Good morning. Good morning. Turn to Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13. And I'll start reading in verse
14 through 18, the rest of this chapter. And after I read this,
Ben, would you lead us in prayer? And the Lord said unto Abram,
after that lot was separated from him, lift up now thine eyes
and look from the place where thou art northward, southward,
eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest,
to thee will I give it and to thy seed forever. And I will
make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can
number the dust of the earth, Then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise and walk through the land
in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give
it unto thee. And Abram removed his tent and
came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and
built there an altar unto the Lord. The title of the lesson is The Lord Speaks to Abraham. The Lord speaks
to Abraham. Now, when we look at this portion
of scripture and we read, and the Lord said unto Abram, you
know, 99.9% of the time, when I read that, I'm just reading
it. But as I was reading it in the
study this week, I thought, how awesome it is for God, if you think about
who God is now, consider who God is, that he would speak to
a man, a sinful man. that God would reveal himself. Now, if God's gonna speak to
me, if he's gonna speak to me, he's gonna reveal himself to
me. He's gonna reveal something about himself to me. It's just
not a casual conversation. There's never a casual conversation
with Almighty God. And he speaks to Abraham, and
to me, that's just, it just took me back a little bit. that God would speak to a man.
But it also gave me encouragement. If God would speak to one man,
maybe he'll speak to this man. If God will speak to one sinner,
maybe he'll speak to this sinner. If God will save one sinner,
maybe he'll save this sinner. That gives me hope. That gives
me hope. Now last week we saw The strife that was between the
herdsmen of Abraham and the herdsmen of Lot, and because of their
riches, they both were rich, they had to separate. And Lot
made his choice to separate from Abraham, which was a terrible,
terrible choice on Lot's part. He should have done like Ruth
and claimed to Abraham like she did to her mother-in-law, Naomi. But Lot made his choice and he
went towards Sodom. And we know how that ended up.
And of course, we'll see that here in a few weeks, how that
ended up, which proved to be a terrible choice. But after
Lot left, after Lot left, after they separated, notice there
in verse 14, and the Lord said unto Abraham, he spoke to Abraham
after that Lot was separated from him. We never read of the
Lord speaking to Lot. He spoke to Abraham and Lot had
learned the gospel. Lot had learned the truth through
Abraham. That's how he learned. He learned
through Abraham. Abraham was the spokesman. God
always has his spokesman. And here's a lesson for us. And
we need to really give real attention to this. Never leave the spokesman
that God has given you. If God's given you a spokesman,
he's given you someone to preach the gospel. Sit there and listen. Sit there and listen. Don't get
tangled up in this world. Don't get tangled up with a better
this and a better that. Do not let anything take you
away where the gospel's preached, and God's man, God's man. I had the, and you had the privilege
of sitting under a preacher of the gospel here for years, and
I had the privilege of sitting under Henry for many, many years,
many years. And I thank God, I thank God
that he allowed me and enabled me to just sit there and stay
there and listen, and listen. You know, one of the greatest
things right now that amazes me and at the same time thrills
my soul is that 40 years later, I'm still here. I still believe
the gospel. And I'm still preaching the gospel.
And that to me is a great, it's amazing and it's a great comfort.
It's a great comfort to me. Lot left God's spokesman. He heard the gospel from him
and without doubt Lot believed because he's called just Lot.
And it speaks of his right, vexing his righteous soul. So we know
he believed, but he sure made a mess of things. But notice
here, the Lord spoke to Abraham after Lot separated from him.
As long as there was contention, the Lord did not speak. you can be sure of this, if there's
contention between brethren, you know, Abraham said back here
in verse eight, and Abraham said to Lot, let there be no strife,
I pray thee, between me and thee, and between thy herdsmen, between
my herdsmen and thy herdsmen, for we be brethren. And where there's strife between
brethren, you can be sure God's not speaking. God cannot be worshiped
in contention. Now, if I'm at difference with
somebody over the gospel, someone that does not believe the gospel,
that's different. That's different because the
gospel itself is going to bring contention. I'll show you that
in the next message here in a little bit. But God did not speak to
Abraham And Abraham did not worship God, not in the manner that he
had in the past, while this contention was going on. As you'll see here
at the end of this, he removes from this place, he builds an
altar. And when it says Abraham built an altar, it's an altar
of worship. Worship's going on. Sacrifice
is being offered. The type is being offered. And
there's true worship going on. And then the Lord speaks to Abraham
here in verse 14. I believe he speaks to Abraham
at this time to comfort Abraham. I don't think we realize how
close Lot was to Abraham. Abraham looked at Lot like Lot
was his son. That was his nephew, But you
remember, they all left together. Locke went out with Abraham when
he left. Abraham pretty much adopted this
boy. And it was just like a son to
him. And then when they had to separate,
there's no doubt in my mind that Abraham's heart, it had just
sunk. Because that boy meant a lot
to him. Locke meant a lot to Abraham. And so the Lord speaks,
he speaks to comfort him. The Lord knows our hearts. We
can be sure of this. And this thought was on my mind
this morning. And I know the believer, every
believer here is aware of this. You are aware of this. The Lord
knows your heart. Peter said, Lord, you know all
things. You know I love you. And that
is a great comfort to a believer. That's a great, that is a great
comfort to a believer that God knows my heart. He knows I love
him or whether he knows who loves him here and who doesn't, he
knows that. And those here who love Christ, you can say with Peter, Lord,
you know all things. You know I love you. You know
my heart. You know I love you. You know
I believe you. You know it. And that's a great
comfort. That gives real comfort. The
Lord always knows our heart. He is the God of all grace and
the God of all comfort. And he knows how to comfort our
hearts. And at this time, I believe that
part of the reason that he's speaking to Abraham is to comfort
his heart because Lot separated from him and he looked at Lot
like he was his son. And then the Lord speaks to Abram
to reveal himself, to make himself known. As I said earlier, when
God speaks to the heart, when he speaks to us, it's not just
a casual conversation, it's to make himself known. It's to reveal
his will. It's to reveal his will. It's
to reveal a blessing. The Lord speaks to reveal himself
to Abraham and to reveal a blessing. A blessing. He's gonna tell Abraham, Abraham,
you know, Abraham did, I think, just a noble thing. He's the elder. He could have
told Lot where to go. He could have said, Lot, you
go east and I'll go west. He could have told him exactly
where to go. But instead he let Lot make the
choice. And he said, I'll take what's
left. I'll take what's left. So God's going to reveal to Abraham,
you're not going to take what's left. it's all gonna be yours. It's all yours. Now we see in
the rest of this verse, in verse 15, who really owns all the land. He says to him in this verse,
in verse 14 and 15, lift up now thine eyes and look from the
place where thou art, northward, southward, eastward, westward,
for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to
thy seed forever." Does that seem impossible? You look as far as
you can see in any direction, and I'm giving it to you. I'm
giving it to you. Northward, southward, eastward,
westward. Lift up your eyes and look. I'm
gonna give it to you. I will give it to your seed.
You know, right now, I'm looking at the seed of Abraham here in
North Carolina. Every believer here is a spiritual
seed of Abraham. And it doesn't matter how far
Abraham looked to the east, to the west, to the north, to the
south. What God is saying, Abraham, you have a seed. And we know
that through the Lord Jesus Christ all over this world. All over
this world. There are people in every nation,
tongue under heaven that believe God. And it's a spiritual seed
of Abraham. We are the circumcision. Paul
said, we are the circumcision. We are the true Israel of God. We are the true Jew, which worship
God in the spirit and have no confidence in the flesh. You're looking at a true Israelite.
I'm looking at some true Israelites. That's what it says over in Philippians, I believe it is,
over in Philippians chapter three, verse three is where that's found. But he tells Abraham to look
northward, southward, eastward, westward, For all the land which
thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.
You know, the scripture says this in 1 Corinthians 3, all
things are yours in Christ. All things are yours in Christ,
when Christ is God. And you're Christ, and Christ
is God. You're in Christ. You belong to him, and Christ
is God's. That's what it says in 1 Corinthians
3, 21-22. Listen to this scripture. In Psalm 24 one, the earth is
the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell
therein. It's his, it's his. We sing,
this is my father's world. You and I, and we need to realize this,
We are just tenants. We're just tenants, that's all. We really, we really never own
anything unless the Lord gives it to us. But we really, really, you're
gonna take that land and that house, you're gonna take it with
you when you die? No, you're gonna leave it and somebody else
is gonna live in it. You know, there's a place in Huntington,
West Virginia, where my grandparents lived. My grandfather built that
house, and they lived in it for over 60 years. And I visited there several times.
But they're not there no more. There's somebody else owns that
house. Someone else owns that house. Someone else lives in
that house. We're just tenants. That's all we are. paying taxes
on it and then eventually we die and somebody else gets paid
taxes on it. They get to pay what they think
it's worth or more than it's worth and pay taxes on it and
then die and then it just starts all over again. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell
There is. He owns it all. He owns it all. The believer's treasure, the
believer's treasure is the Lord Jesus Christ. As our Lord said,
your life consists not in the things which you possess. Your
life does consist in the one that possesses you. It does consist
in the one that possesses you, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we have a seed promised in
verse 16. He says here, God told him to
lift up his eyes and to look and he's gonna give it to him
and to his seed. And I will make thy seed. Here's a man that does not even
have an heir, his own child, his own son. He doesn't have
one at this time. And yet God, and he's old and
his wife's old. They're both old, way past the
time of having children, way past that. And yet God says to
Abraham, I will. Now, right there it is. Now it's
going to happen. Now it's going to happen because
God said, I will. I will make thy seed as the dust
of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth,
then shall thy seed also be numbered." This is more than just a physical
blessing he's talking about here. This goes beyond this physical
realm. This is a spiritual blessing.
We know that the seed promised to Abraham is the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaac,
was a type. Now through Isaac, you get Jacob
and Esau, then you get the 12 patriarchs, and you know, then
you get this, then you get Israel is scattered out. You get this
seed, but the seed he's talking about is Christ. And he's talking
about this spiritual seed through the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says here, this is why
I think, this is why I'm convinced that heaven will be far more
populated than hell. You know, hell is spoken of as
a place. Heaven is spoken of as a country.
Not a place, a country. And God says here, I'll make
thy seed as the dust of the earth. So that if a man can number the
dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. This blessing is given to Abraham. It's a sure blessing for God
said it. In blessing, he said over in Genesis 22, in blessing,
I will bless thee. In multiplying, I will multiply
thee. Now, if God says something, it's
going to happen, isn't it? You can stake your life on it.
It's going to happen. It's a sure blessing for God
said it, and it's a future blessing. We have, the believer has, we have a better country. We
have coming. Now, we have coming. We haven't experienced it yet,
but it's coming. A new heaven and a new earth. And we're gonna inherit that
through the Lord Jesus Christ, and we're gonna walk on a new
earth. Like this one except for sin, there's not gonna be any
sin in it. And I believe that. I believe
that. I believe when I die and when
the Lord puts an end to all this, that's beyond my comprehension
to even say much about it, but I believe. Based on God's word, I'm gonna
walk on a new earth. in the body, in a new body, like
this one. John's going to look like John. But I'm going to walk on that
new earth in a body, in a new body. And I'm going to walk on
it with the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm going to walk on it with
the redeemed of God. And I'm going to know them and
they're going to know me. And we together are going to
worship the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm looking for that. I believe
that's going to happen. I believe that's going to happen. Because God said it's going to.
And that's the reason I believe it. And that's the only reason
I believe it. God said it's going to. He said
so. And God is able to do as he has
promised. Listen to Numbers 23 19. God
is not a man that he should lie Neither the son of man that he
should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? That is Numbers 23, 19. You ought
to write that one down and mark that in your Bible. Because whatever
God has said, whatever God has spoken, he'll do. Come to me,
all you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Come
to him. He said he'd do it. That's a
promise. That's a promise. Now, after God gives this promise
to Abraham, God commands Abraham to pack up and walk through the
land. Arise, walk through the land in the
length of it. and in the breath of it, for
I will give it unto thee. The Canaanites, Abraham, do not
own this land. I do. The Hittites, the Perizzites,
the Philistines, they do not own the land. I own the land. Now, arise and walk. And walk. Walk through the land. Walk through the land in the
length of it, just keep on walking. Abraham, wherever your foot is,
it's yours. It's your seed, it belongs to
them. Faith will always be proven. You see, God gave a promise,
now he's gonna prove Abraham's faith. He's gonna prove it. God gives
a promise and then he challenges Abraham's faith. He says, arise
and walk through the land. The scripture says we are to
walk by faith. James says, faith without works
is dead. The scripture says three different times, the just shall
live by faith. Abraham, do you believe God? Do you believe
God? Well, we're gonna find out, aren't
we? It's one thing believing God sitting in a pew. It's another
thing believing God when you get up and walk out that door
and your life, your whole life is a life lived by faith. It's
lived by believing God. It's not lived by falling apart
when something happens. It's lived by trusting the Lord,
knowing, knowing all things are of God. All things are of God. There's not a thing that comes
into our lives that's not of God, either directly or indirectly. Either he permits it to happen,
just like he's permitted Satan to touch Job, or God directly
does it. Nothing. All things are of God. What if Abraham had stayed where
he was? Would he have received the promise?
Absolutely not. And I've said this, and I've
heard it said, and I'm gonna say it again, in order to lay
hold of a promise, you have to fit the description of the person
described in the promise, or the need described in the promise. In other words, the scripture
says, if any man thirsts, Let him come to me and drink. Are
you thirsty? You say, no, he's not talking to you. He's not
talking to you. Are you hungry? No, he's not
talking to you. Are you weary? No, he's not talking
to you. He's talking to those who are
weary, those who are hungry and those who's thirsty. Now the
promise applies to them. The promise does not apply to
everyone. Not everyone. The promises of God are to those
who believe God. And those who believe God act
upon the promises of God. They act upon it. Look, verse 18, I'll close. Then
Abram removed his tent. Abraham You see, God's gonna
try his faith, faith's gonna be tried. Abraham arise, walked
through the land, the length of it. Now, here's the proof.
Here's the proof that Abraham believed God. He packed up his
tent and his family, his wife and, you know, the servants and
cattle, and took off. Started walking through the land.
He just started walking through. He believed God. Faith went with his, works went
with his faith. He believed God. Abraham packed
up his tent once again and he moved. Henry has said this so
many times over the years. Don't drive your tent stake too
deep. You know, we're just pilgrims,
aren't we? Really. Every believer in here is just
a pilgrim. headed home, and everything you
and I will experience on the way home is part of the journey
home, is part of the journey home, and everything on that
journey is ordained of God to bring us home. You know, Christ
said, I go and prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare
a place for you, I'll come again and receive you to myself, to
where I am there you may be also. He went to prepare a place for
you. But right now, you and I are
being prepared for the place. And everything that comes our
way is preparing us for that place. God knows how to wean us from
this world, doesn't he? He knows how to make me tired
of this life and set my affection on things above it. He knows
how to to let me experience the disappointments of myself, my
own abilities, people, things, and to look to Him, and the only
one that will never disappoint me and you, the only one that'll
never disappoint us is the Lord Jesus Christ. We disappoint each
other, I know that. I'll disappoint you, you'll probably
disappoint me, just being honest. But it's because it's sin. We're
ate up with it. We're full of it. We're full
of it. We cannot love God like we ought
to. We don't love one another like
we ought to. But one day we will. One day we will. But until then,
we strive to, don't we? We strive to. We strive to love
one another. We strive to believe God more. I want to believe God
more. I do. And I will fail at it today,
but when I get up in the morning, I want to do it again. I want
to strive again. And it says, and Abraham built an
altar after he removed and went to where God had told him to.
He built an altar, and once again, he worshipped the Lord. He worshipped
the Lord. We cannot worship the Lord in
unbelief. Only as we believe God can we
worship the Lord. Only in obedience, now listen,
only in obedience can we truly worship the Lord. Only in obedience. Abraham believed God, he packed
up his tent and took off walking through the land, even though
he didn't own a piece of it. As far as driving stakes down,
building a house, Look over in Acts chapter, well, let me, we'll
close with this, but I think I've got the right scripture
in my mind. Look at Acts chapter 7. It said, then said the high priest,
in verse one, then said the high priest, are these things so?
And he said, this is Stephen speaking, men, brethren, and
fathers, hearken, the God of glory appeared unto our father
Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Koran, and
said unto him, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred
and come unto the land which I shall show thee. Then came
he out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Koran, and from
there From thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into
the land wherein you now dwell. And he gave him, God gave Abraham
none inheritance in it. No, not so much as to set his
foot on. Yet he promised that he would
give it to him for a possession and to his seed after him when
as yet he had no child. Abraham got up when God said,
arise, walk through the land. And he walked through that land
till he died. until he died. He didn't drive down, he didn't
build a, he built an altar to worship, but he didn't build
a house and a mansion or, you know what I'm saying? He didn't
build a name for himself or anything. And it tells us in Hebrews that
he was looking for a city whose builder, maker is God. That's
what he was looking for. What he was looking for was spiritual
and not physical. Not physical. Abraham looked
past the type and saw Christ. And he saw the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that, I do, I pray that the Lord would speak to us. Speak
to us this morning, speak to us every time we come together,
speak to us when we open his word, that he'd speak to us.
Make himself known to us. And he would be our treasure. that he would be our treasure. And that I would be able and
we would be able to just let these things go. I know we have
jobs to take care of and kids to raise and some do, somebody
raised them. I know that. But I know this. I know that no matter what I
have to do, I want my heart set on him. and your heart set on
him. This is temporary, but that's
eternal. All right.