Let's read the first four verses
of Genesis 17. When Abram was ninety years old
and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am
the Almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect,
and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply
thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face. And
God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant
is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations."
Abram is 99 years old now, an old man, and the Lord, we believe
it was the Lord Jesus Christ, says He appeared because Christ
is the only bodily manifestation of God. God manifests in the
flesh. And we believe the Lord Jesus
Christ is the one speaking with Abram here. And he appears to
him again, and he confirms to Abram what he's already said.
He's telling him the same covenant promises. And Abram falls on
his face. And I thought to myself, We would
do that every time we hear these blessed promises of God, covenant
mercies of God in Christ, how we need to fall on our faces.
Will God talk with a man? Will God speak to a man, a woman,
a young person? He will, and He does through
His Word, but only to those who fear Him and those who fall before
Him, who humble themselves. James said, Humble yourselves.
before the mighty hand of God. Only those who are broken and
contrite. I quoted that verse in Psalm
25. The secret of the Lord is with
them that fear Him. And He will show them His covenant. Those that truly fear Him. So
Abram heard all this before, didn't he? He heard these same
promises. The Lord keeps coming to him
and telling him the same things over and over again. Why? Well, because Abram forgot. He's
a man. He's flesh and blood. Abram couldn't
wait on the Lord. He had a hard time waiting on
the Lord, didn't he? The Lord told him what he was
going to do 15 years before this, but he just couldn't wait. Does
that sound familiar? That's us. The Lord keeps reminding
us over and over again. Does a 99-year-old man Does an
89-year-old woman need reminding the same things over and over
again? Absolutely. Absolutely. Now, this covenant
we're going to see is God's covenant with Christ. That's what this
is all about. No doubt the Lord made a covenant
with a man named Abram who became the father of a nation called
Jews, a national people called Jews. Incidentally, they get
that named Jew from Judah. They are Jews that come from
Judah. And Hebrews, they are called
Hebrews because they come from the Eber that came from Seth. At any rate, there is no doubt
that the Lord made a covenant with a national people. He chose,
He called, He led a people called Jews out of Egypt. They're the descendants of Abram,
Isaac, and Jacob, no doubt. And he put them in Egypt, remember,
after Joseph put them in bondage. And all of that, the Lord bringing
them out of Egypt, is a picture of salvation. The reason it happened
was as a picture of salvation. The salvation of God that's in
Christ. You know, they came out of Egypt.
because of the blood, because of the Passover lamb. But God
did choose a nation to show forth His sovereignty, to show His
sovereign electing grace. He did elect a people to be His
national people, although all of them were not saved by any
man. In fact, only two over twenty
went in the Promised Land. But to show forth His power,
God kept that little tiny nation by His power, and He still does
today. There is still a nation called
Israel, and God said that. He said there would be a nation
before Him forever to show forth His power, His sovereign electing
grace and power. Though small in size, though
the whole world is against them, and always has been, Yet they
have been preserved by God. But that's also a picture of
God's elect, how they are few that are chosen. Many are called,
but few that are chosen. Now, Scripture tells us God is
no respecter of persons, tribe, kindred, nation. Just because
somebody is a Jew nationally doesn't mean they're a child
of God. And the Scriptures is very clear about that. The Romans,
and we'll look at that, that he is not a Jew which is one
outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly. Circumcision. The Lord's going to give Abraham
the token of the covenant of circumcision. OK? And that Lord
said, Circumcision is not of the flesh, but of the heart.
It's not something man does, but God does. OK, so this covenant,
these promises made to Abram are really speaking of all the
promises of God that were in Christ Jesus before the world
began. That's why it was written. Look
at verses 4 through 8. As for me, behold, my covenant
is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name
shall be Abraham. Father of many nations have I
made thee, and I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will
make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee, and I
will establish my covenant between thee and thy seed. after thee
in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee
and to thy seed unto thee." Now go with me to Galatians 3. Galatians
chapter 3. The Lord led Paul, or gave these words to
Paul the Apostle, to tell us what that is speaking of, or
rather who. What the Lord said to Abram,
this covenant God gave to Abram, He said long before Abram was
ever around, long before the world began, God said these same
things of his son and to his son in a covenant. Look at Galatians
3 verse 8. Says the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith. Now, stop right
there a minute. Abraham wasn't born a Jew. He was born a heathen. He was
born an Arab over in Ur of the Chaldees, which is in Iraq, isn't
it? Isn't it? That's where it is. That's where
he was born. And he was an idolater for 75 years. God showing that
Nobody is born a child of God. They are made that way. Nobody
is born into the kingdom that is nationally of God. They are
born of God into a spiritual kingdom. So Abram is a heathen. Verse 8 says, God would justify
the heathen through faith preached before the gospel unto Abram,
saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. God preached the
gospel to Abraham. God preached the gospel to Abraham.
God preached the gospel to Adam and Eve. See, all men and women
that are saved are saved one way, by believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Doesn't the scripture say that? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Did Abraham believe Christ? Christ
said he did. He said, Abraham rejoiced to
see my day. He saw it and he was glad. Moses? Yeah. He said, Moses wrote of
me. Wrote of me. It's all about me,
Christ said. The covenant? It's all about Christ. And God
preached this gospel. What God was saying to Abraham,
he's saying of the Lord Jesus Christ. He preached the gospel
to Abraham. In thee shall all nations be
blessed. Verse 9. So then, they which
be of faith are blessed with Faithful Abraham. Faith in who? Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. Look down at verse 14. That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. That we might receive
the promise of the Holy Spirit through faith. He says, Brethren,
I speak after the manner of men. I'm talking like a man. Though
it be a man's covenant, If a man make a covenant or a testament,
if it's confirmed, no man disannulleth it or add it to it. You can't
take it away. You can't annull it. You can't
add anything to it. You can't change it. A man's
covenant. And now to Abraham, verse 16, and his seed where
the promise is made. Now he saith not, God saith not
to seeds as of many, but as of one. and to thy seed which is
Christ. You see that? You know these
things. Verse 17. And this I say, that
the covenant, oh, this is good news. The covenant that was confirmed
before of God in Christ long before the law, long before Abraham,
long before the world. The law, four hundred years,
thirty years later, cannot disavow it. Can't make it of no effect. Nothing can change it. Verse
19. What's the purpose of the law?
Added, because of transgression, until the seed should come to
whom the promise was made. Down to verse 26. It says you're
all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Not by being
a national Jew, or even John 1 says we're not born of bloods,
because your family Paul said he was a Hebrew of Hebrew, didn't
he? But that didn't save him. A Pharisee, that didn't save
him. The law didn't save him. Christ saved him. Not of bloods,
not of the will of the flesh, not free will, not the will of
man, but of God, born of God, by Jesus Christ. Read verse 27. You are all the children of God
by faith in Christ. As many of you have been baptized
into Christ, have put on Christ. That means put in Christ by the
Spirit of God, given to Him as your covenant head. And there's
neither Jew, you see, in Christ. There's no Jew or Greek. There's
neither bond nor free. There's neither male or female.
You're all one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, then you're
Abraham's seed, and you're an heir according to the promise.
Everything the Lord said to Abraham, He said to Christ long before. And all He said to Christ, He
said concerning believers in Christ. All right, go back to
the Genesis 17 now. Let's look at this as it is,
the picture of Christ. Everything said to Abraham was
said of Christ. All right. You know how few people
know this. You know how few people understand this. Please stand. Very few. Very few. We're going
to see in the next message how that so many people are still
looking for Jesus. Christ to come back to this earth
and set up a Jewish kingdom and sit on a throne. That's ignorant. But you know these things, seeing
you know these things before, but this is good news. Genesis 7, 10. Look at this as
the Father and the Son. God the Father and God the Son
in a covenant of grace. Verse 1, Abram was 99 years old. That's old, isn't it? How old
was Christ when the covenant was made? How old was God? He is Christ. He is the eternal
God, and Christ is the eternal Son. And he said in verse 1,
when he said to Abram, he said, I am the Almighty God. Walk before
me and be thou perfect. Christ, our covenant head, He
came to this earth. Walked before God. Perfect. Perfect as our covenant head.
It must be perfect. Leviticus 22, 21 says, It shall
be perfect to be accepted. Okay, the law must be fulfilled,
kept. Every jot and tittle of the law
must be kept. Not by us, but our covenant head
did it. Jesus Christ came down to this
earth and fulfilled God's law, walked perfectly in thought and
word and deed. Psalm 24 says, Who shall ascend
unto the holy hill of the Lord? Who will God accept? He that
clean hands, a pure heart, that never lifted up his soul into
vanity are sworn to seek for us Jesus Christ. And everybody
in Christ is wholly and unblinkingly accepted in God's sight in the
blood. Christ did that as our covenant
head. You see, in Adam we died, but
in Christ we're made alive. In Adam we're made sinners, in
Christ we're made righteous. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. By one man's obedience, many
were made righteous. Few people know that. Few people
know that. Look at verse 2. He said, I will
make My covenant between Me and thee, and multiply thee exceedingly. I will make My covenant between
Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. Verse 3, Abram
fell on his face, and God talked with him. Abram humbled himself,
didn't he? Well, Christ did too, as a man. He was equal with the Father,
yet humbled himself before God, became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And verse 4 says, As for me,
my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many
nations. Neither shall thy name any more
be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham. For the father
of many nations have I made thee. What did Isaiah say his name
shall be called? Abram is now called the father
of many nations. Isaiah 9 says, Unto us a child
is born, a son is given. Call his name Wonderful Counselor,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father. And didn't Christ say
to His disciples, If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I am your Father. The Father
of the faithful is the Lord Jesus Christ, not Abraham. But the
Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved by His faithfulness. And God
said, My covenant will be with thee, Abraham. And God made this
covenant before with Christ. And Abraham is known all over
the world, isn't he? Verse 5 says, A father of many
nations have I made thee. Abraham is known and revered
by all, by many nations. Even the Arabs call Abraham their
father. They do. Well, Christ has a people
out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue. He's given
a name. Abram was given a name. Abraham
was given a name above every name at that time. Abraham. Well, God's given Christ a much
greater name than that. Lord, over all. The Lord said
to Abram, I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations
of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. I will make you
exceeding fruitful, your seed. What does Isaiah 53.10 say? I'll tell you. It says this concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, and he shall prolong
his day, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. Christ shall see his seed, that
the travail of his soul may be satisfied, exceeding fruitful
like a corn of wheat that fell into the ground. came out much
fruit. Verse 6 says, Kings will come
out of thee. Kings. Kings. Out of Abraham
came Isaac, and out of Isaac came Jacob, and out of Jacob
came Judah. Twelve tribes and one of them
which was Judah, and out of Judah came David. and Solomon, son
of David. Well, all of them came from Christ,
came out of him. He's the king of kings. When
David said it, the Lord asked the people one time, the Pharisees,
what think ye of Christ, whose son is he? And they said, well,
he's David's son. That's what the Scripture plainly
said, he's David's son. Then Christ said, why did David
call him Lord? The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand till I make thy foes thy footstool, because
David came out crying. And David knew that, because
Christ is the one spoken of here, out of whom kings shall come. He's David's Lord. He's King
of kings. Now, notice how sure this covenant
is, how certain this covenant is, how ordered in all things
this covenant is, how fixed it is, and how God didn't ask Abraham
to do anything. that this covenant was not dependent
on Abraham doing anything. God didn't say, if you'll do
this, I'll do that. No, God said, this is what I'm
going to do, and this is the way it's going to be. That's
the covenant grant. That's how God saves sinners.
God said, I will. I'll make thee I'll make thee
exceeding fruitful. I'll make nations of thee. Kings
shall come out of thee. I will establish my covenant
between me and thee, and thy seed after thee. And I will give
unto thee and thy seed after thee this everlasting possession,
the land, and I will be their God. No ifs, ands, maybes, or
buts about. All the promises of God to Abraham
were yea, and were yea in name. They were yea and they were amen.
Well, that's what Paul preached to the Corinthians. He said,
all the promises of God. He said, our preaching is not
yea and nay. Not if and if you, God will,
if you shall. No, no, no. Here's the covenant
of grace. God said, I will and you shall. God said to Christ,
I will give you a people and Christ shall save them. And he
did. He did. And that's the covenant. And that's all my salvation in
the earth. David said that. Oh, how we love
his parting words over there in 2 Samuel, don't we? David
said then, he said in 2 Samuel, Although it be not so with my
house, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, or
concerning me, an everlasting covenant, an eternal covenant,
ordered in all, and sure. This is all my salvation, he
said, all my desire. And it's mine, too. I do want
you to look at Psalm 105 and 106, just to remind you of these
things, because our salvation is in the hands of our Savior,
our covenant head. And it's not up to us to do anything. It was all dependent on Him.
And it's not even up to us to remember these things. It's up
to Him. And he remembered. Look at Psalm
105, verse 6. Oh, ye seed of Abraham, his servant,
ye children of Jacob, his chosen, he is the Lord our God, his judgments
are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant
forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. which
covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac, and
confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for
an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land
of Canaan the lot of your inheritance." Why does God call himself by
the name of God of Jacob more than any other? Because we are
sons of Jacob, just like him. Go over to Psalm 106. Oh, listen
to this. Daniel, in his prayer, said,
ìHeís a God that keepeth covenant and mercy in the spirit.î Psalm
106, verse 43 says, ìMany times did he deliver them, but they
provoked him with their counsel and were brought low for their
iniquity. Nevertheless, he regarded their
affliction when he heard their cry, and he remembered for them
His covenant. God cannot forget His covenant,
like the story of David and Jonathan. There was one fellow that was
the principal figure in His covenant, named Mephibosheth. He was an
enemy. He didn't know David, didn't
love David. He was young, he was fallen, he was laying on
his feet when David and Jonathan made this covenant. He was a
five-year-old boy. And David and Jonathan made this
covenant because David loved Jonathan as his own soul. And
David promised Jonathan that he would show mercy on his half.
And that covenant speaks of Christ God the Father and God the Son,
that God made this covenant with His Son to show mercy unto all
that are fallen sons of Adam that are in Christ, like Mephibosheth
who are fetched by the King and come to Him, and He will show
them mercy. So in our text, it says in verse 6 and 7, God said,
I will make you fruitful. I will make nations of thee.
Kings shall come of thee. My covenant is between me of
thee and thy seed after thee and their generation to be an
everlasting covenant, be a God unto thee and thy seed after
thee. All of those promises of God are in Christ to the glory
of God by us. We praise Him for His covenant
of grace when most people don't have a clue what it's about nor
care. Brother Mike Walker, the church He's pastor of, that's the name
of it, Covenant of Grace Baptist Church. Verse 8, we'll close. God said to Abraham, I will give
unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art
a stranger, or the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession,
and I will be their God. I will give unto you and your
seed the land wherein thou art a stranger. Christ came to his
own. His own received him not. He
was in the world. The world was made by him and
knew him not, like a stranger. But as many as received him,
them gave he the right, the power to become the sons of God, like
Abraham, which were born. And I've already quoted it. Not
of blood, not of the will of the flesh, the will of man, but
of God. And the meat. Those in Christ shall inherit
the earth because it belongs to Him. Christ. It was given
to Him. What God promised Abraham, He
promised long before the Lord Jesus Christ and His people. All the promises of God are to
His people. And God said, I will be their
God. I'll be their God forever. Now, you know what that means?
If God is our God, if this covenant God is our God, Old John Warburton
wrote a book. His autobiography was The Mercies
of a Covenant God. Like Dayton, all his hope was
in the mercies of a covenant God, a fixed covenant of a God
who cannot alter that, who made these promises in cry to all
that are in cry, and that's salvation. Right, sirs.