to Psalm 139. We're going to
read that first, and then we will go back to Genesis chapter
18 for the message today. Psalm 139. This is a text of
scripture that you, I'm sure, have read before many times. It's an amazing An amazing thing in scripture,
what God has said here about His knowledge of His saints,
and of His presence with them, and then of His power to save
them according to His eternal purpose. It's all in Psalm 139,
and I just want to read this with you, maybe make a few comments.
Before we do though, let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we pray that
your word would so penetrate our heart that you would do what
we cannot do, what all outward words cannot do, they cannot
penetrate this heart, this stubborn, cold heart of ours, unless you
open our heart, like you did Lydia, and pour into us your
truth concerning your Son, concerning your eternal purpose and love
for your people. And we find in you all, our all,
in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Psalm 139, I'm going to read
through this. It says in verse 1, O Lord, thou
hast searched me and known me. When we search for things, it's
because we don't know about them, we're trying to remove our lack
of understanding by a better understanding that we would get
by searching. God doesn't have to search to
know. When God knows all things without
searching, he knows without effort, he just knows all things. Thou
has searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting
and mine up rising. When we sit down, when we rise
up in the morning, when we stop work, when we begin work, when
we sit down to meditate, when we rise up to go about the work
we've thought about. The Lord knows that. Thou understandest
my thought afar off. Our parents know what we're thinking
by looking at our face and our eyes. God knows what we're going
to think before we think it. For there is not a word in my
tongue, but lo, O LORD, thou knowest it all together. You
know every word, spoken and unspoken. You know why I speak, you know
what I say, you know why I said it, you know what I didn't say
and why I didn't say it." Verse 5, "...thou hast beset me behind
and before, and laid thine hand upon me." This is a word of special
grace. Before we ever had a being. Before all that we do, God is
there. Before and behind. He comes behind. And He sees what we've done.
And He sees His Son. And he looks upon him and receives
us for Christ's sake. He forgives us. He blots out
our iniquity. Verse 6, such knowledge is too
wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain to
it. This is true of everything about
God. Think of anything about God and you will find yourself
way over your head. The very first things about God
are beyond us unless he makes himself known. Verse 7, whither
shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? There's nowhere. If I ascend
up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, jumping on the rays
of the sun and shooting out the farthest place in creation, even
there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold
me. And if I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, Even
the night shall be light about me, yea, the darkness hideth
not from thee. But the night shineth as the
day, the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. If God
created the light, if God creates both light and darkness, and
if he created our eye, he can see just as well with light or
without light. His light is the only way we
see light. God sees everything in His mind
more clearly than we see with our eyes at noonday. Verse 13. For thou hast possessed my reins,
my inward parts. God owns our inner parts, the
inner parts of His people, what we feel, what we think, what
we do, and all that is right. Now has covered me in my mother's
womb before anyone saw me, the Lord saw me, and covered me there.
I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret
and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. The
lowest parts of the earth is simply another way of referring
to in my mother's womb. Thine eyes did see my substance,
yet being unperfect, and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were none of
them. Everything about me was perfectly in God's mind before
I had a being. How precious are thy thoughts
unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
God's thoughts of His people are numberless. They're infinite. And think about that. God, His
thoughts, just one of His thoughts, how great it is, and yet His
thoughts are infinite towards His people. If I should count
them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake,
I am still with thee. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked,
O God. Depart from me therefore, you
bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies
take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that
hate thee? And am not I grieved with those
that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. And
this is speaking of all who hate the Lord Jesus Christ. Search me, O God, and know my
heart. Try me, and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way of everlasting." He hates the wicked. And so he asked God,
search me, so that he might hate that which is in himself, which
is opposed to God, in all of his grace. Now let's turn back
to Genesis chapter 18. That's the text of our scripture,
of our sermon today. Genesis chapter 18. We're going
to only read three verses here. The first verse is going to be
in verse 16. If you recall what had happened
before in Genesis 16, I mean Genesis 18, God had spoken to
Abraham and to... I'm in the wrong chapter, no
wonder. Genesis 18. He said he had spoken to Abraham
and to Sarah that they were going to have a son within the year.
And now he speaks to Abraham again as he's departing. He came
to Abraham in the form of three men. He gave his promise to Abraham
so that Sarah could hear it while she was in the tent. And when
she heard, she laughed. And the Lord told her that she
had laughed and asked Abraham why she laughed. And she denied
it. And God spoke to them and said, is there anything too hard
for the Lord? And then he rises up, these three men rise up to
leave. And it says in verse 16, And
the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom. And
Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. That's the first
verse I want you to consider. Abraham brings these three men,
the Lord had appeared by these three men, to Abraham. And Abraham
is leading them out, going with them as they're departing. And
then in verse 17 it says, And the Lord said, Shall I hide from
Abraham that thing which I do? seeing that Abraham shall surely
become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed in him. Verse 19. For I know him, that
he will command his children and his household after him,
and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment,
that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken
of him. Those are the three verses I
want to consider with you today. Think about these things. Abraham
is called in scripture, the friend of God. And as a friend, Abraham
rises up when he sees them, he runs to them, he prepares for
them, he watches over them as they eat. And then as they're
leaving, he escorts them out and he walks with them. This
is what you do to your friend. This is what you do as a servant. He was serving the Lord in what
he did. The food he prepared, standing
by, looking after their needs, seeing them on their way. making
sure they had all they needed to go where they were headed,
and listening to their word, hanging on their word, delighting
in being with them, delighting especially that he could see
them partake of the food he had prepared. They had allowed him
to bring this food and they ate it. And so this, we saw in our
last sermon on this chapter, shows us the believer's delight
in seeing God's delight in His offering of His Son. And this
is what we have fellowship with God over. The offering of Christ,
as we saw in the first part of this chapter. But then it says
in verse 17 that the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that
thing which I do? Now, this is an amazing thing.
This is the God of all the earth. The God of heaven and earth.
He knows everything. There's nothing that He doesn't
see. At all times, nothing He doesn't
see. His counsels are His own. Nobody
influences God. He does what He does at all times
in every place. And yet, He's pleased to disclose
to Abraham what He's thinking. What He's about to do. Why would
he do this? Because Abraham was his friend.
He's going to make known his work to Abraham before he does
it. That's an important thing. And
we're going to look at that in a little more detail. I want
you to look at Psalm 25, verse 14. See how the Lord speaks of
all of His people in this way. This is the way God works with
men. Works with His own. We saw in
Psalm 139, God's thoughts for His own are infinite. They are
intimate. They are distinguishing. They
are eternal. They are always there. Always
with Him. And they're in Christ. In Psalm
25 and verse 14 it says, "...the secret of the Lord is with them
that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant." The secret
of the Lord. What is the secret of the Lord
that He shows His people? His covenant. His eternal purpose
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that purpose is to save a
people, to have them as his own, his sons, to bring them to glory,
to give them all things with Christ that he's given to his
son. In reward for his own son's obedience, he gives it to them.
Eternal glory. And this is what he reveals to
his people. And so he says, shall I hide
from Abraham that thing which I do? God makes known himself
to his people and he makes himself known in a way that is always
concerning what they are and what he's done for them in Christ.
What condescending grace this is. Think about the infinite
God. His thoughts are so far above
ours. It says in Isaiah 55, my thoughts are not your thoughts,
my ways are not your ways. As high as the heaven is above
the earth, so high are my thoughts above your thoughts. And yet
the Lord makes known His purpose to us, His eternal purpose in
the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot know God's mind unless
God makes known His mind to us. Isn't that the way the scripture
reveals to us the purpose of God? Look in 1 Corinthians 2. In verse 9 it says this about
God's will and purpose for His people. He says in 1 Corinthians
2. It is written, I hath not seen
nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things
which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yea, the deep things of God. God's Spirit searches the deep
things of God and no one else can. For what man knoweth the
things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even
so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. How do we know God? He makes
Himself known. and we can't know him otherwise.
In fact, it says in Romans 3, we're not even inclined to seek
after God. No man seeks after God. And Jesus
said this in Matthew chapter 11. He said in Matthew 11 verse
25, when those men who heard him did not receive him, didn't
receive his words, he says, at this time, all these cities that
he went to and did all these miracles and they rejected him.
He says at this time in Matthew 11, 25, Jesus answered and said,
I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and has
revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight." God's mind is revealed only according to
his sovereign will. It seemed good in God's purpose
to hide the things of himself from the wise and prudent and
yet to reveal them unto babes. Doesn't that humble you? It ought
to humble us. It ought to put us on our face
in the dust and say, oh God, I am a proud, I am one of those
who in my own self-conceit think I am wise and prudent when I
have nothing before you. Make yourself known to me. Share
your thoughts. Share your plans. Show me your
purposes. Show me the Lord Jesus Christ.
Include me in your fellowship as your intimate friend like
Abraham. The Lord told Abraham in the
first part of Genesis 18 that he was going to have a son, Isaac,
and through his son Isaac all the nations of the earth would
be blessed in God's Son who would be born through Isaac, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so God was telling Abraham
about his salvation of his people by the Lord Jesus Christ and
how from all nations of the earth God would gather a people to
himself and save them by his own son who would be born through
Abraham. In other words, God was revealing
in the first part of Genesis 18 his eternal purpose in Christ
to save his people from their sins and to bring them to himself
through the Lord Jesus. And now he's going to do something
else. He's going to judge the wicked.
And yet he reveals that to Abraham as well. And this is what Jesus
did all the time he was on the earth. He revealed God's salvation
to his disciples, but he also revealed the judgment that he
would bring on the earth. And so this makes us very solemn
before God, doesn't it? It creates in us a great level
of respect and awe. On the one hand, that God can
do with us as we deserve, and we can't do anything about it. And ourselves, we're sinners.
We deserve all that God would bring, even on Sodom and Gomorrah.
But here we see that God has chosen to reveal Himself to Abraham
in a way of grace, in a way of saving purpose, in a way of eternal
inheritance. And it's all in the Lord Jesus
Christ, in His Son who would be born to Him. That's an amazing
thing. And so we see this. Both God's
grace is revealed and God's truth is revealed. His mercy and His
justice. All of it revealed to His servant,
Abraham. God doesn't hide His works and
His ways from His people. He reveals them to them. In John
chapter 14, look at this with me. Notice the intimacy with
which the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to his disciples in John chapter
14. In John 14 verse 24, he's about
to go to the cross, and from there to the grave, and from
the grave to rise again, and then to ascend to heaven, and
to take his place on the right hand of God, ruling over all
things. And he's thinking of his disciples,
and he's going to tell them what he's going to do. He's leaving
them in his body, but he's coming again for them. In John chapter
14, he says in verse 16, I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another comforter. that he, this other Comforter,
the Lord, the Spirit of God, might abide with you forever,
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but you know him. For he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." This is the Lord
Jesus speaking to His disciples while He's on the earth. He says
He is with you and He shall be in you. He's with them in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ while He's standing there talking.
And when He goes to heaven, the Lord Jesus is going to send His
own Spirit to them. To dwell in them. He'll be in
you. Verse 18. I will not leave you
comfortless. I will come to you. What a word
that is. Comfortless means orphans. I'm
not going to leave you as orphans. I'm going to come to you. In
my own spirit, I'm coming to you. When I rise and ascend to
heaven, I'm going to send the Spirit of God, the Spirit of
Christ, the Spirit of God's dear Son, and He's going to come to
you. I will come to you in my Spirit. Verse 19, "...yet a little
while, and the world seeth me no more." Because He's going
to the cross. "...but you see me, Because I live, you shall
live also. Just because I live, you shall
live also. Isn't that amazing? We are so
united to Christ that whatever happens to Him, happens to His
people. We're one with Him. He's the
head, we're the body. He's the husband, we're the bride.
Where He is, we're there with Him. What He did, we did in Him. And what God gives to Him, He
gives to us with Him. Because I live, you shall live
also. And then verse 20. At that day,
you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I
in you. We wonder, is it true that we
are one with the Lord Jesus Christ? Just listen to these words, you
in me, I in you, by my Spirit. He that hath my commandments,
and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him. And listen,
I will manifest myself to him. I'll make myself known to him.
This is grace, isn't it? I'm going to the cross. I'm going to heaven. I'm going
to be seated there to rule over all things, sending my own spirit
to you. And he's going to be with you
and in you. And I'm going to make myself known to you. I'm
going to make myself known to you." Judas, not Iscariot, said,
Lord, how is it that thou will make yourself known or manifest
yourself to us and not to the world? Because he was thinking
in some physical way. And Jesus answered and said to
him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my father
will love him. And listen to these words, and
we I and my Father will come to him and make our abode with
him. Now that's intimate, isn't it? He that loveth me not keepeth
not my sayings, and the word which you hear is not mine, but
the Father's which sent me. That's an amazing thing, isn't
it? Just as the Father reveals, just as a father You fathers,
you know that you want to make yourself known to your children.
You want to make yourself known to them, don't you? You want
to show them what is dear to you. You want to teach them.
You want them to have all the benefit of your life, your learning,
and especially what God has taught you. You want that for your children,
and so you talk to them. You think about what they're
saying and you look and you observe them and you try to bring a word
in due season. A word that teaches them and
reveals to them not only what you're thinking, but what your
Father, your Heavenly Father, has taught you. And how much
more does God the Father do for His children? He makes Himself
known. And how does He do that? Jesus, the Lord Jesus, is the
revelation of God. He's the one. And so he makes
himself known in the Lord Jesus Christ. God makes himself known in many
ways to us. but especially in His Son. Everything
He makes known to us that is endearing to us, He's made known
to us in His Son. He makes known His eternal purpose
in Christ. In Ephesians 3.11, God's eternal
purpose is in Christ. And He also makes known how He
will hold the wicked accountable for hating His Son. In 2 Thessalonians,
verse 1, I'll just read this to you. You don't have to turn
there if you don't want to, but 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse
6, it says, It is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you. It's a righteous thing.
You, who trouble my children, it's a righteous thing for God
to visit them with trouble. He says, "...and to you who are
troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed
from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance
on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory
of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints
and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony
among you was believed in that day." When we believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, we admire Him. We admire God. We think of Him. Because He's
made Himself known in this saving love, in this eternal purpose.
And that He judged our enemies and saved us when we deserved
to be with them. The Lord makes known His secrets
to His people. He will show them His covenant. And this is an amazing thing.
Jesus prays to his father in John 17. If you want to look
there, listen to what he says. God makes himself known to his
people. And He knows them. In John 17,
in verse 20, look what He says here. Jesus is praying as our
High Priest to His Father, and He says, Neither pray I for these,
not these twelve disciples alone, or these eleven actually. Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe
on Me through their word, that they all, these eleven, all who
believe on me, may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, because he has gathered his
own from the world. In the glory which thou gavest
me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one.
the glory of God, the faith that allows us to see God's glory
in our salvation, He's made it known to His people. I in them,
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them as thou hast loved me. Those words are above all understanding,
aren't they? That God the Father would love
His own, His people, as He has loved His Son, That's what Jesus
prays here, that we might know that he has loved us as he has
loved his son. Verse 24, Father, the Lord Jesus
prays, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am. Why? That they may behold my
glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the
foundation of the world. Oh, righteous Father, the world
hath not known thee, But I have known thee, and these have known
that thou hast sent me, and I have declared unto them thy name. I have declared unto them thy
name. I've made you known to them. And I will declare it, that the
love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in
them." What is he talking about here? He's talking about this
intimate disclosure of his own father to his people in love. His love that led Him to come
and to give Himself for His people. Now the Lord does not savingly
know all men, although He knows us. He knows all men. There's
nothing hid from God. It says in Jeremiah 17, 9 and
10 that the Lord searches all the hearts of men. He knows all
men in that way. But not in a way of saving knowledge. Not in a way of love. Not in
a way of grace. We just read in Matthew 11.25
that it pleased God to hide these things from the wise and prudent
and to reveal them to babes. But in Matthew chapter 7, in
verse 23, Jesus says on the last day to many, many, He says, I
never knew you. I never knew you. Depart from
me, you that work iniquity. I never knew you." Think about
those words. Doesn't it cause you in your
own heart to say, Lord, that is the most frightening thing
I could ever hear. That you would say to me, I never
knew you. Depart from me. That one thing
in life and in death and for eternity that I long to have
is to understand and know my Savior and His love for me. And
yet, he says to many, I never knew you. So the Lord's love,
His saving knowledge of men, is not universal. It's not towards
all men. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 19, it
says, The Lord knows His own. The foundation of God standeth
sure. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. God knows His own. He knows His
sons. It says in Hebrews chapter 12,
Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. Therefore, if he doesn't chasten
you, he doesn't love you. You're not his. And Jesus said
this in John chapter 10, verse 14, I am the good shepherd, and
know my sheep, and am known of mine. I know my sheep, and I'm
known of them. They know me because I know them.
I've made myself known to them. And then later on in John 10
verse 27, he says, I know my sheep, I call them, they know
me, they hear my voice, and they follow me. This is the way of
God's grace. He knows His people. We just
read Psalm 139, God's intimate knowledge of His people. His
thoughts towards His people are numberless, eternal, intimate,
distinguishing, and love. a love of care, going behind,
going in front of, his hand upon me, whether I rise, ascend to
heaven, whether I go down to hell, whether I shoot out across
the sea to the farthest part of creation, even there shall
thy hand be on me, thy right hand shall hold me. This is that
intimate knowledge. Lord, you have searched me and
known me. You have known me. How does God
know us? He knows us because He's our Creator. He knows all
of our thoughts. But He knows His people in a
way of love. And that can only be knowing
us in Christ. Remember Ephesians 1.4? Before
the foundation of the world, He has chosen us in Him. That's
how He knows His people. He knows us in Christ. So Psalm
139 is really a summary of God's knowledge of His people in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He knew His Son. When he brought
him into the world, the Lord Jesus said, Abadi, thou hast
prepared me. Fearfully and wonderfully made.
And those words apply to him, but to all of his people with
him. His thoughts toward his son and his saving purpose were
infinite. Beyond penetration, beyond our
understanding. Because God's thoughts towards
his people from eternity have always been infinite thoughts. Thoughts of love and saving grace.
That's the way God knows His people. How do we know God? How do we
know Him? Well, we know Him from His Word.
We know Him from creation. We know Him especially by His
Spirit. We can only know God by His Spirit.
If you think about it, I was thinking about this last night.
I often do this on Saturday nights. I toss and turn because I've
just been working all day and thinking about these things.
Then I go to bed and I can't sleep very well. But I was thinking
about this. What's the difference between people, human beings,
and animals? Have you ever thought about that?
You think about, well, animals are very loyal to their master.
Some of them are. Anna was telling me they had
a rabbit once that would come when they whistled. That's interesting. But you know dogs. Dogs are very
loyal. And even other animals have been
tamed by men. And those animals show a certain
amount of affection towards people. But what's the difference between
animals and people? It is that God has designed and
created us to know God. To know God. And yet, it says
in Romans 3, no man seeketh after God. There's none that understandeth.
In our natural selves we don't know God. He has to make himself
known. But it pleases him to make himself
known to us. in His saving grace in Christ.
And that, according to the Lord Jesus, is eternal life. Look at John 17, if you're still
there. In verse 2, Jesus said, "...as
thou hast given Him," the Lord Jesus Himself, He's speaking
of Himself, "...as Him, as thou hast given Him power over all
flesh, God the Father gave to His Son authority over all people
on earth. In order that, He says, He should
give eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him. Given Him to be His. Given Him
to save. Given Him to have as His own
inheritance. Given Him to love. Given Him
to make Himself known to. given Him so that He would give
to them what God had given to Him. When He ascended up to heaven,
He gave gifts to men. He ascended in order that He
might give to them. And He says, He gives eternal
life to as many as God has given Him. And this is life eternal,
that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom Thou hast sent. To know God is eternal life. What do we know of God? It says
in the New Covenant, they shall all know me, from the least to
the greatest. What do we know of Him? Have
you ever wondered, Lord, you said that if I found grace in
your sight, I would know you. What do I know? I like what John
Newton said at the end of his life. He says, I've forgotten
almost everything I've known, I've ever learned. There's only
two things I really remember well. And this is true of everyone
taught of God. He said, I am a great sinner. That's the first lesson we're
taught. And Jesus Christ is the great
savior of great sinners. And that is what God teaches
his people. Jesus said in his prayer in John
17, they have known, these have known, I've given them your words
and they have known that you sent me. That's what we know. We know that God has sent His
Son. That we might live through Him. To be the propitiation for
our sins. To reconcile us to God by His
death. To clothe us in His righteousness,
which He established by His obedience. That's how we know God. We know
Him as our substitute. We know Him in His saving mercy,
don't we? We know that God is merciful
to sinners for Christ's sake. Luke 18, 13, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. We know, like Paul said, this
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. We know our only standing before
God is what He provided for us in Christ and what He received
from Christ and has accepted from Christ for us. That's all
we have. It's what God has given us in
Christ. As sinners we have nothing. We
have every reason to expect judgment from God against ourselves. We
have no knowledge of God. We're ignorant. We're foolish.
We've deliberately sinned at the foot of His throne in His
own presence. And He knows it. And yet He has
covered our sins in the blood of His Son. And established a
perfect righteousness for us in Him. And we know something
about that, don't we? We know that He has been merciful
to us in our unrighteousness and our sins and iniquities.
For Christ's sake, He has remembered no more. That's what we know
of Him. We know His name is Jesus, for
He shall save His people from their sins. And knowing these
things, knowing this intimacy of God, that He would give His
only begotten Son for us, to have us for Himself as His inheritance,
We depend upon Him, and we depend on Him alone to save us to the
uttermost, to bring us to Himself, and to present us in the presence
of His glory, righteous and holy, according to His eternal purpose
in Christ. Don't you depend on Him to do
that? If you think, somehow, that you're going to help God
in order to accomplish these things, then you don't know your
own ignorance and your own sinfulness. God has to do His purpose. He has to bring it about. Now,
go back to Genesis chapter 18. And look at these things. We
saw how God, how Abraham escorted these three men. The Lord had
come to him and he wanted to hang on their every word. He
wanted to make sure they had everything they needed for the
rest of their journey. He wanted to bid them farewell. He wanted
to express his desire to see them again soon. Just like you
do to your friend. And serve them like Abigail.
Let me be the servant to wash the feet of the servants of my
Lord. His highest privilege to serve His God and Savior. And
now, and He had revealed Himself to Abraham in the coming of Christ. And in verse 17 we just looked
at this. The Lord said, We understand
that now, don't we? God would bring Christ through His seed. And
in Christ, God would bless all the nations of the earth. And now look at verse 19. God says, for I know him. I know him. That's a comforting
thing, isn't it? It's a terror. It's a terror
to a self-righteous man that God knows you. It's a terror. It's a terror to a man in his
sins that God knows you. But it is not a terror to God's
people, who know that He knows us in Christ, savingly, with
eternal love. That's not a terror. But notice,
He says, I know Him, that He will command His children and
His household after Him, and they shall keep the way of the
Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon
Abraham that which He hath spoken of Him. I read that verse and
there are some things that are very much on the surface there.
Abraham is going to command his children and his household after
him to keep the way of the Lord in justice and judgment. And
then God is going to bring upon Abraham all that he promised.
That's clear. But isn't it a mystery when you
look at that verse that God speaks about Abraham and he says, I
know him. I know him, that he will do this,
he will command his children in his household after him, and
that he will command them to do justice and judgment, that
the Lord may bring upon him that which he spoke." Isn't it a mystery?
that God would say, speaking of Abraham, as if Abraham was
acting, and thinking, and doing, and speaking. And God was knowing
what he's going to do, and therefore God was going to act according
to his word. Isn't that a mystery? Don't you
find that an imperceptible mystery? I don't know how else to describe
it. God knows all things. Of course he knew who Abraham
was. He knew, was Abraham somehow
independent of God? Did he somehow act in his life
in a way that was as an independent orb and God had to look and see
where he's going? There, I know he's going to do
this so I can do that. Is that the way it was? Doesn't
that strike you as a curious thing? Isn't that something that
you, is knowledge too high for us? How God created man, even
devils, and holds them accountable. How could God create a devil?
God is holy. How could he create a devil who
would then be held accountable and be cast eternally into hell?
And how could he create men this way? How does this work with
God? Don't you see that God is above
us? Don't you see that His ways are
so high above us? When we create a machine, we
know what that machine can do. And we program it. Maybe it's
a computer program controlled machine. We used to have those
at work. And we programmed them. We knew
exactly what they were going to do. And when they didn't act
right, we went in and fixed the program. Is that the way God
makes men? Do you see how deeply God's wisdom
is? Do you see how infinitely wonderful
God has made us? In the image of God that we might
know Him. Now God doesn't create us like
a machine. Not like a robot or a programmed
instrument. He created us as men. And when
I say men, I mean boys and girls and women and children. All of
us. Mankind, humans. He made us this way. And it's
a mystery to me. I find this amazing. He says
that we are held accountable. Death is the wages of sin. The day you eat of it, you're
going to surely die. And they died, didn't they? Because
they violated God's commandment. All men died in Adam. This is
an amazing thing. God created us and He knows us. We read Psalm 139. Thou hast
searched me, O Lord. O Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. There's not a word in my tongue
but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together. You've set me
behind and before and laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge
is too wonderful for me. It's high. I cannot attain to
it." How can we perceive how God has created us? He says later
on, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. God has made us in such
a way that He has given us life. And he's given us an understanding,
and he holds us accountable, and yet we've gone astray. Like
lost sheep, we've gone our own way. And he says about Abraham,
I know him, I know him. He is going to command his children
and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord,
to do justice and judgment, that I may bring upon him all that
I promised, all I've spoken about him. We're not programmed. But we're created in a certain
way, and we've fallen in Adam. So that the way that we were
first created is not the way we are. God has made man upright,
but he has sought out every invention. And in Job 14 it says an amazing
thing. Look at Job 14. I find this to be an unfathomable
mystery how we're created, let alone God who created us. How can we know Him if we can't
even understand ourselves and God's ways in this way that He's
created? Job 14. We want it all kind of
hammered out and figured out and told to us so we can put
it in a neat little sentence, an equation maybe. But He says
in Job 14, in 14.14, He says, If a man die, shall he live again All the days of my appointed
time will I wait till my change come. Isn't Job speaking here
of the resurrection? Interesting that he's talking
about if a man dies. He's already beyond the fact
that men have sinned and death is therefore the consequence
of their sin. He says, if a man dies, shall he live again? All
the days of my appointed time. That's his life. During his life,
he's waiting. Waiting in hope. Looking for
the promise of the resurrection. Till my change come. When I shall
stand before the Lord in righteousness. And then in verse 15, listen
to what he says. Thou shalt call And I will answer thee, thou
wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." This is God. God has a desire to the work
of His hands. And what is that desire? To raise
Job, in this case, from the dead. To have Him. We died in Adam. We lost that spiritual life. We are dead in sins, separated
from God. Don't understand. God has to
do something. He has to have a desire to the
work of His hands. He has to look upon us in mercy. He has to exercise that power
that raised Christ from the dead. And when He raised Him, raised
us with Him. He has to have a desire for us
and give us life. And that is the difference between
humans and animals, and especially the difference between God's
people and those without life, the Spirit of God in us. If any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. But if we
have the Spirit of Christ, the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness, because of
the righteousness of Christ. And so God thinks about His people,
and He has a desire for them, and He gives them His Spirit.
He raises us to life. He creates us in Christ. Look
at Ephesians chapter 2. This is God's work for his people. This is what he does. He knows
Abraham. How? He knows him as a man. A thinking man, a speaking man,
an acting man, a man who acts out of impulses that are within
him. And yet, every thought that he
thinks, everything he does, every word that he speaks, God knows
it long before, even before he was born. It's easy with God. Ephesians chapter 2, he says,
you, verse 1, You have the quickened, who were dead in trespasses and
sins, where in time past you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in
the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature, our very nature, we were the
children of wrath, even as others." No difference between us and
them. But God, This is what made the difference, who is rich in
mercy. Why? For his great love, or with
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, by grace you are saved. And hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, this is what God is
going to do. He's going to pull the curtain
back. He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace you are saved, through
faith, and that faith not of yourselves. It is the gift of
God, not of works. Lest any man should boast, because
God's going to get all the glory. Verse 10, for we are His workmanship. We were recreated in Christ. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. Back to Genesis chapter 18. You see the Lord's way with
us. He has a desire to the work of
His hands. He has a desire for the fulfillment
of His purpose. He creates us again in Christ.
He gives us life from the dead. His thoughts of us. are what
saves us. His thoughts of us are what gives
us life. His thoughts of us, not ours
of Him, determine all of our life and all of our eternity.
We hang on Him. We live in one place. God is everywhere. We're not
in all the places that we're not. My uncle used to have a
little joke. He said, I can prove you're not
here. And as a little kid, I thought, that's impossible. You can't
prove I'm not here. I'm standing right in front of
you. He says, you're not in Kansas, are you? No. You're not in Oregon,
are you? No. Well, you're not in Zimbabwe,
are you? No. Well, if you're not in those
places, you must be somewhere else, right? Right. Well, if
you're someplace else, you're not here then. Men are in one place. God is
everywhere present. We aren't in any place except
this one place. But God is everywhere. And He's
there at all times. His thoughts are infinite and
intimate and eternal. Our life is dependent upon what
He thinks. We draw our life from Him. And
the life that He gives to us is that we might know Him in
Christ. And notice how he does this. How does God work with us? He doesn't program us like a
computer. He does something else. He works
with us. He teaches us. He draws us. How? How does God teach us? How
does He draw us? Well, we would say by His Spirit.
But with what means does He do that? How does God convince us
and persuade us? Does He just inject a thought
into our mind and suddenly we start thinking differently? No,
He speaks through His Word. And in Hosea chapter 11, He says
something very amazing here. In Hosea chapter 11, this reveals
to us how God has created us and how he works with us to save
us. He says in Hosea 11 verse 4, I drew them. I drew them. Remember what Jesus said? No
man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw
him. And here He says, I drew them,
in Hosea 11.4, with the cords of a man. In other words, God
is describing the way He works with men and the way men work.
Not like a computer, He draws them. There's cords with which
He can influence a man. He says, I drew them with the
cords of a man. And what are those cords? With
the bands of love. And I was to them as they that
take off the yoke on their jaws." This is what God did for us.
He drew us to Christ with cords, with the bands of a man. The
cords of love. God knew what Abraham was going
to do. Because Abraham was created in
Christ Jesus on two good works. God had drawn him with the cords
of love. The bands of love and the cords
of a man. He worked with him like God works
with men. In saving grace. To convert him. And to persuade him of the truth.
And to make the truth to Abraham the best news he had ever heard.
So that he embraced it. Not only was he persuaded of
it, but he embraced it and he gladly lived on it. He lived
upon his God. And God said, I know him. I know
him. I know everything about him.
And yes, God can manipulate those biological things within us,
but there's something else. He's breathed into us the breath
of life and given us his spirit. And it's his spirit in us that
teaches us who God is in Christ. Makes himself known by his spirit.
And he draws us with that knowledge. And he says, I know him. Because
God surveyed creation. And he says, let me tell you
what I saw when I looked at all my works. He says, it's very
good. Perfect. It's done. And so he looks at
Abraham and all of his people created in Christ. And he says,
let me tell you about my servant. Created in Christ. He's going
to do this. He's going to do that. Why? Because
I have his heart. And having his heart, I have
the man. He's my friend. I reveal myself to him. I know
him. I know everything about him. I'm with him at all times. Whether
he's here or there. Whether he's sleeping or waking.
Planning or working. I know him. Just like I know
all my people. I know them in Christ. And therefore
I love them and I have a purpose for them. And it's going to be
fulfilled. And they are going to live out. That work that I've
designed for them, they are my workmanship and I'm going to
bring it about. He who began a good work in you
will also complete it to the end. God is at work in you both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. And the way He works
is not with terror. It's by His Spirit coercing and
manipulating us in the way of love. Revealing Himself with
truth. Not with deceit. Not with trickery. But just telling us the whole
truth about the way things are about ourselves. I'm a great
sinner, Lord. I know that. But Christ is a great Savior.
I know that too. I provided Him. I've accepted
Him. I've accepted you in Him. How do I know? Believe only. Look to Him only. And so Abraham
lived his life this way in the way of the Lord. He taught his
children, he commanded them to do justice and judgment. He didn't
lead from behind, he led from the front. He said, this is the
way we're going. This is the way we're going. To do justice
and judgment means to look to Christ. He's the only one by
which we could fulfill God's righteousness. And it's to believe
Him and to live upon Him. That's the only way we can please
God, is by faith. Let's pray. Father, thank you
for your word. It's a mystery to us. It's a
great thing, but it's something we cannot plumb the depths of,
even scratch the surface. It's too high. It's too wonderful
for us to really understand. We pray, Lord, that by your Spirit,
you would reveal to us the things that you have made known, and
we would know them, be persuaded of them, and live upon you, draw
our life from our Savior, and find him to be all of our life
and love. and give ourselves to him for your sake, and you
would make yourself known, and we would have eternal life, and
we would be to your glory, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.