Alright, brethren, let's turn
back there to Isaiah chapter 41. Go ahead and mark Galatians
chapter 3 as well. The Apostle Paul, speaking by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said in Acts 17.31 that God has
appointed a day. in the which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man which he hath ordained, whereof
he has given all assurance in that he has raised him from the
dead." That man is Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God. He
is the righteousness of all who are called of God. He is the
righteous servant of God. Every person who comes before
God in judgment, without exception, everybody who comes before God
in judgment will either stand perfect through faith in Christ
Jesus, confessing that by the Spirit of God, the Lord alone
has saved them. Or, men will stand before God,
perhaps confessing that everything they've done, they've done in
the name of the Lord, yet they will stand trusting in something
they have done. There's no middle ground. You're
either going to stand with all your hope, all your trust in
the Lord who is salvation and who saves His people, or you
will stand trusting that it's something you've done that has
saved you. Would you like to know before
that day comes where you stand? Would you like to be assured
before that day comes that the God whom you believe whom you
profess to believe is the true and living God of these Scriptures?
Would you like to know that? Would you like to know that you
stand in Christ Jesus, perfectly righteous before God? Well, here's
the question. Here's the question. Verse 4.
Isaiah 41, 4. Who hath wrought and done it? calling the generations from
the beginning. Who is your salvation? This is the answer. Who it is
that saves? I the Lord, the first and with
the last, I am He. This is the line whereby you
can bring everything. This is the bar of judgment whereby
you can bring everything and submit it right here. Who's done
it? Who do you trust in? Who is it
that is your salvation, that is your righteousness, that is
your sanctification, that is your wisdom, that is your redemption?
Who is it? Who's done it? Who's worked it? Who's done it? The backdrop here
for our text is the Lord's people are in Babylon. That's where every believer is
right now as we are in this world. We're surrounded by Babylon.
Completely surrounded by Babylon. But having declared in Isaiah
40 that the Lord's, that the warfare of His people is accomplished,
that the Lord has pardoned their iniquity, that He's rewarded
them double for all their sins. Having declared that all this
came about by the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. having
put an end to that question altogether and settled it and declared without
reservation that all those that wait upon the Lord, that truly
believe the Lord, renew strength. They've exchanged everything
that they once called strength for that One who is truly the
power and wisdom of God, Christ Jesus. And we're renewed by Him
who is our strength. Now, he comes to verse 1 of chapter
41 and he says, keep silence before me, O islands. The judge
has slammed the gavel down. You ever seen a courtroom? The
court will be filled up with people. The islands represents
the whole world. Here we are, the whole world.
just like in a courtroom. And the judge slams the gavel
down in that courtroom, and when he slams that gavel down, when
he lets you know that court is in session, it's time now for
everybody to get silent. It's time now for everybody to
be quiet. Court's now in session. And he
says here, verse 1, let the people renew their strength. And then
let them speak. Let us come near together to
judgment. In that last verse there of chapter
40, the Lord said that those that believe the Lord shall renew
their strength. Here he says, now, let the people,
let all those who imagine they have strength in themselves,
let the people muster up all the strength they have, let them
get all their case together. And he says, now, you may approach
the bench. Come near. What is it that you've done that
makes you righteous? What is it you've done that makes
you perfect to be accepted of holy God? Now if your first thought
is my faith, if your first thought is my will,
if your first thought is my righteousness, If your first thought is my holiness,
here's what God says to you. Verse 21. Produce your cause,
saith the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons,
saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and
show us what shall happen. Let them show the former things
what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end
of them. Or declare us things for to come. Show the things
that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods.
Yea, do good or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold
it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and
your work of naught. An abomination is he that chooseth
you. Now, here's my text. It's verse 2. Verse 3 primarily. Here's what
I want you to see. I want you to see salvation is
of the Lord. And I want you to see it in two
points. I want you to see it in what
God did with Abraham. And I want you to see it in the
righteousness of Christ. The righteousness of Christ.
Let me show you something in Galatians 3 before we go any
further. Turn over to Galatians 3. And
this will give you something to have in the back of your mind
as we look at these two divisions. I said we're going to see that
salvation is of the Lord first of all in the calling out of
Abraham, what God did for Abraham. Secondly, we're going to see
it in the righteousness of Christ. Look here in Galatians 3. And
look here in verse 16. Now to Abraham, that's going
to be our first division. And to his seed, that's going
to be our second division. Now to Abraham and to his seed
were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ. We're going to look at this not
in order of eternity. We're going to look at it in
order of time. In other words, we're going to look at Abraham
first, and then we're going to look at Christ who was before
Abraham. Verse 8 tells us that this verse
speaks of Abraham. He's the example of how God saves
every individual sinner who shall be saved. Now look at the text.
Verse 2. Who raised up the righteous man from the east? called him
to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule
over kings. He gave them as the dust to his
sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them and
passed safely, even by the way that he had not gone with his
feet." Now let's consider Abraham. Verse 2 says, Who raised up Who
raised up the righteous man? Who raised him up? Abraham was
raised up. Abraham was down. Abraham was not of himself righteous. Abraham was in a pit. left to himself was spiritually
dead. Abraham left to himself was enmity
against God. He was in the pit of corruption
which all men are in naturally. God says, who raised him up? Who raised him up? Verse 2, he says, who called
him from the east? Do you remember where Adam was
cast out of the garden? He was cast out east of Eden. That's very appropriate for Abraham
to be called from the east, isn't it? You know what was the land
wherein Abraham was? It was the land of Ur. It was
the land of idolatry. Abraham, without even hearing
of the true and living God, being taught of his father, His father
teaching him according to his imagination. This is how I think
God is, Abraham. Abraham worshipped the idols
of his father. And it says, who raised him up?
Who called him from the east? Verse 2 says, who called him
to his foot? Who called Abraham to his foot? It was the Lord who called Abraham. It was the Lord who raised him
up. It was the Lord who called him from the east. And the Lord
called Abraham to his foot. And when God calls somebody,
He always invincibly calls them. And He calls them to His foot. They come made willing by His
power. They come willing to hear what
God says. They come willing by God's power,
by Him, by His call. They come willing to His foot. Verse 2, it says, The Lord gave Abraham the nations
of the world. Who did this? It says, Who raised
up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot,
gave the nations before him. You know what the Lord did when
He called him? Let's look over there. Genesis
17 verse 4. Genesis 17 verse 4. Verse 3 says, Abraham 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. Neither shall thy name any more
be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father
of many nations have I made thee. Look over at Romans chapter 4.
Romans chapter 4. Abraham is a pattern of how God
saves every sinner that's saved. We can see how this one who's
called the father of the faithful was saved. We'll see how God
saves every sinner He calls. Now watch this. Romans 4 verse
11. Let's read verse 10. How was
it then reckoned when he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision,
a token, a sign. It was a picture of something.
A seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had being
yet uncircumcised. that he might be the father of
all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that
righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father
of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only,
but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,
which he had yet been uncircumcised. You see, there wasn't anything
yet such as a Jew. No such thing as that yet. That's
what's meant here by when the Lord speaks of those, the circumcision
or the uncircumcision. Abraham knew nothing of such
thing as a Jew or a Gentile. God hadn't made that distinction
yet. It didn't exist. Now watch. For the promise that
he should be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his
seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For
if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void,
the promise made of none effect. You see, if righteousness comes
by something you do, salvation's not of faith. If righteousness
comes by something you do, salvation's not by God's promise. It's by
you. It's by you or me. That can't
be. And God receive all the glory,
because the law worketh wrath. For where no law is, there's
no transgression. That's why the law was added.
Therefore, it's a faith that it might be by grace. That it
might be all from beginning to end of God's grace. Free, unmerited,
worked and done, performed by God. All together. All together. To the end, the
promise might be sure to all the seed, to all the true children
whom God shall call. If it wasn't by grace, if it
was of the law, it wouldn't be sure. But because it's not of
us, because it is of God's grace, this promise is sure to all those
God is purposed to save, not only to that which is of the
law, in other words, not only to those who are Jews, natural
Jews, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who
is the father of us all. Now, that token, that circumcision,
that was a sign, that was a seal of what God already done in Abraham's
heart. He was in the land of idolatry,
would have stayed there. He was in a pit of corruption,
would have stayed there. God called him. God called him
in power and in spirit. He's a Jew, not one which is
one outwardly. Circumcision is not that outward
in the flesh. It's not that which is an outward
keeping of the law. That's not what makes you a child
of God. A child of God is made of the
Spirit, in Spirit, whose praise is of God and not of man. Now,
I want you to see here, back in our text, Isaiah 41. Because he called him, because
God did this, having begun in the Spirit, Abraham continued
in the Spirit. He continued in the Spirit of
God. By the Spirit of God, he continued
through faith. God led Abraham in spirit all
his days. And look at what verse 2 says.
He led him through the gospel. And this is what he did. He made
him rule over kings. He gave them as the dust to his
sword and as driven stubble to his bow. Abraham was more than a conqueror
in Christ. God led him. He literally conquered
earthly kings, Abraham did. He pursued them and passed safely,
even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. Who led him? God led him. How did he lead him? Through
this gospel. Through the same gospel. Now
this is how God saved Abraham. This is how God saves his elect
today. This is how he led Abraham. This
is how he leads his people today. Now, God calls for an honest
answer here in verse 4. Who hath wrought and done it?
Calling the generations from the beginning. Who did everything
that we just witnessed that was done to Abraham? Who did it all? I the Lord, the first and with
the last, I am He. The Lord did it all. Now turn
over to Galatians 3. Hold your place here in Isaiah
41. We'll come back. Let's go to Galatians chapter
3. Now, every true child of God
is saved just like Abraham was saved. everyone without exception. They're all saved like Abraham
was saved. This is how they're called and
this is how they continue. Circumcised in the heart by the
Spirit, kept by God, led of God, made the righteousness of God
through faith in Christ and all the praise and all the glory
is not to man but it is to God. It is to God. Now, we may claim
that salvation is by faith. You listen carefully to me. We
need to get this settled. We may claim salvation is by
faith. But if what we mean by faith
is that I believed of myself, if what I mean by faith is that
I'm the one who made the difference by my faith, That's not the faith
that God gives. That's not the faith Abraham
had. That is a boasting of the flesh. It's the deceitful lie
that man can somehow muster up strength of himself. That man
can somehow, from strength within, by himself, by his own will,
come to God and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That just
is not so. That is not so. Faith is the
gift of God. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that out of yourselves is
the gift of God. For His workmanship created unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Whatever God's ordained before, that's where we're going
to walk. Now you're either walking in
one of two places. You're walking in the Spirit,
in Christ Jesus, or you're walking in the flesh. You're either minding
the things of God, or minding the things of the flesh. It's impossible for a man to
understand this, for a sinner to understand this, that you
can be as pious as the Pharisees were, outwardly speaking, appear,
seemingly as they did, to be minding the things of God, as
they appeared to be. but all the while be minding
the things of the flesh. How is that so? How can that
be possible? Because it is beginning by your faith. You begin that
way. If you think you begin by your will, and you think you
began by something you did, you make your boast of something
you did, you know where you're going to continue? You're going
to continue it right there in the flesh. And we'll never, ever
be satisfied. Never. We never will. We'll jump from one place to
another. We'll jump from one preacher
to another, we'll jump from this clique to that clique, this group
of folks to that group of folks, this religious organization to
that religious organization, this denomination to that denomination,
and we will constantly find something wrong with everyone we come in
contact with. Why? We have not begun in the
Spirit, we have not begun by God's grace, we have not found
rest in Christ Jesus the Lord alone. We started in the flesh,
we've continued in the flesh, and we won't be satisfied at
all. Contentment is when God gives
us faith in Christ and He draws us to His foot and He makes us
to behold Christ Jesus the Lord in whom we are complete. Now
here's one offering. Then we cease being critical
with others because we see what we really are. We see that we're
a worm. We see that we had no power to
do anything of ourselves and it's by God's grace that he's
called us and saved us and not we ourselves. We'll cease speaking
out of one side of our mouth and saying Christ came and he
redeemed everyone the Father gave him before the foundation
of the world and he accomplished their eternal redemption by the
sacrifice of himself and then at the same time saying But now
those who believe that Jesus who came and died for everybody,
but didn't really accomplish their salvation, who died for
folks who were already in hell and who yet shall perish in hell
because they don't exercise their free will, they're our brethren. That's talking out of two sides
of the mouth. If truth doesn't matter, today
when we walk out of here, I'm going to pick out the nicest,
newest car in the parking lot. That's the one I'm going to go
home in. I bet you truth will matter. How much you want to
bet? I bet you when it comes to our
own personal possession, truth will matter. Well, guess what?
By God's grace, I am Christ and He is mine and it matters to
me. It matters to me. The glory of
my God matters to me. It matters to me. All right, I want you to see
something. Those that begin, who think they begin by their
will, they're going to begin in the flesh and they're going
to continue in the flesh. They're going to continue to think by
some imaginary obedience to the law that they perform, that they're
righteous. They're going to continue right where they started. Those
who are the true sons of God, who begin by the Holy Spirit,
by faith in Christ, they're going to continue in Christ. They're
going to continue looking to Christ. They're going to be led
of the Spirit. And you're going to find the people who are as
righteous as Abraham was in all that he did. Abraham taught his
children this truth. Abraham taught his children this
truth. And they're going to teach their
children. And Abraham followed after God. He honored God in
everything he did in this life. Now, I want you to look, Galatians
3.3. We're going to read quite a bit of this, and then we'll
come back to our second point. Galatians 3.3. Paul says here,
he was speaking to Galatians who had professed to believe
Christ, and then some folks came along and said, It's okay to
believe Christ, but now, except you keep the Law, except you
be circumcised, you can't enter into the Kingdom of God. They
took them, they were trying to take them from Mount Zion, from
Christ in whom they were complete. And they were turning them back
to the Law of Moses and saying, but now, there's still something
you got to do. Now listen to this. Are you so
foolish having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain, Paul said, if
it be yet in vain? He therefore, now watch this
first, he therefore that ministereth to you the spirit and worketh
miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or
by the hearing of faith? In that early, in the early church,
because the Lord was still establishing his word, because he was still
had, was working, supporting his truth through miracles that
he was doing through his apostles. The Apostle Paul asked this,
he that ministereth unto you the spirit, these miracles, these
extraordinary miracles of the spirit, are they done through
the works of the law or by the preaching of the gospel, by the
hearing of faith? Those works, those extraordinary works of
the Spirit, those work just as much, they're miracles, they're
just as much, they're pictures of the miracle that grace performs
in the heart whereby He causes somebody, a believer, to follow
after Him, to trust Him. And Paul asks, now when you began,
And you heard and this miracle of grace was wrought in your
heart. And he says, and then these other miracles that were
done by he that ministers to you through the God. Does he
do this through the preaching of the law? Or through the preaching
of Christ? Look at the text now. Verse 6. Even as Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore
that they which are of faith the same are the children of
Abraham. Paul says the same way that this work of miracle was
performed in Abraham, that's how it's been performed in those
who are begun in the Spirit. And that's how it's continued
in them that are born of the Spirit. We don't start out at
Mount Zion. We don't start out at Christ
and then go back to Moses. We stay with Christ. We see that
He has perfected forever them that are sanctified by His one
offering. There stands many today denying Christ has come in the
flesh, that He's God in human flesh. The Pharisees said, you
being a man, make yourself to be God. Not only that, but they
continued offering sacrifices after sacrifices And you know
what they confessed by that? That Christ hadn't come in the
flesh and hadn't fulfilled the law and hadn't put an end to
the law for righteousness to everyone that believed. That
by His work He had not perfected His people and sanctifies His
people through the Spirit of God. And Paul says here, even
as Abraham believed God, what did he say in our day? Who hath
wrought it? Who hath done it? Who called the generations from
the beginning? the Lord has. Look at verse 8. Galatians 3.8. Watch this now. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith. His elect among
all the nations outside of that nation of Israel. Seeing He would
justify them through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham. Did He preach the works of the
law to Abraham, or the hearing of faith to Abraham. He preached
the hearing of faith to Abraham. He preached the gospel unto Abraham,
saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed, all men without exception. No, in thee shall I save and
elect whom I have chosen by grace out of all the nations. So then
they which be of faith who have begun in the Spirit, who continue
in the Spirit, whose salvation is Christ only. They're blessed
with faithful Abraham. Who wrote this? Who did it? Who
called the generations from the beginning? The Lord says, I'm
the Lord, the first and with the last. If He saved the first
one this way, it's I who's going to save the last one. Now let me ask you, are you of
God? Am I of God? Are we of the works of the law
or are we of this grace of God? Verse 10, 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 is evident. For the just shall
live how? They live by faith. And the law's
not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them.
All right, let me ask you a question. What about the law of Moses?
What about the law of Moses? Well, down the page, verse 19. Wherefore then serveth the law?
It was added because of transgressions. To the seed should come to whom
the promise was made. We're fixing to see who that
seed is, but now consider this. Before God gave his law to Moses,
get with me now, think of this, think of this. Before God gave
his law through Moses, formed that nation Israel, before he
ever did that, before he ever did that, there was one law given
in the garden. Adam, in the day you eat thereof,
you shall die. The scripture says, by one transgression,
sin entered in. By the disobedience of one, many
were made sinners. All that Adam represented were
all made sinners by that one transgression. There was just
one law. And by that one transgression,
everyone Adam represented became a sinner. Now, the law of Moses
was given to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin that was committed
in Adam. It was given to shut every mouth
and declare everybody guilty before God. Alright, now you
consider this, Abraham lived after that law in the garden
was given. But Abraham lived 430 years before
that law of Moses was given. Yet Abraham was saved though
he had transgressed in Adam in that one law that was broken
in the garden. He was saved even though he broke
that law. And yet, he was saved without
the law of Moses. The Lord says Abraham was the
friend of God. And yet, according to most, Abraham
didn't have the believer's rule of life. He did. To just live how? By faith. By faith. That's how they live. That's how they walk. That's
how they know who to follow. That's how they know wherein
is righteousness. By faith. By God-given faith. How was it Abraham was saved? God said, who wrought it? Who's
done it? Who's called the generations
from the beginning? I the Lord, the first and with
the last I am He. He was called of God out of that
pit, out of that land of idolatry. Abraham was called of God. He
was given faith to trust God. that all the promises that God
had told him, all the promises God had made with him, that everlasting
covenant God had made with him in his heart, that required nothing
of Abraham, it was all done of God and made with Abraham. Every
one of those promises were assured to Abraham in Christ Jesus. Abraham saw Christ. What do you
see by faith? You see salvation. You see the Lord who is salvation. You see the Lord who is righteousness.
You behold who it is that saves, who it is that calls you, who
it is that's leading, who it is that's directing, who it is
that shall save. His sin was covered. He saw that. He saw He was made the righteousness
of God in Christ His charity. He believed God. Now then, let's
bring this to me and you. You live after that law in the
garden was broken. And we live after that law of
Moses was given. But if that law broken in the
garden and that law given of Moses through Moses had no bearing
whatsoever on how Abraham was saved, does it have any bearing
on how you're going to be saved? If you and I who live after the
law of Moses was given, how shall we be saved? We'll be saved the
same way Abraham was saved. Look at verse 13. 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 a tree. that, look at verse 14, that
the blessing of Abraham, the same salvation that was given
to Abraham, the same blessing that God gave to Abraham might
come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
The promise of the Spirit through faith. Now he gives an illustration. Look at verse 15. Brethren, I
speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant. A man makes a promise to another
man. Just me and you, we make a promise.
I make a promise to you. It's confirmed. Confirm it with an oath. I promise
you. No man disannulls it. No man
adds to it. No man's going to change it if
it's just a man's promise. Now this promise of God was made
to Abraham And it was sure in Christ who was Abraham's surety. That means Christ... All these
promises were yes and amen. They were ordered and sure. They
were final. It could not not be done. Everything God promised
to Abraham. Because Christ was the one in
whom it would all be fulfilled. Everything was sure to him. Without
Abraham doing anything. This is what Abraham believed.
It wasn't altered when the law of Moses was given and broken. It wasn't altered a bit. Because
the promise was made of the Father to Christ before the law of Adam
was given and broken. What are you saying? Look at
verse 16. Now to Abraham, and his seed
were the promises made. He saith not into seeds as of
many, but as of one into thy seed, which is Christ. And this
I say, that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in
Christ, the law, which was 430 years after, cannot disannul,
that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance
be of the law, it is no more of promise. But God gave it to
Abraham by promise. That which is said of Abraham
in our text, everything that is said of him was sure and certain
because what was said of Abraham is prophetic. God showing in
Abraham, this one who is the father of many nations, He is
showing what he already had had settled before he ever gave that
law in the garden to Adam. He had already settled it in
Christ before he ever gave the law to Adam. So that when Adam
sinned against God, and by that one transgression, sin entered
in, It didn't change what God had already settled and made
sure in Christ's surety before the world ever began. All right. Go back to the text.
Go back to the text. Let me show you this, what I'm
saying to you. We saw He made this promise to
Abraham and to his seed. Now, in our judgment of time,
Abraham came first. That's how we see it. But it's
said there in Galatians 3.15, and to his seed which is Christ.
He made God the Father made this same promise to Christ. And so
here's the second thing. We see that this salvation is
of the Lord in the righteousness of Christ. Read verse 2 again. Who raised up the righteous man
from the east? Christ is the righteous man.
He's the righteousness. The Lord our righteousness, whom
God raised up as the surety of His people before He ever even
made the world. And in time, He raised Him up
from Bethlehem in the east, in the earth. And He came through
that lineage of Abraham. That's how He came. It says,
Who called Him to His foot? God called Christ to be His servant. And He made Himself of no reputation
and came to where His people are and served for His people,
for His bride, and obeyed God and brought in righteousness
for them. God the Father everlastingly promised to give Christ power
over all the nations. That's what He promised Abraham.
That's what He's promised everyone that believes Him. Why? He gave the nations to Christ. He made Him ruler over all the
kings of the earth. The Lord God did. He promised
Him that before He ever created anything. And Christ came and
fulfilled everything He entered into covenant to accomplish for
His people, to glorify God. And God the Father gave Him all
power in heaven and earth. Everything's His. Remember how Abraham ruled over
those kings and delivered Lot? Christ has ruled over all His
enemies, all the kings of the earth, and He's delivered His
house. He's delivered all the children that the Father gave
to Him. Look at verse 3. He pursued them
and passed safely, even by the way that He had not gone with
His feet. What did Galatians 3.13 say?
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. He didn't go there with His feet.
He didn't walk in unrighteousness. He did always that which pleased
the Father. He perfected obedience. But that obedience required He
justify His people from that broken law, that one broken law
in the garden. And He willingly submitted Himself
to the Father. And He hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He didn't go there with His feet.
in His own sin, but willingly He made the sin of His people.
And He laid down His life and He died and He justified us.
So that Christ truly is. This is what Abraham saw. All
Abraham had was that one law in the garden. He didn't have
all the law of Moses that you and I see and that men make so
much ado about in our day. He had that one law in the garden
that was broken. And God made him to see the transgression
that he is, that Abraham was himself. But He made him to behold. I've called you. I've made you
righteous. I've justified you. So that Abraham
followed the Lord, led of the Spirit, and walked by faith because
he was justified by his God, saved by his God, and that's
who he followed. And he says here, he gave them as the dust to his
sword and as driven stubble to his bow. This one who's risen,
Christ the Lord. You know what his sword is? It's
His Word. It's His Gospel. It's the scorest
good news of Him. And you know what? He makes all
people before His sword just dust. Just dust. That arrow He shoots is going
to find the chink in the armor of all His people. And it's going
to pierce them to their heart. And it's going to kill them and
all their righteousness and all their holiness. And it's going
to bring them to His foot. And it's going to make them behold
what Abraham did. They're saved by grace. And they're
going to keep on hearing that preaching of faith and hearing
that work of faith, of the faithfulness of their God, the faithfulness
of God the Father who chose them in Christ, the faithfulness of
God the Son who came in the person of Christ Jesus and obeyed every
aspect that God required. He obeyed everything. We think of obedience as, okay,
here's a law that says don't murder, so let me make sure I
don't murder. It was never a contrary thought
in a Redeemer. It was His nature to obey God. And when He calls through the
faithfulness of the Spirit of God, He makes us to behold. He opens the ear, He bores the
ear, He gives a new heart, and He makes us to behold. We hear
of faith. Not our faith. We hear of His
faithfulness. God's faithfulness. The Lord
God's faithfulness. And now the Lord says to you
who hear, now, let everybody in the whole world get silent,
You get all your case together, you draw near to me now, and examine whether or not you
know the true God. Whether or not you're trusting
the true God. Whether or not your salvation
is the true God. How am I going to know that?
How am I going to... How am I going to know? Here's
the question. Verse 4. Who hath wrought and
done it. Who called the generations from
the beginning? Who has worked and done the salvation
of his people? Who is he? This is the question
to answer. If it's my will, that he didn't
work it and do it. It's either His will or my will. If it's my works, He didn't work
it and do it. It's either my works or His works. If it's my holiness that's going
to save me, He didn't work it and do it.
Because that's not the holiness True holiness. True holiness
says He's all my sanctification. Who's worked it and done it?
Who's called me, redeemed me, and saved me from myself? Who's
done it? Can you say honestly, truthfully,
with a heart of faith? Here's the answer. I, the Lord,
the first and with the last, I am He. Can you say the Lord
has done it? Can you say He's all my salvation? The man who does not have the
Lord to have done for him what he did for Abraham can't say
it. He can't say it. But the man
who has what Abraham has, God who's wrought and done it.
He says the Lord has done it. What does salvation is of the
Lord mean? Means he's the author and finisher.
Means he's wrought it and he's done it. And just as he saved
the first, that's how he'll save the last one. And you know what
they'll all say in glory? Praise be to his name. He's done
it. I pray God will make it so. Amen.