If you will be turning in your
Bible to Genesis chapter 12, and while you're turning there,
I'll give just a brief, short introduction to our topic this
morning, but several weeks ago, I think it was in a Bible study,
Gabe, he had his return to Romans chapter four, and he was reading
and expounding on Abraham. And in that message, I was thinking
about Abraham. There's some thoughts that come
to my mind how Abraham in many ways is a picture of Christ.
And I don't know that I've ever heard a message specifically
on that, but there were some things about Abraham that just
caught my mind and my attention in that Bible study. And I started
thinking about Abraham and dwelling on Abraham after that message. And then Gabe called and asked
me to bring the morning Bible study. And so I thought, you
know, I think I'm gonna look at Abraham. And so that's where
we are this morning. So I've already had you turn,
now I need to turn. So Genesis chapter 12, and what I wanna be looking at with Abraham is this covenant. that God made with Abraham. And
so I want to begin by reading this covenant in Genesis chapter
one, or Genesis chapter 12, and then continue reading of that
covenant over in Genesis chapter 17. So let's begin by reading
the first three verses of Genesis chapter 12, verse one. Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and from thy
father's house unto a land that I will show thee. And I will
make of thee a great nation. And I will bless thee and make
thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless
them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee. And in
thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham
departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. Now, if you will, let's
look over in Genesis chapter 17. And at this point now, Ishmael has
been born. And the Lord again appears unto
Abram and he says, beginning in verse one, and when Abram
was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said
unto him, I am the almighty God. Walk perfect 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. Neither shall thy name any more
be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham, for
a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceedingly
fruitful and I will make nations of thee and kings shall come
out of thee. And I will establish my covenant
between me and thee and thy seed after thee and their generations
for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy
seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and
to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger,
all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I
will be their God. So here we have the covenant
that the Lord has made with Abraham. And I broke this down just briefly
to look at the contents of this covenant as it pertains to Abraham,
and then let's just read through it, just briefly comment on it,
and then we'll continue. He told Abraham, I will make
thee a great nation. And certainly he did. From Abraham
came Isaac, and from Isaac came Jacob, and from Jacob came the
12 tribes, the 12 sons representing the 12 tribes. And the Lord made
a nation called Israel, and it was a great nation. And he said
to Abraham, I will bless thee, and he did. Everything that Abraham
done was blessed. I will make thy name great. And certainly the Lord done exactly
that for Abraham. His name became great. Even this
morning, we mentioned the name of Abraham because the Lord made
his name great. And he says, I will bless them
that bless thee and I will curse them that curse thee. And certainly
that proved to be true. When Abram, when was it the king
of Sodom and there was those that had been captured, when
Abram joined and went and freed those that had been captured,
the Lord blessed him and cursed those that he fought against.
And there's many examples of the Lord blessing Abraham. and cursing those that cursed
him. And he said this, and thee shall all the families, shall
all families be blessed. And he told him, I will multiply
thee exceedingly. Boy, hasn't that been true? Not
only do you have the children of Israel, the children of Isaac,
Jacob and Israel, but you have Ishmael. Ishmael has become a
great nation. Looking at Bible history and
you're looking at the people of the Middle East and that region,
Saudi Arabia and all these people there, their lineage goes back
to Abraham. The Lord done exceedingly according
to his promise. He made him a father of many
nations. But he also told him, kings shall
come of thee. And certainly of those nations,
there have been kings. In Israel alone, there was David
and the kings of Israel. And then he also said, I will
give of thee the land wherein thou art a stranger. And certainly,
after the death of Abraham, and of Isaac and of Jacob. And when
the children of Israel come into Egypt, the Lord took them out
of Egypt and brought them into that land that God had promised
Abraham. His promises were fulfilled. And then he said, I will be their
God. So these are the promises that
God made to Abraham and they're great and they were fulfilled. But then there are those that
were not included in this covenant. So first of all, we think Abraham,
he had two sons. He had Ishmael and he had Isaac. So when the Lord appeared here
in verse 17 unto Isaac and he said, I will make thee a great
nation. Look what Abraham said unto the
Lord, verse 18 of Genesis 17. And Abraham said unto God, oh,
that Ishmael might live before thee. Abraham wanted Ishmael
to receive these promises. But it was not so, was it? No,
Ishmael is not going to be of the promised seed. You see,
Ishmael come from Abraham's works. Sarah, her womb was dead. And so Abraham, thinking that
he would fulfill the promise of the Lord and fulfill his covenant,
he went to Hagar. And in his own effort, in his
own flesh, and of his own works, Ishmael was born. And the Lord
looks at Ishmael and says, no, not him. No, this thing will
be of faith. And of a dead womb, your seed
will come out of a dead womb. Your seed will come from my work,
not your work. So Ishmael. is not part of this
covenant. It's not a covenant of your efforts
and it's not a covenant of your abilities. So then we look on
and Ishmael, or rather Isaac is the child of promise. And
then from Isaac, Isaac has two sons. There is Esau, and there's
Jacob. Now in that time, the firstborn
received all the blessings and the firstborn received the birthright. So according to man and according
to the way things were, Esau should have received the inheritance. Esau should have received the
promise. but turn with me to Romans chapter
nine. First, let's begin in verse nine. For this is the word of promise.
We're talking about the covenant. At this time will I come and
Sarah shall have a son. And not only this, but when Rebecca
also conceived by one, even by her 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, and Esau have I hated. This covenant of God with Abraham
would extend to Jacob. It would not extend to Esau. Esau was a grandson of Abraham,
and he was left completely out of the covenant. He was completely
excluded from the promise. Why? That the purpose of God,
according to the election, might stand. It was not of the flesh,
it was of the purpose and will of God that Jacob would be the
seed of promise. And you know that Esau was actually,
or rather, yes, Isaac was actually, send that wrong, Esau was actually
Isaac's favorite son. Genesis 25, 28 says, and Esau
loved, and Isaac loved Esau. Esau was the favored son. Isaac loved Esau more than Jacob,
but God loved Jacob and hated Esau. So as we look at this promise
to Abraham and we follow the genealogy to this point, We find that it's not Ishmael,
it's Isaac. It's not Esau, it's Jacob. And then with Jacob, we have
these 12 sons, the 12 sons of Jacob. And now we have a nation. And we find that all of Israel
all of Israel, all of this nation is going to be made up of these
12 sons. And you think, well, now we have
the pattern. Now we know who the people of
God are. But is it all Jews that are included
in this covenant? Most of religion today says that
it is, but if you will, in Romans chapter nine, look at verse three
and let's see what it says. And this is Paul speaking of
the Jews. He says, for I wish, for I could
wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh. And he defines them, who are
Israelites? These are the sons of Jacob.
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 concerning the flesh. Christ
came, is over all, God blessed forever, amen. But not as though
the word of God had taken none effect. Look what it says in
verse six. For they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of
Abraham are they all children. So what we learn here, what Paul
is telling us, and if we listen to what we learn, that just because
a man is born a Jew does not make him a true Jew. That's what it's telling us right
here. Not all Israel, not everybody born a Jew, is above Israel,
pertaining to the promise. So then, who is a Jew? How does the scripture
define who a Jew is? Well, turn back to Romans chapter
two, briefly. Boy, time is going by quickly. Verse 28, Romans chapter two,
for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that
circumcision which is outward to the flesh, but he is a Jew
which is one inwardly. Circumcision that is of the heart
and the spirit, not in the letter. So now here, we find in the scripture,
Here in Romans chapter 2, that a Jew, the people of God, as
defined, as promised to Abraham, is not that person who was born
outwardly a Jew, but that person whom the Lord has redeemed, the
Lord has saved, the Lord has given new birth to in his heart. Look back with me again at Genesis
17, and I will try to move quickly here. In turning back here, I ask this
question, who is in this covenant? We looked at who is not in this
covenant, Ishmael, Esau, and not all Jews, some, then who
is in this covenant? Genesis 17, verse 17, or verse
seven, rather. And I will, and this is the Lord
speaking to Abraham, and I will establish my covenant Listen
to this. Between me and you, Abraham, and thy seed after
thee. Well, didn't we just go through
that? Thy seed and all the confusion of that? If it's not Ishmael, okay, it's
not Esau, okay, then who is he referring to? Turn with me to
Galatians chapter three. Now this is the answer to the question. This is the covenant that God
made with Abraham right here in verse 16. Now to Abraham and
his seed, remember that's what we've been talking about, were
the promises made, he saith not into seeds as many. but as of one and to thy seed,
which is Christ. What is he saying there? He's
telling us that that covenant that God made with Abraham, he
also made with Christ, thy seed. That's what it says here in Galatians
chapter seed. He did not say to thy seeds,
which is many, all of the natural Israel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau
and Jacob, all the natural seed of Abraham? No, not to thy seeds,
which is many, but to thy seed, which is one, who is Christ. You see, the covenant that God
made with Abraham, he also made with Christ. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
one. For the sake of time. And while you're turning there. While you're turning there, I
want to go back over this cabinet that God made with Abraham. We
just read that God made that covenant with Abraham, and we
read it as it was spoken to Abraham. Now I want you to listen to this
covenant that God made with Abraham as he made it to Christ. And
you remember, I will make thee a great nation. Our Lord has
given Christ a great nation. I will bless thee in everything
that our Lord Jesus Christ did, the Lord blessed him. I will
make thy name great. Think about that for a moment.
Who will we sing about this morning? How great thou art. Here this
morning is the covenant of Abraham and that covenant to Christ fulfilled. We will sing of his praises. We will sing of his glories and
we will worship him because God promised that I will make thy
name great. Thou shalt be a blessing. Oh, is that not true this morning?
that the Lord has made him a blessing. What a blessing he is to us. What a comfort he is to us. I will bless them that bless
thee, and I will curse them that curse thee. In thee shall all families be
blessed. in the families be blessed. Is it not true that in your family,
and in your family, and in your family, and my family, there's
families in Africa, there's families in Australia that have been blessed
through the Lord Jesus Christ? I will multiply thee exceedingly
Has the Lord not done that, that in that day there will be saints
without number as the sands of the sea? Thou shalt be a father
of many nations. Out of every kindred, tongue,
and nation will his people come. Listen to this one. Kings shall
come out of thee. Did you, and I don't have the
time to turn, but did you know that he has made us kings? Kings
shall come out of thee. We have proceeded from the Lord
Jesus Christ. He has made us kings. I will give to thee the land
wherein thou art a stranger. Where does the Lord dwell? Does
he not dwell in our hearts? Were we not strangers at one
time? Aliens outside of Christ? And now he dwells in a strange
land in our heart. And I will be their God. And this morning we will worship
him as our God. So you see, this covenant that
we read that was given to Abraham, we can go to that same passage
and read it, and it's that covenant that the Lord also made with
his son, Jesus Christ. Now, in closing, I want us to
look at Matthew chapter one. And notice the opening of this
verse. It begins somewhat of a summary,
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham. And then it begins, Abraham begat
Isaac, and it goes down and it lists all the genealogies from
Abraham all the way down to Joseph. But this first verse, it mentions
two first. It mentions David and Abraham. Why these two? Abraham, because
of that covenant. The Lord here, Matthew here,
in Matthew chapter one, he opens up specifically and purposely
to show that that covenant that God made with Abraham is being
fulfilled right here. And there is yet another, because
it's so blessed, there is yet another covenant mentioned here
that I will also mention. And it is the covenant that God
made with David. So we have read of this covenant
that God made with Abraham, but you know what the covenant with
David was? And we won't turn, but let me
just briefly read it. This is the Lord's covenant that
he made with David. Thine house and thy kingdom shall
be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established
forever. So not only did God make a covenant
with Abraham, but he made a more specific covenant with David. And in that covenant with David,
which was connected to that Abrahamic covenant, but he told Abraham,
thy seed, my covenant is with thy seed,
but with David he says, thy house, not just thy seed, but thy house
and thy kingdom shall be established forever. And here in Matthew chapter one,
When the Lord is speaking of this covenant, he's speaking
of David's house. David's house is the Lord Jesus
Christ and his offspring. You see, from David's house,
this covenant that God made with David and this covenant that
is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not some of the
Lord's seed that shall be saved. It is not some of the Lord's
people that shall inherit. It's all of them. Matthew 1,
21 says, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from all their
sin. So the Lord made a covenant with
Abraham and he promised him a seed, and that seed was Christ. Abraham
had many seeds, and to some, the promise was effectual, but
the other, it did not apply. But then when it come down to
David, and on down to Christ, when it gets to our Lord Jesus
Christ, not only does he fulfill the covenant and receive all
the blessings of that covenant. But all of his seed is included
in that covenant. And that's why we worship him
this morning. Amen.