I'd just like to say thank you
to Peter for his welcome. It's good to be here. I think
it's fair to say this is the largest congregation I've addressed. I'll bring in the word of God. I trust that the Lord will be
with us as we look into his precious word. Romans and the fourth chapter. Romans chapter four. Would you
turn there with me please? Romans chapter four. Keep your
fingers in that passage for a moment. Christ having died to redeem
his people, having risen from the dead a mighty conqueror,
having conquered sin, death, and hell for all those whom the
Father gave him from before the foundations of this world, having
ascended into the heights of glory, having sat down on the
right hand of his father, sat down a mighty victor, a mighty
savior, from whence he sent forth his gospel by his spirit through
the mouths of his messengers, the apostles, and his disciples,
and all those whom he would send to preach his gospel. He sent
forth that gospel by the Spirit into the four corners of the
earth, beginning at Jerusalem. It went forth to all the nations
around about, to Galatia, to Corinth, to Thessalonica, to
Ephesus, throughout all Asia, around the Mediterranean, to
the four corners of the Roman Empire, the world as it was then
known. Some say even in that generation
to these very shores. From such a height Christ would
send forth his gospel in power to bring in his inheritance. to bring in with a mighty salvation
all those for whom he died, a blood-bought people. The gospel spread in power and
before ever the Apostle Paul took up his pen by inspiration
of the Spirit to write down the glorious epistle which we have
before us to send a letter to the saints at Rome before ever
he should write. Already there was gathered in
Rome a church, a congregation both of Jews and Gentiles. Those who had nothing in common
except that they were sinners redeemed by the blood of the
Savior. Paul, hearing of the faith of
those in Rome, rejoicing at what God had done in gathering a people
there, wrote to establish them, to ground them, to settle them
in the gospel. He wrote this epistle to establish
them in that gospel of which he could say, I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. What do you know of this gospel? What do you know of this power? The gospel he presents in Romans
has a beginning, has a middle, has an end. It is not the same gospel which
you will hear in many, many places which call themselves churches.
Their gospel does not begin where Paul's gospel begins. You may go and you may hear of
the love of Jesus, of a salvation which is there for the taking
if you but will. But what you won't hear is what
Paul begins with here in Romans 1 and verse 18 where he says,
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. The wrath of God. That's where this gospel begins. You may like to jump in over
the fence halfway through. but except you come by a narrow
gate a straight gate and a narrow way you'll never know the love
of Christ which many seek to proclaim. Now the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men. All men Religious men, irreligious
men. Black, white, French, German,
English, Northern, Southern, male and female, every man. God's wrath burns against sin. What do you know of that? if any should read the book of
Romans and think that perhaps that bit doesn't apply to them. Paul spends the next couple of
chapters ensuring that you fall under this net. He proves all
men to be under sin. And by the time he reaches chapter
3, he can say that we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles
that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth,
and there is none that seeketh after God. But having laid man in the dust Paul presents the glorious truth
of Christ and his redemptive work for sinners such as you
and such as me. He shows that there is nothing
that man can do to save himself. He shows that all men are sinners
and all the works of men is but sin. He shows that the law was
given not to make man righteous, not to be a rule of righteousness
which man could attain to, but to slay man, to judge man, and to condemn
man, and to bring him in guilty before his God. Therefore by
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But now, but now. the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets even
the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto
all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood. What a point to come to. You who are sinners by nature,
you who have no strength, you whose wills are depraved from
the moment you come forth from the womb, You who are hopeless
and have no hope. Paul says to those who know they
are nothing, that now the righteousness of God is revealed. That we who believe are justified,
not by our works, not by our will, not by our strength but
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. So Paul presents the gospel to
us and really from that point on in Romans he begins to expand
on these truths by asking questions At the end of chapter three,
having set these things down, having described man as he is,
and having presented the answer to man's folly and man's lost
condition in Jesus Christ and his death, Paul asks questions,
rhetorical questions, the sort of questions that others would
come back at him with. Where's boasting then? It's excluded. By what law of works? No, by
the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Well is
he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. seeing it is one God which shall
justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith. Well do we then make void the
law through faith? God forbid. We establish the
law. And here in chapter four is where
I want to come to. We have this question. What shall we say then that Abraham
our father as pertaining to the flesh have found? For if Abraham
were justified by works he have whereof to glory but not before
God. For what sayeth 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 described,
if the blessedness of the man under whom God 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. Paul begins to bring us back
The Old Testament Scriptures here. He takes his hearers, especially
the Jewish hearers at Rome. And he takes them back to their
forefather. He reminds them of the patriarch
Abraham. And he presents to them the fact
that what Abraham believed is exactly what Paul here is preaching
in the Gospel. What Abraham discovered is exactly
what Paul discovered. And what Abraham discovered will
be exactly what you discover should you ever come to know
Christ as your Saviour. And if you never discover what
Abraham discovered then you will remain yet in your sins. Therefore we must say that Abraham
is someone from whom we can learn a great deal. What shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, have found? For if
Abraham were justified by works, he have whereof the glory, but
not before God. His works, his righteousnesses,
his good deeds, much like yours and much like mine, might have
impressed his fellow men. They might have said of Abraham
as they say of others, oh what an upright man he is, how godly. But those works were filthy tatters
of unrighteousness before a holy God. They damned Abraham. They kept him out of glory. And
they'd have laid him in the grave if he came with them before God
and claimed them as some right upon eternity. Our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. What sayeth the scripture? Abraham
believed God and it was counted under him for righteousness. Abraham believed God. Who do you believe? Who do you
believe? Abraham believed God. Abraham had faith. But in what did that faith stand
and by what was faith granted to Abraham? How did he believe? When did he believe? Was he born believing? Were you? You show me a man born with faith and I'll show you a blind man. Abraham was not born believing
God. There was a time when Abraham
walked just as others. A child of wrath, even as others. One of those who came into Paul's
description in his first three chapters. One of those upon whom
the wrath of God burned against his sins. A child of wrath, even as others. Now by nature Abraham had no
faith. There was a time when Abraham
did not believe God. He was a heathen living in Ur
of the Chaldees, godless, wayward, dead in trespasses and sins,
blind, ignorant of the truth, willfully ignorant of the truth. rebellious, having run afar off,
an idolater, a heathen, evil, wicked, a rebel. Just like you and just like me. All sinners Abraham did not believe
God and yet we read here that there
evidently came a time when there was a change for it is said of
Abraham that Abraham believed God he believed there came a
time in Abraham's life when God intervened, when God under mercy,
in mercy towards Abraham, in grace towards Abraham, called
Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees. And he said to Abraham, get thee
up, leave this country, come unto a country to which I will
take you. Bring your family. Bring what
you have. And follow me. And Abraham didn't argue. He
didn't resist. But he followed. God began to make promises to
Abraham. He said, 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 Abraham departed as the Lord
had spoken unto him and he went where the Lord led him he didn't
know where Don't think it was easy for Abraham,
especially with a family and children to care for, to leave
his home and follow the Lord, not knowing where he went. And yet he did. And the Lord
continued to make promises to Abraham. And we read that Abraham
believed God, and believed the promises which God made to him. How? How does one, lost in sins, dead
in sins, just like you and me, how does one like that come to
believe the sort of things that God called Abraham to believe? It's not natural. He wasn't brought up under this
way. He didn't learn it in Sunday
school. He wasn't as people today would
claim of us perhaps, he wasn't brainwashed. He didn't go this
way because his parents went this way. We read nothing of
his parents going this way. He was called out of Ur, of the
Chaldees. He was called to leave everything
that he knew and loved and was brought up with. Follow me, the
Lord said unto Abraham. To do that, to believe the God
that so speaks, is unnatural, it's supernatural. The faith that Abraham had is
not the faith that most of religion today talks about. And until
you come to see that there are two sorts of faith, and one is
just a lie, One is just something you'll be held clutching to in
your hand on the day of the Lord to come, which will do you no
good whatsoever. Then you'll never know God. We
need more than natural persuasion. We need more than words in the
head. We need more than the right doctrine. We need more than reformed theology. We need faith. And we need the
life that gives faith. Because Abraham was dead once. And we, by nature, are dead. And dead men don't follow God. Dead men lay in the grave. You may say, but I get up every
day, I go to work, I eat, I drink, I get merry. I'm not dead. As far as God's concerned, and
as far as the things of God are concerned, You are more dead than the most
rotting corpse that lies in the nearest churchyard to here. You're
utterly blind by nature. We're utterly deaf to the word
of God by nature. There is none that understandeth,
Paul said. There is none that seeketh after
God. Abraham was not born with faith. He was given it. He was given
it when God called him. When God called him there was
a miracle. There was a transformation which
began. By the word of God, God took
Abraham And he led him forth out of this world, out of the
thinking of this world, away from the riches and the pleasures
of this world, the ambitions, the hopes, the reasoning of this
world. And he led him forth to a land, a heavenly land, which can only
be entered with a new life and a new spirit in a new man. A new man. God gave Abraham faith. And Abraham, hearing his Lord,
believed God. He believed God. Not because
he was good. Not because he worked it out.
Not because he studied the scriptures. But because God called him. God
set his grace upon him. God changed him. And God gave
him faith. Because Abraham was God's in
Christ from before the foundations of this world. Chosen unto salvation. chosen. Have you faith? Faith, we read in Romans 10,
comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And we must
say that Abraham heard. He heard He heard the word of
God. He heard God calling him, God
speaking unto him. He heard the truth of God. He
heard the gospel. And hearing, he believed. He
heard. What did Abraham hear? What did
Abraham see? Well if you read the account
of Abram's life in Genesis, we're going to turn there in a moment.
The various promises made to Abram as I've hinted at. The
promise that he would bring forth a child in his old age. That
Sarah, an old woman, way past the age of childbearing should
bring him a child into this world. And that this child should be
the seed through whom Abraham would be granted an inheritance.
Through whom Abraham would bring forth a great multitude. He would become the father of
a great nation. He was promised a land for that
nation to dwell in. And he believed. Now what I want you to see in
those promises, with which you may be very familiar, we know
the end from the beginning in the scriptures. We know the accounts
of God's dealings with Abraham, and we know what happened in
the end. And that makes it easy for us
to know about these things and to know what came to pass. And
unfortunately it makes it easy for us to take them for granted
and to lose the impact of them. Because what God said to Abraham
and what God expected Abraham to believe and what God called
him to believe, what Abraham did believe was utterly impossible. It was utterly impossible. It could not be! He was an old
man. He was 75 when he came out from
Ur of the Chaldees. He was 86 when he took things
into his own hands. And thinking he knew the Word
of God and thinking he knew how that might be brought to pass,
he had Ishmael born by Hagar. 86! And he was knocking on a hundred
when God promised him again that you will bring forth a child. Not by Hagar, not by your strength,
not by the intervention of man. But as I promised to you, you'll
bring forth a child through an impossible path. You'll bring
forth a child through your own loins. by your own wife Sarah,
then over 90. And when Isaac was born, Abraham
was a hundred years old. Sarah, years past the age of
childbearing, was over 90. This was impossible should God
call you out of Eggleston or wherever you may be and call
you to lead call you to follow him and should he say to you
as he said to Abram such an impossibility would you
believe He believed impossible things. It was incredible what
happened. It was incredible that he should
bring forth a child in his old age. It was even more astonishing
that through that child, that he should be the father of a
great nation. And it was absolutely incredible
that he should be led into a land of promise. Astonishing! Astonishing! And yet we read of his response
further on in Romans 4 that it is said of Abraham who
against hope believed in hope that he might become the father
of many nations according to that which was spoken. Yes, he
believed the impossible. That's what faith does. That's
what faith does. Yet behind the promises which
God made to Abraham, Abraham, was something greater. For the
birth of Isaac, the nation of Israel and the land of Canaan,
as we know, were but figures. It was astonishing that he had
a son in his old age. Astonishing that this nation
should come forth from him who was once a heathen. Astonishing
that they should be led forth to Canaan. But what was more
astonishing was that which Abraham saw behind all these things. For when it said of Abraham that
he believed God, he didn't just believe that Sarah would bring
forth a child. He believed in that seed who
was to come of whom Isaac was the figure. And he didn't just
believe that of Isaac there should be a great nation, the Israelites,
but he believed that in that true child of promise, Christ,
that there should be an even greater nation. And he didn't
just believe that he would have this inheritance in Canaan, but
he looked for a country which is heavenly. He believed the
gospel. He believed that one would come
of whom Isaac was the figure. He believed in the Redeemer. He believed that one, the child
of promise, should come to redeem a great nation. And he believed
that redemption should lead that people into eternity, into an
inheritance, a land which should never be taken from them. A great
inheritance. That inheritance which Christ
bought upon the cross before he rose. before he sat down,
before he sent forth his servants to preach the gospel at Rome,
at Galatia, to us today, to bring in that multitude, to lead them
forth into that land. Abraham believed in possibilities. Abraham believed the gospel. And there's nothing so impossible
as the gospel. The gospel is impossible. That God should redeem people who were born of Adam who fell
in Adam in the garden, who are corrupt sinners by nature, that
God could redeem guilty sinners condemned under the law, who have no strength, whose will
is set against God, who in their might of their natural pride
and arrogance run far from him who will not submit to his rule,
who despise his authority, who would sit upon his throne. For that is the essence of sin. We will be the ones to decide
our own destiny. We will. We love to be in control
in the little things and in the great things. We will choose. No man's gonna make my decisions
for me. We will not have this man to
rule over us that's what our hearts say and because our hearts say that
and because God is just and holy and righteous and perfect we
must be judged accordingly and the sentence of God's holy law
against sinners, against you, and against me, is an inflexible,
an unmoving, an unalterable guilty. Guilty. There's no letting off. There's no dispensing with his
judgments. God is God, he does not change. If he was holy when he wrote
Genesis, he was holy when he wrote Revelation. If he was righteous
in the Old Testament and slew thousands in a day when they
rose up to play in rebellion against him as Moses was in the
mount, then he is righteous today. And his judgment is not altered. His law is not altered. And the pronouncement of that
law upon our sins has not altered. Then we have to say, as Abraham
surely fought How? How can man be just with
God? How can man be just with God? How can man possibly be saved? How can God bring forth a good
thing out of an evil thing? How can there be light in the
darkness of man's fallen nature, of this evil world. How can God save? The gospel is impossible. What Abraham believed was something
which is impossible. And Abraham's faith in believing
the promises of God, that hope beyond hope which he was granted,
was not simply that hope that he should bring forth Isaac.
That was astonishing. But what really stood in his
mind was the absolute impossibility That he, a sinner, corrupt, evil,
should be the father of that seed which God said would come,
in whom this earth would be blessed. That seed, Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. How could he come forth from
the lineage of Abraham. How could he save Abraham? How could Abraham be a partaker
of that inheritance which that seed, that son of promise should
bring in? How could he? Abraham's sins
mounted up to the heavens Perhaps when the Lord came to
Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees and called him forth, perhaps
this brought such a change in Abraham that he, as it were,
turned over a new leaf. He turned from his wicked ways. He threw away his idols. He turned
from his worldly pleasures and riches. And he followed the Lord. And there was such a change in
Abraham. Such a change, everyone noticed
it. He wasn't like he used to be.
Faith had brought wondrous things. God had done wonderful things
in this man whom he called forth. and perhaps he was different
and he didn't seem to sin like he used to sin. But what of those sins which he'd built up to that day? What could he do about his past
sins? He could try to change, he could
set himself to holy living, but he still had a huge debt and
he couldn't clear it. What of you? You may hear the
gospel to which once you were blind, once you were deaf, once
you were apathetic, You couldn't give any time for it. Maybe your
parents dragged you to the meetings and you heard and what a weariness
and away you went. But maybe there's come a time
when something's changing. And God's got you in his hand. And he's shaking you about. And
you can feel hell's fire beneath you. And you know the guilt and
the corruption of your heart. And you want to do something
about it. Maybe you've got your Bible out
each day. And you're beginning to read.
And you're beginning to weep over the pages. And you're not
like you used to be. It suddenly means something to
you. But what of your past sins? You
may do your best to change now, but you're lost. You can't undo
what you've already done. It's impossible. And as you go on a bit, maybe
you set yourself to the scriptures. You've read the law of God. You
know the Ten Commandments. You know the Sermon on the Mount.
You know what you should be before a holy God. Perhaps you're trying
to live this way and you think the better you attain to it,
somehow God's going to be better disposed to you. And yet you
find it doesn't feel that way, does it? You begin to discover it doesn't
feel that way. The harder you try, the worse
it gets. The more you try to put aside
the evil thoughts, the more they're there. You used to seek after this and
after that, and you know it was wrong. And you don't go to those
places anymore. And you don't watch those films
anymore. But you can't shake the thoughts. And you discover something of
your heart that it condemns you. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? What do you
know of your heart? And you discover the more time
goes on, the more impossible it is to be right before this
God who Abraham followed. Abraham saw that impossibility. He knew something must be done. And yet he believed God. For
God said that I will do these things, I will bring them to
pass, I will do them for you, Abraham. He didn't know how this
could be, but he believed. The gospel's impossible, but Abraham believed it. You may face impossibilities,
You may be seeking the Lord. You may, as I've said, feel the
corruptions of your own sin and you recognize it's impossible. I want to be saved, I pray, I
seek the Lord and I get no answer. I don't think he'll ever hear
me. I'm too far gone. I know there's others in my church,
there's others I see and they're glorious Christians. I wish I
could be like them. But I think I can't be one of
those elect. No, I think I've done too much. It's impossible. Believer, you
may see the impossibilities of things. You may look on the church
today, in our day and age. You may see the apostasy which
is all around us. The corruption in the churches,
the false teaching. You may know that the people
of God are scattered. You may be scattered. One or
two here, two or three there, you're alone. You may have come
here today and this is like an oasis, but you know that on Monday
you're back home to the grudge and the grind, alone. And how's
the tide ever going to be turned? In this day, in a nation that
is militantly anti-Christian, where sin is all around, in this
Sodom and Gomorrah of a land in which we live. It's impossible
isn't it? Is it? Seems like it. But that's the God that Abraham
believed. One who called him to believe
that which is impossible. that Christ should build his
church a glorious and a perfect church today is no more impossible
than it was for him to bring about the promises he promised
to Abraham. Christ is building his church
today and contrary to what we see in the professing church
That church is perfect because it's covered in blood and everyone
in it is covered in blood from head to toe and there is not
a spot or a wrinkle or a blemish in it. It may be scattered, it
may have an appearance of weakness may be nothing in the eyes of
men who are blind but God looks on it as his bride and he loves
her with an everlasting love and he is adding to her number
each and every day, he is building it as he purposed to build it
from the very foundations of this world. And he builds it
through the preaching of an impossible gospel where the salvation of
dead sinners is made possible. Now excuse my lack of timekeeping,
but I want to take you to Genesis in chapter 12, please, because
I want to present to you now that which God showed under a... Genesis and chapter 15. Genesis
and chapter 15. I want to present to you the
answer to that which is impossible. I want to show you what God showed
Abraham. And I pray with all my being
that the Lord would show you what God showed Abraham. Because
I can't I can tell you. I can read this passage. I can
raise my voice. But only God can open your eyes. And you need your eyes open to
see just what Abraham saw. Impossibilities made possible. One way. Genesis chapter 15 and verse
1. After these things, the word
of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not,
Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abraham said, Lord God, what
wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of
my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abraham said, Behold, to
me thou hast given no seed, and thou, one born in my house, is
mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowel shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven,
look now toward heaven, Where are you looking? You won't find
hope on this earth. And you won't find any hope in
your own strength. You've got none. You're dead. Then quit looking at self. Look now toward heaven and tell
the stars if they'll be able to number them. And he said unto
him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord,
and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the
Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee
this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby
shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, take
me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years
old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove and a
young pigeon. And he took unto him all these,
and divided them in the midst, and lay each piece one against
another, but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came
down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And when the
sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and lo, a horror
of great darkness fell upon him. And the Lord said unto Abram,
know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land
that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict
them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they
shall serve will I judge, and afterwards they shall come out
with great substance, and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Thou shalt be buried in good
old age." The Lord brought him to this place. He said, Come here, Abraham. Come and
look at things not of this earth. Not possible, tangible, understandable
things. I'm going to show you something
you can see with nothing but faith. And he believed in the Lord.
And the Lord tells him to get these animals and to sacrifice
them. A heifer of three years old. Now that's a big animal. We're
not talking a lamb. We're talking a huge heifer here.
Abraham was called to sacrifice this heifer, a goat, a ram, turtle
dove, young pigeon. And he sacrificed them. He took
a knife and he slew these animals. And he stood in the midst of
this sacrifice. blood splattered as you can imagine
it wasn't easy to slay a heather he stood in the midst of the
sacrifice and when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell
upon Abram and lo a horror of great darkness fell upon him it's what Abram saw here, in
which Abraham's hopes lay. Here lied his salvation. Here lied the fulfillment of
all the promises. If you have any hope, you need to
get here. He stood in the sacrifice. He
stood in the midst of death, and a deep sleep fell upon him,
and a horror of great darkness fell upon him. He stood in the
darkness, in the midst of the sacrifice, and he saw his Saviour
slain for him. He saw the Child of Promise slain
for Abraham. He saw blood all around him. He saw blood that covered every
sin. He looked and he believed. He was in the death. He was promised
a son and that son was Isaac. And later his faith was tried,
he was told to take a sword and take a knife and take him up
a mountain slowly. But he'd already seen here what
that was all about. For as he stood in this midst
of this sacrifice, he looked down through time, he looked
down through the corridors of history, hundreds, millennia
of years ahead, And he saw the Father leading the Son of Promise
up a mount. And he saw that Father take His
only begotten Son, a miraculously born Son, the Son of His love. And he saw the Father take Christ,
the Son of God, the Son of Promise, and nail Him to a tree. And he
saw the father take the gleaming sword of justice. And he saw the darkness come
upon that sacrifice on the tree. As the father took something
else and laid it upon that son. What brought the darkness was
the sins of Abraham. and the sin which dwelt in his
fallen corrupt heart which Christ was made to be for him and the
light of the world became dark for three hours and God took
his sword of justice upon his own son and he looked upon his
son who stood before him as the sinner as guilty for the sins
of all his elect throughout all time and all history were laid
upon him and in strict justice he did that which took the impossible
and made it possible because he took those sins which would
slay us for all eternity And he took the sins of his people
and he judged them in his own son. And he took the sword and thrust
it through his own son. And he died. And blood was shed. And Abraham And Abraham saw that this is
how God fulfilled His promise. Because in Christ, that man,
that obstacle, that impossibility was stood in the way of Him and
salvation. Of Him and the coming of the
promised land. Of Him and that nation which
would come forth. and had his heritage become that,
Mountain of Sin was blotted out. He was into that. Abraham didn't
have these things in his head. He didn't read the words on the
page. He stood in the midst of a dead
epoch. It was real. A great horror of
darkness came upon him and threw that fear out. And you stood
beyond it. Until the Lord brings you
by grace to stand and not only behold Christ upon the cross,
but to know that you are in that day. And your sins and your sin
was blotted out, judged, done away with, and you will never
know Christ. But the Lord sends you that he
brought Abraham. And the Lord causes you to say,
as Abraham could say, with Paul, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ lives within me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Did he give himself for you? Did he? Did he? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness, not because he was righteous,
and not because his faith was righteousness, but because that
faith looked upon that righteousness, slain upon the tree in his stead,
his only way of being righteous. He believed God. Where are you
looking? Who do you believe? Look now. Look now. We will have an oppressive
world.