Sermon Central
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Just Give Them The Permanent Wave
Contributed by Craig Benner on Nov 29, 2008 (message contributor)
Summary: When you make a mistake that will affect your future, you better deal with it at once. Maybe your faith has been weak and you have taken things into your own hands. Don’t wait any longer. Make the decided dismissal to the Hagar and Ishmael in your life
Giving Hagar and Ishmael the Permanent Wave
- the dilema of following less than the perfect will of God for your life.
Central Text: Romans 9:7-9
Gen. 21:8-14
8 And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.
9 ¶ And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.
10 Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.
11 And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.
12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
13 And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.
14 ¶ 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, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
God has a specific plan for each and every life.
-Accepting His salvation will start your journey toward that plan, but will not guarantee you the fulfillment of it.
-It is so very important to stay on the course that God has laid out for you.
Example: On Oct. 31, 1983, Korean Airlines flight 007 departed from Anchorage, AL with destination planned for Seoul, Korea. The planes’ computer had a 1.5 degrees routing error. At first, the error was unnoticeable. Before long, the plane was flying over Soviet airspace. The military sent their jets in pursuit and quickly shot it out of the sky. All on board lost their lives that day.
*Poor decisions will seem minor only for a brief time; but the longer they go uncorrected, the more harm they bring.
In this Bible story, we find Abraham at a crossroads of decision.
Abraham is known as the father of the faith, but we see here one of his greatest trials.
God promised that Abraham would become the father of many generations.
Abraham and Sarah had been married for more than 40 years and they still were not able to have children.
The came up with an alternate plan; to use Hagar, the handmaid of Sarah to conceive a child.
Will he continue to ignore God’s plan and pursue plan B
Sara initially provoked him to use Hagar to give him a child, but she has seen the mistake they made. Ultimately, Abraham must make the right decision to break this off and cast out that which is interfering in God’s perfect will.
At first glimpse, this may seem harsh and uncaring, but the case calls for something drastic to save the family.
Mt. 5:29, 30
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
*For Abraham, an emotional attachment had taken root. After all, Ishmael was a product of his own making and every day the tie to him got stronger.
I. THERE HAD TO BE A PARTING BECAUSE THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS A MISTAKE.
A, Hagar was not evil in and of herself, but she was a detour from God’s perfect plan.
Because of unbelief, Abraham looked for something to make him feel comfortable. His faith had waned, and had come to the point of believing that the will and plan of God needed some help from the human element if it was to take place.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Why accept anything less than the perfect will of God? You may come out on the other end "by the skin of your teeth", but you will not be unscathed. You will have lost much for your compromise.
It takes maturity to discern between that which is helpful and that which is detrimental to your walk with God.
It takes the Holy Spirit to enable you to continue to make the right decisions.
B. Hagar represents the Substitute that you have accepted in place of His perfect will.
