To the Next Generation.

Steve Gentry

[0:00] Alright, go ahead and have a seat. [0:02] Welcome to Village Church. [0:03] If this is the first time you’ve been here, my name’s Steve. [0:05] I’m one of the pastors here at Village Church. [0:07] And as always, I am thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:11] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them up to Genesis chapter 24.

[0:15] That’s where we’ll be parked for most of our morning. [0:18] But before we get into that, I do want to, by way of announcement, kind of encourage [0:23] you to partner with us in our Village Palooza night of worship and auction that’s coming [0:29] up. [0:29] Now, what this is, if you’re kind of unaware and you’re like that, that name doesn’t [0:33] even make sense.

[0:34] Well, what that is, that is a night every year that we get together and we sing in [0:40] worship to Jesus, but then we also have an auction for international missions. [0:44] And so we kind of need you to partner with us in two ways. [0:48] The first way is that if you could donate something towards the auction to be auctioned [0:52] off to raise money, that would be extremely helpful. [0:56] Now I don’t want yard sale items.

[0:59] So that futon that your uncle used to sleep in that’s up in the attic, we don’t want [1:03] it. [1:04] All right. [1:05] Just throw that away. [1:07] We don’t need your old clothing. [1:09] That’s not kind of the items we’re looking for.

[1:12] We’re looking for things that are actually worth money. [1:14] So if you have something of significance to donate or like a timeshare or if you want [1:19] to just go buy a week of vacation somewhere for me, that’ll be separate than the auction. [1:25] But you could also donate that to the auction or maybe a service that you offer professionally. [1:31] You could donate that towards the auction as well. [1:34] And the second thing that I need you to do is show up that evening to partner with us

[1:39] as we seek to raise money. [1:41] We have such a wonderful time every year that we do this and every dime of it goes towards [1:46] international missions. [1:48] Now some of you are like, oh, maybe I’ll show up and I’ll get a good deal on something. [1:51] That’s not the point. [1:52] We’re trying to raise money here, folks.

[1:54] So come, maybe over the next couple of days, maybe somehow create some margin in your [1:59] budget. [1:59] Come with some generosity so that you can have a vision of donating money to the work [2:05] of Jesus all over the world, but also receiving a good, excuse me, a good as well. [2:12] So we’re going to try to raise as much money as we can. [2:14] We raise thousands of dollars every year doing this and that’s our goal this year as well.

[2:19] But it’s going to be a great time. [2:20] So I encourage you to be a part of that. [2:24] Now we are a few weeks into part three of our study of the book of Genesis. [2:30] And so as we’ve said, this is the book of beginnings. [2:33] And so throughout the narrative of Genesis, we can see the arc of scripture as a whole [2:39] being laid out.

[2:40] So from creation and purpose to sin and redemption through faith, all of that’s here. [2:46] And so the book of Genesis really sets this great atmosphere for the rest of the story [2:52] that God writes throughout the record of scripture as well. [2:55] And so last week, we dealt specifically with both Genesis 23 and 25, taking a look at [3:03] death and faith. [3:04] And so we asked the question, how do we deal with the reality of death while also trusting

[3:11] in the promises of God? [3:12] Because we are called to live in trust that God’s promises extend beyond any pain and [3:20] death that we will deal with in this life. [3:24] In spite of all of that, God’s mission is always moving forward. [3:28] And in faith, we are called to move forward with God living his mission. [3:35] You know, Abraham and Sarah had received a great covenant from God.

[3:40] And God kept his promise, even though their physical lives on earth did not go to see [3:48] that promise ultimately being fulfilled in total, but rather they died first. [3:53] And so today what I want to do is I want to use those two chapters as kind of bookends. [3:58] And we’re going to talk right in the middle about Genesis chapter 24, which takes place [4:02] in between the deaths of Sarah and Abraham. [4:06] This is almost a continuation of the subject matter of last week’s message, because after

[4:12] the death of Sarah, the narrative shifts slightly with a look toward preparing the next generation [4:19] of God’s covenant. [4:20] And so Abraham specifically kind of began to shift his priority towards looking towards [4:27] the future for Isaac after Sarah’s death, but also even realizing that his death would [4:33] eventually come and he would leave the promises of God and leave all that he had to his son [4:39] Isaac.

[4:40] And so the covenant of God was going to outlive Abraham. [4:43] And I think that Abraham in chapter 24 shows us that he realizes that and he seeks to prepare [4:50] Isaac to live under the covenant of God. [4:54] And so this is going to be a record of Abraham securing a bride for his son Isaac. [5:02] And I want to kind of give you guys some warnings for today. [5:05] And so I’m going to meddle in your life a little bit today.

[5:09] I’m going to be a little more specific maybe than other areas of scripture kind of allow [5:14] us to be. [5:16] And Dr. John Piper has always said, he says, it’s not books that change your life, it’s [5:19] not paragraphs that change your life, it’s sentences that ultimately change your life. [5:24] And Dr. Eric Mason made a statement in a sermon I was listening to one time where he said [5:29] preaching is meddling.

[5:30] And he said you just need to accept that. [5:33] And so when I say something today that seems like I’m meddling in your life, it’s because [5:39] I’m trying to. [5:41] It’s because that’s kind of my job. [5:44] And so you need to kind of throughout the next 45 minutes or so kind of keep in the [5:48] background of your mind, he’s doing his job.

[5:51] All right. [5:52] And I already know some of you are going to send me emails this week because I’m going [5:56] to offend you and I want to prepare you for that offense. [6:00] And also before you hit send, realize I don’t care. [6:04] I just I don’t really care because I’m just seeking to give you the Bible, seeking to [6:11] give you the word of God and trying to seek this morning to help you in two areas.

[6:16] And those two specific areas are going to be parenting, which is a landmine. [6:22] All right. [6:23] And so I know that. [6:25] And some of you are going to be like, I just don’t think that’s right. [6:27] I don’t care. [6:30] But secondly, I’m also going to be dealing with the topic of parenting in light of your

[6:35] trust in scripture. [6:37] And so those are going to be some issues that are going to require you to open yourself [6:43] to an attitude of willingness to change. [6:45] Because one of the things that God does when he gives us the Bible is that he wants to [6:51] use it to change our perspective. [6:52] He wants to use it to change our faith and he wants to use it to change our actions.

[6:58] And we’re cool with saying that until the Bible changes our perspective, until it changes [7:03] our faith and until it seeks to change our actions, and then we’re hesitant. [7:07] I don’t think that’s too far. [7:09] Well it’s either the word of God or it’s not. [7:13] And so what I want to do this morning is I want to try to harbor in Village Church an [7:17] atmosphere where we are seeking to actually live out our lives in light of the narrative

[7:23] of scripture. [7:24] Because when we read the Old Testament narratives, when we look to stories and records that [7:30] actually happened, mind you, like Genesis 24, there’s this thing of like, well, why [7:35] is this story even here? [7:37] And when I got into kind of preparing to do this third section of the book of Genesis, [7:43] I was like, man, there are some tough records in there.

[7:46] These narratives are not as easy as 1 through 22, because those are easier. [7:50] Now I’m going to get into some stuff that’s not quite so obvious, not quite so easy, [7:55] and really does step on our toes a little more. [7:58] And so if you will join me, I’m going to let it step on my toes. [8:02] I’m going to let it be what it is, and I’m going to trust it with my life. [8:08] And so this morning, what I hope we can pull out of this specific record is one of living

[8:15] God’s mission with a vision and hope that our lives will play a role in God fulfilling [8:23] his promises and extending his faithfulness to the next generation. [8:28] I don’t want to focus on us. [8:30] I want to focus on those who are coming behind us, what they will see, the legacy that I [8:37] will leave, because that’s the focus of Genesis 24. [8:40] And here’s what the scripture says.

[8:43] God wrote through his servant Moses and said this about Abraham. [8:47] Now Abraham was old. [8:50] That’s a really good description.

[8:52] He was old, all right? [8:54] And what that means is that Abraham knew that he had more days behind him than he had in [9:00] Abraham understood that he was going to die soon. [9:04] Abraham knew that his time on earth was less than it was every day that we live. [9:09] We are closer to our death. [9:12] And Abraham’s living in light of that.

[9:14] It says he was well advanced in years and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. [9:19] And Abraham said to his servant, the oldest of his household, who had charge of all that [9:24] he had, put your hand under my thigh. [9:26] Now, that’s going to be a little weird for us, because when I was getting my mortgage, [9:32] the mortgage broker was never like, hey, Steve, put your hand under my thigh as you [9:37] sign this document.

[9:38] That would have been odd. [9:40] And I’m not really that smart where more the mortgage industry is concerned. [9:43] So I might have actually gone through with it. [9:44] I guess it’s just something that you got to do. [9:46] I don’t know. [9:49] But this is not something that we are familiar with.

[9:52] Don’t worry about it, because some of you also might be thinking, I don’t know if I [9:55] now want to become a covenant member at Village, because I know those guys tend to take the [9:59] Bible literally. [10:01] Now, if you do your membership interview with me, I’m not going to do that. [10:05] Am I comfortable with it, nor do I want to. [10:07] I can’t speak for James.

[10:13] So do with that what you will.

[10:17] Put your hand under my thigh, that I may make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven [10:22] that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites among whom [10:26] I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred and take a wife for my son Isaac. [10:32] The servant said to him, perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. [10:37] Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came? [10:40] Abraham said to him, see to it that you do not take my son back there.

[10:44] The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my [10:49] kindred and who spoke to me and swore to me to your offspring, I will give this land. [10:53] He will send his angel before you and you shall take a wife for my son from there. [10:59] But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath [11:04] of mine. [11:04] Only you must not take my son back there.

[11:07] So the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his master, and swore to him concerning [11:12] this matter. [11:13] Pray with me. [11:14] Father, Lord, thank you for your word. [11:18] Lord, my prayer today is that you will use it to change our lives. [11:23] Lord, that you will use it to give us a vision as to how you would have us to follow you

[11:29] in all things. [11:30] Lord, every word is from you. [11:34] Lord, help us to trust it and help us to look at it until we receive your message. [11:39] In the name of Christ, I pray. [11:41] Amen. [11:43] You know, number one this morning, the mission of Jesus extends to the next generation.

[11:48] The mission of Jesus extends to the next generation. [11:52] How do we live that out? [11:55] Number one in that, you’ve got to understand that living biblically requires trusting [11:59] the Bible. [12:00] It kind of seems like a logical thing is that if I want to live biblically, I’ve got to [12:06] trust the Bible.

[12:06] But when we come to narratives such as this one, it is difficult. [12:12] One of the reasons many struggle to apply the Old Testament narratives to life is that [12:17] it’s so much different than our own. [12:20] So the story in Genesis 24 does not reflect any dating life or marriage proposal that [12:27] I have ever heard from any of you. [12:29] So the wisdom of it is not always taken and applied because we don’t look for why God

[12:36] gives us such a narrative. [12:38] It’s not that the wisdom of God isn’t in this chapter. [12:42] It’s that we are too lazy and often don’t trust the Bible. [12:47] If we did, we wouldn’t tear our eyes away from it until we received the word of the [12:54] Lord. [12:55] Here, Abraham is the covenant father working diligently to do everything that he can to

[13:05] And so Abraham doesn’t want his son to marry from the pagans that have no connection to [13:11] these promises, so he sends the servant to find a bride from their homeland. [13:17] Note that in verse 6, his instruction to the servant is that Isaac not go back there. [13:25] That’s not home for them. [13:27] God had called them to Canaan. [13:28] So Isaac was to stay in Canaan, but note also the strange faith and instruction of Abraham.

[13:35] Abraham instructs the servant. [13:36] He says, no, we will trust God. [13:39] And then we will listen to the Holy Spirit because that is the wisest move that we have. [13:48] First, look, what a concept. [13:51] The involvement of parents in important matters for their children. [13:56] And then another amazing concept is trusting God and trying to discern the move of the

[14:02] Holy Spirit. [14:03] And so you’ve got a couple of issues in this. [14:05] Some of us read this and we’re like, what a bunch of weirdos. [14:08] I am so glad I don’t have to do that for my children. [14:12] I am so glad that I don’t need to be that involved in my children’s dating life. [14:18] And when you think about it, that’s nuts.

[14:21] I don’t know if you know many 16 year olds and if you’re in here and you’re 16, I am [14:26] so glad you’re here, but you are so stupid. [14:31] You are not smart. [14:32] You think you are, but then as you progress, okay, and so I’m getting towards my late [14:39] thirties at this point in life and I was a moron. [14:43] I only knew how to make bad decisions.

[14:47] That’s it. [14:48] I couldn’t make a good decision if you gave me seven good decisions and one bad decision. [14:53] Oh, go to the bad one. [14:55] That’s what I did. [14:56] When you’re 16, you think that you have all of the knowledge of the world. [15:01] You think you have all of the wisdom that you’ve ever had in all of your life because

[15:05] you do, but it’s only 16 years of stupid wisdom. [15:08] You have no idea what you’re doing. [15:11] And so what parents do nowadays is they say, oh, I can trust my kids. [15:15] They’re, you know, Sally, she’s so good. [15:17] And so she’s going to choose the right mate for herself at 16. [15:21] No, she won’t.

[15:23] She’s going to choose the worst hoodlum that she can find and you’re stuck with him forever. [15:30] And so in 20 years, when your wife keeps bringing that hoodlum home, you’re looking [15:36] and you’re like, what did I do? [15:38] I can’t fix that now, but you could have. [15:41] But instead you look at it and you say, this isn’t something that I need to be involved [15:45] in.

[15:46] Friends, I want you to understand that as parents, you have a privilege and a right [15:54] to tell your children what to do. [15:59] You need to do that. [16:01] It’s wonderful having conversations with so many of you who are so willing to admit [16:06] the absolute total depravity of everyone else’s children.

[16:12] But then you look at your own, you’re like, I guess they’re not affected that much. [16:15] They’re perfect. [16:16] They’re so good. [16:17] They’re just, they always do the right thing. [16:19] They’re not like those other terrible children. [16:21] Your experience is different than mine.

[16:24] My children revealed to me every day new wickednesses that I didn’t know even existed. [16:29] And I don’t know where they’re learning it. [16:32] I’ve got three kids and every day they remind me of how sinful you are without Jesus Christ [16:38] in your life. [16:40] They’re just nuts. [16:41] And so as your children get older, I want you to understand, and I am specifically going

[16:46] to talk a lot to parents today. [16:49] And so you either are a parent or you want to be a parent or you’ve avoided parenthood. [16:54] And all of you can really apply this to your life in realizing the absolute responsibility [17:01] that you have in living biblically. [17:03] But if you have kids, I want you to understand that the greatest responsibility that you [17:08] have is to ensure that they have the best possible advantage of being faithful to God

[17:16] after you are dead.

[17:19] And that’s what Abraham is doing right here. [17:22] He’s old. [17:23] He’s advanced in years. [17:25] He’s not going to be able to influence Isaac for very much longer. [17:30] And so he takes the paternal responsibility to involve himself in his children’s life, [17:38] in his son’s life, in order to ensure that in the coming days, if Isaac’s going to have

[17:44] the best potential for one thing, it is going to be the best potential to have a bride that’s [17:51] going to help him follow God’s covenant in his life. [17:54] And Abraham said, it is my responsibility to make sure that happens. [17:58] And so kids, when your parents are telling you what to do, it’s because they love Jesus [18:05] and because Jesus loves you. [18:08] And so when you bring an idiot home, I don’t care if you’re a boy or a girl in this one,

[18:12] you’re all going to be tempted to bring absolute ding-a-lings home. [18:16] When you bring that ding-a-ling home and mom and dad say, that ding-a-ling ain’t coming [18:20] home with you anymore, it’s because they love you. [18:24] And it’s because they want you to grow to follow Jesus. [18:28] And now some of you are on your own and you don’t have a mom or a dad that’s going to [18:32] tell you about this stuff.

[18:33] And what I’m telling you is that it is now your responsibility to saturate your life [18:38] in the scriptures and to glean what a good father or a good mother would do through what [18:43] God does for his people throughout the narratives of scripture to ensure that faithfulness [18:48] goes to the next generation. [18:51] It is not to just do whatever you want to and hope the best comes out because that’s [18:56] usually our dating philosophy in this world.

[18:59] It’s like, well, they’re good looking. [19:01] I can fix it. [19:04] No, it’s a total loss. [19:06] It’s total loss usually. [19:08] Abraham is actually doing what biblical parenting actually looks like and the reason that we [19:13] don’t think so, because I know most people are going to disagree with me on this, and

[19:16] The reason that you disagree with me is because you’ve truncated the mission of Jesus. [19:21] You’ve truncated it. [19:22] Living biblically requires that we trust the Bible more than any other voice in our lives. [19:28] How can we do this? [19:30] Well, Proverbs 1, 8 says this interesting thing. [19:33] It begins the book of wisdom with Solomon telling his son, he says, listen to your

[19:38] parents wisdom and teaching. [19:40] It’s a fascinating instruction, but what does it require? [19:44] It assumes something. [19:45] Because I don’t want to talk as much about what the text says because that’s easy. [19:48] I don’t need to exegete that one very hard for you, but what I want you to understand [19:52] is what’s behind that is this understanding that Solomon had that the parents needed to

[19:58] have something worth listening to because if you don’t have anything worth listening [20:03] to your parents, your kids don’t need to listen to you. [20:06] And at this point in Abraham’s life, he was worth listening to. [20:11] He had heard the voice of God and he experienced the life of faith and he was determined to [20:17] pass it on to the next generation. [20:20] But what many of us will be tempted to do with this verse is to lay it down as our

[20:24] trump card as the kids, you need to listen to me. [20:28] Why? [20:28] Because Proverbs 1, 8. [20:30] That’s why. [20:32] And you’ll do it and you’ll lay that down to great detriment to yourself because you [20:38] could have lived for many years not following Jesus, seeking idols greater than you’ve

[20:45] sought Jesus, filling your life with wealth and money and power. [20:49] Your children never saw you with the scriptures. [20:51] You never taught them the Bible. [20:53] You never taught them anything. [20:55] And the only real marketable ability that you have to give them is how to do their [20:59] taxes.

[21:02] And you say, you listen to my instruction and your kids in their mind, they’re thinking, [21:06] why should I listen to you about the things of the Lord that hasn’t affected your life?

[21:14] But Abraham had a voice worth listening to. [21:16] Had Abraham made mistakes? [21:17] Oh yeah. [21:19] Had Abraham been unfaithful? [21:21] Absolutely he had. [21:23] But in every moment when Abraham was confronted with his sin, he repented back towards the

[21:27] Lord. [21:28] If you had a microphone in my house, you would hear me say sorry so many times because I’m [21:34] completely imperfect. [21:36] Completely imperfect. [21:37] But I’m seeking to follow. [21:40] I’m seeking to learn.

[21:41] I’m seeking to teach them the word. [21:44] See, do you have godly wisdom and instruction for your kids or are you limited to worldly [21:50] instruction?

[21:53] You see, being a father is the greatest privilege of my life. [21:58] And with that privilege comes the greatest responsibility of my life. [22:04] Until my oldest was born in that hospital, the minute he was born, maybe if you’re a [22:10] parent you understand what I’m talking about, maybe I’m just crazy. [22:13] But it changed me in ways that I’m different than I was before I had kids. [22:19] Yeah, I love my wife.

[22:21] I mean, I so love her. [22:23] I’d lay down my life for her with joy in any moment. [22:26] I seek to give my life to her in every way that I can. [22:29] But there’s something in it for me. [22:32] You know, she’s awesome. [22:34] All right.

[22:35] When my son was born, he had nothing to offer. [22:39] I mean, he was babies. [22:41] They’re not attractive to me. [22:43] They’re just like little balls of goop. [22:46] And my son’s head was misshapen when he was first born. [22:50] I mean, the first words out of my mouth to the doctor about my son is, can you fix that?

[22:55] Little did I know they, you know, they, it’s like clay. [22:57] But, you know, you know, and so he had nothing to offer me. [23:01] Liam had absolutely nothing to offer me. [23:03] But I looked at him and I had a new love in my life that I never knew I was capable [23:12] of, that he, while having nothing to offer me in that moment where he couldn’t do [23:18] anything for himself and for years to come, I would have to do everything for him.

[23:25] I would have gladly with joy in that moment laid my life down for him. [23:30] It was that kind of a love. [23:32] And it has only been multiplied with all three of my kids, this love that I really can’t [23:39] even explain, but I would just give everything that I have for all three of them. [23:44] And it’s the greatest joy. [23:46] It’s the greatest privilege that I have ever known.

[23:50] But with that privilege comes an amazing responsibility on my life. [23:55] It is a calling of God to raise the next generation of followers of Jesus. [24:01] And if you don’t find joy in that, then how can you have wisdom worth your kids [24:07] listening to?

[24:10] It breaks my heart so many times when I hear from many parents that all that they [24:14] want is to get away from their kids.

[24:17] I see them just trying to lump them off on somebody else so they can have me time, [24:22] me. [24:23] Let me just fill you in on a parenting secret. [24:26] The moment of conception, no more me time.

[24:30] It has ceased to be about you. [24:34] You have to now be an adult. [24:38] You have to now give of yourself for literally the rest of your days into the next [24:46] generation from birth to my grave. [24:50] The calling of God on my life is to empty me into the lives of my children. [24:57] And it is an absolute joy to do so.

[25:01] It’s a privilege. [25:03] But we have this little issue of absolute selfishness that makes us look at that as [25:11] a drudgery rather than a joyous responsibility. [25:14] Where is your focus? [25:16] You see, if you are older, you have kids older than I am. [25:22] You know, maybe you’re listening to this, you’re seeing the word, you’re hearing this,

[25:25] you’re like, I don’t have any time left. [25:27] Yes, you do. [25:29] But if your kids are older and you’re older, no matter how old you are, they are, you [25:34] need to repent hard and play catch up. [25:38] If you are younger, good news, you have more time. [25:43] Stop wasting your time and life and start gaining wisdom and teaching worth passing

[25:50] on. [25:52] In Psalm 78, verse 4, it says, we will not hide them from our children, but tell to [25:58] the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that [26:02] he has done. [26:03] How will we do that if we don’t know the glorious deeds of the Lord?

[26:09] How will you do that if you don’t know the glorious deeds of God in the scriptures? [26:13] How will you do that if you can’t recount the glorious deeds of the Lord in your personal [26:18] life? [26:19] How will you be able to do that if you have not repented hard in your life? [26:24] If you have not gone and sought faithfulness to the next generation in your life? [26:28] How will you tell of the faithfulness of God if you are not seeking in all things to be

[26:34] faithful? [26:35] How will you do that? [26:38] See, friends, it starts with saturating your life with his word. [26:42] Then it moves on to obeying God in order to see him move and learning to listen to the [26:46] Holy Spirit. [26:48] You see, that was Abraham’s move.

[26:50] And it seems weird to us because we waste our lives on other things.

[26:57] So number two this morning, understand that you need to trust that the Lord will bless [27:00] your faithfulness. [27:02] You need to trust that the Lord will bless your faithfulness.

[27:07] Do you know that God works in the mundane?

[27:11] God works in the absolutely mundane things of life. [27:15] In verse 10, we have an absolutely mundane story of God’s faithfulness. [27:19] It says, then the story took 10 of his master’s camels and departed. [27:23] I take camels everywhere I go. [27:26] Taking all sorts of choice gifts from his master and he arose and went to Mesopotamia [27:31] to the city of Nahor.

[27:33] And he came, excuse me, and he made the camels kneel down outside of the city by the well [27:39] of water at the time of evening, the time when women would go out to draw water. [27:43] And he said, oh Lord, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show steadfast [27:50] love to my master Abraham. [27:52] Behold, I am standing by the spring of water and the daughters of the men of the city are [27:55] coming out to draw water.

[27:57] Let the young woman to whom I shall say, please let down your jar that I may drink [28:02] and who shall say, drink and I will water your camels. [28:05] Let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac. [28:09] By this I shall know that you have shown steadfast love to my master. [28:16] There is nothing sensational that happens in that story. [28:20] There is a combination of the servant, and you never even know this guy’s name, the

[28:25] servant’s common sense, his trust that the Lord will complete the work that he said [28:30] he would, and his determination to ask God to work in his favor. [28:37] Three simple things that you see in this absolutely mundane story. [28:40] I mean the guy uses complete common sense when he shows up in Nahor. [28:45] Where are the young ladies? [28:47] I need one.

[28:50] Oh, they’re by the well. [28:52] Well, I’m going to go stand by it and wait. [28:55] And so, so, you know, there’s no pardoning of the Red Sea, no blind are made to see, [29:00] no deaf are made to hear, no one rises from the dead in this scripture, but this is just [29:05] as much a word from the Lord as any of those other scriptures are, but it actually shows, [29:11] and you see this over and over in the narratives of scripture, that God works in absolutely

[29:15] mundane things. [29:17] We’re just not paying attention.

[29:20] We’re just saying, Lord, if you work, you’re going to do this amazing thing. [29:23] It’s going to be through amazing healing. [29:25] It’s going to be through this amazing resurrection. [29:27] It’s going to be through this amazing that I’m going to pray to you, Lord, if you want [29:30] me to turn left, make it rain right now. [29:32] If you want me to turn right, make it sunny.

[29:35] As we do these crazy things up to God, when God is saying, if you just use common sense [29:40] and listen to my voice in the mundane activities of life, I will work in amazing ways. [29:47] And that’s what you see in the story of this servant here.

[29:51] The blind aren’t made to see. [29:53] Instead, God is working through some creepy old guy standing by a well saying, okay, [29:58] I guess this is the nightclub of the town waiting for some young ladies. [30:02] All right. [30:03] So you think about the story, it’s kind of unsensational in the way that it’s laid out, [30:07] but notice the faith of the servant.

[30:11] He says, my master Abraham is a man of faith. [30:14] He’s a man that’s heard the voice of God. [30:15] He’s a man who can discern the move of the Holy Spirit, and I will listen to him. [30:19] I will commit myself to the task, but oh God, please work on our behalf. [30:28] There are so many times that we miss God working in our lives because we don’t look for his [30:33] involvement in the mundane things of life.

[30:38] Friends, you need to be satisfied where God calls you. [30:43] The point of this narrative is God’s involvement in God’s interest in the normal things of [30:48] life. [30:49] I mean, Abraham wanted to give his son the best potential opportunities to have a life [30:55] of ease, but not the type of ease that we normally think about. [30:59] He’s not focused on the life of ease where leisure and materials are concerned, but that

[31:03] is the legacy that more often than not we focus on. [31:06] The ease here is the ease of being faithful to God. [31:11] That’s Abraham’s focus. [31:13] In Proverbs 13, 22, it talks of leaving a legacy.

[31:19] Now, we usually Dave Ramsey this passage up and make it all about money, and I will [31:26] say there is stewardship implications in this passage. [31:31] Sure, ensuring you leave behind the legacy of good stewardship is important. [31:35] Note though the term in the second phrase, righteous. [31:39] You see, friends, sinners can focus solely on material wealth, but it is the righteous [31:45] that will ultimately inherit all of it.

[31:49] So the focus on Solomon in this passage, I don’t think it’s as much about money as it [31:54] is about leaving an inheritance to your children’s children of righteousness. [31:59] It’s not as much about generational wealth as it is about generational faithfulness, [32:04] about leaving a legacy behind you of complete faithfulness in your stewardship of the righteousness [32:11] of God. [32:13] See, some of us struggle with buying into the world’s definition of significance, that

[32:18] we struggle and refuse to accept that God is far more concerned with faithfulness. [32:25] He’s concerned with us seeking to have him work in what the world would call mundane [32:33] to see his faithfulness to the next generation. [32:36] And the reason for this is that you are selfish. [32:41] You are focused on making your life matter so much that you don’t even realize that [32:47] the next generation is being tossed to the side of your concern because you want to be

[32:52] so sensational, because you want your story to matter so much that you neglect the faithfulness [32:59] that you need to exhibit towards the next generation. [33:02] Now, I oftentimes have to give spouses advice, whether it be a husband or a wife, that you [33:08] need to stop this nonsense of pouring your time, pouring your energy, and pouring your [33:13] labor into things outside of your home so that you can love your spouse properly, so [33:18] that a husband can spend time loving his wife properly, so that a wife can spend her time

[33:22] loving her husband properly. [33:23] And we say, absolutely. [33:25] If you’re a husband and if you’re, excuse me, if you’re a wife and your husband is just [33:32] You’re like, yeah, he needs to come home more. [33:35] He needs to spend more time into me. [33:36] But when I look at you and I say, you need to stop wasting your life and you need to

[33:40] actually raise your children.

[33:43] So we don’t want that. [33:45] We don’t want that. [33:47] Because we use language like, my children, they just aren’t enough. [33:52] I need something more.

[33:56] Friends, that might be in second hesitations, five-five or something. [34:01] But from the way that I read scripture, when you begin to talk about, my life matters [34:06] more than my kids can help me matter, that’s called sinful selfishness and that’s to be [34:13] repented of. [34:14] That’s not for us to encourage and think, you know, girl, you’re right. [34:17] Your life does matter more than your kids.

[34:20] No, it doesn’t. [34:22] That’s impossible. [34:24] How can your life matter more than your kids? [34:27] They didn’t ask to be born. [34:29] You did that.

[34:34] And now it is with godly joy that you have the responsibility of pouring every single [34:39] day into them. [34:41] And if you can’t find joy in it, here’s the key, friends, is we like to pretend that if [34:46] I can’t find joy in it, then there’s something wrong in the action. [34:49] No, there are many times where if I can’t find joy in it, there’s something wrong with [34:53] me.

[34:55] And the problem isn’t the activity. [34:56] The problem is that I have a sinful inclination to try to find joy in the wrong things. [35:04] You see, generational visions are better than personal visions. [35:08] The older that I get, the more I realize my personal vision isn’t that important. [35:13] My generational vision is what is important. [35:16] And the problem with generational visions is that we have truncated our view of evangelism.

[35:21] So we know that when our savior rose from the dead and he rose up into heaven, he told us, [35:26] that go make disciples. [35:27] And so what we’ve done is that we have truncated our view of evangelism. [35:31] We have limited it to that evangelism is me sitting in a coffee shop with a sinner who [35:36] needs to know Jesus across the table from me and me giving him some pathway to salvation [35:41] that leads to Jesus Christ.

[35:44] Yes, that is evangelism. [35:46] But that’s not what evangelism is limited to. [35:49] See, we tend to always view evangelism as somewhere across town, somewhere where people [35:54] need to hear about Jesus. [35:56] It’s not on my street, it’s somewhere else. [35:58] And it’s usually people who don’t materially have as much as me because we don’t want to

[36:02] view people on our level as needing us. [36:04] And we certainly don’t want to view evangelism as something that we do for our children.

[36:10] See you have truncated evangelism so much so that you have lost sight of the most important [36:15] evangelism that you’re ever going to do and that is evangelism to your family. [36:18] But that gets awkward sometimes, doesn’t it? [36:21] See, it’s awkward me trying to tell my kids about Jesus because they live with me and [36:25] they know me. [36:27] Daddy, you didn’t say nice things to mommy yesterday.

[36:31] What do you think Jesus thought about that? [36:33] Oh, yeah.

[36:36] [36:37] Yeah. [36:38]

[36:40] What an amazing privilege I have that the Lord has given me three people who live with [36:45] me all the time actually. [36:46] I’ve been waiting for them to leave, but they don’t. [36:50] And they’re always there. [36:52] And I have this amazing way of either showing them the glory of the Lord or showing them [36:58] the glory of me.

[37:01] And what’s interesting about my children is that they know the difference already. [37:06] And so I have this amazing evangelistic opportunity from the moment that they get out of bed [37:11] to the moment that they go to bed. [37:14] And some of us, we have such bad visions of our for our children because we don’t really [37:19] want to admit what our place is in their life. [37:22] We say, well, I want my kids to be Christians.

[37:24] I want them to know Jesus, but I don’t want them to be the weird kind of know Jesus. [37:29] You don’t want them to act like Christians? [37:31] Like what do you mean by that? [37:35] If you are a Christian, you’re going to be a little bit odd because you follow a Savior [37:38] that nobody else follows. [37:39] And what’s interesting is, is that your children are gateways of opportunity for you to tell

[37:43] other people about Jesus. [37:45] Maybe a little less so for you because my kids typically lead with, hey, my daddy’s [37:49] the pastor of that church. [37:51] And if they don’t run in fear, I have to then tell them about the Lord because it’s just [37:57] there. [37:59] But when you raise your children and the fear and admonition of the Lord, as the scripture

[38:03] tells us, when you raise them to be Christians, what’s interesting is that every one of our [38:08] children should think it odd when they encounter people who don’t know Jesus. [38:13] Because they should not know what that’s like. [38:17] They should not know what it is to have parents who chase false gods with all of their life. [38:22] They should not know what it’s like to have parents who pour their lives out into worthlessness, [38:29] who pour their lives out into activities that really don’t benefit them spiritually at all.

[38:34] They should only know what it’s like to know the name of Jesus heralded high every single [38:40] day in their house. [38:41] And for some reason in our Christian subculture, that has begun to get a bad name. [38:46] But that is the way that we further the name of Jesus to the next generation, is that we [38:51] raise them to actually make disciples of the children and the spouses that actually live [38:57] in our house.

[38:59] Note what Proverbs 20 verse 7 says, it says,

[39:07] And then in Deuteronomy chapter 6 starting in verse 5, it says,

[39:18] But note where he goes in verse 7, it says,

[39:29] By the way, and when you lie down and when you rise, then in verse 8, it says, [39:33] You see, he doesn’t leave room for us to think that we have an out. [39:48] But what we typically do is we don’t focus on discipling our children. [39:51] And then when things begin to go wrong, we say, I need someone who actually knows the [39:55] Bible to talk to them.

[39:59] Friend, that needs to be you.

[40:03] Needs to be you. [40:04] As much as I love to talk about our Lord Jesus Christ, as much as I love to talk about His [40:08] word, me telling your children about the word of God is nowhere near as powerful as you.

[40:14] I am no substitute for a mom and a dad.

[40:19] You see, your lack of focus on raising children to the glory of God is sin. [40:24] It is the enemy of evangelism. [40:27] You need to focus on evangelizing the next generation to attempt to leave a legacy of [40:31] faith in the next generation. [40:34] But I’ll tell you, that’s very mundane. [40:38] It takes decades of working.

[40:42] It takes decades of going unnoticed in the trenches of laundry, in the trenches of Bible [40:48] study, both with your family and by yourself. [40:52] It takes decades of mealtimes and just every day investing in family and the local church [40:59] to leave a legacy of righteousness and integrity of faith. [41:04] That is trusting God in the mundane to bless your faithfulness. [41:09] We read narratives like this and can’t apply it because we don’t have faith to look for

[41:15] God in the every day. [41:17] We are always looking for more.

[41:22] Thirdly, our focus must fixate on God completing his work. [41:27] Because God’s work takes priority. [41:30] God worked through this narrative to move his mission forward. [41:34] In verses 50 through 52, we see the culmination of the efforts of the servant as Rebecca [41:40] came to the well and she said every single word that the servant prayed that she would [41:46] say.

[41:46] So they go to the home and in verse 50 of Genesis chapter 24, here’s what happens.

[42:11] It’s something that we don’t really say very often. [42:15] It’s a mentality that we struggled to possess. [42:18] And when was the last time you looked at something that happened in your life and you [42:21] say that is as the Lord has spoken.

[42:26] Do you have that type of certainty? [42:27] Do you have that type of clarity? [42:29] Do you have that type of ear for the work of the Holy Spirit? [42:32] You see, we can’t say things like that very often because we don’t seek to saturate our [42:37] life with his word. [42:37] We don’t seek the norm of our life to be a reflection of the working of God in Scripture.

[42:42] Instead, it is something that we try to add on at the end of the day. [42:46] It is something that we try to staple on to the end of our week when we spent every [42:49] other time just focusing on ourselves. [42:52] You see, here is a testimony of the faithfulness of God, of the working of God. [42:56] But note also the attention of the characters in the record as they look to say this is [43:02] where the work of God is and we will not prevent it.

[43:07] You see, friends, so often the Holy Spirit is working, but it took faithfulness to the [43:13] task that God had given in the moment for the servant to actually see the mission come [43:19] to completion. [43:20] There was no rabbit trail for personal reasons. [43:23] There was no Lord, I will do the task. [43:26] But first, there was the servant receiving a task from the faithful Abraham and then

[43:34] we have the ability to make a fixation on the power of God to complete his task. [43:38] And then we have the beauty of watching God bless the faithful endurance in the mundane [43:44] of finding Isaac’s wife.

[43:48] Many of us are far too busy to be troubled with seemingly unimportant matters. [43:54] You see, faith in God to fulfill his promises is revealed in your daily life. [43:59] Your faith in God is revealed every single day. [44:03] But to trust God, it takes a moment. [44:06] It takes a moment of realizing that everything God tells us in the gospel is true and then [44:11] God transforms your life.

[44:13] But that faith, if true, is revealed in your everyday life. [44:17] If God has changed your life, you want him to work. [44:20] But too often we spend most of our time ignoring the work of God and then in the moment that [44:26] we need God to do something, we are amazed when we don’t listen and hear his voice. [44:32] It’s not that he’s not speaking, it’s that you don’t recognize his voice because you [44:35] don’t listen to it that often.

[44:37] Too often I see people wanting God to work, yet they are living by the wisdom and knowledge [44:42] of this realm. [44:44] I mean, think about it. [44:44] You stack up birthing books, you stack up child rearing techniques, book after book. [44:50] Everyone has an opinion about how you’re supposed to feed babies. [44:53] Everyone has an opinion on how you’re supposed to discipline your kids the right way.

[44:57] Most of you could probably tell me every single thing Dr. Phil has ever said about how to [45:03] discipline children in this modern era. [45:05] We have holistic medicine versus actual science, but through it all, you fixate on the wisdom [45:12] of the here and now and the word of God. [45:14] You just throw it to the wayside and you say, I will get to that when I have time. [45:19] There’s too much wisdom and knowledge from this side that I need before I can get to

[45:24] that. [45:24] It doesn’t matter how you should put a baby to sleep the right way if you don’t know [45:33] what the word says.

[45:38] None of that matters when your kids are in their 20s.

[45:42] None of that matters when they’re in their 30s. [45:45] What matters is, did my parents instill in me a legacy of faithfulness? [45:52] That’s all they’re going to remember.

[45:55] That’s all they’re going to remember. [45:57] I mean right now man, I’m trying to do family worship. [46:02] My one year old throws chairs. [46:05] My four year old, she’s speaking in tongues, but it’s not the tongues of fire. [46:10] I think she’s talking to Lucifer most of the time. [46:14] There was one night where I was pretty sure she summoned a dark spirit.

[46:17] It was really weird for about five minutes there. [46:21] And I’m just sitting there trying to read from the Psalms and I’m like the servant. [46:25] I’m like, oh God, please just work on my behalf.

[46:32] So I walk into my kids rooms and I’m trying to love one. [46:35] I’m like Jesus and when I do it, I’m like, Lord help.

[46:40] Lord help. [46:42] I’m standing by the well.

[46:45] I just need you to work. [46:48] I don’t know what I’m waiting for all the time. [46:50] I don’t know what I’m looking for all the time, but I know one thing. [46:53] I am absolutely dependent on the work of God or it’s all a waste of time.

[46:59] It’s all worthless.

[47:02] Deuteronomy 12, 28. I will magically still be able to read the Bible over here. [47:06] It says, be careful to obey all these words that I command you, [47:10] that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever. [47:15] See, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God, [47:21] I’ll caution you.

[47:23] I can’t save my kids.

[47:27] All I can do is obey Jesus, live as faithfully as possible, [47:34] pray for the work of God, [47:36] use the common sense and good stewardship that I should use, [47:39] and hope that the Holy Spirit draws them to salvation in Jesus Christ. [47:44] I have no guarantees. [47:46] My children may never come to faith in Jesus, so it’ll of course break my heart.

[47:51] But I don’t know whether God will quicken their faith or not. [47:56] But that doesn’t change the reality that God has called me to obey him, [48:01] and God has called me. He said, if you obey me, if you trust me, then I will work.

[48:10] And all I can do is the best I can do, follow Jesus, trust him, and hope that he works. [48:16] I think all believers in Jesus want this to be the story for life. [48:22] For that to happen though, you must rid yourself of every other voice. [48:28] And you must fixate on the one who made all that is. [48:33] You must fixate on the one who promised to redeem all that failed. [48:39] You must fixate on the one who has fulfilled every single promise

[48:43] through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. [48:47] Sure friends, as we saw in the story, common sense rules and good stewards [48:52] to everything should be a good goal. [48:56] But the fixation of your life is Jesus. [49:00] The wisdom for your future is his word. [49:03] The cry of your heart is to the next generation and the quiet of your hours.

[49:09] Is to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit more and more the further you go.

[49:19] That is to be the legacy that we leave for the next generation. [49:25] As the band comes forward, I know that some of you look and you’re like, oh he’s so young. [49:33] But the reality is that the older that I get, the more my perspective changes. [49:42] And I’ve found myself in the past days less concerned with my future, [49:48] less concerned with where I’m going, and I’m more concerned about the next generation. [49:54] I’m more concerned about the legacy that I leave my kids, the legacy that I’m remembering.

[50:00] And I can do nothing to determine their future. [50:03] I can do nothing to control where they will go. [50:07] That’s the Holy Spirit. [50:08] But what I can do, and what my focus on my life is now, is that when I am gone, [50:15] because I’m getting older and closer to it every day, [50:19] when I am gone, no matter where they go, no matter what decisions they make,

[50:24] I want to be certain that they can point back and say, [50:27] I can tell you one thing about my father, [50:31] is that he left a legacy where he was faithful to Jesus. [50:36] He left a legacy I know he loved the Lord.

[50:41] And that there’s going to come a day sometime down the road in their future [50:44] where they’re going to remember all that they were taught, [50:47] and they’re going to remember everything that I ever gave them.

[50:52] And there’s only one thing that’s ever actually going to matter, [50:54] whether I gave them or not. [50:57] And that is a testimony of a dad that loved Jesus, [51:02] and wanted to follow him with everything that he had.

[51:06] That’s the calling of every single person in here. [51:08] If you have kids, that’s the calling for your kids. [51:10] If you don’t have kids, it’s still for the next generation, [51:14] because there are people watching every single one of you. [51:18] And you’re leaving a legacy. [51:21] If you’re in here and you might be thinking,

[51:24] I can’t leave a legacy because I’ve never put my faith in Jesus Christ, [51:28] and you’re right. [51:29] You can do all the right moral things, [51:31] you can have all the right values in this world, [51:33] and if you never come to faith in Jesus Christ, [51:35] it’s all a waste, it’s all worthless.

[51:38] So this morning is every week, [51:39] I want you to know that while we’re partaking of communion, [51:42] in just a moment, I would rather that you slip out, [51:46] so that you can talk to someone about how to come to faith in Jesus Christ. [51:50] So someone can pray with you. [51:52] Because you need to know Jesus.

[51:56] But for everybody else, [51:57] when you come and you eat and you drink, [51:59] to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus, [52:04] I want you to come and realize [52:07] that the life that you’re living matters. [52:11] The mundane things of your life matter.

[52:15] And my hope is that the prayer of your heart will be, [52:17] Lord, help me to listen through every moment to you. [52:21] And lead me to follow you. [52:25] When you’re ready, come.