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supper will be Lord willing one week from tonight it would be the next day it'll be next Sunday evening and pastor Butler's back in the office on Tuesday his holidays are over so he will be coming back to semper forth and then the following day December 5th every Bible study on Wednesday night here in the in the fellowship room upstairs where he assume he'll be resuming where he left off so let's let's begin worship this evening by turning in our Bibles to 1st Samuel 1st Samuel Chapter two First Samuel Chapter two I'll just read the first the first ten verses this is Hannah's prayer and Hannah prayed and said my heart rejoices in the Lord my horn is exalted in the Lord I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in your salvation no one is holy like the Lord for there is none besides you nor is there any rock like our God talk no more so so very proudly let no arrogance come from your mouth for the Lord is the God of knowledge and by him actions are weighed the the boughs the boughs of the of the mighty men are broken and those who stumbled are girded with strength those who were full have hired themselves out for bread and the hungry have ceased to hunger even the barren has born seven and she who has many children has become feeble the Lord kills and makes alive he brings down to the grave and brings up the Lord makes poor and makes rich he brings low and lifts up he raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory for the pillars of the earth are the lords and he has set the world upon them he will guard the feet of his saints but the wicked shall be silent in darkness for by strength no man shall prevail the adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces from heaven he will thunder against them the Lord will judge the ends of the earth he will give strength to his king and exalt the Horn of his anointed amen well that's a proper response to that prayer of Hannah's would be found in your Psalter in Psalm 113 Psalm 113 which speaks of a similar theme I'll ask you to stand [Music] [Music] [Music] please be seated well let's go to God in prayer and ask his blessing upon this evening let's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we are grateful father for such a God as you we praise you that you are in the heavens and Lord you do all it you please we praise you that you are the sovereign one that you are the mighty one but nothing in this world happens by chance by accident but rather it's according to your according to your purposes according to your good and perfect will that that even the Sun rises and the Sun sets and the fact lore that we sustain air in our lungs it's all because of your goodness your kindness to us and we praise you this night father for such a God as you we praise you that you are a holy God a God who is altogether different than us and we praise you that that you have stooped so low as to to lift us up out of the miry clay to to remove those stony hearts and give to us fleshly hearts that would seek after you and so Lord we would confess to you even this night we need your we need your help we need your aid as we come into this your house Lord we we we do desire that we would hear from you we do pray Lord that you would stir up our hearts stir up our souls cause us to seek the things of eternal Worth and lord we pray that we would leave off the things of the week past and the week forward and and that we might focus and concentrate upon in this hour upon the things that are off that are of eternal worth may we see that the things that we enjoy in this day father are the things that we would do for all of eternity and as bring glory to you and praise you and and honor you and seek your your-your-your name only without our naturally fallen sinful hearts and Lord we long for that to that day when when we are in Emanuel's land we pray that you would cause us to to live in this lower world with one eye upon the world before us but also one eye upon heaven and upon that eternal reward that awaits to all those who are in Christ Jesus or we praise you that you are kind to us and giving to us your son and we pray Lord that the Lord Jesus Christ would be lifted up here in this place this night cause us Lord to - - to wonder it's such a kind act as we consider the Incarnation around this time of year that that you would send your son the look you know the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth - to take on a human form - to add to that - that divinity his his humaneness and we praise you that he was tempted in all the way and all wise such as we are and he can identify with us and so Lord we pray that we would seek after him and seek seek to be seek to live our daily life near near the near Christ and we pray Lord that you would be pleased to - to cause us to to walk in this lore world in a manner in which pleases you and which pleases the Lord Jesus Christ Lord we pray your blessing upon all who are here this evening we pray Lord that you would help us - to listen and concentrate and be able to take in the word of God we pray your blessing upon the preacher that he would get he would he would that you would aid him with all that he stands and meet up and we do pray Lord that said the Word of God might go for us from this place with with much truth and with much conviction and we pray it your spirit would be pleased to add at his blessing to our evening service Lord we do ask for any that that are sick amongst us are those who are here and not feeling well or those who are not not here because they are not feeling well Lord we pray that you would return them to health and strengthen restore them cause them to know that that help that aid from on high and we do pray Lord that you would you would renew them in the in the in the inner man and the outer man as well and we do pray that they would be strengthened to be with us Lord William on another Sunday we do pray your blessing be upon pastor Butler as he returns to the office this week we pray that you would just help him as he returns to his duties here that you would give him strength and aid and help and we do pray that he would know much of your of your your your presence and your help and your aid as he as he resumed the responsibilities back here at free grace we thank you for the church in Sirian for pastor Kirkpatrick and for the for the Brethren there we pray your rich blessing upon them Lord that they would that they would know your help your aid they would grow in the things of Christ you would add to them add to their numbers of visitors and add even those who would be not saved that far they would come in amongst them and they would hear of the gospel and you'd be pleased to to do that work of grace in their hearts we think of the the church in Verdun as well Lord we pray your blessing upon them we pray that they would be strengthened we thank you that there is a group there that desires to meet together to to hear from you and we do pray Lord than in due time they would become a biblically ordered church where they will have elders and deacons and and be established as a church there as a beachhead in that in the Okanagan we thank you Lord for those brethren who do meet and we do pray that they would continue on doing well and that they would persevere and that Lord they would not that they would not grow faint and that you would just be pleased to minister to their needs up there so Lord we just ask your blessing upon upon us this evening we thank you that we are your children that you have adopted us as the sons and daughters of God Most High and we pray that as we as we revel in these things this night as we hear from you and as we look into your word and sing these sing these hymns of praise we pray Lord that you would be worship and you'd be honored and you'd be glorified here in our midst this evening and we pray in Jesus precious name Amen please turn with me your hymn books the larger hymn book - a hymn number 579 579 Alaska Stan [Music] [Music] if you could turn in your Bibles tonight to zechariah zechariah chapter one if you've forgotten where zechariah is it's the second last book of the Old Testament Zechariah chapter one and of course it is the the returning of the of the exile from from Babylon to to rebuild the temple and ultimately the place where God's Pleasant presence would would rest upon them and that's what we're beginning in this book of Zechariah 2 to discover so Zechariah chapter 1 a call to repentance in the eighth month of the second year Darius of Darius the word of the lord came to zechariah the son of berechiah the son of ido the prophet saying the lord has been very angry with your fathers therefore say to them thus says the lord of hosts returned to me says the Lord of hosts and I will return to you says the Lord of hosts do not be like your fathers to whom the former prophets preached saying thus says the Lord of hosts turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds but they did not hear nor heed me says the Lord your fathers where are they and the prophets do they live forever yet surely my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets did they not overtake your fathers so they returned and said just as the Lord of hosts determined to do to do to us according to our ways according to our deeds so he has dealt with us on the 24th day of the eleventh month which is the month Shabbat in the second year of Darius the word of the Lord came to zechariah the son of berechiah the son of ido the prophet i saw by night and behold a man riding on a red horse and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow and behind him were horses red sorrel and white then i said my lord what are these so the angel who talked with me said to me I will show you what they are and the man who the myrtle trees answered and said these are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth so the answered the angel of the Lord who stood among the myrtle trees and said we have walked to and fro throughout the earth and behold all the earth is resting quietly when the angel of the Lord answered and said O Lord of hosts how long will you not help how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah against which you are angry these 70 years and the Lord answered the angel who talked to me with good and comforting words so the angel who spoke with me said to me proclaim saying thus says the Lord of hosts I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal I am exceedingly angry with the nation's at ease for for I was a little angry and they helped but with evil intent therefore says the Lord I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy my house shall be built in it says the Lord of hosts and a surveyors line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem again proclaim saying thus says the Lord of Hosts my cities shall again spread out spread out through prosperity the Lord will again comfort Zion and will again choose Jerusalem when I raised my eyes and looked and there were four horns and I said to the angel who talked with me what are these so he answered me these are the horns that have scattered Judah Israel and Jerusalem then the Lord showed me four craftsmen and I said what are these coming to do so he said these are the horns that scattered you to Judah so that no one could lift up his head but the craftsmen are coming to terrify them to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it Amen well we certainly see here that the Christian basis is comfort in the in the and the fact seen here that God is faithful to his covenant these were his covenant people and certainly there was nothing here to indicate that these returning Jews at the time deserved any mercy simply God showed mercy why because gods are merciful and there's nothing else that can be said God shows mercy because he is merciful so let's go into this week ahead reminding ourselves and mindful of that fact that we serve a covenant-keeping god we love a covenant-keeping god and we are in relationship with a covenant-keeping god and that's just a that's a wonderful comforting thing if he comforted the people of God back in Zacharias day with nothing other than I will keep my covenant with you because I have a covenant with you then we are in covenant with that same God and I trust that we can gain much comfort and encouragement from that as we head into the week so it's pray our gracious and our loving Heavenly Father we do praise you we thank you Lord that that you loved us simply because you loved us nothing in us as we reminded this morning that we add nothing to our salvation there is no good work that we can add to our to make us more acceptable in your sight we were dead in our sins in our trespasses and father you you removed that sin from us and placed it upon your son the Lord Jesus Christ so that we are righteous in his precious blood and we thank you for this we praise you Lord that you are God who does keep covenant with your people even though we may break covenant many times yet father you are a faithful God and we see that indicated here in this in this chapter of the Old Testament where the people of God were brought back into the land to to seek you and to to to make a place for your presence to be yeah it was no it was not through any good work on their part it was simply because you loved them and you set them there and so Lord how we pray that we would see this and 2018 as we enter in to a of the year and into a new year may we see father going ahead going on in 2019 that you are God who who loves his people and you are for your people you were working out all of your purposes for the Church of Christ and we praise you the gates of Hell will not prevail against that church that church will continue to grow and the influence of that church will girl because ultimately Christ Christ is the head of that church we praise you Lord for these these wonderful truths and we pray that they might that they might stir our hearts up to - - to just praise you and to worship you this night and into the future we do pray your blessing upon the word we pray your blessing upon pastor Kirkpatrick we pray that Hugh be strengthened in the interim give a monkey give him help hedge him in and keep him in truth and we pray Lord that that you would be honored and glorified by what is preached here this evening give us hearts to receive it and - - and to seek to seek after you as a result of hearing your word and we pray these things in Jesus precious name Amen well please turn with me in your hymn books to the last him before we do here in the preaching and it's a hymn number 599 599 and I'll ask you Stan [Music] [Music] appreciation to pastor Patrick for coming and making it possible for pastor Beltre to get some kind of a holiday and appreciate the words you've brought thus far and Lord bless you as you bring the evening message well good evening everybody it's good to be with you once again tonight you can turn with me in your Bibles to Genesis chapter 22 I know you guys are going through Genesis on Wednesday night but I figured I'm far enough away that you'll forget everything I said and just remember everything pastor Butler says when you get there on Wednesday night but we'll see some important things in Genesis 22 we're actually gonna look at verses 20 and we're gonna look at chapter 23 of Genesis as well so not the sacrifice of Isaac we're look at the death of Sarah tonight Janice is 22 will read beginning at verse 20 and all the way through chapter 3 so Genesis 22 verse 20 this is the word of the living and true God now it came to pass after these things that was told to Abraham saying indeed Milka has also borne children to your brother Nahor house his firstborn buz his brother CEM Yule the father of Aaron Hesed heizo Hill - Jude laughs and Beth ul and Beth UOB got Rebekah these eight milk aborted a her Abraham's brother his concubine whose name was rumah also bore Taiba gay ham to hash and maracas Sarah lived 127 years and these were the years of the life of Sarah so Sarah died in Kiryat Arba that is Hebron in the land of Canaan and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her then Abraham stood up from before his debt before his dead and spoke to the sons of Heth saying I am a foreigner and a visitor among you give me property for a burial place among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight and the sons of Heth answered Abraham saying to him hear us my lord you are a mighty Prince among us where you're dead in the choices of our burial places none of us will withhold from withhold from you his burial place that you may bury your dead then Abraham stood up and bowed himself to the people of the land the sons of Heth and he spoke with them saying if it is your wish that I bury my dead out of my sight hear me and meet with Ephron the son of Zohar for me then he may give to me the Cave of Machpelah which he has which is which he has which is at the end of his field let him give it to me at the full price as property for a burial place among you now if Ron dwelt among the sons of Heth and Ephraim the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth all who entered at the gate of his City saying no my lord hear me I give you the field and the cave that is in it I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you bury your dead the neighbor ham bowed himself down before the people of the land and he spoke to e fron in the hearing of the people of the land saying if you will give it please hear me I will give you money for the field take it from me and I will bury my dead there Annie fron answered Abraham saying to him my lord listen to me the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver what is that between you and me so burry you're dead and Abraham listened to Efron and he and Abraham weighed out the silver for Efron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth four hundred shekels of silver currency of the merchants so the field of Ephron was which was in Machpelah which was before Mamre the field and the cave which was in it in all the trees that there were in the field which were with with in all the surrounding borders were deeded to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who went in at the gate of his City and after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre that is Hebron in the land of Canaan so the field and the cave that is that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as property for a burial place amen let us pray o Great God we know that we are Wanderers on this earth we know O God that we are pilgrims in this land and we do long for home we're thankful O Lord God that we can come out of the world to learn the language of heaven to learn more about you to learn more about our God we're thankful O God that you have prepared a place for us Christ has prepared a place for us and we know that when we pass on we will be with you for ever and ever we know that in the intermediate state our body and soul is separated but we know that our souls will be with you but we still long Oh God for the reunion of bodies body and soul and that transformation that body that's conformed to the image of Christ Jesus knowing that we have eternal bliss dwelling with you forever we know God sometimes we still mourn and we still lament the losses that we face in this life and we lose many people we're thankful that you are with us and guide us guide us through those difficult times you comfort us and aid us and strengthen us doing during those difficult times and for those that died in the Lord we know that we will see them again so God we do pray that tonight that you would comfort us by your words comfort us by what your word says help us to trust in your faithfulness even in the mundane and ordinary things we're thankful O God that you do are with us and you do protect us O God or thankful that you keep your covenant and your promises to Abraham and we know that we see it fulfilled in the Lord Christ so god help us tonight by your spirit we pray give us strength from on hive by your spirit to understand the things found in your word we're thankful that we have your word and we pray that you'd help us now in the name of Christ amen well in the life of Abraham the climax of the story comes at Genesis 22 we see in Genesis 22 that testing of Abraham the testing of Abraham's faith with respect to his son his only son Isaac and God says to Abraham go offer up your son your only son at the place that I will to choose for you and Abraham obeys God he does what he says he would do and that's the climax of the story but then as we begin to transition towards the next patriarch namely Isaac there are still some loose ends to tie up as we transition namely the death of Sarah finding a wife for Isaac and then the death of Abraham tonight we're looking at the death of Sarah as we transition from one matriarch to the next matriarch and you see the problem that we see here in this section is a something that we all face death and wandering even for God's people we still face death and even God's people before we die we wander on this planet on this life in this present evil age until we die and pass on and we see that problem here as well God's people do pass and so really what words good Moses is trying to show forth for us here in this section is that God keeps his promises in the midst of death by securing property in the promised land and what we'll see something quite different than what we've seen throughout the life of Abraham namely God does it in an ordinary way and so we'll look at this under three headings tonight when God's people pass chapter 22 verse 22 23 verse 2 then when God's people wander chapter 23 verses 3 through 6 then lastly when God's people dwell chapter 23 verse 7 2 verse 20 so God's people pass God's people wander and then God's people dwell so let's first look at when God's people pass in verse beginning at verse chapter 22 verse 20 and notice we see the passing of the torch in verses 20 through 24 genealogies are found in the book of Genesis to set forth the next major character or major player in the story and in this case is going to be Rebecca we could spend time looking at all the names HUD's and buz and ken you oh and the father of the father of Aaron hesed heizo peel - but the focus really of this genealogy is to set forth the matriarch set forth the coming matriarch name namely Rebekah who will be the one that that Abraham wants or o that Abraham sends the servant to find for Isaac in chapter 24 so it's already setting the stage for the covenant romance in Genesis 24 and so Abraham it comes to pass after these things it was told to Abraham indeed Milka has borne children - your brother Nahor then we list all them there for us because Isaac needs a wife how in the world is Genesis 22:18 going to come about in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice in order to continue the seed and continue the tradition or continue the the covenant people Isaac needs a wife and so we see Rebecca here introduced for us before we see the death of Sarah so that's why verses 28 through 24 are there to set forth Rebecca and then in chapter 23 verses 1 & 2 we actually see the death of Sarah and mourning over the death of our mother notice it says in verse 1 sarah lived 127 years these were the years of Sarah this is significant in the life of the people of Israel because she is the mother of the people of Israel and not only that she is treated like a queen in their biblical record what's interesting is commentators point out that Sarah is the only woman whose age is mentioned in the scriptures you see she has a significant place in the scriptures as the mother of the covenant people the only woman whose age is mentioned to show that the Queen has passed on Sarah lived 100 27 years these were the years of the life of Sarah and then burst - so Sarah died in Kiryat Arba that is Hebron in the land of Canaan so she dies but notice we see as well where she dies Kier Jaffa Arba that is in Hebron you see throughout this section names and places are important because she dies in the land of Canaan and even with the language here that is Hebron Moses wants us to draw our attention back to Genesis 13 when Abraham actually inherits not fully but he actually inherits the land and dwells in the land at Mamre and he stays there for quite some time until Genesis chapter 20 because remember God called Abraham out of ur of the Chaldeans to a land that he would show to him and he showed him the land of Canaan and God appeared to him and the land of Canaan and showed him that this was the place is that it that his descendants would inherit and so Abraham only sees glimpses of that he sees glimpses and foretaste of that land through Genesis 13 through 19 but she dies in the place in which they dwelt she died in Kiryat Arba that is Hebron in the land of Canaan so she dies in the promised land and notice Abraham comes to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her isn't this something a husband should do over a lost wife mourning lamenting perhaps the idea of wailings involved here his his wife of many many years and many many difficult hardships they would have had a deep love that they shared with one another remember they had when they came into the land of K and they had famine they had to go into Egypt and then they concocted that plan or Abraham did say you're my sister that doesn't go so well then genis 13 comes around there's battles with locked then Genesis 14 there's a world war one that begins then jess is 15 okay then a God says it's in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed or it's specifically with your seed in which they will new out be as numerous as the stars of the Evans and then Jaz is 16 they take matters into their own hands or Sarah does anyway they grab Hagar that doesn't work out so well fast forward 24 years and Genesis 17 and God says it's Sarah she is the one in whom your seed shall come and then finally Genesis 21 that comes about so they've gone through a lot together they're lamenting and wailing over the loss of his wife but what's interesting as well not just when we think about pastoral II when we think about it theologically Sarah is the mother of the promise yet she dies Abraham's the father of the promise yet he dies he won't see the promise because death is in the way they won't see the fulfillment in its fullness because death is in the way and see what's interesting what we see here is when even for God's people God's people still face death and still face morning we have the promises and they are sure should we die before Christ comes back we will be raised with him because of the Lord Jesus Christ but sometimes death is still difficult isn't it sometimes we have those raw raw moments where O death where is your victory Oh death where is your sting but sometimes it doesn't always feel like that does it because we're subjected to sad deaths like the pagans Christians still mourn and were not robots especially the death of loved ones listen to Dale Ralph Davis so Abraham here reminds us that God's covenant people are not sticks and stones impervious to grieve to grief and sadness you may say well yes but we face them with Vitt triumph and victory well maybe often that is the case but sometimes our losses are so sad so distressing so lonely that even as Christians we can't feel much of the victorious element sometimes there are difficult things that God's people go through I think of one example of a prominent missionary the 1800s Adonai Aurum Judson an important missionary an important Baptist missionary he sets the stage for the ret or for what we see today one when we look at language training and cultural immersion he sets the stage for translation really the pioneer worker in that but he went through a very difficult grief period in the span of like six months he loses his two-year-old son he loses his wife he loses his newborn baby girl and he loses his father as well not to mention he's in Burma away from his normal place that he grew up and he went into an immense period of grief and sadness he spent four years in this grief and sadness period two of which he spent in a jungle infest or in a tiger infested jungle because he was so sad he did some weird things too he dug a grave and just looked at it day in and day out as he pondered what death was why because he's grieving you see it's not in those moments that we say to him and hey listen out in Iram you know your theologies a little off right now no you just wait and you're patient with him and you love him certainly he's wrong in what he's doing but God you know protected him and helped him through that difficult time and thankfully eventually he snaps out of it and God uses him in many different ways but it would have been good for people say you know you're being an idiot you need to have better theology you should do what his friend did you're his friend did when he was in the jungle he built a hut and watched over him that's what he did sometimes even we talked about this morning when it comes to things like wisdom sometimes we could say certain things even if they're true but that doesn't mean it's gonna help someone out sometimes when someone is grieving and going through a difficulty sometimes it's just best for us to say I'm praying for you how can I help in other ways rather than trying to explain certain things that are going on in their life sometimes we need to have wisdom in those areas as well because God's people still mourn and sometimes that morning creeps up upon us so God's people do pass and there's mourning a tied to that so that's then look secondly that when God's people wander verses three through six so abraham look a lot of dead language then abraham stood up before his dead and he speaks to the sons of Heth and he says i am a foreigner and visitor among you give me property for a burial place among you that I may bury my dad out of my sight you see Abraham had been a wanderer in the land of Canaan and he recognized that he's an alien in a sojourner he had no land of his own in that place yes he dwelt in certain parts Jew through Genesis three through nineteen but it was like rented lands he dwelt in a tent and certainly there's blessed language throughout there about him inheriting the land but it is a temporal idea even at Mamre he dwells in those tents and so he comes and he makes this request to these sons of Heth the sons of Heth are actually the sons of canaan there in Genesis 10:15 and he says to them I want to buy some land I want to buy a proper burial place because I wish to bring my dead in the land of promise and so these men then say and respond verses five and six and the sons of Heth answered Abraham saying to him hear us my lord you are a mighty Prince among us burry your dead in the choicest of our burial places none of us will withhold from you his burrow place that you may burry you're dead you see Abraham is recognized as a prince among the Canaanites they've recognized that God was with him even throughout Genesis 13 or 12 through 22 chapter 14 he goes against Keter labor the giant king and destroys him and then we see in Genesis chapter 20 when he engages in a covenant or Jezza 20 and 21 when he gauges in the covenant with Abimelech Abimelech actually there's actually fear in the land because you see they recognized who he is and they recognize that God is with him and they want to be with him that doesn't mean necessarily that they're actual Christians they recognized who the powerful God is and that is Abraham's God and when Ava ever Abraham does God is with him so they recognize this they recognized who he is they recognize that he is a prince among them and so they say take whatever you want any land you want you pick it it's yours you can't burn your dead in that place you see sometimes pagans can be civil rights they can actually be kind and we can actually engage in proper conversation and trade with them we should ever be we should always be wary when someone says stay away from peg is entirely that's called not good I can't think of what it was it didn't go very well in that moment but it's not a good thing you see we're supposed to be in the world not of the world and sometimes because of God's common operation or the common operations of the Spirit throughout the world pagans sometimes actually engage and act more justly than Christians do you want a good example of that look at Lotte in Genesis 19 and Abimelech in Genesis chapter 20 we know that law is a believer because of the New Testament but Abimelech is not but who acts more justly in a civil sense Abimelech does and I asked this question when I preached at SRI Reform if two guys were running for office who would you vote for lot or Abimelech because you see a been elected because of the way in which he knows that the law is written on his heart he knows some semblance of justice not because of his own goodness but because the image of God there so sometimes pagans actually act better than Christians sometimes pagans are better workers than Christians it shouldn't be the case but it is sometimes the case because God's common operations are still operative mainly the noahic covenant the noahic covenant is still in operation and that is something we need to remember not for salvation but for justice and preservation so there's still civil they he says they say these things anywhere you want to go what this teaches us that God's people still wander this earth we are Wanderers we long for home we are nomads the Christian life is actually one of Exile isn't it isn't this how the New Testament describes these things and even Abraham and Sarah don't actually dwell in the land but especially in first Peter chapter 2 verse 11 he drives these points home with respect to proper living you see we're supposed to live in a way that is becoming of where we're from usually when we go to another country we want to actually you know act in such a way that makes our country look good how much more so our heavenly country 1st Peter 2 verse 11 I can get there beloved I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul having your conduct honorable among the jet the Gentiles that when they speak against you as evildoers they may by your good works which they observe glorify God in the day of his visitation but it's verse 11 I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims abstain from these things and as he addresses them in first Peter chapter 1 1 - the pilgrims or the exile of the dispersion because this place is not our home you know what drives that home death drives that home listen to Davis again you must never forget who you are how fragile and rootless and utterly dependent on God and sitting loosely to this age and all that it holds in offers there's a certain and proper detachment that should mark us but sometimes grief or loss or reversals can bring this minds at home with fresh force you see brethren we are supposed to live a contented detachment in this life not saying we can't work hard buy houses that sort of thing but those things are going to pass and that's okay because it's far greater to know those things are going to pass because we're with God in heaven dwelling with him forever a contented detachment should be becoming of God's people in this life so that's when God's people wander listen look thirdly and finally at when God's people dwell in verses 7 through 20 Abraham wants to be in the land and so he makes a specific request in verses 7 through 9 he stands up he boughs himself he's got proper manners he boughs in gratitude and he says to them to the people of the land the sons of Heth and he spoke with them saying if it is your wish that I bury my dad out of my sight hear me there's this guy named Ephron the son of Zohar for me and I wish that he would give me the Cave of Machpelah which he has which is at the end of his field let him give it to me at the full price as property for a burial among you you see he desires this specific cave and the reason he asked them to do it and he asked them to ask it so that they would be witnesses of the transaction you see they didn't necessarily have video cameras they probably didn't necessarily have parchment to sign papers at that time so you need a bunch of witnesses in order to have the deal go through so he says sons of Heth be my witnesses that's why I'm asking you these things and so he says I wish to purchase this among you I wish to bury my dead I want this Cave of Machpelah which he which which is at the end of his field let him give it to me at the full price as property for a burial place among you so he wants his body to rest in the promised land not in her he wants to be the in the place that God showed him he wants to be in the promised land he wants a place to bury his dead so he makes this request and in verses 10 through 16 we see the deal with Ephraim so they gather now he friend dwelt among the sons of Heth and he found the Hittite answer to Abraham in the presence of the sons of Heth so we'll see a lot of the sons of Heth that's just highlighting that they're the witnesses all who entered at the gate of his City they typically did transactions at the gate of the city you'll see this with lot as well waiting at the gate that's where the civil that's where town hall was or City Hall is and so they entered the gate of a city saying and this is what his response is no my lord hear me I give you the field in the cave that is in it I give it to you in the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you bury your dead seems like a nice gift you front Hey look I recognize who you are here it is I want you to have it so Abraham responds in verse 12 he bowels himself again in gratitude he recognizes the civility and the kindness from affront before the people of the land he vows but notice in verse 13 and he spoke to you front in the hearing of the people of the land saying if you will give it please hear me I will give you money for the field take it from me and I will berate my dad there why would he just take the land and run with it you see he wants the actual possession of that land and perhaps in the future the sons of Ephron might say that the sons of Abraham look this is our land you did not purchase it it was a gift given to you we want it back now so Abraham rather than receiving the gift wants to say I want to buy the land so that I actually own something in this land and it cannot be revoked so he says I will give you coin for it I insist on giving you money for this I wish to own the land and there are some land in the land of Canaan the land of promise and so Ephraim answers in verse 14 say or verse 1415 say to him my lord listen to me the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver what is that between you and me so burry you're dead now Ephron's colors come out pagans aren't all good this is probably a stiff price for that land it's not fair market value and he Franz just blowing smoke you just say oh you know what is just four hundred shekels no biggie he's like that person he wants to capitalize on someone's grief and he does so this is a nice shiny coffin for you and your family to be or your loved one to be buried and as they pass on that's kind of his demeanor when he realizes what Abraham is willing to do so he says four hundred shekels Abraham doesn't care he wants to own land and so it's weighed out in verse 16 Abraham listened to you fron and Abraham weighed out the silver for Efron which he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth four hundred shekels of silver of silver currency of the merchants so he pays it out he pays in full and then we see the deed given in verses 17 and 18 this is deed language here notice so the field of Ephron which was in matt Paila which was before Mamre that's important mac Paila in Mamre that's why he wants the Cave of Machpelah so much because it was the place that they dwelt together the land that God had given them in genesis 13 so he wants to own that I want the Cave of Machpelah which is in memory and so he says so it says Moses shows it was before Mamre the field and the cave and all that was in it and all the trees that were in the field which were within all the surrounding borders were deeded to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth before all who went in at the gates of his City he's got the real estate he's got a place to bury his wife we see the language of deeded given to him and then we see in verse 19 the actual burial and after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah lots of language about place again before Mamre that is Hebron in the land of Canaan so Sarah's body's dwelling in the land of Canaan and verse 20 so the field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the sons of Heth as a property for a burial place abram abraham after many years finally owns a possession in the land of and it came about through the death of his wife Sarah and this cave will be important to the rest of the book of Genesis because it's where Abraham and Sarah are buried it's where Isaac and Rebecca are buried and it's where judge Jacob and Leah are buried as well you see there are certain places would be fun to be at on the Resurrection Day aside beside beside just beside beside your spouse but this would be one of them wouldn't it when the patriarchs are raised up or perhaps I like to think of bun Hill fields in England where John Owen and John Bunyan a bunch of those Puritans were all buried that would be pretty great too I mean we're being raised up it would just be great all around we think about certain places where certain man and concentrations of people are buried those are some that some of the ones that just come to marine so Abraham has this land he has this dwelling because you see the purpose and the point of this text is really not about death it is about dwelling Abraham finally has a land in the place in the land of Canaan and what's fascinating and interesting throughout this text whose name is never mentioned God's name is never mentioned throughout this text and it's an interesting contrast between Genesis 22 and Genesis 23 where God appears to Abraham speaks audibly to him calls out from heaven and affirms the promises once again but in this text God's name is never mentioned but that doesn't mean he's still not in operation securing and fulfilling the promises that he said he would to Abraham you see God is faithful in the big things but he's also faithful in the little things as well and this is God chewing forth his promises once again to Abraham securing land for Abraham for Sarah of the rest of the patriarchs in the land of Canaan because you see God's people will dwell and we will dwell forever that's what we long for that's what we hope for we long and hope for home and the patriarchs longed and hoped for home because the patriarchs even though they wandered they knew even and even in this instance there as dead and finally he's got a place for her to be buried and Abraham still wanders and then he's finally buried there as well they're still looking for that home in which they would dwell and live forever you see even Abraham understood it was something about the resurrection because jazz is 23 is on the heels of Genesis 22 and according to the writer of the Hebrews he says that abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead you see Abraham believed in the resurrection and he knew it would come and he knew it would come through the seed to see the promised seed namely the Lord Jesus Christ now Abraham didn't necessarily know that but he still believed God and it was counted for him as righteousness and he believed that Isaac would raise him from the dead and then they would dwell forever Abraham longed for that and we as God's people longed for that but we know that it's set and it's sure because God is faithful and how much more so for us because we're on the other side the Lord Jesus Christ coming Heaven has been prepared heaven has been purchased and we will dwell in heavenly bliss forever and ever because of Abraham's seed the Lord Jesus Christ and if you don't know the Lord Jesus today I wouldn't poor you and encourage you to believe on Him and you will dwell forever in everlasting bliss with the sons and daughters of Abraham and Sarah well let us pray Heavenly Father we are again thankful for your faithfulness we're thankful o God that even in what seems to be ordinary things you still remain true you know God sometimes and we are forgetful of you you still answer our prayers and you're still merciful to us we give you praise for these things we know God that unless you come back we will all fit a certain time we know that we will all face death but oh god help us to know that we can pass through death knowing that Christ has passed through it for us that doesn't mean it's not gonna be difficult and hard when we see loved ones pass on oh god we pray that you comfort us and adas during those difficult times we're thankful that you do comfort us and aid us during those all times and we know Oh God that you will be true to your promises for you are a faithful God so God if there any here today who do not know you we pray that you would change them work in them to save them right here today who are your people are part of the people of God comfort them and aid them tonight Oh God we're thankful that you are a faithful God so help us to rest assured that you are God who does not change then you are a God who is faithful so God we pray thee to be glorified now in the name of Christ amen the clothes of the brief time of meditation when the pianos finished you are dismissed you