John Chapter 8. Tonight, Rupert
Reibenbach from Spring Lake, North Carolina, is going to be
here preaching for us. And I love to hear him preach.
He's never been here before. And so I'm very excited about
that for this evening's services. John Chapter 8. Let's read verse 39. They answered and said unto him,
Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them. If you
were Abraham's children. You would do the works. Of Abraham. I've entitled this message. If
you were. You would. If you were true children of
Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. Now, the people our
Lord was speaking to were, in fact, physical descendants of
Abraham. Christ gave them that. Look in
verse 37. He said, I know that you're Abraham's
seed. I'm aware of that. I know that
you're Abraham's seed. They were Abraham's seed, but
they were not true children of Abraham. Now, if I'm a believer,
I'm a true child of Abraham. Abraham's name means the father
of a multitude. And every believer is a spiritual
child of Abraham. I just read that passage of scripture
in Galatians chapter three. Let's look at another passage
in Galatians chapter three. Verse twenty nine. And if ye be Christ's, then are
you Abraham's seed. and heirs according to the promise. Abraham. Now, in three of the,
quote, world's great religions. And I do say the world's religions,
not God's religion, but the world's religions. In three of the world's
great religions, Muslims, Christianity, so-called, and Judaism, Abraham
is a key figure. A key figure, and that accounts
for who knows what percentage of the world's population as
far as the world's great religion. Abraham is a key figure. What Old Testament character
is mentioned more than any other character in the New Testament?
Needless to say, Abraham. He's mentioned 74 times in the
New Testament in 11 different books. Now, I realize he was
just a man. The sinner, like you and I are,
saved by the grace of God. But he is the man God called
to teach us what saving faith is. You know, he's called the
friend of God. God said that regarding Abraham.
He's my friend. He's called the father of the
faithful. And his example is used in great
length to teach us what faith is and what faith does. Children of Abraham, now I'm
interested in being a child of Abraham, aren't you? Let me show
you a couple of scriptures in the book of Luke that show us
the significance of this man, Abraham. Turn with me to Luke
chapter 16. Now, these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he's describing heaven, that place where Lazarus died and
went. Look in verse 20 of Luke chapter
16, and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid
at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with the crumbs
which fell down from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs
came and licked his sores, and it came to pass that the beggar
died and was carried by the angels into what? Abraham's bosom. Heaven is called Abraham's bosom. Look in Luke chapter 19. Verse 8. And Zacchaeus stood
and said unto the Lord. He wasn't talking to men. He
was talking to the Lord. Luke 19, verse 8. Behold, Lord, the
half of my goods I give to the poor. If I've taken anything
from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus
said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, because he
did all these things. Didn't read it right, did I?
Salvation is coming to his house because he is a son of Abraham. Now, that gives us some idea
of the significance of this man, Abraham. Now, in our text, in
John chapter eight, these people's confidence that they were children
of God was because of their physical ties to Abraham. We be Abraham's
seed. And the Lord says clearly, if
you really were Abraham's children, You demonstrate the family likeness.
You would do the works of Abraham. And if I'm a child of God, I
will do the works of Abraham. And if you're a child of God,
you will do the works of Abraham. If you were, you would. Now, the question we must ask
is, What are the works of Abraham? The Lord says if you were children
of Abraham, true spiritual children, if God had actually done a work
of grace in your heart, if you're regenerated by the Spirit of
God, if you're one of God's elect, if you're a true child of God,
you'll do the works of Abraham. So the question obviously arises,
what are the works of Abraham? Notice the Lord says you will
do the works of Abraham. He doesn't say you should, although
you should. He said you will. If you are
the children of God, you will do the works of Abraham. And if I do not do the works
of Abraham, that is positive evidence that I am not a believer. And that interests me. I want
to know if I do the works of Abraham, don't you? That's what
I want to find out, if I'm a true child of Abraham. Now, before we consider the works
of Abraham, we're going to have to consider their source. So
would you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11? Verse eight. By faith, Abraham. As the source of his works, by
faith, Abraham. when he was called to go out
into a place which he should afterward receive for an inheritance.
He obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whether he went. Now,
I've thought about this, I don't know how many times, I think
the Lord said, take off Abraham, and Abraham left everything,
and he took off. He went walking. It took faith
to do that, didn't it? He must have believed God, or
he wouldn't have done that. Can you imagine if the Lord said
to you, take off? And he did. Verse 9. By faith,
he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country dwelling
in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. Look at verse 17 of the same chapter, Hebrews
11. By faith, Abraham, by faith, when he was tried, offered up
Isaac, and he that received the promise is offered up his only
begotten son. It was by faith he did what he
did. Faith was the source of his works. Abraham's works came from his
faith, what he really believed. Now it's what I do that tells
what I really believe. Everything else is just hot air. It's what I do that demonstrates
what I really believe. You believe that? Faith without
works is what? Dead. being alone. It's what I do that demonstrates
what I really believe. If you do nothing, you believe
nothing. Isn't that so? It's our works
that demonstrate what we really believe and everything else is
just talk. Now, Abraham's faith is first
mentioned in Genesis chapter 15. I'm going to ask you to look
at a lot of scriptures with me this morning. Genesis 15. First time the word believed
is mentioned in the scriptures, and you can understand something
about what faith is here. Verse one, after these things,
Genesis 15, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision,
saying, Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, and thy exceeding
great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what
wilt thou give me? Seeing I go childless, and the steward of
my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, Behold, to me
thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my heir is mine
heir. My house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. Now remember, at this time Abraham
was an old man. He was a real old man. And Sarah has already
gone through menopause. It is physically impossible for
her to bear a child. So the Lord says that one that's
going to come out of your own bowels is going to be your heir. Verse 5, 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 him, So shall
thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord. Now, you think about what the
Lord said to him. This man was 90 years old. Sarah
had already gone through menopause. It was impossible for him to
have a child. As far as what he could see,
he had no evidence that it would ever be. He simply believed what
God said. That's what faith is. It's believing
God. God said it. I believe it. Now, it's settled whether I believe
or not. If God said it, that takes care of it. I don't like
that term, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. No, your
believing doesn't have anything to do with it being settled.
If God said it, that settles it. Faith believes that. I believe the Word of God. Abraham
didn't have any physical evidence that what God said would take
place. He looked at Sarah. It's impossible. He looked at
himself. It's impossible. But he believed God. God said
it. That settles it. There's the
good order. God said it. That settles it.
I believe it. That's a better order, isn't
it? God said it. That settles it. I believe it.
Abraham believed God. Now, faith is believing God. God says all that believe on
Christ, all that Christ died for are perfect in my sight.
Now I look at myself and I can't see that, but if God said it,
I believe it. I am perfect in God's sight.
I believe what Christ did is enough to make me not be perfect,
but I am perfect in God's sight, justified in his sight. I believe
it. God said it, that settles it,
and I believe it. Abraham believed God. You know, there's an entire chapter,
Romans chapter four, that's devoted to this one verse of scripture
in Genesis 15, 6. Abraham believed God and was
counted in for righteousness. Would you turn with me to Romans
chapter four? You want to know what Abraham believed. If you
want to have some understanding of what this man believed, turn
to Romans chapter four. Now, Paul had stated in Romans
chapter three, verse 28, Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified
by faith. without the deeds of the law,
without his works. What about Abraham? Chapter 4,
verse 1, was he justified that way? What about Abraham? Abraham is the most important
figure as far as men go. So what about Abraham? How does
he say, what did Abraham really believe? What about Abraham? And that's what Paul addresses
in chapter 4. I want to read this chapter. Romans chapter
4 verse 1. What shall we say then that our
father Abraham, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For
if Abraham were justified by works, if he was justified before
God because of something that he did, he'd have something to
glory in. But not before God, for what
saith the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness. Now he goes on to tell what that
means. You want to know what that means? Well, listen up.
Now to him that worketh, It's the reward, heaven. Not reckoned
of grace, but of debt. If there's something you do that
causes God to save you, that means he owes you salvation.
But, verse 5, to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Now that's what Abraham believed. He believed on him that justifieth
the ungodly. That's what I believe. I believe
on him who takes somebody ungodly like me and he justifies me and
makes me without guilt because of what Christ did. That's what
I believe. I believe the same thing Abraham did. You know,
if you believe, let me tell you something, all believers believe
the precise same thing. They really do. They believe
the same thing. Abraham believed God. I do too.
You do too. David believed the same thing. He kind of gives
up. He's reminding us with David, even as David. King David also
described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes
righteousness without works. Say, blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. David and Abraham believe
the same thing. You know Old Testament saints believe the
same thing. New Testament saints do. They believe on Christ. They
believe God. They believe His Word. Verse
9, Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only? Or
upon the uncircumcision also. For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? When
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. When Abraham believed God, he
hadn't been circumcised yet. The commandment hadn't even been
given yet. So circumcision, keeping the law, doesn't have anything
to do, as far as your personal obedience to the law, doesn't
have anything to do with salvation. It's Christ's obedience. He believed
before he was ever circumcised. Verse 12, and the father of circumcision
to them. Well, verse 11, he received the
sign of circumcision. It's a sign. It's something that's
done on the inside, a seal of the righteousness of the faith,
which he had being yet uncircumcised, that he might be the father of
all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that
righteousness might be imputed to them also. And he's the father
of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only,
but also who walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,
which he had being yet circumcised. Now, if I'm a believer, I'm walking
in the steps of that faith right now. You are too. This is what
children of Abraham do. For the promise, verse 13, for
the promise that he should be the heir of the world, that's
what we read about in Genesis 15, was not to Abraham or to
his seed through the law. God didn't say you'll be heir
if you keep the law, but through the righteousness of faith, believing
on Christ. For they which are of the law
be heirs, those people who keep the law. Faith is made void,
it's made meaningless, and the promise made of none effect,
because the law worketh wrath. That's all it does. For where
no law is, there is no transgression. Therefore it, salvation, is a
faith, that it might be by grace, to the end that the promise might
be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the
law, but to that which also is of the faith of Abraham, who
is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed,
even God, and here is the God he believed, who gave life to
the dead. And calleth those things which
be not, as though they were. Who against hope, he didn't have
any hope of having any kids, did he? He didn't have any hope.
Who against hope believes in hope that he might become the
father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so
shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith,
he considered not his own body, now dead when he was about a
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb.
He staggered not at the promise of God, through unbelief, but
was strong in faith. giving glory to God and being
fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able also
to perform. Are you fully persuaded of that?
Do you believe that that's the faith of Abraham? And therefore,
it was imputed to him for righteousness that was not written for his
sake alone that was imputed to him, but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised
again for our justification. Now that's Abraham's faith, and
all of his works spring from his faith. By faith, Abraham. Now, we see what Abraham's faith
was. He believed God. He believed
what God said. He didn't believe what he saw.
He believed what he heard. He couldn't see it, but he believed
God. And if you have faith, you believe
God. Now, what about the works of
Abraham? Let's consider what Abraham's
fate actually caused him to do. Would you turn with me to Genesis
chapter 12? This is where Abraham is introduced in the scripture,
Genesis chapter 12. Now, remember. If I'm a child
of Abraham. I'm going to do the same thing
Abraham does. Not I'm just going to admire what he does, but I'm
actually going to do what he does. Those who are children
of Abraham do the works of Abraham. Now look in Genesis chapter 12.
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land
that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation. And I'll bless thee and make
thy name great. And here we are talking about
it now. And thou shalt be a blessing. And I'll bless them to bless
thee. I'll curse them to curse thee. And in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed. God said,
Start moving, Abraham. Start walking. And Abraham departed
as the Lord had spoken unto him. And Lot went with him. And Abraham
was seventy and five years old. when he departed out of Haran.
Now that's an old man right there. Yet God says, start walking,
start moving, Abraham. You go to a place I tell you
to go, and he obeyed God. Now what has God said to you
right now? Leave everything and start walking. You don't even
know where you're going to go. You just start moving in a direction.
Boy, it'd take faith to do that, wouldn't it? I mean, that's just
the very thought of that scares me. I mean, what about, you know,
what about my house? What about my responsibilities?
And God says, start walking, Abraham. It'd take a lot of faith
to obey that command. Now, here's the point. When God
calls you and you believe him, there is a place you leave. The emphasis is not just on the
fact that he started walking, there is a place you leave. You
leave your father's house. You leave your father's religion.
You leave your father's idolatry, you leave man's religion, you
leave man's philosophy, you leave man's wisdom, and you obey the
word of God. When you follow Christ, there's
a place you leave. He left. Now, you leave salvation
by works in any form. And if you don't leave, you're
no child of Abraham. Now, is that understood? If you
don't leave, you're no child of Abraham. Children of Abraham,
by faith, leave their father Adam's house. They will obey
the word of God, even if they have to do it alone. And you
leave salvation by works. You leave any hope of self-salvation.
I mean, it's gone. And you start walking. You know
there's no salvation in that direction. You go this direction. You go toward Christ. That's
what children of Abraham do. It's something they leave. And
let me emphasize this. If you don't leave this place,
you're no child of Abraham. Children of Abraham leave. Stay there in chapter 12. Look
in verse 8. What Abraham do? And he removed from thence unto
a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having
Bethel on the west, and Haile on the east. And there he builded
an altar unto the Lord, and he called upon the name of the Lord. Now that's something you're going
to find duplicated over and over again in Abraham's life. He was
always somebody who was calling on the name of the Lord. Look
in chapter 13. And Abraham went up out of Egypt, he and his wife,
and all that he had, and walked with him into the south. And
Abram was very rich in cattle and silver and in gold. And he
went on his journey from the south even to Bethel, and to
the place which his tent had been at the beginning between
Bethel and Hai, unto the place of the altar which he had made
there at the first. And there Abraham called on the name of
the Lord. That's something he was always
doing. He was always calling on the name of the Lord. That
does not just mean he said, Lord, Lord. It means a whole lot more
than that. The name of the Lord is who He
is. It's His attributes. His name is holy. His name is
just. His name is love. His name is
sovereignty. His name is grace. His name is
mercy. Go on and on. All of His glorious
attributes. And when I call on His name,
I'm saying, Lord, save me! Save me by an act of Your sovereignty! Will my salvation! Lord, save
me by your grace. Give me your unfair merit and
favor. Lord, save me by your justice. Cause my sin to be put
away by the blood of Christ. You're calling upon all of the
attributes of God, who He really is, to save you. And you just
keep doing it. Right now, while I'm talking
to you, I'm calling on the name of the Lord. Lord, save me. Have mercy on me! Aren't you
already saved? I hate saying this, but that's
a dumb question. You're always calling on the
name of the Lord. That's what Abraham was always
doing. Lord, save me. You remember the story of Lot
and his nephew? Look in Genesis 13, verse 8. You remember there
was a strife between Abraham's herdsmen and lost herdsmen. And
Abram said in the Lot in verse 8, Let there be no strife, I
pray thee, between me and thee. God's people are people of peace.
Let there be no strife between me and thee. I pray thee between
my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we're brethren. Is not the whole
land before thee? Separate. Now remember, Abraham
saying this to Lot. Abraham had the right to make
the decision he wanted to make, didn't he? I mean, Abraham could
have said, Lot, you go over here to this old dry land and I'm
going to take the well-watered blame. And he would have been
well within his rights to do that, wouldn't he? I mean, he
had some authority over Lot. There's no question about that.
But look at his actions. He says to Lot, it is not the
whole land before thee. Separate thyself, I pray thee,
from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, I'll go to the right.
If I depart to the right hand, then I'll go to the left. You
know what Abraham demonstrated there? First love to his brethren. Lot was a believer. Lot was a believer. There's no
question about that. You know, God the Holy Spirit calls him
in the book of Peter, Righteous Lot. Righteous Lot. That just man. That righteous
man. He was a believer. God's people
love one another. He said, you go whichever way
you want. You take the right, I'll go to
the left. You go to the left, I'll go to the right. He trusted God's
providence to take care of everything, didn't he? He just trusted God's
providence to take care of him. That's what a believer does.
He loves his brethren. Look in chapter 14. Now, you
may remember where those kings Kidnapped Lot and took Lot and
his family and all that, those people. And Abraham goes to rescue
Lot. Look in verse, chapter 14, verse
11. And they took all the goods of
Sodom and Gomorrah and all their vittles and went their way, and
they took Lot, Abraham's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom and his
goods, and they departed. So what does Abraham do? He goes
to rescue And he rescued him. Now, pick up reading in verse
14. And when Abram had heard that his brother was taken captive,
he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, 318, and
he pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against
them, he and his servants, by knife, and smote them, and pursued
them unto Hoban, which is in the left hand of Damascus. And
he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother
Lot, his goods, and the women also, and the people. He went
after them, and he delivered them. And the king of Sodom,
remember he delivered the Sodom, the people of Sodom. That's where
Lot was. And Abraham saved their life.
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return
from the slaughter of Chedorlamar and of the kings that were with
him at the valley of Sheba, which is the king's dale, and Melchizedek,
king of Salem, king of peace. And this is the Lord Jesus Christ.
I have no doubt about that. Read Hebrews chapter 7, the description
of Melchizedek. This is Christ himself meeting
with him. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread
and wine. You know, an Old Testament priest
never brought out bread and wine. They brought blood, didn't they?
I believe this prefigures the Lord's table. He brought bread
and wine. And he was the priest. He was
the priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him. And remember,
without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better.
Melchizedek blessed Abraham. The Lord blessed him. And he
said, Blessed be Abraham, the most high God, possessor of heaven
and earth. And he blessed the most high God and delivered thine
enemies into thine hand. And Abraham gave him tithes of
all. You know, if you love somebody,
you're going to give, aren't you? He gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto
Abram, this is what I want you to see. The king of Sodom said
unto Abram, give me thy persons and take the goods to yourself.
You can have all the spoils. I'm just glad that Get by the
skin of our teeth. And Abraham said to the king
of Sodom, I've lift up mine eyes unto the Lord, the most high
God, the possessor of heaven and earth, and I won't take a
thing from you. Anything you've got, I don't
want. I'll take not from a thread even
to a shoelatchet. I'll not take anything that's
thine, lest thou should say, I've made Abram rich. I won't
take any. You see, God's people are very
jealous that God gives all the glory. He said, I won't take
a thing from you. I won't even take a shoestring
from you. I don't want you saying I've made Abraham rich. You see,
if you're a believer, if you're a child of Abraham, you know
Christ saved you. You know He did it all. And you
are going to give Him all the glory, and any glory that goes
to man, you won't have anything to do with it. You're going to
do the works of Abraham, aren't you? That's what Abraham did. Look in Genesis 15, verse 8. Now God has made this promise,
we've already read, so shall your seed be. Verse 8, And he
said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
How am I going to know? How am I going to have some assurance
about this? How can I be sure? Verse 9, And he said unto him,
God said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and
a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old,
and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And He took unto Him
all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece
one against another. But the birds He divided not.
Now, He slew these animals for sacrifice. How can I know? And
here's the point. How can I know? How can I have
some assurance that God's blessing is on me? How can I have some
assurance that my sins are forgiven? How can I have some assurance
that I really am a child of God? How can I know? There's only
one way you can know. The sacrifice. If you find assurance
from anything other than the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ,
it's a false assurance. If you find assurance because
of how good you are, because of how holy you are, or how committed
you are, it's a false assurance. You've deceived yourself. The
only place to find assurance is the sacrifice, the atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I rest in who He is and what
He did. Let's go on reading verse 11.
And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove
them away. Now what are the vultures going
to attack? They're going to attack the atonement of Christ. They're
going to attack the sacrifice of Christ. That's what they're
going to try to kick away at. That's what they're going to try to weaken
and take away the meaning of it. What did Abraham do? He drove
them away. He wouldn't let these vultures
touch the sacrifice. Now there's some non-negotiables
to a believer. If they're children of Abraham,
there's some non-negotiables. It's Christ that died. Who died? It's the Christ that died. It's
the Son of God that died. Why did He die? There's only
one reason for death. Sin. The sins of His people became
His. He died under the wrath of God. What did He accomplish
by that death? He accomplished the full salvation
of everybody He died for. Successful redemption. Particular redemption. Limited
atonement. Call it what you want. It's the
gospel. And he drove away those birds
that would pick at that sacrifice. Abraham's children do the works
of Abraham. They do the same thing. Now in chapter 16, we read about
Abraham getting tripped up by the flesh, just like you and
I can certainly do. He decided with Sarah's counsel
that he'd help out God. That's what this is about, Abraham
helping out God. Remember, God said, you're going
to have this baby. It hadn't happened. Abraham still
believed it. Sarah said, now wait a minute,
it hadn't happened yet. Here's what the problem is, Abraham.
We're not doing our part. We need to do our part. So here's
Hagar. You go into her, Abraham said, well, maybe she's right.
He listened to his wife at this time. He goes into Hagar, they have
Ishmael, the child of the flesh. And Paul tells us in Galatians
chapter 4, that represents Sinai. That represents salvation by
words. That represents man doing his part. So what is Abraham
called upon to do with Ishmael? Turn to Genesis 21. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar,
the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. Ishmael's
always going to be mocking at Isaac, always going to be calling
into question, making fun. Do you really believe that ridiculous
stuff? Wherefore, she said unto Abraham, cast out this bondwoman
and her son. For the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing
was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son. Ishmael
was his boy. And God said unto Abraham, Let
it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because
of thy bondwoman, in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken
unto her voice. For in Isaac shall I see thee
called. And he was to cast out this bondwoman,
and he did. Abraham's children do the works
of Abraham. They cast out the bondwoman.
Salvation by works in any form, to any degree, in any way. Cast
it out! Get rid of it! And Abraham did. And Abraham's children do the
same thing. Look over in Genesis 18. Now this is the story of the
Lord coming to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham demonstrated what he
believed about the Lord and about himself in this story. First
look in Genesis chapter 18 when he's praying that the Lord would
have mercy on the city of Sodom. Verse 23, And Abraham drew near. Genesis 18, 23. And Abraham drew
near and said, What wilt thou also destroy the righteous with
the wicked? For adventure there be fifty righteous within the
city. Would thou also destroy, and not spare the place for the
fifty righteous that are therein? What if there's fifty believers
there? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay
the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should
be as the wicked. That be far from thee shall not the judge
of all the earth do right. Now this is one thing Abraham
was sure of. The judge of the earth shall do right. He believed in the rightness
of God. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? And you can say that regarding
everything, can't you? If you're a believer. Whatever
he does is right. Now Abraham also demonstrated
in this what he really believed about himself. Look in verse
27. Now this is when Abraham's trying
to talk him down. And I admire this. He said, what if there's
40? What if there's 30? What if there's 20? Finally got him
down to 10. If there's 10 believers here, will you spare this? I'll
spare it for 10, the Lord says. But look what he says. In verse
27, Abraham answered and said, Behold, now I've taken upon me
to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes. That's me. Dust and ashes. In and of myself, I'm nothing
but a bunch of ashes. You think of how light. What
can you do with ashes? I mean, they're not good for
anything. And that's how Abraham saw himself before God. What
he was in himself. He was nothing but dust and ashes.
He had a high view of the Lord. Isn't that what faith is? It's
a high view of the Lord. And he had a low view of himself.
Nothing but dust and ashes. Now, would you turn to Genesis
22? This is what Abraham is most famous for. I love this story.
Genesis 22. Verse one. And it came to pass after
these things that God did tempt Abraham. And this is toward the end of
his life. Abraham's an old man. And you'd think it'd all be smooth
sailing at this point, but it's not. God did tempt Abraham. God's the one who did a testing,
put him to the test. And he said unto Abraham, Abraham, every time Abraham heard the
Lord's voice, there's only three or four times where the Lord
actually spoke to him like this. Every time that Abraham heard
the Lord's voice, Something very severe was getting ready to happen.
And I bet Abraham winced when he heard his name. Yeah, yes, yes, sir. Yes, sir. What? Here, Lord. Here, Lord. Behold, here I am.
And he said, verse two, take now thy son. thy only son, Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and get thee unto the land of Moriah, and offer him
there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I
shall tell thee of." You take that boy of yours that you love
so much, your only son, put him to death, lay him on an altar,
and set it on fire. Could you do that? Everybody here says, I just don't
know if I, I don't know if I could do that. I'll tell you what,
if God told you to, you could. If you're a believer. You see,
we know from the book of Hebrews, that Abraham believed God, that
he knew that God had promised that the seed was going to come
through that boy, and Abraham really believed, even if I kill
him, God will raise him from the dead. Abraham believed that.
Can you imagine how painful this was? Listen, let's go on reading.
And Abraham, verse 3, rose up early in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac
his son. And he claimed the wood for the burnt offering, and rose
up, and went unto the place which God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place afar off. And Abraham
said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship. and come again to
you. This is the first time the word
worship is mentioned in the scripture. If you want to know what worship
is, here it is. We're going to go worship. But
did you notice he said we're coming back? We're coming back. You see, he believed God was
going to raise his son from the dead, but he was going to, he
believed God. He was going to obey God. Now
let's go on reading. And Abram took the wood of the
burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son, and he took the
fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together.
You remember sometime else this taking place? Remember somebody
else who carried the wood of his own death up a mountain?
What a glorious type of the Lord Jesus Christ. There he goes. or seven, and Isaac spake unto
Abram his father, and said, My father, and he said, Here am
I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood. But where
is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God
will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. You know the Gospel? God will provide Himself a Lamb. You can't provide one. God will
provide for Himself a Lamb. The blood's not for you. It's
for God. For God to do something for you,
He first had to do something for Himself. God will provide
Himself as the Lamb for the burnt offering. That's the gospel.
You know what Abraham believed? Right there. And they came to
the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an
altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his
son, and laid him upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his
hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And what kills me is
the fact that God stretched forth his hand to take the knife to
kill his son. Abraham was unable to hold his back. God plunged
the knife through his son. That's the great substitutionary
sacrifice for his people. Verse 11, And the angel of the
Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham, And
he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon thy lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,
thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him. Behind him. Not in front of him. Behind him. There's some significance to
that. You know, we look to Christ in front of us, don't we? But
he's behind us as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
He looked behind him. And behold, behind him, a ram
caught in a thicket by his thorns, his horns, and Abraham went and
took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the
stead of his son. Oh, how can you imagine how ecstatic
he was? Can you imagine how happy he
was? You reckon he was floating down that mountain after that?
I bet he comes back to all he saw. And Abraham called the name
of that place Jehovah-Jarrah. As it's seen to this day in the
manner of the Lord, it shall be seen. The Lord will see to
it. The Lord will provide. The Lord will provide. Now, finally,
turn to John, Chapter 8. If you're children of Abraham,
you'll do the works of Abraham. John, Chapter 8. Verse 56, your father Abraham,
who you make such a big deal about. He rejoiced. To see my day. And he saw it. And he was glad. And here's what
children of Abraham do, they rejoice to see the day of Christ. At day wherein he accomplished
salvation. Every one of his children rejoiced
to see his day. And they see it and they were
glad. Now, if you're a child of Abraham,
you'll do the works of Abraham, won't you? Let's pray.