sought and found in the wilderness. And this is something I should think that would cause the heart of each child of God to leap within. Because the truth of the matter is, brother in Christ, sister in Christ, you have been sought and you have been found in the wilderness. I'm so glad to be able to tell you tonight that our God is a seeking God But I can go further. I can tell you that our God is a finding God. And if you're saved tonight, you not only have been sought, but you have been found. And I oftentimes seek and I can't find. But God seeks and finds. I have a filing system, and sometimes things get lost in my files. In fact, I have coined my own definition for a filing system. It is an organized way of losing things. And when I file, I try to reference as much as I can. I try to put on my index on every index card I can possibly think of this particular document that I'm filing. So that no matter what I look under, it'll show up on that filing card and I still lose things in my filing system. Have you ever had that annoying thing happen where you got to looking for something and couldn't find it? And you couldn't quit looking for it. And you kept telling yourself, I'm sacrificing a lot of time here and I don't really need it all that much anyway. But it's just so doggone exasperating to not be able to lay a hand on it. I often seek and don't find. But God seeks and finds. And you, if you're a child of God, are living proof of this this evening, that God seeks and finds. He sought you, and He found you. And you do not have reason to rejoice in the seeking and finding grace of our God. Now, if I were not to say anything else tonight, I think that you could leave here feeling blessed. Don't get your hopes up, I'm going to say more. But if I were just to say that and nothing else, you could leave here and feel blessed tonight. Brother in Christ, Sister in Christ, you have been sought and you have been found. And the passage that I am dealing with tonight shows the seeking and finding nature of our God And this seeking and finding that God does is illustrated for us by none other than Ishmael. That's a shock, isn't it? That's a surprise. That Ishmael would become, in Scripture, a picture of the seeking and finding grace of our God. But that's what we have here. in these verses that I'm about to read. And I call your attention now to verse 8. And I'm going to read some verses here from Genesis chapter 21. So the child grew and was weaned. This is a reference to Isaac. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, She had borne to Abraham, scoffing. Therefore she said to Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son. For the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac." And now go down to verse 14. So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread. and a skin of water, and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away." And of course the boy here is none other than Ishmael. Then she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water in the skin was used up, and she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. Then she, that is Hagar, went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bow shot, for she said to herself, let me not see the death of the boy. So she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept." Isn't this a heart-wrenching account that we have here? We're not through yet, but you can identify This arouses your feeling of sympathy, doesn't it? Here Hagar and Ishmael are in the wilderness, their water is used up, and Hagar cannot bear to see her son die. And so here she sits, sobbing in the wilderness, with Ishmael being right there at death's door. Look at verse 17, And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called Hagar out of heaven and said to her, What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation. Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. It was there all along, but Hagar was not able to see it until God opened her eyes. Some of you tonight are out in a spiritual desert and there's a well of water nearby. It's been there all along. May God open your eyes tonight to see the well, that is nearby. God opened her eyes. She saw a well of water and she went and filled the skin with water to drink. So God was with the lad and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. He dwelt in the wilderness of Perun and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. And these verses form the basis for our thoughts this evening as we explore together this theme, sought and found in the wilderness. Now, some of you may already be a little disconcerted. You may be a little perturbed at the direction that I'm taking here because you're, I can tell by looking at you, a very shrewd and sagacious group of people. And you may be saying, the pastor is planning to use this episode from Genesis chapter 21 as a picture of salvation through Jesus Christ. And indeed, ladies and gentlemen, you're correct. If you're thinking along those lines, that's exactly what I plan to do. And you may be saying, well, this cannot be, this is impossible, because you have firmly fixed in your mind this principle, that once something in the Bible is used to represent evil, it always has to represent evil. And we've encountered Ishmael before. Ishmael, the son of Abraham, through the Hagar. And we have used Ishmael as a symbol, as an emblem of reliance upon the flesh and the works of the flesh. And indeed, Ishmael is exactly that. And ladies and gentlemen, let the Word go out clearly. that reliance on our own works will never make us acceptable in the eyes of God. Depending on our own good works, on our own efforts, will never, will never qualify us to stand before this holy God. But I'm suggesting to you tonight that Ishmael is used in a different way. And while in previous messages I have said that he is an emblem of something that is evil, depending on human effort, for right standing with God, now I'm happy to be able to say to you that Ishmael represents something good. And that something good is this picture of salvation that I intend to draw. Now, I cannot tell you whether Ishmael ever came to faith in God, true faith in the true God. What I am saying to you is that in this particular instance, he is an emblem of the sinner coming to true faith in the true God. Now, I want to just deal briefly with this idea that once something is used in the Bible to represent evil, it always has to represent evil from that point on. I just call your attention to the fact that the Bible uses a serpent as an emblem of Satan. We find that back in Genesis chapter 3, and we also find that in the book of Revelation, and Satan is evil, right? But we also have the Lord Jesus saying to his disciples, be wise as serpents. And so there, serpents represent something good. And so you have the same emblem representing in one scripture something evil, and in another scripture representing something good. You know that the book of 1 Peter, speaks of Satan as a lion. The lion is an emblem. He's like a lion going about seeking whom he may devour. And so the lion is a symbol of evil in that particular scripture. But then you get over into the book of Revelation and you find that the Lord Jesus Christ is referred to as the lion of the tribe of Judah. And so I'm simply saying to you that in the Bible, A particular thing or a particular person can be used at one point to represent something evil and then be used at another point to represent something that is good. I have debated this particular issue with various ones down through the years and I seem to recall debating it with one or two here. Most of you are aware that leaven is used in the Word of God at some points as an emblem of evil. And you remember perhaps the Lord Jesus saying to his disciples, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. And he was talking about their teaching and that was evil teaching. But whenever you get into Matthew chapter 13, you have the Lord Jesus Christ saying that his kingdom is like leaven. And some people get into great difficulty with that particular parable because knowing that 11 represents evil over here in this passage that I've already mentioned, they come to the passage there, Matthew 13, and they say, it must represent evil here as well. Well, you better hope and pray that when Jesus talked about His kingdom being like leaven, that it doesn't represent evil, because if you read that parable carefully and closely, you will find that the whole thing is going to be leavened, and what it amounts to is if leaven is evil, then the whole kingdom is going to be overcome and overrun with evil. It's going to be consumed by evil. Evil is going to win the victory. Well, some of you might be saying, what is all of this about? Well, it's about this. I'm simply telling you that sometimes the Bible uses a particular thing as an emblem of evil. Sometimes it uses that same thing as an emblem of good. And here in this particular passage, we encounter Ishmael. And in this passage, Ishmael paints a glorious picture for us. And in other passages, He is used as an emblem of what I've already talked about, relying on our own good works for standing with God. And we tonight must rejoice that we have from Ishmael this picture of a good thing. Now, you know that about what we have here in this passage of Scripture, you know that The episode that is described here finally brings to an end a very sad and tragic chapter in the life of Abraham. You remember how that Sarah is the one who suggested that Abraham father a son through Hagar. And we've been over this ground, how Sarah and Abraham thought that they were kind of getting God off the hook. ever helping God fulfill his promises. May I just simply say to you tonight, brother in Christ, sister in Christ, that God doesn't need your help in fulfilling his promises. He is one big God. He can take care of himself. But as we have been noting, this became a source of tension in Abraham's home after Isaac was born. the tension mounted. And so finally Sarah said, Abraham, this has got to end. You have got to send Hagar and Ishmael packing. And so Abraham reluctantly did this. And we have read how that he supplied Hagar and Ishmael with water and how they began their journey and they got out into this wilderness of Beersheba and the water ran out, and the wilderness did its work, and Ishmael is now at the point of death, dying from lack of water, and Hagar is overcome here as she watches her son come down to the door of death. And so this is the story. And then, ladies and gentlemen, there in verse 17, God steps in. God steps in. We're told that the angel of God called Hagar from heaven and said, What ails you, Hagar? Fear not. for God has heard the voice of the Lamb where He is." Now, it may interest you to know that some commentators regard this as none other, this reference here to the angel of God, as none other than an actual appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity. We have talked about this previously, how that in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, came in human form at various times during the Old Testament. On those occasions, he took human flesh temporarily. How very happy we should be that when he came there to Bethlehem, In the fullness of the time, He took human flesh permanently. He came to stay, and He's in our flesh even this evening at the right hand of God. Yes, flesh free from its limitations, fresh flesh free from its aches and pains, but He's in our humanity. And the fact that Jesus is present in heaven tonight in our humanity is the guarantee that all who belong to him will finally be in the presence of God in heaven in glorified humanity. I thought I'd just sneak that in. Now, I don't know whether these commentators are correct. in their assumption that this is really an appearance of the second person of the Trinity here in human flesh. They may be hanging too much on this 17th verse because it doesn't say that the angel of God appeared. It simply says that the angel of God called Hagar out of heaven. But I thought you should know what some of the commentators are saying. And this This angel of God spoke from heaven, and as I said a while ago, pointed Hagar to this well, the well that was there all along. Now, I've been laying the groundwork here for what I want to do, and what I want to do is what I have already indicated. I want to use Ishmael and Hagar's experience in the wilderness. to just remind those of you who are believers in Jesus Christ of how very blessed you are. You have been rescued from perishing in the wilderness. And I also tonight want to lay it upon the hearts of those of you who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, the importance of receiving Him as your Lord. and your Savior. And so I ask you tonight to consider two things with me. I want you to think first of all tonight about perishing in the wilderness and then secondly about the well of water in the wilderness. I don't need to say a whole lot about this business of perishing in the wilderness. Ishmael, you know, was perishing physically in the wilderness of Beersheba. But I'm telling you, my friends, that there is another kind of perishing that is just as real, and it is far worse. And the kind of perishing that I'm talking about now is not physically, is not perishing physically, but it's rather perishing spiritually. And the Bible tells us that we are all without exception in this condition. The Bible tells us that we come into this world with a nature that is opposed to God, with a nature that is bent away from God. And the Bible tells us because of our sinful condition, we are perishing. Now, some of you might be saying, well, what's all the fuss about? You talk about our sin and all of that, what's all the fuss about? Well, the fuss about it is this, ladies and gentlemen, we're dealing with a holy God. And even as I said to you in the message this morning, God's just and holy character requires him to judge our sin. God cannot ignore sin. God cannot just simply say, I'll pretend that I didn't see that. I'll pretend that that doesn't exist. God's holy character requires Him to pass judgment upon sin. And here's where this business of perishing comes in. God has, in fact, pronounced judgment upon sin. And that judgment that He has pronounced upon sin means that we are separated from Him now in this life, and if we go out of this life into the world to come, without something being done about our condition, we'll be separated from God forever and ever. This is the solemn testimony of Scripture. And no, I don't give a hoot about what the latest opinion poll has to say about what Americans believe regarding God and what Americans believe regarding heaven and regarding hell. I'm only interested in telling you what this book has to say. And this book says that we are all by nature sinners. It says that we are under the condemnation of this holy God. It says that we are in this state of living death. While we are alive physically, we are already dead spiritually. And if we march through this life, In that state of spiritual death, we will march straight into eternal death. And the spiritual death that we now have, this condition of separation from God, will be perpetuated in eternity. That is, in fact, our condition. Now, having said that, I want to talk with you about the well of water in the wilderness. God spoke from heaven and God said to Hagar, look, there's a well right there near you. And Hagar went to the well and she drew water and gave that water to Ishmael and he was saved. And ladies and gentlemen, just as I connected Ishmael's perishing physically to our perishing spiritually. So now I want to draw a line from that well of water in the wilderness to a well of water for us. And I want to tell you that just as that well there in the wilderness saved Ishmael physically, so God has appointed a well of living water to save us spiritually. Now, some of you may say, well, pastor, I really think you're reaching here. You're hanging too much on this passage of scripture. Christ himself is our spiritual well of water. And the Lord Jesus came to this earth for the express purpose of saving us from our spiritual death, saving us from perishing spiritually. Would you like some scripture for that? Here's what the Lord Jesus himself said in John chapter 7, verses 37 and 38. He said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." And you remember the account there in John chapter 4 of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman, and as he watched, she was preparing to draw water there from Jacob's well, and he said to her, These words, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to everlasting life. And so Jesus, Jesus himself likened himself to a well of spiritual water which quenches spiritual thirst and which saves from spiritual death. And so I say to you again that just as there was a well of water there in the wilderness to save Ishmael physically, so there is a well of water appointed to save us spiritually. And that well of water is Jesus Christ. And Jesus says, he who drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. Now you may be saying, well, pastor, how is it that Jesus can do this? How is it that he is this well of spiritual water? Well, I'm very glad you asked. Jesus is the well of life. for those who are perishing spiritually in this way. He came to deal with the thing that causes us to be perishing spiritually. And what causes us to be perishing spiritually? I've already said. It's our sin. And Jesus Christ came to this earth to deal with our sin, to take sin out of the way. Now, ladies and gentlemen, hear me. I'm telling you tonight that Jesus came to deal with sin, to take sin out of the way. And I want to tell you now that there's only one way that sin can be taken out of the way. God has pronounced judgment upon sin, and that sin, that judgment that God has pronounced is death. It's spiritual death in this life, and it's eternal death in the life to come. And I'm saying to you now that Jesus came to deal with sin and take that out of the way so we can have fellowship with God, and there is only one way, only one way for sin to be taken out of the way, and that is its penalty has to be paid. That's the only way sin can be dealt with. The penalty has to be paid. Will you hear me tonight? Young people, listen to me whenever I tell you that you will either bear the penalty for your own sin or someone else will have to bear that penalty for you. And there's only one in all of human history who can bear the penalty. for our sins. I can't bear your penalty. Here you are, young people, adults, here you are facing an eternity of separation from God because of your sin. And you either have to bear that penalty yourself or someone has to bear it for you. And I can't bear it for you. You might be saying, Pastor, would you bear my penalty? I've got my own penalty to bear because I'm guilty of sin. I was born in this world in the same, with the same nature that you have. There's only one person who ever lived that can bear the penalty for our sins, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And He can bear the penalty for our sins because He had no sins of His own. There is no sin in Jesus. I have a hard time believing that so many today are abandoning the sinlessness of Jesus. Don't you dare abandon it. It's absolutely essential for the whole scheme of salvation. There could be no salvation if it were not for the sinlessness of Jesus. Some of you, as I've said, you're pretty shrewd. You may be saying, well, Jesus is just one person. It's like he could only bear the sins of one person. Ah, but he was not an ordinary person. He was God in human flesh. And so he's an infinite person. And as an infinite person, he could bear the sins of many. And this is, in fact, what he did on Calvary's cross. He went there, and there he received in his own person the sentence of God against our sins. Brothers and sisters in Christ, He went there and bore the penalty for our sins. He endured there on Calvary's cross an eternity's worth of separation from God and now the penalty for sin has been paid and God's justice is satisfied and now everyone who believes in Jesus can join the Apostle Paul in saying there is therefore now no condemnation. to those who are in Christ Jesus. And so Jesus is the well of water for those who are perishing spiritually. Will you hear me tonight? Jesus is the well of water for those who are perishing spiritually. It's never been put better than John 3, 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not what? perish, that's what we've been talking about, but rather have everlasting life. And this is all due to the grace of God. But ladies and gentlemen, and I wrap this up with just by calling this to your attention, the grace of God, the grace of God did not stop with the coming of the Lord Jesus and with the dying of the Lord Jesus. I've been saying to you throughout this message that the well of water in the wilderness was there all along. But Hagar had not seen it and she could not see it until God opened her eyes. Look there at your verse, verse 19. Then God opened her eyes and she saw. She saw. You know what the Bible says about those of us, about all of us? What the Bible says about sinners? The Bible says that the God of this world has blinded their minds. I'm so glad to be able to tell you tonight that the Holy Spirit of God opens blind eyes. He enlightens darkened minds so that sinners are able to lay hold of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're a Christian tonight, you are a recipient of this enlightening, regenerating work of the Spirit of God. I tell you, if you're a child of God tonight, it's because God opened your mind. And even as we noticed last Sunday there in the book of Acts, He opened your heart as He did with Lydia so long ago. There's no salvation apart from God's enlightening work. You would not be saved tonight if the Spirit of God had not enlightened you. And you know about this. There you were, going along life's way, and you were oblivious to your sin. You were oblivious to the judgment of God. You thought everything was okay. And it could very well be that you sat in church after church after church and heard sermon after sermon after sermon and these things were mentioned and they never did take any, any root in your mind. They never meant anything to you. And then one day you went into a church service perhaps and the pastor stood and preached the message very much like a hundred other messages that he had preached. And he began talking about what I've talked about tonight, the reality of your sin. And suddenly it began to pour in on you. It began to flood your soul. He's telling me the truth. I am a guilty sinner before a holy God. And the pastor began talking about how you have to face this God. It's appointed on a man who wants to die. And after death comes judgment. And you began to tremble and you began to say, Oh yes, it's true. I do have to face this God. this God in judgment." And then the pastor began talking in this situation, we're supposing, about Jesus, who alone can save sinners. And even though you'd heard it many times before on this occasion, it all came home to your heart. And you said, yes, I am that sinner. Yes, I am headed for judgment. And yes, Jesus is a Savior sufficient for me. And you laid hold that day with saving faith of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you were a recipient of God's glorious and gracious, enlightening work. The well of water was there all along, but God opened your eyes to see it, and you were saved. I do hope and pray this will be someone's experience tonight. The Bible tells the truth about you. The Bible says that you're out there in the wilderness of sin, and you're perishing because of that. But the Bible also says there's a well of water that can save you from perishing. His name is Jesus. He's right there. nearby. May God open your eyes to see him tonight. Let's bow together for prayer.