Amen. The walk of faith is not a hundred -yard
dash. It's not a straight path. It is very daily.
It is sometimes twisting and winding and there
seem to be delays. I want us to think about that
and how it applies to our lives as we look at
Genesis chapter 15 and I invite you to bow in
prayer with me. as we ask God to bless His word
to our hearts. And now, Father, we come to the
scriptures this morning praying that from Abram's
life we may glean some thoughts and applications
for our own walks of faith. Show us what it means
to walk by faith that we may receive from you
the blessings you long to give. In Jesus' name,
amen. There's a period of time that passes between
chapters 14 and chapter 15. In chapter 14 Abraham
goes to war on behalf of his nephew Lot. His
faith is tested. In chapter 15 again we see that
Abram's faith is at issue and it is tested because
not of war this time, but because of waiting.
It is Abram's faith that provided the foundation
for his blessings from God. But I want you to
see this morning as the same is true for God's
pilgrims at the end of the second millennium
AD. It is our faith that lays the foundation
for the blessings that we would enjoy from God
as well. Your faith provides the foundation for
God's blessing in your life. It is important
to understand that it's not just the presence
of faith because everyone has faith. The important
thing is that faith be placed in a valid, a good
object or person. It's in water in whom you believe
that counts. Abraham believed God. And because
of that he enjoyed the blessings of God. It is
our faith in God as well that lays that foundation
for him then to be able to bring into our lives
the blessings he generously desires to bring.
I'd like for you to follow with me this morning
as we quickly enumerate Abram's blessings that
are suggested for us in the text. The first blessing
I notice in chapter 15 is in verse 6, at least
the first one that I want to point to. It is
found in this verse, which is one of the key
verses in all of the Bible. It says then, he
believed in the Lord, and he, the Lord, reckoned
it to Abram as righteousness. Blessing number
one that came because of Abram's faith was the
blessing of personal righteousness. Now this
verse is not intended to say that it was at this
point that Abram became a true believer. Actually,
this verse is placed here strategically by Moses
to explain to us that although Abram's faith
here had questions, it was his faith that had
made him right with God. It paints the background
for all of Abram's portrait. His faith in God's
promises had begun in Ur of the Chaldeans when
God had called Abram to follow him. It laid the
foundation for all of the other things that would
happen in Abram's faith pilgrimage. This verse
is a key verse not only in the Old Testament
but in the New Testament because it is quoted
three times in Romans 4, Galatians 3, and James
2. It is always quoted in the context of salvation
as a gift from God by grace through faith. That
salvation is not the product of religious works.
It is God's gift to us. Now I want you to notice
the order of what this verse says. It says in
the first place that Abram believed in the Lord.
The first time that believed is found in the
Old Testament, or in the Bible of course. The
first time. This word believed in the Hebrew
gives us another English word that we use. The
word is amen. And so some paraphrase this verse
this way, and he amen'd the Lord. To say amen
means more really than to say so be it. It is
an affirmation. It is a statement, a declaration
of faith that says, it shall be so. God had given
to Abram promises. And Abram said, it shall be
so. Amen. He believed in the Lord. Have you come
to that very first step in your own faith pilgrimage?
where you have believed in the promise of the
Lord for salvation? Have you said amen to the
Lord when He says, whoever will call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved? Have you said
amen to that for yourself? Abram did, and as
a result, notice the second action that the Lord
reckoned that to him as righteousness. Again,
this is the first time the word reckoned is found
in the Bible. It brings before us the idea of
imputing something or crediting something. It
is the idea of an accountant who places an amount
in the ledger so as to create a balance. Abram
was bankrupt in his paganism, his idolatry and
sin, as all of us are in our sinfulness. But
then he believed in the Lord's promise. And the
Lord saw that faith and in response gave to Abram
righteousness. That is, he gave to Abram a condition
before him. Whereas he was right before God,
it is A position that God gave to Abram that
he did not have before. From this point on, God
looks at Abram differently. He sees him not just
as a sinner, but as one who is righteous now
in his own eyes. The sin question is off of the
focus. And in God's sight is the righteousness
that God himself gives to Abram. Folks, we are
saved today the very same way that Abram was
saved. By believing God's promise and then God
giving to us the gift of righteousness. A new
position that we've never had before. No longer
does God see us as separated from him and as
in sin and under condemnation. But now he sees
us in Christ, and he sees us righteous in Christ.
Regarding this verse, Paul says in Romans chapter
4, for what does the scripture say? Abram believed
God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.
Paul goes on to say, now to the one who works,
his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what
is due. But to the one who does not work, but
believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his
faith is reckoned as righteousness." Paul says
if we try to work for our salvation, then we're
trying to place God under obligation. And if
God were to give us righteousness, it would be
due to us. But we can never earn that. We can
never work enough to receive that because it's
due to us. Therefore, God has wonderfully set
aside works as a possibility for salvation. No
one will ever be saved because he's a religious
person, because he's been baptized, because he's
done good things, he's been a moral person, because
he's joined the church. No one will ever enter
heaven because of those reasons. Not that those
are bad things. But God has made salvation on
the basis of one thing and one thing alone, and
that is the gift of righteousness that He gives
freely to all of those who will believe that
Christ died for their sins and rose again. Have
you received blessing number one? Abram did.
Abram did. Notice the second blessing. To understand
this blessing, we need to go back to the first
part of the chapter. Time has passed. It's about
ten years now since Abram received the promise
from God of a physical heir. He and Sarai are
getting older. And you can just imagine what's
going through his mind. He is saying, where is
our child? Why hasn't God given me that descendant
that he promised? And it seems that Abram was
afraid. He was afraid that God's promise was
going to fail. And so the Lord speaks to Abram
in a vision. And he says, do not fear, Abram.
The very first time fear not is found in the
Bible. The next sentence he says, I am a shield
to you. The first I am in the Bible. One of the
I AM statements of God. I am a shield to you.
In other words, God is saying, Abram, I know
what's going on in your mind. You're afraid.
You're afraid that my promise to you is not going
to come to pass because ten years now have passed
since I gave the promise and you still don't
have a son. Abram, I'm a shield to you. I will
protect you from your fears. I will protect you
from your foes. I will protect you from all of
your threats. I'm a shield to you. Believe that,
Abram." And then God gives not only the revelation
of His person, but He gives the repetition of
His promise. It is this, your reward shall be
very great. This man will not be your heir. One
who shall come forth from your own body, he shall
be your heir. You see, Abram is despondent. To
God's first statement, Abram responds with a
question in verse 2, God, Lord God, what will
you give me since I'm childless? And the heir
of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. Since thou
hast given me no offspring, one born in my house
is my heir. In other words, one of my servants
born in my house will inherit my things. God,
I don't have an heir. Abram here is sharing a
despondent heart with God. Why the delay, Lord?
Why the delay? God repeats His promise. Not this
man Abram. Not Eliezer. No. One who will come
forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.
See, Abram needs to learn here to wait in faith
upon God. Just as you and I need to learn to
wait upon God in our own walk of faith. Then
God gives a reassurance of His power. Notice
what He does. In verse 5, He took Abram outside
and said, Now look toward the heavens and count
the stars if you are able to count them. And
He said to him, So shall your descendants be.
God gives here an illustration to Abram of his
power. He reassures him. He says, Abram, look
at the heavens. Abram, where did those heavens
come from? From my word. I spoke them into existence.
That's what my word can do in its power. Now
Abram, don't be afraid. I have spoken my word
to you also. and its power will eventually become
evident to you. The blessing of a physical heir
will be fulfilled, Abram. There's the third blessing
that is mentioned in chapter 15. It's the blessing
of the promised land. The conversation with God
continues. God said to Abram, I am the Lord who
brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give
you this land to possess it. And he said, O Lord
God, how may I know that I shall possess it?
Do you see Abram's heart here? His faith journey
is not greatly different from yours and mine.
How shall I know, Lord? So God confirms his promise.
He says, Abram, remember who I am. I brought
you out of Ur. And the reason I did was to give
you this land to possess it. My promises, Abram,
rest upon my character. I'm the one who brought
you out to bring you in. So God confirms His
promise and then God covenants with His pilgrim.
I'm going to skip over some verses and go to
verse 18 to pick up the actual covenant. in which
God lays out the boundaries of the land now.
Notice he says, to your descendants I have given
this land from the river of Egypt as far as the
great river, the river Euphrates. And then God
mentions the ten tribes, pagan family tribes,
that live in that land at the present time. And
God says to Abram, I give you this land. Now
this covenant that God makes with Abram here,
and notice that word is used in verse 18, covenant,
is based upon the sacrifice that Abram had just
made. God told him what to do. He was to take
certain animals and split them in half. He was
to divide them and then lay the halves of the
animals along the journey. of faith along the
path. The blood was to be shed, the sacrifices
laid out, and then Abram was as it were put to
sleep and it was God himself appearing in the
form of a fire pot and a torch who on that dark
dark night passed through those sacrifices. You
say, what does all that mean? Well, it's thought
by most Bible scholars that it's representing
a form of an agreement that was common in Abram's
day, in which two people who were going to agree
to something that was very important, which was
to be fulfilled without doubt, did the same thing.
They would divide animals, lay them out on the
path, and the two of them would join arms, and
walked down the path together through those sacrificed
animals. It was a blood covenant. And it meant
that whatever the agreement was, it was to be
fulfilled unto death. Very solemn covenant. God
passed through these sacrifices by Himself. He
did not take Abram with Him. Do you notice that?
There's a reason for that. because the covenant
that God is about to make with Abraham rests
upon God alone, not at all upon Abram. It is
an unconditional covenant. And God Himself, by
His great power, will fulfill that covenant.
He will give to Abram that land that He has promised
him. God confirms His covenant with His pilgrim.
And then thirdly, God communicates His plan.
Abram's mind is still whirling. God, the delay.
Ten years now, I've been walking in this land,
living in tents. Why the delay? God explains
in verses 13 through 16 what His plan is. He
says Abram's descendants will know 400 years
of slavery in a foreign nation. God is here talking
about Abram's descendants who would go into Egypt
and there become enslaved to them and who would
eventually then be redeemed and delivered by
Moses who would write this account about Abram.
Secondly, God says that he will judge that nation.
enslaves them, and deliver Abram's descendants
along with many possessions. Third, he says,
Abram, you're going to die. You're going to be
gathered in peace to your fathers. In other words,
Abram, not in your lifetime is this land going
to belong to you. And fourthly, God says, your
descendants in the fourth generation will return
to claim this land. Why is God doing this? Why
doesn't God just give this land to Abram in his
lifetime? God says there's a reason, and He gives
at least one reason here, and that is because
the Amorites who dwelt in the land, who were
the hill people in Palestine, very pagan, evil
people, God says that their cup of iniquity is
not yet filled. He's using a picture there to
say that nations and tribes of people, as it
were, have a cup into which their sin is poured
and when it is filled to the brim. then God will
bring judgment upon them. In the meantime, God
is patient with them, giving them time to respond
to Him, giving them time to repent. For God is
not willing that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. And that includes
the Amorites. But in a few hundred years, their
cup would be filled up. And then God would judge
the Amorites by dispossessing them of the land
and giving it to the descendants of Abram. Now
here's the point I want us to see this morning.
It is that what happens here exalts the providence
of God. In his all -wise and sovereign ways,
he orchestrates even the evil rebellion of man
and his own gracious purposes so that there is
a perfect result. And we look in our world today
and say, God, why isn't there judgment? God,
why aren't you doing something? And God is saying,
in our day as He did then, the cup of iniquity
is not yet filled. And we can be assured that
when it is, then God will act. But that's why
Abram didn't receive the land in his own lifetime.
Did Abram despair about that? No, he didn't.
Because Abram was looking beyond his own lifetime
to the future. He was looking for that city whose
builder and maker is God. In fact, John tells
us a statement of Jesus in the eighth chapter
of his gospel where Jesus said, Abraham saw my
day and rejoiced. I don't exactly know what Abram
saw or when he saw it. Some think he saw it here
in chapter 15. But Abram was able to look ahead
and by faith he saw the day of Christ and saw
what Jesus would do and he rejoiced. Abraham
was not disillusioned and one day folks Abram
is going to be resurrected along with all the
righteous. so that he and all of us can enjoy
God giving this land to Abram in fulfillment
of the Abrahamic covenant. Now I want to come
full circle very very quickly, put on your seatbelt.
Your faith lays the foundation for God's blessings.
The first blessing is the blessing of a personal
relationship that is based upon Christ's righteousness.
Abram established a personal relationship with
God through faith. You and I must do that. That's
where the journey begins. Have you received blessing
number one? It leads to what I'm calling today
blessing number two, which is personal hope.
Abram had hope for the future. He had questions,
yes, but he had hope. And he saw ahead by faith.
You and I also have personal hope that is based
upon Christ's return, just as Abram's hope was,
though he didn't know all of those details yet.
It is upon the return of Jesus Christ that our
hope is based. There are some concluding thoughts
and applications that I want to give very quickly.
The first one is this, that the walk of faith
does not preclude the rise of fear. Some people
think that A Christian should never face fear.
A Christian will never have discouragement. A
Christian will never be despondent. Friend, that
is not true. Abram here is dealing with both
fear and despondency because after 10 years he
hadn't seen anything happen yet. And it may be
that in your life, you have felt that God has
delayed and you're wondering, what is wrong with
me? What is wrong with God? That's part of the
walk of faith. God will show himself in a fresh
way to you and assure you that you need not fear.
He will be to you as he was to Abram, a shield.
The second closing thought is this, that the
walk of faith is measured by actions and not
words. Abram speaks to God for the first time
in this chapter. God has spoken to him several
times. But here Abram enters into a discussion
with God, and from this point on when Abram speaks
to God, he often speaks with questions. Not necessarily
of doubts, but asking for clarification out of
curiosity and sometimes doubt. And yet when Abram's
life is Summed up in the New Testament, he is
called the man of faith. Why? Because although
he had questions, although he didn't always understand,
Abram always obeyed. That's why I say to you
that the walk of faith is not measured by words,
but by actions. It's what we do. Not the feelings
we have. Not the questions that arise, it's what
we do that counts. Third, the walk of faith sees
beyond the immediate to the future. The future
is secured by the promises of God and you and
I need to keep our eyes on that. Even though
the present may be unclear and the walk of faith
is taking twists and turns that we never anticipated.
You and I need to see beyond the immediate to
the future and the hope that is laid up for us.
And finally, the walk of faith accepts the apparent
delays of God. God seems to delay to Abram in
the birth of a son, in the possession of the
land. The eventual fulfillment of the promise
in Joshua's day came partially. But even yet,
it has not been completely fulfilled. But it
shall be one day. And we will be a part of that.
Now in your own walk of faith, there are times
when God seems to delay. And you say, God, I
don't understand why this hasn't happened yet.
I don't understand why this promise hasn't been
fulfilled, Lord. But that's part of the walk
of faith. The walk of faith accepts that. So
I hope that you're encouraged in this Old Testament
account from David's life or from Abram's life.
Abram was a pilgrim, just like you're a pilgrim,
in a walk of faith. I exhort you today, walk
on. Walk on with God. Let's pray. Would you sing
with me the chorus of this Old Gospel song? Leaning,
leaning Safe and secure from all alarms Leaning,
leaning Leaning on the everlasting arms O how
sweet to walk in the pilgrim way, Leaning on
the everlasting arms! O how bright the path grows
from day to day, Leaning on the everlasting arms!
What have I to dread? What have I to fear, Leaning
on the everlasting arms? I have blessed peace
with my Lord so near, Leaning on the everlasting
arms! Our Father in Heaven, just as Abram the
Patriarch learned to walk by faith, so may we.
May we learn to lean upon the everlasting arms,
to walk on in our journey even when the path
takes directions we would never have anticipated.
Help us to lean strong in faith. and to walk
on, even this week, in whatever the journey may
hold in your will in our lives. In Jesus' name,
amen.