Title: A Bride For Christ
Text: Genesis 24:1-67
Date: May 23, 2010
Place: SGBC, PNJ
In Genesis 24 the Holy Spirit gives us an allegory from the history of Abraham and Isaac. An allegory is historical facts which teach us spiritual truths. In this passage we have a picture of the grace of God in saving his elect. We also have a picture of the work of every faithful gospel preacher.
Abraham called Eliezer, his servant, and sent him down to Mesopotamia to find a bride for his son, Isaac.
· Abraham represents God the Father, our covenant God.
· Isaac represents the Lord Jesus Christ.
· Abraham’s servant represents the gospel preacher and his witnesses. Earthen vessels in the hands of God the holy Spirit. God's messengers are sent, to seek chosen sinners and bring them to Christ.
· Rebekah represents every true believer, converted and brought to Christ in faith by the power and grace of God through the preaching of the gospel--all believers together make up the church, the bride of Christ.
Title: A Bride for Christ
I. THE SERVANT OF GOD IS SENT INTO THIS WORLD FOR A SPECIFIC PURPOSE (vv. 1-4).
Christ is the Heir of All God Possesses
Abraham was a wealthy man, blessed of God. His son, Isaac, was the heir of all that Abraham possessed. The Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten, well-beloved Son of God, is the Heir of all things.
John 3: 35: The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.
John 5: 23: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
Christ Has a Bride
Abraham sent his trusted servant, Eliezer, to find a bride for Isaac, a bride from among his own people, a bride who would share with Isaac all the riches and glory of his father’s kingdom. There are a people in this world, chosen out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue to be the bride of Christ.
Isa 54:5: For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.
Eph 5: 25: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;…30: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31: For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32: This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Christ's bride--every believer called out by his grace--is a joint heir with Christ of all that he possesses.
Romans 8: 17: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
God Sends His Messengers
Just as Abraham sent his servant to find a bride for Isaac, God calls and sends his servants out into the world to find his chosen bride for his Son, by the preaching of the gospel
I Corinthians 1: 17: For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18: For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
2 Corinthians 5: 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19: To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20: Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
II. ABSOLUTELY NO COMPROMISE (v5-9.)
The servant had a question, "Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again into the land from whence thou camest?" This bride will have to leave her home, her family and her country. She has never seen Isaac, yet she is called to love him, marry him, and give herself to serve him. All the servant has is a message from the father concerning his son--
The servant asks, "What if the woman is not willing? Shall I bring your son down to the woman?" Abraham says no--he says it not once but twice (v6, v8) To bring Isaac down to Rebekah would make Rebekah more important than Isaac. Rebekah must be willing to forsake all for Isaac, if not, she is not a suitable bride for Isaac.
Be sure to get this: As much as we would like to see sinners saved--the glory of God and the glory of his Son is more important. We are forbidden to bring Christ down to the sinner's level. As Isaac's honor must be maintained so Christ's. As believers--you and I are witnesses of the glory of our Lord--this must always be our chief concern. We must never diminish our God and our Savior.
Compromise never saves. To bring Christ down to the whims of the sinner, to make God's demands palatable to sinners is to preach another jesus--but Christ Jesus the Lord is the only one in whom sinners are saved. Compromise never saves.
Only the offense of the cross humbles sinners. God the Father choosing his bride for his Son--exalts God's glory to choose whom he will and abases those he saves. Christ coming in sinless flesh--declares all men unholy, dead in sins, in desperate need of the Just One. The declaration of Christ fully satisfying God for each and every individual sinner for whom he died declares Christ victorious--by the obedience of ONE shall many be made righteous--and it declares concerning man there is none righteous no not one. The declaration of the necessity of the new birth by the power of the Holy Spirit exalts God's will, and abases the sinner. Abraham says twice, "Bring not my son thither again." Paul said, "That is to bring Christ down!"
Abraham Had Experienced The Power of God
Where is our sufficiency for this work? By his own experience of God's grace, Abraham knew what God is able to do. (v7) She will have to leave her father's house, her land and her kindred. Abraham says "the Lord God, who took ME FROM MY FATHER'S house, from my land, from my kindred…Abraham says he "SPAKE UNTO ME AND SWARE UNTO ME"--the LORD God made an everlasting covenant with Abraham saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land"--that is how Abraham was called and was made Abraham willing. Abraham says, "He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence."
Application: As witnesses of our Lord, you and I have no power to make sinner's willing. It is not our calling to use our powers of logic and persuasion and such…
2 Cor 4:7: But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
The Spirit of God goes before the messengers of God. He prepares our way before us. He quickens whom he will, gives sinners ears to hear the gospel, eyes to see Christ, and a heart to love him. (Ephesians 2: 1-10.)
Not Maybe, but Shalt
Our God does not speak in maybe's, but shaltsV7: "thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.”
1. The bride has already been chosen (2 Thess. 2:13).
2 Thessalonians 2: 13: But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The bride will hear the voice of her Beloved through the gospel (John 10:23-30).
John 10: 27: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29: My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
3. The bride will come to her Husband
John 6: 37: All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
Application: If we truly believe our God it will give us the assurance to declare the truth. Our success is not in how many people are called out--success is doing what God has given us to do. We are not responsible for the salvation of sinners; we are responsible to proclaim salvation in Christ. Abraham told Eliezer, "If the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath" (v. 8).
Every Provision Provided
Our God gives us every provision we need for this work. (v10) Nothing attractive about the camels--good picture of God's messengers. But those camels were packing precious jewels to adorn the bride.
III. AS GOD'S WITNESSES WE ARE DEPENDENT ENTIRELY UPON OUR GOD. (vv11-14.)
Prayer
The servant sought the help of God by sincere prayer. “Who is sufficient for these things?"--“our sufficiency is of God." Seek God's will, God's direction, and God's blessing. Only God the Holy Spirit can reveal Christ in the hearts of men (John 16:13-15). Only the living God can effectually instruct the heart (John 6:44-45). All who come to Christ and receive him must be born again by God's almighty grace (John 1:10-13; 3:5-8). True repentance and saving faith are the gifts of God alone (Rom. 2:4; 2 Tim. 2:24-25: Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 1:29).
The Servant Must Wait on the Lord. (vv. 15-28).
Verse 15 says "And it came to pass", verse 27 says God brought it to pass. This girl seems like the one--but the servant must wait a while to see (notice v27.) He held out some of the jewels but he did not give her all just yet. She has not yet heard and committed herself to Isaac. We must learn to wait for God to do his work in the hearts of men. We must not speak peace until God speaks peace.
IV. THE SERVANT OF GOD MUST BE ABOUT OUR FATHER'S BUSINESS (vV. 32-33)
The servant would not be side-tracked until he had told his errand. We must never let anything hinder us in this work.
· Not money
· Not honor
· Not the business of the world
· Not the cares of this world
When the servant spoke, he spoke of nothing but Abraham and Isaac, the excellence, riches and glory of Isaac (vv. 34-37) He did not seek to attract her to himself--he told them he was but a servant sent to tell her about Isaac. The bride must be attracted to the bridegroom, not to the bridegroom's friend. We have one message--Christ and him crucified.
V. THE SERVANT OF GOD PREACHES FOR A VERDICT (vv49-58)
He rehearsed the charge given him and how the LORD led him to Rebekeah--tell sinners what God has done for you. This is an example of preaching the gospel. Then in verse 49, he says, "If you will, tell me, if not tell me." No halting between two opinions. Notice, Rebekeh has not been allowed to speak for herself, yet. They have said she can go. But then they do not want her to go but to stay at least 10 months. Rebekeh's family is in the way. The servant says not so in verse 56.
Be sure to get this: Saving faith--salvation--is a matter of your own heart, not another's.
· Not of blood--earthly relations will not do
· Not of the will of man--mom and dad can not bring you into this covenant by sprinkling or dedicating you or any such thing
· Not of the will of the flesh--you can not work your way into God's favor or educate yourself into the kingdom of God
Knowing and believing on God is personal--between you and God--as he is pleased to reveal himself--has God spoken unto you as he did Abraham, as he did Rebekah--to make you willing to forsake your land, your family, and follow him.
Galatians 1: 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, 16: To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
VI. GOD'S WORD NEVER RETURNS VOID BUT ACCOMPLISHES THE WORK. (vv. 61-67).
Now Rebekah will finally speak for herself in verses 57, 58. She had heard about this son Isaac and his Father. She said, I will go. The servant came home with Rebekah. When she saw Isaac, it was love at first sight!
Here is the point: God always causes his messengers to triumph in Christ.
2 Corinthians 2: 14: Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. 15: For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 16: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17: For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
The Spirit of God goes before you. God makes every provision--loads his camels with all the precious jewels. Ask God to give you wisdom to speak and to wait on him; thank God continually for his mercies. Don't be sidetracked by anything--our Lord said, I must be about my father's business--and so we must. I desire to press upon you the urgency of believing on Christ Jesus--not a "convent season" but today!
Have you beheld the beauty and glory of Christ the Husband? Will you believe on Christ or will you not? Will you be married to him or will you not? You must forsake all and follow him--will you, or will you not?
If you will not trust Christ, you must be forever lost. And your blood shall be upon your own head. If you trust the Son of God, you shall have everlasting life. May God graciously give you faith in his dear Son.
Amen!