I titled this lesson, Abraham's
Shield and Reward. Abraham's Shield and Reward.
Now verse one starts out, after these things. After he came out
of Egypt, remember there was a famine and he went down to
Egypt, later he came out of Egypt. After separating from Lot, After rescuing Lot, after the
slaughter of the kings, and after he met Melchizedek, God appeared
to him. God appeared to Abraham. God
knew Abraham's heart. That's the first thing that just
stood out to me when I was studying this. He knew that Abraham's
heart was troubled. He knew that. And God knows our
hearts. God knows my heart. He knows
what my heart is troubled over. You remember in John 14, he had
told his disciples that he was going to leave and their hearts
were troubled. And he said to them, let not
your heart be troubled. You and I have a right, we have
a right never to let our hearts be troubled over these things,
over these things. And God knew Abraham's heart
and he knew it was troubled. And it says the word of the Lord
came unto him. What condescension that God would
come to him, that the word of the Lord would come to him. And
we know that the word of the Lord is Jesus Christ. I believe
the Lord Jesus Christ came to him. He came to him. Christ has always,
always been the only mediator between God and men. Every time
God speaks, every time God speaks, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
the word of God. Turn over to John chapter one. I started trying to quote it,
but I want you to read it again. In the beginning was the word,
in the first verse, John chapter one, in the beginning was the
word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. This is the one who came and
spoke to Abraham, the Lord Jesus Christ. God as God, God as the
light into which no man can approach, has never ever spoken to men
by way of mercy and grace apart from Jesus Christ. He is the
only mediator. But thank God we have a mediator.
Thank God we have one, that God has provided one by which you
and I can come into his presence and speak to him and him speak
to us. God has provided for us a mediator. Our Lord said in John 14, No
man comes unto the Father but by me. I am the way, the truth,
and the life. It is impossible. It is impossible
for me and for you to come before God Almighty apart from Jesus
Christ. It's impossible. Christ said,
I am the way. There is no other way. There
is no other mediator. The Pope is not a mediator. He's
not a way to God. It is Jesus Christ and Jesus
Christ only. Oh, and that'll never change.
That will never change. And it says the word spoke. The word spoke. And when he spoke,
when he spoke, he said, Fear not. What comfort, what comfort God
gives to his children. He knows Abraham's heart is troubled. And he comes to Abraham and he
just says to him, Abraham, don't be afraid. Don't, fear not. He came, the Lord came to Abraham
to relieve his fears. You remember he just defeated,
well, I believe it was four kings. It's called the slaughter of
the kings. There's gonna be some people upset. Abraham, I was
thinking about this when I was reading this, Abraham left his
home, he left everything that was familiar to him, he left
all the people that were his friends, everything that he had
grown up with, he left them and went to a strange place. He went
to a strange place. People there became his enemies.
And then he goes and slaughters these kings, and now they got
some relatives that are probably gonna be upset. And his heart's
troubled. His heart's troubled. And someone
said that, that he was afraid or this word came to him, fear
not, because of the awesome presence of God. No one can stand in God's presence
and have any understanding and not have fear, not stand in awe
of God. And Abraham knew something of
God. And that may be the reason why
the Lord said to him, fear not, fear not. I thought of this as I was writing
this down, this fear not, because this is something that I think
every believer experiences, is your sins, they come back, even
though God's forgotten them, you haven't, I haven't, and they
trouble you, they trouble you. They do me, they do me, they
trouble me. It's like they come back and
it's like they come back after you. And the Lord says, fear not,
fear not. There's not one thing I've ever
done in my life that's gonna come back after me. Not if I'm
his, not if I'm his, he's put it all away. He has destroyed
every enemy of man. And not one thing, not one thought
I've ever had and not one thing I've ever done is gonna come
back after me. He has taken them all away. And
he says to me, fear not. Now, if you have any understanding
of sin, you know what I'm talking about. And if you have any real
understanding of who you are and what you are, you know what
I'm talking about. And the Lord says, fear not,
fear not. I want you to look over in Isaiah
35. I looked this up, this word fear
not, it is so many times in the scriptures. But I just wrote
down a few of them. In Isaiah 35, look in verse, Four. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, be strong and fear not. Behold, your God will come with
vengeance, even God with a recompense. He will come and save you. He will come and save you. Look
in chapter 41. In chapter 41, look in verse
10. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. But
the first thing he says is, fear thou not. Look in verse 13. For I the Lord thy God will hold
thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I just get the picture
of a father holding a child's hand. And he's saying to that
child, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid, fear not. Look
in verse 14. Fear not, thou worm Jacob. Thou worm Jacob. And ye men of Israel, I help
thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer. The Holy One of Israel,
but fear not thou worm. He put Jacob, he reminds him
who he is. He reminds Israel here who they
are and what we are. You worm, fear not thou worm,
John. Fear not thou maggot, John. I'm with you. Look over in chapter
44. In verse two, thus saith the
Lord that made thee and formed thee from the womb, which will
help thee. Fear not, O Jacob, my servant,
and thou Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. I formed you from the
womb. You've been, you're mine, I made
you. I created you, you're mine. You're
mine. God's not gonna let any of his
children go. He said, I made you, you're mine.
Fear not. And that's just a few. That's
just a few. So often the Lord says to us,
fear not, fear not. I'm your God. I'm thy God. Now here's the reasons he gives
to him to fear not. I am thy shield. an exceeding
great reward. Abraham, you have nothing to
fear. I am your shield. I'm your shield. What's a shield used for? To
protect our weak bodies. That's what it uses. To keep
the enemy's arrows out. To cover us in time of trouble. And our shield is not made of
metal. You try to get the strongest
materials when you make a shield. If you're going to battle and
you're using a shield, you try to get the strongest materials. God says, I am your shield. I'm your shield. You know, when
Satan spoke to God over Job, he said to God, you have put
a hedge about him. You put a hedge about
him. And that hedge that is about
every believer is God himself. It's God himself. Look over at
Psalm 3. We're here in Psalm chapter 3. Let me read verse one. Lord,
how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up
against me. Many there be would say of my
soul, there is no help for him in God. God has forsaken him,
there's no help for him. But thou, O Lord, art a shield
for me. You're my protector. When you
lay down at night, seriously, when you lay down at night, what's your protection? Who's
your protection? God's my protection. He's my
shield. But thou, O Lord, art a shield
for me, my glory and the lifter up of mine head. Look over in
Psalm 5. right across the page there.
In verse 12. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the
righteous with favor, wilt thou compass him, crown him, surround
him as with a shield. Look in Psalm 33. In Psalm 33, verse 20. Our soul waiteth for
the Lord. He is our help and our shield. That's what he's saying to Abraham.
I am thy shield, I'm your protection. Abraham's in a strange land.
Abraham left every place. I mean, everything he knew, he
left it. As an old man, he wasn't a young man. He was 75 years
old. Your age, Doug. I told Vicki,
I told Vicki, that was a compliment, Doug. At least you made it to 75. But
I told Vicki yesterday, well, we was driving back from Ashley,
you know, we sold the house. And I said, you know, I said,
it never really dawned on me that I'm not that much younger
than what Abraham was when God called him to leave his family,
his home, his everything, and pack up and leave. I said, I'm
really not, I'm 61. I said, man, that never dawned
on me before that I was just not that much age difference.
And I have a little sense, not a lot, I have a little sense
of what that is. Let's just pack it up and leave.
And God says to him, now Abraham, I'm your shield. You're gonna
be all right, I'm your protection, I'm with you. I'm with you. That's what he's saying to him,
I'm your shield. Someone said this, that this
shield here protects us from the charges of the law, from
the accusations of the conscience, from the force of temptation,
the opposition of the world, and the fear of death. I'm your
shield from these things. They can't hurt you. They cannot
hurt you. And, thy exceeding great reward
You see, and let me go back over here, Genesis here. Abraham,
in verse two, Abraham said, Lord, what wilt thou give me, seeing
I go childless? You know, the Lord made a promise
to him that his seed would be as the dust of the earth over
in chapter, I believe it's 13. And he told him, and here time
is gone by. You know, when God promises something,
we expect it to be right now, don't we? We said, you know,
God promised it. It ought to be right now. Well, it may be
20 years down the road. It may be. And Abraham saying
to him, and Abraham said, Lord, God, what would thou give me
seeing I go childless? And the Lord knew that was on
his heart. He knew that was on his heart. How am I gonna, how
is my seed gonna be as the dust of the earth if I have no child? And we're getting older here,
you know, we're getting, we're growing older. And God says to Abraham, first
of all, Abraham, listen, first of all, I am your exceeding great reward,
not what I give you. It's the blesser. that is our
great reward, not all the blessings. You see, we get, I believe Arminianism
tries to sell people on the blessings. You know, you don't go to hell,
you get to go to heaven, it's like an eternal vacation or something. But God would have his children
to set their affection on him, not on what they're getting out
of him. And he says to Abraham, I am your exceeding great reward. I know people look to have rewards
in heaven. They do, they look to have rewards
in heaven because of their good deeds. You should never be rewarded
for doing good. You ought to do good. The Lord
said, if you do what you should do, everything you ought to do,
and then at the end of the day, and I'm paraphrasing, you say,
I'm just an unprofitable server. I did what I was supposed to
do. It's like hiring somebody and
paying them extra for showing up. And so much of that attitude
is in our day. We give them bonuses for doing
what they ought to do. It's one thing to give a bonus
if you're out of generosity, it is. But to expect somebody
to do something for me or give me something or to recognize
me for doing something I ought to do anyway. Abraham, I'm your exceeding great
reward. Is that not enough? Is Christ
not enough? Are we looking for more than
Christ? What is better than Christ? Gold and silver cannot be compared
to having the Lord Jesus Christ, our Creator, our Redeemer, our
Savior, our God. You know, I pray that we get
the attitude of Mephibosheth. You know, when King David came
back and there was this argument over Ziba. Ziba was lying on
him and wanted to split the inheritance. David said, you and Ziba take
it, split it. And Mephibosheth said, let Ziba have it all. The king's returned. The king
is all I want. That's why Mephibosheth was saying,
David, you're all I want. You're all I want. Let him have
the material things, he can have them. What greater reward can
one have than God? We find our happiness, we find
real happiness, lasting happiness in our Lord. It's called joy
in the Lord, real joy. We find real contentment in the
Lord Jesus Christ. When we are really and truly
content with him, we will be content with where he's put us
and what he's given us. We will. Now, what do we have if we have
God? We have, first of all, eternal
life. We have eternal life. We have
holiness. We have it. We have happiness
if we have him. Possessed of him and obsessed
with him. We have happiness. What do we
have if we have God? Listen, we have a meaningful
life. It doesn't matter what my educational
level is. It doesn't matter the job I have. It doesn't matter the things
I possess. A meaningful life is only to those who have God. I am your exceeding great reward.
You can lose everything. You can lose everything. But
if you have Christ, you've lost nothing. You've lost nothing. What do I have if I have God? Paul said this, Paul speaking
concerning Christ, he said, we are more than conquerors. Those who have Christ are not
failures. They are not failures. They are
more than conquerors. What God is doing here is this,
is this, he set Abraham's heart on the right one, on the right
object, on the right God, God. He set his heart on things above. And we see in verse two and three,
and I'll wind this up, We see what Abraham's heart was
set on, it was his child. He said, I go childless. He said,
you gave me this promise of my heir being as the dust of the
earth. And I don't think Abraham doubted
God, but he was, he was asking this question is
basically, when's this gonna happen? When's this gonna happen? Well, I tell you when it's gonna
happen, in God's time. God's promises happen in God's
time. That's when they happen. Abraham
knew him and Sarah were getting old. And he said, Lord, Lord God,
what will you give me, seeing I go childless? And Abraham,
verse three, and Abraham said, Behold, to me thou hast given
no seed. But he's going to, he's going
to. Of course, you know what Sarah
did. She got impatient and took her handmaid and she got impatient,
waiting on God and Abraham listened to her, hearkened to her voice
and caused a problem, caused a problem. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and He'll
strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. I reckon if there's anything
that you and I are short of, it's patience. It's waiting on
God. Waiting on God. Could there be
a better person to wait on than God? Can there be a more faithful
person to wait on than God? Wait on Him. Henry wrote me that
in a letter a couple of times. I was a young man talking to
him about preaching. He said, wait on the Lord. Instead,
and I look back and I see the wisdom of this, instead of taking
me as a young man and putting me in a pulpit, and he said,
just sit down, just sit down and wait. Just wait. Wait on
the Lord. With God, all things are possible.
If God promised you or me something, he will do it. He will do it,
that's a promise. And in verse four, Christ appears
to Abraham again to confirm to him the promise of an heir that
will come from his own body. Listen, and behold, the word
of the Lord came unto him saying, this shall not be thine heir,
but he that shall come forth out of thine own bow shall be
thine heir, Abraham. I promised you an heir and you're
gonna have an heir. Abraham, father of the faithful, had his moments. Remember John
the Baptist when he was in prison? He sent his disciples to the
Lord and said, are you the Christ or do we look for another? John
the Baptist, who had heralded him and baptized him, had his
moment there in prison saying, Go ask him if he is the Christ. Oh, I tell you. See, and I'll be glad when we
get rid of it, won't you? And we can believe God without any
doubt whatsoever. No, he said, but he that shall
come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought
him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven.
And probably the Lord came to him in a bodily figure, probably
this is a pre-incarnation of Christ, I have no doubt, like
when they came to him about Lot in that situation, Sodom. But
he brought him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven.
And count the stars, that is, tell the stars if thou be able
to number them. And he said unto him, so shall
thy seed be. And Abraham believed in the Lord.
He believed it. He didn't know how or when, but
he believed that God was gonna do just exactly what he said
he was gonna do, that he was gonna have an heir that was gonna
come from his own body. And we know that Christ is that
heir. And Abraham knew. He understood
that the Messiah, that this is gonna be the Messiah. Isaac was
a type. Isaac was a type. But he looked
beyond Isaac. Turn over to Galatians chapter
three. Galatians chapter three, let
me see. Start in verse six. 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. You're the spiritual children
of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith. Listen to this. Preach before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed. It says that God, God preached,
God preached before the gospel. He preached the gospel to Abraham
when he spoke to him about the sea. And that seed was Christ. Abraham understood that. Because
he said that Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and
was glad. And was glad. Now, we'll pick
up on verse six. Lord willing. Well, we'll be next Sunday. Next
Sunday, I'll be in Danville preaching in that Bible called Frank Tate
from Hurricane Room. Grace Church is going to be here
to speak in my place. All right.