to Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15, reading the
first six verses. After these things, 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? Seen 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 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
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 and
he counted it to him for righteousness. The book of Genesis is called
the book of beginnings. And it's only so that in looking
at the life of Abram, who we saw is called the friend of God,
that we see several things that are mentioned for the first time
in the scripture. And tonight, we're going to look
at four truths that are mentioned for the first time in the scripture,
in this passage which we have just read. First, for the first
time in the scripture, we have God's helpful words of comfort,
fear not. Fear not. And notice who it is
who spoke these words. The Word of the Lord came unto
Abram in a vision. Who is the Word of the Lord?
Well, we know the Word, the essential Word, is one of the names or
titles of the Son of God. In John chapter 1 and verse 1,
we're all familiar with this verse. In the beginning was the
Word. And the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The Word of the Lord came unto
Abram. Before he came into this world
as a man, before he was made flesh, born of the Virgin Mary,
we know in the Old Testament he appeared several times in
the form of a man. And these are called theophanies. A theophany, the appearance of
God. And He appeared as a man. If
God allows, we will see in a few weeks when the three men came
to visit Abram, and two of them obviously were angels, but one
was the Lord. But they all three appeared as
men. And this is one of those times
when the eternal Son of God appeared as a man before His incarnation. I believe that this was He, because
in verse 5, it says He, He brought Him forth. That is, this One
who appeared unto Abraham, He, brought him forth, brought Abraham
forth out of his tent to look up into the stars. He brought
him forth. Now why, why were these words
spoken? Well, I'm convinced it is because
Abraham feared. It's because he feared, because
the verse begins, after these things. And we know what would
be included in these things. That is, he had gone to rescue
his nephew, Lot, and had fought against four kings. Now he returns,
and don't you know that in his mind, in his heart, that thoughts
began to arise, wondering if those four kings would not regroup
and arm themselves with a larger army even, and come and take
revenge. Fear not, Abram. Why were these
words spoken? Because, no doubt, he experienced
fear of these kings coming to take revenge. If you turn over,
keep your places here, of course, but look in chapter 34. And this
is sometime later when his grandson, Jacob. Now remember, at this
time, The time of our text, Abram did not have any children. He
tells the Lord that. He did not have any children.
But now this verse we're looking at tonight, here in chapter 34 and verse 30, this concerns Jacob. And Jacob at this time, he had
at least 11 children and two of his sons. Simeon and Levi,
remember they had gone into this village and slaughtered everyone
in the village because of what one of those men had done to
their sister, Diana. And notice what Jacob says, verse
30. And Jacob said to Simeon and
Levi, you have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants
of the land. You see, they're just a tribe,
just a family at this time. And they're living in the land
of Canaan among many tribes, among many nations. And Jacob told his two sons,
you have troubled me to make me distinct among the inhabitants
of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. And notice,
and I being few in number. Well, he had a whole lot more
children than Abraham did. Abraham or Abram at this time
had none. And yet Jacob recognizes that
he was little or few among the nations. And I being few in number,
they shall gather themselves together against me and slay
me. and I shall be destroyed, I and
my house. So why, why were these words
spoken? Abram, fear not. Certainly it
was because he had fear of what might take place. You know, Jacob
would need to hear these same words if you look in chapter
46, when he was commanded to go down into Egypt. In chapter 46 and verses 2 and
3. We read, And God spake unto Israel
in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he
heard, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God
of thy father. Fear not. Fear not. Now, the first time these two
words were spoken in our text to Abram. But these
are words of comfort that God's people have needed many times. I don't think there's probably
any child of God here tonight who has not needed to hear from
the Word of God and from the power of the Holy Spirit these
same words, because you were in some situation, and maybe
your mind and Satan also working caused you to have fear, to be
afraid of something. And what comfort these words
are to God's children when God says, fear not, fear not. The nation of Israel, when they
were about to cross into the land of Canaan, they needed them. And the Lord, we read in Deuteronomy
chapter 31, and the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee,
he will be with thee, neither forsake thee, fear not, fear
not, neither be dismayed. Joshua needed them once they
had crossed over into the land of Canaan. In Joshua chapter
8 in verse 1, and the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear not, neither
be dismayed. Israel, the nation of Israel,
they needed them. These words, in the dark days
of sin and backsliding of that nation, God said, fear not, thou
worm Jacob, and you men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord. The Lord's disciples The 12 disciples
of our Lord, they needed to hear them when he said, but even the
very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore,
you are of more value than many sparrows. And we all need to
hear them, and sometimes much more than at other times. Fear
not, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to
give unto you the kingdom. We need to hear that, don't we?
These two words. This is the first time that they
are spoken by God in the Word of God, but we find them running
all the way through. And this tells me that God's
people are given to fear. We're given to fear. And so we
need to hear the Lord speak to us. Fear not, little flock. It
is, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. When do we need to hear these
words? When do we not need to hear these
words? Is there ever a day or a week
that goes by that we do not need to hear these words? Fear not. Remember this, when God opens
a fountain for one of his children, to drink from. He opened this
fountain to Abram. But unless we are specifically
told that we cannot come to this fountain and drink, when he opens
a fountain, it's open for all of his children. And what God
said here to Abram, and we see he says over and over through
the Word of God to his people, That's a word to you and to me
tonight. We too can come to these words,
to this fountain and drink. So that's the first of the first
time God's helpful words of comfort. Fear not. Now second, here's
another first back in our text. For the first time in the word
of God, God's providing words of help. I am thy shield. Now this confirms to me that
Abram did have fear and his fear no doubt came from wondering
if those armies would not come again and take retaliation against
him. I say that because a shield,
we associate a shield with a soldier, with warfare. And this is one
of a soldier's most important weapons or parts of defense. And this makes me think of this.
God will provide the help that is needed. The four kings never regrouped
and came to seek revenge as far as we know. But we may assume
that this is a way that God served as his shield, and that is, he
moved in the hearts of these men to keep them from coming
and seeking revenge. Remember this, the king's heart
is in the hand of the Lord, and he turneth it whithersoever he
will. And if the king's heart is in
the hand of the Lord, so is the heart of every other man. When
the Lord told Abram here, I am thy shield, he supplied the need
that Abraham needed at that time. Because of the fear that he had
of these kings coming, that was his need. That was the fear that
he had. And so God provided for that
need. I am thy shield. Look with me
to Exodus chapter 34 just a moment. In Exodus chapter 34, later when God gave the law,
the covenant at Sinai, He commanded in that covenant that three times
every year, all of the males would have to attend three feasts
in the place where he put his name. Now we know that place
became Jerusalem, but when he gave the law, he had not given
them the place as of yet. But three times every year, it
was required, it was the law that all the males leave their
homes, leave their wives, leave the women and children, leave
them all exposed to the enemies who were all around them. I am
thy shield. Notice what he says here in Exodus
chapter 34, verses 23 and 24. Thrice in the year shall all
your men, children, appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel.
For I will cast out all the nations before thee, and enlarge thy
borders, neither shall any man desire thy land." Don't you see how God provides
as a shield, even controlling the covetous nature of man? So that when the Israelites obeyed
God in going to the place to worship God, that that no one,
no man would desire their land, no man would come in and attack.
They shall go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice in the
year. The point I want to make, I'm
trying to make, is God provides what we need at the time. You
know, sometimes we believe that God will always provide, but
we want provision for next year now. We want provision for a
week from now, now. But God always provides what
we need at the right time. Abram, what did he need? He needed
a shield. That's what he needed because
of his fear. He needed a shield to protect
him from these armies. I think of the Lord's words in
Matthew chapter 7 and verse 11. when he told his disciples, if
you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven,
give good things to them that ask him? Now, we know how to
give to our children according to their need. If our children,
if they need food, we're not going to buy them a ticket to
Disneyland. That's not what they need. If
you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children,
and we do, not anything like the Lord of course, but we give
what they need. And the Lord does the same for
his children, for you and I. He gives what we need at the
time. This is what Abram needed. He needed a shield. How much more does God know how
to provide for us? One of the promises that I especially
love is found in Deuteronomy chapter 33 and verse 25, which
says, as thy days so shall thy strength be. As our days demand, God's strength
will be given. We don't store it up and have
it stored up for us, no, but when the time comes, when the
day comes, as our days shall demand, so shall our strength
be. I've been reading again about
the English martyrs who were burned during the reign of the
Queen Mary, called Bloody Mary. And when you read about these
men, many of them bishops who were burned at the stake, it's
amazing the testimony that they were able to leave. how that
when they were brought to the stake, some of them kissed the
stake. Some of them kissed the faggots,
that is the wood with which they were going to be burned. And
one of my favorite stories about those English martyrs is there
was a priest by the name of Hugh Latimer and he was a staunch
Roman priest. I mean, he wouldn't listen. He
wouldn't hear anyone say anything concerning the doctrines of the
Reformation, which is, of course, justification by faith. He just
wouldn't listen. Well, there was another priest.
His name was Ridley, Bishop Ridley. He wasn't a bishop at this time.
But he knew the Lord had worked in his heart, the Lord had taught
him the gospel. And he knew, according to the
church law, that if you asked a priest to hear confession,
he had to hear. And so one day he caught Hugh
Latimer out in the patio of some place and he took him by the
coat and he said, Father, I must confess. And when he started
confessing, he started telling him what he had been reading
and what the Lord had been showing him, the truth. And so in that way, he witnessed
to Hugh Latimer. Well, God used that and Hugh
Latimer, he became one of the most fiery preachers of that
era, preaching before kings and the common people, of course.
But when they burned them, they burned them both together. I
thought that's very providential, don't you? That the man who testified
to one, when it came time for them to be executed, they brought
them both to the stake. Same day, same stake. And they tied gunpowder around
their bodies so that when the fire would catch, that would
speed up their death. And Latimer died fairly fast. The fire consumed him. But Ridley,
the wind was blowing, and it was blowing the flame. Even though
he was just on the other side of the stake, the wind was blowing
the fire away from him. And so his lower limbs were burning,
but not anything that was going to end his life. And someone
mercifully hit him with a club or something and caused him to
expire. But the provision, you say, well,
I couldn't do that. They couldn't either. They couldn't
either. The provision, God will provide. He will provide for his people
whatever as your days shall demand, so shall your strength be. This
is one of his promises to us. They said of one of those martyrs,
I was reading, they said, watching it looked as though he was bathing
his face in the flames. Now who could do that? No one
naturally, but by the grace of God. God provided. And that's what the Lord is telling
Abram here. Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield. Now the third first we have is,
I, for the first time, God's blessed words of reward. I am thy exceeding great reward. Now we saw last week in chapter
14, if you look back there to verse 22 and 23, when the king
of Sodom tried to reward Abram, remember? Abram said to the king
of Sodom, well first verse 21, and the king of Sodom said unto
Abram, give me the persons and take the goods to thyself. And
Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto
the Lord. the most high God, the possessor
of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread, even
to a shoelatchet. He had refused the rewards from
this wicked king, and now God speaks to him, the Lord comes
to him and speaks to him, telling him, I am the exceeding great
reward. Now, the Lord gives himself to
be Abram's reward. And we know this is the Lord
Jesus Christ who is given to be the reward or the portion
of his people. He is given to his people as
our portion and along with him comes everything, every benefit
and every blessing. John Gill made this comment. He said, Christ is to all his
people in person, offices, and grace, all being theirs, and
he is all and in all to them. All the blessing of grace and
glory coming along with him, and he being their portion here
and hereafter to all eternity. For since he is theirs, All are
theirs, all things pertaining to life and godliness and eternal
life itself. I am the reward. Look in chapter
33 just a minute, Genesis 33. A couple of verses here. When Jacob
comes back and he's meeting his brother Esau, And Jacob's afraid because he
knew that he had deceived his brother and got the blessing. Genesis chapter 33, you remember
the story how Jacob sent presents, one present after another to
his brother Esau. In verse 8 it says, This is Esau,
chapter 33, verse 8. What meanest thou by all this
drove which I met? All these animals you've sent
to me. What do you mean by this? And
Jacob said, these are to find grace in the sight of my Lord.
And Esau said, I have enough, my brother. Keep that that thou
hast unto thyself. I have enough. You keep that
to yourself. Now follow on. And Jacob said,
Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then
receive my present at my hand. For therefore, I have seen thy
face as though I had seen the face of God, and thou was pleased
with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing
that is brought to thee, because God hath dealt graciously, graciously
with me. Now notice, and because I have
enough. Now you just read this in English,
it sounds like they both said the same thing, but they didn't. Esau said, I have enough. But
if you have a Bible that has the marginal readings, if you
look there, when Jacob said, I have enough, what he really
said is, I have all things. I have all things. Why did he
have all things? Because he had the blessing of
Abram. He had the blessing of Abram.
I am thy exceeding reward. And you see, when you have Christ,
you have everything. Life, death, things present,
things to come, everything is yours. I am the exceeding great
reward. Now one other first in this passage
of scripture back in our text, for the first time, in the scripture,
we have God's gracious words concerning justification. Verse
six, he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for justification, for
righteousness. Now I'm not saying, of course,
that Abram was the first to believe in the Lord. and have the Lord's
justifying righteousness imputed to him. I'm not saying that because
we know that's not so. There was another man before
him, Abel, and we read about him. By faith, Abel offered unto
God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous. When Abel offered his sacrifice,
it wasn't that animal that gave him righteousness, it was the
person that animal pictured, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
same thing is true here. When you read the text here,
Abraham, or Abram, he believed in the Lord. And some people
like to say, well, it was his faith. No, it wasn't his faith
he believed in. Others say, well, it was a promise.
No, it wasn't the promise either. It is the Lord. He believed in
the Lord and he counted it unto him for righteousness. The same way every person, you
and I and every other person who is justified are justified. If you turn to one other place
in Romans chapter four, when the apostle Paul in Romans is
dealing with this subject of justification, He cites Abraham as an example
in Romans chapter 4 and verses 1 through 5. What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? What did
he find? Were his children natural descendants
of Abraham? What did he find? If Abraham were justified by
works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. That's just
not going to happen. He will not share his glory with
another. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, the strong man in his strength, the wise man in
his wisdom, but he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, that
he knoweth that I am the Lord. 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. You know, you just
have to stop and thank the Lord if he's opened your eyes to this
truth. Because thousands, yea, millions
of people in this world are doing their best to work to earn salvation,
righteousness. But they will never achieve that. It's impossible. Now to him that
worketh is a reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to
him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. In other words, the object of
his faith, the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. His righteousness
is accounted to be the righteousness of the man who believes, or the
woman who believes in Him. And look down to verse 16. Therefore,
it is of faith that it might be by grace. For by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is
the gift of God. Salvation is by grace, and it
must be by faith in order to be by grace, because faith only
receives. It doesn't work. It doesn't merit, it doesn't
earn, it merely receives. It is the faith that it might
be by grace to the end, the promise might be sure to all the seed. Not to that only which is of
the law, that is the Jewish people, but to that also which is of
the faith of Abraham, Gentiles as well, who is the father of
us all. I pray the Lord will bless these
thoughts to us here tonight. Four, first, but we say them
all through the word of God. But this is the first time that
we are giving them. Bill, if you will, come and lead
us in a hymn.