Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter
15. The name of the message as we
continue in our Christ series, Christ is series, is Christ is
our shield. Christ is our shield. Genesis
chapter 15, we'll read verses 1 to 6. After these things the word of
the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am
thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said,
Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and
the steward of my house is Eleazar of Damascus? And Abram said,
Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and, lo, one born in
my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him saying, This shall be thine heir. This shall not
be thine heir, sorry, but he that shall come forth out of
thine own bow shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth
abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and tell the stars that
thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall
it be. Or so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord and
he counted it. He counted it to him for righteousness. So
our text starts off in verse one after these things. Now this
is referring to the battle of the kings in the previous chapter,
and the captivity of Lot, the rescue of him and his goods,
and of those of Sodom and Gomorrah by Abraham, and by the conversation
that passed between him and the king of Sodom and Melchizedek.
And it says, after these things, the word of the Lord came unto
Abraham in a vision saying, fear not Abraham, I am, there's those
great words again, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.
Now he who appeared to Abraham was the Lord Jesus Christ, the
eternal word of God, the son of God. And God always reveals
himself and speaks to man through Christ Jesus, our Lord. He is
the mediator between God and man. Christ, the essential Word,
appeared to Abraham. And here before Abraham was the Lord,
the Word, the second person in the Blessed Trinity, the Locos,
God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And he often appeared in the
Old Testament in visions before his great appearance when he
was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we looked at one of those
appearances on Wednesday, a Christophany of the Lord Jesus Christ when
he appeared to Joshua. Now through our pilgrimage through
this world, we meet up with opposition from the world, the flesh, and
the devil. And we are often beset all around
by enemies, often. And when the Lord saves us, we
have trouble from places we never ever had trouble before. And
I see you all nodding your head because you know. We have trouble from places we
never had before. Be it family and friends, oftentimes. Sometimes they forsake us because
of our faith in Christ. And then we also face trials
and tribulations all through this life. And oftentimes we
lack strength in those times. Most of the time, we lack strength. We lack strength. So in times,
in those times, it's good for us to look to scriptures like
this one right here. In those times when things are
swirling around, when trouble seems to assail us from all sides, we look to the scripture and
we see the one who in our weakness is strong. And look at the words
that the Lord says to Abraham. After these things, the word
of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision saying, fear not,
fear not, what precious words from God himself. Fear not, Abraham calls him by
name, calls him by name. I am thy shield and thy exceeding
great reward. So what great comfort can be
gleaned here for the believer in Christ, the Lord himself,
the Lord himself. And we can look at this as believers
and go, he says that to me. The Lord himself. The king of glory. The King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords tells Abraham, fear not, Abraham, I
am thy shield and thy great, exceeding great reward. The Lord
God is made by God to be a shield for all true believers. Now let
that one sink in for us. He's a shield for all of us. For all of us who believe. The Lord God himself is our shield. Again, we looked on Wednesday
night how he's the captain of the Lord's host in Joshua 5,
and how he goes forth before us in battle. But let us marvel
at this precious truth, and let us add to that precious truth,
right? This precious truth. So the Lord goes forth before
us in battle. What a precious truth for us.
He fights our battles. And add to it this precious truth. The Lord Himself proclaims that
He is the believer's shield. And look, He also proclaims that
He's our reward. Bunch of folks in religion are
all worried about rewards, aren't they? I had a huge talk with
somebody over about rewards and how I said, Christ is my reward. And He's my exceeding reward.
That's what the scripture says, and this is what it says right
here, beloved. Right here. If we have Christ
and he's our exceeding reward, what else do we need? Nothing. Nothing, beloved. Oh my goodness,
everything, all spiritual blessings are in Christ and him alone. The Lord himself proclaims that
he is the believer's shield and reward. Fear not, Abraham, I
am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. Is it any wonder
then that Paul penned these words? If God before us, who can be
against us? If Christ is my shield and if
Christ is my reward, who can be against me? Isn't that wonderful? It's such comforting words for
us as believers. And he says, fear not, Abraham,
I am thy shield. I am thy shield. And notice the
word, thy. Notice that, fear not, Abraham,
I am thy shield. The little word, thy, it's personal. And each soul that trusts on
Christ can say, he's my shield. He's my shield. He's my reward. Because the Lord proclaims us
to Abraham. And so we who believe can say,
the Lord is my shield. The Lord is my exceeding great
reward. What a precious little word,
thy. Thy. Christ is to his people. in an omnipotent shield. He's an omnipotent shield. He's
a perpetual shield to his people. He's a shield, beloved, in all
circumstances that come before us. All of them, no matter what
comes. All the circumstances of life,
Christ is our shield, and he is the only shield for the believer. He's the only shield. He's the
only shield for the believer. Think of this. He says, Fear
not, right? He's the only shield for the
believer. Between God's wrath and justice. Fear not. Precious words. Precious words. He's the shield for the believer
against God's wrath and judgment against our sins. And so he says
to Abraham, fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield. Bring it home,
brothers and sisters. The Lord is our shield. He's
our shield. So what is the shield? A shield
is armor framed for defense. It's held by the hand and borne
on the arm of the combatant. And by rapid movement, it protects
those who are assailing the defender, blocking swords or axes or whatever
weapons being used against them. It protects those who are assailing
the defender, or it protects the defender from those who are
assailing them. Whatever the attack, it may be
the broad surface of the shield intervenes. And all behind that
shield is safe. And this is so in the fierce
battlefield of faith, beloved. We're in a war. Brother John
and I have talked about that before. We're in a battle, beloved.
We're in a battle. And Jesus is a widespread covering. He's a widespread covering. Therefore,
as the foal hurls darts, they are harmless as straw for the
believer because the Lord Himself is our shield. The Lord Himself
is our shield. And it is He who we are protected
behind. We go forth without a shield,
we're in a heap of trouble. Oh my, but He's our shield, beloved.
He's our shield. And here before us, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Word, the Second, the Son of God, the Logos, God,
the Word who was with God and was God, promises Abraham and
we who are in him, right? Because he's the head and we're
the body, that he would be a shield, a defense, a protection, that
he will preserve us. He will protect us from all who
assail us. from all that comes our way,
all that might trouble us. Our enemies are strong and numerous,
but, oh, beloved, our great God and King is far stronger. And He is our shield and defense,
and He is greater than all. He is greater than all. And,
brothers and sisters in Christ, He is our shield. He is our shield. Deuteronomy 33, verses 28 and
29, the scriptures declare this. Israel then shall dwell in safety
alone. The fountain of Jacob shall be
upon a land of corn and wine. Also as heaven shall drop down
a dew. Happy art thou, O Israel, who
is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord. Who are we? We are people saved by the Lord,
right? We know we couldn't save ourselves. But the Lord saved
us, we who believe, we who profess Christ, the Lord saved us. I
like that. Happy art thou, O Israel, who
is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy
help. Deuteronomy 33, 29, the Lord is the shield of our help.
And who is the sword of thy excellency, and thine enemies shall be found
liars unto thee, and thou shalt tread upon their high places. This fills the believer with
joy. God himself promises to be his people's shield, their
defense, the one behind whom faith shelters and trusts, beloved
of God, and in what comfort we can glean here. Now, how is Christ
a shield to his people? Let's go back to our text again.
After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham
in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield. How
is the Lord a shield to his people? Think on this, beloved. Christ
is a shield to his people from the justice of God, the justice
of God. Justice must be satisfied. And Jesus stands between the
justly offended majesty of God because God, God's justice has
been offended. And we are the ones, we are the
ones who, who broke his law and offended his justice. And Jesus stands before a justly
offended majesty of God and a justly perishing offender, right? We deserve. We deserve hell. But He stands between the majesty
of God, the justice of God, which is being offended, and perishing
sinners, His people. And He satisfies His own law.
And He satisfies His own justice in the place of all that the
Father gave Him. My! God's justice fell upon Christ
at Calvary for us. Do you see how He's a shield?
That was for us. I deserve that. God's truth and God's holiness
require that it must be so. Justice must be satisfied either
in the Savior or in the sinner. Praise God. His people say, praise
God. He died in my place. And think
of this terrible as the outpouring of indignation which beats terribly
against Him. It pleased the Father to bruise
Him. It pleased the Father to bruise
Him. But beloved, he bears it all, the sinless sacrifice. And
God's justice falls against his fellow, that Jehovah wakes his
sword as Christ dies the substitute for our sins, the sinless one
dying for sinners, the just for the unjust. All the fury of God's
justice and all the fury of God's law fell upon Christ in our place. All of it. My. It's spent upon our wonderful,
merciful Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnate
in the flesh, the one who is co-equal with the Father and
co-equal with God, the Holy Spirit, dies in our place. What a shield, taking the wrath
that we deserve. satisfying the law that we broke. And we are redeemed by the shedding
of His precious blood. Do you see, beloved of God, through
the eye of faith, how Christ was your shield at Calvary? Rejoice. Rejoice, you who are
redeemed, because Christ is our shield. And let we who believe rejoice
over this wonderful truth, being justified by faith we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace through Christ, who is
our Redeemer and our shield, our Savior and our King. And
again, let us remember that we are engaged in a warfare. Every
believer is an enlisted soldier. And we all need a shield, a buckler,
a sword for offense. Oh, but we need a shield for
defense. And the Word of God is our sword. It's our sword. And Christ alone
is our shield. He's our shield. Our enemies
are mighty and many, aren't they? And as I said earlier, we have
enemies coming out where we never even knew we had them before. And we battle the world, we battle
the flesh, and we battle the devil. But Lord Jesus Christ
is our shield. He's our shield. He's a tribe. Think of this too. He's a tried
and a tested and lasting shield. Other shields are subject to
be worn out in the process of time. They wear out. They either get damaged in battle,
and a new one has to be made. But our shield, beloved, He's
a tried and tested shield. He's a tried and tested shield. Many have found safety behind
him. A number that no man can number. Oh, what a tried and tested shield. And he is a shield that is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. I am by. Think of this to. Turn, if you
would, the Psalm chapter five and then put your finger in Job
chapter one. Think of this. A shield that
they would use, the Romans would use another was just a shield,
right, that. Protected the front, right? But
our Lord, He's an all-encompassing shield. He's an all-encompassing shield. Look at Psalm 5 verse 12. For
thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous with favor, wilt thou compassion
as with a shield. He's an all-encompassing shield. And then turn, if you would,
to Job chapter 1. Job chapter 1. The Lord is an all-encompassing
shield. Now the devil comes before God
and says this of Job to God in verse 10. Has thou not made an
hedge about him and about his house and about all that he hath
on every side? He's hedged up. He's shielded. He's protected. He's shielded by an all-encompassing
shield. Thou has blessed the work of
his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. Now, if there was one open place
that Satan might have came in, it wouldn't say he was hedged
all about. He is a hedge about him. And Satan can't do anything until
God allows. Our God is absolutely sovereign,
beloved. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in
thy power. Now look who has the power here.
Look who has the authority, okay? You listen to folks in religion,
and it sounds like Satan has more power than God. No, he doesn't,
not at all. Our Lord is all-powerful, beloved,
all-powerful. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power. Only upon himself
put not forth thine hand. He couldn't touch Job. He could
touch a substance, couldn't touch Job. So Satan
went forth from the presence of the Lord. I remember hearing
one grace preacher a long time ago say, he's God's devil. He
does whatever God bids. God is absolutely sovereign.
We have to remember that. Because you hear people, you
hear stuff, people throw stuff out there that's just not even
true. So here we see the Lord, and
think of this, in that passage in verse 12 there, we see the
Lord has restrained Satan. He's restrained him. He could do nothing without God
allowing. So God limits and bounds. Think of this too. Now think
of this. Let's bring it. Let's bring it right home for you and
I. God limits and bounds the present afflictions that we go
through. He watches over us. He limits
and bounds the present afflictions of his servants. And to his family
in the state, here he's reserved his health. But the Lord may
put him through another trial and tribulation. But remember,
it's the Lord always, who's always in control. Let us always remember
that. It'll bring us great joy through trials and through tribulations
that we go through, knowing that our God is an ever-present God,
that he watches over us in and out of our afflictions. He's
an ever-present help. Christ is also an impenetrable
shield. You can't penetrate Him. He's a shield which cannot be
pierced through. Shields of old were sometimes weak, and a sword
or a spear could go through them, could be worn down or pierced.
But Christ, who is the shield of His people, shall never be
pierced. He's ever before us, beloved. And here's a shield. Think of this. I love this. I
look this up in this way. Here's a shield that that nothing
can prevail against. Think of that when we're going
through things. Here's a shield that nothing when people are
afflicting us and people are saying stuff. Here's a shield,
beloved, that nothing can prevail against. Nothing can enter, nothing
can pierce and ask yourself this. Here's a good question. Is it? Is there anything or is it possible
to prevail by power against the one who has all omnipotence? Can you prevail against omnipotence?
Can I? No. That's who our shield is. That's who our shield is. What
comfort that brings us. What comfort that brings us.
He is our mighty shield. He has all power, beloved, all
power. He's almighty. He's far above
any other shield. He's supreme, preeminent, invincible,
unconquerable. And He is the shield of His people. Ephesians says this, taking the
shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked. Well, who's our faith in? Christ. Amen. Who's the object of our
faith? Christ. Christ in Him alone. He's our shield. Listen to what
Proverbs says here. Proverbs 30, verse 5. I love
this verse. Listen to this. Every word of
God is pure. Every word of God is pure. Proverbs
30, verse 5. Every word of God is pure. And
look what this look what this verse says. Tie it in with our
verse in Genesis. Look at this. Every word of God
is pure. He is a shield unto them that
put their trust in him. He's our shield. God, the believer
can say. God is my shield. He's my shield. He's an all-sufficient shield
to every believer. And think of this, at all times,
no matter what circumstance you're going through, He's an all-sufficient
shield against all enemies, bodily, spiritual, in all perils, in
all dangers, inward and outward. He being God, He being God, and
He being all-sufficient in Himself, right, is therefore an all-sufficient
shield to His people. Oh, what comfort that brings
us. Number three, how can Christ being our shield, how can this
bring comfort? Well, we've already looked at
that. We've already answered that, right? But we'll look a little
bit more. So let us ponder and think about Christ being our
shield. We know that we are unworthy.
We know that. We know we don't merit this.
We know that. We know that. God has taught us that. But we
who believe should not dwell there, right? We should ponder
and consider, who saved us? Who saved us? We rejoice that God has revealed
to us that salvation is in Christ and Him alone, and that we have
no merit and no ability. But oh, what a Savior we have.
And consider our text, you who are beloved of God. And I believe
it can bring us great joy, I really do, through trials and different
things, to ponder the truth, said here. After these things,
the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.
So God himself, again, tells Abraham, I am thy shield. What
comfort that brings God's people. And we touched on that earlier
in the message, but think of this, where it says Lord there,
right? The Lord. That is the self-existent one
in the Hebrew. That is the eternal one. So God,
who is the self-existent one, God who is the eternal one, God
who is God over all, the one true God, says to Abraham and
says to his people, I am thy shield. My, that would make us
shout almost. Jehovah himself, what precious
truth and what comfort this brings the Lord's people. That Jesus
Christ himself is our shield to protect us and to defend us
no matter what we go through. And we just, we as God's people
are in awe. We just delight in this precious
truth. The Lord Jesus Christ, and remember
this, is his church's shield. And who is the church? It's not
the building. It's the ecclesia. It's the called out assembly.
It's the elect of God. It's the sheep of God. It's the
ones that were given to Christ in eternity. It's the ones who
he laid down his life down for on Calvary's cross. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
his church's shield. He is a shield to the universal
church, right? Visible and invisible. We who
are here on earth and those in heaven, he's a shield. He's been
a shield to all his people and he ever will be a shield to his
people. to protect and defend it from all enemies, within and
without, open and secret. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 16, and then put your finger in Isaiah chapter 4. Now all through the ages, all
through the ages, Christ has been a shield, and shall be a
shield to His church. And although all the power of
hell attack her, He is the shield of His people. Look at Matthew
16, 18. And I say unto thee, Thou art
Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. Why shall not the gates of
hell prevail against it? Because Christ is our shield. He's our shield. And then turn,
if you would, to Isaiah 4, verses 5 and 6. Now Moses' tabernacle
was secured from wind and weather with a covering of ram skins
and badger skin. Beloved, so Christ is the covering. all his church, of all his church. And the Lord will create, Isaiah
4 verses 5 and 6, and the Lord will create upon every dwelling
place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke
by day, and the shining of the flaming fire by night, for upon
all the glory shall be a defense, and there shall be a tabernacle
for a shadow in the daytime. and the heat for a place of refuge
and for a covert from the storm, from the rain. Turn one more
place and we're closed. Psalm 125. So the one who is
the church's shield is Jehovah himself, the self-existent one,
the eternal God, Lord over all. And we who are his people are
his flock and as a shepherd, He preserves and protects us,
shielding us from all threats and dangers. He'll be a wall
of fire around about His people, a shield ever protecting. No
matter what enemy comes against Him, no enemy will prevail against
His church. Look at Psalm 125, verses 1 to
5. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round
about his people from henceforth even forever. For the rod of
the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest
the righteous put forth their hands into iniquity. Do good,
O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright
in their hearts. As for such is turned aside unto their crooked
ways. The Lord shall lead them forth
with the workers of iniquity, but peace shall be upon. Peace shall be upon Israel, but
note in verse two. So the Lord is round about his
people from henceforth even forever. He's a shield. He told our beloved brother Paul.
My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. If Christ is your shield, rejoice.
No one can protect you as he protects his people. He will
ever care for us, he will ever protect us from all our enemies,
from all our dangers. And we have hope in one who is
our shield and our exceeding reward, and he is God himself. God himself, Emmanuel. God with
us, Heavenly Father, we come before thy throne. Grateful and
thankful for the scriptures that we looked at today. Oh Lord Jesus,
how you are the shield of your people, the protector of your
people. May we marvel in this wonderful truth and may it be
bought to remembrance through the week or through the months
or through the years if you allow us to have that you are our shield,
that you are our protector. We love thee and praise thee
in Jesus' name. Amen.