Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Get Attention:

Genesis 21-22 shows us Abraham really living on the mountain, and in Chapter 24, we're going to be attending a wedding for Isaac.

But snugged right between these peaks of glory we're reminded of how fragile life truly is.

Let's see how Abraham walked with God in the valley, so that it can encourage us to follow his example in our own valleys.

Raise Need:

We need to trust God in all points, the high points and the low points.

Orient Theme:

The sure promises of God are not given for this lifetime alone

State Purpose:

When facing grief and death, the believer's faith in God's promises should be most transparently displayed

Main Thought:

As believers, we look beyond our grief by knowing that we will live forever with God beyond the grave.

Sub-Introduction:

Connecting Context:

Connect the flow of the Narrative concerning how Moses has set the stage for the next saga concerning Isaac by describing how Rebekah was born through Nahor (Gen.

22:20-24).

I. Abraham Sorrows Over Sarah's Death (Gen.

23:1-2).

A. Sarah's Years - 127 (Gen.

23:1).

B. Abraham's Tears (Gen.

23:2).

Application: Bible Principle - As Life Comes Before Death, So Loss Comes Before Gain (Gen.

23:1-2).

Transition: Abraham certainly felt deep sorrow when his life-companion passed, but let's continue to consider now how:

II.

Abraham Finds Strength to Continue (Gen.

23:3-18).

A. Abraham Seeks a Burying Place from the Children of Heth (Gen.

23:3-6).

B. Ephron Offers the Field and Cave of Machpelah for Abraham to "Bury Thy Dead" (Gen.

23:7-11).

C. Abraham Legally Purchases Them for Four Hundred Shekels (Gen.

23:12-18).

1. Abraham requests they sell it to him (Gen.

23:12-13).

2. Ephron agrees to sell for four hundred shekels of silver (Gen.

23:14-15).

3. Abraham buys it outright in the city gate before witnesses (Gen.

23:16-18).

Application: Bible Principle - Faith in God's Promises Beyond the Grave (Gen.

23:3-18).

Transition: God expects us to sorrow, but not as others who have no hope, as seen in the strength that Abraham was able to find in the supernatural help of God to continue on, not in the weakness of his flesh, but in the hope of faith in the eternal promises of God:

III.

Abraham Buries Sarah in Hope (Gen.

23:19-20).

A. Sarah Laid to Rest in Hebron (Gen.

23:19).

B. Abraham's Newly Acquired Possession (Gen.

23:20).

Application: Bible Principle - The Believer's Faith in God's Word Is Demonstrated Most Powerfully In the Face of Death (Gen.

23:19-20).

Conclusion

Summary/Review:

The Hittites had no word for “gentleman,” so they called Abraham “a prince of God.” Abraham kept company with God until he became a partaker of the Divine nature.

It is impossible for a saint, no matter what his experience, to keep right with God if he will not take the trouble to spend time with God.

In order to keep the mind and heart awake to God’s high ideals you have to keep coming back again and again to the primal source.

If you do not, you will be crushed into degeneracy.

Just as a poet or an artist must keep his soul brooding on the right lines, so a Christian must keep the sense of God’s call always awake.

Spend plenty of time with God; let other things go, but don’t neglect Him.

And beware of practical work.

We are not here to do work for God, we are here to be workers with Him, those through whom He can do His work.

[Oswald Chambers, Not Knowing Where (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1996).]

God Wants You To:

As believers, we look beyond our grief by knowing that we will live forever with God beyond the grave.