This evening, we continue in Genesis 16. Genesis chapter 16. We began our biographical study of Abram a few weeks ago. And at that time, I warned you of the roller coaster of faith and failure that we would discover in Abram's life. At times, Abram's faith was white hot. Other times, he was stone cold. When confronted with some circumstances, he obeyed God. Other times, He did not. And along the way, we find Abram acting in faith and at other times we find him acting in the flesh. I assume that you've been there. If you are anything like me, the Christian life seems like a roller coaster of ups and downs, of highs and lows. It's like a spiritual moodiness of wanting to do the will of God, no matter the risk at times. And then not wanting to do the will of God, no matter what the reward at times. And as we approach Genesis 16, we can identify with with Abram, the great patriarch of the faith, because sometimes our faith isn't so great, like Abrams the Christian life begins when we place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit quickens us or makes us alive spiritually But then Colossians 2 6 says as you therefore receive Christ Jesus the Lord So walk in him and the walk of faith is the daily operation of our lives as we act and as we react trusting the Lord's will and the Lord's way and the Lord's Word But alas, like Abram, we have some highs and lows. There are occasions when we act and react in faith, and there are occasions when we act and react in the flesh. And from Genesis 16 this evening, we find another one of those lows in Abram's life, a message I have prepared entitled Abram and the Pawning of Faith. Abram and the Pawning of Faith. Let's begin. Lord God, we thank you so much For the opportunity we have this evening to gather together in freedom and liberty, to be among the fellowship of believers, to share in the hymns of the church at the special season of the year when we reflect on Christ's birth, or to be instructed by your holy word. I pray, Lord, that you would encourage us this evening as we consider the life of Abram. And this evening, Abram and the pawning of his faith Lord, we identify with Abram's failure. We identify with Abram's acting in the flesh. But God, it's our desire to live each day of our lives by faith. I pray that you would help us toward that end, for we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Genesis 16, Abram and the Pawning of Faith. I've prepared an outline, a homiletical outline for my message this evening. However, I've not printed that for you. By way of a of a handout or notes, but you're encouraged to follow with me. I begin with Abram's double mind. Roman numeral number one, Abram's double mind. Look at Genesis 16, verse number one. Now, Sarah, Abram's wife, had born him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. Subpoint letter a the problem simply stated the problem was a problem of results God had promised Abram and Sarah a family Descendants so numerous that they would they would compare to the stars in the sky or the sand on the sea Abram and Sarah had certainly tried to have children, but Sarah I was barren no children had yet been born and That was the problem They were childless. For those of us who walk by sight, we like to see results, don't we? We like to see results. We like to see measured growth. We like to see progress. We like to experience increase. We say the proof is in the pudding. We say we'll believe it when we see it. And that is what life is like for those of us who walk by sight. For Abram and Sarai, God had promised a son. They had tried to have a child, but alas, no result in sight, no success. That was the problem. And many times we find ourselves in the very same situation. God promises to hear our prayers, but we pray and we pray. And we pray and nothing seems to happen. There are no results. Perhaps you share the gospel with a family member for years, but nothing seems to change. Perhaps you've been looking for a job for months, but no one seems to be hiring for generations now. We've been waiting for the rapture of the church. Is it ever going to happen? We want to see some results. We want to see something change. We want to see something happen. But God seems silent and his promises seem broken. And that is the problem. And so we are driven to fix it, to fix the problem, the problem that God has in not keeping his promises. Look at verse number two. So, Sarah, I said to Abram, see, now the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. That's the problem. It's God's fault here. please go into my maid. Perhaps I shall obtain children by her and Abram heeded the voice of Sarah. Then Sarah Abram's wife took her her made the Egyptian and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. No sooner had the problem been introduced in verse number one than the proposal is presented in verses two and three. That's the point. Let her be the proposal. the proposal, the fix it solution or the proposal to the problem came from Sarah. If Sarah was unable to bear children, then there would have to be a surrogate. The solution to the problem included Sarah's Egyptian maid servant, Hagar. Now, Hagar, in all probability, was part of Abram's household became part of Abram's household during his disastrous journey down to Egypt in Genesis 12 and although Abram got out of Egypt. It was much harder to get the Egypt out of Abram, if you will. Of course, we recognize Egypt to be a picture or a type of the world. And when the world is present with us and among us, it somehow presents us with alternatives to what is right. It perverts our thinking, introduces solutions to problems that God has in his control. But faced with Sarah's barrenness, they began to reason. Does the seed have to come from Sarai? But folks, the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be, Romans 8 tells us. So Sarah proposed another way to work God's will. The problem was barrenness. The proposed solution was an alternative to God's will, and according to the Hammurabi Code, The Hammurabi Code, which was the most civilized, progressive, and decent legislative code to date, it would be in order for Abram to have a child by Hagar, and then Sarai could legally claim the baby as her own. Sarai could have children by proxy, so to speak. But the proposed solution to the problem came at a price. Letter C, a price. And the price there in verse number four, so he went into Hagar and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes. It didn't work out so well, the blessing and the harmony of Abrams home was gone. And it would be gone for years, in fact, it would be gone for all of human history. A great price was paid in the pawning of Abram's faith in the birth of Ishmael to Hagar. How many times does the psalmist remind us to wait on the Lord? How many times do we jump the gun or put the cart in front of the horse or settle for less than God's best for us? Because although we trust his will, we can't trust the timing of his will. And many times we pay a terrible price for taking matters into our own hands, and we exchange God's blessing, if you will. We pawn off God's blessing for a quick fix to a perceived problem. And Abram's error here wasn't simply his immorality. It wasn't just his adultery. It wasn't just in fathering a child by Hagar. It was the pawning of his fate. For you see, folks, failing to trust God in his promises was Abram's greatest failure here, the beginning of Genesis 16. We never get ahead by doing God's will our way. Abram's double mind. And I believe here that Abram had a double mind, he knew God's promise, he knew God's will, in God's way, in God's word. But yet he was convinced that this alternative would accomplish the same thing. But not only Abram's double mind, I also find here Sarah's deceitful heart, number two, Sarah's deceitful heart in verses five and six. Then Sarah, I said to Abram, my wrong be upon you, Abram. I gave my maid into your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. The Lord judge between you and me. So Abram said to Sarah, Indeed, your maid is in your hand due to her as you please. And when Sarah dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Sarah's deceitful heart. Consider this. When Sarah made the offer of Hagar to Abram, verse number two, Sarai undoubtedly thought that she was being unselfish, that she was being self-sacrificing, but what is done in the flesh never brings true fulfillment in joy, noble purposes to Sarai's mind, noble motives to Sarai's heart. But that which is done in the flesh is contrary to God's way, and it brings guilt, it brings shame, it brings resentment, bitterness, rebellion, strife, you name it. Sarah had been deceived by her own heart. And you can mark it down, you can bank on it, that you cannot trust your heart. If someone tells you to follow your heart, to trust your heart, don't do that, for our hearts are deceitful, above all things, and desperately wicked. We can't even know it. And so, Sarai's deceitful heart here is revealed in two ways. First, it was revealed by her tongue. Revealed by her tongue in verse number five. If you're looking at the text, Sarai says, Abram, this is your fault. Verse five. Now, this is hard to explain. It's like the note that a young fellow received from his girlfriend. It said, Dear John, I hope you are not still angry. I want to explain that I was really joking when I told you I didn't mean what I said about reconsidering my decision not to change my mind. Please believe me. I really mean this love, Susie. And you say you say what you say, run that by me again. OK, dear John. I hope you're not still angry. I want to explain that I was really joking when I told you I didn't mean what I said about reconsidering my decision not to change my mind. Please believe me. I really mean it. Love Susie. Now, this is not an insult to women. I'm describing the confusion of all of our hearts, man or woman. And out of Sarah's heart, her mouth spoke, blaming Abram. in verse number five for her own idea in verse number two. In part, Abram was to blame, of course, he was the leader of their home. He was responsible for his action. In fact, Abram then failed again to take leadership in his household, and he told Sarah to do with Hagar what she pleased in verse number six. But Sarah's deceitful heart was revealed by her tongue. It was secondly, it was revealed by her temper. revealed by her temper in verse number six. So, Abram said to Sarai, indeed your maid is in your hand, do to her as you please. And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence. Sarai vented her anger on Hagar. Now, is this the same Sarai that we uphold as a model of womanhood? Is this resentful, mean-spirited, tyrannical Sarah, the modest, loving, faithful, and submissive wife that we thought we knew? Folks, such is the deceitfulness of the human heart. Had Abram threatened to leave Sarai? No. Had someone stolen all of her jewelry? No. Had her favorite camel sickened and died? No. What was it then? Sarai was guilty and shamed and jealous and bitter over the birth of a child to Hagar, and she revealed it by her temper and her treatment of Hagar. Notice in verse six that Hagar ran away. can't hardly blame her. After all, Abram, the man of God, did the natural thing in marrying Hagar. Sarah, the mistress, did the natural thing in resenting Hagar. So Hagar, the maidservant, did the natural thing and ran away, escaping the grief and the harassment of Sarai. And folks, the test of this life, the tests of this life are divine opportunities for the child of God to act spiritually instead of naturally. But James 1 teaches us that the trials or the testings that we endure are to produce patience so that we might be complete. However, during the testings or the trials, we are not to be doubting or double minded. That was Abram Roman numeral number one. Rather, we are to remain in faith. And whether it's a matter of your health or your money or your family or your work, do not follow the natural inclination of your heart. You will crash and burn, rather be renewed. transformed and renewed in your mind so that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. But here in this case, Abram's double mind and Sarah's deceitful heart led them not to act in faith, but to act in the flesh. And they created a royal mess. The consequences of which we are still experiencing to this day, we'll speak of that in a moment. There was Abram's double mind, There was a problem, there was a proposed solution, and then there was a great price that was paid. There was Sarai's deceitful heart revealed by her tongue as she blamed Abram, revealed by her temper as she dealt harshly with Hagar. And then number three, Hagar's defiant will. Hagar's defiant will. Hagar the Egyptian fled. And where did she flee to? Where did she go? Look at verse number 7. Verse 7 explains that Hagar had gone to the wilderness of Shur on the frontiers of Egypt. Hagar was returning back to Egypt. That makes sense to me. That's where she was from, after all. Where else would she go? But with Egypt as a picture of the world, let me make this application. Abram and Sarai had an opportunity to teach Hagar about the true and living God and lead her in the way everlasting. Abram and Sarai had the opportunity to demonstrate in the model for Hagar the life of faith in their home and in their family. Yet in the end, she fled from that home. filled with the thoughts of the treatment she had received at the hand of Sarah, filled with the hurts and the exploitation that she had experienced at the hand of Abram. You see, she was used by Abram and Sarah for illegitimate procreation. She was treated harshly by Sarah. She was let go by Abram. Let me tell you, folks. Hagar had a very bad impression in her mind about Abram and Sarai's God. What Hagar witnessed in the home of Abram and Sarai gave her a very bad picture of God. And I believe, I believe if we were reading between the lines and using some of our sanctified imagination, I believe that Hagar knew of God's promises to Abram and Sarai. If she was in fact the maidservant of Sarai, if she was part of that inner circle, I am sure that Abram and Sarai had spoken of God's promises of a child, of a son. Hagar understood that Jehovah God was going to give them a child. But then she watched as Abram was double minded and in Sarah expressed a deceitful heart, and. I believe that Hagar fled disillusioned. About God, and how many times have people been disillusioned about your God? Because of you. No wonder some people reject the gospel, because they watch us live in the flesh rather than by faith. Verse 7. Now the angel of the Lord found her, that's Hagar, by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to shore. And he said, Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going? She said, I'm fleeing from the presence of my mistress, Sarah. And the angel of the Lord said to her, return to your mistress and submit yourself under her hand. Then the angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply your descendants exceedingly so that they shall not be counted by multitude. And the angel of the Lord said to her, behold, you are with child and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael. because the Lord has heard your affliction. He shall be a wild man. His hand shall be against every man and every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. Some point letter a God's revelation to Hagar, I love the fact here. That God found Hagar in the wilderness, the desert in the middle of nowhere, abandoned and lonely. And, folks, let me encourage you with this truth. There is nowhere that you can go that God cannot meet you there. That is God's omnipresence. Isaiah 59 says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor is it heavy that it cannot hear. There is nothing that you can do that limits the reach of God. That is that is his omnipotence. 2nd Chronicles 16.9 says, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong. In verse 13, Hagar declares God to be the one who sees. God is watching. God knows. That is God's omniscience. God's omnipresence. God's omnipotence. God's omniscience. And so the angel of the Lord meets Hagar and calls her by name. And folks, note here that Hagar was not seeking God. Hagar was fleeing toward Egypt. Notice here that Hagar wasn't an heir of the promises, but a fugitive without a home. Notice here that Hagar wasn't a saint, but a sinner. Notice that Hagar wasn't a person of high rank, but a slave. And it is remarkable to me that this first appearance of the Jehovah Angel was not to Abram, but to Hagar. This is what we call a Theophany, or a Christophany perhaps, an angelic appearance of the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. And you see folks, this was the revelation of the grace of God to Hagar. And I hope that we realize that God is a God of grace, not just in the New Testament, but also here in the Old Testament, too. And so there is God's revelation to Hagar. In verses seven through 12, look at verse 13, then she called the name. Of the Lord who spoke to her, you are the God who sees Elroy. For she said, Have I also seen him who sees me? Therefore, the well was called Berla I Roy. Observe, it is between tennis and the red. So Hagar bore Abram a son and Abram named his son whom Hagar bore Ishmael. Abram was eighty six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. Some point letter be Hagar's response to God. Hager's or God's revelation to Hagar letter A and then Hagar's response to God in verses 13 through 16. Hagar's response was audible. She declared or confessed with her mouth the Lord who had revealed himself to her. She called the place beer lay I Roy meaning the well of the one who sees me. Hagar's response was not only audible, it was also active, and she returned to Abram's household, and when the boy was born, he was named Ishmael. And we know the rest of the story. Hagar's son, Ishmael, would be the father of a great tribe of wild, hostile people, you might cross-reference chapter 25, verse 18, living in the Arabian desert, also again Genesis 25. Ishmael would not be the promised seed, but rather be against the seed. It was Joseph, Sarai's great-great-grandson, who would be sold as a slave in Egypt by the Ishmaelites. And to this day, the Ishmaelites, or the Arab nations, are hostile to the Jews. And that historic human conflict between Ishmael and Isaac between the descendants of Ishmael, the Arabs and the descendants of Isaac, the Hebrews of the Jews, has continued. What then is the charge for us tonight? These things were written. For our learning. And I believe the charge for us this evening is that the life of faith is a life of waiting for God to act. when we are tempted to take matters into our own hands. Let me remind you of a familiar scripture, so familiar, in fact, that many of you have claimed it as a life verse, so familiar, in fact, that perhaps most all of us could recite it by memory, but perhaps so familiar that we forget its significance. And that is Proverbs 3, 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. God's paths, God's ways don't always make sense to us. God's timing doesn't always seem right to us and to our understanding. It's hopeless and it's helpless. But when we lean on our own understanding, if you can picture yourself leaning on yourself, you will fall over. You will fall flat. You will fall on your face face as you as you attempt to act in the flesh and not live by faith. And when we take over, we err and we walk by sight, not by faith. Let me encourage you this evening that Abram, the great patriarch of the Hebrews, is is known for his faith, a giant of faith. But, folks, he failed miserably so many times because he didn't act in faith, but he acted in the flesh. That's an encouragement to me, for there are moments when I act in faith, trusting the Lord, come what may. There are other times that I proceed in the flesh, trying to manufacture, trying to manipulate circumstances, trying to forge a way by myself. But many times the way that seems right to me is, in fact, a way of destruction, and I believe the lesson for us from Genesis 16. And Abram's pawning of his faith. is that we are careful to wait upon the Lord. I so much appreciate the Psalms, for they are the echoes of my own heart and the reflections of men of God who often were compelled to wait upon the Lord. And this evening, I would encourage you, no matter your circumstance, I don't know your circumstance at this point in your life, but I would encourage you to wait. Wait on the Lord. Trust his promises. Don't take matters into your own hands, for although you might see temporal results, the consequences will be very, very great. Let's pray. Lord, help us not to pawn our faith, not to sell that which is so priceless. For a cheap and temporary solution. God, I thank you for the written record of Abram and his pawning of faith in Genesis 16. Lord God, I pray that we would take heed and learn from the failure of Abram. Lord, on a regular basis, we experience highs and lows in our Christian life. There are days of victory when we live by faith. There are days of failure when we walk in the flesh. No, God, I pray that you would enlarge our faith, increase our faith. Lord, by the hearing of your word, I pray that you would grow our faith so that we can take you at your word and trust your promises. Lord, this evening, your people here at Fourth Baptist Church are facing uncertainties in many, many ways. And God, we're often driven to fix those problems. in the arm of the flesh. Lord, I pray that you would use those circumstances to teach us to trust in you more. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.