Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 11. The name of the message is, If
ye be Christ. If ye be Christ. Hebrews chapter
11. We'll read verses 8 to 19. Hebrews
chapter 11. Verses 8. Verses 8 to 19. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to
go out into a place which he should after receive foreign
inheritance, obeyed. He went out not knowing whither
he went. By faith he sojourned in the
land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder
and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself
received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a
child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful
who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of
one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky
in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith, not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they
that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful
of that country from thence they came out, they might have had
opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better
country, that is, in the heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city.
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac he that
had received the promises offered up his only begotten Son, of
whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting
that God was able to raise him up even from the dead. From whence
also he received him in a figure." Now, Abraham is a very prominent
Bible character in the Old Testament. Isaac and Jacob were heirs of
the same promise that Abraham received we saw in the text,
that promise which was the land of Canaan, which was promised
to them. And these three men were also heirs and joint heirs
with Christ. They were promised to the Lord
Jesus Christ by the Father in the eternal covenant of grace.
which was established by the great majestic trinity. Never forget this. Never forget
that God the Father is fully God, God the Son is fully God,
and God the Holy Spirit is fully God. They're not one third God,
they're fully God, each one of them. Each one of them. Fully
God, yet one. Yet one. The great majestic trinity. And they covenanted together
in eternity to save a people, to save a people. In and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is again the Son of God incarnate. These three men, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, were pilgrims and sojourners in this world, just
like we are, just like we are. They lived in tents. as this
world was not their home, and the scriptures declare that they
looked for a city whose foundation and whose builder and maker is
God. Beloved, that's the same one
we look to. They look to the same God we did, they look to
the same Savior we do. He's the promised Messiah for
them, and He's a successful Savior for us. He's a successful Savior,
and for them too. And these truths have reference
to all of God's children, of course. All who are the children
of promise were promised to Jesus Christ by God the Father in that
same eternal covenant of grace. All of us. All of us. All of us who have been born
again by the Holy Spirit, we walk by faith, don't we? And
we confess that this world is not our home. We confess that,
that this world's not our home. We're just passing through. And
we proclaim that we're pilgrims and sojourners, just like the
text said. We know this isn't our home. We're only here temporarily.
We're only here temporarily. We are dwelling in these tents
of clay, beloved. That's what we dwell in right
now, tents of clay. Tents of clay. And we're on our
way to eternal glory, aren't we? I like what Brother John
says when it's your birthday. I love that. You say, every year
I'm a year closer to going home to be with the Lord. I love that.
That's a great way to look at every day that comes by. Every
day. Every day that passes is a day that we're closer to being
in glory, beloved. My, that'll put a spring in your
step. That'll put a spring in your
step, beloved. Oh my. And by God's grace and mercy,
We've been given faith to believe, haven't we? We could never muster
up that faith, never. We've been given to us, it's
been given to us by God. And who do we believe on? Who's
the object of that faith? Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is
the object of that faith. And we set our affections on
things above, not on things in this world, do we? Because the
moment we start looking, I know for me, the moment I start looking
at things in this world, I get a little worked up. Is it so
for you? It is, isn't it? That's why Paul tells us to set
our minds on things above, which is Christ. Set our mind on Him. And that's why gospel preachers
just point you right to Christ. That's what we do. We point you
right. Just keep looking. Just keep looking to Him. Just
keep looking. Don't take your eyes off Him.
Oh, look to the one who sits on the majesty on high right
now, seated at the right hand of the Father, the King of kings
and the Lord of lords, our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And everything else in this world will just fade away. You ever
notice when you're in service, you don't think about what's
going on in the world. You're focusing on the Word. Isn't that
wonderful? It's wonderful, isn't it? Focusing on who our Savior
is. It's absolutely wonderful. So
we, just like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we look for a city
as well, whose foundations and whose builder and maker is God.
I'd like us to look at these verses here in verse 17 to 19
again, Hebrews chapter 11, look at this. By faith, Abraham, when
he was tried, and this was a trial, wasn't it? Oh, this was a trial.
Offered up Isaac, and he had received and he that had received
the promises offered up his only begotten son. Oh, what a picture. Of whom it is said that in Isaac
shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able to raise him
up even from the dead. Let's go look at that account
in Genesis. Let's turn to Genesis chapter 22. Let's go there, Genesis
chapter 22. Let's look at this account. I
know we've read it before, but it's good to read in light of
what we're studying tonight. Genesis chapter 22. Scripture
never gets old for the believer, does it? It's wonderful. Let's
read verses 1 to 19. And Abraham was old, and well
stricken in age. And the Lord had blessed Abraham
in all things. And Abraham said unto his eldest
servant of the house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I
pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, Oh, you know what? I'm reading Genesis chapter 24.
Look at that, I got all excited. I'm reading Genesis chapter 24.
I was two chapters ahead of y'all. Okay, here we go. Genesis chapter
22, verse 1. And it came to pass after these
things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, and
he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac. Now remember, this is the son
of the promise, beloved. This is the son of his old age,
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and
offer him therefore a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which
I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in
the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young
men with him, Isaac and Isaac his son, and claimed the wood
for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place which
God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said
unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son,
and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and they went both
of them together. So he's got the wood, the wood
strapped to his son, let's picture this, strapped to his son. He's
got a fire, a torch in his hand. He didn't have lighters back
then, right? So he's got a torch, he's got a torch in his hand,
and he's got a knife. And they start heading up this
hill. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, now Isaac had been
taught, Isaac had been taught well, hadn't he? And we know
from this verse, and Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and
he said, my father, and he said, here am I, my son, and he said,
behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt
offering? Isaac had been taught well. He
knew that it must be a blood sacrifice, beloved. He knew it
must be a lamb that must be shed. The blood must be shed because
without the remission of, without the shedding of blood, there's
no remission of sins, it says in Hebrews. And Abraham said, what a verse here. And Abraham
said, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
What a prophecy of what Christ and who Christ is. God himself,
The father sent his son into this world to die in the room
and place of his people. Beloved, God provided the lamb.
He provided the lamb. They were burnt off, and so they
went, both of them together. What a test of his faith, eh?
His only begotten son, beloved. And they came to a place which
God had told them of, Abraham built an altar there and laid
the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar
upon the wood. What was Isaac thinking? Oh my. And Abraham stretched
forth his hand and took the knife. The knife is up. It's ready to
fall. He took the knife to slay his
son. And the angel of the Lord called
unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham! And he said,
Here am I! And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thine
only Son from me. Well, God sent His only Son,
didn't He? But the knife wasn't withheld,
was it? No, and look at this, and Abraham
lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram
caught in the thicket by the horns. A substitute. A substitute. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead or place
of his son. And Abraham called the name of
the place Jehovah-Jireh, or the Lord will provide. As it is said
to this day, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And
the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven a
second time and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord,
for because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy
son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee and
in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the
heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy
seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou has obeyed
my voice. So Abraham returned unto his
young man and they rose up and went together to Beersheba and
Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. What a great trial, what a great
affliction here before us in that text for Abraham. Let us
always remember, beloved, that all our trials, all our trials
and all our afflictions are ordained. They are ordained afflictions
and ordained trials for the child of God. And they always remember
too, they begin and they end at the appointed time. They begin
and they end at the appointed time. That which God has appointed
for them to begin, and that which God has appointed for them to
cease, to end. And when the trial is in progress,
having its perfect work, the believer knows that there's a
way of escape. And it's just trusting in the
Lord. It's just trusting in the Lord, beloved. Look unto He who
is our refuge. The way of escape does not enable
the believer to escape the trial, but it enables the believer to
endure the trial. So when the trial continues,
the believer knows that there will be an end to it when it
has accomplished its purpose. And no one likes going through
trials. No one. But there is a reason
for them. God sends them our way for a
reason. And the way of escape is the
place that the believer knows he will be at at the end of the
trial. And the way of escape is the city of refuge. The way
of escape is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. And in
our final trial, what will be our final trial? Death. For every
believer, death is our final trial, beloved. But death has
lost its sting, hasn't it, for the believer? It's lost its sting. But it's the final trial that
we will face. And when that affliction is finished,
oh, when that affliction's finished, we're in his presence forever.
My, my. And then there'll be no more
trials, no more sorrows, no more sickness, no more afflictions,
no sorrow, no pain. forever to be in the presence
of our glorious Savior, beloved. My, oh, my. In this knowledge,
that knowledge that the believer has, this understanding that
we have, that the way of escape of a trial is Christ, enables
us to endure the trials as they come our way. Again, the trials and afflictions
that come our way are not something that can be undone. They're appointed
by God, aren't they? They're appointed by God. And
until that which is purposed for it to accomplish occurs,
then the trial will continue. But there is an appointed time
for trials to end. And what are these trials and
afflictions that we go through in life? What are they designed for? To
keep us looking to Christ. To know our utter weakness. To
know that in my weakness He is strong. To keep us looking to Christ.
And also to bring us to a point where we have nowhere to go but
Him. Nowhere to go but Him. Let's look at verse 18 of Hebrews
chapter 11. It says, look at this. Hebrews
11, 18, and we saw in Genesis there where the Lord mentioned
about Abraham's seed being innumerable. Look what it says in verse 18.
It says, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed
be called. Now Abraham's promised biological
seed came through Isaac. Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac begot
Jacob, and God changed Jacob's name to Israel. And Israel had
12 sons, of whom we've been studying in the life of Joseph in the
mornings. In Sunday school, each son grew in number, each becoming
a tribe of people. And these 12 tribes became known
as the 12 tribes of Israel. The land of Canaan became known
as the land of Israel, and the twelve tribes of Israel has reference
to the twelve sons of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob, again
whom we've been looking at in our studies in the life of Joseph. Let's look at that. It says there
in Hebrews 11.18, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Spiritually speaking, this has
reference to the children of God. to the children of God. We were promised to the Lord
Jesus Christ by God the Father, back before time began, back
before time began. Isaac, the son of God, or the
son God promised to Abraham, typifies the children that God
the Father promised to the Lord Jesus Christ. He typified we
who are God's people. And the Word of God is not obscure
on this matter. It's the responsibility of God's
ordained preachers to preach and teach these spiritual truths
all for the glory of God. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. All who are redeemed by the precious
blood of Christ, our Abraham's seed, born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. Let's read verses 1 to 12. For I could wish that myself
were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according
to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption,
and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and
the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of
whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all,
God blessed forever. Amen. Not as though the word
of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of God. But the children
of promise are counted for the seed. For every one of God's
people, His elect, are the children of promise, beloved. For this is the word of promise,
at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And not
only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by
our father Isaac, For the children, being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. Oh my beloved. Now let's quickly
turn to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. The spiritual
truth concerning Isaac. The spiritual truth concerning
Isaac. Typifying the children of God
that the Father promised to the Lord Jesus Christ is clearly
set forth in the epistle that God the Holy Spirit moved Paul
to write. The epistle to the Galatians. They apply to all of God's saints
in any given generation. The term in Isaac, shall thy
seed be called, has reference to God's promised children from
every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation. Remember in Genesis,
it was a number that no man can number. As many as more than
the sand of the sea. I've been to the sea. That's
a lot of sand. Just a little section I saw.
That's a lot of people. That's a lot of people. My oh
my. And that's a metaphor, but it
gives you an idea that it's a number that no man can number. No man
can number. My. In Isaac shall thy seed be
called. It has reference to every child
of God, out of every kindred tongue, tribe and nation that
God chose. in Christ before the foundation of the world. And
there's only one blood-bought church, beloved. There's only
one blood-bought church, only one body of believers. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is the head of that church. And that body
is from every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation, beloved.
It's glorious. It's absolutely glorious. But
we must be called by God himself, right? And we are. It says, in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. be called. My oh my. Let's look at this in Galatians
chapter 3. Starting in verse 1. Starting in verse 1. O foolish Galatians! Who hath
bewitched you? Who hath bewitched you? They
were being bewitched by false teachers telling them they have
to be circumcised in order to be saved along with the Lord
saving them. So basically they've The false teachers are teaching
them works-based salvation. O foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose
eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you.
Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing
of faith? Did you receive the Holy Spirit
by the works of the law? No, no man received the Holy
Spirit by the works of the law. All the law does is shut us up
to Christ. Shows us our sinfulness. Shows
us our sinfulness. Oh, my. Or by the hearing of
faith. Oh, God grants us faith to believe
and we hear the voice of the shepherd through the preaching
of the gospel, beloved. Are you so foolish, having begun
in the spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? So following the law according
to these Judaizers makes you... Can you become more holy before
God? No! The believer is sanctified
in Christ, aren't we? That means to be made holy. That
means to be set apart, beloved. Oh my! Do you see how Paul is
showing them the foolishness of what the Judaizers are teaching
them, according to the Word of God. Have ye suffered so many
things in vain, if it be yet in vain? He therefore that ministereth
to you in the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he
by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Know ye therefore, even as Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, all
Abraham did was believe God. God given faith, and he believed
God, just like us. He's no different than you and
I. He believed God, it's accounted to him for righteousness. Oh
my. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham, look at
that. the seed. Look at that verse right there.
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, that's God given
faith, the same are the children of Abraham. In the scripture
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, God
given faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying,
in thee all nations, look at that, In thee shall all nations
be blessed. Look at that. Preached before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be
blessed. My, oh my. So then they which
be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many
as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is
written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that
no man is justified, by the law in the sight of God, it is evident,
why? The just for the just shall live
by faith, not works, faith. Look into Christ, look into Him,
in Him alone. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ, look at
this, Christ hath redeemed us, remember Paul's writing to born-again
blood-washed believers, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed
is everyone that hangeth on the tree, that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after
the manner of man, though it be but a man's covenant, yet
if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or abideth thereunto. Now to
Abraham, and his seed where the promise is made, he saith not
unto the seeds as of many, but as of one, unto thy seed which
is Christ. This I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law which
was four hundred and thirty years after, after the promise that
was made to Abraham, cannot disannul that it should make the promise
of none effect. For if the inheritance be of
the law, it is no more a promise. It's no more a promise if it
comes by the law. But God gave it to Abraham by
promise. Wherefore then serveth the law?
It was added, because of transgression, till the seed should come, to
whom the promise was made. And it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator. Now, a mediator is not a mediator
of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid. For if there had
been a law given, which could have given life, verily, righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin. That's what the law does. The
law concludes that everyone's under sin, that all are guilty
before God. That's what the law does. That's
why it's so important as we looked at last week when Christ came
and he fulfilled the law in the place of his people. Because
we're all guilty before the law. That's what makes it so marvelous
of what Christ did for us. Because the scripture, the law
concluded that we were all under sin. That the promise by faith
of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe But before
faith came, we were kept under the law. Look at this. Shut up
unto faith, which should afterwards be revealed. Which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster.
Why? What? To bring us unto Christ. Look at that. To shut us up to
nowhere but Christ. Nowhere to go but Christ. that
we might be justified by faith. And that faith is in Christ,
isn't it? In Christ. And it's a gift from God. But
after faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
We're not under the law anymore. It's still there, though. As
I said last week, it's still in force for the unsaved. But for the believer, they're
not under the law anymore. Oh, that'd make you shout. For ye are all the children of
God, look at this, by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of
you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's
neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Isn't that wonderful? But look
at the next verse. And if ye be Christ, then ye
are Abraham's seed. Look at that. children of the
promise, beloved. Look at that. Spiritual Jews. That's wonderful, isn't it? And
heirs according to the promise. Oh, my goodness. Absolutely wonderful
what the scripture brings forth. Jesus Christ, our sovereign Lord,
is the one who is building his church, beloved. He's doing it.
It's his work. And God the Holy Spirit calls
us out of darkness into the marvelous light of Christ, beloved. And
God the Holy Spirit calls each one of God's promised children
now, each one that was promised to Him under the preaching of
the Gospel. And the Holy Spirit calls us
unto Christ with a personal inward and irresistible and efficacious
call. You cannot resist it. You cannot
resist it. It's an effectual calling. I
like what some of the old timers call it. It's an invincible calling. It's an invincible calling. And
every born again child of God will rejoice in the true gospel
of God's sovereign, amazing grace. You know why? Because it gives
them all the glory. That's why. That's why we rejoice
in it. Because it gives God all the
glory. all the glory look at those look at those verses again
in Galatians chapter 3 look at verses let's read verses 26 to
29 these are just marvelous for you are all the children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus for as many of you as have been baptized
into Christ have put on Christ there's neither Jew nor Greek
neither bond nor free male nor female for you're all one in
Christ Jesus look at that Now the Jew and the Greek, the Jews
would have nothing to do with the Gentiles and the Greeks.
They had nothing to do with them. They called them Gentile dogs.
But look at this in the body of Christ. There's no Jew nor
Greek. There's no bond nor free. There's no one who's in slavery. We're all the Lord's free men,
aren't we? We are. We've been set free by
our Lord. And now we're bond slaves to
Him, aren't we? He's our master. And we're willing
bond slaves, aren't we? We love our Savior. We love Him. And in that verse 29, and if
ye be Christ, if ye be Christ, if ye be Christ, then are ye
Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. If ye be Christ. My. Verse 28 again now. My. God's people, God's people. Actually, let's go over one chapter.
Look at this. Look at this in Chapter four of Galatians. Look
at verse 28. It says there in verse 29 of Chapter
three, and if you be Christ and your Abraham seed and heirs according
to the promise, look at verse 28 in Chapter four. Now we, brethren,
as Isaac was, are the children of promise." Oh my. Isn't that
wonderful? The children of promise. The
children of promise. God has fulfilled His promise
to Abraham, beloved. It was virtually impossible,
humanly speaking, for Sarah to have a son. But the Lord made it so. He had
promised Abraham a son. I ask you this, what did Isaac
contribute to his physical birth? Nothing. What did he contribute
to his spiritual birth? Nothing. What did we contribute
to our birth? Nothing. What did we contribute
to our spiritual birth? Nothing. It's all by the grace
of God, beloved. And here are three points on
this subject. If ye be Christ, if ye be Christ. We saw that
in verse 29 of Galatians chapter 3. If ye be Christ. Wonderful
words. If ye be Christ. Here are three
things to think upon. If ye be Christ, you are a promised
child for Christ's sake. You are a promised child of God
for Christ's sake. If ye be Christ, you are a purchased
child of God. You're a purchased child of God.
Christ purchased you at Calvary's Cross by shedding his own precious
blood, by being our substitute, just as we saw that lamb caught
in the thicket, right? Sacrificed in the place of Isaac.
That's what Christ did for us. You're a purchased child, beloved.
And if ye be Christ, you're a protected child. God's ever watching over you.
And Abraham was fully persuaded that what God said, God was able
to perform. I want that same faith to you.
Oh my. Just to rest and trust in our
great God. And we have that, don't we? We
have that. Paul, a servant of God and apostle
of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and
the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness, in
hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before
the world began. But hath in these due times manifested
his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according
to the commandment of God our Savior. Titus chapter 1, verses
1 to 3. If ye be Christ's beloved, again
you are a promised child of God. Do you believe that what God
has promised, He's also able to perform? If ye be Christ, you're a purchased
child, for Christ's sake. Again, God's people are a purchased
possession. We're not our own. We're not
our own. We're bought with a price, aren't
we? The precious, precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he purchased every single one of his promised children with
his blood. With his blood. The price had
to be paid. Why? Well, because we sinned
in Adam, didn't we? We fell in Adam. When he fell,
we fell. And we come into this world slaves
to Satan. Whether or not we think so, we
are. Slaves to sin and darkness. And
we had to be redeemed, beloved. We had to be purchased by the
precious blood of Christ. We had to be rescued from our
lost condition, didn't we? That's what Savior means. He's
a rescuer, beloved. He saves His people from their
sins. A ransom price had to be paid,
and the Lord Jesus Christ paid all the ransom in full for all
the elect of all the ages before our holy and righteous God. And
then he cried, right? It is finished. Done. The price is paid. The price is paid. Who did he
make that payment to? God the Father. The very one
we have sinned against. The sinless, spotless Lamb of
God. The unjust, or the just one dies
for the unjust. And when did he make that ransom
payment? 2,000 years ago at Calvary. And who did he make that payment
for? His promised children, the ones
we've been looking at tonight, the ones we've been looking at,
his promised children. And what did he use to ransom
his people? His own precious blood. If ye be Christ, you are a protected
child for Christ's sake. We are protected by God, the
Holy Spirit, way, way before we were born again. Way before we were delivered
from spiritual bondage. God's eyes have ever been upon
His sheep. Ever. Watching over us. God predestinated
His promised children unto the adoptions of sons. And He ordained
His promised children unto eternal life. And those He ordained unto
eternal life will believe. Will believe. Now here's a question. Here's
some questions for all of us. We can ponder this week. We can
ponder this week. We need to give honest answers.
and to think upon these questions. Do I believe I was a promise
to Jesus Christ by God the Father before this world was created?
Do I believe that? Do I believe Jesus Christ ransomed
me with his own precious blood when he suffered and bled and
died on that cruel cross 2,000 years ago? Do I believe what God has promised
he's able He's able also to perform. Do I believe God? Is my faith
based upon the strongest evidence that can possibly be given to
any hell-deserving sinner? The Word of God. Is it based
upon this Word? Does my faith look to the one
who's spoken of in this precious, precious Word, the Lord Jesus
Christ? Do I believe that God the Holy
Spirit has revealed Jesus Christ and His Gospel to me? And if God the Holy Spirit has
enlightened our minds, we cry out, we are as Isaac, the children
of promise. Praise His mighty name. Praise
His mighty name. If you can say yes to those questions,
then give God all the glory. and give Him all the honor and
give Him all the praise, because He alone is worthy to be praised. He alone, no one else, nothing
else. Praise His mighty name. And we,
Lord's people, say amen. Amen.