Not that I could ever do a backflip,
but I could do backflips when I think of my sins being put
away and made a complete end of. I have entitled the message for
this morning, History, His Story. History. Well, history is everything
that's happened up to this point. you have a history, you have
a personal history, I have a personal history, and history is everything
that's taken place in my life, in your life, in the life of
the world, up to this point, history is his story. Now in the passage that I just
read, Abraham, is given a detailed prophetic vision of history before
it took place. 400 years of history. Now, 400 years, think about that
time. 401 years ago, the Pilgrims landed
in Plymouth. You think of all the history
that has taken place in that 400 year period. A lot of things have taken place. And the Lord gives Abraham this
detailed vision of 400 years of history. What would take place
with his descendants? He tells them in this passage
of scripture that they'll go into Egypt. and become a nation
of slaves." They were the ones who built the pyramids. His seed,
his descendants, would become a nation of slaves for 400 years,
and then we read in verse 14, the nation whom they shall serve
will I judge. Now, this is talking about the
ten plagues and his judgment upon Egypt. And afterward, they
shall come out with great substance." You know, the Egyptians are going
to be so happy to get them out of there after what took place.
They start giving them everything they got. Get out of here. Here
it is. Here it is. They go out with great substance
and great wealth. And then he tells Abraham, thou
shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and thou shalt be buried in a
good old age. He was 175. But in the fourth generation,
they, your descendants, will come here again to this land. They're going to be delivered
from Egypt. They're coming back again to this land for the iniquity
of the Amorites is not yet full. Now, the Amorites and their iniquity
has not yet been completed. God saw that, and God is going
to await for their iniquity to be fulfilled, so he's going to
dispossess them from this land and bring his people in. Now,
he didn't bring his people back to the land because they were
good. He got rid of the Amorites because they were bad. They were
evil. Their iniquity had not yet been
completed, and when it is, he's going to dispossess them, and
the children of Israel will come back into this land. Now, I think it's interesting
that Joseph The great grandson of Abraham talked about this
vision before he died. Do you remember there in Genesis
chapter 50? He said, you're going to go back to the land, just
like Abraham said you would. And when you go, I want you to
take my bones with you. I'll be a been dead for several
hundred years, get my bones and bring them back to this promised
land, which indeed they did. And when God appeared, I'm going
to read a passage of scripture. This is 400 years after this
promise has taken place, verse 23 of Exodus chapter two, and
it came to pass in the process of time that the king of Egypt
died and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage. Now, I don't think they knew
who God was at this time, but God knew who they were. I want God to know me, don't
you? I think of what Paul said to the Galatians, now that you've
known God or rather are known of God. I want him to know me. And the Lord heard this sigh,
and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage, and
God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with
Abraham. and Isaac and Jacob, but this
is the covenant he's referring to. God remembered this covenant
and God looked upon the children of Israel and had respect unto
them. And hence we're given 400 years
of history. History, his story. And with regard to your personal
history, I don't care if you're a believer or an unbeliever,
your history has something to do with His story. Now, history begins with the
purpose of God. Romans 8, 28 says, and we know.
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to his purpose. I love that word. You know a
word you won't find in the Bible? Plan. God's got a wonderful plan
for your life. That's ridiculous. God has a purpose. He works all things according
to the purpose of his own will, the eternal purpose, which he
purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now, people who are foolish
enough to debate with this, you know,
I think of the Lord saying, not a sparrow falls to the ground
without your heavenly Father. He controls everything and everybody
and every event and His will is always done. He's the God
of purpose. And someone who's foolish enough
to debate over predestination and God's purpose are only doing
what they were predestinated to do. I like that. You see, God is completely sovereign. over the free and the uncoerced
actions of men. Yes, you do what you want to
do. You can't say, well, I sinned because God determined me to
sin. It's his fault. He's responsible. No, you do
what you want to do. But God is completely sovereign
and in control of everything you do and everything you think. Now, everything that happened
in this 400 year time slot was ordered by God. just like everything
else. The lot, the wise man said, is
cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Now, perhaps you're familiar
with the story of Joseph. This is so important in this
time of 400 years in Egypt. Joseph is the great grandson
of Abraham. And you know the story how Joseph
has dreams that he's going to be the top dog? His brothers
hate him. They despise him. They sell him
into slavery. He goes into Egypt. He's a slave. He's put in a prison in Egypt.
He's a slave. And through an amazing process
of events, he interprets Pharaoh's dream. He tells about the famine. All of a sudden, he is made through
this process of events the most powerful man in all of Egypt.
If you were going to have food, it was up to him. And through
this process, he brings Jacob, his daddy, all of his brethren
into Egypt. And there they are. And they
are at one time favored while Joseph was around. But the scripture
says another Pharaoh arose, which knew not Joseph. And they were
enslaved for 400 years, um, making the pyramids. And then at the
appointed time, God sends Moses as their deliverer. God judges
Egypt with the 10 plagues. He brings his people out. The
Red Sea is parted. The Egyptians have given them
great substance and they come back to the promised land. The
Amorites are dispossessed. You know, two times God said
to Israel, your daddy was an Amorite. And in order to enter
the promised land, in order to enter heaven, the Amorite is
going to have to be dispossessed. Now let's go back to our text
in Genesis chapter 15, verses 12 and 13. When the sun was going down,
a deep sleep fell upon Abram. lo and horror of great darkness
fell upon him. And then he's given this prophetic
vision of the next 400 years. And really the whole gospel is
found in this. He said in verse 13, he said
unto Abraham, know of a surety. I like that. I want to know the
surety, don't you? I want to know for sure. And
he says, know for sure. Know of a surety that thy seed,
thy descendants, shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs,
Egypt, and they shall serve them and they shall afflict them.
The Egyptians shall afflict them for 400 years." Now, he talks
about the seed of Abraham. How many times do we find that
in the New Testament? the seed of Abraham, the seed
of Abraham, the seed of Abraham. If you'd be Christ, then are
you the seed of Abraham. Now the seed of Abraham, his
descendants, this represents the seed of Christ. That's the first purpose of this,
the seed of Christ going into this strange land. I've heard
preachers and theologians, whatever those kind of things those are.
But they talk about the federal headship of Christ. Have you
ever heard that term? The federal headship of Christ. And the way
they use that is that Christ is the federal head of his people
the way the president is our federal head. And he is our federal
head. He represents the United States,
our president. But you know what? Our president
doesn't know me. He ain't never heard of me. I'm
nothing to him. That's why I don't really care
for the term the federal headship of Christ over his people. No,
he's the seminal head. We are his seed. He knows us. Let me show you this in the scripture. Turn to Galatians chapter three.
Hold your finger there in Genesis 15. I want you to see this. Galatians chapter three. Verse 16, now to Abraham and to his seed,
there's that word. Now, before I go on, let me remind
you of something that took place in Hebrews chapter seven. Think
of this concept of a seed. When Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek,
you know who else did? His great grandson, Levi. You
see, he was in the loins of his father. He was in the seed of
his father. So when Abraham paid those tithes,
his seed paid those tithes. When Jesus Christ kept God's
law, his seed kept God's law. I kept God's law. When Jesus Christ died, his seed
died punished under the wrath of God. I was punished. My sin was punished. When Jesus Christ was raised
from the dead, his seed was raised from the dead. Now that's the
picture, what the person does, the seed does. Christ, our seminal
head. Now let's read this verse 16.
Now to Abraham and his seed, where the promise is made, he
saith not into seeds as of many, but as of one and to thy seed,
which is Christ. You see that? That promise to
Abraham's seed. Who is Abraham's seed that the
promise was made to? Jesus Christ and all in him. He says, not unto seeds as of
many, but one seed. Abraham's seed is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now look in verse 26 of the same
chapter, Galatians chapter 3. You are all the children of God
by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as of you have been
baptized into Christ, when he died, you died. They've put on
Christ. There's neither Jew nor Greek.
There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female.
For you are all one in Christ Jesus. For if he be Christ, then
are you Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise."
Now, if you're Christ, you're a Jew. You're Hebrew. These are the true Jews. These
are the true Hebrews, the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ all
in Him. If you be Christ's, then are
you Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise. Now, the promise of salvation
of his seed was made to him, the Lord Jesus, and every blessing
we have is in him. Ephesians 1, 3, he hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus the Lord. That's why we have every blessing. Now, back to our text in Genesis
15. Verse 13, and he said unto Abram,
Know of a surety, know this for sure, that thy seed shall be
a stranger in a strange land that is not theirs. Now this is talking, obviously,
about the children of Israel going into Egypt and that horrible
life they had, even when they were made to make bricks without
straw and build the pyramids. What a miserable lifestyle that
was. But this is also talking about the seed of God coming
into this world. And you know, he was a man of
sorrows, wasn't he? Acquainted with grief, the scripture
says. As a matter of fact, Psalm 88,
15, he said, I'm afflicted and ready to die from my youth up.
That is his life as the sin bearing substitute. When he came into
this world, he knew that he was going to be forsaken by God.
And he came into this world, he came into his own and his
own received him not. All his seed was in him. What
he did, they did. He kept the law. His seed kept
the law. He suffered the wrath of God.
His seed suffered the wrath of God. He was raised from the dead. His seed was raised, the seed
of Abraham. You see, this is all of our hope,
the seed of Abraham, this promise that God made to Christ, the
seed and all those in him. That's our hope. You see, the
moment Christ died, all of the elect were justified. You know what that means? That means that Jesus Christ
died for you. You have no sin to be condemned
for. You stand before God without
guilt. Not just as if you never sinned,
but you never sinned. You stand before God holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in God's sight. This is the heritage of the seed
of Christ. What he did, they did. They stand before God justified. PERFECTLY, COMPLETELY, ETERNALLY,
GLORIOUSLY, ACTUALLY, JUSTIFIED. That's why He came in the flesh
to make a way for God to be just and to justify him which believeth
in Jesus. Now, listen to this real carefully. Right now, you stand before God either justified
or you stand before God condemned. and God will meet you on the
ground you want. Do you want to be found in Him
only and have only His righteousness? God will meet you there. Do you
want to stand in your own works? God will meet you there if that's
what you want. You know, there's nobody that can say, well, I
wanted to be saved by His grace, but I wasn't elect. Christ didn't
die for me, therefore, No hope for me. I wanted to be saved
by grace, but he said, no. If you come into God's presence
in the footing of your own works, because that's what you want
to do. You're going to do what you want to do. People do what
they want to do, don't they? There are people who want to
come into God's presence only in Christ, no other way. There
are people who want to come in their works. Well, God will meet
you wherever you want to come. Now he says, In verse 13, he
said unto Abraham, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that's not theirs and shall serve them and they shall
afflict them 400 years, verse 14, and also that nation whom
they serve will I judge. And what's gonna happen? And
afterward, they shall come out Free, not slaves anymore. Free. With great substance. Now, understand this. Judgment has already taken place. You know, people talk about Judgment
Day. And the sentence will be handed out on Judgment Day. but
judgment has already taken place. When Jesus Christ died, judgment
had already taken place. My judgment, now the sentence
is gonna be handed out on the last day, whether or not you
look to Christ or whether you looked at your own words, but
judgment has already taken place. Now, what's gonna happen? Well,
the nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and I love the
way the Lord judged the Egyptians. Old Pharaoh said, well, y'all
can go, but leave the cattle behind. Moses said, not a hoof
will be left behind. Not a hoof. I'm gonna have all
my people. Not one of them will be lost.
Every single one will be saved. Not a hoof will be left behind.
And that the Lord parts the Red Sea. They marched through on
dry land when Pharaoh and his hordes came after the water came
back down. I love the way the scripture
says, their wheels grave heavily. The Lord troubled them at that
time, their wheels grave heavily. There they were, what's gonna
happen to us? They saw the children of Israel,
get back up, here we are, the water comes down on them. The
Lord judged them, all judgment took place. And the children
of Israel came out, the scripture says, with great substance. Well, what is that great substance?
Well, in their case, it was silver and gold. It was all kinds of
materials and everything that were gonna be used to make the
tabernacle in the wilderness. I mean, you think of the riches
that were involved in that, but they had all that stuff that
was given to them. But you think of the great substance
that every believer possesses. Turn to 1 John chapter 4. Dwayne
read this in the back. 1 John chapter 4. Verse 17. Herein is our love
made perfect. Now let me stop there for just
a moment. Do you know as long as there's something for you
to do, you're not gonna love God? You'll be scared of Him. You're gonna resent Him. You're
gonna think He's too hard on you. But as long as you think
there's something out there that you haven't done that you need
to do in order for God to please you, you will never love Him. Not the God of the Bible. You
might love a God that you feel comfortable with, that you've
made up, that's not existent in the first place. But the living
God, you won't love, as long as there's anything you need
to do to please Him. The only way that your love will
be made perfect is if you see that everything God requires
of you, you have, and He's pleased with you. He's not disappointed
in you. He's not angry with you. He is
pleased with you through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's
the only way your love will be made perfect. If you think there's
something missing, you ain't gonna love him. You really won't. Now let's go on reading. Herein
is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment. Now I want you to think about
that scenario. Standing before a thrice holy
God in judgment and having boldness. Bold shall I stand in that great
day, for who ought to my charge shall lay fully absolved from
these I am from sins, tremendous curse and shame. Boldness on
the day of judgment. How? Now let's, how, my soul,
let's judge me for the last 24 hours as far as my experience
goes. Judgment, The wicked things I've thought, the wicked things
I've done, judgment and boldness. Come on now, how? Look at this
statement, because as he is the seed, the seed, so are all his seed. As he is, so are we in this world. Whatever he is, perfect, righteous,
pleasing to God, holy, accepted, altogether lovely, go on naming
it as he is. Me too. Because I'm in him, the
seed. As he is, so are we in this world. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor. that you through his poverty
might be rich. Now back to our text. God says to Abraham, after he
talks about what's going to happen to his seed in that 400 year
period of history, he says in verse 15, to Abraham individually,
and this is said to every believer, and thou shalt, not maybe you will, not I hope
you do, thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and thou shalt
be buried in a good old age. You see, Abraham and his seed,
go into death with peace. With peace. Now, I don't know
about, there are believers who die probably with not a great
deal of assurance. And they're afraid they're gonna
wake up in hell when they die. They start looking to themselves,
but you know what? They go to the grave in peace.
Because Christ is their peace. There are believers who die that
will die in such pain, physical pain, physical torment, that
they won't even be able to think of anything but that. That's
all they're gonna know. But you know what? They're gonna
go to their grave in peace. There are other believers who
will die in the full assurance of faith, shouting hallelujah
as they go. And they're going to go to their
grave in peace. Now somebody says, How is it
that these different experiences, some being in so much pain they
can't even think about anything else, some probably scared to
death, worrying what's gonna take place, some with full assurance,
no worries, how is it they all go into the grave with peace? Because Christ is their peace.
That's why. Because they're just like that
publican. who when he left, when he went to the temple, the Lord
said, I tell you, that man went down to his house. Doesn't say
feeling peace. Doesn't say forgiven. Doesn't
say having shown mercy. It says he went down to his house
justified. No guilt. No sin. Now, did he feel justified? I
don't know. We're not even told what he felt, but I know what
he was. He went down to his house justified. rather than the other who was
so high on himself. If you had asked that Pharisee,
where are you going to go when you die? He said, I'm going to
heaven. Good grief, look at my life. Look at all the things
I've done. I've paid tithes of all that I possess. I've not
been an extortioner. I've not been an unjust. I've
not been an adulterer. I'm certainly not like this miserable
Pharisee beating on his breast. You're going to go to heaven
when you die? Absolutely. No, you're not. But I tell you
who he is, that poor publican who went down to his house justified. You see, blessed are the dead
that die in the Lord. From henceforth saith the Spirit,
yea, their works do follow them. Now they don't come in front
as the cause of their salvation. They don't walk along the side
as the evidence of their salvation. If you can look at your life
and say, I must be saved, look how I'm living, you've missed
Christ altogether. But there is proof that they
did believe what they said they believed. And look what he says
in verse 15. Thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace and thou shalt be buried in a good old age. Whenever a
believer's buried, it's a good old age, isn't it? It's good. It's all good. It's all good. But in the fourth generation,
they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites
is not yet full. Now, this is an important detail. You're not gonna come back here.
You see this land, the seed is the promise of the gospel, the
land is heaven. The seed is Christ, the land
that you're gonna come back to is heaven. Now, you're not gonna
be able to come back here until the iniquity of the Amorites
is complete. The Amorites were wicked people.
And they're going to get to where they're so bad that they're going
to be dispossessed from the land. Now remember this. Israel is
not brought into the land because they were good and the Amorites
are bad. They were brought into the land because of the wickedness
of the Amorites. They were dispossessed. But here's
the point. Two times God says to Israel, your father was an
Amorite. You're not going to get into
heaven until your father is gone. You're not going to get into
heaven until your old nature is put into the grave. And when
your old nature is put in the grave, you're not going to deal
with sin anymore. It's gone. It's taken away. And it's been dispossessed. Death to a believer is the best
day of your life. Your sinful nature will be dispossessed. It will be no more. You will
be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. You're
going to be like him. Now, death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory? Paul put it this way in Philippians
1, for me to live is Christ. You know what I love about that
is that doesn't even make grammatical sense, but it makes more spiritual
sense than anything I've ever heard. For me to live is Christ. And to die is gain. Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. You're going to go to the grave
in a good old age. And that Amorite, he's going
to be dispossessed. He's going to be gone. And you'll
be in my presence without sin. History truly is his story. He wrote it. It's for his glory. He's the subject. He's the object. And somebody says, well, where
does an unbeliever fit in there? Well, even the destruction of
the unbelievers for the fulfillment of the glory of His justice.
If I go to hell, you know what? It's going to glorify Jesus Christ.
It's going to glorify His justice. It's going to glorify His purpose.
If I'm saved, I'm saved to the praise of the glory of His grace. History is his story. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for who
you are. And Lord, in the high and holy
name of Christ, we together ask in his name. that you would be
pleased to make yourself known to each person here according
to your will for Christ's sake. We thank you for the gospel.
In the name of Jesus Christ, thy blessed son, we pray. Amen.