Well, good evening. If you would
open your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 11. I can tell you how thankful we
are to be back home and how thankful our family was for last week.
We just had the best vacation, the best time together. I appreciate
Eric and Jonathan preaching for me while I was gone so we could
enjoy that time together. It's good to be back home. We're
going to begin our reading Genesis chapter 11 with verse 26. And Terah lived 70 years and
begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the generations
of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran begat
Lot. And Haran died before his father
Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram
and Nahor took them wives. The name of Abram's wife was
Sarai. and the name of Nahor's wife,
Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the
father of Iscah. And Sarai was barren. She had
no child. And Terah took Abram, his son,
and Lot, the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law,
his son Abram's wife, and they went forth with them from Ur
of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan. And they came
unto Haran and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were 205
years, and Terah died in Herod. Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee, and I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make
thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless
them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed
as the Lord had spoken unto him, And Lot went with him. And Abram
was 70 and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And
we'll end our reading there. All right, Sean. Okay, if you
would, turn to song number 257. "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus,
just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise,
just to know, thus saith the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust
Him, how I've proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious
Jesus, oh, for grace to trust Him more. Oh, how sweet to trust
in Jesus, just to trust His cleansing blood, just in simple faith to
plunge beneath the heath. clean, cleansing blood. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
how I've proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious
Jesus, oh, for grace to trust Him more. Yes, too sweet to trust
in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease, just from Jesus simply
taking life and rest and joy and peace. Jesus, Jesus, how
I trust Him, how I've proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus,
O for grace to trust Him more. I'm so glad I learned to trust
Thee, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend, And I know that Thou
art with me, Wilt be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how
I trust Him, how I've proved Him o'er and o'er. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus,
oh, for grace to trust Him more. Okay, and if you would now turn
to song number 117, He Was Wounded for Our Transgressions. He was wounded for our transgressions. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. For our guilt He gave us peace. from our bondage gave release,
and with his stripes, and with his stripes, and with his stripes,
our souls are healed. He was numbered among transgressors,
He did esteem him forsaken by his God. As our sacrifice he
died, that the law be satisfied. And all our sin, and all our
sin, and all our sin was laid on Him. We had wandered, we all
had wandered, far from the fold of the shepherd, of the sheep,
But He sought us where we were, on the mountain bleak and bare,
and brought us home, and brought us home, and brought us safely
home to God. number his generation who shall
declare all the triumphs of his cross millions dead now live
on again. Myriads follow in his train. Victorious Lord, victorious Lord,
victorious Lord and coming King. If you wouldn't open your Bibles
with me to Romans chapter four. Romans chapter four. What should we say then that
Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For
if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof the glory,
but not before God. For what saith the Scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,
but of debt. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man, unto whom the Lord imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Come with this blessedness then
upon the circumcision only, upon the Jew only, or upon the uncircumcision
also, the Gentile. For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? When
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of faith, which he had yet being
uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all of them
that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness
might be imputed unto them also. And the father of circumcision
to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the
steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet
uncircumcised. For the promise that he should
be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed
through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For
if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void,
and the promise made of none effect, because the law worketh
wrath. Where no law is, there is no
transgression. Therefore, it is a faith that
it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure
to all the seed. Not to that only which is of
the law, but that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who
is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations. Before him whom he believed,
even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things
which be not as though they were. Who against hope, believed in
hope, that he might become the father of many nations. According
to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being
not weak in faith, he considered not his own body, now dead, when
he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness
of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he
was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. We'll end our reading there.
Let's bow together. Our great God, our holy, sovereign,
merciful Heavenly Father, we bow in your presence this evening. We bow before your throne of
grace, daring only come into your thrice holy presence in
the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we plead the
blood of your precious son is the only cleansing that we have
for our sin, the only way our sin can be purged. We plead only
his obedience to the law is our only righteousness. We dare only
come before you in his blessed person. And Father, we're awestruck,
utterly amazed at your mercy and your grace, that you would
receive and hear sinful men and women such as we are and accept
us in the beloved for Christ's sake. Father, how thankful we
are. And I pray that this evening
you would send your spirit upon us and that you might enable
us this evening to worship you in spirit and in truth. Father,
speak to us. Don't let us Just meet here going
through the motions of religion and hear the words of a man.
But Father, I beg of you that you speak to us through your
word. Speak to the hearts of your people. Reveal unto us again
the Lord Jesus Christ. Give life through faith in Christ. Comfort the hearts of your people
by causing us to believe, to rest in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Cause us to have peace of heart in looking to him to be everything
that you require, everything that we need. Cause his name
to be magnified, that your people might be fed and comforted and
settled, have their hearts settled by one more time hearing of Christ
our Savior. Father, how I thank you for this
place, a place of worship, a place where your gospels preached,
your people meet together in love and unity and one accord. seeking to lift up the name of
Christ our Savior. Father, I ask that you preserve
and protect this place for many, many, many years, for your great
namesake and for the good of our children, grandchildren,
the good of this community. Father, for those who are hurting
and those that you brought in the time of trouble and trial,
we pray for them. We know these things have come
from thy hand according to your purpose. Father, we pray that
you'd fulfill your promise to your people, that you'd give
them grace sufficient for the hour. Give them a special portion
of your presence. Comfort and, Father, deliver
as soon as it could be thy will. All these things we ask and we
give thanks in that name which is above every name, the name
of Christ our Savior. For his sake and the glory of
his name, we pray. there came a sound from heaven
as a rushing mighty wind it filled their hearts with singing and
gave them peace within the prophet gave this promise The Spirit
will descend And from your inner being A river with no end There
is a river That flows from deep within Christ is the fountain
that frees the soul from sin. Come to this water, there is
a vast supply. Christ is the river that never
shall run dry. There was a thirsty woman Who
was drawing from a well Her life was ruined and wasted Her soul
was bound for hell Then she met the master and if you drink this water you'll
never thirst again Christ is the river that flows from God
above There is a fountain that's filled with his great love. Come to this water, there is
a vast supply. Christ is the river that never
shall run dry. Come to this water, there is
a vast supply. Christ is the river that never
shall run dry. That was a blessing. Thank you, man.
If you would open your Bibles now again with me to Genesis
chapter 12. I've titled the message this
evening, The Blessing of Abraham's Children. Now in the last 23
verses of Genesis chapter 11, there is a genealogy that runs
from Shem to Abraham. And I told you a few weeks ago
we ran across another one of these genealogies I know that
Christ is in that genealogy. That genealogy is just as inspired
by the Holy Spirit as Romans chapter four. I know that Christ
is there. The Spirit just hasn't been pleased
to reveal that to me. I don't see him, and if the Lord
ever gives me more light on that passage, we'll come back to it.
But the end of that genealogy is the first time we meet a man
named Abraham. Genesis chapter 12, verse one.
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and
from thy kindred, and from thy father's house into a land that
I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation.
I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be
a blessing. I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee. In thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed, because Christ is coming through his
seed. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and
Lot went with him, and Abram was seventy and five years old.
when he departed out of Haran. Now this is the first time we
meet this man, Abraham. And Abraham is one of the most
prominent figures in all of the Bible. His name is used 70 times
in the New Testament. And it's always used as an example
to teach us, to teach us an important truth about salvation, that salvation
is in Christ. Salvation is by faith, without
works. That's how God saved Abraham.
Sinners are justified by faith. That's the way Abraham was justified,
by faith. Not obedience to the law, but by faith in Christ.
Righteousness is imputed. It's not given, it's not earned
by us, it's given to us. It's imputed unto us by God. Now I would imagine all of us
tend to think of Abraham as some sort of super believer. I mean,
we read about Abraham's life and we just think, Abraham has
to be different from me. Abraham had to live on a higher
spiritual plane than me. And we just think those things
because you know, what we read about Abraham, what we know about
ourselves, but I'm telling you, that's not true. Abraham was
not an extraordinary man. He was extraordinarily used of
God, but Abraham was an ordinary man. He was an ordinary, sinful
man who was saved by Almighty God, whose mercy and grace and
power is extraordinary. Let's never get caught up and
think about how extraordinary the characters and people we
read about in scripture are, they're ordinary. I tell you
what's extraordinary is the God who saved him. That's what we
always have to come back to. And since Abraham was just an
ordinary man, every believer, is blessed by God with all the
same blessings that God gave Abraham. Abraham is not more
blessed. He's not more saved. He's not
more righteous. He's not more justified than
any other believer. And Abraham in the flesh is not
less sinful and less depraved than anybody else in the flesh
either. And we read there Romans four, Abraham is the father of
all them that believe. and he's the father of it, and
these are his children. Everybody God saved is saved
and blessed the exact same way Abraham was saved and was blessed.
And before we begin going through the book of Genesis and looking
at each of these individual things, I just kind of wanted to get
an overview from scripture of this man, Abraham, and see ways
that Abraham is the exact same, in the same boat as every other
believer is. And number one is this, every
believer is called the same way God called Abraham. It says here
in verse one that the Lord said unto Abraham, God called Abraham
and said, get out of your father's house and go to a land that I'll
show you. Well, how is it that God called Abraham? I mean, here,
I guess one thing that's different, God doesn't appear to us and
audibly or visibly and talk to us, but he does call all of his
people the very same way he called Abraham. Well, how is it that
God called Abraham? Well, first, God called Abraham
out of idolatry. Abraham was living in a land
that was, the Ur of the Chaldees is just a idolatrous place full
of idolatrous people, and Abraham was one of them. And suddenly,
God appeared to Abraham, revealed himself to Abraham, and from
that moment on, Abraham quit worshiping idols and started
worshiping God. And you and I will do the same
thing. if God ever reveals himself to us. God is pleased to reveal
himself today to his people through the preaching of the gospel.
And if we ever hear, we ever see Christ, he reveals himself
to us through the preaching of the gospel. We're going to quit
our idolatry and start worshiping God. And I'm telling you now,
wherever it is, now, I don't think anybody here has probably
ever made a habit of bowing down to a stone statue or ceramic
statue or anything. But don't think we weren't born
idolaters. I'm telling you, wherever it is that God found us before
he revealed himself to us, we were in idolatry. That's exactly
right. We may have been a Catholic,
we may have been a Buddhist, we may have been an Armenian.
You know, you can be an idolater and be a good Calvinist. Did
you know that? You sure can. Because good Calvinists tend
to trust in their knowledge of doctrine instead of trusting
in Christ. That's idolatry. You can sit,
I can tell you this from experience, you can sit under the preaching
of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ Jesus and still be
an idolater. Trusting that you've got the
right preaching and the right doctrine, but you don't know
Christ. It's idolatry. So no matter how it is, no matter
where it was that we were at, when God found us, we were in
idolatry. And when God is pleased to reveal
himself to us through the preaching of the gospel, we're going to
leave our idols and we're going to go to Christ. How can you
not trust Christ after he reveals himself to you? He's so glorious. He's so gracious. He's so wonderful.
Of course, you're going to trust him. Of course, you're going
to, going to run to him. And if God has called you, you know,
that's the way God called you. He called you to Christ from
your, from your idols. Second, God called Abraham in
electing grace, in covenant grace. The word covenant, first time
it's ever used, is used when God's talking to Abraham. This
covenant I'm gonna make with you. All through Abraham's life,
everything that came through, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all
just kept coming back to this covenant that God made. God called
Abraham in electing grace. Think about what happened a couple
weeks ago. We looked in chapter 11. the Tower of Babel. God had just finished dealing
with man in their depraved, confusing religion. He dealt with him in
justice, scattered him over the face of the whole earth. And
after he did that, after God acted in judgment, it was then
he called Abraham in sovereign grace, just because he would. This line from Shem to Abraham,
we know Shem was a believer. Shem trusted God. I don't know
where this thing fell apart, but somewhere in Shem's line,
people became idolaters. And in that line, in that genealogy,
is just a bunch of idolaters. Abraham's father is an idolater.
And all those lists of ancestors, we don't know anything about
them. Really, they're unimportant. Suddenly, an object of God's
grace appears, and God calls them to Christ. God didn't call
Abraham because Abraham was better than all the rest of his idolaters.
He was cut from the same cloth they were. He was born from their
seeds. Of course he was cut from the same cloth that they were.
There is nothing in Abraham that would deserve God being gracious
to him. That one blessed thing. God called
Abraham because it was God's will to call Abraham. God called
Abraham, not because Abraham's good, but because God is good. That's what sovereign grace is.
God just gives grace just because he will. Just because it's his
will and purpose to do it. That's sovereign grace. Undeserved
sovereign grace. If God has called you, you know
this. God called you in sovereign grace.
It was all his will, his purpose, his grace. And he called you
to Christ. Not because you deserve it, but simply because he was
pleased to make you an object of his grace. Number three, God
called Abraham with an effectual, irresistible call. Now, I don't
know this. Scripture doesn't say it. I'm
just imagining this. Abraham's pretty comfortable
there in the Ur of the Chaldees. He's living in his father's house.
He has family all around him. I mean, you just think, how can
it get any better than that, you know? Janet still thinks
everybody ought to live in family compounds, you know? Abraham's
pretty comfortable. And God came to him. and said,
Abraham, get out and go to a place I'll show you. He didn't even
say get out and go here. He said, Abraham, get out and
go to a place I'll show you. And Abraham got up and started walking. You know why? It's a factual,
irresistible call. God called and Abraham went. And if you know Christ, you'll
have to say this. That's the way God called you.
At one time, you couldn't see Christ. You couldn't love Christ. You couldn't love the gospel.
You couldn't believe Christ. The preacher kept telling you
to believe on Christ, and you could not do it. You could not
make yourself do it. You couldn't see Christ. You
were just blind. The preacher would tell you to
come to Christ, and you couldn't do it. And then one day, you find
yourself, you've come to Christ. You find yourself believing on
Christ, and you couldn't do anything else. Now what happened? What caused that change? I can
tell you what happened. God effectually called you. He
revealed Christ to you. You heard and suddenly you believed
and you came to Christ and you trusted him and you didn't want
it any other way. That's an effectual call. And
that's how God calls all of his people. Same way he called Abraham.
All right, number two, look at Acts chapter seven. Every believer,
has the same faith, the exact same faith that Abraham had.
And Stephen was getting ready to be stoned. He tells us something
about that. Acts chapter seven, verse one.
Then said the high priest, are these things so? And he said,
men and brethren, and fathers hearken, the God of glory appeared
unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia. before
he dwelt in Cairn and said unto him, get thee out of thy country
and from thy kindred and come into the land, which I shall
show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans and
dwelt in Cairn. And from thence, when his father
was dead, he removed him into this land where he need now dwell.
And he, God gave him none inheritance in it. No, not so much as to
set his foot on. Yet he promised that he would
give it to him for a possession. and to his seed after him, when
as yet he had no child." Now, Abraham went to this land, the
land of Canaan, the place where God showed him. And you know
why he went there? He left his comfortable home,
left his comfortable place, because Abraham believed God. God said,
Abraham, you go here, I'm gonna give this land to your descendants.
I'm gonna make of you a great nation, and they're gonna dwell
in this land. And he believed that God would give that land
to his descendants. I thought about this. Normally,
we parents, if we want our children and our grandchildren to have
something, here's what we do. We buy it up, and then we will
it to them, don't we? If there was some land I wanted
my children to have, this is what I'd do, I'd try to buy it.
and then I'd will it to him, I'd give it to him, you know,
and that's how they come into possession of it. God said, Abraham,
your children, your descendants are gonna possess this land.
Abraham never owned an inch of it. He didn't buy it up and save
it to give to his descendants. Abraham wandered all through
that land of Canaan, the promised land, the land that God promised
to give to his children, but he never owned an inch of it. And Abraham still believed his
descendants are going to possess it all. Because God promised. He believed the word of God,
the promise of God. That's what faith is. It's just
believing God's word, what God says. One night, God came to
Abraham. He promised him. Abraham is too
old to have a son. Sarah's too old to have a child,
to bear a child. But God promised Abraham, you're
going to have son through Sarah. And the Messiah is going to come
through that son. Now, It was a biological impossibility
for the two of them to have a child. And Abraham believed God. Abraham
believed God was going to give him a son through Sarah. There's
no earthly reason he could possibly believe that. I mean, you know,
if Abraham and Sarah were young and they're 18, 19 years old
and they got married, of course they're going to have children.
You know, they're in the strength of life, the prime of life. It's
just natural. They're going to have children.
Abraham's a hundred years old. Sarah's 90 years old. It's impossible
to think she's going to have a child. But Abraham believes
she would because he believed the Word of God. See, that's
what faith is. And if God has saved you, you
believe the Word of God. Now, that doesn't mean you understand
it all because we don't. Just like that genealogy. I know
Christ is there, I can't see it. But I believe it. I believe
it to be so. You don't understand how it is.
How is God going to bring all of his will to pass? I don't
know. I just believe God will do it
because he said he would. That's faith. Faith is just believing
the word of God. The word of God says that you
and I are completely sinful. Absolutely everything we do,
say or think is sinful. We can't do anything to please
God. Now that offends this flesh, that offends the pride of the
flesh, the ability of the flesh, the righteousness of the flesh.
It just runs contrary to everything that it is in our flesh. Yet we believe ourselves to be
helpless, hopeless sinners who are completely dependent on God
to save us. You know why we believe that?
Because that's what God's word says we are. You believe that
about yourself? That's faith, it's believing
the word of God. God's word says that his people
are righteous. They have obeyed God's law perfectly. They're righteous because of
what the Lord Jesus Christ did when he became a man, made under
the law. What he did for them, for his
people as their representatives, not because anything his people
have done or they haven't done, it's all because of what Christ
has done for them. Now that's impossible for the
human mind to understand. It's just utterly impossible.
But you who believe, you believe Christ to be all of your righteousness
without you adding to it one bit. You believe that simply
because God's word says it. That's faith. God's word says
that everyone who trusts Christ is justified. Justified means
without sin. They are justified right now,
not someday, right now. Hard for me to see that. When
I look at myself and when I think about my thoughts and the things
I would do and the things that I do. When I look at myself,
all I see is sin. But I believe I'm justified.
I believe I'm sinless before God. And the only reason I have
to believe that is God's Word says it. That's what faith is. God's Word says that everyone
that the Father chose Everyone for whom Christ died, everyone
who trusts in Christ, everyone the Spirit gives faith in Christ,
every last one of them will appear in glory. They'll be made just
like Christ. They'll worship Christ face to
face for an eternity. You believe that? That's what
God's word says. If you believe it because God's
word says it, that's faith. Here's the thing about faith.
And Abraham's a mighty good example of this. Faith will be tried. Abraham had 10 great trials recorded
in scripture. Faith's gonna be tried. Now you
believe that. You believe Christ, you believe
God's gonna bring you glory. You believe it's well with your
soul, don't you? But there's gonna come a time
it's well with your soul and it's not well with your body.
And the night is gonna be dark, I mean, I mean so dark you can't
see your hand in front of your face. And the way is so hard,
you utterly cannot imagine going from here to there. You just can't imagine. You look
at your own sin, you look at your own weakness, The weakness
of your faith, you just think, there is no way I'm saved. Nobody has faith in Christ to
think like this. Nobody that believes in Christ
would act like I'm acting. I'm so sinful, it's impossible.
It's impossible for me to ever go from where I am, like I am,
to appear with Christ in glory. It's impossible. Your heart's broken and you just
can't, you just seem like there's nothing to grasp onto. And yet you find yourself believing.
Not only is God gonna give me grace sufficient for this trial,
he's gonna bring me through it and bring me to glory even though
I don't understand how he's gonna do it. And the only reason I
have to believe that is the word of God. There's nothing in me
that makes me think that's possible. The only reason I believe that
is that's what God's word says. That's faith. And if you think
about it, it's easy to believe that all of God's people someday
are gonna be plumb saved. Not one will be missing. It's
easy to believe that if Christ is all of your salvation. Isn't
that right? Every child of God has that faith. Abraham had this based purely
upon the word of God. Paul said there are Romans who
hoped against hope. There's no reason to believe
it, earthly reason. I believe it because I believe
the word of God. That's what the faith every believer has is based
upon the word of God. Then here's the third thing.
Every believer is justified by faith, the same way that Abraham
was. And like I said a minute ago,
justified is being made without sin. Now this is an amazing truth
of the gospel that a sinner can be justified so that we have
no sin. Now we can't make ourselves that
way. A sinner can't make themselves sinless because everything we
do is sin. Everything we do trying to clean up our act just adds
to more of our sin debt. It's like taking the stain of
sin that's on your soul and trying to wash it away by your works.
That's like trying to take a white shirt and wash it clean, soaking
it in motor oil. It just don't work. All of our
works are sinful. So everything we do just adds
to our sin debt. But the good news of the gospel
is this. Sinners are made sinless. They're justified by the obedience
of Christ as the representative of his people. They're justified
by the death of Christ that took their sin and put it away forever. His blood blotted it out. You
see, God's elect did what Christ did. He is sinless, so his people
are sinless in him. When he obeyed God's law, so
did you who believe him. So you're justified, you're made
without sin, and that justification is received by faith in Christ. I show you that in Galatians
chapter three. Galatians chapter three. A justification is received
by doing absolutely nothing. by doing nothing but trust Christ. You can't do something, add to
it now to make it better. You can't do something to deserve
it. Justification is received by doing absolutely nothing but
trusting Christ. That's how Abraham was justified.
Galatians three verse six. Even as Abraham believed God
and it was accounted, it was imputed unto him for righteousness.
Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham. For the scripture, for seeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before
the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall all nations be
blessed, and the Christ is gonna come through your seed. So, so
then, they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
For as many as are of the works of the law, and if you're trying
to earn this by the works of the law, you're under the curse.
For it's written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. If you
don't keep God's law perfectly in every jot and every tittle
for every second of your life, you're cursed. But that no man
is justified by the law on the side of God, it's evident. For
the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. For
it's written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. That,
here's why Christ did all this, that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now what is this blessing
of Abraham that comes on all of his children? It's God's gift
of justifying them by faith, not by works, by faith. Read
on, verse 15. Brethren, I speak after the manner
of men. Though it be but a man's covenant, Yet, if it be confirmed,
no man disannulleth or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made. He saith God, and to seeds as
of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. In
this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of
God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after, cannot disannull,
that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance
be of the law, It's no more promise, but God gave it to Abraham by
promise. And here's what Paul is saying
here. Abraham was justified by faith and it could not have been
by the works of the law because God didn't give the law to Moses
to 430 years later. It's impossible for Abraham to
be justified by keeping the law. It had to be through faith. It
had to be by believing God. Now, 430 years later, God gave
the law. What does that mean? Well, it
doesn't mean any sinner can be justified by obeying it ourselves. Remember, all we can do is sin.
It's impossible for us to obey God's law. You know why God gave
the law? To show us how exceeding sinful
we are. To show us the impossibility
of us obeying God's law so that we'd see our desperate need of
Christ more clearly than ever before and we run to him and
we trust him because we can't trust in ourselves. That's why
God gave the law. So we'd see the only way a sinner
can be justified is by believing Christ. We're justified by believing
what Christ did is all it takes for me to be justified. It ought
to be easy for us to believe Christ is enough, isn't it? Christ
is enough. That's faith. He's all it takes
to justify me. by Christ and Christ alone. And
here's how you can tell that God's the one justified you.
You're thankful that your works don't contribute. You're thankful.
Some people, oh, now I want to add my works to this because
I want to make sure. Wait a minute. Somebody that believes Christ
is thankful. My works don't contribute to
this at all. All that's required of me is
to rest in Christ. That's a blessing. I'm telling
you that the blessing of justification, the blessing of Abraham, that
God has given all his people, he's made them without sin, simply
through faith in Christ. Now that's worth shouting about.
That's worth shouting about. Okay, here's the fourth thing.
Every believer is righteous through union with Christ, the very same
way Abraham was made righteous. Now I've touched on this, but
it's just, it's so glorious, it's so comforting, I just, I
want to talk about it some more. Union with Christ. All of the
gospel hinges on this truth of federal headship in the two Adams. The first man Adam, and the second
Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I are sinners. And we
were not made sinners by our own actions. We were not made
sinners the first time we ever sinned. The first time we ever
told a lie, the first time we coveted something that didn't
belong to us, that's not when we were made sinners. We were
made sinners in Adam, our representative. We were in him. What Adam did,
we did. When Adam sinned, you and I sinned. Now, it wasn't like we sinned.
We sinned. God didn't just charge Adam's
sin to us even though we weren't there, because that would be
unjust, wouldn't it? God charged Adam to send us because
we sinned in Adam, our federal head. And the first time we ever
sinned, the first time we ever told a lie, the first time we
coveted something that didn't belong to us, you know why that is?
Because we were born with Adam's nature. Adam's sinful nature. Now that's the truth about you
and me in the flesh, by nature. And the good news of the gospel
is this. Sinners don't have to pay their own sin tax. Sinners
don't have to try to do something to make themselves righteous
by all their good works and good deeds and giving up stuff that
the flesh loves. And that's good news. Can you
think the utter futility of trying to tell people, now, you know,
if you do good enough, you can pay your own sin debt. I mean,
I'd just throw up my hands and quit, wouldn't you? Because we
can't do it. We can't make ourselves righteous.
Sinners are made righteous the very same way that we are made
sinners. by the actions of a federal head, by being in Christ, the
second Adam. Christ came to this earth, he
was made flesh. Bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh, he was made just like us. A human soul, just like you
and me, and all of God's people, all of God's elect, did what
Christ, our representative, did. He was made a man under the law. God's elect did what Christ did,
because they were in Christ, their representative. The same
way the whole human race was in Adam, doing what Adam did.
All of Christ's race, God's elect, were in him, doing what he did. And that's why they're righteous.
It's through union with their representative. He's righteous,
so they're righteous. And that righteousness, that
righteous nature given in the new birth, that can't be lost. Any more than we can change the
sin nature that Adam gave us. Think about that. Are you going
to try to quit sinning? I mean, I know if you know God, you don't
wake up in the morning thinking all the different ways you're
going to sin. You wake up in the morning thinking how you're
going to do right to not sin. And you can't change it, can
you? You cannot change that nature. Bless your heart. If you're righteous
in Christ, you can't change that either. So it can't be lost. That's God's gift is people.
It's a union with Christ. Now, if you look in Hebrews chapter
7, I'll show you an example of this from Abraham's life. This is after Abraham took those
few men and went down there and rescued Lot, and all those folks
from Sodom had been taken captive by all those kings, and Abraham
whipped them, took all the spoil. Hebrews 7, verse 1. And on the
way, him returning from that slaughter of the kings, he met
this man Melchizedek. For this Melchizedek, king of
Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning
from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also
Abraham gave a 10th part of all, first being by interpretation
king of righteousness, and then after that also king of Salem,
which is king of peace. He's without father, without
mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days or
end of life, but made like unto the son of God, abideth a priest
continually, Now consider how great this man was, unto whom
even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. Now
Melchizedek, I'm utterly convinced, is a pre-incarnate appearance
of Christ. I don't see from that description how he could be anybody
else to you. And Abraham met him as he returned from the slaughter
of the kings. I mean, he just won this mighty
battle with such few men. And Abraham met this man, Melchizedek. pre-incarnate appearance of Christ
and he blessed Abraham. And Abraham tithed. Gave him 10% of everything he
had. Now the law that demands the
tithe is not gonna be given for 430 years later. Yet Abraham
tithed and gave a tenth of the spoils to this man Melchizedek.
Now verse five. And verily this is what happened
after that law was given, the law of the tithe. And verily
they that are of the sons of Levi, who received the office
of the priesthood have a commandment. This is a commandment from the
law to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is
of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham.
Now the tribe of Levi, they own no land, they didn't farm, they
didn't work, their whole life was given over to the worship
of God, to taking care of the temple, the tabernacle, doing
all that work. And the way, since they don't
work, the way they were supported was the other tribes all tithed. They gave 10% of everything they
had and went to the tribe of Levi to support all their earthly
needs. The tribe of Levi didn't tithe. They didn't have to pay tithe.
They received the tithes. Yet the tribe of Levi paid tithes.
Let me show you that, verse nine. And as I may so say, Levi also,
who receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For he was yet in
the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. Now the
writer doesn't say, well, it's like Levi paid tithes. It wasn't
like, well, God just treated it like Levi paid tithes. The
writer says Levi did pay tithes because he was in his father,
Adam. Now that's union. That's representation. Levi did what his father Abraham
did. And that's the way God saves
his people. That's the way God makes his people righteous. God's
elect did everything that the Lord Jesus did as a man on the
earth, because they're in him. Through union with Christ, the
body did everything that the head did. And that holy, righteous
nature can never be lost and can never change. Any more than
Adam's sinful nature can change. Now that's good news. That's
a salvation that cannot fail. It cannot be lost. because it's
all hinges on Christ. All right, now here's the last
thing. The faith of every believer is
justified by works. The same way Abraham's faith
was. Now, listen very carefully here. I hope you notice this.
I didn't say every believer is justified by works. I said the
faith of every believer is justified by works. Every believer, we've
already covered this, we're justified by grace. We're justified by
the faithfulness of Christ. to do all the work that's necessary
to make us righteous. We're justified by faith in Christ,
by trusting that Christ is all it takes to make me sinless.
And I just can't stress this strongly enough because even
the oldest, strongest, most well-taught believer has flesh that just
keeps wanting to pull us back into bondage to the law. None
of our works contribute to our righteousness. That's never an
excuse for sin, it's never an excuse for us to do wrong, but
none of our works can contribute to righteousness. Christ is our
righteousness, and we receive that by faith in Christ. I trust
him so fully, I don't feel the need to try anything to do it.
It's perfect, complete in him. Sinners are only justified by
faith, but this is also true. Our faith is justified. Our faith
in Christ is proven to be the genuine article by our works. You see, faith acts. Where there
is faith in the heart, that faith is gonna be seen as we follow
Christ. Look here at James chapter two.
James chapter two. If Christ is all of your hope
of salvation, that faith is gonna be seen as you follow him. as
you cling to him, James 2 verse 20. But wilt thou know, O vain
man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our
father justified by works? His faith was justified by works.
When he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar, seest thou
how faith wrought with his works? And by works was faith made perfect.
And the scripture was fulfilled, was saith Abraham believed God.
It was imputed unto him for righteousness, And he was called the friend
of God. You see then, how that by works
a man is justified and not by faith only. And what James means
there is we're justified by faith that acts. Faith alone is dead. If faith is living, genuine faith,
it lives, it acts, it moves. Abraham believed God's promise. We already covered this. God
said, Abraham, you're gonna have a son. Abraham believed God.
He believed the word of God. He believed that God was going
to bring the Savior through his son Isaac. He really believed
that. He really did. You know how I
know Abraham really believed that? His faith acted. One day, God told Abraham, take
your son, your only son, Isaac, who you love, take him to a place
I show you. And there you offer him as a
burnt offering to me. Abraham got the wood and the fire and
started walking. As they stopped at that mountain,
he told his young men that you stay here. I and the lad are
going to go yonder and worship. And we're going to return to
you. Abraham fully intended to get to the top of that mountain
and cut his son's body up in pieces and burn it to ash, because
that's what God told him to do. And he was going to do it. His
faith acted. Abraham still believed God's
going to bring the Messiah through his son. Abraham fully believed
God's going to keep his word. Even if he has to raise Isaac
from the dead to do it, God's gonna keep his word. His faith
acted. Now the only way Abraham would
be willing to sacrifice his son to slaughter and to burn his
body's son to ashes is if he really believed God. Abraham
believed God, and his faith is proven by his actions. Now if
God saved you, you really do believe God, don't you? And your
actions will show it, It's not going to be perfect all the time.
I mean, be careful ever taking a snapshot of somebody and saying,
you know, they have faith or they don't have faith. Generally
speaking, though, a believer's actions are going to show they
believe God, they believe Christ, they trust Christ. You're going
to show that, that faith, by not trying to earn a righteousness,
but being so legalistic. You're not going to hold your
feet to the fire. You're not going to hold your friend's feet to the fire.
because you really do trust Christ. He's all it takes to make you
righteous. You're gonna follow the Lord and believe his baptism.
You have faith in Christ, you're gonna follow him. You're gonna
follow him. Nobody's gonna have to talk you into it. Sooner or later,
you'll follow him and believe his baptism, because that's the Lord's
commandment to you. And what a wonderful picture.
What a wonderful opportunity to confess Christ this way, to
picture this is how God saved me. Through the death, burial,
and resurrection of his son. If you have faith in Christ,
you really do believe you're saved by grace. And that will
make you at least try to be a gracious person. You really do believe
that your words don't contribute one thing to your salvation.
But you sure do want to look for the opportunity to work hard
to help God's people. If there's ever an opportunity
to do something to help, you want to jump in there. No, it
doesn't contribute to your salvation. It's out of love and gratitude.
You believe Christ and you want, you need to be in the worship
service, to hear of him, to be where his people gather together.
You give. You don't tithe. That law of
the tithe, that 10% is done. Get that 10% number out of your
head. You give as God's blessed you. You see in some way you cannot
understand. Almighty God loves you. best as you can, you want to
love God's people. You want to love your brethren.
See, that's true faith acting. And if faith doesn't act like
that, it's not saving faith. But whenever God saves somebody
and gives them faith, their faith is going to act and they're going
to follow Christ that way. And you may not do something
as dramatic as Abraham did. Take one of your children to
an altar and lift up the knife to kill him. But through your
daily walk, you're going to show, I trust Christ. Faith acts. All right. Let's bow together.
Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for salvation
that's full, free, and certain in our Lord Jesus Christ. We
thank you for the gift of faith that you give your people that
we might trust and rest in our Lord Jesus Christ. We can never get over, we can
never fully understand how it is that Almighty God would love
sinners such as we are so much he'd give his only son as a sacrifice
to put our sin away. Father, we're overwhelmed at
your mercy and your grace, and we thank you. I ask that you
would give us faith. Give each one of us here tonight
faith. to trust in our Lord Jesus Christ and cause us to walk in
such a way that our love for Christ, our dependence upon Him,
shows. All these things we ask for the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the glory of His name, we
pray. Amen. All right, Sean. Okay, if you would turn to song
number 495 and stand as we sing, Unsearchable Riches. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ, wealth that can never be told. Riches exhaustless of
mercy and grace, precious, more precious than gold. Precious, more precious, wealth
that can never be told. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ, precious, more precious than gold. O the unsearchable
riches of Christ, who shall their greatness declare? Jewels whose luster our lives
may adorn, pearls that the porous may wear. Precious, more precious,
wealth that can never be told. Oh, the unsearchable riches of
Christ, precious, more precious than gold. Oh, the unsearchable
riches of Christ, freely, how freely they flow. Making the souls of the faithful
and true Happy wherever they go Precious, more precious Wealth
that can never be told All the unsearchable riches of Christ
Precious, more precious than gold O the unsearchable riches
of Christ, who would not gladly endure trials, afflictions, and
crosses on earth, riches like these to secure? Precious for
precious, wealth that can never be told. All the unsearchable
riches of Christ, precious for precious than gold.