In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael from the book of Genesis. He highlights how God promised Abraham that Ishmael would become a great nation. However, God later clarifies to Abraham that it is through Isaac that his seed will be called. The preacher emphasizes the obedience of Isaac and compares it to the obedience of Jesus Christ. He also mentions how the miraculous birth of Isaac symbolizes the resurrection of Christ. Overall, the sermon explores God's gracious dealings with Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael, and the significance of Isaac in the biblical narrative.

And now, here, the birth of Isaac, and there's quite a comparison, and I'd like to call your attention to the comparison between the birth of Isaac and the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. First of all, both had been promised. You will recall that when God called this man out of Ur of the Chaldees, 25 years before this, why, God had said, I'm going to give you a son, going to give a son to you in Sarai. And 25 years went by, and God made good His promise. Now, God had said to the nation Israel, a virgin shall conceive, bring forth a son. And that day came when he was born in Bethlehem, and it was a fulfillment of prophecy, you see. Both had been promised. Then there was a long interval between the promise and the fulfillment. Actually, you have about 25 years from the time God promised this. Now, you could even go back as far as David. God had promised they'd come one in David's line, and that's a thousand years before Christ was born. It's quite a remarkable parallel here. And then the third thing is the announcement of the birth to Sarah and Mary seemed incredulous and impossible. Now, you'll recall that when these servants of the Lord visited Abraham when they were on the way to Sodom, they announced the birth, and it just seemed impossible. Sarah laughed and said, well, this thing just can't be. It's just beyond belief. It's just something that just seems impossible. And after all, who was the first one to raise a question about the virgin birth? Well, it was Mary herself. When the angel made the announcement, she says, how can these things be, seeing I know not a man? Note that this parallel is quite striking indeed. And then both Isaac and Jesus were named before their birth. You find that both Abraham and Sarah were told, you're going to have a son, and you're going to name him Isaac. And then you find out at the birth of the Lord Jesus that he was named before. That's the thing that the angel said to Joseph. He said, you're going to call his name Jesus because he'll save his people from their sins. So that this is something that we need to note here. Then there is a fifth corollary. Both births occurred at God's appointed time. Now, I've called attention to that here in the second verse. It says, at the set time which God had spoken to them of, Sarah brought forth Isaac. And Galatians 4.4 says, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. And then the sixth thing is, both births are miraculous, and I've called attention to that. And then the seventh thing. Both sons were a particular joy of their father. This is the thing about this man Abraham, called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. This was the name he gave back at the time when God made the announcement. He laughed because of the sheer joy of it all. And then out of heaven the father spoke and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Both were a joy. And then both sons are obedient to the father even unto death. Now, the next time we're going to get into the 22nd chapter, and when we get in there, we're going to see that this boy, Isaac, was offered up by his father. Now, he's not like the Sunday school card that was given to me as a boy portrayed it. It showed a little bitty fellow, and because it says lad, we assume that he's probably eight or nine years old. Well, he just happened to be about 33 years old when this took place. But he was obedient to the father even unto death. And that was true of Isaac, and that was true of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we find here this is a marvelous picture of the birth and the life of Christ in the birth of Isaac. But not only that, but the miraculous birth of Isaac is a picture of the resurrection of Christ. Now, we've already turned on another occasion to Romans 4. There Paul said that Abraham, not counting that his own body that was then dead, and then the deadness of Sarah's womb. So out of death came life. That's resurrection, you see. And when Paul emphasizes that, he mentions the fact he was delivered for our offenses. He was raised for our justification. And so you have in Isaac here the entire picture, and it's quite a remarkable picture, by the way. Now, let's advance on into this chapter here, and you'll find how God graciously deals with Abraham and also with Hagar and her son Ishmael. Verse 12, And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, because of thy bondwoman. In all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. God makes it clear to Abraham he's not going to accept Ishmael as the one he'd promised. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation because he's thy seed. Now, he'd said of thy seed, I'll make nations to come from you. So God says that a great nation will come from this boy Ishmael. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder. And the child, and sent her away, and she departed, wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the lad under one of the shrubs. And she went and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot. For she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad. And the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, hold him in thine hand, for I'll make him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. And she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad. He grew and dwelt in the wilderness. He became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran. And his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt. Now, if you read the rest of this, you find out that you drop the line of Ishmael. We're not following it. But they're out there in the desert. Today the Arab would qualify. Now we find here in verse 22, it came to pass at that time that Abimelech and Phicol, the chief captain of his host, spake unto Abraham, saying, God's with thee in all that thou doest. Now thou swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me. In other words, Abimelech wants to make a contract or a treaty with this man Abraham. And Abraham and Abimelech became good friends because of this. Verse 32, Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. Then Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called there on the name of the Lord the everlasting God. He's calling upon God's name everywhere he goes. And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days. Now we are told later on, Abraham was always a stranger and a pilgrim in this land that God had promised him. And this is an evidence of it at this point. Now next time we see the offering of Isaac. And friends, this is one of the highlights of the Bible, this chapter we're coming to.