WEBVTT 00:00:02.859 --> 00:00:06.900 As a pastor, there's often times when you get 00:00:06.900 --> 00:00:10.279 really discouraged. When things just don't go 00:00:10.279 --> 00:00:14.800 well, people criticize you for no reason. If 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:16.760 they do have a reason, it's probably a wrong 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:20.660 reason. And so you're kind of at the point, and 00:00:20.660 --> 00:00:23.719 I remember being discouraged. This text really 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:27.019 helped me. But I really thought, hit on that, 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:33.009 a friend, Abraham, a friend of God. You know, 00:00:33.070 --> 00:00:39.009 I have many friends. A lot of friends I help 00:00:39.009 --> 00:00:42.350 out. Some we just get together and enjoy each 00:00:42.350 --> 00:00:44.630 other. We go out to dinner with some of our neighbors 00:00:44.630 --> 00:00:47.590 and friends. But friendship is so important. 00:00:47.689 --> 00:00:50.649 And this is friendship. And, you know, there's 00:00:50.649 --> 00:00:57.869 only three times a friend of God is used in the 00:00:57.869 --> 00:01:04.340 Bible. Abraham. Moses is sometimes considered, 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:09.540 by implication, a friend of God. Not even David. 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:13.959 David is called a servant of God. The prophets 00:01:13.959 --> 00:01:19.400 are servants. But Jesus then called the disciples 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:23.420 his friends, and he called his friends those 00:01:23.420 --> 00:01:25.939 who believe because of the work of the disciples. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.540 That's you and me. We're here because of the 00:01:30.540 --> 00:01:33.629 disciples. So the whole friendship thing, I really 00:01:33.629 --> 00:01:36.870 wanted to hone in today because I wanted to look 00:01:36.870 --> 00:01:39.510 at what that means. There's probably no individual 00:01:39.510 --> 00:01:42.010 that has played a greater part in the drama of 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:48.129 salvation than Abraham himself. Abraham was growing 00:01:48.129 --> 00:01:53.530 up in the city of Ur of the Chaldeans. And his 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:58.609 father, you know, Terah was a moon worshiper. 00:01:58.689 --> 00:02:03.480 His name, even Abram. was coming from the moon 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:06.019 cult. And I think that was one of the reasons 00:02:06.019 --> 00:02:09.740 that God eventually changed his name from Abram 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:14.000 to Abraham instead of part of that moon cult. 00:02:14.659 --> 00:02:18.599 Ur of Chaldea was a beautiful city. Some of the 00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:21.960 excavations have found there were two -story 00:02:21.960 --> 00:02:26.900 homes, brick homes, very nice homes, with... 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:30.099 This was unusual in a time with hot and cold 00:02:30.099 --> 00:02:36.319 running water. It was a very affluent city. It 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:41.340 was one that was all part of that area of Iraq, 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:45.219 what we call today down the Mesopotamian Valley. 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:47.580 It was a fertile area. It had the two rivers, 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:50.300 the Tigris and Euphrates that came down, and 00:02:50.300 --> 00:02:52.039 Ur was sitting right in the middle where the 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:56.849 two came together. And it was a lush city. And 00:02:56.849 --> 00:03:00.870 it was probably an enjoyable place to live. Abraham 00:03:00.870 --> 00:03:05.030 had lots of friends. He had lots of family. And 00:03:05.030 --> 00:03:10.810 then suddenly when he was 75 years of age, God 00:03:10.810 --> 00:03:15.810 says, Abraham, I want you to leave your father's 00:03:15.810 --> 00:03:21.129 home. I want you to leave your family. I want 00:03:21.129 --> 00:03:24.150 you to leave this city and go to some place that 00:03:24.150 --> 00:03:29.379 I'm going to tell you where it is. I heard one 00:03:29.379 --> 00:03:32.340 pastor talking about this and he said, it's kind 00:03:32.340 --> 00:03:35.699 of like this. Can you imagine a conversation? 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:39.699 God says to Abraham, I want you to leave your 00:03:39.699 --> 00:03:50.080 home and your family. Abraham says, why? I'll 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:55.240 tell you later. I want you to go to this land. 00:03:58.180 --> 00:04:00.879 Where? What land? Where? I'll tell you later. 00:04:04.139 --> 00:04:07.180 I want you to, you know, I'm going to make a 00:04:07.180 --> 00:04:08.900 great nation of you and you're going to have 00:04:08.900 --> 00:04:12.080 descendants. Well, how's that going to happen? 00:04:13.460 --> 00:04:17.459 Well, I'll tell you later. Then finally a son 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:20.980 comes. So take your son and take him to the mountain 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:27.110 and kill him. What would Abraham do? Why? And 00:04:27.110 --> 00:04:31.870 again, God says, I'll tell you later. You wonder 00:04:31.870 --> 00:04:35.129 what kind of friend is that, you know? Whereas 00:04:35.129 --> 00:04:38.910 God in this, he's not giving very good details 00:04:38.910 --> 00:04:43.250 on this whole thing. But yet Abraham, by faith, 00:04:43.269 --> 00:04:46.889 did what? Followed every single thing God said. 00:04:48.589 --> 00:04:53.269 Was he a perfect man? No way. He made many mistakes. 00:04:53.350 --> 00:04:56.670 Some mistakes that I think... in today's day 00:04:56.670 --> 00:04:59.430 and age, we would probably be very upset about. 00:05:01.730 --> 00:05:05.269 But he somehow, whatever it was, he came back 00:05:05.269 --> 00:05:10.730 and was obedient to God and said, God, I will 00:05:10.730 --> 00:05:15.990 follow you. He knew God. God knew him. And so 00:05:15.990 --> 00:05:21.329 God considered him a friend. Throughout Abraham, 00:05:21.610 --> 00:05:25.610 God revealed. The whole process of divine election. 00:05:25.829 --> 00:05:28.750 Now, we don't like to use that word as Seventh 00:05:28.750 --> 00:05:32.490 -day Adventists because that gets you into Calvinism, 00:05:32.509 --> 00:05:35.110 but yet there is a divine election because what 00:05:35.110 --> 00:05:37.449 was it about Abraham that stood out from anybody 00:05:37.449 --> 00:05:43.029 else? He was no richer than any other rich people. 00:05:43.149 --> 00:05:47.350 He was wealthy. He wasn't taller. He wasn't better 00:05:47.350 --> 00:05:51.050 looking. He wasn't from a big family. Why did 00:05:51.050 --> 00:05:54.600 God choose Israel? There were greater countries 00:05:54.600 --> 00:06:01.240 than Israel. God chose and picked it out. He 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:03.860 picked Israel out. He picked Abraham. So it's 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:08.819 divine election. A covenant that he gave, you 00:06:08.819 --> 00:06:12.180 know, culminated in Jesus. And then we also find 00:06:12.180 --> 00:06:17.439 that for 2 ,000 years later, Paul writes about 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:21.839 Abraham. and talks about the covenant relationship 00:06:21.839 --> 00:06:28.519 that God set. The very first verse in the New 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:37.879 Testament, Jesus was descendant of Abraham. Abraham 00:06:37.879 --> 00:06:40.800 was a beginning of some very important things. 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:44.399 But we're going to look at this. The four Gospels, 00:06:44.399 --> 00:06:49.180 Acts... The Pauline letters, three of Pauline 00:06:49.180 --> 00:06:52.360 letters, Book of Hebrews, 1 Peter, and James, 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:57.379 all record the name of Abraham, and it's in the 00:06:57.379 --> 00:07:04.079 New Testament 71 times. Abraham is looked at. 00:07:04.339 --> 00:07:06.879 The patriarch is at the center of New Testament 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:10.529 teaching concerning God's faithfulness. of the 00:07:10.529 --> 00:07:13.709 New Testament teachings, of his covenant prophecy, 00:07:13.990 --> 00:07:18.110 identifies God's people, justified by faith apart 00:07:18.110 --> 00:07:24.350 from the law, is all found in the life of Abraham. 00:07:24.769 --> 00:07:29.790 Abraham is the center of the gospel. The gospel 00:07:29.790 --> 00:07:33.189 of Jesus is found in Abraham's life. He was not 00:07:33.189 --> 00:07:35.910 perfect. He was a normal man. He went through 00:07:35.910 --> 00:07:39.680 all the difficulties that we do, but yet... Salvation 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:44.180 came to him by his belief. And I want to look 00:07:44.180 --> 00:07:48.620 at that. If you wouldn't mind, open your Bibles 00:07:48.620 --> 00:07:59.019 to Exodus 15. I mean Genesis 15, excuse me. It's 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:04.060 an interesting fact. And I just, looking through 00:08:04.060 --> 00:08:09.829 the life of Abraham. My wife and I this year 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:11.910 were going through reading the Bible and we read 00:08:11.910 --> 00:08:15.350 this whole aspect of Abraham. And things just 00:08:15.350 --> 00:08:18.389 kind of, we're thinking about it and looking 00:08:18.389 --> 00:08:21.730 at it. And do you realize that there were seven 00:08:21.730 --> 00:08:27.329 times that God repeated the covenant to Abraham? 00:08:29.810 --> 00:08:34.929 Does that mean anything to you? Seven in the 00:08:34.929 --> 00:08:40.929 Bible means what? Complete? The complete promises 00:08:40.929 --> 00:08:45.110 of God, seven times this covenant was repeated. 00:08:45.570 --> 00:08:49.110 And one of this, the passage I want to look at 00:08:49.110 --> 00:08:56.169 today is one that I've never preached on. And 00:08:56.169 --> 00:09:04.850 it's been close to 50 years in ministry. And 00:09:04.850 --> 00:09:07.870 this one. I've never preached on this before. 00:09:09.149 --> 00:09:12.049 And I wanted to share something that I've been 00:09:12.049 --> 00:09:16.570 studying about on this one today for you. The 00:09:16.570 --> 00:09:20.669 Lord comes to... I'm going to 15 .1. After these 00:09:20.669 --> 00:09:23.690 things, the word of the Lord came to Abram in 00:09:23.690 --> 00:09:27.509 a vision saying, Do not be afraid, Abram. I am 00:09:27.509 --> 00:09:34.460 your shield, your exceedingly great reward. I 00:09:34.460 --> 00:09:37.379 just couldn't help but look at that. First of 00:09:37.379 --> 00:09:39.860 all, God comes to him in a dream, in a vision, 00:09:39.980 --> 00:09:43.360 and he tells him, don't be afraid. You realize 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:46.080 how many times when God comes to people, that's 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:48.740 the first thing he tells them? Moses, when he 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:52.320 came to the burning bush, don't be afraid, Moses. 00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:54.320 Take off your shoes. The ground you're standing 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:59.360 on is holy. I think of Isaiah having a vision 00:09:59.360 --> 00:10:02.639 of God. You can imagine the temple. Just shown 00:10:02.639 --> 00:10:06.000 he saw God high and lifted up. The angel was 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:09.679 there and the doorpost even shook at the temple. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:15.679 In other words, don't be afraid. And yet Isaiah 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.659 was trembling. Anytime there's a confrontation 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:22.639 with God, it has got to be the most terrifying 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:27.519 and frightening thing for individuals. Because 00:10:27.519 --> 00:10:34.879 we know a holy God We can't be around. I even 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:37.080 think in the second coming when Christ returns, 00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:40.399 how that's going to be. There's going to be people 00:10:40.399 --> 00:10:44.039 that are terrified, crying to the rocks and the 00:10:44.039 --> 00:10:46.340 trees and everything else to hide them and buildings 00:10:46.340 --> 00:10:50.720 to fall on to hide us from this one that's coming. 00:10:51.059 --> 00:10:54.580 But on the other hand, I hope I'm part of that 00:10:54.580 --> 00:10:59.559 that says, behold, this is the Savior I've been 00:10:59.559 --> 00:11:02.679 waiting for. But he was terrified on this thing. 00:11:02.779 --> 00:11:05.600 And he says, do not be afraid. I am your shield 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:08.019 and your exceedingly great reward. And I like 00:11:08.019 --> 00:11:13.179 that. Notice the reward was a person. It was 00:11:13.179 --> 00:11:19.019 God. The reward was not money, was not wealth. 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:22.620 He already had all that. It wasn't power. He 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:27.179 had that. He had enough men to work for him to 00:11:27.179 --> 00:11:33.539 put together an army. So Abram, what rewards? 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:38.500 The reward was God. The relationship that he 00:11:38.500 --> 00:11:42.080 had, that was his reward in the person. I kind 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:46.580 of like that. But Abram said, Lord God, what 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:49.379 will you give me, seeing I have no children and 00:11:49.379 --> 00:11:52.419 the heirs of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:56.279 And Abram said, look, you have given me no offspring 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:00.019 indeed. No, and one board in my own house is 00:12:00.019 --> 00:12:02.419 my heir. So he said, I don't even have an heir. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:06.860 What can you give me? Yet, you're my reward. 00:12:07.100 --> 00:12:09.799 You have promised already a couple of times by 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:16.039 this point, and it hadn't happened yet. And the 00:12:16.039 --> 00:12:21.360 Lord says, this one shall not be your heir. Eliezer's 00:12:21.360 --> 00:12:23.539 not going to be your heir. You're going to have 00:12:23.539 --> 00:12:27.500 a son, and it will be the one. And then verse 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:31.120 6, and he believed the Lord and he accounted 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:36.419 it to him for righteousness. I like that point. 00:12:37.299 --> 00:12:41.360 Too many times we believe on the Lord, right? 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:47.279 But do you believe the Lord? Listening to what 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:49.980 he says to us is a very critical point of our 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:54.519 lives. Hebrews 6, if you want to turn back over 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:59.429 to Hebrews. chapter 6. And I'm going to read 00:12:59.429 --> 00:13:01.669 a few verses here because I think it's very important. 00:13:02.169 --> 00:13:05.409 Because it's going to help us to understand a 00:13:05.409 --> 00:13:07.250 little bit more what's going on. For when God 00:13:07.250 --> 00:13:10.889 made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear 00:13:10.889 --> 00:13:13.590 by no one greater, he swore by himself saying, 00:13:13.850 --> 00:13:17.549 surely blessings I will give you and multiplying 00:13:17.549 --> 00:13:21.230 I will multiply you. And so after he had patiently 00:13:21.230 --> 00:13:27.759 endured, he obtained the promise. He was 75 when 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:31.419 he moved there. When was his son born? He was 00:13:31.419 --> 00:13:37.100 99. It took 24 years. That's patiently waiting, 00:13:37.179 --> 00:13:43.679 isn't it? For men indeed swear by the greater 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:46.679 and an oath for confirmation to them at the end 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:51.580 of all dispute. Men will... swear by heaven or 00:13:51.580 --> 00:13:54.259 by other people, by the word of God, something 00:13:54.259 --> 00:13:57.279 greater than themselves. That was the custom 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:00.960 at the time. But God couldn't swear by anybody 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:04.600 greater than himself because why? No one was 00:14:04.600 --> 00:14:08.399 greater than God. So he swore upon himself on 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:11.299 that. And this is in verse 17. Then God determined 00:14:11.299 --> 00:14:14.100 to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise 00:14:14.100 --> 00:14:18.139 the immutability of his counsel. God couldn't 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:21.580 change. The immutability means he does not change. 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.559 That is the way it's going to be. God the same 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:28.860 today, yesterday, and forever. It's impossible 00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:32.019 for God to lie. We might have a strong consolation 00:14:32.019 --> 00:14:35.860 and have fled from refuge to lay. Now this, verse 00:14:35.860 --> 00:14:39.980 19, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:50.970 both sure and steadfast. My grandfather, I was 00:14:50.970 --> 00:14:55.950 11, and we were living on a farm in Pennsylvania. 00:14:57.389 --> 00:15:00.370 Even though I'm a Tennessee boy, born in Nashville, 00:15:00.529 --> 00:15:03.769 my parents moved when I was a little fellow and 00:15:03.769 --> 00:15:06.750 moved up to Pennsylvania, and eventually my dad 00:15:06.750 --> 00:15:10.690 bought a farm, a dream that he always had. But 00:15:10.690 --> 00:15:14.669 I'm a severe asthmatic. Guess what happened? 00:15:16.200 --> 00:15:21.220 I got very, very sick. And it was almost on a 00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:24.620 weekly basis that my parents, sometime during 00:15:24.620 --> 00:15:26.440 the middle of the night, would have to rush me 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.559 into the emergency room. The medication was not 00:15:29.559 --> 00:15:36.200 as good back then as it is today. And so my grandparents 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:39.259 had bought a place in Florida, and they had moved 00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:43.220 down there, and my great -grandparents were there. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.929 I'm one of those kids. My grandparents, great 00:15:46.929 --> 00:15:50.409 -grandparents, my grandparents, and my parents 00:15:50.409 --> 00:15:52.110 were the oldest in their family, and I'm the 00:15:52.110 --> 00:15:55.769 oldest. So I had the privilege of knowing all 00:15:55.769 --> 00:15:59.690 of my grandparents, all but one of my great -great 00:15:59.690 --> 00:16:07.129 -grandparents, and one, two great -great -grandmothers. 00:16:08.710 --> 00:16:11.129 Matter of fact, I'll just tell you this interesting 00:16:11.129 --> 00:16:16.629 thing. My great -great -grandmother... I was 00:16:16.629 --> 00:16:19.529 about four years of age. So we're looking at 00:16:19.529 --> 00:16:28.149 1953, and she turned 99. And I'm sitting there, 00:16:28.289 --> 00:16:31.830 and I'm just so impressed. And I says, Grandma, 00:16:32.190 --> 00:16:36.610 you're almost 100. And she said, Yes, I am. And 00:16:36.610 --> 00:16:38.990 I don't know what caused me to do this. I've 00:16:38.990 --> 00:16:40.870 always been a history buff, and I just blurted 00:16:40.870 --> 00:16:47.299 out. Grandma, did you know Abraham Lincoln? And 00:16:47.299 --> 00:16:49.700 she says, no, I never met him, but I remember 00:16:49.700 --> 00:16:58.600 when he was shot. Figure it out. 1864. She was 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:04.059 about 9 or 10 years of age. You know, and that's 00:17:04.059 --> 00:17:09.259 my generation. I'm thinking, wow. But anyway. 00:17:10.160 --> 00:17:12.059 That's what we're looking at. But my grandfather, 00:17:12.359 --> 00:17:14.700 when I moved to Florida with him, he was a fisherman. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:18.099 He just had retired. He was a bricklayer that 00:17:18.099 --> 00:17:21.660 laid brick in glass furnaces, and he would go 00:17:21.660 --> 00:17:26.079 into furnaces at 3 ,000 degrees, totally in an 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:30.200 asbestos suit. If he slipped and fell, he was 00:17:30.200 --> 00:17:35.000 dead. That was a very, very high -risk job, and 00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:37.559 he would travel all across to Corning Glass and 00:17:37.559 --> 00:17:40.079 to other glass manufacturers. Because there was 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:43.559 only like a dozen men in the country that could 00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:47.180 do this job. And he got paid well for it. So 00:17:47.180 --> 00:17:50.220 he retired in a nice place in Florida. And so 00:17:50.220 --> 00:17:52.859 because I was sick so much, they said, let's 00:17:52.859 --> 00:17:55.579 go to Florida. So we went down to Florida with 00:17:55.579 --> 00:17:58.200 my grandparents. And I lived with them a year, 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:01.880 went to school down there. Did not have a whole 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:04.579 lot of improvement in asthma. But the thing that 00:18:04.579 --> 00:18:09.089 I did enjoy, my grandfather retired. and he loved 00:18:09.089 --> 00:18:14.930 to fish. Every single day that I can remember, 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:20.190 we went fishing. Sometimes he would meet me when 00:18:20.190 --> 00:18:23.750 the school bus stopped, and I'd jump in the car, 00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:29.109 and we'd go someplace. Sometimes we'd take his 00:18:29.109 --> 00:18:32.609 boat, and we'd go to Lake Okeechobee fishing, 00:18:32.930 --> 00:18:36.500 the rivers. But there was one river we used to 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:39.019 fish a lot, the Myakka River near Venice, Florida. 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:43.099 And he would bring the boat in, and we would 00:18:43.099 --> 00:18:45.519 go up. But the current was pretty good in that 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:49.279 area, and he always would drop an anchor so the 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:51.700 boat wouldn't drift and we could stay put up 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:54.779 in a cove where we could catch some things. And 00:18:54.779 --> 00:18:59.880 we would catch the fish, and we just had a good 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:02.240 time. Those are memories that you'll never forget. 00:19:02.990 --> 00:19:04.990 And, you know, something with my grandfather's 00:19:04.990 --> 00:19:09.569 funeral, all my brothers and my cousins all around, 00:19:09.809 --> 00:19:12.750 all of them felt like they were granddad's favorite. 00:19:14.509 --> 00:19:19.029 Every one of them felt that way. And then my 00:19:19.029 --> 00:19:21.910 brother, he was just crying. He says, I know 00:19:21.910 --> 00:19:25.009 I was his favorite. He just, you know, I said, 00:19:25.069 --> 00:19:31.029 did he ever take you fishing? Well, no. He did 00:19:31.029 --> 00:19:36.900 me. But dropping that anchor was to hold to keep 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:40.559 you from being pushed around, and the anchor 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:43.559 would catch into the sand, but sometimes that 00:19:43.559 --> 00:19:45.900 would move, but sometimes it would catch a piece 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:48.480 of coral, and it would hold fast, and your boat 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:50.579 would pull against that, and it wouldn't move. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:55.140 I think the anchor being cast in, catching onto 00:19:55.140 --> 00:19:59.440 a deep rock, and who's that rock? It'd be Christ. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:03.579 We're not tossed around. We have an anchor and 00:20:03.579 --> 00:20:06.680 that is the promises of God. So I want you to 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:13.339 go back to 15. And he believed the Lord and he 00:20:13.339 --> 00:20:17.480 counted it to him for righteousness. Now jump 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:27.200 over to, let's see, verse 10. Abraham has this 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:32.190 vision and he is told to bring... And God came 00:20:32.190 --> 00:20:36.269 to him and says, take an ox and a couple of animals. 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:39.410 You see what it says here? Then he called him 00:20:39.410 --> 00:20:43.109 and said to him, well, let's see, bring me a 00:20:43.109 --> 00:20:45.369 three -year -old heifer, a three -year -old female 00:20:45.369 --> 00:20:48.410 goat, a three -year -old ram, a turtle dove, 00:20:48.549 --> 00:20:54.849 and a young pigeon. Abraham knew exactly what 00:20:54.849 --> 00:20:56.789 to do with this. God didn't tell him what to 00:20:56.789 --> 00:21:03.099 do. He knew that now God was going to draw up 00:21:03.099 --> 00:21:06.259 a contract. These were exactly the things that 00:21:06.259 --> 00:21:10.480 you were to bring to do a contract. When we do 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:14.299 a contract, we do what? You have a piece of paper 00:21:14.299 --> 00:21:17.099 signed up, and you sign it. You put your signature 00:21:17.099 --> 00:21:21.660 on it. This was in a different time of age, and 00:21:21.660 --> 00:21:25.220 their understanding was that, first of all, it 00:21:25.220 --> 00:21:27.990 was an oral society. handwriting, written things 00:21:27.990 --> 00:21:30.230 weren't all that important at that time. There 00:21:30.230 --> 00:21:31.869 was only a few people that could even write. 00:21:32.869 --> 00:21:35.829 And language was just at the beginning of being 00:21:35.829 --> 00:21:40.250 written down at this time. So it was always acted 00:21:40.250 --> 00:21:44.849 out. And when he acted it out, Abraham knew. 00:21:45.029 --> 00:21:48.329 This was the contract. Today, we have a contract. 00:21:48.390 --> 00:21:53.069 Let's say, you know, when I do a wedding, it's 00:21:53.069 --> 00:21:55.470 interesting. We get the marriage license, right? 00:21:56.269 --> 00:21:58.950 We go through the vows after the promises are 00:21:58.950 --> 00:22:02.950 made. The question is, how do I know you're going 00:22:02.950 --> 00:22:07.829 to fill this obligation? You know, how do I know 00:22:07.829 --> 00:22:09.990 it's going to be for richer and for poorer, sickness 00:22:09.990 --> 00:22:13.109 and health, for better or for worse until death 00:22:13.109 --> 00:22:17.329 do us part? What we do is we place our name on 00:22:17.329 --> 00:22:21.970 the contract. We sign it. That's what we do today. 00:22:22.730 --> 00:22:25.309 And this means I'm assuring that I'm going to 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:28.750 follow this covenant, this contract. If you buy 00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:32.230 a piece of land, the person gives you a warranty 00:22:32.230 --> 00:22:35.970 deed. The deed is, I guarantee and I warrant 00:22:35.970 --> 00:22:39.630 that this property I own and I have a free right 00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:43.890 to sell it to you with no encumbrances, no problems, 00:22:44.049 --> 00:22:46.670 and it's a legal binding contract. Your signature 00:22:46.670 --> 00:22:50.150 guarantees that. They didn't do it that way. 00:22:50.890 --> 00:22:53.349 So Abraham immediately knew what to do. He cut 00:22:53.349 --> 00:22:57.329 the ox in half, the goat in half, the sheep in 00:22:57.329 --> 00:23:00.069 half, cut it in half, and you parted on both 00:23:00.069 --> 00:23:05.269 sides, split right down the middle, lengthwise. 00:23:05.849 --> 00:23:08.809 And it would be laid there on the side, and then 00:23:08.809 --> 00:23:12.109 both of you are in this agreement, would come 00:23:12.109 --> 00:23:14.589 and you would walk through that together, and 00:23:14.589 --> 00:23:17.630 you get to the middle. If I do not fulfill this 00:23:17.630 --> 00:23:21.019 contract, then may I be like these animals. That 00:23:21.019 --> 00:23:28.640 have been here. But this is interesting. Abraham 00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:35.140 did that. And he fell asleep. But then he is 00:23:35.140 --> 00:23:38.279 in a vision. In a dream. and the darkness comes 00:23:38.279 --> 00:23:41.519 upon him. It's pitch black, dark, smoke coming 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:45.480 in, just a horrible feeling, and he's just suffocating. 00:23:45.519 --> 00:23:47.539 Have you ever been in so dark, like the cave 00:23:47.539 --> 00:23:50.079 that you've been in, where it is so suffocatingly 00:23:50.079 --> 00:23:54.160 hot, and the smoke, and that you just want to 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:56.519 fall on your face? This was that kind. And it's 00:23:56.519 --> 00:23:58.859 interesting, the same words, the same expression 00:23:58.859 --> 00:24:03.009 is used when God comes down to Mount Sinai. And 00:24:03.009 --> 00:24:05.170 it fills the whole area with that smoke. It's 00:24:05.170 --> 00:24:08.849 the same concept, the presence of God. When the 00:24:08.849 --> 00:24:14.869 pillar of fire leads children of Israel by nighttime 00:24:14.869 --> 00:24:19.890 to give heat and warmth, a pillar of cloud, the 00:24:19.890 --> 00:24:24.029 smoke, during the daytime to provide shade. It's 00:24:24.029 --> 00:24:27.670 the same concept. It's the presence of God. But 00:24:27.670 --> 00:24:29.869 then you see the picture here in this illustration. 00:24:31.630 --> 00:24:34.390 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and 00:24:34.390 --> 00:24:36.430 it was dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking 00:24:36.430 --> 00:24:39.849 oven and a burning torch that passed between 00:24:39.849 --> 00:24:44.130 these pieces. The burning oven or the torch, 00:24:44.269 --> 00:24:47.269 the flame, it would come and pass through that. 00:24:49.690 --> 00:24:54.210 Notice, Abraham didn't pass through. The torch 00:24:54.210 --> 00:24:57.410 and the flame represented God. God was the one 00:24:57.410 --> 00:25:01.160 that passed through that. And God is saying, 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:04.519 this is the promise I'm making. This is how you 00:25:04.519 --> 00:25:07.039 will know what's going to happen. This is how 00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:10.279 you know that the promises I've made, the promise 00:25:10.279 --> 00:25:12.759 that the land that I'm going to give you and 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:16.359 your inheritance will be, in fact, there. The 00:25:16.359 --> 00:25:19.859 promises are threefold. The land, the seed, the 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:24.140 descendant, and a blessing. A blessing to all 00:25:24.140 --> 00:25:27.200 the nations of the earth. That was the covenant. 00:25:29.289 --> 00:25:31.809 And he said, just as sure as I'm walking through 00:25:31.809 --> 00:25:34.049 this, if I can't, this is what's going to happen. 00:25:34.130 --> 00:25:37.670 I'm willing to give up my immutability, as we 00:25:37.670 --> 00:25:42.490 read in Hebrews. I'm willing to give up my life. 00:25:42.549 --> 00:25:47.170 I'm willing to be torn asunder. And what does 00:25:47.170 --> 00:25:51.609 Isaiah tell us about Jesus? He was ripped asunder. 00:25:52.289 --> 00:25:54.809 Christ was. His heart was broken at Calvary. 00:25:55.750 --> 00:25:58.049 This was the promise. This was the covenant. 00:25:59.079 --> 00:26:05.579 that was made. On the same day, the Lord made 00:26:05.579 --> 00:26:08.599 a covenant with Abraham, saying, To your descendants 00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:11.660 I have given this land from the river of Egypt 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:16.799 to the great river, the river Euphrates. This 00:26:16.799 --> 00:26:20.839 was the blessing that Abraham got. I really like 00:26:20.839 --> 00:26:26.579 this concept because it visually acts out the 00:26:26.579 --> 00:26:34.160 descendant of Abraham. was Jesus Christ. Jesus 00:26:34.160 --> 00:26:40.119 is the seed of Abraham. Through Jesus, the land 00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:42.160 is secured. Do you notice from the very beginning 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:46.079 in Genesis, the land that God had created for 00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:52.460 Adam and Eve was cursed. Adam was supposed to 00:26:52.460 --> 00:26:57.559 be the ruler of the earth. But after the sin, 00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:00.299 he gave that up and the earth was cursed. Now 00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:03.299 we have to struggle with this. But the promise 00:27:03.299 --> 00:27:08.380 is that the land is going to be restored. The 00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:12.579 earth is going to be restored new. You also have 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:16.079 the descendant, the seed, which is Jesus. And 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:19.299 then you have the blessing. Through Jesus, all 00:27:19.299 --> 00:27:21.460 of the countries of the world have been blessed. 00:27:22.579 --> 00:27:27.980 Right here, God was showing. the whole gospel 00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:37.059 message. Acting it out. And that is, to me, the 00:27:37.059 --> 00:27:41.059 anchor that we can hold on to. The promises of 00:27:41.059 --> 00:27:45.480 Jesus. Anytime I see individuals struggling, 00:27:45.619 --> 00:27:54.700 I worked at Madison Hospital as a chaplain. but 00:27:54.700 --> 00:27:57.759 also as the program director for the psychiatric 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:00.140 department after I finished my doctorate. And 00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:03.220 one of the things that I did there was helping 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:06.740 individuals restore a relationship with God, 00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:10.559 doing a spiritual assessment, going through a 00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.960 history, helping individuals to deal with their 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:16.819 struggles. And one of the things that we found 00:28:16.819 --> 00:28:22.009 out working in psychiatric care... Psychiatric 00:28:22.009 --> 00:28:24.269 care doesn't have anything to deal with forgiveness. 00:28:25.910 --> 00:28:31.250 It doesn't deal with the promises of God. And 00:28:31.250 --> 00:28:35.970 that is something that only comes through a relationship. 00:28:36.150 --> 00:28:40.230 The forgiveness, the promises are all built right 00:28:40.230 --> 00:28:44.450 in here from Abraham. So you can see why I find 00:28:44.450 --> 00:28:48.710 Abraham's life so fascinating. Abraham was God's 00:28:48.710 --> 00:28:54.190 friend. He placed his confidence in the promises 00:28:54.190 --> 00:28:59.130 of God. Gracious Father, we pray that you will 00:28:59.130 --> 00:29:01.529 bless each one of us as we leave this sanctuary 00:29:01.529 --> 00:29:06.230 today. Pray that the grace of God, the hope from 00:29:06.230 --> 00:29:08.730 the Holy Spirit will travel with each of us. 00:29:08.990 --> 00:29:11.690 We thank you in Christ's name. Amen.