Now, I have hope, a confident expectation with
regard to the future. I have a hope that God is actually
pleased with me through the Lord Jesus Christ. What a glorious
hope that is. And that hope comes from His
Word. I wouldn't dare hope that. unless
I saw that it's what His Word gave me to hope in. I wouldn't
want to just come up with something on my own. I would want to know
that that's what the Scriptures actually teaches. Now, look here
in Joshua chapter 21. Joshua is giving a summary of
what had taken place during this time. Verse 43. and the Lord gave unto Israel
all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers and they
possessed it and dwelt therein and the Lord gave them rest roundabout,
according to all that he swear unto their fathers. And there
stood not a man of all their enemies before them. The Lord
delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not
ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the
house of Israel. All came to pass. Now, what is it that he swore
to their fathers? Twice we read that all that he
swore to their fathers, he gave them. What is it he swore to
their fathers? Now, we're going to have to go
back to Abraham to find that out. Turn with me for a moment
to Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12. What man is mentioned more than
any other man in the Bible? Abraham. Actually, by far, Abraham
is mentioned more than anybody else. He's called the father
of the faithful. He's called the friend of God,
and believers are described as children of Abraham. If I'm a
believer, if you're a believer, we're children of Abraham. When God would describe what
faith is, he uses Abraham to illustrate It was Abraham who
staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Abraham illustrates what
it is to believe God. God said, you're going to have
a seed. You're going to have descendants.
Abraham was married to a woman who was buried. He was an old
man. But when God said that, he believed
God even though he had no evidence that it would take place. None
at all. All he had was the naked Word
of God. Abraham, the father of the faithful. And then when James is going
to illustrate the works of faith, who does he use to illustrate?
he uses Abraham was not Abraham our father justified by works
he said when he offered up his only son upon the altar you see
how that works brought with his faith and by works his faith
was made complete it proved the reality of his faith Abraham
now Abraham began as a heathen idolater and God called him I
mean he was just live in his life. I don't know what all was
involved in that. He was in error of the call these
and he was not a believer, nor did he have any desire to be
a believer. But God called him out of that. Would you turn with
me to Genesis chapter 11 for a moment? We're going to get
back to Genesis 12 in a bit, but. Verse 27. Now, these are
the generations of terror. terribly get a broom may horn
her on and her on the got locked and her on died before his father
care in the land of the Nativity in Ur of the call these in a
broom and a whore took the wives the name of Abraham's wife with
Sarah and the name of neighbors why Milka the daughter of her
and the father of Milka and the father is good but Sarah was
married And Terran took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of
Haran, the son's son, and Sarah, his daughter-in-law, his son's
Abram's wife. And they went forth from Ur of the Chaldees to go
into the land of Canaan. And they came into Haran and
dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two
hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran." Now, at this
time, Abraham had never heard from the living God. Look in
Joshua, Chapter 24. Joshua, Chapter 24. Verse 2, And Joshua said unto
all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers
dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah,
the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor, and they served
other gods. Now do you see that? Abraham
was an idolater, serving other gods. And then God says, I took
your father Abraham. from the other side of the flood
and led him throughout all the land of Canaan and multiplied
his seed and gave him Isaac." Now, Abraham was saved the same
way you and I are saved. The Lord took him. He was an
idolater. And the Lord took him. Turn with
me to Isaiah 51. This speaks of this even more strongly. Isaiah
chapter 51, verse 1. Hearken to me, ye that follow
after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord. Look unto the
rock whence you were hewn, and the hole of the pit whence you
were digged. Look unto Abraham your father,
and unto Sarah that bare you. For I called him alone, and blessed
him, and increased him." Now, Abraham was an idolater. living
on the other side of the flood, and then the Lord appears to
him. Go back to Genesis chapter 12. Now, the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country.
Now, how this transpired, I don't know. Did he hear an audible
voice? I reckon he did. This is before
the Scriptures. He heard the voice of God, the voice of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I know whose voice it was, but
he heard the voice of God. He was doing whatever it was
he was doing, and all of a sudden, God invaded his life. He heard
the voice of God. 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 will show thee, and I
will make of thee a great nation. And I will bless thee, and make
thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless
them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and in
thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Now Abraham is an instance and
example of the sovereign grace of God. I love thinking about
this. Here he is, an idolater, and
God calls him out and he blesses him. Now the Lord told him, you're
going to have to leave your father's land. And this is what the Lord
does when He saves somebody. You're going to have to lose
all association with your father and go into a land that I'm going
to tell you. Now, what that represents is when God saves somebody, they
find out they have to drop all association with their father's
house, Adam. My salvation has nothing to do
with my works, nothing to do with the flesh. I realize that.
I drop all that association and I go to a land that He shows
me. The land represents salvation,
the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that's in Him, a place
to be and a place to dwell. God promised Abraham this land. Now, this covenant that He made
with Abraham is timeless and everlasting. I want us to look
at several passages of Scripture regarding that. Look in verse
7 of chapter 12. And the Lord appeared unto Abram,
and said unto thy seed, Will I give this land? And there builded
he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." Look in chapter
13, verse 14. And the Lord said unto Abram,
after the lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes,
and look from the place where thou art, northward, southward,
eastward, and westward. Now before I go on reading, That
promise Joshua talked about is the fulfillment of what he's
saying right here. This is when it becomes fulfilled. That's
why I'm reading all these. Verse 15. For all the land which thou
seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the
dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of
the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise and walk
through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it,
for I will give it unto thee. Look in chapter 15. After these things, verse 1,
the word of the Lord came into Abram in a vision, saying, Fear
not, Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. Oh, the Lord says that to you.
If you're a believer, the Lord says to you, I am thy shield.
I am thy exceeding great reward. And what a great reward he is.
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 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. And he brought
him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven. Tell the stars
if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall
thy seed be. He didn't say it will be if you
do your part. He said, So shall thy seed be. Look at verse 18
of this same chapter. In the same day, The Lord made
a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this
land from the river of Egypt unto
the great river, the river Euphrates. Look in chapter 17. And when Abram was 90 years old
and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram. and said unto him, I am
almighty God. Walk before me and be thou perfect,
and I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply
thee exceedingly. This is before Isaac was born.
And Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him. I love that. When the Lord was speaking to
him, what did Abraham do? He hit the dirt. He fell on his face.
And God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold my covenant.
is with thee, thou shalt be a father of many nations, neither shall
thy name any more be called Abram, for thy name shall be Abraham,
for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will
make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee,
and kings shall come out of thee, and I will establish my covenant
between me and thee, and thy seed after thee." That's talking
about every believer. That's talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ. in their generation for an everlasting
covenant. Everlasting, it never had a beginning,
it never had an ending. An everlasting covenant to be
a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, and I will give unto
thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger,
all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I
will be They're God. And God said to Abraham, thou
shalt keep my covenant there for thou and thy seed after thee
and the generations. Now, the covenant that's being
spoken of here, they call it the Abrahamic, I don't know how
you say it. The covenant made with Abraham
is nothing less than the gospel. That's what it is. It's the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see the whole gospel in this
covenant. It's the same covenant that David
was speaking of in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5, when he said, although
my house be not so with God, Yet hath the Lord made with me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. And this is all my salvation,
this covenant that the Lord made, ordered in all things, and sure.
This is all my salvation, and it's all my desire. It's all
I desire, simply to be found in Christ in this covenant. though
he makes it not to grow." Now, this is the promise the Lord
makes to Abraham, the one he swears to the Father. Go back
to Genesis 12 for a moment. Now, in this covenant, there
are seven unconditional promises. And this covenant that he made
with Abraham He made with me just as much as He did with Abraham.
Every believer, this special covenant is made, and there's
seven unconditional promises, seven being the number of perfection.
Unconditional means it's not like He makes them, but if I
don't do my part, it gets messed up. No, He says, I will and you
shall. That's the unconditional promises
of the Lord God. Now, look what He says. We see
all seven of them in these first three verses of 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 will show thee." First,
He gave him a land. He gave him a place to live.
He gave him a place to be. That land is the salvation that's
in Christ. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus. That's the land I dwell in. The
Lord Jesus Christ, of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
That's the land I dwell in. Right now, I'm walking around
free in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the place I live. Don't
you live in Lexington? Yeah, I'm here, but that's not
my home. My home is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I feel so comfortable
in Him. As a matter of fact, that's the
only place I feel comfortable. Simply being in him and nowhere else. What a blessing to be in him.
Now the next thing he says in verse 2, he says, I'll make of
thee a great nation. Now that's talking about his
seed. How often do we read of the seed
of Abraham? Now the seed of Abraham, he said,
I'll make of thee a great nation. That's referring first of all
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the seed of Abraham. He's the seed of God, and that's
talking about all of God's people. We are the seed of Abraham. Every
believer is the seed of Abraham, truly Abraham's children. So we have a place to be in Christ,
and we have something in us, the seed, Christ Jesus, the Lord. He dwells in the heart of every
believer. So we have a land, and we have
an inheritance. We have a seed. Now look at what
he says next in verse 2. He said, and I will bless thee. Not I will if, but I will. All of God's blessings, every
believer possesses. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now listen to me.
If you're in Christ, you can't be any more blessed than you
are right now, whether you see it or not. That's the truth.
You are blessed in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have all of God's
favor. You have all of God's mercy. You have all of God's
grace. All that God has to give, you have. He has blessed. Now look what it says next. He
says in verse 2, I'll make thy name great. This is the fourth
blessing. We have a land. We have a seed.
We have a blessing. And we have a great And indeed,
we're talking about Abraham right now, thousands of years after
this took place. But let me show you what this
really means. I'll make that name great. Turn to Genesis chapter
5. It's the first time I've ever seen this that I remember. Genesis
chapter 5. And this is the book of the generations
of Adam. In the day that God created man,
in the likeness of God made he him. male and female, created
he them, and blessed them, and called their name," what? Adam. Not Adam and Eve. Adam. What's my name? What is the great name I have?
This is the name wherewith he shall be called Jehovah Sekinu. The Lord Our Righteousness, this
is the name wherewith she shall be called, Jehovah Sidkenu, The
Lord Our Righteousness. That's my name. Jehovah Sidkenu.
What's your name? Jehovah Sidkenu. This is the
name wherewith. That's a great name, isn't it?
That's a whole lot better name than Todd Divert. That's the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the name every believer
possesses. Isn't it great to have that name?
There's my identity. You know, what do you got to
feel good about? Christ! I'm in Him. I'm proud
of myself in Christ. Now, I'm not proud of myself
in myself, but in the Lord Jesus Christ, what identity, what significance
I have simply being in Him. I don't need anything else. You
know, somebody says, well, isn't there anything more than that?
Well, what could be better than that? Being in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a great name we have. And, OK, back to Genesis 12. He says, I'll make thy name great.
And here's the fifth blessing of this covenant. Thou shalt
be a blessing. Thou shalt be a blessing. And
you know, I look at the Lord's people and
I, you are a blessing to me. You're a blessing. I'm a blessing
to you. We're a blessing. What a privilege
to be with the Lord's people. It's a glorious thing. Thou shalt
be a blessing. And look what he says next in
verse 3. Verse 3. He says, I will bless them that
bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee. You know what? If you bless me, the Lord's going
to bless you. You see, inasmuch as you've done
unto the least of these my brethren, you've done unto me. And if you're
my enemy, You're the Lord's enemy. If you curse me, he's gonna curse
you. You know, I think of my daughter.
Somebody that's the enemy of my daughter is my enemy. And
somebody that's the enemy of any of the Lord's people, the
Lord is in league against them. Now, this is the blessing of
the gospel. And look what he says at last.
He says, shall all the families of the earth be blessed and Paul
tells us in Galatians chapter 3 that's the gospel in thee and
I see the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come through thee in
thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed now let's go back now to this is
the blessed the promised blessing let's go back to Joshua the text
I read Joshua 21 now 430 years after this promise was
made to Abraham's descendants, the book of Joshua is about them
possessing the promised land. That's what the book of Joshua
is all about, and Joshua is giving his summary of what the Lord
does and has done, and he says, you possess it. Now look in Joshua
21, beginning once again in verse 43. And the Lord gave unto Israel
all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers, and
they possessed it, and dwelt therein. The Lord gave this land. Now, all I have is what the Lord
has freely given me. I haven't earned it, but because
He is gracious, He gave it to me. Romans chapter 8 verse 32
says, He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up
for us all, hastily not with him, freely, oh I love that word,
freely, give us all things. Everything that God has to give,
He's given and He's done so freely. He didn't have to find a reason
in me to do it. He does it because it's His will
and because it's His purpose. He gave Israel all the land,
and it was everything that He had promised to give them. You
know, all of God's salvation is according to His eternal promise.
If He gives you something, it's because He determined before
to give it to you. That's the unconditional promise
of God. He said, I'm going to give it
to them. He made this determination before time began, and everything
He determines to do, He does. Everything I give, He determined
to give me. Turn to Romans chapter 4 for
a moment. Hold your finger there, Romans chapter 4. Verse 13, for the promise that he should be heir of the
world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law. You'll
be heir of the world if you do this, but through the righteousness
of faith. For if they which are of the
law be heirs, faith is made void and meaningless, and the promise
made of none effect, because the law works wrath. For where
there's no law is, there's no transgression. Therefore, it's
the 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 also which is the faith of Abraham, which
is the father of us all." Now, he gave all that he had promised. And we have all that He promised.
You know, those seven blessings. I've got them. He gave all, He
swears. I'm in Christ. I'm in the Lord. I have Christ
in me. I have the seed of God in me. Every believer does. I have a
place to dwell. I have the security of everything
that He promised. I have God's blessing. He hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heaven and places
in Christ. All God's blessing that He has to give, every believer
possesses. I tell you what, I want His blessing,
don't you? Whatever He gives as a blessing, that's what I
want. And I've got it in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have this
great name, Jehovah's Akenu, the Lord our
righteousness. We are a blessing to others.
And he will bless those who bless us inasmuch as you've done to
the least of these, my brethren, you've done to me, and he will
curse those who curse us inasmuch as you did it not to the least
of these, my brethren, you did it not unto me." Now, what does
it say they did in Joshua 21, verse 43? And the Lord gave unto
Israel all the land which he swore to give unto their fathers,
and they possessed it and dwelt therein. Now, how can I know
God's given me something? I possess it. If I don't possess
it, He didn't give it to me. Now, this is the scripture I
thought of when I was thinking of this thing of possessing something.
Revelation 19.8 talks about the fine linen, clean and white.
This is the righteousness of the saints. It's their personal
righteousness. Now, you know that that's talking
about Christ's righteousness being imputed to them, and it
becomes theirs, but he doesn't say, this is Christ's righteousness
imputed to them. It says, this is the righteousness
of the saints. This is the righteousness of
Todd Nibbert. I possess it. It is mine. The righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ is mine. We have this by possession, and
we dwell Therein. Verse 44. What says next? And the Lord. Gave them rest. Roundabout. According to all
that he swear unto their fathers. And there stood not a man of
all their enemies before them, and the Lord delivered all their
enemies into their hand. The Lord gave them rest. The rest that's in Christ. Nothing to do. It's already been
done. When He said it is finished,
there's nothing to do but rest. I'm not going to give you a thing
to do. Rest. Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He gave them rest. And it says, not one of their
enemies stood before them. Now, I've got a lot of enemies. The first thing that comes to
my mind is my sins and my sin. My sin is my enemy. The first thing that... It's
my worst enemy. You know who my worst enemy is?
Myself. Do you believe that about yourself?
That's my worst enemy. My sin Listen to this. My sin. My sin. I don't have
any sin. That enemy has been defeated.
It's been put away. The sins that I'm going to commit
tomorrow have already been put away. That enemy has been vanquished. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious
thought! My sin, not in part, but the
whole, has been nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! O my soul! My sin has been defeated." My enemies are the Lord's enemies. You know, He counts my enemies
His enemies. And I count his enemies my enemies. Did not David
say, do not I hate them that hate thee? I hate them with a
perfect hatred. I count them my enemies. Now somebody that hates the Lord,
they're my enemy. But you know what? The Lord's
going to defeat all of his enemies. The devil is my enemy. He's the enemy of my soul. Peter,
Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sit you as wheat.
You remember when the devil brought up Job? Actually, the Lord brought
up Job to the devil. But the devil is my enemy. There's
a very real being called Satan, the accuser of the brethren,
who accuses them before God night and day. The devil is my enemy. But he's God's devil on God's
chain, and he is defeated. And he cannot touch me. Death is my enemy, and death
has been destroyed. Turn with me for a moment to
Isaiah 54. You know, the scripture says the
righteous are as bold as a lion. Think of a lion walking through
the forest. Who's he afraid of? Nobody. Because nobody can do
anything good. Now, that's the way the believer
is to be. We, our enemies, are vanquished
and defeated. Now, because of our unbelief,
we get these fears and doubts and so on, but we shouldn't.
Look at Isaiah 54, verse 17. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn." This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness, their
personal righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Now, that's my security. All
my enemies have been defeated. If God be for us, who can be
against us? I like God for us. I also like
to think about God for me. I like to think of it in a generic
sense, but I like to think of it in a personal sense. If God
be for me, and he's for me, he was for me when he foreknew me.
He's for me in predestination, predestinating me to be conformed
to the image of His Son. He's for me in justification,
justifying me. He's for me in calling, calling
me. He's for me in glorification,
glorifying me. I already have all these things.
If God be for me, who can be against me? Not one of their
enemies stood before them. Now, back to Joshua. verse 45 there failed not ought of any
good thing which the Lord had spoken under the house of Israel
all came to pass that's what I entitled this message all came
to pass. Now, all of our hope is found
in his word. The great things that he has
spoken. The word spoken is often translated
promised. Not one of the great things that
he had promised failed. All came to pass. Now you think
of his promises. First, you think of you think
of his truthfulness and veracity. If he promises something, it
must be. As a matter of fact, it's so
certain that it's already taken place before it happened. That's
how certain his promise is. This is God's promise. All that
he promises, it all comes to pass without any question, without
any reference. Here, this promise, all that the Father giveth me,
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out." It's come to pass. Listen to this promise. It is
finished. That's a promise. That means
there's nothing for me to do. It is finished. Receive that. It's finished. Nothing to worry about. Listen
to this promise. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. It's
come to pass. Listen to this promise. For by
grace are you saved. free unmerited favor through
faith and that that faith is not of yourselves. It's the gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Listen to this
promise now under him that's able. To keep you from falling. Two or three weeks ago. I was getting ready to preach.
Sit right there in that chair. And I became overcome with fear
at the thought of falling and bringing reproach on the name
of Christ and just ruining everything. The Lord doesn't keep me. That's
what's going to happen. You can write that down. And I just thought
of myself, my weakness, and this scripture came, was so sweet
to me. Now unto Him that's able to keep
you. from falling, and to present
you faultless before His presence with exceeding joy. What a promise! Turn with me for a moment to
Colossians chapter 1. All these blessed promises. I read this verse of scripture
a lot, but I don't apologize. Glory scripture. Matter of fact,
if I read this scripture. Twice ever sermon that wouldn't
be enough. Verse 20. Listen to this promise and having
made peace. It's already been made through
the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things to Himself.
By Him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in
heaven and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body
of His flesh through death to present you holy. And that's literally having presented
you holy and unblameable. and unapprovable in his sight. Look at chapter two, verse nine.
For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete. Right now, not you will be once
you get into heaven. Right now, you are complete in
him. All of his promises, not one
of them failed to come to pass. We have, present tense, right
now, all of this. Aren't you thankful for His Word
and the precious promises of His Word? I know what it makes me want
to do. It makes me want to give myself completely to Him, to
be His Let's pray.