In Galatians 1.6, I marvel that
you are so soon removed from him that called you to the grace
of Christ and to another gospel. And that sets the tone for this
whole book. In the book of Galatians, Paul
is defending the gospel which the Galatians were in the process
of leaving. and calling them back to their
first faith and their first love. And those two things are the
same, aren't they? Your first faith and your first love. Now, in chapter three, he uses
two appeals in calling them back to their first faith and their
first love. The first appeal he used was their experience.
And you can do that with a believer. You can do that with a believer.
When you were first saved, how were you saved? Free grace. That's your experience. When
you first came to Christ, how'd you come? Empty handed. you can appeal to a true believer's
experience. And that's what he does in these
first five verses when he says, O foolish Galatians who have
bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose
eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth, crucified among you.
You heard the message of Christ crucified. That was the message
you heard when you were first brought to a saving knowledge
of Christ. He said in verse 2, this only
would I learn of you. Did you receive the Spirit by
the works of the law? Was the Spirit given to you because
you kept some kind of works or by the hearing of faith, by the
gospel? He said in verse three, are you
so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? Now you know if you're a believer,
you began with God the Holy Spirit. Whoso believeth that Jesus Christ
is born of God, he doesn't say whoso believeth that Jesus Christ
will be born of God, but is born of God. All your understanding,
your spiritual light began with God the Holy Spirit giving you
a new heart and revealing himself to you. Now do you begin there
and then are you made perfect by your works? Are you brought
to maturity by your works? He says in verse four, have you
suffered so many things in vain if it be yet in vain? He said
there was a time when you suffered for the gospel. You were persecuted
for the gospel. Was that all in vain? Was it
meaningless? He says in verse five, he therefore that ministers
to you the spirit and works miracles among you. And he's not talking
about physical miracles, he's talking about spiritual miracles,
works of grace. He that ministers to you the
Spirit and works miracles among you, does he it by the works
of the law, because of your personal obedience, or by the hearing
of faith, by the gospel? Now, we know the answers to those
questions, don't we, in our own experience. And that's how he
begins. We considered those last week. But now he turns to the
gospel. He turns to the Old Testament
scriptures to prove his point, and look what he says in verse
16. He says, even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
to him for righteousness. Now, He appeals to what the scripture,
the Old Testament scripture quotes from Genesis chapter 15, verse
six. And he's going to prove from the scriptures, listen to
this question or this statement. This is really probably as important
a thing as I'm going to say. Abraham was saved the precise
same way New Testament believers are saved. No difference. He was saved the
same way New Testament believers are saved, by believing on the
Lord Jesus Christ. It says that Abraham believed
God, he believed what God said, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness, the great truth of justification. It was accounted
to him for righteousness. Now, it'd be hard to say who
the most important Old Testament figure is. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, Moses, David. It'd be hard to say which one
was the most important, but I know this. None of them are more important
than this man, Abraham. And if I would understand the
gospel, I'm going to have to understand something about how God saved
Abraham. Abraham, you think of the titles
he's given. He's called the father of the
faithful. He's called the friend of God.
Through his seed, the Christ would come. He was the first
Jew, and he's called the father of the faithful. And believers
are said to be children of Abraham. Do you remember when Zacchaeus
was saved? The Lord said, today I must abide in your house. And
the Lord ended up that statement with, this day is salvation come
into this house, for as much as he also is a son of Abraham. Now understand, that a Jew, a
son of Abraham, is not a race or a nationality. It's purely
spiritual. If I'm a Christian, if I believe
the gospel, if I'm a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, if
I'm a disciple of Christ, I am a Jew. I am a Hebrew. That's what the scripture teaches.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 9. Verse seven, neither, because
they are the seed of Abraham, physical descendants of Abraham,
are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
That is, they which are the children of the flesh, Jews in the flesh,
these are not the children of God, but the children of the
promise are counted for the seed. Look back in Romans chapter two. Verse 28, for he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly, Neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Paul said in Philippians chapter
three, verse three, we are the circumcision, which worship God. We worship Him for who He is,
as it's revealed in the scriptures, and we do so in the Spirit. The
only way you can worship God is through God the Holy Spirit.
And we rejoice, we glory in Christ Jesus. All we have confidence
in is who He is and what He accomplished. That's all in our salvation.
And we have no confidence in the flesh. None at all. Now that is the true Jew, and
Abraham was the first Jew. Turn with me for a moment to
Isaiah 51. At the time of Abraham's calling,
there did not appear to be any believers at all on the earth.
Now I don't know if that's the case, but look what God says
in Isaiah chapter 51. Hearken to Me, ye that follow
after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord. Look unto the
rock whence ye are hewn, and the hole of the pit whence you
were digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sarah that
bare you, for I called him alone." He was the only one I called.
I called him alone. Were there any other believers
at this time? I don't know. But apparently,
it almost seems as perhaps there were not. Abraham was an idolater,
dwelling in the land of Ur of the Chaldees. He didn't know
God, didn't care, and God sovereignly called him. And Abraham's children,
that's every believer, they're all like him. If you are a child
of Abraham, you know what that means? I mean, you're just like
Abraham. You believe the way Abraham believes, you save the
same way Abraham was. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 8. I love this passage of scripture. I want you to look
at this with me. John chapter 8, beginning in verse 32. The Lord says, and you shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered
him, we be Abraham's seed. They were physical Jews and were
never in bondage to any man. Well, that was wrong. They were
under the bondage to Rome at that time. They were a tributary
of Rome. They had to pay taxes to Rome.
I don't know why they were saying that we were never in bondage
to any man. Yeah, you are. You're in bondage to Rome and you're
in bondage to your sinful nature. Now, let's go on reading. How sayest thou you shall be
made free? Jesus answered them, verily, verily, I say unto you,
whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin, and the servant
abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth forever.
If the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
Oh, if Christ Jesus made you free, if he paid for your sins,
you really are free. You're free indeed. He said,
I know that you're Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me,
because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I've
seen with my father, and you do that which you've seen with
your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham's our
father. Jesus saith unto him, if you were Abraham's children,
you'd do the works of Abraham. You see that all of Abraham's
children do what Abraham did. He said, but now you seek to
kill me, a man that has told you the truth, which I've heard
of God. This did not Abraham. You do the deeds of your father.
They said to him, we'd be not born of fornication. We have
one father, even God. Jesus said to them, if God were
your father, you would love me. I know Abraham loved him. Remember
where it says, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it
and was glad. If you were children of Abraham,
You would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither
came I of myself, but He sent me. Why do you not understand
my speech? Even because you cannot, you
lack the ability to hear my word." Boy, that's strong language,
isn't it? The way the Lord spoke. You're of your father the devil,
and the less of your father you'll do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there's no truth
in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he's
a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. Which of you convinces me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He
that's of God heareth God's words, you therefore hear them not.
because you are not of God. Now, Abraham, let's consider
just for a few moments before we get into Genesis 15 where
Paul quotes this passage of Scripture. Abraham was an idolater. His
daddy was an idolater. He lived in awe of the caldees,
happy the way things were. He was having a good life, married
to Sarah. Sarah was a very good-looking woman. You can read about him
two times being so scared when he went into Egypt that he wouldn't
admit that she was his wife in order to keep himself out of
trouble. And she actually got put in a harem because of that.
And that happened twice. And his son ended up doing it
as well. But while he was in the land
of Ur and Chaldees, the Lord appeared to him. Turn to Genesis
chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12. Verse 1,
Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land
that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great
nation. And it's already been pointed out in chapter 11 that
Sarah is barren. But he still says, I'll make
of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name
great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and I'll bless them that bless
thee, and I'll curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall
all the families of the earth be blessed. And he's talking
about his seed. The Lord Jesus Christ is going
to come through him. Now he was called by God himself,
and so are all of his children. If you're called, do you know
God himself has called you? Isn't that an awesome thing to
think about? God himself has called you. He called your name.
God saves one sinner at a time. And it was a call to separation.
Abraham, get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred
and from thy father's house unto a land that I'll show thee. This
same call is to us. Come out from among them and be ye separate
is the call. I'm not of this world. Now, we
live in this world. We're not living in monasteries
where we live among men. I realize that. We work with
men. We talk with men. We think with men. But this is,
well, we're not of this world. We're strangers and pilgrims
passing through. And this world's religion, we
don't have anything to do with it. We're separate from it. He
says, come out and be ye separate, saith the Lord. And that's what
he did with Abraham. He separated him from the rest of the people
of the world. And it's a call to obedience by faith. Abraham,
when he was called to go into a place he would afterwards receive
for an inheritance, obeyed. We read of the obedience of faith. Now, Abraham, like you and I,
was a sinner saved by grace. He had the same fallen nature
you and I do, and he was saved by the same grace. Now, when
God appeared to him, first thing he did was build an altar and
call upon the name of the Lord. Then we read in Genesis chapter
13 where there was a strife between the herdman of Lot and his herdman,
and he said, let there be no strife between us. There should
never be strife between brethren. He said to Lot, you take the
right side, I'll take the left. You take the left side, I'll
take the right. Lot, you know, he saw the well-watered plain
and he pitched his tent towards Sodom, and Abraham just took
whatever was left. What a man he was. He was trusting
the Lord. He was trusting the Lord's providence.
Then in chapter 14, we read where Lot got kidnapped by these five
different kings, and Abraham goes and rescues it. And when
Abraham returns back after rescuing him, we read beginning in verse
Verse 21, And the king of Sodom said unto Abraham, Give me the
persons, and take the goods to yourself. And Abram said to the
king of Sodom, So have I lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the
Most High God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I not
take from thee a thread, even to a shoelatchet. And I won't
take anything that's thine, lest thou should say, I've made Abram
rich, save only that which the young men have eaten, and the
portion of meat which went with me. Anar, Eschol, and Mamre,
let them take their portion. He looked to Melchizedek only,
and he wouldn't take a dime from the king of Sodom. I admire that.
And then we get to chapter 15, and this is where we got that
verse of Scripture. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted to him for righteousness. So let's look at verse 1 of Genesis
chapter 15. This very special man, Abraham. After these things, the word
of the Lord came into Abram, in a vision, saying, Fear not,
Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. Do I believe in rewards in heaven? No. Do I believe in the reward
in heaven? Yes, I absolutely do. Christ
Jesus is the shield of every believer, and he is our exceeding
great reward. How rich is every believer? You
have him as your shield. He himself is your exceeding
great reward. And to you, heaven is actually
going to be beholding his glory, looking upon his face, being
in his presence. And Abram said, Lord God, What
wilt thou give me? Seeing I go childless, remember
Sarah was barren, 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 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. He brought him
forth abroad, verse 5, and said, look now toward heaven. And I
bet it was just a clear night when you could see all these
stars, millions of stars. And he said, look now toward
heaven and tell the stars if thou be able to number them.
And he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. Now remember, he
didn't have any kids. And Sarah was barren. And he
said, so shall thy seed be. And what does it say next in
verse six? And he believed in the Lord. And he, the Lord, counted it
to him for righteousness. Now, here we have the great truth
of justification by faith. He believed the Lord and the
Lord counted this to him for righteousness. Now, what does
that mean? That's the primary truth for
the glory of Christ in the scriptures. What does it mean? Abraham believed
in the Lord and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now,
faith is believing what God has said. It really is that simple. It's believing what God has said.
Abraham had no evidence at all that he would have children except
that God said it. And that was enough. Abraham
believed God. Faith is believing what God has
said. Faith is not believing in God.
The devils believe in God. Faith is not believing God can
do great things for you. God got me out of that mess.
I almost had a car wreck and God protected me. God got me
this house. God got me this money. God did
this for me. My God can do great things. He
can get me out of every trouble. That's not faith. That has nothing
to do with faith. Faith is believing God will do
what he said he would do. Faith is believing God has done
what he said he has done. When Christ said, it is finished,
you want believers to believe? It's finished. It's finished. There's nothing for me to do.
Christ did it all. And I rest in that. Abraham's
faith was believing a promise made by God Himself. And when we believe the promise
of God, we're believing that which God Himself has stated
and has promised in His Word. To him that worketh not, listen
to this scripture, Romans chapter 4 verse 5. You remember, Galatians
chapter 3 and Romans chapter 4 are devoted to this one verse. to him that worketh not. This is talking about Abraham.
This is what Abraham, what should we say that our father Abraham,
in fact, turn over there. Hold your finger in Genesis 15
and turn to Romans 4. What should we say then that
Abraham, our father, is pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For
if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory."
He could say, well, I did this and therefore God paid me. But
not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now, to him that worketh is the
reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If you do some work
for your salvation, that means God's paying you. God's no man's
debtor. But, to him that worketh not,
Would that be you? You know you can't be saved by
your works. You know you can't be saved by
anything that you do. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. Now let me ask you
a question. Do you really believe on him
who justifies the ungodly? Evil people? And He makes them
just? Now remember, if you're justified,
that means you have no guilt. That means you have no sin. That means
you've never done anything wrong and you've always done that which
is right. That's what justified means. And this passage of Scripture
says, "...to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly." And you know what? I do believe on
Him that justifieth the ungodly. When Christ said, "...it is finished,"
the ungodly were justified. They were made clear and clean
before God. What a gospel we have! What a
gospel Abraham believed! And this is a promise God has
made. This is not something men could come up with. This is what
God has said. Abraham believed God and it was
canon to him for righteousness. Now, Abraham's faith was believing
a promise that God made to him. Abraham see the stars, so shall
thy seed be. And Abraham's faith had something
to do with seed. The seed. The seed is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the blessing. the seed
that came through him. Abraham, so shall thy seed be. It's all concerning Christ. He
is the seed of woman. He's the seed of Abraham. In
Galatians 3.16 it says, He saith not to seeds as many, but as
of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Now the seed is the
object of saving faith. What's important about faith?
The object of faith. You can have weak faith. You
can have strong faith. It doesn't make any difference.
You ought to have strong faith. But what's important about faith?
The object of faith. The seed. Jesus Christ the Lord. He's the object of saving faith. We rest in Him. We don't think
it's our faith that saves us. It's Jesus Christ that saves
us. That's what we believe. We believe Him. The faith has
something to do with the promised seed. What we believe is predicated
on who we believe. 2 Timothy 1.12, Paul said, I
know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he's
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. Now his faith, Abraham's faith,
was in a promise that was humanly impossible to achieve. Now, when
Abraham and Sarah had Isaac, you know how old Abraham was?
He's 100. He was an old man. Sarah was 90. Not only was she
90, she was barren. Not only was she barren, she'd
already gone through menopause a long time ago. And it was humanly
impossible for her to have a child. Abraham believed God, though.
He believed in that which was humanly impossible. And you know
what? It's humanly impossible for me
to be justified. You know why? Because I'm a sinner.
It's humanly impossible for me to be justified, for me to be
holy, for me to be like Christ. But I am. You know why? This is God's work. It's something
that only God could achieve. Actually taking a guilty sinner
and making them without guilt before Himself. Not just pretend,
but that's really the way it is. I have no sin because of
what Christ did for me. Beloved, what a wonderful promise,
so shall thy seed be. And this promise is for every
individual believer. So shall thy seed be. You know,
a lot of times it's easier for me to believe God's blessing
on you than it is for me. You ever find that? But this
is for every individual believer. Christ loved me and gave himself
for me. My question is, why me? You know, I ask myself that question
a lot. I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean. Now, Abraham believed God and
it was counted. It was imputed to him, is the
word. We find that word a lot in the
New Testament. It was imputed to him for righteousness. Now,
this is very important. Does that mean the act of faith
was counted to him for righteousness? No, it does not mean the act
of faith is counted for righteousness. It doesn't mean that at all.
Christ kept the law for me, not my faith. Christ is my righteousness,
not my faith. Christ died for me. My faith
didn't die for me and put away my sins. Christ did. It was Christ
who justified me. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. Christ justified me. I believe
that. I believe that. That's what this
thing of justification by faith means. It doesn't mean faith
is kind of a substitute for righteousness. No, Christ is my righteousness. I believe that. I'm relying on
Jesus Christ as my righteousness before God. This is the great
doctrine of justification. Do you know how I can be justified?
For God to impute the righteousness of His Son to me so that it is
mine. It's not His imputed to me, it's
my personal righteousness before God. When He imputes it, it becomes
mine. Bold shall I stand in that great
day, for who unto my charge shall lay? Fully absolved from these
I am from sin's tremendous curse and shame. Abraham believed God,
and it was counted to him for righteousness. Now let's go on
reading, verse 7. And he said unto him, I am the
Lord that brought thee out of all of the Chaldees to give this
land to inherit it. And look what he said. And he
said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Now, because God said it. Isn't that enough? Well, to Abraham really it was,
but he wanted to have a little more, he wanted some more assurance. God said it. He believed it.
He said, how can I know it? I believe it. How can I know
it? I think this has something to do with assurance. I believe
it. How can I know it? Now you say,
what's the difference between faith and assurance? Well, faith is
believing he's the savior. Assurance is believing you're
saved. It is that simple. And you can have faith without
having much assurance. It's possible. I mean, I don't
know how many times I've questioned, how could you be a Christian
if you think that, or if you did that, or if you, everybody goes
through that. You know, you'll commit some
kind of sin and you'll think, well, how could I even be saved?
Well, you're looking in the wrong place when you do that. If Christ died for me, I'm saved.
If I'm in Him, I'm saved. It doesn't have any bearing on
what I do or don't do. It's what He did for me. I hate
sin. I want to be somebody who when
I sin, I mourn over my sin because I love my Savior, and it grieves
me that I sinned against Him, and it grieves me that I... I'm not in any way being indifferent
about a sin. We ought not sin. We do. We mourn
over it. But we know this, we still have
no sin before God because of Christ and his righteousness
and his shed blood. We have no sin before God. So
notice what Abraham says in verse eight. He says, how can I know
that I shall inherit it? Well, God told him, but he gives
him something else. Let's go and read in verse 9.
And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old. Notice he said, take me this
heifer. This is for me. You know, the
sacrifice is for God. Understand that. The sacrifice
of Christ is for God. It's not so much for you. It's
for God. Yes, it's for you, but it's so
God can be just and justify you. God shall provide himself a sacrifice,
a lamb for a burnt offering. You remember that when Abraham
said, Isaac said, here's the wood, here's the fire, where's
the lamb for a burnt offering? He said, my son, God shall provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. He provides for himself. So he can be just. He can't just
love me the way I am. I've got to be made clean. And
he provides himself. And he's the one who does the
providing. Now he said, take from me. And he mentions the
five different animal sacrifices. And he said unto him, take me
an heifer three years old, and a she goat of three years old,
and a lamb 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 pieces one against another, but the
birds divided he not." Now, the only ground of assurance is the sacrifice. You want to know you're saved?
You want to have assurance that you're saved? The only ground
of assurance is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. If
you think you're saved because of some kind of personal progress
in obedience and holiness that you're achieving, if you think
you're saved because of some kind of work you performed, your
assurance is a false assurance. I pray God takes it from you.
because it's a false assurance. The only thing we're allowed
to derive assurance from is it is finished. Now, I want to know he's the
Savior, and I also want to know I'm saved. And I look to him
for both of those things. How can I know? The sacrifice. Is God satisfied with what Christ
did? That's what I want to ask you. Answer that. Is God satisfied
with what Christ did? You know, we have the same satisfaction
that God does. Now I think this is a very interesting
detail, verse 11. And when the fowls came down
upon the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. I can just see Abraham
doing this. He's got this sacrifice ready,
and all of a sudden the buzzards and the vultures come down and
start getting on the pieces of the sacrifice to nick and tear
at it. He's driving them away. He wants
to protect the sacrifice. Now, what is it that Satan is
going to attack? What you can pick at. the sacrifice
of Christ. Because the sacrifice of Christ,
Christ crucified, is everything. It's everything. And that's precisely
where He will attack. Now, because of that, for the
third Wednesday in a row, Third Wednesday in a row. I've given
these five points three Wednesdays in a row, and if you get tired
of them, I'm sorry. You're probably going to hear
them next Wednesday, too, and hopefully every time I preach somehow.
First, who died? We're talking about the sacrifice
of Christ. Who died? It's Christ that died. It's the Son of God. It's the one who cannot fail. He can't do something and it
ends up not taking place. He can't pay for your sins and
you end up paying for them yourself again. That can't happen because
of who He is. He's God. He's incapable of failure. He's never learned anything.
He's never learned anything new. He's in absolute control of everything.
It's Christ that died. Now, second question. Why did
He die? Why did He die? because it was
determined by his father. Him being delivered by the determinant
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken him with
wicked hands and crucified and slain. He's a lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Why did he die? There's one reason for death,
and you know what that is. It's sin. You know, I was preaching
a funeral here, and I asked the question, why do people die?
because of sin. And you know, the funeral director
came up to me and said, I have gone through thousands of funerals.
I've never heard anybody say that. Why do people die? Sin. Well, he didn't sin. No, he didn't. He lived a perfect
life, but the sins of God's elect became his sins. That's why he
died. He died under the wrath of God
because sin. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. Why did he die? God's purpose,
sin. For whom did he die? And that's
a very important question because if I don't bring that out, it
takes away the meaning of his death in the first place. For
whom did he die? This religious world says he
died for everybody. Well, if he did die for everybody,
everybody would be saved. Let's just go ahead and close
this thing down. There's nothing to worry about. But no, he died
for his people, for his elect, for those the father gave him,
for his sheep. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. Other sheep I have which are
not of this foe, them also I must bring in. And he said to that,
in that same sermon, he said to that one group of people,
he said, you believe not because you're not of my sheep, as I
said unto you. Now, what's the point? Well,
it's what the Bible says, but here's the glorious part of this.
That means if he died for you, you must be saved. Your sins
are put away, they're paid for. So that leads to the fourth question
I want to consider real briefly. What did he accomplish by his
death? Christ crucified, that's what we're talking about. The
vultures, the buzzards pick at the sacrifice. That's what they're
trying to pick away at. We don't want that, do we? What
did he accomplish by his death? Hebrews 10, 14 says, for by one
offering. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. That's what he accomplished.
You know, when he died, I, this man right here, I was perfected. I was perfected. Perfect before
God, before I was even born, by what my Lord did for me, by
that one offering. You know, even the scripture
says, by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption. I mean, by his blood he went
back into heaven. And his blood, his atonement,
is the reason for his intercession. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea rather that's risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. And beloved, when he's making
intercession, that doesn't mean he's saying, oh, forgive him
again. I know he did it again, he's done it 4,000 times, but
forgive him this 4,001. No, all he does is show the Father
his hands and his feet. Those scars that are still there, Glorious battle wounds. He still
has his scars. And that says, that man's holy. His sins put away. He's without
guilt. Drive away every buzzard or vulture
who will seek to pick at the sacrifice, just like Abraham
did. And remember, faith is believing God. Believing what Christ did
is enough. Assurance comes from believing
what Christ did is enough. That's our assurance, not because
of how good we are, but how good he is. And the cross, the sacrifice
of Christ, who died, is everything. And that's where the buzzards
are gonna be picking. And may the Lord enable us. I
love to, I think of Abraham with his beard and his robes and everything,
knocking away the buzzards. Let's mean you do that too by
the grace of God. Let's pray. He keeps us, and preserves us,
and loves us, and makes himself known to us, and causes us to
call upon his name. Lord, how we thank you that all
you require of us, you look to thy blessed son for. And Lord,
we look to him completely for all you require of us. Lord, enable us to be like Abraham,
and drive away the buzzards. Bless this message for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray, amen. We got Mitch.