Welcome to the
Apple Stocks
So Genesis chapter 16.
If you miss any of the talks,
they're on the website.
You can find them there.
And I do commend to you again
the opportunity to study further,
to engage with God's Word.
Consider MBC.
It's a bank holiday.
What else would you be doing?
Come along.
It'll be great for you.
Genesis 16, we're going to read
verses 1 through to 16.
Let's hear God's Word together.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife,
had borne him no children.
But she had an Egyptian slave,
named Hagar.
So she said to Abram,
The Lord has kept me from having children.
Go sleep with my slave.
Perhaps I can build a family through her.
Abram agreed to what Sarai said.
So after Abram had been living in Canaan 10 years,
Sarai, his wife,
took her Egyptian slave, Hagar,
and gave her to her husband to be his wife.
He slept with Hagar,
and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant,
she began to despise her mistress.
Then Sarai said to Abram,
You are responsible for the wrong I'm suffering.
I put my slave into your arms,
and now that she knows she is pregnant,
she despises me.
May the Lord judge between you and me.
Your slave is in your hands,
Abram said.
Do with her whatever you think best.
Then Sarai ill-treated Hagar,
so she fled from her.
The angel of the Lord found Hagar
near a spring in the desert.
It was a spring that is beside the road to shore.
And he said,
Hagar, slave of Sarai,
where have you come from?
Where are you going?
I'm running away from my mistress Sarai,
she answered.
Then the angel of the Lord told her,
Go back to your mistress and submit to her.
The angel added,
I will increase your descendants so much
that they will be too numerous to count.
The angel of the Lord also said to her,
You are now pregnant,
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
He will be a wild donkey of a man.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone's hand against him.
And he will live in hostility towards all his brothers.
She gave this name to the Lord,
who spoke to her.
You are the God who sees me.
For she said,
I have now seen the one who sees me.
That is why the well was called
Beer-lehai-Roi.
It is still there between Kadesh and Beret.
So Hagar bore Abram a son,
and Abram gave the name Ishmael
to the son she had born.
Abram was 86 years old
when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
Well, we get all the nitty-gritty of life,
don't we, in Scripture.
Let's hear what God has to say to us,
and we're going to ask for his help as we pray.
Father, you are the God who sees us.
You see each one of us individually.
You see us together as your body.
You know our hearts.
You know what we're feeling,
what we're thinking.
You know where our minds are tempted to go.
And you know what is right and best for us.
And so we pray that your word
would penetrate deep into our life
and would give to us
what we most need.
That we would hear from you today
that would cause us to be at peace
and at rest with you.
So help us, we ask.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
One of my first jobs on leaving school
was working on a barge
with a friend called Bart.
Now what you must understand is
there was the harbour wall,
the harbour area,
and next to that was the pontoon
which was in the water.
And if you know anything about pontoons,
they rise with the tide
and they'll go down with the tide.
Now connecting the land side,
the harbour, to the pontoon
was a series of electric cables.
And designed in such a way
with a certain amount of length
that when the tide went down,
the cables would stretch
and when the tide came up,
they would be all okay.
Well, Bart couldn't help himself, could he?
He had to make things better.
He looked one evening
and saw that the cables
going from the harbour to the pontoon
were slack.
And he thought to himself,
I could tighten these
and it would make it better.
And it all looked really well
until the tide began to fall.
You could imagine what happened.
You see, sometimes things
are better left alone.
Our interference is exactly that,
an interference.
And it seems that in our text this morning,
Sarai and Abram
just couldn't help themselves.
They had to interfere.
They had to try and make things better.
Well, before we get to that particular incident,
let's first see the difficult situations
that lead to testing times.
Difficult situations that lead to testing times.
God's promise has been clear.
Childless Abram and Sarah
would become a great nation
and in turn,
they would be a blessing
to the nations of the world.
But the great expectation
soon becomes a difficult situation.
Look at verse 1.
Now Sarai, Abram's wife,
had borne him no children.
Things were getting increasingly difficult
for this ageing couple.
In fact, verse 3 tells us
that 10 years have passed
since God had made the promise.
Now I don't mind how strong
you think your theology is.
That's just painful.
Husbands and wives want to graduate
to being dad and mum.
Not having children
is always going to be hard.
And many couples
have sleepless,
tearful nights.
And what makes this particular situation worse?
Look at verse 2.
She said to Abram,
the Lord has kept me
from having children.
God who had promised us children
is keeping us from having children.
Now in our medical orientated world,
we tend to put these disappointments
and heartaches down to
biology and our DNA.
But behind it all,
Sarai knows that the pitcher-patter
of tiny feet
ultimately lies
in the hands of God.
So what's going on here?
Well, not only is it painful,
the pressure is beginning to build.
Sarai is getting desperate.
What are they going to do?
Now we're not immune
to these painful testing times,
are we?
Life has the habit
of throwing us curveballs
and they hurt.
They knock us down.
The pressure gets to us.
Maybe you're a single person
and you've come on your own
and you would love the idea
of getting married.
But nothing's happening.
God's not providing.
Perhaps you've witnessed
and prayed for a friend
or a family member
over many years
and, well,
nothing seems to change.
And you think,
God's not working.
You see,
we can write our own
disappointments into this.
Maybe you're thinking
of them right now.
Perhaps it's a struggling marriage
that you would just love
to be different.
Maybe it's an ongoing illness.
Or maybe an unfulfilled dream.
And yes,
you know that behind it
there's reasons
for the reason
why things are like it.
There are explanations.
But behind it all
is our sovereign God
who is in control
of all things
but yet nothing
seems to happen.
And the years roll by.
Five years.
Ten years.
Twenty years.
And nothing's changing.
What's going on?
Well, we don't always know
what is going on.
But as Christians,
we know how we should respond.
Patient obedience.
We don't always understand
God's ways
but we know
we can trust him.
It's not that God
is making things
as difficult
as they possibly can be
just to see
how we're going to respond.
No, God's ways
are just simply
not always clear to us
and that means
it tests our faith.
Difficult situations
lead to testing times.
And the danger is
as we'll see in a moment
we can begin
to take things
into our own hands
can't we?
Well, we don't have a husband
so we'll marry
an unbeliever
in the hope
that they will become
a believer.
Maybe we just
adjust the gospel message
slightly
so that it becomes
more accessible
in the hope
that our friend
or family member
will believe.
We begin to turn
to other things
and people
to somehow
fulfil what we
all desperately want
and God
doesn't seem
to deliver.
But maybe
these hard
and difficult
situations
can also be used
to pull us
deeper into God
and realise that
well,
he is sufficient.
he is
enough.
The writer
of Psalm 16
understood this.
Listen to his words.
Keep me safe,
my God,
for in you
I take refuge.
I say to the Lord,
you are my Lord.
Apart from you
I have no good thing.
I could have
everything else
but not have
what I most
desperately need.
Those who run
after other gods
will only suffer
more
and more.
So difficult
situations
can lead
to testing
times
in our life.
well,
second,
sinful
solutions
can lead
to
disastrous
consequences.
Sarai
and Abraham's
situation
is difficult.
God
had promised
them a family
through whom
the nations
of the world
will be blessed
but they
don't have
a child.
well,
simples.
Let's give
God a hand.
Let's help
things along
a bit.
God seems
to be in a bit
of a mess
and he just
needs some
of our help.
Isn't that
true?
God helps
those who
help themselves?
Who says
that?
Is it Jesus
or Paul?
No,
it's not
in your Bible.
Don't go
looking.
It's not
there.
playing
God is
always
rebellious.
It's sin
and sinful
solutions
always lead
to disastrous
consequences.
Let's look
at the three
characters
involved
in this
account.
First,
there's
Sarai
and the
sin of
taking
what you
want.
Sarai
wants a
child
so she
takes matters
into her
own hands.
I know
maybe
Hagar
could help.
Verse 2,
so she
said to
Abram,
the Lord
has kept
me from
having
children.
Go sleep
with my
slave.
Perhaps I
can build
a family
through her.
Now,
given the
reality of
the situation,
we might
have some
kind of
sympathy
for
Sarai.
After
all,
God's
blessing
on the
world
depends on
them having
a child.
I mean,
what could
possibly be
wrong with
her plan?
Well,
nothing's wrong
with the
plan except
Genesis 2
tells us
that a man
leaves his
father and
mother and
is united to
his wife and
they become
one flesh.
Marriage is
permanent,
exclusive,
and isn't
open to
other partners.
others.
You see,
when we
desperately
want
something,
we begin
to disengage
with what
God says
and respond
with what
I want.
So,
there's
Sarai and
the sin of
taking what
you want.
Then there's
Abram and
the sin of
ignoring what
is right.
How's
Abram going
to respond to
such a
suggestion?
Well,
look at the
rest of
verse 2.
Abram
agreed to
what Sarai
said.
So,
after Abram
had been
living in
Canaan
ten years,
Sarai,
his wife,
took her
Egyptian
slave,
Hagar,
gave her
to her
husband to
be his
wife.
He slept
with Hagar
and she
conceived.
Well,
it's
understandable,
isn't it?
I mean,
they've been
waiting so
long.
It's been
ten
long
years.
Surely
God doesn't
want it to
take that
long.
I mean,
what else am
I supposed
to do?
And it
will keep
the missus
happy.
Sarai
wants,
Sarai
gets.
Well,
it might
reflect many
a sad
marriage,
but this
isn't going
to do.
The author
wants us
to see
this.
It's
underlined
for us.
If you
look at
the middle
of verse
three,
Sarai,
his wife,
took her
Egyptian
slave,
Hagar,
and gave
her to
her husband
to be
his wife.
Sarai
has a
husband.
His name's
Abram,
and Abram
has a
wife.
Her name
is Sarai.
No,
none of
them.
Abram
can't
plead
ignorance
to God's
good design.
He knows
what's
right.
And then
there's
Hagar,
and the
sin of
running
from her
guilt.
we
don't
need to
be
marriage
counsellors
to guess
what's
going to
happen
next,
do we?
Look at
the end
of verse
four.
When
Hagar
knew she
was
pregnant,
she
began
to
despise
her
mistress.
What's
the matter,
Sarai?
Can't
give what
your husband
wants?
Well,
Sarai
repaid the
compliment,
didn't
she?
Look at
the end
of verse
six.
Sarai
ill-treated
Hagar,
so she
fled from
her.
No,
Hagar
isn't an
innocent
bystander
in all
of this.
She
knows
the deal,
and she's
quite happy
to go
along with
it.
Maybe
it will
kind of
get her
up the
pecking
order a
bit.
But when
it all
gets a
little bit
messy and
too close
to the
bone,
she
ups and
leaves.
Rather
than face
the sin
and the
trouble,
she runs
away from
it.
You see,
all three,
Sarai,
Abram,
Hagar,
they're all
responsible for
playing God.
They all
take matters
into their
own hands.
And what
seemed to
be a
clever
solution
turned out
to have
disastrous
consequences.
They all
begin to
start
fighting.
Verse
five,
Sarai
said to
Abram,
Hugh,
you're
responsible
for the
wrong
I'm
suffering.
Verse
six,
no,
your
slave is
in your
hands,
Abram
said.
Do
with her
whatever
you think
best.
And
Sarai
ill-treated
Hagar,
and
Hagar
fled from
her.
Playing
God is
all so
familiar,
isn't it?
It's how
the first
marriage in
the Bible
that we
come across
started out.
remember
Adam and
Eve?
All
this is
yours.
You can
enjoy all
this fruit,
but not
this.
Well,
Eve wanted
and Eve
got.
And she
gave some
to her
husband and
he took.
Just as
Sarai gave
Hagar to
Abram and
he took.
And when
it all
just got
so messy,
Adam and
Eve hid
and ran
from their
sin.
And then
the blame
game started.
Her,
him,
no,
Satan.
Of course,
the actions
of that
first marriage
in the
Garden of
Eden had
disastrous
consequences,
and it
seems our
sinful
solutions to
it all are
not much
better.
think about
our own
lives for
a minute.
I want
to be
happy.
I'll make
myself happy.
I want
to live as
I like.
I'll do
as I like.
I want
to...
You fill
in the
blank.
What are
you desperately
wanting right
now?
I want
and I'll
have.
And we
just ignore
God's
word.
We twist
the truth.
We reject
what's
right.
And like
it always
does,
well,
it just
goes from
bad to
worse.
Instead
of confronting
our sin,
we begin
to run
and hide
from it.
We blame
others.
It's not
me,
it's them.
We blame
our past.
It's my
parents.
It was
my education.
We blame
our childhood.
We blame
the church.
The only
thing we're
absolutely
certain of
is it's
not my
fault.
Hagar
did have
a child
but life
was not
going to
be easy.
Look at
the end
of,
look at
verse 12.
God
said that
her son
would be
a wild
donkey
of a
man.
His
hand
will be
against
everyone
and
everyone's
hand
against
him
and
he
will
live
in
hostility
towards
all
his
brothers.
others.
The
children of
Hagar
and the
children of
Sarai
would be
in conflict
all their
years.
In fact,
if we know
anything of
our history,
it's still
going on
today,
isn't it?
It's being
played out in
the Middle
East every
single day.
You see,
sin has
this
disastrous
consequence.
It's like
the first
flick of
a domino.
One push
and there's
no end
to its
destruction.
So we
have sinful
solutions
that lead
to
disastrous
consequences.
But then
there's a
God
intervention
that leads
to
redeemed
lives.
God
interventions
lead to
redeemed
lives.
I mean,
the account
is such a
terrible mess,
isn't it?
How do you
begin to
untangle
it all?
Well,
the point
is you
can't.
Sin has
deep
consequences
that you
and I
can't
undo.
However,
there is
one who
can deal
with our
past and
give us
a future,
one who
redeems
and restores
broken lives.
Now,
before we
look at
how God
redeems,
we've got
to ask
this question,
who is
the angel
of the
Lord?
He appears
in verse
seven,
the angel
of the
Lord.
In verse
nine,
the angel
of the
Lord told
her.
Verse
eleven,
the angel
of the
Lord also
said to
her,
well,
it's
not just
any
angel.
It seems
to be
that the
angel of
the Lord,
and if we
find this
out more
as we go
through the
Old Testament,
seems to be
a manifestation
of God
himself.
That's what
Hagar points
to if you
look at
verse
thirteen.
so she
gave this
name to
the
Lord
who
spoke
to her.
You
are the
God
who
sees
me.
The
angel
of the
Lord
is a
manifestation
of God
himself
who
comes
in
person
to deal
with
Hagar.
So let's
look at
God's
personal
and gracious
intervention
into the
life of
Hagar.
We're going
to see
three things
that relate
to our
lives as
well.
First,
God seeks
the lost.
Look at
verse
seven.
The
angel of
the Lord
found
Hagar
near a
spring in
the desert.
It's a
beautiful
picture,
isn't it?
We can
picture
Hagar
wandering
around in
the desert
trying to
find some
respite by
a spring
lost
and alone
and God
calls her
by name.
Verse
eight.
Hagar
slave of
Sarai
where have
you come
from?
Where are
you going?
You see
this is the
kind of
God we
have.
He never
waits for
us to
come to
him.
God takes
the initiative
and moves
out towards
us.
God loves
to redeem
sinners.
Isn't that
what we see
in the
person of
Jesus?
The God
man who
comes into
the mess
and brokenness
of our
lives,
reaching out
to us,
searching us
until he
finds us,
looking for
the prodigal,
as Jesus
himself reminds
us,
for the
son of
man came
to seek
and to
save
the lost.
Maybe you
feel you're
wandering in
the desert.
Maybe you're
running from
certain things
in the past
that have
never ever
been addressed.
Well,
God is
seeking you
because he
loves you.
God
seeks the
lost
and God
hears
the
repentant.
Look at
verse 8
again.
God said,
Hagar,
slave of
Sarai,
where have
you come
from?
Where are
you going?
Well,
it's not
that God
doesn't know
where she's
come from
or where
she's going.
He knows.
So why
would God
ask a
question?
Well,
he asks the
question because
it's an
invitation to
Hagar to
come and
speak and
engage with
the living
God.
God is a
listener.
He hears
us.
He's
concerned for
you and
for me.
Hagar
responds,
end of
verse 8,
I'm
running
away.
I'm
running
away.
Hagar
admits to
what she's
doing.
She's on
the run.
She knows
the mess
she's left
behind and
she's turned
her back and
she's getting
out of there.
So God
in his grace
calls her
back again.
Verse 9,
then the
angel of the
Lord told
her,
go back
to your
mistress
and submit
to her.
Of course,
Hagar has
no idea
how she's
going to
be treated
but,
it's what
she must
do.
She must
obey what
God says
and she
turns back.
You see,
maybe there's
stuff in
your past
today and
you don't
want to go
back there.
You're not
wanting to
face up to
it.
But maybe
there's
relationships
we need
to deal
with.
We must
obey
and trust
all things
to him.
You see,
God hears
your cry.
He hears
your longings
to change
and be
different.
He hears
about your
regrets.
He sees
your failing.
He knows
your sin
and in
response,
God is
calling us
back.
Go back.
Come back
to me.
The Bible
calls it
repentance.
We never
ever stop
repenting.
And so
that we
know he
hears us,
look at
verse 11,
the angel
of the Lord
also said
to her,
you are
now pregnant
and you
will give
birth to a
son.
You'll
call him
Ishmael.
Ishmael
means
the Lord
has heard
of your
misery.
You see,
we can
come to
God with
all our
misery
and all
our mess
and he
hears you
and he
will answer
you.
So God
seeks,
God
hears
and then
we know
this next
one,
God
sees
the needy.
Verse 13,
Hagar
gave this
name to
the Lord
who spoke
to her,
you are
the God
who sees
me.
For she
said,
I have
now seen
the one
who sees
me.
So who's
seeing who?
Well,
there's a
double truth
here that
both encourages
us and
blesses us.
At one
level,
Hagar
can say,
God
sees me.
God
sees me.
Rather
than her
sin
putting her
out of
sight of
God,
it's her
sin that
puts her
in the
direct
vision
and
sight of
God.
You see,
no one
is so
messed up
that God
cannot
see them.
Isn't that
encouraging?
with
his piercing
eyes,
he
penetrates
beneath
the
facade
and the
masks
that we
carry
with us
and he
sees
our
heart.
But at
another
level,
Hagar
can say,
I have
now seen
God,
the one
who sees
me.
Hagar
can now
see God
in the
sense that
she can
know God
personally
and
intimately.
Through her
repentance,
through her
engagement,
her encounter
with God,
she can
now see
the God
who is
holy
and pure.
That's
the God
we have.
The one
who not
only sees
us,
but invites
people like
us to
see him,
to know
him and
to enjoy
him.
You see,
God doesn't
need our
interventions.
We need
a God
intervention
in our
life.
God
doesn't
need
Sarai
and Abram
to do
his job.
God
had promised
that he
would bless
the nations
and he
will continue
to bless
the nations.
Even a
woman from
Egypt,
an outsider
called
Hagar.
And if
he can
bless her
too,
he can
bless you
and me.
You see,
sin and
its
consequences
may be
deeply
engraved
in our
lives.
And we
can't
undo
what's
broken.
But we
have one
who
redeems
and
intervenes.
so even
in our
mess,
even in
the depth
of our
despair,
when we
give up
on ourselves,
when everybody
else gives
up on us,
there is
one who
delights in
saving
wanderers like
us.
The God
who seeks
the lost,
hears the
repentant,
and sees
the needy.
Let's
just take
a moment
to reflect
together.
Let's
just
take
a moment
to reflect
together.
Lord God,
we're
sorry for
the times
we have
rushed
things
along,
taken
things
that
aren't
ours,
trying
to do
your
job.
Father,
please
forgive us.
Help us
to know
a fresh
the God
who comes
to rescue
us and
redeem us,
dealing
with our
past,
and giving
us a
glorious
future.
Thank you
that through
faith in
Christ we
can say
we can
see you
and know
you.
And thank
you that
one day
we will
see you
face to
face.
We will
be with
you.
and you
will know
us and
we will
know you
in all
its
fullness.
Thank you
God.
Amen.
song we're
going to
sing.
I once
was lost
in darkest
night.
I thought
I knew
the way.
There's
only one
way and
that's
always
returning
to
Christ.
He is
enough.
He is
sufficient
for all
things.
So I
invite you
if you're
able to