We're Minnesotans. You guys proved that today. Poor people in Atlanta don't know how to deal with this. This is old hat for us. And so it's good to be here. It's good to look into the word of God, hopefully be encouraged, edified, as we're taught the scriptures. Do you have a birth announcement? That is my new grandson. Christine had a baby yesterday. Benjamin James, who's his name, 7 pounds, 4 ounces. and I'm in love. It's all good. Amen. So thanks for your prayers for Christine, challenges being a diabetic, and that the Lord undertook beautifully, and I'm grateful for that. If you have your Bible this morning, you can open it to Genesis chapter 24. Genesis 24, we'll look at how God sovereignly undertook and directed so that his plan and purpose for the nation of Israel and for mankind was fulfilled. And we see God's working in the heart of a yielded servant to realize that for his glory. And so he gave us 67 verses to understand how God worked, and it's kind of encouraging. But as we think of this chapter, it began with Abraham's instructions to his unnamed servant. He said, I don't want you to take a wife for my son out of the Canaanites. They are actually a cursed race. But go back to my family and find a wife for Isaac. And this is a daunting task. This is one that I would not want to undertake. Stakes are high. A swing and a miss in this scenario would have significant long-lasting implications. But God is faithful, and he directed his unnamed servant, who many believe is Eleazar, walked in dependence upon him. And so what's encouraging about all that is when he first got there, to the place where the Lord directed him, where Abraham's family resided, is that he prayed. And I like in verse 12, we can pick it up, then he said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, please give me success this day and show kindness to my master Abraham. Behold, here I stand by the well of water and the daughters of the men of the city are coming out to draw water. Now let it be that the young woman whom I say, please let down your pitcher that I may drink. And she says, drink. And I will also give to your camels a drink, which would be beyond, above and beyond the call of duty. Let her be the one that you have appointed for your servant Isaac. And by this I will know that you have shown kindness to my master. And that was his goal. You know, the unnamed servant had one objective in mind, and that was to see, really, that Abraham would be pleased that the will of God would be done. And he was laser-focused this whole time through this whole situation, and it's so encouraging. You know, we're really to think the same way, even when it comes to the fulfillment of the will of God in your life. you just have the same approach heed us. You know, last week gave a message that reminded us that if we start a new year, the time is short, the days are evil. Solomon, we ended in Ecclesiastes, he came to the right conclusion through trial and error to show that God's will can't be improved upon. And it was mostly error. And that's typically how us males learn things, but that's not the best way to do it if you can. And yet when the dust settles and smoke clears, when it's all said and done, what's going to matter is, did I do the will of God for the glory of God on his terms and not mine? And you know, there's several spiritual battles that are always hindering us from seeing that fulfilled. One major hurdle is you need to come to the same place that Daniel did when he was ripped from his homeland and carried off to Babylon. He purposed in his heart, Daniel 1.8 says, that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies. In other words, he decided in his mind, you know what, Lord, it's not about me, it's about you. My goal is to honor you, and so I'm gonna do the right thing, and I'm gonna let the chips fall. And that's where God wants us all to be, because faithful is he who called us all, so we'll do it. You know, it's kinda easy to have a wait-and-see approach when it comes to doing the will of God before we go all in. Because by nature, we all want to control the pathway that we believe God has for us. But you know, it doesn't really require faith for that. You know, Romans 12, 1 and 2 tells us that God has a good and acceptable and perfect will for us. And how can God fail when it comes to that? In fact, we're told in the scriptures, they that wait for the Lord are not going to be disappointed. On the other end of the spectrum, one other thing that could hurtle us or hamper us is just to plow ahead. You know, God wants me to go to Detroit. Well, how do you know? Well, I just feel like he does. And sometimes people make decisions and they ignore clear biblical principles. And they presume on the Lord that he'll bless their plans. They don't consult with the Word of God or they don't consult with someone who's wise or spiritual leadership and they just go. You know, I was reminded as I thought about that of this woman who was 90 years old that came to our Christmas program. She enjoyed it thoroughly, enjoyed it much. And as we talked, she told me, well, I know I'm going to heaven. And I said, why do you know you're going to heaven? Because she had apparently died in her mind and had this out-of-body experience. And so she felt a perfect peace. And so she was convinced that all will be well. And there was no mention of Jesus Christ, there was no mention of the Savior, the Word of God. And, you know, feelings and experiences is like the scariest thing in the world to rely on. And that's why we have the truth of the Word of God, and Jesus said you should know the truth, and the truth sets you free, not feelings. And the truth is this. Jesus said, very exclusively, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. Apostle Peter reiterated this principle in Acts 4.12, he said salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." That's it. And the reason we need a Savior is because we're sinners and we can't do anything about it. Ephesians 2.1 says that He's made alive those who are known as dead to God, and dead means separation because of our trespasses and sins. We're all born in Adam, separated from God, and we have no relationship with God. In fact, this illustrates this in a physical sense. This guy's dead in trespasses and sins. Now just imagine the spiritual application because that's really what he's saying here. And a dead man can't give himself life, nor can you give yourself life. Jesus is the giver of life and he gives eternal life freely, but it's because he took care of the sin problem. Isaiah tells us in 59 verse 2 that Your iniquities have separated you from your God. God is holy, we're sinful, and so there's a gap that man does not have the resources to cross. Christ has to provide a way. It's your sins that have made him hide his face from you. And everyone qualifies. We're told in Romans 3.10 and verse 23, there's none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. None of us have made the grade, and there's nothing we can do to remove our sin. Sin is something that you drag with you and can't shake in your own. It's the old ball and chain. There's nothing you can do to remove your sins through your own efforts. You could go to every church in town, get baptized, catechized, and anything else you can think of, and yet none of those things remove sin, because the wages of sin is death. And so if sins are going to be removed, a payment needs to be made, and that's why Christ came. There's many cliches out there that people think, you know, I'm a good person, I should go, I can go, I can say the sinner's prayer, and you can repeat any prayer you want and not even understand what you're saying, or I feel saved, or I've done my part, I'm a religious dude, I've got a Christian title behind me, I belong to a particular denomination and tradition, and God is blessing me. How could I be wrong if God's blessing me? That was my mother's issue for many years. or I'm gifted, or I've got some mystical feeling. And that's not gonna work. But the average individual thinks that maybe if it's good always is bad, maybe he will make it. And what's deceitful about that is he thinks he's good. And he doesn't account for all the bad. We've all done more bad than good, and I hope you've come to realize that. But that's also trying to buy something with monopoly money. Good works are an unacceptable payment for sin. They can't do it. So we have to reject this, and that's why John the Baptist said, behold the Lamb of God. What is the Lamb of God to do? He takes away the sins of the world. We cannot remove them ourselves. And that was the whole point of the cross. On the cross of Calvary, your sins and my sins were laid on the Lord Jesus Christ. The reason that that was true is because sins had to be paid for. And God in love punished his own son who never sinned in our place. And so on that cross, God's anger, judgment, punishment, and wrath, and hatred for sin was poured out on Jesus Christ, who chose to become a sin offering for us. And when he was on that cross, he cried out, it is finished, and that means your bill, like mine, and the whole world's was paid in full. 2 Corinthians 5.21 captures it this way, for our sake He, God, made Him, Christ, to be sin, though He knew no sin. So we, through that work, can become the righteousness of God in Christ, the righteousness that we need to get to heaven. And so since sins have been paid for, God offers eternal life, not on the basis of your works, but on the basis of His grace. And he offers it as a gift. And any gift you've ever received, someone else provided it, it was free to you. And that's what we're told in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. For by grace you're saved through faith. And notice, it's not of yourselves. That salvation's a gift from God. It's not a result of works. Otherwise, you could say, hey, look what I did. The only thing we can boast in is what Christ did for us in love. And so the message that's clouded oftentimes by religion is that salvation is a free gift. It's free, paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. In fact, Christ said this, I give on to them, those who believe in him, eternal life and the promises is you will never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand. But everyone's got to make a choice for themselves. I cannot believe for you, you cannot believe for me. You have to decide individually. Am I going to trust Christ and him alone and put all my eggs in that basket and have the guaranteed promise that Christ can't lie of eternal life? Or am I going to try to figure it out on my own and acknowledge Jesus Christ, but then contribute something to that? And that isn't going to work. That's not how it works. And so this poor woman who I'd had a conversation with was convinced, because of an experience she had, not realizing that Christ is the Savior, and that He's the only one that can save. And so her name is Fran, and I pray for her. She's in Arizona for the winter, good for her. But hopefully she'll come to realize that it's Christ and Christ alone who saves. And we need to recognize too for the believer in this dispensation that the will of God is not divorced from the local church. And sometimes local church doesn't factor into the decision at all. And God wants to direct your steps, and how we think about that, how we should think about that is communicated in Psalm 32, 8, and 9. David, after he confessed his sin to God, God forgave it and he said, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. And today he guides us through the principles of his word. But you've got two options. You'd be like a horse, and what does a horse do? A horse runs ahead. Or you can be like a mule. A mule, they don't want to move. They're stubborn. And they have no understanding, and so they have to be harnessed with a bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. And so don't be like a horse. Don't be like a mule. Be humble before our Lord like this servant we're looking at here in Genesis 24. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 tells us, trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him. This is the posture we're to have. And he'll direct your paths. Don't be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. And those are key. This will blind me. This will give me the right posture before the Lord so he can direct my steps. And so when you're trusting the Lord with all your heart, that doesn't mean God is mystically directing your steps. He, again, uses his word. David said in Psalm 119, 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and it's a light to my path. These are things we have in Christ that God wants to direct our steps with. And God has elevated his word above his very name according to Psalm 138. And so he's gonna direct you through that. And so when he came to the end and he had this conversation with Rebecca, he offered up a prayer in verse 27. He said, blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham. The term blessed there means praise. Why? He's not forsaken his mercy and his truth toward my master. Notice, it wasn't about me, it was about his master. And as for me, being in the way, I was in tune walking in fellowship with him. He led me to the house of my master's brethren. So encouraging. He's amazed and thankful that God directed his steps to the right person. And so he displays tremendous humility here. He doesn't take any credit for it himself. He gives all the glory to God because God gave him a successful mission. You know, once Mike gave a very encouraging message from Joshua. And the Lord told Joshua, that as he focused on the word of God, that he would have success. It says, the book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to what is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. That's the key. Have I not commanded you, be strong and of good courage. Don't be afraid. Don't be dismayed. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. And so true prosperity in the eyes of God's servant is wrapped up and the fulfillment of the mission that he was given. There's a tendency, especially in America, to measure success with a different yardstick. Sometimes we want to measure it through nice circumstances, or material blessings we might have, or a position we might hold. And we might conclude we're successful in God's eyes. But that's not how God measures success. The issue is, again, did you do the will of God? In fact, Paul, at the end of his life, and he died very poor and destitute, said this. I'm ready to be poured out as a drink offering. The time of my departure is at hand. But as I look back at my life, by the grace of God, I fought the good fight, and I finished the race that God gave me to run. I kept the faith. And so because of that, what's laid up for me is the crown of righteousness. That's success. Wish the Lord that righteous judge will give me on the day, and not to me only, but all those who have loved his appearing. In other words, what motivated him was his love for the Savior. And so he endured much hardship and ended up being very successful. The world will look at him and say, that dude is a loser, a failure. He didn't say, I've made my million. No, I finished my race. And that's how we're all to think. And so the servant here in Genesis 24 is very humble. And you know, don't ever confuse humility with self-deprecation. God doesn't tell us to belittle ourselves or to, you know, or even our accomplishments. Instead, it's acknowledging that without Christ, they can't do anything. That James 1 and 17 says that all good things come from God. So he's the source of it all. He's the one who gives the increase. Well, that's where we left off last time, and now we see Rebecca's reaction and an interaction now with her family and this servant. Verse 28. So the young woman ran and told her mother's household these things. Now Rebecca had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laman ran out to meet the man at the well. And so it came to pass when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrist, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebecca saying, thus the man spoke to me, he went to the man, and there he stood by the camels at the well. And so Rebecca, here after this man prayed, runs to her mother's household. and shares her story. And I think she's probably a tad excited. This is a big deal. And yet she still doesn't even know the man's purpose, the purpose of the visit yet. He just, she watered his camels, and she got a nose ring out of it. I'd probably say, no thanks, you can have that, but you know what? She got a couple bracelets. But she ran to her mother's household, and I wondered, why's that? And one rabbi notes that it was the practice of women to have their own house and the daughter would confide in her mother almost exclusively. And so maybe that's why she ran her mother's house. But it's interesting, there's another theory out there that her father, Bethuel, who's going to be named here shortly, is dead. Josephus wrote, quote, they call me Rebecca. My father was Bethuel, but he's dead. And Laban, my brother, and together with my mother, takes care of our family affairs and is the guardian of my virginity. And so there's some speculation about that. But that would certainly explain why she didn't go to her father. She went to her mother. And that Laman, we're going to see here shortly, is the one that enters in negotiations with the unnamed servant regarding Rebecca. And so Rebecca's brother, Laman, runs out to meet Abraham's servant. And he heard the story, and he's taking on the role, it seems here, as the head of the household. And so he runs out to meet the stranger, but the question is, why? You know, I don't know how far Nick has gotten in his story of Jacob, but this dude here was a conniver. And so you've got to wonder why he's running out there, because it does mention, the Spirit of God does mention here in verse 30, when he saw the nose ring and the bracelets on his sister's wrist, and he heard the hordes, he said, whoa, I want part of this action. And so he runs out there. You know, again, Laidman will show himself to be deceptive and deceitful character as we read further along in the book of Genesis. And I think that contributes somewhat to understanding his motives here. He might be more interested in the expensive gifts than showing hospitality, which he's going to offer here, to a stranger. In fact, Laidman's fondness for riches is a characteristic that later motivates his mistreatment of Jacob. So this guy's tricky. You gotta watch out for him. But you know, I was reminded it's a great tragedy when people are motivated regarding the things of God based on what they can squeeze out of God financially. And the prototypical example of that is Judas. You know, right before Jesus got crucified, Mary came and broke this alabaster jar and ministered to him, and it was really super expensive. And Judas was at the table there, and he didn't like that very much. Because it says, the only disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, said, why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii? That's a boatload of money. And thank you very much given to the poor. But verse six comments here that he said, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the money box. And he used to take what was put in it. So he sounds very altruistic. He says, hey, hey, you know what? Why would we waste this? Jesus had let her alone. She's doing this for my burial. She's showing her love. But Judas was only following Christ for what he thought he could benefit personally from him. He was thinking of Jesus the Messiah, I'm in like Flynn, and well that blew up in his face, now didn't it? It did. And so, you know, I'm sure that you've come to see in life that not everyone who claims to care for the poor really cares about the poor. That's why you need to be wise in that regard. And so the Spirit of God here lays Judas' motives bare to us. You know, it also reminded me, when you select people to be put in positions of service in the church, the Bible is very clear, if you're going to be a deacon or an elder, that you've got to be free from the love of money. Because you're handling the church's money. And it's also the Lord's money. And so there has to be some clarity there. And that's one of the characteristics that has to be true. Well, Laban here offers some hospitality. We can pick it up. He said, Come in, O blessed of the Lord. Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house and a place for your camels. And the man came to the house, and he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men who were with him. And food was set before him to eat. And so Laban here provides, and this is typical Middle Eastern, hospitality to Abraham's servant. But what I find interesting here is the second half of verse 33. Food was set before him to eat, but he said, I will not eat until I've told you about my errand. And so Laban said, we'll speak on. And so Abraham's servant would not allow himself to be deterred from his goal, the goal of his mission, even to the point where he wouldn't eat. I will not eat. This man knew his priorities. He had waited for the woman at the well to come. And he says, I'm all about my business here. And so what's encouraging here and what's noteworthy is that God's business comes first for this servant. And I thought about, who does this remind us of? You can put a marker here if you want. Go with me to John 4 for a second. John chapter 4. Reminds me of Jesus and his conversation with the woman in the well when he went through Samaria. In fact, we know from verse 8 of John 4, that his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Verse 7 tells us, the woman of Samaria came to draw water, and she's coming in the middle of the day because she's an outcast in her society. And Jesus said to her, will you give me something to drink? Verse 9, the woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask from me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink? Because the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. The Jews didn't like Samaritans, had no dealings with them, especially women from Samaria. So this is, Jesus is breaking protocol here. So as they converse, we'll pick it up in verse 17. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said, you're correct. You don't have a husband. You've had five, and the one you have now isn't your husband. So he spoke truly, well, her doors are blown off. Verse 19, the woman said, no, sir, I perceive you're a prophet. and they go on and talk, and so forth. And verse 27 says, at this point the disciples came and they marveled that he talked with a woman, first of all, but no one said, what are you doing, or what do you seek, or why are you talking to her, because he's God and they're not. And the woman then left her water pot, went into the city, and said to the men, come see a man who told me all things I ever did. Could this not be the Christ? And went out to the city and came to meet him. In the meantime, the disciples urged him, saying, Rabbi, you need to eat, man. You're going to drop dead here. But he said to them, I have food to eat which you do not know. Therefore, disciples said, well, has anyone brought him something to eat? Of course, they weren't catching on quite yet. Jesus said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work and the story. That comes before everything else. And he talks about the fact that the harvest is ripe and we need labors. Now, Jesus is not against eating. But he recognized in his ministry there's a time to eat and there's a time to work. And he said, this conversation needs to take place because she goes back to the city and all these men come out of the city. He spends two days with them, and countless people get saved. Infinitely more important in God's eyes than eating. And you know, the Spirit of God wants to duplicate the same mindset, not the same circumstances, but the same mindset in us. Since we're in the New Testament, go to Philippians 2. We'll see an example of that. The theme of chapter two is having the mind of Christ demonstrated through personal sacrifice in order to serve in the will of God. And he says in verse five with a command, let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus. This is how he thought and we're to think the same way. Who being in the form of God, he didn't consider it to be robbery to be equal with God, he humbled himself. He made himself of no reputation, he took the form of a slave and he came in the likeness of men. That's like you coming in the likeness of an ant. And being found in the appearance of a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. He's the example. And because of that, God is highly exalted in. And so he makes an appeal in verse 12 to have the same mindset. And then he gives three examples, beginning with himself in verse 17. Yes, and if I'm poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I'm glad and rejoice with you all. In other words, if I can be poured out as a drink offering and sacrifice myself for your benefit, that's what Christ did for me. I want him to duplicate the same thing in my brain. And then verse 19, he mentions Timothy. I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I may also be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded who would sincerely care for your state. Why? All seek their own, not the things which are of Jesus Christ. He looked around, he says, I've only got one guy I can send to you. Because he thinks like Christ wants him to think at this point in time. In fact, you know his proven character. As a son with his father, he's served with me in the gospel. So I ought to send him at once, as soon as see how it goes with me. And I trust in the Lord that I myself should also come shortly. And then he has the third example in Epaphroditus. Here's my brother, my fellow worker, my fellow soldier, and your messenger, he's the pastor of the church. He was the one entrusted to take a gift to the Apostle Paul, who was in desperate need of some ministering to in prison. And he says, he came to minister to my need. And he was longing for you all. He couldn't wait to get back to his local church. And he was distressed. Why? Because you had heard that he was sick. Indeed, he was sick. In fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him. Not only on me, or not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. So I sent him all the more eagerly back to you guys, that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold such men in esteem because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life to supply what was lacking in your service toward me. Three examples of the mindset of Christ who humbled himself and sacrificed tremendously so that someone else in the local church could be ministered to. That's kind of impressive. And you see, he prefaced all this, if you go back to the beginning of the chapter, with verse three. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look not only for his own interests, I mean, you gotta deal with his life, but let's consider the interests of others. That's what Jesus Christ did. That's what Jesus Christ did when he came. And so what a unique individual these are. These are three people in scripture for all eternity that give us an example of what it's like to have the same mindset that this servant had, Abraham's unnamed servant. He says, I'm locked in here. I don't want to even eat, thank you very much, because I got my master's business to attend to. And I'm going to not let a meal get in the way of that. Now, is this guy nuts? And do you think this is like nutso? It's a reflection of a heart that wants to honor his master. And the Spirit of God, again, wants to duplicate that in you and me by the grace of God. And it's only by the grace of God. So we can go back to Genesis here. Genesis 24. And so we left off in verse 33 when Laban said, speak on. And so what he does, beginning in verse 34 through verse 48, is rehash the story. Whoa. And he says in verse 34, so I'm Abraham's servant. That should tell them right then again that they're connected. The Lord has blessed my master greatly. He's become great. He's given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. And again, camel was a sign of extreme wealth during this time. And Sarah, my master's wife, bore a son to my master when she was old, and to him was given all that he has. Now my master made me swear, saying, you shall not take a wife from my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell, but you're going to go to my father's house and to my family and take a wife from my son. And I said to my master, perhaps the woman will not follow me. And he said, well, the Lord, before whom I walk, will send his angel with you and prosper your way, and you shall take a wife from my son from my family and from my father's house. And you will be clear of this oath when you arrive among my family. If they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath. And this day I came to the well, and I said, he rehashes the prayer, O Lord God of my master Abraham, you will now prosper the way in which I go. Behold, I stand in the well of the water, and it shall come to pass that when a virgin comes out to draw the water, and I say to her, please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink. And she says, drink, and I will draw from your camels also. And we saw last time, that was like crazy. I mean, all the water those camels drank. Let her be the woman whom the Lord has appointed from a master's son. But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebecca, coming out with her picture on her shoulder. She went down to the well, she drew water, and I said to her, please give me a drink. She made haste, let her picture down from her shoulder and said, drink, and I will give your camels a drink also. And so I drank, and she gave camels a drink also. Then I asked her, and I said, whose daughter are you? And she said, I'm the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him. So I put a nose ring in her nose and braces on her wrist, and I bowed my head and worshiped the Lord and blessed the Lord God of my master Abraham, who led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son. So Abraham's servant here recounts his mission and underscores God's faithful undertaking to direct him to Rebekah. Now the Holy Spirit could have certainly abbreviated this story, but he doesn't. But the rehashing of the story is different. It's got a different purpose here. He knows now that Rebecca's the woman God wants for Abraham's son, but you see, he has to convince, if you will, Laban and the mother that this is, in fact, God's will. And so he makes the connection saying, Abraham, he stresses, I like his, he stresses that the Lord is the one that made him rich in verse, I think it's 34 or 35. The Lord has blessed my master greatly. The Lord has given him flocks. And so he's bringing in the Lord here once again. He says, my master has only one son and all that stuff's going to go to him. I mean, it's not like there's a dozen sons who are chomping at the bit to take this wealth as soon as they had a chance. And so he tells him from the start. In fact, even if I don't return here with a wife for Abraham, she refuses to come, I'm released from the oath. And he made me swear. And I thought that was interesting. He's not trying to manipulate here at all. He's not saying, you know, I'm gonna be in big trouble if I don't go back, so I'm not putting some excess pressure on you to see things my way. He's being above board. There's none of that. He knew that God was in control. He knew that if he was being completely open and honest, that he would lose nothing. He's not trying to manipulate or control people. And you know, frankly, when you want something bad, isn't that not a temptation that rises to the top? You know, I want this bad, so I'm going to, instead of being above board and honest, I'm going to connive a little bit here, because I just got to have this. It's not who he is. It's not who he is. In fact, God doesn't call us to do that. God calls us to faithfully do our part, give them the proper information, and then leave the ball in their court, if you will. You know, it's like giving out the gospel. You know, you don't have to use these human manipulation techniques to try to get someone to believe. You're not in control whether they believe or not. Your responsibility, like mine, is to give out the gospel clearly and trust God to use his word so that they respond the way they should. It's all up to them. If you give the gospel clearly, you're off the hook in that regard. But what I thought, what I said, what's he doing here? Abraham's servant gave testimony to the work that God did. And you know, that's what the Lord would have us to do. You think of testimony, it's not about you or me, it's about what the Lord does. It's about what the Lord did. He's giving testimony of what God did here. I think about that. Let's go to Acts 14. Jumping around here a little bit today. Paul went on a missionary journey. Paul and Barnabas. And on their way back, They stopped and encouraged the churches. Let's see here. Verse 19. The Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went back into the city. The next day he departed for Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached the gospel to that city, they made many disciples. They returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith by saying, we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fastings, they commended them to the Lord whom they had believed. And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia and they preached the word there. And from there, they sailed to Anak where they had been commended. That's where the home church sent them out. And they commended the grace of God for which the work they had completed. And when they had come to gather the church together, they reported all that God had done with them. Notice, they gave testimony. And they had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples. And so when we give testimony, it's not about us. It's not a bragamony. It's sharing with others God's faithfulness, how he gave the increase. It's amazing. The servant here was not bringing glory to himself. He was saying what God did this whole time. And you know, that's one of the things we need to do. We come back from mission trips, we explain how it goes. We come back from Alaska, we explain how it goes. Because God wants us to share what he's doing. This is one of the reasons when we have family fellowship on a Wednesday night, people can stand up and share what God is doing so we can all be encouraged. It helps us to pray for these things and to see that we can be encouraged and thank God for his working in us and through us for his glory. This is all part of what God designed. So he does all that and then it brings us to verse 49. And he demands an answer. Now, if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me. I can turn to the right hand or the left. This guy is all business. Then Laban, and here Bethuel will say, he's mentioned here, and some people think that this is just an addition, that Laban really did the talking. This thing comes from the Lord, we cannot speak to you either bad or good. In other words, they can't deny that the Lord is, what the Lord is doing, this is the Lord's doing. And so they agree to let her go. Verse 51, here is Rebecca before you, take her and go and let her be your master's son's wife as the Lord has spoken. These men admit, how can they refuse this because it's obvious that this is the Lord's doing. And so they're agreeing not because they feel loyal to Abraham or they're impressed with the wealth, But they see that God has appointed Rebecca for Isaac, and they say, go for it. And as I thought about this, I thought, this guy just gave the facts, he made the Lord the center of it, and the word of God did the work. It had the impact that God attended. It wasn't how he gave his presentation that was persuasive. It was the word of God and the obvious undertaking of God here that made a difference in their mind. And they said, this is obviously God's doing. You know, and that's why even when it comes to communicating the gospel message, it's not this flashiness of presentation that makes the difference. The power's in the word of God. We're told in Romans 1 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for that message is what? The power of God. And so as that message is accurately and lovingly presented, God gives the increase. It's open to everyone who simply believes it. You know, and we've all been appointed God's mouthpieces to this end. Paul, in speaking to the Corinthians, says, God was in Christ, reconciling the word to himself, not imputing the trespasses of them, and he's committed, it means entrusted to us, the word or message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ as though God is pleading through us who share this message. We're imploring you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. Believe the message. Believe the message. And so God wants you and me to be prepared like this servant was, to share the word of God so God can honor his word, people believe the gospel, and get saved. I mean, can you see that, can you have the same mindset of this servant that says, hey, I'm God's mouthpiece? His mission was to win a wife for his master. Our mission is to win a soul for Christ. You know, if you think about even this servant, he spent his whole life, we're told he's the oldest servant in his house. He's been faithful, but most of his life was pretty mundane. You know, he's checking inventory or arranging, you know, traders or whatever, checking livestock. But that prepared him for this one climatic experience. Someone said 90% of even great lives are spent in banalities, trivialities. But God prepared him so at the right time he was used in the right way to accomplish a great mission. And we're to have the same mindset to be prepared before the Lord so that when he's, we're doing the banalities of life, he can arrange a conversation at the right time with the right person to share that message so that he can give the increase, same principle. I mean, when you see your life like that, it changes everything. Even cleaning a toilet bowl can be done as an honor to the Lord. I mean, I don't know if anyone's ever witnessed around a toilet bowl before, but it could happen, right? So these men agreed because the emphasis in that testimony was God. And people who embrace the gospel based on the power of that message. Same way. Some people, when they give their testimony, it's all about them. And everybody has a story. And it's encouraging to hear someone's story when you see how God worked through whatever circumstances they were in. But the emphasis of his story was his dependence upon the Lord and the Lord's faithfulness to deliver. And that's how it should be with us as well. So they submit to God's will. And that's pretty amazing because, I mean, what if some dude shows up at your house, offers your daughter a nose ring, that should tell you something, I'm just kidding. I mean, wants to take her away. I mean, this guy's got some serious moolah. But what he emphasized was the Lord's doing. And so what happens, how does he respond, verse, 52, and when it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, he worshiped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. He worships the Lord once again. He bows and he gives thanks. He's worshiping. You know, we live in a day and age where a lot of times the emphasis when it comes to worship is style. And in many cases, worship is defined through music, and it's really not what the Bible says as part of it, but Romans 12, two says, we worship the Lord and yield in service to him. Jesus said, they that worship me must worship me in spirit and in truth, and so you can be very sincere, and yet if it's not true, God isn't honored. You know, I said here last time we spoke that worship, in the simplest terms, is an appropriate, reverent response to God because of his character and his actions toward you. This is exactly what we see here. If you consider and ponder who God is, and how he's loved you in spite of you, and how he's taken care of you, and how he's faithful, you should always be thankful. There's never a reason not to worship God, never. In fact, I try to recommend people take time daily. I don't care if it's two minutes to just stop and say, Lord, thank you. And count your blessings. Like the psalm says, name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God has done. And just recalibrate your thinking to realize that God is worthy of worship. So here, the Lord directed his steps, the will of God was realized, he couldn't help but worship, because he wanted more than anything his master's will to be done. The longer I'm saved, the more I've come to see that finding God's will isn't a matter of some formula. It's really a matter of walking consistently with the Lord, having fellowship with him, taking the principles of his word, knowing them and applying them by faith. And then obviously going to Him in prayer like this guy did. You know, when I'm applying a principle of my faith and I'm communicating with the Savior in whatever circumstances I'm in, I recognize that I'm in a position for Him to lead me and direct me. And so this guy tasted God's providence because he had purposed above all else to do the will of God. That's where this all began. He walked with the Lord, he faithfully prayed to the Lord, the Lord directed him and he worshiped him. That's a great way to go through life. But now we have a little bit of a hiccup here. Well, before we get to the hiccup, after the acceptance of Abraham's service request, he paid a dowry to Rebecca and her mother and her brother. Verse 53, then the servant brought out jewelry of silver and jewelry of gold and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. And he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. I think this is what we call in our day a dowry, or we used to call in our day a dowry. And I think that was a custom of this day, and it was probably a custom for a long time. You paid the future bride's family something because you're taking her from them. And in this case, I mean, they're losing quite a servant. This woman watered 10 camels at 20 gallons apiece. Crazy. And so there's a dowry here. Now we give an engagement ring. or something. You know, a lot of commentators want to see a pattern of Christ in this, in the church. Now this isn't about the church. The church doesn't exist at this point. The church was a mystery. It was an unknown truth when this time, this story unfolded. But there is some parallels here because just as the servant paid a price for Rebecca, Jesus paid a price for you and for me. So we could become the bride of Christ. So that principle is certainly illustrated here. And so currently, if you're a believer here today, you're engaged to Christ, and one day, that's gonna be fulfilled, and we're gonna have a big feast, like they're gonna have a sit down and have a feast. It's called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. But I think in this culture, as I read, before marriage could even begin to be thought of, a marriage contract had to be paid. And that's what Jesus did with us. He paid with his own blood to purchase us. so that we could be his bride forever and ever. It's pretty, I think he's getting the raw end of the deal, but I'm so thankful for that. So they have maybe what they call a groom's dinner. They sit down and have, maybe that's where some of this stuff came from even in our culture. Might have come from this passage. But this is certainly a great cause for celebration. And I tell people, you know, when you see the Lord working your life, celebrate. Celebrate. Amen. And have a meal together. That's one of the things we get to enjoy with each other is having a meal together. Jesus had a meal with his disciples, and we're going to have all kinds of meals in heaven, so let's get the party going now. Amen. Verse 54. And then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. And then he arose in the morning and he said, send me on my way to my master. And so Abraham's servant desires to immediately depart to his home with Rebecca. Again, he's all business. He's all business. There's no delay in the will of God. And someone said the awareness of the Lord's providence promotes urgency, not complacency. He's recognizing God has directed his steps here, and he doesn't want to just sit back and say, all right, we'll take it easy. No, he wants to finish the task at hand. It reminded me of Abraham. You know, when Abraham, when the Lord told him, I want you to take your son, you're only son when you love him, and I want you to sacrifice him at Mount Moriah. He didn't say, well, no. It says the next day he got up immediately and took off. End of story. And that's how this guy thinks as well. But Rebecca's family seeks to delay the trip back home, verse 55. But her brother and her mother said, let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least 10, after that she may go. Why the delay? Why the delay? Well, I'm sure. They weren't maybe ready to let her go. You know, as I thought about this a little bit, I remember when planning the church up here and finally came to the point where it's time to move. It's funny how people come out of the woodwork and try to throw a wrench in that. You know, you're giving up a good job. I had a good job. You're taking a huge cut in pay. Stop it. No. I mean, someone's there to just Say, no, this was confirmed. It was the Lord's will. But there's always this temptation to get your security in something other than trusting the Lord. I mean, the company I worked for was great. It was very secure. It was very profitable. They paid me very well. Hang on, man. Don't let her go. Maybe that's somewhat what's going on here. I obviously can't say. But I like this guy. Verse 56, he said, don't hinder me. Since the Lord has prospered my way, and send me away so I can go to my master. Don't hinder me. This is the will of God, don't get in my way. And so what do they do next? Verse 57, well, we'll call the young woman and we're gonna ask her personally. Verse 58, then they called Rebekah and said to her, will you go with this man? And she said, I will go. Amazing, isn't it? When asked whether she was willing to go, Rebekah agreed to leave. That's a step of faith, isn't it? Now Arnold Fruchtenboll states that this was the custom in Mesopotamia. It's called the Hurrian Law, that the woman had to consent to be married. Even though this is an arranged marriage, the woman had a say in it. And that is, you know, that's how it's done in India today and in other places around the world. But, you know, mother and brother think Rebecca's, they probably thought, well, she's going to say, well, don't take me away from my family so quickly. Give me a few days to spend with them before I go. That's probably what they thought she'd say. Rebecca says, I'm going to go. And this is a big deal. This is a big deal. But, you know, let's recognize this is an answer to prayer. You know, early on, Abraham instructed his servant, if she doesn't want to come back with you, I'm leaving you of your oath. And so he prayed this whole time that not only would he find her, find the right family, find the right girl, but that she would say yes. And she said, yes. And she said, I will go. You know, this reveals Rebecca's character all the more. She's been revealed as a courteous woman. She's humble. She has a buoyant spirit. She's hardworking. And she's willing to do the will of God. She was ready and willing to obey instantly. And because of all these things come together, God's will is realized and God is glorified. And all this took place because we had an arranged marriage and a prepared servant who was yielded to the Lord so the Lord could work in and through that to direct him. I being in the way, the Lord led me to the right person. You know, I mentioned before that there's parallels to how Christ functioned as a servant. You know, we think of the servant, Abraham's servant. He was self-effacing. We don't even know his name here, though we speculate it's Eleazar. What was he driven by? A desire to please his master. That was it. He was devout. Three times he prayed during this trip, and he worshipped. He was devoted to his master Abraham. He was disciplined. He would not eat until his errand was complete. He was socially adept and skilled in dealing with an unknown woman in her family. He was prudent, he was prepared, he was gifted with the materials of dowry, and he was effective. God's will was realized. You know, you compare that to Christ. Self-effacing, he was meek and lowly. It says that in Matthew chapter 11. He was driven by a desire to please the Father. It says in John 8, 29, I always do those things that please the Father. He was devout. He prayed to God all night, several times throughout his ministry. He was devoted to the Father. I don't seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me, John 5.30. He was disciplined. Eating was less important to him than ministry. We just saw that. He was socially skilled. His interaction with strangers was always correct. Doesn't matter who it was. He was prudent, prepared, marvelously gifted, obviously. But he was effective. He carried out his mission perfectly, and God's will was realized. And so since God has got a good and acceptable and perfect will for you and me, do we have the same mindset? Do we have the same mind? Do we want to see God's will done? Do we want to see God's will glorified? Are we driven by a desire to please our Savior and our Heavenly Father? Are we devoted? Are we seeking my own will or seeking the will of Him who sent me? I may long the spirit of God to build into me the characteristics and his desire to prepare me to be used how he sees fit. Parallels are there. Great story, huh? Let's pray. Father, thank you for just including us in the Word of God and the many lessons and principles you want us to understand and embrace by faith. We thank you for your grace. We thank you that you've given us the Spirit of God who can take the Word of God and impress us with Jesus Christ and impress us with these principles so we can think biblically and principally. Complete the will of God like Paul did. We know he finished his race and he kept the faith. May by the grace of God that be true of us as we go forward knowing that you could come back at any time. Thank you again for your mercy for these things and we pray these things in Christ's name.