The Anti-Christ Exalting Himself – Part 1

Christ Will Be Glorified In You – Part 2

Here are 10 Things to Know about Psalm 119:

1. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses. It has a similar length to some of the Bible’s shorter books like Philippians, James, or Ruth!

2. The purpose of this Psalm is to celebrate God’s word and instruction to his people. It is used in Jewish tradition to celebrate Rosh Hashanah (which is Jewish New Year). This holiday is the first of a series of holidays called Yamim Nora’im, or in English ‘Days of Awe.’ It is fitting to use this psalm in that setting because the Psalmist beautifully expresses awe and adoration of God for His word. Here is one verse commonly used in this celebration:

“The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” Psalm 119:72

3. The structure of Psalm 119 is comprised of 22 stanzas, each starting with a different letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza has 8 verses with two lines each.

4. There is a tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church that King David used this psalm to teach his son Solomon both the Hebrew alphabet and the “alphabet of the spiritual life.”

5. Many of the verses mention God’s Word in one line, and then in the second line connect it to God’s revelation. Other words used to describe God’s revelation are: law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, word, and rules.

6. Psalm 119 is a prayer that includes many different elements, including prayers of praise (45-48), lament (81-88), vindication (132-134), obedience (57-64), and petitions for wisdom (33-40).

7. David Powlison observes, “Psalm 119 is actually not about the topic of getting Scripture into your life. Instead, it is the honest words that erupt when what God says gets into you. It’s not an exhortation to Bible study; it’s an outcry of faith…Psalm 119 is the thoughtful outcry that rises when real life meets real God.” (Speaking the Truth in Love, p 14).

“It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” Psalm 119:71

8. Charles Spurgeon liked this Psalm so much, he said, “we might do well to commit it to memory.” That’s a tall order for a Psalm that has 176 verses!

He also had this to say about it:

“As those who drink the Nile water like it better every time they take a draught, so does this Psalm become more full and fascinating the oftener you turn to it.”

9. The song “Thy Word” by Amy Grant is based on one of the most memorable verses from this beloved Psalm, verse 105 which says, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (KJV). You can listen to the song below:

Those who are outside the presence of the Lord are those who “do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (1:8). If I do not want to be among them, then I must obey the gospel.

I’m glad it says “obey the gospel” not “obey the law,” or there would be no hope for us. No one lives a perfect life. So, if salvation comes by “obeying the gospel,” what does that mean?

i. Repentance begins when your life is no longer “all about me,” it has to be about Jesus Christ who loved you and gave himself for you. It’s a decisive turning away from all God calls “sin” in order to offer yourself to Christ. You wonder “How could I make a change like that?”

ii. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a real relationship in which you trust that he is the Son of God, you trust in his death for your sins, and in the power of his resurrection for your life. You trust Christ because he is altogether worthy of your trust.

iii. “Come follow me,” says Christ, who laid down his life for you. He lays claim to your gifts, talents, time, money, and affections.

Maybe you’ve been saying, “I’ll think about Christ later.” Don’t be passive. God is calling you right now to obey the gospel. Your eternity hangs on this.

From the message by Colin S. Smith called, “God Will Bring Justice for You,” preached on January 9, 2011, from the series, Staying the Course When You’re Tired of the Battle.

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6

Godliness is a God-centered life. It grows, not through the pursuit of a process, but through the presence of a person. Jesus Christ is the mystery of godliness (1 Timothy 3:16).

His presence in your life is your hope of becoming the person God calls you to be. Christ in you [is] the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Contentment is finding joy in what God has given to you. The opposite of contentment is greed which destroys your capacity to enjoy what God has given.

Contentment is a Christian grace that grows over time. It does not come quickly, easily or naturally. Paul says “I have learned to be content” (Philippians 4:12).

How did he learn it? He tells us “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content” (Philippians 4:12). He is saying: “There were times when I had plenty. But then God brought me to situations where I was ‘in need.’ And through that I learned something: I discovered the secret of being content.”

God used the experience of loss to produce the good fruit of contentment in Paul’s life. Have you discovered the secret of being content?

Jeremiah Burroughs described contentment as “a rare jewel.” How can you find joy in what God gives you, especially when it is less than you had before? Burroughs has great wisdom on how to obtain this jewel:

“A Christian comes to contentment, not so much by way of addition as by way of subtraction… Contentment does not come by adding to what you have, but by subtracting from what you desire. The world says that you will find contentment when your possessions rise to meet the level of your desires… The Christian has another way to contentment, that is, he can bring his desires down to his possessions.”

Great gain
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6:6

Not just gain, but “great gain.” Paul says “If you have godliness with contentment, it will be of huge advantage to you.” Why is this? It has to do with the consequences of not being content.

Why is godliness with contentment great gain?

1. You cannot keep what you gain

“…people who want to get rich” (v9)

If getting rich is your goal, you cannot keep what you gain. “We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (v7). You may get rich, but you cannot stay rich. You cannot keep what you gain in this world.

2. You will encounter powerful temptations

“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction… the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (v9,10)

If you set your heart on money, you expose yourself to powerful temptations that ruin many people.

3. You may wander from the faith

“Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith” (v10)

In the parable of the sower, our Lord speaks about “seed that is choked by thorns and thistles.” The seed is God’s Word. The thorns and thistles are “the worries of this life, and the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things” (Mark 4:19). Money chokes the fruit of God’s Word in the lives of some people.

4. You will experience great sorrow

“Some people, eager for money, have… pierced themselves with many griefs” (v10)

Money is a great servant but a terrible master. If you set your heart on money, money will break your heart. You will not keep what you gain. You will fall into powerful temptations. You may wander from the faith. You will pierce yourself with many griefs and sorrows.

That’s why godliness with contentment is great gain. When you have less, learn the art of contentment. This rare jewel is not found when you have more, but when you have less.

Bring your desires down to the level of your possessions. Learn to enjoy what God has given more than you grieve what He has taken away. Practice the art of godly contentment and you will find that it is great gain.

–

From the sermon Gospel Lifestyle in the series 10 Distinctives of a Gospel-Centered Church. You can follow Pastor Colin Smith on Twitter @PastorColinS.

Does it ever bother you that the justice of God is not more obvious in this world? Have you ever noticed that people who do good often suffer and people who do evil often prosper?

In a world like this it’s important to know that God is just, and even though his justice may be hidden for now, it will become obvious on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed (1:8).

The justice of God is a central truth in all of the Bible. We see this played out in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament. God never acts out of vindictiveness. He always acts with justice.

What does that mean? It means you can have absolute confidence that no one will ever be punished for a single sin that he or she did not commit. And no sin will ever be punished in a way that is out of proportion to the offense.

God’s justice also means that no one will be able to escape from the justice of God. God knows all things. That means nothing is hidden from him, and no one intimidates him. No one has leverage against him—power and wealth count as nothing before him.

God’s justice is always important, but we become more aware of it when we’re suffering, or when someone we love is suffering.  We won’t see God’s justice fully carried out until Christ is revealed, but in the meantime, you can have confidence in the absolute justice of God.

From the message by Colin S. Smith called “God Will Bring Justice for You,” preached on January, 9, 2011, from the series “Staying the Course When You’re Tired of the Battle.”

Have you ever wondered why God desires for his people to sing?

What role should singing play in the life of a Christian?

What is it about worshiping through song that is so important to God?

You may not know it, but God has already answered these questions in the Bible. The seven reasons below answer these questions and unpack more important truth about singing in the life of an individual Christian and the church.

7 Biblical Reasons Why Singing Matters

1.  When you sing, you obey.

Singing isn’t an option in Scripture. It’s a command.

• Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
• Ephesians 5:18-19: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…”

God’s people are more than just invited to sing – we are commanded to sing. When we sing, we’re doing what God asks of us!

2. When you sing, you dig deep roots in the Word.

“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…” Colossians 3:16

The Apostle Paul lays out this exhortation to let God’s Word dwell in us richly, and then, he tells us how to live out that command. The first, of course, is teaching. But the second, is singing!

Singing is one of the two chief ways that the Word of God dwells in us richly.

And, as we observed in the last point singing is a command. But also that this command comes with a promise: as we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together, we are promised that the Word of Christ will dwell in us richly – which is what we should crave as believers!

Our singing is more than a warm-up for the sermon or a filler in the service. Colossians 3:16 is clearly laying out for us that: Singing stands alongside of preaching as one of the two great ways that God has ordained for His Word to dwell RICHLY in each one of us!

C.J. Mahaney calls church singing “Take Home Theology,” because the best songs we sing together end up serving you as a 3 minute, easily memorizable, deeply biblical summary of important truths from Scripture. Take for example, “In Christ Alone.” There, in an easily memorizable form, you’ve got a thorough theology of the cross of Jesus Christ with clear and practical applications that you can use for your life this week!

3. When you sing, you build up others.

First, you build up fellow believers when you sing:

• Ephesians 5:19: Note specifically here that it says: “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”
• We see the same thing in Colossians 3:13-16: the exhortation to sing comes on the heels of bearing with one another (13a), forgiving one another (13b), putting on love (14), being at peace as one united body of Christ (15), and teaching God’s Word to one another (16).

When we do what the Bible says and sing together as a church family, we are hearing confessions of faith all around! We are hearing hundreds join with us and sing, “In Christ alone, MY hope is found!”  We are hearing hundreds of testimonies of faith all around us!

Also know that as you sing, you’re helping unbelievers. In Psalm 105:1-2, the Lord is calling the Israelites to be a light unto the nations, and to do this He tells them: “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all his wondrous works!”

Think of the impact on someone who doesn’t know Christ to hear those hundreds of testimonies, those hundreds of confessions of faith as we sing together! This is why Pastor Tim Keller says:  “Good corporate worship will naturally be evangelistic” (219).

4. When you sing, you make war.

Chances are you didn’t connect singing and warfare together, but it’s a theme visible in Scripture. In Colossians 3, Paul is challenging the Colossians to literally put sin to death in their lives – to kill sin.  And so all the commands to love and peace and forgiveness and teaching and SINGING, are therefore, the Bible is teaching, attitudes and habits of the believer that will kill sin!

We see the same thing in Ephesians 5, the command to address one another in song comes right on the heels of “[make] the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).

And the more you think about this, it makes total sense: What posture must be more hated by the evil one than the posture of a believer who is singing?  I can’t think of many stances you can take that identifies you with Christ and against Satan more than eyes, heart, mind and voice lifted to heaven in song!

It’s very hard to lie, be greedy or to look at something inappropriate when, you’re “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Ephesians 5:19). Simply, a heart that’s doing that will not easily give in to temptation.

A singing heart is a heart at war with the work of the evil one and the power of sin.

5. When you sing, you are spiritually strengthened for trial.

Often times, we think only of singing when we’re happy and times are good, but singing bringing strength for trial comes out in Acts 16. Paul and Silas are unjustly imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel, and what do they do while they’re in prison? Sing! (Acts 16:25)

And this truth is confirmed in the lives of persecuted believers throughout history. Hear the words of one pastor recently imprisoned for his faith:

“…When we were in prison we sang almost every day because Christ was alive in us…they put chains on our hands and feet. They chained us to add to our grief. Yet we discovered that chains are splendid musical instruments! When we clanged them together in rhythm, we could sing, ‘This is the day (clink, clank), this is the day (clink, clank), which the Lord has made (clink, clank), which the Lord has made (clink, clank).” (Source)

Our persecuted brothers are showing us the truth we see in Acts 16 with Paul & Silas. Singing strengthens you and helps you persevere in the face of trial. If it can strengthen them in the face of these trials – what can it do for you?

Even in suffering, SING!

6. When you sing, you walk a God-designed pathway to joy.

Here is a sample of what the Psalms say about singing:

• Psalms 5:11: “Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”
• Psalms 9:2: “I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
• Psalms 51:14: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.”
• Psalms 59:16: “I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”
• Psalms 63:7: “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.”

If you still don’t believe me, here’s a clincher from James 5:13:  “Is anyone cheerful?  Let him sing praise.”

And as you study Scripture on this point you’ll notice that sometimes singing gives birth to joy and sometimes joy gives birth to singing. But persistently in Scripture, joy and singing are bound together. You can’t study one of those two biblical themes without encountering the other.

If you struggle for joy – SING! If you are joyful – SING! In God’s perfect design and in His perfect understanding of the human condition He has bound joy and singing together for His people.

The first 6 reasons get summed up with this:

7. When you sing, you glorify God.

Truly obedience, deep roots in the Word, building up others, making war against Satan and sin, persevering, finding joy in God – all of these things bring glory to God – each person’s chief goal and chief purpose in life.

Colossians 3 & Ephesians 5 bring this out simply but powerfully telling us to sing “to God” and “to the Lord” because He is the object of our praise. Ephesians 5:19: “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” It is to HIM and about HIM that we sing!

Singing has such a unique way of bringing your heart, soul, mind, and strength together to focus entirely and completely on God.  In an age of distraction – singing grabs the attention of all our senses and focuses us on God.

In Revelation 7:9-10, the Apostle John describes a glimpse of eternity with a great multitude of people from every tribe, peoples, and languages singing before the Lamb, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Eternity awaits.

Will you on that day be one of the great multitude that no one could number, singing the song of the Lamb, singing His praises? I hope you’ll be there, singing the song of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sing now. Sing forever.

Singing matters. And it matters that we do it together.

–

Tom Olson is the Campus Pastor at The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in Barrington, IL.

Related Resource: Worship: What We Do and Why We Do It

Every Sunday morning, millions of believers gather for worship.
We sing, pray, give, preach, baptize and share the Lord’s Supper.

That’s what we do, but why do we do it?

This series will help you get beyond the discussion of worship style,
and help you to explore the spiritual values that drive authentic worship…

The Troubled Son
#4/4: Faith for Fractured Families
Genesis 21:1-21

May 4^th / 5^th 2013
by Pastor Colin S. Smith

So [Sarah] said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” Genesis 21:10

God had promised that his blessing would come to people from every nation on earth through an offspring of Abraham. Abraham and Sarah were aging and they had no child, so Sarah gave her servant Hagar to Abraham so a child would be born through her.

Although this would not have been unusual in the culture, it was never God’s design. The result was an emotional triangle. Abraham was pulled between his love for his wife and his love for his son. This fractured family was plunged into a web of conflicting loyalties and hidden resentments.

The person who is caught in the middle of all this was Ishmael, the son born to Abraham through Sarah’s servant Hagar. So today we are looking at the story through the eyes of Ishmael, the troubled son.

The message today is a story of hope for every person who struggles with conflicts that have their root in your family of origin. We’re going to look at four snapshots of Ishmael’s troubled life. We will see how his life imploded in his teenage years. We will see how God met him and blessed him, and how he can do the same for the most troubled person listening to this message today.   

Ishmael’s Troubled Life

ISHMAEL’S TROUBLED LIFE:
1. Challenges in his temperament
“He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him…”  Genesis 16:12

All of us know what it is for the flesh to pull us in one direction or another. But the prophecy about Ishmael reminds us that some people struggle with powerful impulses that are rooted in their temperament more than others.

Ishmael was a wild donkey of a man. He was wild at heart. That was not said of Isaac, who seems to have been of a calmer temperament. 

Some of you will identify with Isaac: You have your sins and your temptations, like everyone else, but God has given you a calmness of spirit. The challenge for you is that it is easy to become comfortable and self-righteous. 

But others will identify with Ishmael. There is a conflict that seems always to be raging within you. Powerful impulses rise up from within your soul. You find yourself torn, pulled apart. Matthew Henry says:

Those who have turbulent spirits often have troublesome lives ^[1]

That was true of Ishmael. He always felt that people were against him. His default position was that he was against everyone else. He was suspicious, slow to trust.

Some people have harder battles than others. Remembering that will help you be more compassionate towards other believers. You do not know the intensity of your brother or sister’s battle. You may say, “Well, why don’t they just deal with that?” But if you faced the intensity of struggle that they experience, you might not find it so easy either.

ISHMAEL’S TROUBLED LIFE:
2. Tensions in his family
Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. Genesis 21:8-9

Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael was born, and he was 100 when Isaac came along. That means that Ishmael was 14 when Isaac was born. Try to put yourself in the shoes of this fourteen-year-old boy. Ishmael’s father loves him, but Ishmael’s father does not love Ishmael’s mother. Abraham loves Sarah to whom he is married. Sarah is not Ishmael’s mother and Ishmael does not get along with Sarah.  

Hagar is Ishmael’s birth mother. Hagar loves Ishmael, but she is not in a position to care for him. That role belongs to Sarah, Abraham’s wife, and Ishmael’s mother is her servant. So Ishmael grows up in a home where there is constant tension. This unhappy world of resentments is the only life he has ever known.

As Ishmael grows up, he learns about the God of the Bible and the great promise God had made to his father, Abraham, that all nations would be blessed through the offspring of Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). Ishmael is Abraham’s offspring. There is no other…

Then one day news comes that Dad and Sarah are expecting. This is not good news for Ishmael. When Sarah falls pregnant, everyone is laughing… except for Ishmael!

From that moment on, all the attention is on Isaac. The word is that this is the boy through whom the blessing will come, not Ishmael: “Isaac, Isaac, Isaac! Always Isaac—all the wonderful things that Isaac is going to do.” No one takes much notice of fourteen-year-old Ishmael. 

Some of you know about this. You have a gifted sister or brother—they always seem to shine. Your sister has charm and looks and brains. Your brother is the great achiever, and what’s left for you? Favoritism is thinly disguised or perhaps not even disguised at all. Someone else had the blessing… and then there was you.

Ishmael puts up with it for a couple of years or so. Then on the day that Isaac was weaned, Abraham threw a great feast (16:8). It’s amazing how often tension in a family can erupt when everyone is together for what’s supposed to be a celebration. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter—the family is together and we just want everyone to be happy. But tensions that have simmered, have a way of getting to the surface, especially when there are teenagers in the house.

Abraham holds a feast, and Ishmael was not happy. (He is just like the elder brother in the story that Jesus that Jesus told). “Isaac, Isaac, Isaac. Always Isaac.” Ishmael despised him, mocked him, and laughed at him.

Sarah saw what was happening and she said: “Ishmael must go!” Sarah said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac” (Genesis 21:10).

That didn’t worry Ishmael: “Dad is in my corner. I’m his firstborn. He’ll stand up for me.” Imagine Ishmael’s astonishment when the next morning Abraham comes to him with a heavy heart and says “Son, you have to go!”

The family is torn apart. That must have raised huge questions for Ishmael: “How can God love me if he blesses my brother and takes me away from my father? The God my father believes in certainly doesn’t seem to care about me!”

ISHMAEL’S TROUBLED LIFE:
3. Questions about his existence
So [Sarah] said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” Genesis 21:10

Put yourself in Ishmael’s shoes. He is the focal point of all the trouble in this fractured family.

I speculate here, but there must have been times when he had questions that went to the heart of his own existence: “I was a mistake. I was never meant to be. I seem to be a trouble to everyone. It would be better for everyone, if I had never been born.”

What do you say to a boy or a girl whose life began as the result of a rape? What do you say to a teenager who came into being as a result of an affair? What do you say to the child who says, “I am the problem here? If I didn’t exist, this family might have a chance. It’s all my fault…”

These are real questions, and they’re wonderfully addressed right here in story of Ishmael. There’s good reason for describing Ishmael as “the troubled son.” Put together the challenges of his temperament with the tensions in his family, and questions about his existence. You can see that what we have here is one troubled, messed up teenager.

ISHMAEL’S TROUBLED LIFE:
4. Struggles with God’s providence
Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away…  Genesis 21:14

The striking thing is how little Abraham provides for his son. He was a rich man—Abraham had camels, donkeys, and many servants, yet here he is sending his firstborn out into the desert, and what does he provide? A load of bread and a skin of water. How long is that going to last?

And what about protection? The desert was the most dangerous place you could go in those days. Going out into the desert then was like going into the city now. Abraham could easily have sent a small security force with Hagar and Ishmael. But he does not. The firstborn son and his mother are sent out into the desert with a loaf of bread and a skin of water.

Genesis tells us that Abraham did not want to send them away: “The thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son” (Genesis 21:11). But the reason he did this is that God spoke to Abraham about it directly.

“God said to Abraham, ‘be not displeased because of the boy and because of the slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you’” (Genesis 21:11). Abraham did not want to send Ishmael away. He wanted to keep him at home. 

Knowing this, it is reasonable to assume that Abraham’s natural instinct would have been to send Ishmael away with an abundance of food and with some servants for protection. So, why send him away with only a loaf of bread and a skin of water? 

“Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you.” I imagine the conversation between Abraham and Sarah the night before Abraham sends Ishmael away: “I’m going to send Ishmael away in the morning, Sarah.  What provisions should I send with him?”

“Nothing. I don’t want a single grain of Isaac’s inheritance to leave with that slave girl and her son in the morning.”

Now it seems that God himself is against Ishmael. A loaf of bread and a skin of water for two people? God must be sending both of them out into the desert to die!

But here’s the amazing thing… God’s hand was in the limited supply. This would be the means of Hagar and Ishmael encountering God. Follow the story with me…

Hagar departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, ‘Let me not look on the death of the child.’ And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept.  Genesis 21:14-16

Ishmael’s strength gives out in the desert. The boy lies in the sand under a bush. His mother is at breaking point. The situation is hopeless. There is nothing more she can do. She lifts up her voice and weeps.

For Ishmael it looks like the end of the road. His father can’t keep him. His mother can’t support him. His own strength is gone. He can’t go on. Then we read these remarkable words, “and God heard the voice of the boy…” (Genesis 21:17). Hagar weeps, but God hears the voice of the boy!

God’s Redeeming Purpose

GOD’S REDEEMING PURPOSE
1. God’s promise
“Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”  Genesis 21:18

A great nation? Isn’t that the promise for Isaac? Yes, but there’s a promise here specifically for Ishmael too!

The promise must have sounded remote to Hagar: “Lord, you are going to make my son into a great nation. That sounds marvelous, but we don’t have time to think about future generations right now. The problem is that we don’t have what we need to get through the day!”

The promises of God may sound remote when you feel desperate, but the starting point of hope is always to believe God’s promise. The promise is that every blessing is yours in Jesus Christ. The promise is that God is for you in Jesus Christ, and that if Christ is yours, all that you need is yours.

Right now, you may not be able to see how God is going to get you through the situation you are in, but hope begins by believing that he will and trusting him to do it.  “Hagar, this is not the end for you or for your troubled son. There is a future for Ishmael. I will make him into a great nation!”

God can take the mess created by our sin and our folly, and in his redeeming power, bring blessing out of it. Here is a situation that at one level should never have been, but God brings blessing through it! Out of Ishmael will come a great nation, and on the last day there will be many people descended from Ishmael and redeemed by Jesus Christ gathered in the presence of God.

GOD’S REDEEMING PURPOSE
2. God’s provision
The angel of the Lord called to Hagar from heaven… Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink… Genesis 21:17, 19

Abraham had two sons. Both of their lives were laid on the line, and both of them were saved in the same way, by a miraculous provision of God.

The story of Isaac is well known. Abraham takes him up Mount Moriah. They carry the fire and the wood, but Isaac asks his father, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering” (Genesis 22:7)? At the top of the mountain Isaac realizes he is the offering, and his life is on the line. But then God steps in: “The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven” (Gen 22:11). Abraham looks up and “behold, behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son” (22:13).

The story of Isaac is in Genesis 22. But right next to it we have this story about Ishmael in Genesis 21. Ishmael has been sent out into the desert, and without water, his life is on the line. Notice what happens… “The angel of the Lord calls to Hagar from heaven… The Lord open’s Hagar’s eyes and she sees a well of water” (Genesis 21:17, 19).

Ishmael and Isaac are saved in precisely the same way—by the intervention of God. In one story, God provides a ram that is sacrificed so that Isaac may live. In the other story, God provides a well of water so that Ishmael may live.

This is of huge importance because Jews, Muslims and Christians all trace their roots back to Abraham. Muslims trace their heritage to Abraham through Ishmael. Jews trace their heritage to Abraham through Isaac. Christians trace their heritage to Abraham though faith (Galatians 3:7, 9). 

Both of these stories are pointing to Jesus Christ. The story of Isaac points to Christ, the sacrifice, whose life was laid down in our place. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.

The story of Ishmael points to Christ, who is the well of living water, springing up to everlasting life: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty… The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

Christ is the provision of God for all the children of Abraham. To all people who identify themselves as Jews, this story point to Jesus Christ as God’s provision for you. To all people who identify themselves as Muslim, this story points to Jesus Christ as God’s provision for you. To all people who identify themselves as Christian, this story points to Jesus Christ as God’s provision for you.

In Christ God comes into our broken and fractured world. In Christ, God takes our sins upon himself and becomes the sacrifice, paying the price so that we may be saved. In Christ God brings new life, life that begins now and will go on springing up forever. And all this he offers to troubled people like you and me in Jesus Christ.

GOD’S REDEEMING PURPOSE
3. God’s presence
And God was with the boy, and he grew up. He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow… Genesis 21:20

God was with the boy. To this troubled son, God said, “I am for you. I am with you. I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.” God cuts his brightest gems from the darkest places.

He is the God of the difficult temperament. Think about Saul of Tarsus: Angry, impulsive, and violent. Christ gets hold of him and the wild impulses of his heart are directed into one of the greatest lives ever lived. He tells us, “By the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Think about Ishmael: with all the struggles of his temperament and all the tensions in his family, he is wild at heart, but God lays hold of him! God provides for him, and God blesses him. 

To the most troubled person hearing this message today, I say, “There is a promise and a provision for you in Jesus Christ. He is the sacrifice for you. He is the spring of living water for you. He reaches out to you today, and there is hope for you in him.

Blog: The Seven Bitter Fruits of Sin by Pastor Colin Smith

“What does the mystery of sin look like in the life of your friend, neighbor or relative who doesn’t know Christ, doesn’t see anything of His splendor, doesn’t yet have the life of Christ in his or her soul?  This is what sin does, what it produces in a person’s life…”

Free Download: Godly Character for Men and Women

Sermon Series on CD: Deckchairs on the Titanic: How to Avoid a Plunge to Disaster

“Discover how to navigate through the hazardous waters of your life…from the stories of eight men who took a plunge to disaster.

Cain, Esau, Balaam, Korah, Sampson, Absalom, Jehoiakim, and Judas all believed in God and came to worship. Like passengers on the Titanic, their lives were sailing along and everything seemed fine. But their problems were hidden, and eventually they went down.”

From the Gospel Coalition: How to Survive a Cultural Crisis by Mark Dever

“Standing up for historic Christian principles will increasingly get you in trouble socially and maybe economically, perhaps one day also criminally. It’s ironic that Christians are told not to impose their views on others, even as the threat of job loss or other penalties loom over Christians for not toeing the new party line…”

Christianity.com: Who is the Antichrist?-Colin Smith

Not only are there degrees of faith, there are also degrees of love. Our Lord tells us that “he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Luke 7:47), and the one who has been forgiven much, loves much.

Paul is saying “Here is the wonderful thing for which we are thanking God: Your faith is growing, and your love is increasing.” Growing faith and increasing love are God’s work in the hearts of these believers.

Paul must have had special joy as he wrote these words, because this is exactly what he had been praying for: “We pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith… may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you” (1 Thessalonians 3:10, 12).

Paul was so concerned about how these believers would stand up under the pressure of all they were facing that he sent Timothy (1 Thessalonians 3:5), and Timothy came back with this report: “They’re still suffering, but their faith is growing, and their love for each other is increasing!”

Your faith and your love are growing… even when you’re under pressure! Now, how does that happen? This is irrefutable evidence that God is at work in your life. No wonder Paul says, “We thank God for this!”

From the message by Colin S. Smith called “God is Working Through You,” preached on January, 2, 2011, from the series “Staying the Course When You’re Tired of the Battle.”