriah is indicative of the sacrifice of Christ on the same place and it's just interesting that he is not seen here but will be seen again when he appears with his Gentile bride again that could just be a wonderful little touch by the Holy Spirit it came to pass after these things it was told Abraham saying indeed Milka has also borne children to your brother Nahor now there's a list of names 12 sons that Nahor had now get these names huz his firstborn buz his brother so the first two boys husband buz boy if they were around today wouldn't they get ridiculed Kim you well the father of Iram test said pazzo pill - kid laugh and Beth - well how many of you are and do you know anybody who's having kids soon or any of any of you here gonna have children soon are ya congratulations does any of those names appeal to you you raise your hand you're looking for biblical names you're thinking forget it right good move I dare you try this one pill - I'm just kidding now it says Beth - well now look at verse 23 Beth awhile begat Rebecca these eight milk abort - Nahor Abraham's brother his concubine whose name was Ray uma also bore tiba gay ham they hash and maracas there's another one maka now why is this little information given to us because the narrative is going to show because the promised seed is Isaac and Isaac and a couple chapters is going to get married and now we have a hint of Beth the well who's going to have a child named Rebecca and Rebecca will have a brother named Laban and all of these characters are very important in the next few patriarchs Isaac and Jacob now we get to chapter 23 and it's an obituary chapter 23 it's the death of a princess Sarah dies in this chapter Sarah originally her name was Sarah I which meant contentious God renamed her thankfully to princess Sarah means that she's a hundred and twenty seven years old when she dies okay you're thinking it's about time that she dies when you get to 127 okay that's like old I got um I got an email today from a friend over overseas I don't I don't know how true it is but they're trying to corroborate a family from the the country of Georgia these X Soviet states that there's a woman I saw her picture even that she's going to be a hundred and thirty years old they say on July 8th and so they're they're trying to make they're trying to contend with Guinness Book of World Records because the record holder is a hundred and fourteen year old woman from Japan and they're saying look we have the documentation she's gonna be a hundred and thirty years old July 8th and you know what honest I don't know when the picture was taken but she didn't look that bad I mean for 130 yeah if you're just if you're just breathing air you're looking pretty good but this lady didn't look too bad so it says Sarah lived a hundred and twenty seven years these were the years of the life of Sarah it's the death of a princess abraham's princess as some of you most of you will remember back to September 6 1997 when the people's princess she was called died Princess Diana the most photographed woman in the world died in a car crash when she died it was such a huge deal a million people showed up in person lining the streets of that Death March is that flowery casket drove in that glass hearse to her burial place 2.5 billion other people billion watched it by television it was a huge deal the people's princess but here we have Sara now she's a big deal and here's why as the wife of Abraham she's the mother of the Jewish nation there's no other woman in the Bible where her age is mentioned her death and her burial and burial place is mentioned beside Sarah and it's because of who she is she occupies such a huge place in the Bible in fact where women are told to emulate her she's an example to women and I find that interesting here's something you might find interesting nowhere in the Bible is Mary the mother of Jesus ever given as an example for people to follow did you know that she's never held up as a supreme example but Sarah twice in the Bible is once is Isaiah chapter 51 where the children of Israel toward a told to look back over their own history remember where they've come from and Abraham and Sarah are listed in that the other is 1st Peter chapter 3 where the outward woman isn't to be emphasized but the inward woman is to be emphasized and Sarah is given as a beautiful example once again an example to be followed now here's what I love about the language of the death of Sarah in chapter 23 follow me number 1 the language is straightforward language it talks about death very openly and plainly you know why because death is a fact of life that's why and the lesson for us in in the straightforward language of chapter 23 is we should learn in preparation for our own death or the death of people in our family is to learn to talk about it openly in many families it's not discussed don't talk about it I don't want to talk about it well if you don't talk about it then you're not gonna deal with it until that person dies then you have to deal with it better to talk about it and get the right attitude about it first so it's straightforward language second thing I want you to notice is we work our way through chapter 23 it's personal Sara is mentioned by name she's not called the dearly departed or abraham's loved one but she's personalized again I think that's huge number three sara is not given into the hands of specialists who handled the body and handle the funeral but she's in the loving hands of her husband Abraham who seeks to bury his wife I'll tell you one of the things I'm grateful for I lost my father and my mother and my brother is the ability at my mother's death to be next to her and not have her at the hospital but be next to her in the last week of her death and to take care of her and to watch her leave earth and go into heaven that was wonderful painful but wonderful holy ground I feel and so Sara lived 127 years these were the years of the life of Sara so Sara died in Kiryat Arba that is Hebron in the land of Canaan and Abraham came to mourn for Sara and to weep for her no matter what commentary I read about this chapter inevitably one or more commentary will bring up the longevity issue how could someone be a hundred 27 years of age you know that they make a big deal out of how old people were and then they go back to earlier times antediluvian times before the flood when they lived to be really old you know um Adam was like 930 years old when he died Seth nine hundred and twelve years old when he died Methuselah 969 years old when he died now that's old after a while it's just hard to blow out candles on your birthday cake but the kind of longevity even in the 900s is not even unique to the bible there are records that show records from India records from Egypt records from Persia and other countries of that era that talk about longevity besides the Bible and scientists and we've covered this in earlier parts of Genesis talk about the canopy that could have been around the earth that protected the cells from the bombardment of radiation that caused a breakdown in the genetic system that they see a drop off immediately after the flood and they like to trace it back to that vapor canopy being disposed of but but to me living to be 127 isn't the issue for me the big question is how did she look so good at 90 so that Abraham remember a couple chapters ago had to lie about her it's my sister you know she's good looking stay away from she's 90 really and you're worried go figure it says in verse two that Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her now here's the first mention in the Bible of Tears first time you read about somebody weeping for somebody tears shed it's right here Abraham weeping for Sarah now those tears are going to continue throughout the Bible throughout history throughout our history on into the future until we get to Revelation chapter 21 where God will wipe away every tear there now a part of the stain of human life of humanity until revelation when it's the end and he restores all things abraham mourned for his wife i don't know why but sometimes I meet Christians who try to be really pious and say oh you shouldn't cry you shouldn't weep you shouldn't get emotional your loved ones in heaven I want to slap that person because that defies even the design of the human body that God gave you he produced little things in the corner of your eyes called lacrimal glands and and they they secrete what we know as tears they do a lot of things they they provide a moisture for the eyes they take out dirt and foreign bodies but they also are triggered to the emotional centers of your brain and those lacrimal glands get very active when there's a deep stressful loss in a person's life and the bible even says there is a time to weep and there's a time to laugh there's a time to mourn there's a time to dance so if some pious believer tells you you shouldn't weep over somebody that has died and gone to heaven great they've gone to heaven I'm still here on earth without the one that I love it's very natural it's very normal in fact it's very unnatural it's very unnormal and I'm gonna even say unspiritual to not sorrow it would defy the way we have been built by our Creator he wept for her he mourned for her and then it says in verse 3 Abraham stood up from before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth saying I am a foreigner and a visitor among you give me property for a burial place among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight and the sons of Heth answered Abraham and said to him hear us my lord you're a mighty Prince among us ok something to note here back in those days if you were in a country you moved from your hometown like Abraham did or of the Kellie's and he's in Cana it would be typical if your loved one died to want to take them back home to where you came from and bury them in the land of their origin the land of their family the land where they were born the fact that Abraham does not want to do that indicates that he is believing the promise of God that that land therein is the land of promise not only for Abraham and Sarah but for his descendants as God promised that land to be it's an indication that this is his new home he's willing to take some property here and bury somebody in it so he has a stake in it indicating that he's believing the promises of God not taking his wife back home now when it says that he verse three it's a beautiful phrase stood up from before his dead I read a commentator that said this indicates a change a new a new corner that he's turning in his grieving process it indicates as this commentator a squaring of the shoulders a lifting of the eyes affirming of the step and a desire to move on now there's a time to mourn in other words and there's a time to move on now the Hebrews mourned for thirty days thirty days you know we mourn we have a funeral day and we might mourn for a few days but they had I mean service services of mourning that lasted for 30 days the Egyptians 70 days I mean they really got into it and they demonstrated their sorrow they would rip their clothes throw dirt in the air and even in later Hebrew times like the New Testament they would hire professional mourners so when when you could just sort of got tired of wailing they would be paid to stand outside your house oh and just so people passing by would know what had happened I know it sounds goofy but they wanted the emotions to be let out and freely expressed so he now stood up from before his dead he's gonna do something he's gonna be proactive and I think this is again very healthy there's a thing called well I'll just say what we usually say in slang good grief my mom used to say that good grief you know what I found grief is good it's good to grieve but prolonged grief is not good when my brother died I watched my mom for years never get over it never get over until finally we had an aunt in the family who took my mom and just took her in her room closed the door and said you're gonna have to move on and and just got her to talk it through and and not well she just didn't deal with it very well and my brother said the same thing to us after he died it was a period of mourning in a week of reminiscing and then my brother got us all together and said okay it's great that we share these things it's important that we grieve but there comes a time now where we're gonna happen we have to move on with our lives and he was right so Abraham does something he selects a burial plot for his wife puts her in the ground in chapter 24 he gets a bride for his wife Isaac and in chapter 25 he gets remarried now you go well now wait a minute how old is he yeah it's interesting cuz here he's like a hundred and thirty-seven years old and he's thinking of number two but he dies at a hundred and seventy five years of age so he's got some time he's not thinking about that yet but as the time wears on he will think about he will move on and it indicates a healthy way of dealing with it now I'm I want you to notice something else in verse four and I I do notice the time as well he says I am a foreigner and a visitor among you now of course he means that I've been living in tents I don't own any real estate I know this is the land God has promised me but I don't even have a single acre yet but we know something else that an Abraham's own mind and heart he is thinking spiritually I'm a foreigner I'm just a pilgrim here because Hebrews 11 makes a big deal out of this saying Abraham chapter 11 verse 10 or 12 I can't remember which verse says that Abraham waited for a city that has foundations whose builder and maker was God so he's moving toward eternity and that's the city he's really gonna put his roots down in God has promised the land for his descendants but he himself is moving toward heaven so it's good language I'm a foreigner and a visitor among you by the way this is why Paul writes in 1st Thessalonians 4 as he talks about Jesus coming back and he says I write this to you lest you sorrow like those who have no hope do you remember that little text the reason we sorrow and he sorrows here but we sorrow differently we it's a it's a hopeful sorrow is because if our loved ones know Jesus Christ then the moment we die we know exactly where they are and we rejoice for them and so his wife has died she's 127 now she's with the Lord it's coronation day he's a foreigner he's a he's a pilgrim among them the sons of Heth answered Abraham and said to him hear us my lord you're a mighty Prince among us now watch this a very long account of a of a real estate transaction and he says but bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places we'll give you a grave none of us will withhold from you'd his burial place that you may bury your dead and Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land the sons of Heth and he spoke with them saying if it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight hear me and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me that he may give me the Cave of Machpelah which he has which is at the end of his field let him give it to me at full price as property for the burial among you so they're saying look just bury her you can have the place for the grave and he goes no I want to buy some land now why does he want to buy land it's indicating that he believes God's promised that this land that he's just been a tent dweller in now he's gonna buy some acreage because he believes this is the land that God wants us to live in die in get buried in and our family will possess eventually as according to the promise of God now Ephron dwelt among the sons of Heth and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth all who entered at the gate of his City saying no my lord hear me I give you the field and the cave that is in it I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you bury your dead and then Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land and he spoke to Ephron and the hearing of the people of the land saying if you will give it please hear me I will give you money for the field take it from me and I will bury my dead there and Efrain answered Abraham saying to him my lord listen to me the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver what is that between you and me so bury your dead and Abraham listened to Efron and Abraham wait out the silver for hundred shekels is a hundred pounds of silver for Efron which she had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth for hundred shekels of silver currency of the merchants okay to our ears this sounds like a polite conversation what you should know is this is a typical ancient middle-eastern transaction where they try to out courtesy each other but the owner of this land has no intention of giving it to him so he says bury your dead now I want to pay for well well you know what is that to us it's worth 400 now 400 shekels noodle wow he's getting a bargain no he's not this is a huge price and every commentator every ancient historian will say foreigner shekels is huge because David will later on much later on for 1/8 that price buy the entire threshing floor of Araunah second Samuel chapter 24 to build the temple that his son will build he'll buy it for 50 shekels that whole huge top of Mount Moriah for 50 shekels one-eighth this price four hundred shekels was exorbitant so when he when he says look I'll just give it to you the ancient Hittite tradition was to offer it but then to expect some kind of gift or several gifts especially since Abraham was wealthy for the land so it's not like he's just trying to give it away he's expecting you know something in return so he announces this exorbitant price for hundred shekels probably thinking Abraham it says I'll give you two hundred or I'll give you a hundred now I just got to give you a little bit of insight things haven't changed much if you go to Israel today and you walk through the streets of Jerusalem you're gonna walk into some of the shops heads up to those of you who are going on our tour and if they announce a price to you do not say oh okay now they're looking for naive Americans to do exactly that but nobody does that they all start at a price and then they allow themselves to be worked down they put a huge margin up there and then you work your way down so you walk into the shop and you say they'll say well tell you what this will be 20 shekels you go 20 shekels that's like ridiculous I'll give you four four shekels sir you insult me but I like you and because I like you 18 shekels 18 shekels oh come on that's a ripoff I'll give you 8 shekels 8 shekels why would you do this to me do you not like me and they'll just lay it on but tell you what because you're my first customer I'll give you a special price the first customer price and they have got all sorts of language so so be careful don't go in to do all that sound like a great deal I couldn't get one of these back home yeah there's a reason for it so it's like that a little bit in Reverse where they seem to be very courteous to each other but they're really not and so Ephraim answered Abraham verse 14 my lord listen to me the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver what is that between you and me bury your dead Abraham listened and he paid the full amount so the field of Ephron verse 17 which was in Machpelah which is before Mamre is the field and the cave which was in it and all the trees that were in the field which were within all of the surrounding borders were deeded to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who went in at the gate of the city something else that would maybe help us understand a little bit more according to hittite law in those days it was frowned upon to sell any of your land to a foreigner abraham was considered a foreigner he had settled in the lamb but he was moving around in a semi Bedouin kind of an environment he was from or not from this land not from the Canaanite region he's considered a foreigner they did not want to sell it to him but he basically saying I'm not going anywhere I'm gonna stay here and because it was his wife they were willing to sell it but according to hittite law once again if you owned land let's say you own this section of land and you were to sell a smaller portion of that one section you had the deed to the entire section if you were to parcel out a smaller portion of that deeded property to somebody else as the original owner you have to pay the taxes on the full amount if you can unload the whole property then they have to assume the tax responsibility so if that gives you a little bit of insight into what this hittite is thinking when he says foreigner chuckles yeah if I can get that price I'm doing really good and plus you're gonna pay the taxes on it so it's called the Cave of Machpelah now today if you go to Hebron you can see where Abraham is buried it's one of the places that we know is authentic because it dates all the way back and it was carefully preserved even 2,000 years ago when Herod the Great built the Temple in Jerusalem if you go to Hebron there's a Herodian wall built by Herod the Great to preserve the Cave of Machpelah in fact it's probably in the Land of Israel the best preserved Herodian architecture in existence I've been there it's it's wonderful to see it's under Muslim occupation now but there was a time when we could bring our tour groups there it's unsafe we won't be able to this time but when you go up to it there's a little peephole and you can look down into a lighted tunnel and see the entrance at the end of the field of the Cave of Machpelah where Sarah was buried and in verse 19 after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre that is heparin in the land of Canaan and so the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of as property for a burial place now by the time we get to the end of Genesis this cave is going to be full sarah is put in it now later on Abraham will be buried in it Isaac will be buried in it Rebecca will be buried in it Jacob will be buried in it and Leia will be buried in it by the end of the book of Genesis so he's buying it as a family plot in many of his family members to come will be buried there now Rachel I didn't mention her because she's not buried in it she's buried at a special tomb just outside of Bethlehem which is visible even to this day but she's not buried in it but it'll be full by the end of Genesis and so as we already ended it didn't we so the field in the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place okay I want to give you a few quick take-home lessons on on this whole thing of burial and death number one learn to get comfortable with the idea of death because that's where you're going you're marching down that road now I'm hoping Jesus will come back before them but he hasn't come back yet and barring that eventualities we're all gonna die I know that just from history in that right everybody so far kicks the proverbial bucket one out of one is the going rate there are some exceptions Lazarus was raised but he had to die still and some were taken up into heaven but but the general population is appointed unto man wants to die you're gonna keep that appointment Billy Graham was at a university years ago and the students said what is the one thing dr. Graham that surprised you most about life he was quick to answer its brevity it's a very short time we have on this earth so in your own families with your own children would you learn to discuss death and life and get the proper attitude toward it learn to broach the subject even when people say don't want to talk about it well you're gonna have to deal with it so it's best to get comfortable with him number two gets your house in order Abraham did he got this burial plot and for the eventualities not just his wife but his own death and the death of his children do you have a will or do you have a trust or a living trust do you have insurance have you thought about those kind of issues I know a lot of Christian I don't worry about that well somebody else in your place like your children will have to worry about it so I recommend that you get your house in order number three I recommend that you clear strained relationships nothing complicates death more than strained relationships before entering the ministry I worked in the medical field and I stood in a lot of emergency rooms as loved ones died and then relatives would come in and they would completely break down because of the last word that was said to that person and the inability now to reconcile it's over I wanted to say this to him but I said something very foul instead clear up those relationships number four get a good network of friendships around you now if you're the type of individual who's a loner and you're isolated when somebody you know or love dies and you're isolated not good but if you can now develop a good strong network of believing friends brothers and sisters hold you accountable give you strength give you encouragement that's your fallback and you know what we all need that fallback fifth and finally the most important get prepared spiritually get prepared spiritually are you ready to meet your maker are you ready to stand before a holy righteous God come the day of judgment are you spiritually prepared I remember as a kid I used to say if I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take you did you pray that too what if that actually happens what if you die before you wake are you ready for that now I used to read this illustration in commentaries and different illustration books and until I finally was given a photograph of a tombstone taken back on the East Coast and I have a photograph of it on somebody's tombstone it reads pause stranger as you pass me by as you are now so once was I as I am now so you will be so prepare for death and follow me very profound to put on a tombstone is it not pause stranger as you pass me by as you are now so once was I as I am now so you will be so prepare for death and follow me we're all going there well that's the photograph that I have I hear that somebody in going by this cemetery saw that sign and and wrote on a makeshift sign and put it next to this tombstone these words to follow you I'm not content until I know which way you went now that's even better okay so he's saying prepare for death and follow me okay so where did you end up I don't want to follow you unless you went to heaven because if you went to the other place I don't want to go there to follow you I'm not content until I know which way you went it is appointed unto every man once to die and after this the judgment that's an appointment we're all going to keep Moses in Psalm 90 said teach us to number our days that we might have a heart of wisdom so that's where we're all going are you spiritually prepared are you sure that if you were to die tonight that you would be in God's presence acquitted of all of your sins in right relationship with him enjoying heaven forever well you know what if you're not sure then you better make sure tonight because we don't know how long we're gonna live well I plan to live to 127 I don't and I might go tonight tomorrow this week we never know so it behooves us to act while we can with what we do know to be spiritually prepared and to receive the only solution for our failures our shortcomings but the Bible calls our sins and by receiving the finished work of Jesus Christ upon the cross that assures us of a resurrected life in glory are you sure you have that if not be sure let's pray our Father in these closing moments we think about the decisions we've made the roads we've traveled on where we are tonight what we believe tonight and as we're here surely within a year's time many of us won't be here here we are tonight it's comfortable we're breathing we have consciousness in this life but one day we know not when consciousness ceases on this side of eternity and so father I pray for any of us here tonight who are not sure if they were to die that they would be in your presence they can't absolutely say I know that I have everlasting life but deep inside they're also saying oh I want I really want to know that I could I really want to be sure if that's true of you I want you to think seriously about making the most important decision of your life and that is giving your heart and life to Christ tonight tonight not to wait till Sunday or to wait till Easter to wait for a year but tonight in this place at this time to get your life right with God by receiving Christ as your Lord and Savior you have an appointment with God and that's your own death you will keep that appointment guaranteed the Bible says that our days our months are numbered and are in God's hands you don't know when that time is God does but you know it could also be that you have another appointment with God and you're about to make it in the next few seconds you're an appointment to receive Christ in your heart that perhaps you have been appointed unto eternal life and that's why you're feeling the way you're feeling that's why you're here tonight that's why your heart has been crying out lately maybe you've wandered away from God and you're not walking with him you're not walking in obedience to him you're not following him and true saving faith if your heart cry tonight is to be right with God to receive Christ as your Savior as our heads are bowed as our eyes are closed and we're praying I want you to slip your hand up in the air you're saying skip would you pray for me before you close this service and I raise your hand up and acknowledge that god bless you sir and you am i right you in the middle anybody else raise that hand up you're saying pray for me I want to make that decision over there in the family room anybody else slip it up raise it up high god bless you in the back on the side to my right couple of you in the balcony few of you Father thank you and our prayer tonight is for our friends our fellows who are in this building who are making the most important decision of their whole earthly life and we are so excited to be a part of it we pray father that you would help them follow through with that raising of the hand to a life that not only acknowledges God but like Abraham is willing to obey God totally transform these lives make all things new we pray in Jesus name Amen would you all stand please to your feet I saw hands in the back in the middle on the side toward the front in the family room and I saw about three or four up in the balcony I'm gonna ask you to do something we're closing our service but I'm gonna ask as we sing this last song for you to get up from where you're standing even if you're in the balcony climb down the stairs not not climb down the front of the balcony climb down the stair and find the nearest aisle and stand right up here where I'm gonna lead you in a prayer to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior tonight is your night to do that if you raised your hand now put feet on those hands and come right up to the front and stand right up here we'll wait for you but please come now do you know that the Bible says when one person comes to Christ that the angels in heaven rejoice in heaven is excited we're clapping but they're really partying right now they've been waiting for this you've been waiting for this you're about to embark on a whole new experience and journey now I'm gonna pray out loud and I'm gonna ask you to pray out loud after me from your heart to the Lord okay and what you're doing is you're giving your life away and asking God to take it and to live through you let's pray lord I give you my life I admit I'm a sinner please forgive me I turn from my sin and I turn to you I put my faith in you I believe that Jesus died on the cross and that he rose from the dead and that he did it for me fill me with your Holy Spirit and help me to live for you in Jesus name Amen congratulations to you [Applause]

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 8,504

Rating: 4.757576 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Genesis, Sermon

Id: xM5SHIyzGKs

Length: 57min 55sec (3475 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 19 2018