Okay, if you wish to follow along,
of course, turn to Galatians chapter three. Galatians chapter three, now
before I read the past couple times that I've been here, I
looked at verse one where Paul spoke of Christ being evidently
crucified among you. And let us remember this is not
just a, the gospel's not just a technical thing. It's not just
a scholastic thing. It's something where the truth,
the preaching of the truth of the personal work of the Lord
Jesus Christ invades into your very soul and will not let you
go. And then also then last time,
we looked at the fact that this one phrase, having begun in the
spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Of course, the
answer is no. The God who begun the work in us is the one who's
gonna have to continue it and finish it all the way to the
end. So that brought us basically
from verse one all the way down through verse five, and I'm not
gonna take any more time on those verses. There's much more there,
I understand that, but I wanna deal this morning with verses
six through nine. Pardon me, I better get the right
notes. Galatians 3, 6 through 9. Let me read those and you
follow along if you have your Bible there. Even as Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know
ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. 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. And then here's where I want
to kind of get my title, my subject for him. So then, because of
this, so then, they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham. That would be, I kind of get
my title off. They which be of faith are blessed. Now those who talk up the law,
but before I go any further, don't automatically come to some
conclusion that I'm against the law or even speaking about God's
law. But those who talk up the law
for these things, those who talk up the law for righteousness,
Clearly, Paul, in this letter, in chapter two, verse 21, he
shoots that down. He shoots that down. I know there
probably are some out there, but I don't know them. There
are probably some out there that actually believe you keep the
law and you'll be righteous before God. I don't know anybody, but
I'm sure they're out there. But again, those who talk up
the law for righteousness, chapter two, verse 21, Paul shoots that
down. Those who talk up the law for
justification, in this letter itself again, chapter two, verse
16, Paul shoots that down. Those who talk up the law for
sanctification, in this same letter, chapter three, verses
two and three, Paul shoots that down. Those who talk up the law
for reward, in Romans chapter four, verse four, Paul shoots
that down. Those who talk up the law for
glory, that is, recognize me for recognition, in Romans four,
verse two, Paul shoots that down. And that's just the way it is.
That's not taking any of those verses out of context. There
is no righteousness in the law. There is no, and I'm talking
about from us. Now, there is righteousness in
the law. I said that wrong. There is no righteousness from
us concerning the law. There is no justification of
us in the law. There is no sanctification of
us in the law. There is no reward for us in
the law. There is no glory except the glory of death, death. But those who talk up the law
in any of these areas, They insult God. That's just a fact. They insult God. This is not
a difference of opinion. It's thus saith the Lord. They insult God. But even beyond
that, they insult God's Christ. If there was any other possible
way that a holy God could have saved a people, then he is nothing
but a beast to put his son through what he put his son through.
Those who believe in thee, those who talk up this law, again I
say, they insult God, they insult God's Christ, they insult God's
gospel. God's gospel needs no other help
than this, the spirit of the living God. the spirit of the
living God. And we'll look at that more.
It is he, God the spirit, that begins the work in his people,
that continues the work in his people, and that finishes the
work in his people. He's the one that reproves the
world. Sin, righteousness, and judgment. Not the law. Apart from the grace of the law,
a grace of God, the law will make you nothing more than a
self-righteous hypocrite. So again, I say they insult God,
they insult God's Christ, they insult God's gospel, and they
insult us. They insult us. Because they
which be of faith, faith, And I can add this, because this
is the whole context of this part. Even just this part of
this letter. They which be of faith in Christ
and faith only. Only, and I will show that from
our text. You see, those who believe on
Christ, that they might be justified by the faith of Christ. So again,
We don't work up a faith and then we believe God, and then
God shows some favor to that. God must give us faith. Faith is a quality, a characteristic,
a majesty that resides only in God intrinsically. And anyone
who has this faith that God honored, as we see, as we read here, anyone
who has this faith, it's because God gave it to them. God is only
honoring that which is himself, in us, himself in us. The fruit of the spirit, not
the fruit that the spirit works in you. It's more than that.
It's not the spirit gives you this enablement and then you
show forth love, joy, peace. No, the fruit of the spirit. When you have, I didn't say if,
if you're a believer, you have them. But when you have love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance,
when you have those things, it's the spirit of God working those
things in you. And one of them is what? Faith.
Faith. Notice repentance is not there.
Why? Because God is not a man that
he should repent. You see what I'm, I hope we can
get a hold of that. Those who believe on Christ,
that they might be justified by the faith of Christ. who reject
law works for any blessing. Bless God, I am dead to the law
by the body of Christ that I should be married to another. Now if
that widow, Ellen, if that widow honors the memory of her dead
husband, that's all well and fine. But when she's married
to another, her devotion is completely and wholly to that second husband. If it's not, she's still an adulteress.
Where? In here. In here. God has severed
our relationship to the law. We are married to Jesus Christ. And therefore, we can bring forth
fruit unto God. Hmm. Again, I say those who believe
on Christ that they might be justified by the faith of Christ,
who reject law works for any blessings, although we are disdained
by the legalists, these people, people like us, by God's grace,
we are blessed of God with faithful Abraham. Do you see that set
right here? With faithful Abraham. But consider
these three facts. God Inventoried Abraham. Now, I want to stop it. It says,
let me find it. Even as Abraham believed God
and it was accounted. Now, people will say that means
accounted, imputed, or put to your account. All those things
are true. But the actual meaning of the Greek word is to inventory. In other words, this is real,
people. This is real. This is not something
God just makes up. This is real. God inventoried
Abraham as righteous by faith. And this was not something, again,
that Abraham worked up before God, but something that God bestowed
freely upon Abraham. I have every reason to believe
that when Abraham was in the Ur of the Chaldees, remember? When he was in the Ur of the
Chaldees, when I was at New Zion Regular Baptist Church, let me
put it right out there, what did God say? Get thee up and
get thee out. God gave him the faith to believe
it and began to do it. And you know what? He walked
by that faith for the rest of his life. Anytime, and it's not
the word abandon. That's not it. God's people can
never abandon faith. It's what God put in you. But
anytime we deviate from faith, we end up in the flesh. There
is no other alternative. It's either the God-given faith
freely bestowed by grace or it's flesh, flesh. So again, God inventoried
Abraham as righteous by faith. God gave him faith and then took
an inventory and says, I like that right there. Huh? I like
that right there. I honor that right there. Why?
Because God was honoring himself. Think about this, think about
Abraham now. Abraham not only didn't have any law works, he
didn't have the law. He knew nothing about Sinai and
law. Now yes, the law of God is written
in every man's heart, but remember, our hearts are desperately wicked
and we twist the truth, the facts of that law. Abraham had no law
works and he had no law. You don't need law works when
you got God. If he's for us, who can be against
us? He had no law works. He had no
ecclesiastical obedience. He didn't have some hierarchy
to obey, to figure out, just to figure out what all the rules
are, huh? He had no law works. He didn't
even have the law. He had no ecclesiastical obedience. He had no denominational affiliations. He had no articles of faith and
practice. And every time he veered from
faith, his flesh failed. You'll see that. Go back and
read. Every time he veered from faith, his flesh failed when
he believed God. when he believed God is when
he was able to experience the blessing of just, just. And that's almost, Jack, like
I'm trying to lessen it, but I'm not, I'm trying to lift it
up. Just believing God, just believing God. Yeah, his faith,
his flesh, it always fails. It always failed, but that's
not what God concentrated on, was it? What did God concentrate
on? The faith, the faith, the faith,
the faith, the faith. Why? Because that faith come
from God Almighty himself in the person of Jesus Christ. There's
a second thought. Believers, and I must emphasize
this, believers only, And I mean that in two ways. That is, they
believe only. They believe only. And they're
the only ones. Believers only are the spiritual
children of Abraham. We read that right in our text.
Know ye therefore. that they which are of faith,
as opposed to flesh, as opposed to law, they which be of faith,
you see it? The same, the same are the children
of Abraham. Turn to Romans chapter nine. Of course, I know this is familiar
with everyone here, but. Isn't it true we need to be constantly
reminded of these things? How soon we forget? I don't mean
that they totally leave our mind, Dylan, but we, in our daily living,
in our daily life, as we're walking by faith, we forget these things.
We forget these things. Think about this. As I said,
believers only are the spiritual children of Abraham. Look at
Romans nine, and the first two verses, seven and eight. And
he's talking about Jews here, those who are Jews by nature,
those who were born and bred Jews in the first few verses. And then it says, neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, he's going to explain,
that is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not children. Now, do you see it? He actually
says it there. These are not the children of God. Do you see
it? But the children of the promise
are counted for the seed. Couple other verses, look at
chapter four. Look at what Paul wrote in that
part of the letter. Romans chapter four, just two
verses there. Verse 13, for the promise, that
he should be heir of the world was not to Abraham or his seed
through the law. Did all of a sudden God realize
now in this day and time that well, I think if I give the law,
it would probably be a lot better now. Do you understand what I'm
saying? Here God saved Abraham and everyone
else he ever saved, he saved just like Abraham because they
which be of faith are the children of Abraham. They which be of
faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Did God say, well, that
just don't seem to be working out too well. If I give the law,
maybe things will work a little better. This is the conundrum
you run into. Why did God give the law? It
was there to expose sin. But it don't do it apart from
the grace of God. Most people I know, when they
read the law, they say, well, I do that. You remember the rich
young brawler? Christ said, keep the commandments.
He said, so I've done all this from my youth. And then Christ
hit him where it really counted. When you sell everything you
got and you give it to the poor, you come and follow me. Darion
became the rub one. He had a problem with the law
proper. but he had a problem with the
true nature of the law. And here's where it starts. You're
to love God with everything you are. And it's not once you realize
you don't, then you're to start. You've got to start from the
beginning. This is what people won't teach. The law doesn't give you hope
if you mess up. It tells you you're damned because
you already have. So again, believers are the spiritual
children of Abraham. For the promise that he should
be heir of the world was not to Abraham or his seed through
the law, but through the right, do you see it? The righteousness
of faith. Do you see that? So faith is
what? Righteousness. How could it be
that? Because it's of God. Do you see
it? Not something we work up for him. That's what I was, I
don't know that they ever said it that way, Tommy, but that's
what I was led to believe is faith is what you do for God.
And if you'll just do that for God, then he'll start to shower
his blessings on you. No, he's got to shower the blessing
on you first before you ever believe God. But look what else
it says. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is
made flesh. Do you see that? Faith is made
void and the promise made of none effect. You can tell throughout this
whole letter that Paul's serious about this thing. Let me go on. Number three, this is not a new
doctrine. All of this is in our text here.
This is not a new doctrine. This is not a novelty. This is
not an afterthought of the Almighty God in any way, shape, or form.
This is not an addition by the Almighty. nor is in addition
by his holy scriptures. Look again at it, our text, Galatians
chapter three and verse eight, and the scripture, foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen, how? Through faith. Preach before the gospel unto
Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed. Now listen
to me. If you listen to any man out
there, any man, And you hear that man say this kind of phrase,
anything along this phrase, well, in this gospel age, as though
there is an age in which the gospel was not. Do you understand
what I'm saying? There are people who think, well,
it's different now because we're in the gospel age. And the scripture
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached
before the gospel unto Abraham. And it was very simple at that
time. In thee shall all nations be
blessed. But you know what? Even then,
God did not leave Abraham with just that understanding. There
was a time, as God taught him, there was a time when his son,
they were going to make a sacrifice, right? They were going to offer
a sacrifice on Moriah. And his son asked Lord, he said,
Father, here's the knife, here's the coals, here's the wood, where's
the lamb at? Where's the sacrifice at? And
what did Abraham say? God shall provide, wait a minute,
not for himself. That's certainly true. but it's
more than God shall provide himself a sacrifice. Abraham knew that. Our Lord said Abraham saw my
day and was glad. I'll take Christ's word over
any kind of dispensationalist or whoever they are out here.
We've always been in the gospel age since we fell. Jesus Christ
himself, he was the word of God that was walking in the cool
of that garden way back yonder. Remember, when our mother and
father ate of that fruit, he himself preached himself to our
parents, the seed of the woman. Again, I say this is not new,
it's not a novelty, it's not an afterthought, it's not an
addition, it's just the way it's always been. There can be but
one conclusion. So then, they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. I either believe God or I don't.
Right? I either take God at his word
or I don't. But, but, there is no but. As one preacher said, Billy Goat's
butt. Sheep say amen. That's what they do. Amen. I'm saying that faith in Christ
is enough. From the get go, it's been. It's not just enough in this
gospel age, as they say. It's been enough from the get,
by faith able. Somebody says, if you just say
faith, though, you leave people with no walk. No, by faith, Abel
did what? Offered a more excellent sacrifice.
By faith, Noah did what? When God said a flood's coming,
you better build a boat. What did he do? By faith, build
a boat. Our obedience to God must flow
from faith, faith, faith. But here's a thought turn to
Exodus before I start turn to Exodus 32 if you're following
along Exodus 32 I've got a few passages that I may not Read
all of these but I want to read this one probably a couple others
Exodus 32 And I'll give you the The verses
are seven and eight, but let me listen to it. But there's
this question, but I thought of this question as I was writing
some of these notes, I thought, but didn't the people called
Jews keep the law once it was given? According to the book
of God, they didn't keep the law. They wasn't even keeping
it when it was given. As it was being given, Exodus
32, seven and eight, and the Lord said unto Moses, go, get
thee down, for, now notice, when God speaks through law, what
is it? Thy people. The people under this law. Do
you see that? Thy people, which thou broughtest
out of the land. I thought God did all that. He
did until he, if God speaks to you by law, that's the way he
speaks to you. Do you see that? which thou broughtest
up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They
have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded
them. They've made them a molten calf and have worshiped it and
have sacrificed thereunto and said, these be thy gods, O Israel,
which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Think about
it, before the Ten Commandments even made it down the mountain,
they were down there naked, dancing around a golden calf, worshiping
it, and offering sacrifice to it. Somebody says they must be
a despicable lot. Yeah, they're a stiff-necked
and hard-hearted people. They were, but Max, so are we. So are we in the flesh. Think
about it, but these people called Jews, they did not keep the law
after it was given. And even faith was given, turned
to 2 Samuel. 2 Samuel. And you kind of bear with me,
it may take me longer to find that than you. 2 Samuel chapter
11. I just have one verse that I
want to give you. 2 Samuel chapter 11. Think about the Jews, the ones
to whom the law was actually given. I mean, Mac, they seen
the thunder and the lightning. You know, I mean, they heard
the voice thundering off that mountain, and it says they were
afraid. They were afraid, but what did they say? All the words
of this law we will do, okay? but not even after faith was
given. And when I say that, I mean this, to an actual individual
who was under the law, okay? This man's called David, okay? Now look at what it says of David.
2 Samuel 11, just one verse, verse two. And it came to pass
in the eventide. that David arose from off his
bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house, and from
the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very
beautiful to look upon, and that's all it took. You see that? That's all it took. You see, our problem is not the
law. Our problem is this evil, corrupt
flesh. Now Tommy, In one manner of speaking,
I said only in a manner of speaking, I'm doing very similar to the
fellow we've talked about in the text. I'm doing very similar. But I know this, that law will
not drive you to Jesus Christ apart from God Almighty showing
you grace in your soul. Because somebody here, even here,
even here is probably gonna say, well I never did that. Hmm? Or another command, thou shalt
not steal. I never did that. You see how we do? No, they didn't
keep it when it was given. David didn't keep it even after
he was given faith. And they, look, turn to John
chapter seven. Think about this one. Now remember, this is the
Lord speaking himself here. In John seven. What I'm going
to read is the Lord of glory himself. This is his word. This
is not me. Mac, I'm faulty. I'm prone to
say the wrong things, have a wrong opinion, get something crossed
up. He never had anything crossed
up, Jack. Think about it. The Jews didn't even keep the
law when the lawgiver himself was among them. Look at what
he said. John 7, verse 19. Did not Moses give you the law?
And yet, look at what he said. Now, if he said it, bless God,
Pam, it's true. It is what it is. And let me
say this before I go any further. We're no better than they are.
We're not more informed. The lawgiver himself was here,
and he preached to them some things concerning the law. He
told them what it really said, and Jack also what it really
meant. Not just the adultery, it's not just the act. He said
it's just to look on a woman with the eye, right? Look at
what he says. Did not Moses give you the law?
And yet none of you keepeth it. Why go ye about to kill me? You see, When we speak about
the law, we need to make sure that people understand we're
not saying that the law, no, we're not saying, it don't matter
what we say. The law is not saying, once you see what the law's saying,
you need to do better. The law says you had to do perfect
from the get-go. And if it comes along, and all
of a sudden, by an act of God's grace, you see you have not kept
that law, there is no reprieve. You don't start from there and
begin. You're already in the negative. Your inventory don't exist. You're in the red. I'm in the
red. And somebody says, well, but
don't that force you to Christ? Not apart from the grace of God,
it don't. It didn't these people. They
were wanting to, why didn't they run to Christ then? John had
said, behold the lamb. Well, they'd offered thousands
of them over the years. Huh? You see, it takes the grace of
God in Christ, my brothers and sisters, always. So again, they
didn't know bet when it was given. They didn't even obey it once
God gave some of them faith, not even when the lawgiver was
among us. And think about it, turn to Galatians
chapter six now, our text letter, if you will. Galatians chapter
six. The legalist himself or herself
does not keep it either. Okay? Galatians chapter six,
verse 13. For neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law. Do you see that? For neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised,
why? So they can brag about what they've
got you to do. I'm paraphrasing, yes, that's
what Paul's talking about. But desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh. If I get up here and just preach
to you law, law, law, law, and then somebody says, well, I believe
I need Christ. Is that the way it works? If Christ crucified himself,
and I'll get this right now, I'm not saying Christ did his
own crucifixion. If Christ crucified himself,
if the preaching of the cross work of Jesus Christ doesn't
cause you to run to Jesus Christ, you've never really truly heard
the gospel. Again, Abraham, he saw his day,
Christ's day, and was what? Didn't need not one command To
do it To do it It don't take the preaching
of the law. It takes the preaching of the
gospel It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching what
kind the gospel the gospel you see To the legalist You who are
the law keeper ilk who profess to have faith, do you keep it? The law's meant to be what? Kept. Kept. Did grace enable you to
give it your best shot? Why is it that some people profess
faith in Christ? Turn to Galatians 5 first before
I get the rest of this statement. Why is it that some people who
profess faith cannot be content was just the fruit of the Spirit.
Why? Why is that so? And I've already
kind of quoted it to you, but look at it. I'm sorry. Galatians 5, look at verse 16
to start with. This I say then, walk where? In the Spirit. in the spirit. Now, what would that mean? Let me try to illustrate. Now,
it is just a human illustration, so it will have its flaws. I
understand that, but if somebody tells you to walk in the road,
what's that mean? You concentrate on the road.
If you're supposed to be walking in the road, and you're looking
over here in the field, what's gonna happen? Eventually, you
may up into the other field on the other side. When you walk
in the road, you pay attention to the road. And the road only. So walk in the spirit. Pay attention
to him. How do I know that? If he's in
you, you gotta, if you don't know, if you don't know what
right and wrong is, you're in trouble. And me preaching the
law to you ain't gonna help you one bit. It's just gonna make
you feel even more miserable than you ever felt in your life.
Look at it. This I say then, walk in the
Spirit, now look, and ye shall not fulfill. Now this is a promise
from God for us fallen creatures. Walk in the Spirit and ye shall
not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Listen, this is not a cop out,
this is the truth. The lusts are still there. You will battle
with them the rest of your life on this side of your existence. But you don't have to fulfill
them and you won't if you what? Walk in the spirit, okay? For the flesh lusteth against
the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary
the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that
you would. My flesh would take me, Tommy, totally this way.
The spirit would take me totally this way. There's a constant
battle constant battle constant battle, but look but if you be
led of the spirit There's that there there's the crux. Are you
led of the spirit or not? Does he teach you that the honor
of Jesus Christ? and his preeminence his lordship
his kingship matters more than anything else in this world to
God and But if you be led of the Spirit, you're not under
the law. And I'm not gonna read it. He says, the works of the
flesh, they are what? Manifest. They're there. They are. They don't have to
be. They are. If you don't know that
these things are wrong, you got a serious problem just as being
a normal human being living in this world. If you don't understand
and feel these things to be wrong, your conscience is probably seared
with a hot iron. You don't need grace or anything
else to understand that these things are wrong. But look, but
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such, there is no law. Now how do you walk in that? Only by being led. by the Spirit
of God. Why would I want to walk under
thou shalt not? Rather than these things. The only reason would be because
I really don't believe God. I believe God's sovereign, he
chose me and he gets me started on this thing, but he just kind
of winds me up and it's up to me to keep going. If he don't
keep me going, I won't make it to the end. And they that are Christ have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lust. You know that these things deserved
to die. To die. Look, if we live, this
is what it says. And I'm not gonna try to, well,
I can't give you a formula how to make sure this'll work for
you. Some people try I've heard some messages. They'll tell you.
Okay, you start doing this and this that's a lie They're just
placing more law on you. And when you screw up, then you're
going to be in conscience miserable again If we live in the spirit
Let us also walk in the spirit Let us now here it is. Look at
it here Here is one of the it's it's a key point or a key a key
instruction. Look at it Let us not be desirous
of empty glory. When the Spirit of God leads
us and we actually say, you know, it's not about my benefit of
me living in this world. Good works are profitable unto
those around us, but it doesn't give us anything before God.
You ever thought about that? Good works are profitable, they're
necessary, they're essential, but for everybody else around
us, not for ourselves. Why? Because there is no empty... Tommy, boy, I'm glad I did that
for you. I feel so good about myself. I can do something like
that. I've tried to help people out,
and boy, all of a sudden, what happens? Start feeling pretty good, don't
you? But look, let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking
one another, envying one another. I'm not talking about everybody. You ever look at a fellow believer
of some sort and you say, boy, I wish I was more like them?
No, you really don't. No, you really don't. They're
just as bad as you are. And if you were just like them,
then you'd be starting all over again. You'd be just as confounded
and confused as you ever was. It's not being like somebody
else. It's about believing God. Think of this. Why, why is it? Why is it that legal, and there
are, Tommy, I'm realizing as I grow older, there are all kinds
of ilks of legalists out there. Mack, you could give them names,
but there's thousands of them, no doubt, got their own little,
formula, their own little niche, their own little brand of the
way they present it. Think about it. Why is it that
they cannot just believe Christ and lean on him to begin, to
continue, and to finish the work wholly, W-H-O-L-L-Y? Because they truly don't just
believe God. That's all Abraham had of any
value. You ever thought about that? His nephew Lot seen more than
just Abraham's faith. He also seen his flesh, didn't
he? Don't you think Lot seen everything? He knew the whole of Abraham. That didn't persuade him not
to move down there to Sodom, did it? Huh? This is Abraham! This is Abraham. See, your faith
is not for somebody else. It's for your blessing and your
benefit. And then the works that flow
from that are for their benefit. You see that? To you who know
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even you. If you know you're not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith, and again, it's
the faith of Jesus Christ. It's not your faith for God.
By the faith of Jesus Christ, even you have believed in Jesus
Christ, that you might be justified by the faith of Christ, and you
reject law works. I can say to you this morning
right here in this group, or anybody who hears it at any other
time, you are blessed with, that means right alongside of, Abraham. Abraham, let's read it one more
time. Look at what it says. Even, even
as Abraham believed God, Read years ago, I heard Henry Mann
preach a message on Abraham believed God. And he said it all in this
line. It doesn't say Abraham believed in God, though he did.
It doesn't say Abraham believed in only one God, though he did.
It says Abraham believed God. He was enabled by God to take
God at his word. Now that'll change your life.
That'll change, that'll liberate you. I'm serious. That'll, you'll
begin to be able to see, really see, when God does that for you,
the corruption of your flesh. And you won't need somebody constantly
remind you, this is wrong, this is right. This is wrong, this
is right. When you see Jesus Christ for
who he is, that will encourage you. And if it don't, he hadn't
been evidently crucified a monkey. You see it? You see it? Look
at, even as Abraham believed God, And God's doing the accounting
here, right? And it was accounted to him for
what? Righteousness. And I don't even
have the language, Jody, to explain what that really means, since
it's God is the one who's saying, I see that as righteous. You
understand? I see you believing God, and
I only see that in your actions, you know what I mean? In your
works, I only see that there. And I think, well, that's a really
good thing, but I see some of the rest of you too. God's not
looking at your flesh. Christ took care of that at Calvary.
But God is looking at that faith he gave you. And he says that's
righteous. And as Henry Mahon said, if that
don't float your boat, you ain't got no oars. Even as Abraham
believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know
ye therefore that they which be of faith the same are the
children of Abraham. In the scripture foreseen, This
scripture, that scripture back there that we'll read here that
Paul's quoting from, was talking about us right here this morning.
Can you think about that? God knew we's gonna gather on
this day. Even more, God had purpose for
us to gather on this day. And when he was telling that
to Abraham, he was thinking about all of his people for all of
the eons of the ages. They're gonna believe me, hmm? 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, my brothers and sisters, I say this to you.
They which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Now, I'm
glad this. I don't care what kind of difficulty
you're going through right now. I don't care how deep and dark
it is, Jack. If you believe God, you're blessed
beyond what we can even fathom. What we can even, we can't really,
I can't quote it right, but he's able to do abundantly above and
beyond that we can either ask or think. By what? Based upon what? What
reason do I have to have to believe that that's true of me? I believe. Now, I'll give you the old Armand
phrase, pick which one you want. Where would you rather live?
Some people would rather live under thou shalt not. Because
they just can't trust God. They just can't believe God.
But Jack, by his grace, I can. And I'm persuaded, you all here
too, you can. You believe him, Heavenly Father.
These things are so beyond my ability to preach in such a way
that your people here would get a blessing from it. But we know
your spirit's able to apply these things to our hearts from the
actual truth of thy word, that truth that sanctifies us, that
sets us apart under the old God keep us, lead us, and direct
us, and guide us. And Lord, when we fall, and we
will, when we fall, Lord, in love, chasten us. correct us,
bring us in the right way. In Christ's name, amen.