Aaron Greenleaf is preaching
in Danville this morning. Everybody remember him, and tonight
I'll be preaching from Acts Chapter 17 on Paul's manner. It actually
says, Paul's manner was, and we're going to consider what
his manner was. I've entitled the message for this morning,
Abraham. Now, every one of us have read
through genealogies and got bored to tears, but it's because of
our own problem, not the scripture. And in this genealogy that has
been called the history of the nations and the spread after
the flood, we're introduced to this man, Abraham. And as far
as sons of Adam go, Abraham is the most significant man in the
scriptures, and I'm going to show you that, and I'm going
to bring a message this morning that I don't usually preach this
way. I'm bringing a topical message
on this man, Abraham, as we get ready to start looking into his
life. I think we ought to consider
what all the Bible has to say about this man, Abraham. Now, Moses was certainly significant. David, the beloved, was certainly
significant. Christ is called the son of David. But these men are never called
the father of the faithful. The way Abraham is called the
father of the faithful, he's even called by Paul, the father
of us all. Speaking of every believer. The
believers are never referred to as the seed of Moses or the
seed of David, but they are referred to as the seed of Abraham and
children of Abraham. Now, Abraham was a sinful man
like you and I are. don't think of him in some light
other than that as a matter of fact early in his history in
genesis chapter 12 after the lord had appeared to him after
the lord had promised the messiah would come through him he went
down into egypt and he had a very beautiful wife by the name of
sarah and he said faber will kill me when he sees you, and
he let his wife go into Pharaoh's harem. Now, that's not a good
thing to do. I've often thought, how did he
ever live that down? Because Sarah was no milquetoast,
and I'm sure that she let him know about this quite often.
Men, that's, you know. Um, so he was a sinful man. He could be an unbelieving man
as he demonstrated that the Lord had promised that Christ is going
to come through your seed. And he said, I'll get killed.
He hadn't had any children yet. So he did not believe God at
that time. So he was a sinful man. As a
matter of fact, John the Baptist, when he was speaking of him,
he said, say not uh, in your heart, we're children of Abraham.
As far as the physical season, God can have these stones, raise
up children of Abraham. So just being a physical child
of Abraham is no different than being any other kind of person
that it's what Abraham represents the seed of Abraham. Now, when Jehoshaphat prayed
for God to help Israel, He said, thou gavest it to the seed of
Abraham, thy friend, forever. Remember how James called Abraham
the friend of God? God looked at this man and said,
this man is my friend. He was on very intimate terms
with Abraham. Isaiah 41, eight says, but thou
Israel art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen the seed of
Abraham, my friend. And do you know every single
believer, with that exception, would be called the friend of
God? You say, well, I don't feel that
sense of intimacy. Well, in Christ, you are the
friend of God. God counts you his friend. Now, we know from Joshua chapter
24, that during this time, we just read from Genesis chapter
11, when Abraham lived in Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham was
an idolater. He had no interest in God. He
had no interest in the things of God. He was WORSHIPPING, the
scripture says, according to John, Joshua 24, verse 2, FALSE
GODS. He didn't know who Jehovah was.
He was an idolater, just like everybody else was. As a matter
of fact, after the flood, the world didn't get better. It just
got corrupted again. And God said in Isaiah chapter
51, verse 1, regarding this man, Abraham, I called him alone. There wasn't anybody else I called.
And at that time, evidently the whole world was just as corrupt
as it was before the flood. Genesis 6, 5, God saw the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Well,
the flood didn't improve that. It was just as bad, and God by
His sovereign grace called Abraham alone. Isaiah chapter 51, verse
1. Now, I think it's interesting.
Turn to Genesis chapter 18, you're close. I want you to see the
intimate relationship that God had with this man, Abraham, his
friend, his friend. And this was before he's getting
ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. And he says in verse 16 of Genesis
chapter 18, and then the men rose up from thence and looked
toward Sodom. And Abraham went with him to
bring them on the way. And the Lord said, shall I hide
from Abraham that thing which I do? No, he's not going to,
because Abraham's his friend. Friends are in a place of intimacy
where they make themselves known. He says, shall I hide this thing? seeing that Abraham shall surely
become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed in him. For I know him, that he will
command his children and his household after him, and they
shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that
the Lord may bring upon Abraham that thing which he had spoken
of." So he's going to tell him about what he's going to do to
Sodom. And when he's talking about this
great nation, understand this, this is not talking about the
physical nation of Israel. I mean, talking about an unbelieving,
wicked bunch of people just like me and you by nature. This is
talking about the spiritual nation, the nation of God's elect, the
whole church, every believer. They will be obedient to the
gospel. That's what he's talking about. But the Lord lets us know
something of the intimacy he had with this man, Abraham. I'm
going to make known to him what I'm going to do. And you know,
if you're a believer, God has made known to you what is most
precious to him, his gospel, his son, what intimate terms
every believer has with God. Every believer is the friend
of God, just like Abraham was the father of the faithful. Now, I think it's interesting.
The first 11 chapters of Genesis, which we've just finished, covers
2,400 years of human history. Very important. The next 14 chapters
of Genesis cover 50 years, the life of Abraham. And that gives
us some idea of the importance of this man, Abraham. I repeat, of all the men born
of Adam in scripture, None are more significant than this man
called Abram, who would later be called Abraham. And just in
his life, there are so many beautiful illustrations of the gospel.
The first thing that I thought of is you remember when Lot is
in Sodom, this is what the Lord told Abraham he was gonna do,
when Lot was in Sodom, he had pinched his tent toward Sodom. He put stakes in Sodom. It was a place that was evil. It was a place that was contrary
to God. You know what happened? I mean, the angels said, when
the angels went to visit the city and the men of Sodom, the
scripture says, were sinners exceedingly before the Lord.
And they said, bring them out that we might know them. I mean,
Lot made his life in that place.
And when God said he was going to destroy it, you know what
Lot did? Scripture says he lingered. He
didn't want to leave. Somebody says, was Lot a believer?
Yes, he was a believer. Read the account in 2 Peter. Yes, he was a believer. But he
didn't want to leave. And the angels grabbed him by
the hand and yanked him out of Sodom, the Lord being merciful
to him, the scripture says. Well, I'm thankful for the Lord's
mercy, aren't you? And there's a scripture with regard to him
that says that God remembered Abraham. This is in Genesis chapter
19. I think it's verse 32. God remembered Abraham. and sent Lot out of the midst
of the overthrow. Lot was delivered for one singular
reason, Abraham. God remembered Abraham and sent
Lot out of the overthrow. Now that's a Old Testament example
of the New Testament glorious truth. God, listen to this, God
for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. He didn't forgive you because
you asked for forgiveness. He didn't forgive you because
you started living right. He didn't forgive you because
of anything you did or did not do. Now is that plain? He did
not forgive you for anything you did or did not do. He hath forgiven us for Christ's
sake. No other reason is needed, and
no other reason is wanted, is it? God hath forgiven you for
Christ's sake. That's the only reason he needs. And Abraham really, in his person,
is a remarkable type of Christ. Now he was called Abram. You know what Abram means? High
Father. His name was changed after Isaac
to Abraham. You know what that means? High
Father of Multitudes. And you say, Well, how is that
a type of Christ? Well, believers are not only called
the Bride and the Body of Christ,
but Christ called them His children. Behold, I and the children which
thou hast given me." Now, do you remember how Christ is called
in Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6, the Everlasting Father? Behold,
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government
shall be upon his shoulders, and he shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. Jesus Christ
is called the Everlasting Father. Now, we KNOW that He's not God
the Father, He's God the Son. God is one God in three distinct
persons. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Well, why is Christ called the
Everlasting Father here? Because the Church are His children. Behold, I am the children which
thou hast given Me, Abram, high father, Christ, the father of
multitudes. If ye be Christ's, then are ye
Abraham's seed and children of the promise. And here's another
way that Abraham is a type of Christ. Abraham was the covenant
head of a people. Look over in Genesis chapter
15. Verse 18, In the same day the LORD made
a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this
land. Now there's God's covenant with
Abraham and his seed. Everybody that was in Abraham
was included in this covenant. Now we know this is talking about
national Israel, but remember, national Israel is only given
to illustrate to us spiritual Israel. There's nothing intrinsically
holy about national Israel. There's nothing special about
the nation of Israel. It's just a plot of dirt on the
other side of the sea. Somebody says, well, we need
to be really good to Israel. Well, you ought to be good to
everybody as far as that goes. But I mean, national Israel is It's what it is. It's not some
kind of spiritual, special people that are better than other people.
National Israel is given to illustrate to us when Abraham was made this,
that God made a covenant with Abraham and his seed, that's
given to illustrate the eternal covenant God made with Christ
and his seed. And this is mysterious, but Christ
has a seed. the seed of Abraham. And all
of God's elect are eternally united to the Lord Jesus Christ. They've always been in him, according
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
There's never been a time when they were not in him. Of him
are you in Christ Jesus. Every believer is the seed of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this great covenant of
grace, God said to Abraham, I'm gonna give this land to you and
your seed. And he says to Christ, I'm gonna give you and your seed
everything. It's called the covenant of grace.
Everything I have from God by way of mercy, by grace, is because
I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ, my covenant head. John chapter six, verses 38 and
39. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will,
which has sent me, that of all which he hath given me, that's
the seed, of all which he hath given me, that includes every
believer, of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. But raise it up again at the
last day. To Christ and his seed, where
the promise is made, and that's what is known as the covenant
of grace. There are two covenants in the
scripture, the covenant of works. That means salvation. If salvation
is by work, that means there's something that I must do before
I can be saved. There's some condition I must
meet before I can be saved. I must, fill in the blank, before
I can be saved, whatever it is. If I say I must, whatever it
is, before I can be saved, I'm under the covenant of works. That means salvation is dependent
upon something that I do. But the covenant of grace is
salvation is dependent upon what Christ has done. When he said it is finished,
that covenant was sealed and ratified. Now Abraham was called
on to cast out the bond woman and her son Ishmael. Do you remember
the story? Now God had promised to Abraham, you're going to have
a vast multitude, nations are going to come out of you, kings
are going to come out of you. And he was specifically speaking
of the Christ coming out of him. That's how he's going to be a
blessing to every nation. The Christ is going to come through
his feet. Well, 25 years passed, nothing
has happened. Sarah comes up with an idea.
Sarah says, obviously we're not going to have the seed unless
we do our part. Now, I know God promised it,
but we need to do our part. And obviously I'm barren. I can't
produce a child. Go into Hagar. That's us doing
our part. My maid, the Egyptian maid, go
into Hagar and we'll have a child through her. And Abraham did
it. What did God say? No. The promise is gonna come through
Sarah. The supernatural birth, she'd
already gone through menopause, and she became with child, and
she had Isaac. You know the story from Genesis
16? And what did God say with regard to Ishmael, where Abraham
and Sarah did their part? Cast out the bondwoman and her
son. Cast them out. There's nothing
gentle about that. Cast them out. Cast out. And Christ does this. He casts
out every form of salvation by works. Cast out. And the believers
called upon to do that too. Now, when God first appeared
to Abraham, he said in thee, shall all the nations of the
earth be blessed." Now, he did not say, In thee will the nations
be blessed IF you, he didn't say that at all, did he? He said,
In thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, and
Paul calls this the preaching of the gospel. Galatians chapter
three, verse eight, the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen by faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham
saying, unto thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Not they will if, they shall
be blessed. Ephesians one, three, It says,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. Now, understand this about God's
blessing. People think, well, I've got plenty of money in the
bank, no trials, God's really blessing me. No, no. That's not
God's blessing. I mean, I'm thankful. I'd rather
not be sick than be sick. Everything's of the Lord. You
can't look at anything physical. So that's God's blessing. All
of God's blessings are spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus being
elected, justified, regenerated, redeemed, called, preserved. That's God's blessing in Christ
Jesus. And that is the preaching of
the gospel. And every nation is gonna be
blessed because Christ has a people out of every tribe and nation
and tongue. In Romans 4, verse 13, Abraham
is called the heir of the world. Now that's pretty big, isn't
it? He's called the heir of the world. Talking about a type of
Christ, Christ Jesus is the one that God has called heir of all
things. In Hebrews 1, verse 3, he's the
heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Now, Abraham
gives us a very beautiful picture of what union with Jesus Christ
actually means. Would you turn with me to Hebrews
7? This is the writer of the Hebrews
telling us about what took place in Genesis chapter 14. But this passage of scripture
sets forth the hope of every believer. Hebrews chapter 7. Verse 4, now consider how great
this man was Melchizedek, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham
gave the 10th of the spoils. And verily, they that are of
the sons of Levi, who received the office of the priesthood,
have a commandment to take tithes of the people, according to the
law that is of their brethren, though they come out of the loins
of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted from them, That's
speaking of Melchizedek, he wasn't of the Levitical priesthood.
He received tithes of Abraham and blessed him that had the
promises. And without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better.
Melchizedek was better than Abraham. And here men that die receive
tithes, but there he receiveth them of whom is witness that
he liveth. Now, verse nine. And as I may so say, Levi also. Now let's remember who Levi is.
He's the great-grandson of Abraham, the great-grandson. This man
Levi had not yet been born. He was in the loins of his grandfather
in Genesis chapter 14 when his grandfather Abraham paid tithes
to Melchizedek. Remember, Christ is the priest
after the order of Melchizedek. Verse nine, and as I may so say,
Levi also, who received tithes as a priest, paid tithes in Abraham. It didn't say it was if he paid
tithes. He didn't say it was just like
he paid tithes. He said he himself paid those
tithes. He wasn't even born. but he was
in the loins of his father Abraham. You see, when Abraham paid those
tithes, all of his seed paid tithes. Now here is the mystery
of the gospel. When Jesus Christ kept God's
holy law, I kept God's holy law. Every believer kept God's holy
law. When Jesus Christ died on Calvary's
tree, I died on Calvary's tree. Paul said, I am crucified with
Christ. When Christ opened his eyes in
that tomb with nobody witnessing, but his father living. I lived in him. You see, he said, because I live,
you shall live also. No other reason is needed. When
Christ ascended back to the father, He's called the Lord of hosts,
the king of glory, going back to the father of the gates being
open for him in Psalm 24. You see, he came with hosts with
him, all of the company of God's elect, every single believer. As he's seated right now at the
right hand of the father on the throne of glory, you know who's
there with him? Every single believer. You say,
well, I'm sitting here. Yeah, I know you are. But if
you're in Christ, you're there right now. Scripture says we're
seated together, Ephesians 2. We're seated together in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus. So when Moses, or I mean, when
Abraham paid tithes, so did Levi. And so did everybody else in
his loins, and everything Christ did, he did in behalf of his
people, and they did it as well. Now, let me bring out a few more
things out of the New Testament about Abraham. You see how great
this man is? He's no better than me or you
as far as just being a human being, but he's the great, he's
the father of the faithful. There was in the temple, you
can read about this in Luke chapter 13, there was at the temple,
the Lord went into the temple and there was a woman bent over
all the way over. She couldn't straighten up and
she'd been that way for 18 years. And the Lord healed this woman
and she stood up straight. And the ruler of the synagogues
got mad. He said, there's six days you
can come and be healed. You shouldn't come here on the
Sabbath day and be healed. Lord called him a hypocrite,
you hypocrite. If your ox falls into a pit on
the Sabbath day, you'll bring it out. And should not this daughter
of Abraham, be healed. Why was she healed? She was the daughter of Abraham,
and she should be healed. What about Zacchaeus? You're familiar with Luke 19,
Zacchaeus, he was up in the tree waiting for the Lord, wanted
to see him. He couldn't see him because he was short, so he climbed
up in a tree, and when the Lord passed that way, he looked up.
Zacchaeus, He knew who he was. It's one of his elect. Zacchaeus,
make haste, come down. Today I must abide in thy house. And the scripture says he made
haste and came down and received him joyfully. And he said, Lord,
the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I've received
by false accusation anything from any man, I restore it fourfold. And then the Lord said, this
day is salvation coming to this house in as much as he also,
what? Is a son of Abraham. He didn't
say salvation's coming to this house because he's given half
his goods to feed the poor. Salvation's coming to this house
because he is a son of Abraham. I think of in John, chapter 8,
when the Lord said to the Pharisees, Your father, Abraham, rejoiced
to see my day. And he saw it, and he was glad,
and I have no doubt that that's talking about Genesis 22, when
he saw that Ram caught in a thicket that
he offered up in the stead of his son Isaac. Oh, can you imagine
how he rejoiced? Can you imagine how Isaac rejoiced
when they went back? Your father Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and was glad. Why you're
not 50 years old and if you say you've seen Abraham? Before Abraham
was, I am. Now, I want to close by asking
this question, what's Abraham known most for? Faith. He's called the father of the
faithful, and we read of the faith of Abraham. Turn to Genesis chapter 15, Verse 4, And behold, the word
of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir,
this servant born in your house, but he that shall come forth
out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought
him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the
stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto them,
So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord. He believed what he said. And
he, the Lord, counted it to him for righteousness. Now, turn
to Romans chapter 4. A whole chapter here is devoted
to Abraham. Romans chapter 4. Now, in this book of Romans,
Paul had spent the first three chapters talking to people without
a Bible and with a Bible. He was speaking at first to the
Gentiles, people with no revelation from God, and then he spoke to
the Jews, to the Hebrews, people who HAD a Bible, and he reached
this conclusion about BOTH of them. Look in verse 9 of chapter
3. What then, are we better than
they as Jews? Are we better than those Gentiles? No, in no wise,
for we have before, we had before proved both Jews and Gentiles
that they are all under sin. You know what that means? Sin's over you. Sin's over you. What's that mean?
Well, he tells in verses 10 through 12, as it's written, There's
none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There's none that
doeth good. No, not one. Now the remainder of chapter
three, he tells how God can be just and justify people like
that. people like me and you." God
can be just, consistent with His holy justice, and clear of
all guilt and make not guilty, make sinless people like me and
you. And then in chapter four, verse one, what shall we say
then that Abraham, our father as pertaining to the flesh, hath
found? Where does Abraham fit into all
of this? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he'd have whereof to glory. He could say, well, I'm saved
because I did this. I'm saved because I. If you ever say, I'm
saved because I, you've missed salvation. You're not saved because
you did anything. You're saved because of what
Christ has done. Anything contrary to that is
salvation by works. Now, if Abraham were justified
by works, he'd have something he can glory in, but not before
God. For what sayeth the scripture?
That's always the issue, isn't it? What sayeth the scripture? Abraham believed God. When God said, you're going to
have more descendants than the stars of the sky, Abraham believed
God, and he didn't have anything else but the Word of God. Sarah
was barren. He didn't have any children,
but when God said it, he believed it. He believed God. Verse 4, Now to him that worketh
is the reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If there's
something you do that causes God to save you, That means God
owes you salvation. No, God's debtor to none. God is God. If you and I are saved, it's
not God paying us for what we've done. Verse five, here's Abraham's
faith. But to him that worketh not. but believeth on him that justifies
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Now, what
does that mean? Well, let me tell you something you cannot
do at the same time. You can't work and believe. You CANNOT work and believe. Have you ever been convinced
that salvation by works is altogether impossible for you? If salvation
is dependent upon you in any way, to any degree. There's no
hope that you'll be saved. To him that worketh not. Boy, that's a blessed place to
be. Because only when you work not, are you able to even hear
the gospel. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him. Faith isn't believing you're
saved. Faith isn't believing Christ died for you. Faith is
believing on him. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him, that justifieth the ungodly. Now this is the very heart and
soul of the gospel. What Christ did on Calvary's
tree is he actually justified ungodly sinners. You know what that means? That
means everybody he's represented, everybody he died for, everybody
he lives for, stands before God sinless, without guilt, perfectly
righteous. And you know what is so amazing
is I believe that. I believe on him that justifieth
the ungodly. Now that's Abraham's faith. He worked not, but he believed
on Him that justified the ungodly." And finally, Abraham is a great
example to us of justification by works. James says, you're not justified
by faith only. Was not Abraham our father justified
by works? put up Isaac on the altar. Now somebody says, what in the
world does that mean? How can you say with all the stuff you
said, how can you say Abraham was justified by works? Well,
what that means is there will always be evidence that you really
did believe what you said you believed. And if there's no evidence,
you never really believed. And he used the example, and
this is such a poignant, powerful example. He used the example
of Abraham when God said, you take your son, your only son,
the son you love, and offer him up as a burnt offering to me
on a mountain that I'll show you. Now, this son, Isaac, is
the Son the promise was made. In Isaac should Asi be called.
It was through Isaac that the Christ was gonna come. It was
through Isaac that all nations of the earth would be blessed,
not through Ishmael, salvation by works, but Isaac only. Now,
God says, you take this boy that you love, who I promised to bring
the Messiah through, to be a blessing to all nations, you take him,
and kill him. Now, Abraham could have thought,
if I do that, everything God has promised will not take place. I mean, how can the seed come
through him if he's dead? If I do that, if I kill him,
God's promise is not going to take place. Now, you know what
that is? That's unbelief. That's thinking God's promise
won't take place unless I. So what did Abraham do? Abraham
took him up to that mountain and lifted up the knife for this
one reason. He knew God would raise him from
the dead. As a matter of fact, he said,
I and the lad will go yonder and worship and return to you
again. He believed God's promise must
take place. He knew, according to Hebrews
11, that even in killing him, God would raise him from the
dead because God's word always comes to pass. So Abraham gave
evidence that he really believed God. by offering up his son. If he were to refuse to do that,
all he would prove by that is that sometimes God's word does
not come to pass unless we do our part. And that is a complete
denial of faith. Abraham, the father of the faithful. And it's my prayer that everybody
in this room is gonna be described just like Abraham, to him that
worketh not. but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Let's pray. Lord, we ask that we might walk
in the steps of Abraham, believing what you say, trusting in you
who justify the ungodly through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.