Series:
Questions
Title:
What Aileth Thee?
Text:
Genesis 21: 17
Date:
December 20, 2012
Place:
SGBC, New Jersey
Genesis 21:17
And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar
out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God
hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.
Here we
have another question which God asks a sinner. The angel of God called to Hagar
out of heaven. The angel of God is Christ, God the Son. Here is his question to
Hagar and our title.
Title: What Aileth Thee?
Proposition:
We will use this passage as an illustration or allegory of how God converts a
sinner by Christ in covenant grace.
I. OUR SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD
Genesis 21: 9: And Sarah saw the son of Hagar
the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. 10: Wherefore she said
unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
Hagar and Ishmael an Allegory of Works
Ishmael,
Hagar’s son, who was around seventeen years old, was mocking Isaac, Sarah’s son. By
the Spirit of God, Paul used Hagar, and
the way Ishmael was born by works, as a picture of the covenant of works. And her
son, Ishmael, as a picture of a the those attempting to come to God by the
works of the law. Sara is a picture of the covenant of grace
and her son, Isaac, is a picture of a child born of God’s covenant grace.
Galatians 4: 28: Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the
children of promise. 29: But as then he that was born after the flesh
persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30:
Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for
the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31:
So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
The Covenant of Works
The
covenant of works is the law given of God on Mt. Sinai.—God said, “Do this and
live.” Not because God expected we
could, but to show us we could not. The
law was given to show us our sin, to shut our mouths, and make us see we are
guilty before God and need Christ who is the Righteousness of God.
Romans 3: 19: Now we know that what things soever the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
All are
born into this world, sinners. All of
our sin, especially the sin of attempting to find acceptance with God by our
obedience to the law, is a mocking of God, of Christ, of salvation by covenant grace,
and of his people, like as Ishmael mocked Isaac. All who attempt to come to God
by our works shall be cast out, as was Hagar and Ishmael. Our sins have separated us from God. God is not to blame if we perish. We are.
Our sins separate us from God.
II. GOD SAVES BY COVENANT GRACE
Genesis 21: 11: And the thing was very
grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son. 12: And God said unto Abraham,
Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy
bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for
in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 13: And also of the son of the bondwoman
will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
In Isaac Shall Thy Seed Be Called
“In
Isaac shall thy seed be called” means through Isaac, Christ the promised Seed,
the Savior, would come into the world.
Galatians 3:16: Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to
thy seed, which is Christ.
And it
means that all God’s the true children, the true children of Abraham, are the
elect of God, chosen of God the Father unto salvation in Christ Jesus before
the world was made and called, and called to faith in Christ in time.
Romans 9: 7: Neither, because they are the seed of
Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8: That
is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of
God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Galatians 3:7: Know ye therefore that they which are of
faith, the same are the children of Abraham…29: And if ye be Christ’s, then are
ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
So Hagar
and Ishmael must be cast out because it is not by our works that sinners are
saved but by the promise of God’s grace.
Romans 4:13: For the promise, that he should be the heir
of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through
the righteousness of faith. 14: For if they which are of the law be heirs,
faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
The Gospel
In
order for God to receive all the glory in the salvation of a sinner, God must
do all the work. God the Father chose his people and gave them to Christ. God the Son, Christ came, made of a
woman—Christ Jesus—made under the law. Christ
redeemed all those given to him from the curse of the law by being made a curse
for us on the cursed tree. God the Holy
Spirit regenerates each one through the gospel and calls us, giving us faith in
Christ in whom the believer is made the righteousness of God, accepted of God
and complete.
Ephesians 1: 3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ: 4 According as he hath
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and
without blame before him in love: 5
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 7 In whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all
wisdom and prudence; 9 Having made known
unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath
purposed in himself: 10 That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will: 12 That we
should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye
believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Hagar and Ishmael an Allegory of Grace
Staying
with Ishmael and Hagar, I want to use them as an illustration of God’s grace
and work upon those he truly saves.
Genesis 21: 13: And also of the son of the
bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
God
made Ishmael the father of the Arabs. Were
Ishmael and Hagar saved eternally by God’s grace? I don’t know.
In Paul’s allegory, they stand as a picture of works, but as concerning
them personally, I do not know. But we will use what God did here, as a picture
of God converting his child of grace.
God
said, “I will do this for Ishmael”—all the work of making his elect to be his
holy nation is the work of God. God
said, “Because he is thy seed”—like
as God did this for Ishmael because he was the son of Abraham, God saves his
elect because we are the sons of Christ our Everlasting Father—for the sake of
Christ God saves those Christ has redeemed. God saves by covenant grace.
III. GOD FIRST GETS HIS CHILD LOST
Genesis 21: 14: And Abraham rose up early in
the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar,
putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed,
and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Bondage in Rebellion
God provides his children with temporal blessings in this earth, even while we
are lost. Hagar was given bread and a bottle of
water. She had her son, Ishmael. When sent away, she departed, free from God’s
house, free from serving Sarah.
Unregenerate
sinners go through this life feeling like they have all they need. Like she had what she needed to eat God
provides temporal blessings to his elect child even while we are in our rebellion.
Hagar had her son which was the fruit of
her works. Sinners in religion and out
go through this life producing many works of their hands by which they think
God will receive them. Hagar was free
from being the servant of Sarah. Sarah
pictures the covenant of grace. Many,
even some who claim to be saved by grace, have not submitted to Christ. They are trying to come to God mixing law and
grace. They are free from being the
servants of righteousness, not under grace but under the law. But that is no freedom at all! Hagar and Ishmael were in bondage. Note verse
14 says that everything was on Hagar’s shoulder. That is bondage, not the liberty of knowing
all is in Christ’s hands.
Sinner,
we don’t want everything to be on our shoulder.
The believer has the peace of knowing all is on Christ’s shoulder.
Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is
given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace.
Christ finds his lost sheep, “And when he hath found it,
he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” (Luke 15: 5)
Outside
of Christ, we have only earthly bread and water, our works are filthy rags, we
are the servants of sin. By grace
through faith in Christ, we have Eternal Life, the bread of Christ’s broken body
and shed blood, the water of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made us
free from the law of sin and death.
The Law our School Master
Note verse
14 says, “She wandered in the wilderness
of Beersheba.”
Abraham
had already dug a well of water, called Beersheba.
Gen 21: 22: And it came to pass at that time,…
God
gives us details in verses 22-34 about the well called Beersheba. Abraham had dug this well beforehand. He had given seven ewe lambs as a covenant
that he had dug that well. Seven is the
number of perfection. The lamb is a type
of Christ the Lamb. Beersheba means
covenant. The well of Beersheba was a
picture of the everlasting covenant of grace made by God in Christ before the
world was made. That everlasting
covenant was perfectly ordered and sure in Christ the Lamb of God who was slain
for the elect of God from the foundation of the world. Christ is the Well of
Life.
So get
this picture. Abraham the Father of the faithful, like God the Father, sent
Hagar out in the direction of that well with just enough water to get to that
well. That water and bread Abraham gave
her would not sustain her. She had to
get to that well. Hagar was forced, driven,
to that well because out that well of Beersheba—the well of covenant—she would be
provided all the water she needed.
Galatians 3: 24: Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25: But after
that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
God
gives his child the law—to declare us guilty—driving us to the Fountain, to Christ
our Life. But left to herself, Hagar wandered. Hagar could not find the
well. So it is God will not let his
child glory that we found Christ ourselves.
Illustration: “I found Jesus!”
IV. GOD BRINGS US TO THE END OF OURSELVES
Genesis 21: 15 And the water was spent in the bottle, and
she cast the child under one of the shrubs. 16: And she went, and sat her down
over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not
see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her
voice, and wept.
God Strips his Elect of all our Works
We will
take the things God has given us to drive us to Christ and instead try to come to
God by those things. Sinners look into the law of God and try to come to God by
their obedience to it. But God uses his
law to strip us. Her water ran out-- the water was spent in the bottle.
God
brings us down to the dust and separates us from all our works by making the
fruit we boasted of to come to nothing—her son, her fruit, Ishmael—was withered
and near death. God will make us repent
from our works—she cast the child under
one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against
him a good way off, as it were a bowshot for she said, Let me not see the death of the child.
God
gives us a desire for the living water by giving us this dryness like as she
was in that desert without water. And
God gives us a thirst for living water.
When he bring us to the end of ourselves it cause us great sorrow--she sat over against him, and lift up her
voice, and wept.
V. GOD BRING US TO CONFESS OUR SIN
Genesis 21: 17: And God heard the voice of
the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her,
What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad
where he is.
God Gives his Child the Gospel
Remember,
before this, when the Lord found Hagar by the fountain, the Lord promised her
he would bring a great nation from Ishmael.
She had the promise of the Lord that the child would not die but be made
a great nation. Yet, there she sits
weeping, thinking the child will die, that God’s promise had failed.
Believer,
do we not find ourselves in this same place many times. Though we have heard the promise of God: that
he has given us his Son, that Christ has justified us of all our sins, that we
are made the righteousness of God in Christ, and that Christ will freely with
him give us all things. Yet, we find
ourselves weeping as if God’s purpose of grace can be frustrated. Why?
When we
are looking to our strength, to our fruits, we mock God. We try to live of earthly bread and earthly
water. We wander in this wilderness acting
as if freedom is wandering in the wilderness.
And when we do, God brings us to the end of ourselves, just like he did
when he converted us in the beginning. God graciously converts his child a
thousand times in our lifetime, bringing us to repent from ourselves to him
continually.
Illustration: Peter, when you are converted strengthened
my brethren.
God brings us to Confess our Sin is Us
Are you
a sinner brought to the end of yourself?
Are you a believer brought to the end of yourself again? Why has God
done this for you? The angel of the
Lord, Christ our Savior says, “What aileth thee, Hagar?” We can put our name in the place of Hagar’s name. What aileth thee?
In this
series we have heard God ask sinners questions to bring us to confess the
problem is us:
·
“Adam, where art thou?” He was hiding from God because he
sinned.
·
“Cain, why are you angry?” He was angry because Cain was rejected for
not coming to God in the blood of Christ and Abel was accepted because he
did.
·
“Cain, where is your brother?” He killed him because Abel was righteous and
Cain was not. Where is your elder Brother,
Christ?
·
“Hagar, from whence camest thou? And where
wilt thou go?” She was running from the
house of God, forsaking the one house where God’s gospel was in the earth and
fleeing back to Egypt.
·
“Sarah, is anything too hard for the Lord?” Sarah’s problem was she doubted the ability
of God to make good on his promise.
Now,
Christ asks, “What aileth thee, Hagar?” She
has to answer, “Me.” God always brings
us to confess our sin. The problem is
us—our flesh. We have to be saved from
us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
Fear Not, God Hath Heard
Then
Christ says, “Fear not.” You’ve heard the gospel. You have heard the promise of salvation by
Christ and in Christ—so fear not. God
chose us by his grace. His grace is
unchanging. Therefore, though we sin,
Christ says, “Fear not.”
Hagar
cried. You and I cry when God has
brought us to beg for mercy. But who did
God hear? “She lifted up her voice and wept. And God
hath heard the voice of the lad.” So Christ called to her and said fear not for
this reason, “for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.” God hath
heard and God knows our need because Christ hath heard our cry. And Christ has
brought our petitions before the Father. And God hath heard Christ where he is. And for the sake of Christ where he is, for the sake of our Advocate where he is with the Father, for the sake of our Propitiation
where he is at God’s right hand, for the sake of the Lord our Righteousness
seated at the right hand of God, God hath heard.
1 John 2: 1: My little children, these things write I
unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2: And he is the propitiation for our sins:…
1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Hebrews 9:24: For Christ is not entered into the holy
places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven
itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
Ephesians 2:18: For through him we both have access by
one Spirit unto the Father.
VI. THEN CHRIST SPEAKS IN SAVING POWER
Genesis 21: 18: Arise, lift up the lad, and
hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation. 19: And God opened
her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with
water, and gave the lad drink.
Christ Speaks by the Gospel
After
he brings us down, only Christ can lift us up.
He does so by his Word, by his gospel, by his power, speaking into our
hearts, saying, “Arise, lift up the lad and hold him in thine hand.” Christ is our strength to arise. Christ is our strength to lift up Christ in
saving faith to the Father, not coming to the Father in our works but putting
all our confidence in him and him alone.
Christ is our strength to lay hold of Christ and the strength by whom we
hold Christ and never let him go.
Christ Speaks in Covenant Promise
Christ speaks
his covenant promise into our broken and contrite heart reminding us that for
the sake of Christ God will make Christ a great nation, “for I will make him a
great nation.” In order to do so, Chris
has come and justified us, washed us, robed us and crowned us. We are his holy nation, his royal priesthood that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren, that Christ might be the King of
kings and Lord of lords of his holy nation made up of a multitude which he
saves from every kindred, tongue and people on this earth. Therefore, God promises to supply all our
need for the sake of Christ our King.
Christ is our Light
Christ
is the Light that opens our blind eyes, “And God opened her eyes, and she saw a
well of water.” Christ is there all
along, like as the well of water was there the whole time. But we do not see Christ
until God opens our eyes. He gets all
the glory!
When
God has brought us to the dry dust of our flesh then given us eyes to behold
Christ the Fountain of Living Waters—do you think a sinner has to be bribed to believe
on Christ. Nope! “And she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the
lad drink.”
John 7:38: He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
VII. IN THE END, GOD SHALL FULFILL ALL HIS
PROMISES TO US
Genesis 21: 20: And God was with the lad; and
he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. 21: And he dwelt in
the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of
Egypt.
2 Corinthians 1:20: For all the promises of God in him
are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
2 Samuel 23:5: Although my house be not so with God; yet
he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure:
for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to
grow.
Do you
see that everything Christ promised Hagar he would do, he did. So it is with the elect of God whom Christ
has redeemed and the Spirit has called.
God shall fulfill every covenant promise he has made to you who believe.
GO HOME REMEMBERING WHAT WE HAVE SEEN HERE:
1) Our sin separates us from God—Hagar and
Ishmael mocked Isaac. Don’t mock Christ
by looking to your will and your works, turn from everything about you and
believe on Christ.
2) God saves by covenant grace—all this was
done for the sake of another. God saves
for his own glory, for the sake of Christ, because he promised Christ a people
before the foundation of the world and Christ finished the work.
3) God first gets his child lost before he
saves—in driving her to the fountain she first became lost in the
wilderness.
4) God brings us to the end of ourselves—the
water was spent, she was separated from her fleshly fruits, brought down to the
dust then she cried to God
5) God brings us to confess our sin—Christ
the angel of the Lord asked her, “What aileth thee?”
6) Christ speaks in saving power—“Arise;
he makes and continually renews his promise in our hearts; he opens our eyes to
behold Christ the fountain of living waters then we drink in faith.
7) In the end, we shall see God fulfill all
his promises to us. We will see
Christ our King and all his holy nation saved and none lost.
Then
both now and for all eternity we will have but one thing to say about all that
he has done for us so freely by his grace.
Revelation 5: 12: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and
blessing…13: Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
Amen!