Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church.
And it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us.
We're glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good.
They don't need God's grace and no one so bad that they can't have it,
which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us.
In his word.
This week, we are continuing our series in the book of Genesis.
You'll remember that Genesis tells the origin story both of the world and of God's people, Israel.
And when it tells the story of Israel, it begins with the story of Abraham, which is our focus.
Genesis is 50 chapters.
We're actually just doing chapters 11 through 25 to focus on Abraham and his life.
And we're doing that for two reasons.
First, to prepare us to go back to Romans, our series that we're slowly working for.
And when we head back, we'll be in Romans chapter 4, which is about Abraham.
So we're looking at Abraham in Genesis to prepare us to look at Abraham in Romans.
The second reason is that Abraham's story allows us to ask the question,
what does it look like to follow God in faith?
Last week, we were in chapter 20.
We saw this sort of counterintuitive contrast between good pagans and bad Christians.
Abraham doesn't fear God in that episode.
Abimelech, a pagan king, does.
This week, chapter 21, we're going to have three different scenes.
And those three scenes have one thread that go through all of them,
which is God's great blessing and provision.
And in case you're getting worried with three scenes,
we're going to spend a lot of time on the first scene,
some time on the second scene,
a very small amount of time on the third scene.
With that, I invite you to turn with me to God's Word, Genesis chapter 21.
You can turn in your Bible.
You can turn on your phone.
You can turn in your worship guide.
No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word.
And God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold,
even the finest gold,
and it's sweeter than honey,
even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
So that's why we read now Genesis chapter 21,
starting at verse 1.
The Lord visited Sarah as He had said,
and the Lord did to Sarah as He had promised.
And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age,
at the time of which God had spoken to him.
Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him,
whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old,
as God had commanded him.
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
And Sarah said,
God has made laughter for me.
Everyone who hears will laugh over me.
And she said,
Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children?
Yet I have born him a son in his old age.
Verse 8.
And the child grew and was weaned,
and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian,
whom she had born to Abraham, laughing.
So she 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.
And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
But God said to Abraham,
Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman.
Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you,
for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
And I will make a nation of the son of a slave woman also,
because he is your offspring.
So 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.
And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Verse 15.
When the water and 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 bow shot.
For she said,
Let me not look on the death of the child.
And as she sat opposite with him,
she lifted up her voice and wept.
And God heard the voice of the boy.
And the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her,
What troubles you, Hagar?
Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is.
Up, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand,
for I will make him into a great nation.
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.
And God was with the boy and he grew up.
He lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow.
He lived in the wilderness of Paran and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Verse 22.
When Abraham reproved Abimelech about a well of water that Abimelech's servants had seized,
Abimelech said,
I do not know who has done this thing.
You did not tell me,
and I have not heard of it until today.
So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech,
and the two men made a covenant.
Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock apart.
And Abimelech said to Abraham,
What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?
He said, These seven ewe lambs you will take from my hand,
that this may be a witness for me that I dug this well.
Therefore that place was called Beersheba,
because there both of them swore an oath.
So they made a covenant at Beersheba.
Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army,
rose up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba
and called there on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God.
And Abraham sojourned many days in the land of the Philistines.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our Father in heaven, we do praise you and thank you
for gathering us here together as your people.
We thank you even more that your word comes and brings dead things to life.
It comes where there's nothing and it creates new creation.
Father, we thank you that that's true,
that your word created new things at the beginning of the world,
creates new life in us as well.
And we ask that you would do that this morning,
that you would pour out your Holy Spirit,
that you'd be at work in our hearts here and now in a special way,
melting and softening them,
making them tender to you and your word and your ways.
That most of all, they would be drawn more and more to Jesus,
that we would see him as more beautiful and more glorious.
We ask all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
We have a lot of visitors here this morning.
So thankfully, I'm going to tell you that if you have been with us for a while,
you are aware of the overarching plot of the story of Abraham.
And if you've not been with us, I'll review that for you quickly.
We've taken some side quests,
especially a side quest with the story of Lot.
But there has been this one overarching question,
this major plot that's gone from chapter 11 goes to the end of chapter 25.
And we are kind of getting there with chapter 21.
The question, the tension starting with chapter 12 is this.
Will God keep his promises to Abraham?
And if he does, how will he do it?
Will Abraham and Sarah actually have a child?
Especially Sarah.
Because remember, all the way back in chapter 11,
the first thing we find out about Sarah
is that she is unable to have children.
But there's a promise, right?
Genesis chapter 12, very beginning,
God tells Abraham,
Genesis chapter 15,
the promise is repeated again.
Your son is going to be the heir.
Your descendants will be as many as the stars.
Then we proceed, chapter 17,
God tells him again,
not just chapter 12,
you'll be the father of a great nation.
No, now in 17,
we find out you're gonna be the father of many nations.
I will make you into nations
and kings shall come from you.
Chapter 17, he reiterates,
the kings are gonna come not from Hagar.
It's not gonna be through Ishmael.
No, it's going to come from Sarah.
And then in 17 and 18,
we just keep plowing in this one direction
and the promise is advanced.
In both chapters, God says to Abraham,
Sarah will have a child next year.
So we're moving chapter 11.
Sarah is not able to have children.
Chapter 17 and 18, it's coming.
It's gonna be in the year.
Meanwhile, the years are ticking by.
So every so often,
you may have caught this,
we are told Abraham's age.
At the very beginning, chapter 12,
Abraham is 75 years old.
Next, chapter 16,
we're told Abraham is 86 years old.
Chapter 17, Abraham is 99 years old.
And then we get here,
this what we just read,
look with me, verse five,
Abraham was 100 years old.
In the last couple months,
we have covered 25 years of Abraham's life.
Which means that Abraham and Sarah
have been waiting for 25 years
for God to do what he said he would do.
Takes us to our first scene here.
After 25 years of waiting,
finally,
the promised son is here.
We have the birth of Isaac.
And the fact that God has fulfilled his promise
is emphasized multiple times.
Look with me at verse one,
where it's repeated twice.
The Lord visited Sarah
as he had said.
Same verse,
the Lord did to Sarah
as he had promised.
Next verse,
verse two,
at the time of which God had spoken to him.
This is a reference back to chapter 17 and 18,
which said,
in one year,
Sarah will give birth.
The point is this.
After 25 years,
God did what he said he would do.
And not only did God do
what he said he would do,
God did it
when he said he would do it.
God has done what he said he would do.
And he did it
when he said he would do it.
God has honored his promise.
And so Sarah's laugh of cynicism
turns into a laugh of joy.
Look with me at verse six.
And Sarah said,
God has made laughter for me.
Everyone who hears
will laugh over me.
We have been set up
for that verse
for several chapters now.
Remember Genesis chapter 17,
God comes to Abraham,
reaffirms that Abraham's gonna be
the father of many nations.
And Abraham says,
hey, can't Ishmael just take it?
Do we really have to do this thing
where Sarah gives birth in her old age?
Remember God says,
yeah, it's gonna be Sarah's son
and you're gonna call his name Isaac.
What does Isaac mean?
Isaac means laugh.
So 17, Sarah's gonna have a son.
His name means laugh,
laughter.
Genesis 18,
remember Sarah overhears
the conversation between Abraham and God.
And what does she do
when she hears that she is going
to have a son in her old age?
She laughs.
But it's a laugh
of bitterness,
of cynicism,
of disappointment.
Right?
Now,
a laugh of hope,
joy,
and relief.
25 years
in the making.
God has fulfilled his promise.
He's honored his word.
Sarah's cynicism
is turned
to joy.
If you're familiar
with the Bible,
you know right about
the middle of the Bible
there's the book of Psalms.
And the book of Psalms
is the Old Testament
prayer book
or song book
of God's people.
And depending on
how you do the count,
some people say
a third of the Psalms,
that's the conservative count,
some people say
a half of the Psalms
are songs of lament.
So they're songs
of God's people
crying out to him
in sorrow
saying,
God,
how long?
Why does the world
have to be broken
in this way?
How long
till you bring justice
and punish our enemies?
How long
till you heal
and restore
the things
that have been broken?
But then,
the last five Psalms
have zero
laments.
The last five Psalms
all start
and end
with these cries
of hallelujah.
They are Psalms
of incredible joy
and praise.
And there's a man
who's a great scholar
in the Psalms,
this is on page seven
of your worship guide,
who comments on this
explaining why the Psalms,
which are filled
with lament,
end in praise.
The Psalms
are a miniature
of our story
as a whole,
which will end
in unbroken
blessing
and delight.
This is what's happened
with Abraham and Sarah.
25 years
of doubt
and frustration
and cynicism
and wondering,
God's made a promise,
we don't see
any progress.
Where does it end?
It ends closer
to this,
unbroken
blessing
and delight.
Of course,
there's still challenges,
right?
We'll see some of those
in the next chapters.
The story is not
totally over for them.
They will not have
unbroken blessing
and delight
now in this life.
ultimately
in the life
to come.
But why is that?
Why is it
that we have confidence
that the story
ends that way?
It's very simple.
It's a simple point
about God's character.
The character of God
is such
that he always
keeps his promises.
Why does it end
in unbroken
blessing
and delight?
Because God
is a promise
keeping God.
God ultimately
and finally
keeps his promises
to Abraham
and Sarah.
Christian,
God ultimately
and finally
keeps his promises
to you.
but
he keeps
those promises
on his own
timetable,
right?
Verse 2,
at the time
of which God
had spoken
to him,
God decided
it was going
to take
25 years.
And so it's
tempting,
right,
to stray
and come up
with our own
plan.
That's what we
saw Abraham
and Sarah
do in chapter
16.
They've had
years of
doubt,
second guessing
God's plan
A with their
own plan
B.
And I want
you to imagine
with me for a
second,
what could
have been
different?
What would
have been
different if
Sarah had
hoped and
trusted in
God's word
from the
beginning?
We wouldn't
have had to
have chapter
16,
right?
She wouldn't
have had to
go to Abraham
and say,
you know
what,
let's have
a child
through my
servant
Hagar.
She could
have skipped
all the
bitterness,
all the
pain that
that brought
her.
Imagine if
Abraham
had had this
unshakable
trust in
God's word.
There would
have been no
lying to
Pharaoh,
chapter 12.
There would
have been no
lying to
Abimelech,
last week,
right?
There's so
much pain
and heartbreak
that could
have been
avoided.
Brothers and
sisters,
we also
find ourselves
in a long
obedience.
We also
find ourselves
hoping in
God's word,
tempted to
doubt that
his promises
will come
true.
Maybe you've
been praying
for 10
years,
for a
friend or
a family
member to
come to
know the
Lord,
and you're
tempted just
to turn
away.
Maybe you've
been in a
season of
depression
or chronic
pain,
and you're
not sure how
much longer
you can hold
on.
Maybe you've
been married
for 20
years,
and even
though it's
been 20
years,
the same
arguments come
up again
and again,
and you're
ready to
give up.
Maybe your
parenting has
gotten hard
and discouraging
and you're
tempted to
believe the
lie that
it is too
late,
so it's
time to
check out.
Christian,
hope and
hold on.
God will
keep his
promises to
you.
You may
not do it
on your
timetable.
He will
do it.
His promise
to you,
by the way,
is not that
you will have
a child in
old age.
That was
his promise
to Sarah.
His promise
to you is
not that he
will make you
wealthy in
this life,
but God
has made
promises to
you.
In Psalm
34,
he's promised
you that he
is close to
the broken
hearted and
that he saves
the crushed
in spirit.
In 1 Corinthians
chapter 10,
he's made a
promise to you.
God is
faithful and
he will not
let you be
tempted beyond
your ability.
But with
the temptation,
he will also
provide the
way of escape
that you will
be able to
endure it.
God's made
you a promise
in Psalm
125.
Those who
trust in the
Lord are like
Mount Zion,
which cannot
be moved,
but abides
forever.
God's made
you a promise
in James
chapter 4.
Resist the
devil and
he will flee
from you.
Draw near
to God.
He will
draw near
to you.
He's made
you a promise
in Psalm
37.
I have
not seen
the righteous
forsaken
or his
children
begging
bread.
He's made
you a promise
in Hebrews
chapter 13.
I will
never leave
you nor
forsake
you.
He's made
you a promise
in Psalm
23.
Goodness
and mercy
will follow
you all
the days
of your
life.
And you
will dwell
in the
house of
the Lord
forever.
Christian,
God
will do
what he
has
promised.
He may
not do
it on
your
timeline
and he
may not
meet your
deadline.
He
will
do
it.
Hope
and hold
on.
God
makes
and
keeps
Of course,
we don't
want to be
so heavenly
minded that
we're of no
earthly good,
as the saying
goes.
We have to be
engaged in the
work that God
has for us
here and
now,
but the way
that we
make it
is that we
never forget
where we're
going.
God makes
and keeps
his promises.
He makes
and keeps
them in
this life
and in
the life
to come.
Of course,
it's our
Lord Jesus
who tells
us the
same thing.
God already
read this for
us this
morning.
This is page
three from
Matthew chapter
six.
For the
Gentiles seek
after these
things,
and your
heavenly
Father knows
that you
need them
all.
But seek
first the
kingdom of
God and
his righteousness,
and all
these things
will be
added to
you.
Therefore,
do not be
anxious about
tomorrow,
for tomorrow
will be
anxious for
itself.
Sufficient
for the
day is
its own
trouble.
Okay, we
have two
more scenes,
and I'm
just going to
very briefly
those two
scenes point
out again
God's
faithfulness
to his
promises.
That's the
theme of
this chapter.
First, we
have the
scene with
Ishmael.
You may
have been
tracking that
in 2023,
Prince
Harry came
out with
his book
called
Spare,
which included
his grievances
against the
royal family,
and the
reason he
called it
Spare,
it was in
contrast to
the word
heir.
So he's in
contrast to
Prince William,
who's the
firstborn,
that's the
heir,
the second
born is
the spare,
the idea
is, well,
if something
happens to
the firstborn,
we've got to
back up.
Right?
That is what
is going on
with Ishmael
and Isaac,
except it's
reversed.
Ishmael is
the spare,
even though
he's firstborn.
The reason
he's the spare,
even though he's
the firstborn,
is he's born
through Hagar,
not Sarah.
But as the
spare,
he's still a
little bit of
a threat.
Not only is he a
little bit of a
threat, but he is
threatened,
right?
Isaac means he's
not going to be
the one.
Verse 12,
for through
Isaac shall your
offspring be
named.
Verse 8,
there's this big
party thrown for
Isaac.
He's weaned.
This is a big
deal in the
ancient Near
Eastern world
because infancy
has high
infant mortality.
And so if you
make it to this
point, your odds
of making it
farther are
really good.
The celebration
is this,
the air is
going to be
the air.
What's not
stated is the
spare is going
to be the
spare.
And so verse
9, Ishmael,
now a teenager,
begins laughing,
continuing the
wordplay,
laughing here
does not mean
laughing with
joy.
This is not
Sarah's laugh.
This is a
mocking laugh.
He's making
fun of
Isaac.
The apostle
Paul clarifies
this for us
writing in the
New Testament
in Galatians 4.
He says,
Ishmael
persecuted
Isaac.
So there's
some bullying
going on here.
This party
ratifies what
was always
true.
Ishmael
ain't it.
Isaac
is the
real deal.
And so
verse 10,
he's sent
away.
Verse 11,
this tears
Abraham's heart
apart because
at the end
of the day
it's still
his son.
Verse 12,
God says,
do it.
Do it
because Isaac
is the one
through whom
the blessed
line will
come.
And
God
keeps
his promise.
Remember
Genesis chapter
17,
Abraham had
said,
can't it
just be
Ishmael?
That's going
to make
life so
easy.
And in
17,
God says,
look,
I'm going
to make
Ishmael
into a
great nation.
Ishmael's
not forgotten.
Same thing
here.
Verse 13
of this chapter,
I will
make a
nation of
the son
of the
slave woman
also because
he is
your
offspring.
So
Ishmael
is sent
away.
God
provides,
he provides
water,
saves
Ishmael's
life.
Yes,
the line
will not
continue
through Israel
and God
will keep
his promise.
Verse 20,
God was
with the
boy and
he grew
up.
God
will do
what he
said he
will do.
Keeps
promise about
Ishmael,
he also
keeps his
promise with
Abimelech.
Remember,
Abimelech is
just here in
the last
chapter,
he's this
pagan king
and he
comes to
make a
treaty.
Why?
Why does
Abimelech want
to make a
treaty with
Abraham?
Verse 22,
he tells us
why.
God is
with you
in all
that you
do.
Why is
God with
Abraham in
all that
he does?
Because
God made
a promise
in Genesis
chapter 12.
Remember
Genesis
chapter 12,
he said,
I will
bless you
and make
your name
great.
What is
Abimelech
see?
Abimelech
sees that
God has
blessed
Abraham
and made
his name
great.
Also in
Genesis
chapter 12,
God says
this,
I will
bless
those
who
bless
you
and
him
who
dishonors
you
I
will
curse.
What's
Abimelech
doing?
He wants
to get
the blessing
that comes
from blessing
Abraham.
God
will do
what he
said
he would
do.
The first
scene,
he's kept
his promise
about
the
son.
The last
scene,
he's
showing
he's
kept
his promise
about
the
blessing.
It's all
coming
together.
What God
promised
in 12
and 15
and 17
and 18
and 19,
here in
21,
he does.
How do
we end?
Verse
33,
Abraham
worships
God.
Why does
Abraham
worship
God?
Because
he's the
everlasting
God,
the one
who keeps
his
promises.
Of course,
the reason
that Isaac
matters
is Isaac
is part
of Abraham's
line.
And the
reason that
Abraham's
line matters
is that
Abraham's
line leads
ultimately
to Jesus.
That is
the greatest
fulfillment
of God's
promise in
Genesis
chapter 12
that he
will be
a blessing
to the
nations.
How is he
going to
bless the
nations?
He's going
to bless
the nations
fully and
finally,
not through
Isaac,
not through
Jacob,
not through
Joseph.
He's going
to bless
them through
our Lord
and Savior
Jesus
Christ.
The one
who comes
as a
human,
lives the
life we
should have
lived,
dies the
death we
deserve to
die.
So God's
greatest
promise is
kept in
the greatest
way.
He takes
our sin
and gives
us his
righteousness.
Why are
all the
other promises
true?
They're true
because of
Jesus' death
and resurrection.
Apostle Paul
tells us this.
2 Corinthians
chapter 1
verse 20
he says,
all the
promises of
God are
yes and
amen in
Jesus.
Jesus,
how I
trust him,
how I've
proved him,
or and
or,
Jesus,
precious
Jesus,
oh for
grace to
trust him
more.
Let's pray.
Our
Father in
heaven,
we do
praise you
and thank
you that
you keep
every
promise
you make.
And you've
kept the
most important
promise in
your son and
our savior,
our Lord
Jesus.
We ask that
you would
use that to
grow in us
an unshakable
trust and
confidence in
you that
leads to
hope and
peace and
joy and
boldness and
courage and
confidence and
humility.
We ask these
things in
Jesus' mighty
name.
Amen.