I would almost call this part
two from this morning. Kind of go together. Genesis
17, verse 1. It says, When Abram was ninety years
old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I
am the Almighty God. Walk 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." Abram was 99 years old. He's getting to be an old
man, isn't he? That's getting up in years. It
says in verse 1, the Lord, Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, appeared to
Abram. The word there appeared is Abram
saw Him. Has any man seen the Father?
They haven't, have they? For any person to see the Lord,
they will see Him in the Lord Jesus Christ and only in Him.
This was Christ appearing to Abraham. And he's telling him
the same covenant promises that he's been telling him for 24
years. Each time he comes to him, he tells him the same thing.
The same gospels preached to him. And Abram fell on his face. Would
to God I could fall on my face every time I hear those precious
promises of the Lord. Just bow to Him. When we hear
this covenant of mercy that's found in Christ, the seed, singular,
that we could forsake all and worship Him. You get a hold of this, the Almighty
God, El Shaddai, speaks to men. He speaks to women, He speaks
to children, those that He comes to, bond or free, rich or poor,
it makes no difference. He speaks through His Word, but
only to those that fall on their faces. We've seen that consistency
from earlier. When that Spirit comes, what
happens? It's revealed to us whose presence
we're in, and we fall on our faces. And that's right to do
so. James told us, he said, you humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord. When you see Him, you humble.
The Lord said, you worship Him with fear and trembling. Only
those that are broken and a contrite heart will do so. David wrote
this to us. He said, the secret of the Lord
is with them that fear Him. that fear him, and he will show
them his covenant." He's making a covenant here with Abraham.
And he said, the Lord said, those that have this secret revealed
to them, it's those that fear him, and what is he going to
reveal? His covenant. His covenant of grace. Abraham
was mature. He was grown up. He was 99 years
old. 99 year old man. And the Lord
had told them of this covenant over and over again. Why did
the Lord appear in person and preach to Abram the same thing
each time? I dwelled on that for a while.
Abram forgot. I heard a man say it one time,
he said, I'll never forget the Lord. You just might. My security is not in me remembering
Him, it's in Him remembering me. His thoughts towards us were
He couldn't wait on the Lord. That's what got him and Sarah
in that mess with Hagar. Abram just couldn't keep the
promises of the Lord in the front of his mind. And he struggled
so much with waiting on the Lord. Does that sound like anybody
you know? Does that sound like me? Do I have those troubles? The Lord keeps reminding us over
and over, and the message does not change. We're not able. With man, it's impossible, and
He's able. Aren't you thankful? Aren't you
thankful? This covenant is with a man named
Abram. This actually took place. But
we're going to see, hopefully, at the end of this, this is a
covenant the Father made with the Son. Every bit of this is
a holy communion, holy conversation between the Father and the Son.
That's what's pictured here. There's no doubt that the Lord made a
covenant with Abram. And he made a covenant with a
nation, the Jews, the lineage of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He chose that national people.
He led them. He provided for them. He put
them in Egypt. God sent a famine. We don't know
much about what that is, do we? Might soon. God sent a famine. And you say, that's horrible.
Oh, it's so terrible. He didn't save his people. Sent
a famine to drive his people to Egypt. That's where Joseph
was. It was corn in Egypt, wasn't it? And God kept them there for
400 years. And then he made them come out.
What was the reason? He bore it all down. What was
the very last thing that happened? What was the reason that people
came out of Egypt? Because of the blood of the Passover
lamb. What was the only reason they was alive to walk out of
there? Because that blood was shed. That blood was shed. God chose a physical nation to
show his sovereignty in electing grace. His elect, His spiritual people.
They were pictured to us and to the world by this physical
nation. And not all the Jews were the
seed of Abraham. We know that, don't we? Only two of them, over
20 years old, entered the Promised Land after the wilderness. But
to show His power. The Lord said, I'll give nations
for you. I'll give people for you. To show His power, to show
His might, He sustained a nation on this earth. And He said, they're
going to be a nation before me forever. And you know what? It's
so. They're still there. Nobody's wiped them off the mat
yet. Physically, have they? What does that proclaim to us?
Do we go over and start worshiping them people? Well, you better
start donating money to Israel. Don't worry about the word of
the Lord here. Start sending your money overseas. It shows
us God's sovereign election and His preserving power. His preserving
power. They were a small population
and the whole world seemed against them. And they've been preserved
by a holy God. That's still the picture for
us. The Lord said, many are called, few are chosen. And just like
that rainbow we looked at before, we can walk outside whenever
them rains come in a few months, Lord willing, and see a rainbow.
We still have that picture. And the Lord teaches us through
His Word what that means, who that means. We can go out and
look at it. His incorruptible seed is of all nations, all kindreds,
all people, and all tongue. But we still have some illustrations
of who Christ is and what He does for undeserving worms like
me. Isn't that precious? Isn't that
a precious thing? Next week we'll be looking at
that picture the Lord gives in circumcision. In Romans 2, Paul
writes to us, he said, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly,
neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh.
He's a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God." A man didn't do that. God did it, didn't
He? These promises made to Abram,
they're all showing us the promises made in Christ Jesus before the
world was. Look down at verse 5, Genesis
17, 5. 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 at the language of this
covenant. If you have a law or something,
what language is it in? Because if it ain't in English,
I can't read it. How is it to be read? Look at the language
of the Lord's covenant. For a father of many nations
have I made thee, verse 6, 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. 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." What
part did Abraham have in that? What did he do? Turn over to
Galatians 3. We'll see this a little clearer. We looked at this about
two and a half years ago from Galatians and we turn back to
Genesis see what Paul was writing to the church at Galatia about,
and now we're going the opposite way. I hope the message is the
same, but the context is a little different. Galatians chapter
3. Paul writes to the church at
Galatia, here in Galatians chapter 3, verse 8, and the Scripture. foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith." Well, what were we talking about? Heathens.
Did you know that Abram was not a Jew? Israel had not been established
yet. He wasn't a Jew. He was born
Ur of the Chaldees. He was from Iraq, what we call
nowadays. He was an idolater for 75 years of his life. The Lord's showing us that no
one's a child of God because of who they are, who they were
born to, what nation they were born in. We're born of God. He's
going to justify the heathen through faith. Abram was a heathen.
And I'll tell you this too, and you can stand on it. All children
of God are heathens. You're his, you know you're a
heathen. We just saw it before, didn't we? We're convinced of
sin. We're reproved of sin. And people
say, well, I don't think that's right. Good people go to heaven. Oh, grandma was so good. She
was so nice. Let me tell you what God says.
We read that when we went through the Psalms. Psalm 2, verse 8.
The father spoke to the son. He said, ask of me and I shall
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. I don't want to
be a heathen. Well, keep trying and that will
work out good for you. It says in verse 8, "...and the
Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through
faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham." God preached the
Gospel to Abraham. How does God save sinners? Through
the preaching of His Word. That's what He says, isn't it?
God preached the Gospel to Abraham. God preached the Gospel to Adam
and Eve, didn't He? Who told you he was naked? What's
in fig leaves? That's going to wilt. What you
did to cover yourself ain't going to last. Bring me a lamb." And
he slew it and he tanned the hide and he robed them. He covered
them. He atoned for them. That was
a gospel preach to them, wasn't it? All men and women and children
that are saved are saved only one way by believing on the Lord
Jesus Christ. That Philippian jailer That's God's prophet. And they
brought him out and said, Serge, what must I do to be saved? And
they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. Paul tells us in Romans 10, so then faith cometh by hearing. and hearing by the Word of God."
That breath has to come. The Ghost has to come. The Spirit
has to come and breathe life. Verse 8, "...and the Scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached
before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations
be blessed. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham." All nations. What's that mean? Nicodemus, the Lord first come
to him and he said, for God so loved the world. He was a Sanhedrin. His pride was that he was a Jew. He just happened to come out
being born to the physical nation. And that's like the Lord hit
him where he lived. He was dealing with an individual
sinner, one of his children, and he hit him where he lived.
And the Lord says here through Abraham, all nations will be
blessed. Is there any nations you don't like? I've had a scuffle with one or
two of them. The Lord may have some children
there. That big scary nation everybody's worried about right
now, what are they doing? There's some children of God listening
to his preachers in that nation. In China and Russia and Ukraine
and wherever, whatever's going on, whichever side you can pick,
the Lord has a people there. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. Faith in who? What kind of faith
are we blessed with? Faith in Christ. Look at verse
14. Galatians 3.14. That the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith." That concerns me. You read that about the first
son, the prodigal son. You didn't read about the other
son. Well, that's where it hits me. That's the Gentiles, isn't
it? That other one's the Lord's physical nation. I'm a Gentile. I don't have these pictures and
types. I don't have a tabernacle to look at. I don't have a high
priest. I can't go in and smell what that blood smells like whenever
there's a sacrifice. It says words on a page. Tell
God's pleased to come to me. Reveal His Son. He made a covenant. It's His will. It's His doing,
isn't it? Look at verse 15. Bradford and
I speak after the manner of men. though it be but a man's covenant."
He said, I'm going to talk to you just like one guy talking to
another. I'm going to give you an illustration. Though it be a man's covenant,
if it be confirmed, no man disannoyeth or addeth thereto. If we go into
agreement and we spit on it and shake hands, I'm going to buy
your vehicle from you. And we thought it was paperwork. And
then I don't buy that vehicle from you. And the judge says,
you owe that person for that vehicle. He said, well, that's
right. I mean, they entered a covenant. They agreed upon it. You gave
your word. That used to mean something.
You gave your word. Nobody's going to add to it and say, well,
you've got to pay them double. Nobody's going to take away from it and
say, you don't have to pay it. We understand that, don't we? Verse 16, Now to Abram and his
seed were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one, and to thy seed, singular, which is Christ. Here's the good news. That covenant
was made. It cannot be missing out. It cannot be added to. And
it was made with Christ. Verse 17. And this I say, that
the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ. I thought he'd talk to Abram.
Maybe we ought to quit thinking and see what God has to say about
it. It was confirmed before of God in Christ. Now, speaking
of the law, that's the grace, the covenant of grace. The law,
which was 430 years after, cannot disannul, that it should make
the promise of none effect. That law everybody's worried
about. That law everybody's wrapped around an ax. We ought to have
10 commandments in the schools. Might want to learn something
about grace. We need to line them children
out as God tells us to teach them, train them up as they should
go, and they won't depart from it. But we need to learn something
about grace first, or we'll just have well-behaved children all
the way to hell. Why have the law then? If the law can't disannul
it, if the law can't undo this covenant of grace, that's the
first covenant. That's the first promise. Why have the law? Why do we have it? Verse 19 says,
Wherefore then serve the law? What's the purpose of it? It
was added because of transgressions. It was given because of sin.
Tell the seed, who we learn in Christ, Christ is the seed in
it. Tell the seed should come to whom the promise was made.
Who did the Lord make that promise to, that covenant? To Christ.
When? In Him, before time began. How
did we find out about it? He gave it to a man. And they
sent a man to explain it to us. Verse 24, wherefore the law was
our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ. That was that servant
that brought the children to school. He didn't teach them
nothing. He didn't provide for them. He didn't give them an
education. He just whipped them if they got out of line. Brought
them to school. What's our school? A schoolmaster
to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. We're justified by faith, not
the law. We're saved by grace, not by works. Verse 26, for ye
are all children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. That's how you're
a child. That's how you're born. That's
how the Spirit comes to you. It's the faithfulness of Christ. What's
my faith? He's faithful. That's it. It's His faith. Is my faith in Him? The faith
He gives is in Him. Yes, it is. Paul had room to
boast, didn't he? He told us, he said, I'm a Hebrew
of Hebrews. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. Touching the law,
I'm blameless. I'll circumcise anything. You
can't hold nothing against me." No man could get him on the outside.
He should have run for politics. He was. You can't hold nothing
to him. And he said, but I counted all
but dung. That was plain terms in those
days. We don't have plainer terms in our days. It's just a pile
of dung that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Be found
in Him. He tells us over in Romans 9,
So then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that shows mercy. That's the covenant. Our Lord
wrote through John and said, Those which were born, not of
blood, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. Verse 27 there in Galatians 3 says, For as many of you as
have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free.
There is neither male nor female. For ye are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are
ye Abraham's seed. So they started with that seed
and they got away from it and told you who Christ is and what
he did for his people. And He says, now that you know
Him, now you can understand this covenant with physical Abraham. You get it? And heirs according
to what? The promise. According to the
covenant. Everything God said to Abraham, He said to Christ
long before time was. We get a hold of that? That covenant
He gave. It was confirmed in God, in Christ, before time was. This is the covenant between
the Father and the Son. What has that got to do with us? Everything
that the Father said to Christ, He says to all those that are
in Christ. He doesn't love His eldest son
any less or more than He loves His youngest son. Does the Father
love the Son? All that are in Him love the
exact same. What a thought! Now back in our text. Genesis
17. Let's look at this as a picture
of Christ. Everything that was said to Abraham was said to Christ.
That's what's happening here. This is a conversation we're
allowed to enter into. And do you know how few people
enter into these things? I mean, this is Greek to many,
most of the world. Very few. A remnant. enter into
these things. The Lord has blessed us immensely
to see His Son. I don't get a hold of that as
I ought to. I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into
the house of the Lord. Why? I got brothers and sisters
there that see Him too and I want to hear about Him. Do you know
what you can do for the orphans downtown? We'll worry about that
later. I want to hear Him. We're going
to open up a soup kitchen. I ain't worried about no soup
kitchen. I need to drink of Him. This is precious. Let's read
this passage. There's the Father speaking to the Son about that
covenant of grace. Verse 1. And when Abram was ninety
years old and nine, that's old, isn't it? How old was Christ
when this covenant was made? This is the eternal God speaking
to the eternal Son, isn't it? He always has been. The Lord
appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the mighty God. Walk
before me and be thou perfect." You have to have a body to walk,
don't you? Was a body prepared for him? Walk before me and be
thou perfect. Christ is our covenant head.
He came to this earth and He walked before the Father under
His own holy law and He walked perfect. He walked perfect and
it must be perfect. Every jot and every tittle of
the law must be kept in perfection. Well, I think that's good enough.
What you think don't matter. It has to be perfect as God says
it's perfect. That's what we read in Leviticus 22. It says,
Whosoever offer the sacrifice of peace offerings unto the Lord
to accomplish his vow, it shall be perfect to be accepted. There shall be no blemish therein.
None. Well, if it's a blemish, you
can't see because it's on the inside. He said none. No blemish. Mankind don't really like that.
We like living in a gray area, don't we? In the military, we
had a thing called go-no-go. You do a test or perform a function,
and you either passed or you failed. There was no letter grades.
You didn't get a B plus, you know. And so I had a colonel
one time, and he had to disassemble a pistol and put it back together
blindfolded. And this was his idea. He come up with it. and
I was running that station. So he put his blindfold on and
he took it apart and he put it back together and he did a function
check and he did it wrong. And I said, no go, do it again. And
he flipped that blindfold over and said, what are you talking
about? I said, you didn't do it right. He said, yeah I did.
I said, no you didn't. He had to start over, didn't he? You
either did it perfect or you didn't do it. God requires perfection. We don't have that, do we? We
can't offer perfection in ourselves. You and I can't do that. None
are righteous. No! Not one! We are unable and we are unwilling. We aren't willing to do it. Christ, our representative, our
covenant head, He willingly came to this corrupt earth and He
honored the Father in all things perfectly. David wrote to us
and said, Who shall ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who shall
stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, you
ever do anything wrong? He that hath a pure heart, you ever thought
anything? Wasn't just up to par? Had a blemish? Who has not lifted
up his soul into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully? That's Him, not me. That's Him,
not me. I must be in Him. And you know
that's speaking of everyone that's in Christ. Those that the Father
put in Him before the time began. Those that the Father established
His covenant of grace for. You have clean hands. You have
a pure heart. You've never lifted up your soul
to vanity. You've always covered Him when He was naked. You've
always visited Him in jail. You've always gave Him to drink
when He was thirsty. You've never sworn deceitfully.
Lord, when have we done those things? He said, if you've done
it to the least of these children, you've done it to me. That's
going to be His work. You consider the willingness
of our Lord. I can't get over that. Does this
world offend you? Have you ever watched a movie
and you're just like, oh man, I don't like watching that movie.
Turn that off. Have you ever read a book you don't want to
read and you're like, oh, throw that away. People. Have you ever
been offended by people or somebody's actions? Does sin offend you?
Does your own sin offend you? Imagine the holy God, man. We drink iniquity like water.
We're wetter than fish are. The holy God man came to this
earth. You think it's offensive to Him?
And He has a true handle on what sin is. Because He has a true
handle on what holiness is. Because He's holy. It can't be
in His presence. What a pain that would be. He'd be willing every day. He
was our covenant head and few people know this. Adam was our
covenant head too. At first Adam, we fell in him. That's what Paul said, for by
one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. That a sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the Father and the Son
talking, isn't it? Look here at verse 2. And I will make my
covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. He's going to multiply him. What's
that mean? That's an old preacher of times past, of another generation,
not for this one. And he said the Lord looked one
morning on His perfect, holy Son, and in love, He said, I'm
going to make a whole people, a whole multitude just like Him.
He'd fight predestination tooth and toenail where I come from.
That means you're going to be conformed to the image of Christ.
Don't you want to be conformed to His image? You're going to
be made just like Him. That seed, His incorruptible
seed put in you, breathed on by the Spirit, is what's going
to grow. He's going to abide in His people. Verse 3 says, And Abraham fell
on his face. He humbled himself. Christ humbled
Himself, didn't He? Philippians 2.8 says, "...being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross." The only one that had a right
to stand up and complain never did. Why? It ought to be our
example. It ought to be my example. It
says, "...and God talked with him." He fell on his face and
God talked with him. We'll look at this in a couple
more weeks when we get to John 14. But he and his father are
one. They had communion with one another.
They spoke to one another. He told his disciples, he said,
I'll pray to the Father. He didn't say I'll pray to the
Father. I can't wait to enter into that. I hope we can in a
month or two. He said, I'll pray to the Father.
What's that mean? We're at Lazarus' tomb. That
one that the Lord loved died. Martha and Mary were sitting
there crying. The Lord came. He wept. And he cried out loud. He said, I know that Thou hearest
me always, Father. I know You always hear me. The
Lord always hears His children. We don't always hear for Him,
do we? He said, Lord, I know Thou hearest me always, but because
of the people which stand by for their sakes, I said it, that
they may believe that Thou hast sent me. Why did He say that
out loud? He told us. He said, I'm just
saying this out loud so they'll believe. That they'll know. I'm
going to tell them and then they're going to see it. That's what's
going to happen. He and His Father. His Father hears to Him always.
Do you know what? There was a time. It was three
hours on this earth and He didn't hear Him. He was forsaken of
God. God forsook God. Darkness was
upon the face of the earth. for three hours. Why? So that
you could believe. So that I could believe. He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Did he not know why? He came
for this hour. He said it out loud so we could
understand he was forsaken. He said it out loud so we could
understand that me, the noun, sin, became him and I became
him. He was made sin, and we were
made His righteousness. Verse 4 says, and 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. Abraham is exalted, lifted up. Or Abram is exalted. Abraham
is being used. If the Lord's going to use us,
He's going to knock us off our high horse, isn't He? Make us
bow, and then we'll be useful. We ain't just going to be servants
sitting idly by, and a lazy boy, watching stuff on TV. He said
they would be profitable servants. Our elder brother, oh, what a
profitable servant he was. When Isaiah arrived, he was given
a name, wasn't he? He said, and this is the name,
he shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father. He's the Father of many nations.
His name is the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And He says,
of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no
end. He will multiply Him. He will increase Him. He said,
if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. The Father is faithful. And the Father is the Lord Jesus
Christ. They're one. They're one. Are we given a new
name? The Lord came to Peter. He came
to Simon and said, Your name is Peter. He came to Saul and
said, Your name is Paul. He came to Jacob, Israel. Are
we given Christ's name? He is the Lord our righteousness.
That's His name. Then we read later on in Jeremiah,
it says, And this is the name wherewith she shall be called,
the Lord our righteousness. That's our surname given by Him.
Verse 6 says, I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and will
make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. What
kings come out of Him? Well, there was David. We can go on
a long time about that. Solomon, all these great kings
throughout we have recorded, don't we? He's made us kings
and priests. That's what we read in Revelation.
He's made us kings and priests unto God and His Father. Isaiah said, He shall see His
seed and shall prolong His days and the pleasure of the Lord
shall prosper in His hand. He said, You will be exceedingly
fruitful. You shall prosper. What do we read in the New Testament? He will lose not one. Everyone
put in His hand. He ain't going to lose one of
them. He shall prosper. He shall save His people. Ha! Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. That's exceeding
fruitful. The Son of Man must die. Here's the language. We're made
lowercase kings. In Revelation 1-6, we're made
in Him kings and priests. That's lowercase k. He's the
King of Kings, isn't He? The Lord of Lords. Here's the
language of that great covenant again. Verse 7, And I will establish
My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee and their
generations for an everlasting covenant. How long is that covenant
going to last? Everlasting. From generation
to generation. Does that mean it changes? Well,
we're in the post-millennia era. What? Calm down, buddy. That covenant of grace was the
same yesterday, today, and forever. Why? Because the God of that
covenant is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Everlasting covenant. To be a
God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. Verse 8 says, And
I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the land
wherein thou art a stranger. What land is that? We're strangers
from God, ain't we? We're strangers from His kingdom.
We're that son that had everything and ran away in our father Adam
and brought back by our covenant head Christ. Because that's who we sinned
against. So I will give you the land where there are no stranger
at all, the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and
I will be their God. What's this covenant? God does
everything. We are given everything. He paid everything. We're brought
to be in His presence, and He's our God. Why in the world would somebody pick
on me for that? Swing away, buddy. If you can't enter into it, I
hate it for you. I do. I pray for you. That is majestic,
isn't it? We're talking about love. Not
one thing was asked of Abraham. And is there going to be a response?
You better believe it. You better believe it. He's going
to be a profitable servant. But not one thing was asked of
him. It's not an if-then statement. It's not, if you do this, then
I'll do that. He said, I'm going to do this. Period. That covenant
of grace is God saying, I will and Christ shall. That's it. That's called salvation. That's
how God saves sinners. He performs it. David's precious
final words ought to teach us a whole lot. It ought to set
our attitudes, and it ought to teach us what to look for, what
to pray for, and everything else. He said, although my house be
not so with God. Wasn't he just a wonderful, shining
example of a mature believer? His house was in shambles, wasn't
it? All his sons tried to kill him, and call that wife much
of a wife. Horrible things. The Lord said,
don't you number Israel, and he did it anyway, didn't he?
He said, My house is not so with God, yet He hath made with Me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things. It's full. That covenant is full. There's
nothing added to it, nothing to take away from it. And sure, it's
ordered in all things, and sure, for this is all My salvation.
Him doing it is the only hope I have, and I don't want anything
else. and all my desire, although He make it not to grow." What
does it mean He doesn't make it to grow? Well, physically,
His house wouldn't, as David had prayed for it, but do you
ever see this covenant mercy? And you see Him who willingly
came to the sin-cursed earth and laid down His life for it,
and you say, I want to know Him more. I know Him. You know Him. You know Him. You want to know
Him more? Nearer still nearer my lord.
I want to be nearer to him, don't you? And it doesn't feel like
it's growing, does it? Have you ever felt when he's
growing, when he's a teenager, and you can feel you growing
in your arms? I remember that right there on
my forearms, man. That ached. I shot up several inches one
summer. Oh boy, it hurt. And I was like, I don't know
if I want to grow anymore. I think I'm tall enough. If we feel it growing, boy, it's
going to be painful. And it feels most of the time like we're not
growing. But just like my children, I'm with them every day. I don't
see a difference. And then you go away for a week, and it seems
like it shot up two or three inches. There's growth taking
place, but it sure doesn't feel like it does. So what do we do?
Just rely on Him for all of our salvation. Pray He makes us desire
Him. Amen.