Let's read to John chapter 8.
Now tonight, Rupert Reibenbach from Spring Lake, North Carolina
is going to be here preaching for us. And I love to hear him
preach. He's never been here before.
And so I'm very excited about that for this evening's services. John chapter 8. Let's read verse 39. They answered and said unto him,
Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them. If you
were Abraham's children. You would do the works. Of Abraham. I've entitled this message. If
you were. You would. If you were true children of
Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. Now the people, our
Lord was speaking to were in fact, physical descendants of
Abraham. Christ gave them that look in
verse 37. He said, I know that you're Abraham's
seed. I'm aware of that. I know that
you're Abraham seed. They were Abraham seed, but they
were not true children of Abraham. Now, if I'm a believer, I'm a
true child of Abraham. Abraham's name means the father
of a multitude. And every believer is a spiritual
child of Abraham. I just read that passage of scripture
in Galatians chapter three. Let's look at another passage
in Galatians chapter three. Verse 29. And if ye be Christ's, then are
you Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise."
Abraham. Now, in three of the, quote,
world's great religions, and I do say the world's religions,
not God's religion, but the world's religions. In three of the world's
great religions, the Muslims, the Christianity, so-called,
and Judaism, Abraham is a key figure. A key figure, and that
accounts for who knows what percentage of the world's population as
far as the world's great religions. Abraham is a key figure. What Old Testament character
is mentioned more than any other character in the New Testament?
Needless to say, Abraham. He's mentioned 74 times in the
New Testament in 11 different books. Now, I realize he was
just a man, a sinner like you and I are saved by the grace
of God. But he is the man God called
to teach us what saving faith is. You know, he's called the
friend of God. God said that regarding Abraham.
He's my friend. He's called the father of the
faithful. And his example is used in great
length to teach us what faith is and what faith does. children of Abraham. Now, I'm
interested in being a child of Abraham, aren't you? Let me show
you a couple of scriptures in the book of Luke that show us
the significance of this man, Abraham. Turn with me to Luke
chapter 16. Now, these are the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he's describing heaven, that place where Lazarus
died and went. Look in verse 20 of Luke chapter
16. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs, which fell down from the rich
man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his swords. And
it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels
into what? Abraham's bosom. Heaven is called
Abraham's bosom. Look in Luke chapter 19. Verse 8, and Zacchaeus stood
and said unto the Lord, he wasn't talking to men, he was talking
to the Lord. Luke 19 verse 8, behold Lord, the half of my goods
I give to the poor. If I've taken anything from any
man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said
unto him, this day is salvation come to this house because he
did all these things. Didn't read it right, did I?
Salvation has come into his house because he is a son of Abraham. Now that gives us some idea of
the significance of this man, Abraham. Now in our text, in
John chapter eight, these people's confidence that they were children
of God was because of their physical ties to Abraham. We be Abraham's
seed. And the Lord says clearly, if
you really were Abraham's children, You demonstrate the family likeness.
You would do the works of Abraham. And if I'm a child of God, I
will do the works of Abraham. And if you're a child of God,
you will do the works of Abraham. If you were, you would. Now the question we must ask
is, what are the works of Abraham? The Lord says if you were children
of Abraham, true spiritual children, if God had actually done a work
of grace in your heart, if you're regenerated by the Spirit of
God, if you're one of God's elect, if you're a true child of God,
you'll do the works of Abraham. So the question obviously arises,
what are the works of Abraham? Notice the Lord says, you will
do the works of Abraham. He doesn't say you should, although
you should. He said, you will. If you are
the children of God, you will do the works of Abraham. And if I do not do the works
of Abraham, that is positive evidence that I am not a believer. And that interests me. I want
to know if I do the works of Abraham, don't you? That's what
I want to find out. If I'm a true child of Abraham. Now, before we consider the works
of Abraham, we're going to have to consider their source. So
would you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11. Verse eight. By faith, Abraham. Heirs, the source of his works
by faith, Abraham. when he was called to go out
into a place which he should afterward receive for an inheritance.
He obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whether he went. Now,
I've thought about this, I don't know how many times, I think
the Lord said, take off, Abraham. And Abraham left everything,
and he took off. He went walking. That took faith
to do that, didn't it? He must have believed God, or
he wouldn't have done that. Can you imagine if the Lord said
to you, take off. He did. Verse 9. By faith, he
sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. Look at verse 17 of the same chapter, Hebrews
11. By faith, Abraham, by faith, when he was tried, offered up
Isaac and he that received the promises offered up his only
begotten son. It was by faith he did what he
did. Faith was the source of his works. Abraham's works came from his
faith, what he really believed. Now it's what I do that tells
what I really believe. Everything else is just hot air. It's what I do that demonstrates
what I really believe. You believe that? Faith without
works is what? Dead. being alone. It's what I do that demonstrates
what I really believe. If you do nothing, you believe
nothing. Isn't that so? It's our works
that demonstrate what we really believe and everything else is
just talk. Now, Abraham's faith is first
mentioned in Genesis chapter 15. I'm gonna ask you to look
at a lot of scriptures with me this morning. Genesis 15. First time the word believed
is mentioned in the scriptures and you can understand something
about what faith is here. Verse one, after these things,
Genesis 15, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision,
saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding
great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what
wilt thou give me? Seeing I go childless, and the steward of
my house is this Eleazar of Damascus. And Abram said, Behold, to me
thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my heir is mine
heir, 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 bowels shall be thine heir. Now, remember at this time, Abraham's
an old man. He's a real old man. And Sarah has already gone through
menopause. It is physically impossible for
her to bear a child. So the Lord says that one that's
going to come out of your own bowels is going to be your heir. Verse five, and he brought him
forth abroad and said, 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. Now you think about what the
Lord said to him. This man was 90 years old. Sarah
had already gone through menopause. It was impossible for him to
have a child. As far as what he could see,
he had no evidence that it would ever be. He simply believed what
God said. That's what faith is. It's believing
God. God said it. I believe it. Now, it's settled whether I believe
or not. If God said it, that takes care of it. I don't like
that term, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. No, your
belief doesn't have anything to do with it being settled.
If God said it, that settles it. Faith believes that. I believe the word of God. Abraham
didn't have any physical evidence that what God said would take
place. He looked at Sarah. It's impossible. He looked at
himself. It's impossible. But he believed God. God said
it. That settles it. There's the
good order. God said it. That settles it.
I believe it. That's a better order isn't it?
God said it. That settles it. I believe it.
Abraham believes God. Our faith is believing God. God
says all that believe on Christ, all that Christ died for are
perfect in my sight. Now I look at myself and I can't
see that, but if God said it, I believe it. I am perfect in
God's sight. I believe what Christ did is
enough to make me not be perfect, but I am perfect in God's sight,
justified in his sight. I believe it. God said it, that
settles it, and I believe it. Abraham believed. God. You know, there's an entire chapter,
Romans chapter 4, that's devoted to this one verse of Scripture
in Genesis 15, 6. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. Would you turn with me to Romans
chapter 4? You want to know what Abraham believed. If you want
to have some understanding of what this man believed, turn
to Romans chapter 4. Now, Paul had stated in Romans
chapter 3, verse 28, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified
by faith. without the deeds of the law,
without his works. What about Abraham? Chapter four,
verse one, was he justified that way? What about Abraham? Abraham is the most important
figure as far as men go. So what about Abraham? How was
he saved? What did Abraham really believe? What about Abraham? And that's what Paul addresses
in chapter four. I want to read this chapter. Romans chapter
four, verse one. What shall we say then that our
father Abraham, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For
if Abraham were justified by works, if he was justified before
God because of something that he did, he'd have something to
glory in, but not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now he goes on to tell what that means. You want to know what
that means? Well, listen up. Now to him that worketh, It's
the reward, heaven. Not reckoned of grace, but of
debt. If there's something you do that
causes God to save you, that means he owes you salvation.
But, verse five, to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Now that's what Abraham believed. He believed on him that justifieth
the ungodly. That's what I believe. I believe
on him who takes somebody ungodly like me and he justifies me and
makes me without guilt because of what Christ did. That's what
I believe. I believe the same thing Abraham did. You know,
if you believe, let me tell you something, all believers believe
the precise same thing. They really do. They believe
the same thing. Abraham believed God. I do too.
You do too. David believed the same thing. He kind of gives,
he's reminding us this with David, even as David. King David also
described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes
righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. David and Abraham
believed the same thing. You know Old Testament saints
believed the same thing. New Testament saints do. They believe on Christ.
They believe God. They believe His Word. Verse
9, Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only? Or
upon the uncircumcision also? 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. When Abraham believed God, he
hadn't been circumcised yet. The commandment hadn't even been
given yet. So circumcision, keeping the law, doesn't have anything
to do, as far as your personal obedience to the law, doesn't
have anything to do with salvation. It's Christ's obedience. He believed
before he was ever circumcised. Verse 12, and the father of circumcision
to them. Well, verse 11, he received the
sign of circumcision. It's a, it's a sign. It's something
that's done on the inside, a seal of the righteousness of the faith,
which he had being yet uncircumcised that he might be the father of
all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that
righteousness might be imputed to them also. And he's the father
of circumcision to them who are not in the circumcision only,
but also who walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,
which he had being yet circumcised. Now, if I'm a believer, I'm walking
in the steps of that faith right now. You are too. This is what
children of Abraham do. For the promise, verse 13, for
the promise that he should be the heir of the world, that's
what we read about in Genesis 15, was not to Abraham or to
his seed through the law. God didn't say you'll be heir
if you keep the law. but through the righteousness
of faith, believing on Christ. For if they which are of the
law be heirs, those people who keep the law, faith is made void,
it's made meaningless, and the promise made of none effect,
because the law worketh wrath. That's all it does. For where
no law is, there's no transgression. Therefore it, salvation, is of
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 to that which also is of the faith of Abraham who's the
father of us all as it's written I have made thee a father of
many nations before him whom he believed even God and here's
the God he believed who gave life to the dead and calleth
those things which be not as though they were who against
hope he didn't have any hope of having any kids did he He
didn't have any hope. 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 God had promised He
was able also to perform. Are you fully persuaded of that?
Do you believe that? That's the faith of Abraham.
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness that
was not written for his sake alone that 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 was raised again for our justification. Now, that's Abraham's faith and
all of his work spring from is faith. By faith, Abraham. Now, we see what Abraham's faith
was. He believed God. He believed
what God said. He didn't believe what he saw,
he believed what he heard. He couldn't see it, but he believed
God. And if you have faith, you believe
God. Now what about the works of Abraham? Let's consider what Abraham's
faith actually caused him to do. Would you turn with me to
Genesis chapter 12? This is where Abraham is introduced
in the scripture, Genesis chapter 12. Now remember, if I'm a child
of Abraham, I'm going to do the same thing Abraham does. Not
I'm just going to admire what he does, but I'm actually going
to do what he does. Those who are children of Abraham
do the works of Abraham. Now look in Genesis chapter 12.
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'll show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation. And I'll bless thee and make
thy name great. And here we are talking about
it now. And thou shalt be a blessing. And I'll bless them to bless
thee. I'll curse them to curse thee. And in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed. God said,
start moving, Abraham. Start walking. And Abraham departed
as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abraham
was 70 and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Now
that's an old man right there. Yet God says, start walking,
start moving, Abraham. You go to a place I tell you
to go, and he obeyed God. Now what if God said to you right
now, leave everything and start walking? You don't even know
where you're gonna go. You just start moving in a direction.
Well, it'd take faith to do that, wouldn't it? I mean, just the
very thought of that scares me. I mean, what about my house? What about my responsibilities?
And God says, start walking, Abraham. It'd take a lot of faith
to obey that command. Now, here's the point. When God
calls you and you believe him, there is a place you leave. The emphasis is not just on the
fact that he started walking. There is a place you leave. You
leave your father's house. You leave your father's religion.
You leave your father's idolatry, you leave man's religion, you
leave man's philosophy, you leave man's wisdom, and you obey the
Word of God. When you follow Christ, there's
a place you leave. He left. Now, you leave salvation
by works in any form, and if you don't leave, you're no child
of Abraham. Now, is that understood? If you don't leave, you're no
child of Abraham. Children of Abraham, by faith,
leave their father Adam's house. They will obey the Word of God
even if they have to do it alone. And you leave salvation by works. You leave any hope of self-salvation.
I mean, it's gone. And you start walking. You know
there's no salvation in that direction. You go this direction. You go toward Christ. That's
what children of Abraham do. There's something they leave.
And let me emphasize this. If you don't leave this place,
you're no child of Abraham. Children of Abraham leave. Stay there in chapter 12, look
in verse eight. What Abraham do? And he removed from thence
unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent,
having Bethel on the west, and Haile on the east. And there
he built an altar unto the Lord, and he called upon the name of
the Lord." Now that's something you're going to find duplicated
over and over again in Abraham's life. He was always somebody
who was calling on the name of the Lord. Look in chapter 13.
And Abraham went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that
he had, and brought with him into the south. And Abram was
very rich in cattle and silver and in gold. And he went on his
journey from the south even to Bethel, and to the place which
is tented at the beginning between Bethel and Hai, unto the place
of the altar which he had made there at the first. And there
Abraham called on the name of the Lord." That's something he
was always doing. He was always calling on the name of the Lord.
Now does that just mean he said, Lord, Lord, It means a whole
lot more than that. The name of the Lord is who He
is. It's His attributes. His name is holy. His name is
just. His name is love. His name is
sovereignty. His name is grace. His name is
mercy. Go on and on. All of His glorious
attributes. And when I call on His name,
I'm saying, Lord, save me. Save me by an act of Your sovereignty. Will my salvation. Lord, save
me by your grace. Give me your unfair merit and
favor. Lord, save me by your justice. Cause my sin to be put
away by the blood of Christ. You're calling upon all of the
attributes of God, who he really is to save you. And you just
keep doing it. Keep doing it. Right now, while
I'm talking to you, I'm calling on the name of the Lord. Lord,
save me. Have mercy on me. Aren't you
already saved? I hate saying this, but that's
a dumb question. You're always calling on the
name of the Lord. That's what Abraham was always
doing. Lord, save me. You remember the story of Lot,
his nephew? Look in Genesis 13, verse 8. You remember there was
a strife between Abraham's Herdsman and Lot's herdsman. And Abram
said unto Lot in verse eight, let there be no strife, I pray
thee, between me and thee. God's people are people of peace.
Let there be no strife between me and thee. I pray thee, between
my herdman and thy herdman, for where brethren is not the whole
land before thee. separate us. Now remember, Abraham
saying this to Lot. Abraham had the right to make
the decision he wanted to make, didn't he? I mean, Abraham could
have said, Lot, you go over here to this old dry land and I'm
going to take the well-watered plain. And he would have been
well within his rights to do that, wouldn't he? I mean, he
had some authority over Lot. There's no question about that.
But look at his actions. He says to Lot, is not the whole
land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee,
from me. If thou will take the left hand, I'll go to the right.
And if thou depart to the right hand, then I'll go to the left.
You know what Abraham demonstrated there? First love to his brethren. Lot was a believer. Lot was a believer. There's no
question about that. You know, God, the Holy Spirit calls him
in the book of Peter, Righteous Lot. righteous law, that just
man, that righteous man. He was a believer. And God's
people love one another. He said, you go whichever way
you want. You take the right, I'll go to
the left. You go to the left, I'll go to the right. He trusted God's
providence to take care of everything, didn't he? He just trusted God's
providence to take care of him. That's what a believer does.
He loves his brethren. Look in chapter 14. Now, you
may remember where those kings kidnapped Lot and took Lot and
his family and all that, those people. And Abraham goes to rescue
Lot. Look in verse, chapter 14, verse
11. And they took all the goods of
Sodom and Gomorrah and all their vittles and went their way. And
they took Lot, Abraham's brother's son who dwelt in Sodom and his
goods and they departed. So what does Abraham do? He goes
to rescue Lot and he rescued him. Now pick up reading in verse
14. And when Abram and heard that
his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants,
born in his own house, 318, and he pursued them unto Dan. And
he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night,
and smote them, and pursued them unto Hoban, which is in the left
hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods,
and also brought again his brother Lot and his goods, and the women
also, and the people. He went after them, and he delivered
them. And the king of Sodom, remember he delivered the Sodom,
the people of Sodom. That's where Lot was and Abraham
saved their life. And the king of Sodom went out
to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlamar
and of the kings that were with him at the valley of Sheva, which
is the Kingsdale and Melchizedek. King of Salem, King of Peace,
and this is the Lord Jesus Christ. I have no doubt about that. Read
Hebrews chapter 7, the description of Melchizedek. This is Christ
himself meeting with him. And Melchizedek, King of Salem,
brought forth bread and wine. You know, an Old Testament priest
never brought out bread and wine. They brought blood, didn't they?
I believe this prefigures the Lord's table. He brought bread
and wine. And he was the priest. He was
the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him. And remember,
without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better.
Melchizedek blessed Abraham. The Lord blessed him. And he
said, blessed be Abraham, the most high God, possessor of heaven
and earth. And he blessed the most high God and delivered thine
enemies into thine hand. And Abraham gave him tithes of
all. You know, if you love somebody,
you're going to give, aren't you? He gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto
Abram, this is what I want you to see. The king of Sodom said
unto Abram, give me thy persons and take the goods to yourself.
You can have all the spoils, I'm just glad to get by by the
skin of our teeth. And Abraham said to the king
of Sodom, I've lift up mine eyes unto the Lord, the most high
God, the possessor of heaven and earth, and I won't take a
thing from you. Anything you've got, I don't
want. I'll take not from a thread even
to a shoe latchet, and I'll not take anything that's thine, lest
thou should say, I've made Abram rich. I won't take any. You see,
God's people are very jealous that God gives all the glory. He said, I won't take a thing
from you. I won't even take a shoestring from you. I don't want you saying
I made Abraham rich. You see, if you're a believer,
if you're a child of Abraham, you know Christ saved you. You
know He did it all. And you are going to give Him
all the glory. And any glory that goes to man,
you won't have anything to do with it. You're going to do the
works of Abraham, aren't you? That's what Abraham did. Look in Genesis 15 verse 8. God has made this promise, we've
already read, so shall your seed be. Verse 8, and he said, Lord
God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? How am I
going to know? How am I going to have some assurance about this? How can I be sure?
Verse 9, and he said unto him, God said unto him, take me and
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 laid each piece one against
another. But the birds he divided not."
Now, he slew these animals for sacrifice. How can I know? And
here's the point. How can I know? How can I have
some assurance that God's blessing is on me? How can I have some
assurance that my sins are forgiven? How can I have some assurance
that I really am a child of God? How can I know? There's only
one way you can know, the sacrifice. If you find assurance from anything
other than the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's a false
assurance. If you find assurance because
of how good you are, because of how holy you are, or how committed
you are, it's a false assurance. You've deceived yourself. The
only place to find assurance is the sacrifice, the atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I rest in who He is and what
He did. Now let's go on reading verse
11. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove
them away. Now what are the vultures going
to attack? They're going to attack the atonement of Christ. They're
going to attack the sacrifice of Christ. That's what they're
going to try to pick away at. That's what they're going to try to
weaken and take away the meaning of it. What did Abraham do? He
drove them away. He wouldn't let these vultures
touch the sacrifice. Now there's some non-negotiables
to a believer. If they're children of Abraham,
there's some non-negotiables. It's Christ that died. Who died? It's the Christ that died. It's
the Son of God that died. Why did He die? There's only
one reason for death. Sin. The sins of His people became
His. He died under the wrath of God. What did He accomplish
by that death? He accomplished the full salvation. of everybody he died for. Successful
redemption. Particular redemption. Limited
atonement. Call it what you want. It's the
gospel. And he drove away those birds
that would pick at that sacrifice. Abraham's children do the works
of Abraham. They do the same thing. Now in chapter 16, we read about
Abraham getting tripped up by the flesh, just like you and
I can certainly do, he decided with Sarah's counsel that he'd
help out God. That's what this is about, Abraham
helping out God. Remember, God said you're going
to have this Baby, it hadn't happened. Abraham still believed,
but Sarah said, now wait a minute, it hadn't happened yet. Here's
what the problem is, Abraham. We're not doing our part. We
need to do our part. So here's Hagar. You go into
her. Abraham said, well, maybe she's
right. He listened to his wife at this time. He goes into Hagar.
They have Ishmael, the child of the flesh. And Paul tells
us in Galatians chapter four, that represents Sinai. That represents
salvation by words. That represents man doing his
part. So what is Abraham called upon to do with Ishmael? Turn
to Genesis 21. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar,
the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. Ishmael
is always going to be mocking at Isaac. Always going to be
calling into question, making fun. Do you really believe that
ridiculous stuff? Wherefore she said unto Abraham, cast out this
bondwoman and her son. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing
was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. He
didn't want, Ishmael was his boy. And God said unto Abraham,
let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad and
because of thy bondwoman. In all that Sarah hath said unto
thee, hearken unto her voice. For in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. And he was to cast out this bondwoman. And he did. Abraham's children do the works
of Abraham. They cast out the bondwoman.
Salvation by works in any form, to any degree, in any way. Cast
it out. Get rid of it. And Abraham did. And Abraham's children do the
same thing. Look over in Genesis 18. Now this is the story of the
Lord coming to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham demonstrated
what he believed about the Lord and about himself in this story.
First look in Genesis chapter 18 when he's prayed that the
Lord would have mercy. on the city of Sodom. Verse 23,
Genesis 18-23, And Abraham drew near, and said, What, wilt thou
also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Perventure there
be fifty righteous within the city. Wilt thou also destroy,
and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
What if there are fifty believers there? That be far from thee
to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked.
and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far
from thee shall not the judge of all the earth do right. This is one thing Abraham was
sure of. The judge of the earth shall do right. He believed in the rightness
of God. shall not the judge of the earth
do right. And you know, you can say that
regarding everything, can't you? If you're a believer, whatever
he does is right. Now, Abraham also demonstrated
in this what he really believed about himself. Look in verse
27. Now this is when Abraham's trying
to talk him down. And I admire this. He said, what if there's
40? What if there's 30? What if there's 20? Finally got him
down to 10. If there's 10 believers here, will you spare this? I'll
spare it for 10, the Lord says. But look what he says. In verse
27, Abraham answered and said, behold, now I've taken upon me
to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes. That's me. dust and ashes in
and of myself. I'm nothing but a bunch of ashes.
I mean, you think of how light, what can you do with ashes? I
mean, they're not good for anything. And that's how Abraham saw himself
before God, what he was in himself. He was nothing but dust and ashes.
He had a high view of the Lord. Isn't that what faith is? It's
a high view of the Lord. And he had a low view of himself,
nothing but dust and ashes. Now, would you turn to Genesis
22? This is what Abraham is most famous for. I love this story.
Genesis 22. Verse 1. And it came to pass
after these things that God did tempt Abraham. And this is toward the end of
his life. Abraham's an old man. And you'd think it'd all be smooth
sailing at this point, but it's not. God did tempt Abraham. God's the one who did it. He
tested him, put him to the test. And he said unto Abraham, Abraham, every time Abraham heard the
Lord's voice, There's only three or four times where the Lord
actually spoke to him like this. Every time that Abraham heard
the Lord's voice, something very severe was getting ready to happen.
And I bet Abraham winced when he heard his name. Yeah. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. What? Here, Lord. Here, Lord. Behold, here I am.
And he said, verse two, take now thy son, thy only son, Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and get thee unto the land of Moriah and offer him
there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I
shall tell thee of. You take that boy of yours that you love
so much, your only son, put him to death, lay him on an altar
and set it on fire. Could you do that? Everybody here says, I just don't
know if I, I don't know if I could do that. I'll tell you what,
if God told you to, you could. If you're a believer, You see,
we know from the book of Hebrews that Abraham believed God, and
he knew that God had promised that the seed was going to come
through that boy, and Abraham really believed, even if I kill
him, God will raise him from the dead. Abraham believed that.
But can you imagine how painful this was? Now listen, let's go
on reading. And Abraham, verse three, rose up early in the morning
and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him
and Isaac his son. And he claimed the wood for the
burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place which God
had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes and he saw the place afar off. And Abraham
said to his young men, abide ye here with the ass and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship. and come again to
you. It's the first time the word
worship is mentioned in the scripture. If you want to know what worship
is, here it is. We're going to go worship. But
did you notice he said we're coming back? We're coming back. You see, he believed God was
going to raise his son from the dead, but he was going to, he
believed God. He was going to obey God. Now
let's go on reading. And Abram took the wood of the
burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son. And he took the
fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together.
You remember sometime else this taking place? Remember somebody
else who carried the wood of his own death up a mountain?
What a glorious type of the Lord Jesus Christ. There he goes. Verse seven, and Isaac spake
unto Abram his father and said, my father. And he said, here
am I, my son. And he said, behold the fire and the wood, but where
is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. You know the gospel? God will provide Himself a lamb. You can't provide one. God will
provide for Himself a lamb. The blood's not for you, it's
for God. For God to do something for you,
He first had to do something for Himself. God will provide
Himself as the Lamb for the burnt offering. That's the gospel.
You want to know what Abraham believed? Right there. And they
came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built
an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac, his
son, and laid him on the altar and upon the wood. And Abraham
stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
And what kills me is the fact that God stretched forth his
hand to take the knife to kill his son. Abraham was unable to
hold his back. God plunged the knife through
his son. That's the great substitutionary
sacrifice for his people. Verse 11, And the angel of the
Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And
he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon thy lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him, behind him, not in front
of him, behind him. There's some significance to
that. You know, we look to Christ in front of us, don't we? But
he's behind us as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He looked behind him. And behold, behind him, a ram
caught in a thicket by his thorns, his horns, and Abraham went and
took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the
stead of his son. Oh, how can you imagine how ecstatic
he was? Can you imagine how happy he
was? You reckon he was floating down that mountain after that?
I bet I bet he would. He comes back to the. Oh, he
said. And Abraham called the name of
that place, Jehovah-Jarrah, as it seemed to this day in the
manner of the Lord, it shall be seen. The Lord will see to
it. The Lord will provide. The Lord will provide. Now, finally,
turn to John chapter eight. If you're children of Abraham,
you'll do the works of Abraham. John chapter eight. Verse 56, your father, Abraham,
who you make such a big deal about. He rejoiced to see my
day and he saw it and he was glad. And here's what children
of Abraham do. They rejoice to see the day of
Christ. At day wherein he accomplished
salvation. Every one of his children rejoiced
to see his day. And they see it and they were
glad. Now, if you're a child of Abraham,
you'll do the works of Abraham, won't you? Let's pray. Lord, I am.