Latest / Meadows Baptist Church Podcast / Abraham’s Belief - 8/19/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch
Transcript
- 0:02Welcome to the podcast of Meadows
- 0:04Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North
- 0:07Carolina.
- 0:08We're so glad you joined us today.
- 0:10If you enjoy today's message, be sure to
- 0:13subscribe, follow, and share with your
- 0:15friends.
- 0:16Now, let's join Pastor Charlie Branch
- 0:19with a word from God.
- 0:26>> Genesis chapter 15.
- 0:34Genesis chapter number 15 tonight.
- 0:37And uh
- 0:40another message in our series on the
- 0:42life of Abraham. And uh
- 0:47We looked at verses 1 and 2 uh in our
- 0:50last Wednesday night study here in the
- 0:53life of Abraham. And we're going to look
- 0:55at verses 3 down through verse number 6
- 0:59uh in this text tonight and uh try to be
- 1:02a
- 1:03help and a blessing to you this evening.
- 1:05Looking at Abraham's belief tonight. And
- 1:08uh there'll be a two parts to this. This
- 1:09will be Abraham's belief concerning his
- 1:12seed. And we'll talk about that a little
- 1:14bit this evening. And so, let's look
- 1:16verse number Let's begin reading verse
- 1:18number 1.
- 1:19Bible says, "After these things, the
- 1:21word of the Lord came unto Abram in a
- 1:23vision saying, 'Fear not, Abram. I'm thy
- 1:25shield and thy exceeding great reward.'"
- 1:28And Abram said, "Lord God, what will
- 1:29thou give me saying I go child seeing I
- 1:32go childless? And the steward of my
- 1:35house is this Eliezer of Damascus." And
- 1:38Abram said, "Behold, to me thou hast
- 1:40given no seed. And lo, one born in my
- 1:42house is mine heir."
- 1:44And behold, the word of the Lord came
- 1:45unto him saying, "This shall not be
- 1:47thine heir.
- 1:48But he that shall come forth out of
- 1:50thine own bowels shall be thine heir."
- 1:52And he brought him forth abroad and
- 1:53said, "Look now toward heaven and tell
- 1:55the stars if thou'll be able to number
- 1:57them.
- 1:58And he said unto him, so shall thy seed
- 2:00be.
- 2:01And that famous verse, verse number six,
- 2:04and he believed in the Lord. And he
- 2:06counted it to him for righteousness.
- 2:09And he said unto him, I am the Lord that
- 2:11brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees
- 2:14to give thee this land to inherit it.
- 2:17Father, I ask once more tonight that you
- 2:20would help your servant. God, as we've
- 2:21gathered to study this portion of
- 2:23scripture, I pray that you would give us
- 2:25wisdom. I pray that you would speak to
- 2:27our heart tonight. God, we are nothing
- 2:28without you. Lord, we have nothing to
- 2:30say, God, and nothing will be said here
- 2:32without you. And Lord, we ask you, God,
- 2:34that you would speak to us and through
- 2:36us tonight. Get glory unto yourself. And
- 2:38God, I pray you'd help us to strengthen
- 2:40our faith and trust you. I pray
- 2:42strengthen my faith in these days. And
- 2:44God, just to go forward and do right and
- 2:46be right with you, Lord, and trust in
- 2:48you. God, I ask you bless our church.
- 2:50God, I appreciate these faithful people.
- 2:52I love them and thank you for them. And
- 2:54I ask you to bless them tonight for
- 2:56their attendance, Lord, here and to
- 2:58their attendance to the word of God.
- 2:59Help us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.
- 3:03Genesis chapter
- 3:04number 15, again, is the record here
- 3:08really where Abraham's faith is first
- 3:10expressed deeply upon the pages of
- 3:12scripture. Now, we could say that his
- 3:14exit out of Ur of the Chaldees expressed
- 3:17his faith and it did, but it is recorded
- 3:19in this chapter. And when I look at this
- 3:21chapter, naturally, I see three
- 3:23divisions here and and all of these
- 3:25divisions are described as a gift that
- 3:28God gives Abraham. Number one, I would
- 3:30say tonight in this chapter eight, God
- 3:32gives Abraham a shield for his fear. And
- 3:35we talked about that shield in verse
- 3:37number one of chapter 15 when God said,
- 3:40"Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and
- 3:42thy exceeding great reward." And we
- 3:44dealt with the fact that Abraham was
- 3:46troubled concerning his future due to
- 3:49the fact that he had really in in some
- 3:51sense of the word it still stirred up a
- 3:53hornet's nest there in his land, but God
- 3:56had a word for his fear. And I'm
- 3:58thankful that God has a word for our
- 4:00fear. Amen. And so God gives Abram a
- 4:02shield for his fear in this chapter. But
- 4:05what we're going to look at tonight is
- 4:06that God gives Abram a seed for his
- 4:09faith. And you notice that is mentioned
- 4:12in verse number five. And God here in
- 4:14the text in verse number one, he says,
- 4:16"I am thy shield and thy exceeding great
- 4:18reward." And I thought about this,
- 4:20before God can ever give us what he
- 4:23wants to give us, God has to be who he
- 4:25is supposed to be in our life. Many of
- 4:27us are providentially hindered uh from
- 4:30getting to the place where we're
- 4:31supposed to be because God is not in his
- 4:33rightful place in our life. And so, it
- 4:36was not until that Abram here in the
- 4:38text took God for who he was that God
- 4:40began to bless him. So, he gives him a
- 4:43shield for his fear in verse one. He
- 4:45gives him a seed for his faith in verse
- 4:47number five. And Lord willing on the
- 4:48next uh study, we'll look at the soul
- 4:51that God gives Abram for his family in
- 4:53verse number seven. We read that in the
- 4:56text. But concerning this thought
- 4:57tonight here about the seed, we noticed
- 5:00it's mentioned in verse number two.
- 5:02Abram questions here. He says, "Lord
- 5:03God, what will thou give me seeing I go
- 5:06childless and the steward of my house is
- 5:09this Eliezer of Damascus." So, there is
- 5:12the servant here that's present in
- 5:14Abram's house and this is his servant
- 5:17labeled beside Hagar, which would be the
- 5:19handmaid of Sarai in the text. And so,
- 5:22this is the steward. Evidently, this
- 5:24steward Eliezer had a child. And we
- 5:27notice that the reality is set upon
- 5:29Abram in verse number three. Notice your
- 5:31verse. The Bible said that Abram said,
- 5:33"Behold, to me thou hast given no seed."
- 5:36So, reality has set in on Abram in this
- 5:39text. Abram is getting up in years at
- 5:42this point in time. And I want to say
- 5:43this, it's good to live in reality.
- 5:46Amen. And the truth is tonight when God
- 5:49works, he works in the realm of what's
- 5:51real.
- 5:52Amen. And I think there's a lot of
- 5:54people, a lot of churches in this day
- 5:56and time that try to check out of
- 5:57reality when they come to church. But
- 6:00I'm going to tell you this, you're not
- 6:01going to get any help just checking out
- 6:02of reality.
- 6:04You need help for your reality.
- 6:06And the first thing you can do is
- 6:07realize your reality. Amen. That's the
- 6:09first thing. And Abram says in the text,
- 6:11"Behold, to me thou shalt given no
- 6:13seed." Now, that's discouraging in in in
- 6:16its in itself when you look at it, but
- 6:18you notice the continued statement is
- 6:20mentioned in verse number three. He
- 6:22says, "Thou shalt given me no seed and
- 6:24lo one born in mine house is mine heir."
- 6:26So, there is the reality in verse three,
- 6:28but then there is a reception in verse
- 6:30three. Now, I don't want you to miss
- 6:31this, all right? Abram says, "Lo one
- 6:33born in my house." Notice this, "is mine
- 6:36heir." Now, this heir that he's speaking
- 6:39of in verse number three is this
- 6:40servant, this servant's child of Eleazar
- 6:44here in the text. Now, what's
- 6:45interesting here to me is is that Abram
- 6:48is so is so solid in the fact that God
- 6:51is going to give him a seed. He knew
- 6:53that God would take care of what he
- 6:55said. He was just looking to the place
- 6:57where it could be found. And Abram is
- 7:00contented to so much to say that if
- 7:03Eleazar or his child, I'm not really
- 7:05sure which one it is. He may be Eleazar
- 7:07in the text, but he is so contented with
- 7:10the plan of God to say that, "Lord, if
- 7:12this is the seed that you are given to
- 7:14me, with that I'm satisfied."
- 7:16I want to say this tonight, contentment
- 7:18in in our life is the way that we must
- 7:20approach God.
- 7:22He comes here. He He speaks the word
- 7:24reality is present. Behold, thou to me
- 7:27thou shalt given no seed and lo one born
- 7:29in mine house is mine heir. He receives
- 7:32what he has and God can only work in
- 7:34your life and mine when we first receive
- 7:37what we have already. And we notice what
- 7:39God says to him in this text and we can
- 7:41take that a lot of different ways. We
- 7:43could say that Abram's trying to find
- 7:45another way, but I just simply think
- 7:46that Abram here in the text is trying to
- 7:49realize that yes, God has given him this
- 7:52heir in his house, but that's not what
- 7:54the Lord tells him in verse number four.
- 7:56Notice what's said, there's a rebuke,
- 7:58and behold, the word of the Lord came
- 7:59unto him saying, "This shall not be
- 8:02thine heir." So, God corrects him in the
- 8:04text. Though Abram was willing to
- 8:06receive this servant as his heir in
- 8:08verse number three, God rebukes him.
- 8:10Notice that in verse four, and then he
- 8:12gives him a reminder. Notice what he
- 8:14says, "This shall not be thine heir, but
- 8:16he that shall come forth out of thine
- 8:18own bowels shall be thine heir." I want
- 8:22to say this tonight, in the same sense
- 8:24that you are to be content with what you
- 8:26have at the present moment, you also
- 8:28should not settle for less than the
- 8:30promise of God.
- 8:32All right. If God has promised you
- 8:34something, when I say promised you
- 8:36something, I'm not saying that you have
- 8:38a, you know, he's he's, you know, you've
- 8:40got scripture, you know, you've claimed
- 8:42a scripture for something, and you say,
- 8:44"Well, God's going to do that for me."
- 8:46Well, I'll be honest with you tonight,
- 8:47personally, there are things that we can
- 8:49say God does for us, but be careful
- 8:52about the name and claim and stuff.
- 8:54All right. We we don't operate that way.
- 8:57We operate by what? We operate by the
- 8:59will of God.
- 9:00We say, "If the Lord will." Amen. That's
- 9:02what the Bible says. James there talks
- 9:04about, he said, "All such boasting is
- 9:06evil." He said, "Be better if you say,
- 9:08'If the Lord will, we will do this or do
- 9:11that.'" And so, but I want to remind you
- 9:12tonight, do not settle for less than
- 9:14what God has promised you. You say,
- 9:16"Preacher, well, what does that look
- 9:17like for me?" Well, don't settle for
- 9:19less than victory over sin.
- 9:22All right. If you got sin in your life,
- 9:24don't don't say, "Well, this is as far
- 9:25as I'm going to get
- 9:27with that." No, you need to take that
- 9:29thing to the foot of the cross and say,
- 9:30"God, you promised me victory." His word
- 9:33promises you victory, amen. John said it
- 9:35this way, "You are of God, little
- 9:36children, and have overcome them,
- 9:39because greater is he that's in you than
- 9:40he that's in the world." And so, you you
- 9:42shouldn't settle for less than the
- 9:44promise of God when it comes to your
- 9:46sin, but you should not settle for less
- 9:48than the promise of God when it comes to
- 9:50your assurance, because John said in the
- 9:51same way, he said, "I've written these
- 9:53things unto you that you may know."
- 9:55There's assurance that you can have.
- 9:57There's victory that you can have. You
- 9:59should not settle for less than the
- 10:01promise of God when he has given you a
- 10:03clear promise upon the pages of
- 10:05scripture. And so, God gives him the
- 10:07reminder. He said, "Look, I've done told
- 10:09you once." The sad thing is, God tells
- 10:12us over and over and over again, yet we
- 10:13still don't receive it.
- 10:16Amen.
- 10:17Sometimes reminder's what we need.
- 10:19Matter of fact, really reminder's what
- 10:20we need every day. Somebody say amen
- 10:22right there.
- 10:23He said, "He that shall come forth out
- 10:25of thine own bowels shall be thine
- 10:26heir." Why does he remind Abram this?
- 10:28Because God has already told him that,
- 10:30"Look, you're going to bear a son. I'm
- 10:32promising you that." And the Bible has
- 10:35promised him that, God reminds him of
- 10:37that promise again. Two things tonight,
- 10:39and I will be done this evening. Verse
- 10:41number five, I want you to notice first
- 10:43of all
- 10:44tonight, the revelation of this seed.
- 10:47Notice verse number five. And he brought
- 10:49him forth abroad and said, "Look now
- 10:51toward heaven, and tell the stars if
- 10:53thou be able to number them." And he
- 10:55said unto him, "So shall thy seed be."
- 10:59So, here in the text, he is going to go
- 11:01further in the revelation of his son, of
- 11:04his seed in this text than he has gone
- 11:07at all in the past. Now, we can look
- 11:09back there to chapter number 12, and we
- 11:12can find what he says there in verse
- 11:14number two. He says that I will make
- 11:16thee a great nation. I will bless thee
- 11:18and make thy name great. Thou shalt be a
- 11:20blessing. I will bless them that bless
- 11:22thee and curse him that curseth thee,
- 11:24and in thee shall all families of the
- 11:26earth be blessed." And so, he is giving
- 11:28Abram a further revelation here in the
- 11:30text of what he is going to do for him
- 11:33in this seed. Now, you notice first in
- 11:35this revelation, you notice the
- 11:37awareness that he calls for in verse
- 11:39five. And he brought him forth abroad,
- 11:41notice this, and said, "Look now toward
- 11:44heaven." Now, what's interesting, we we
- 11:47we talked about this in this chapter. We
- 11:49talked about that God gave Abram a
- 11:51shield for his fear. He gives him a seed
- 11:53a seed for his faith. He's going to give
- 11:55him a soul for his family. And in all
- 11:57three of these places, there is darkness
- 11:59that's described.
- 12:01I want to say this tonight. We talked
- 12:03about we preached on Sunday about
- 12:04victory in the valley couple Sundays
- 12:07ago, however many it was, I don't
- 12:08remember. But anyway, we talked about
- 12:10having victory in the valley. All three
- 12:12of these things that God has given to
- 12:14Abram in this chapter came in darkness.
- 12:18Say, "How is that?" Well, it says, "Fear
- 12:19not." Abram was in the darkness of fear
- 12:22in verse number one of this chapter. He
- 12:24was fearing for his life. Well, in this
- 12:26text, he says, "Look now broad toward
- 12:28heaven and tell the stars." And so, what
- 12:31is he doing? Well, he's brought him to a
- 12:33place of darkness so he can look up.
- 12:35Now, the truth is in your life and mine,
- 12:37many of us are going to have to arrive
- 12:39at that place of darkness before we ever
- 12:41choose to turn our eyes upward.
- 12:44Amen. And that's what's going to happen
- 12:45in this chapter. You say, "Well, what
- 12:47does that have to do with his family?"
- 12:49Well, I'll give you this and we'll move
- 12:50on tonight. Notice verse 12
- 12:53of this chapter. And when the sun was
- 12:54going down, a deep sleep fell upon
- 12:56Abram, notice this, and lo and horror of
- 12:58great darkness fell upon him. Abram in
- 13:01all three of these instances that God is
- 13:03presenting him with a gift, he is
- 13:05walking into darkness. I submit to you,
- 13:08child of God, the darkness is the place
- 13:10where God is going to teach you and he's
- 13:13going to try you that he might bring you
- 13:15forth in the light as something that
- 13:17will shine and reflect his glory and
- 13:20honor unto himself. And so, there is the
- 13:23awareness of the revelation. Look now
- 13:25toward heaven. But then there's the
- 13:27amount. Notice what the Bible says. Look
- 13:29now toward heaven and tell the stars.
- 13:32Now, that word tell means to count. And
- 13:35so he is calling on Abram in this text
- 13:37just to to look up toward heaven
- 13:39obviously in the darkness and then he is
- 13:41telling him to declare. Notice that.
- 13:43Tell the stars. If you're able to count
- 13:45them, Abram, you count them to me.
- 13:48Now, I thought about this, all right? I
- 13:50like numbers, okay?
- 13:52It is said by modern science, I don't
- 13:55know how valid how credible this is, but
- 13:58I think it's interesting nonetheless.
- 14:00It's said that there are one septillion
- 14:03stars
- 14:05in the universe.
- 14:07And if you need a number reference for
- 14:09that, that is 10 to the 24th power.
- 14:1310 with 24 zeros behind it. It's the
- 14:16pretty much the largest number known to
- 14:19man other than if you were to consider
- 14:21how many atoms were in the universe, but
- 14:24there's no way to measure that. So, let
- 14:26let's look at this, all right? I thought
- 14:28about a few numbers that was look
- 14:29interesting to me. All right, so if we
- 14:32were to count, all right? One septillion
- 14:34stars. If we were to count the number
- 14:37one septillion and were and you were to
- 14:39count a number every second,
- 14:41this it would take you 31.7 trillion
- 14:44years to count to a septillion.
- 14:4931.7 trillion years to count if that
- 14:52that is counting every second a number.
- 14:5631.7
- 14:58trillion years equals one septillion
- 15:01in numerics, all right?
- 15:03The earth is said to have 7.5
- 15:06quintillion grains of sand.
- 15:09That means that is 10 to the 18th power.
- 15:12Seven I think it's seven and a half to
- 15:15the 18th power times 10 to the 18th
- 15:18power. So, 18 zeros. Well, there's 10 10
- 15:20to the 24th power of stars in the sky.
- 15:25It's said that there are some 4 to 5,000
- 15:28stars that are visible to the human eye,
- 15:31and that's with modern technology, okay?
- 15:34And so I was thinking about this when I
- 15:36read this. Abraham has none of that.
- 15:39He has He don't have telescopes. He
- 15:41don't have modern technology. He doesn't
- 15:43have any of that, all right? If he looks
- 15:45out and sees the stars, if he was to try
- 15:47to count them, this would be my problem.
- 15:48If I go out there, I would be looking
- 15:50and say, "Wait, did I already count that
- 15:51one?"
- 15:53You know what I'm saying? So,
- 15:55anyway, all right, what's the image
- 15:57here? Well, he's calling upon Abraham
- 15:59here representing this revelation. He is
- 16:02He is showing him the mount, all right?
- 16:03If you can number them. You say,
- 16:05"Preacher, what does that represent?"
- 16:06Sure, what represents his seed would be
- 16:09an innumerable multitude.
- 16:10>> Right.
- 16:11>> That's what that That's what that means.
- 16:12Cuz in reality, modern science, they can
- 16:15say what they want to, and that is a big
- 16:17number, but they are not able to count
- 16:18that and be accurate. Now, I'll say
- 16:20this, God knows exactly how many there
- 16:22are. Amen.
- 16:23And so that that segues to my next point
- 16:25here in the text. So, there is the
- 16:27awareness, then there is the amount.
- 16:29Look now toward heaven and tell the
- 16:30stars, and then there's the ability and
- 16:33the awareness. And this is where God is
- 16:34wanting to get Abraham to in the text.
- 16:37He said, "Tell the stars." What's that
- 16:38next word?
- 16:40If.
- 16:41If thou be able to
- 16:44number them.
- 16:45He said, "All right, Abraham. Abraham,
- 16:47you come out here and look up.
- 16:49All right, you tell me how many stars is
- 16:50up there if you can count them."
- 16:53And what is this doing? Well, remember,
- 16:55God has just told Abraham in this text
- 16:57to fear not, right? "I'm thy shield and
- 16:59thy exceeding great reward." And what
- 17:01does God want us to turn over to him in
- 17:03every part of our life? To recognize
- 17:05that we do not have any ability in of
- 17:07ourselves.
- 17:08>> That's right.
- 17:09>> And when God says to Abraham, "If thou
- 17:11be able." Notice that. "If thou be able
- 17:13to number them." You know what God is
- 17:16trying to show to Abraham. Look, man,
- 17:18if you think that you can even count a
- 17:20handful of them
- 17:22and get it right without doubling them
- 17:23over. He said, "You're worried about me
- 17:25giving you a child in your old age, and
- 17:27I know exactly how many there are."
- 17:30He says, "I know exactly how many there
- 17:32are." And this is what he's expressing
- 17:33to Abraham. "I'm aware of all of them. I
- 17:35know exactly where they're at, how big
- 17:37they are. I I know all the details about
- 17:39all of them. And you're worried about me
- 17:42giving you your seed."
- 17:43>> Right.
- 17:44>> That's where God wants to get all of us
- 17:46to. And the place he does that is in the
- 17:48darkness.
- 17:49When we can't see anything other than
- 17:52what God shows to us. You say, "How is
- 17:55that?" Well, in the darkness, all he
- 17:56could see was the stars.
- 17:58And God points them out and says, "All
- 18:00right, if you're able to number them."
- 18:02He's pointing out his ability.
- 18:05Notice what he says in verse number
- 18:07five. There is the ability. And until
- 18:10you relinquish the rights of your own
- 18:12ability, until you take
- 18:14the fact that you can do nothing and
- 18:16place it on the altar and say, "Lord, I
- 18:17know that I'm not able."
- 18:20But Lord, I know you're able.
- 18:21>> Amen.
- 18:22>> And Lord, I trust you.
- 18:24It's then
- 18:25that it business will pick up. Notice
- 18:27what happens in the text.
- 18:29Getting ahead of myself a little bit
- 18:30there, but listen to this. There's not
- 18:33only the awareness, the amount, the
- 18:34ability, and the announcement in this
- 18:36text, but there's all the ability, but
- 18:39there's the announcement. Look what he
- 18:40said. And he said unto him, "So shall
- 18:42thy seed be. If you can number them. If
- 18:45you can count how many's up there, as
- 18:47many as there in the sky, that's how
- 18:49many how many children, how much of thy
- 18:51seed is going to be." And so, we notice
- 18:55the revelation of his seed. But notice
- 18:57verse number six. Notice the
- 18:58righteousness of the servant. Simple
- 19:01outline tonight, verse number six.
- 19:03And the Bible says, "And he," that's
- 19:05Abraham, "believed in the Lord, and he
- 19:08counted it to him for
- 19:10righteousness."
- 19:11Now, I I thought about several things
- 19:13here in verse number six. That phrase is
- 19:15mentioned verse six, that famous phrase,
- 19:17"And he believed
- 19:20in the Lord." This is the This is the
- 19:23reference of faith in the Bible. Romans
- 19:254 reveals to us that reference of faith.
- 19:29Romans Paul talks about Abraham's faith.
- 19:32He staggered not at the promise of God
- 19:34through unbelief, the Bible says, but he
- 19:36was strong in faith, not wavering. Amen.
- 19:39He didn't consider his own body now dead
- 19:41nor yet the deadness of Sarah's womb,
- 19:42the Bible says, and he was strong in
- 19:45faith believing that which the Lord had
- 19:46promised he was able also to perform.
- 19:49And I thought about that word believe.
- 19:51When we When we think about the word
- 19:53believe, we break it down. What does
- 19:54that What does that really mean? Well,
- 19:56the Bible definition is that faith
- 19:58definition in Hebrews chapter 11 verse
- 20:00number one, faith is the substance of
- 20:02things hoped for, the evidence of things
- 20:06not seen. And so this believe here in
- 20:08the text, it is that very same thing.
- 20:10Abraham does not have a seed yet.
- 20:13And this is what is his his desire. God
- 20:15placed this desire in him
- 20:17to have a seed. And so it is the
- 20:20substance of things hoped for, that
- 20:22desire that he had, but he said it's the
- 20:24evidence of things not seen. And so as
- 20:26of yet Abraham has no seed, but it is
- 20:28his faith that evidences that God's
- 20:31promise will come through. I want to say
- 20:33this tonight, Jesus has not come back
- 20:35yet in the rapture.
- 20:37But my faith says he is.
- 20:40Amen. You say, "Preacher, how is it your
- 20:42faith?" Well, the Bible says it's his
- 20:44faith.
- 20:45And you know what? He's put his faith in
- 20:47me.
- 20:49I'm coming, child.
- 20:51We rest in that promise. But what does
- 20:53that mean? Well, I thought about this.
- 20:55Number one, I would say there's a
- 20:57recognition that comes with this. He
- 20:59believed in the Lord. What did he do? He
- 21:01recognized the word of God.
- 21:04And he had confidence in that. That
- 21:07recognition, what is that? Well, that he
- 21:09recognized the sovereignty of God that
- 21:11he is in control. Notice that, he
- 21:13believed in the Lord, the Lord, capital
- 21:15L, capital O, capital R, capital D. That
- 21:18is the sovereign all-sufficient God.
- 21:21There is complete recognition of who God
- 21:24is for there to be faith. Before you
- 21:27believe anything else about what Jesus
- 21:29did, you got to believe that God is God.
- 21:32Amen. And then you have to believe that
- 21:34Jesus is God's son.
- 21:36All right? Amen. There's the recognition
- 21:40of his belief. But then I noticed there
- 21:42is not only the recognition, but there
- 21:43is reliance in verse six. So, what do
- 21:46you mean? He believed in the Lord. I'm
- 21:49working this backwards for a reason, all
- 21:51right? That word in implies that there
- 21:53is a a reliance. He is He is
- 21:56establishing his faith. What does that
- 21:58do? He is establishing it upon the Lord,
- 22:00he is establishing it upon the word of
- 22:02the Lord. Now, what does that represent?
- 22:04Well, God is sovereign, he recognizes
- 22:06that, but his reliance shows that God is
- 22:08not only sovereign and in control, but
- 22:10God to Abraham is sufficient.
- 22:13>> Right.
- 22:14>> Here's what I'll say to you tonight.
- 22:16Your faith will never work in your life
- 22:18until, first of all, you believe that
- 22:20God is sovereign, he's in control. But
- 22:22you also must believe that God is
- 22:23sufficient.
- 22:25You say, "What do you mean?" That
- 22:26whatever he does is going to be right.
- 22:29God tells Abraham later on this chapter,
- 22:31"Shall not" or later on in this story of
- 22:33Abraham's life, "Shall not the judge of
- 22:35all the earth do right?" It is his
- 22:37sufficiency, that he is enough.
- 22:40Until God himself is enough for you,
- 22:42nothing will ever be enough.
- 22:43>> Right.
- 22:45>> His reliance, he believed in the Lord.
- 22:49But then you notice this.
- 22:50There's not only recognition and
- 22:52reliance, but there's rest in this.
- 22:54He believed. Do you know what believing
- 22:56is?
- 22:57It's just banking on the truth.
- 23:00It's just placing your rest. You say,
- 23:01"What is that?" Well, that is
- 23:03satisfaction. Abram believed that God
- 23:05was sovereign. He was in control. He
- 23:07believed that God was sufficient, that
- 23:09he could rely upon him. He's already
- 23:12TOLD HIM, "FEAR NOT, ABRAM. I am thy
- 23:14shield." He can trust him. But, I want
- 23:16to say this, after he is sovereign and
- 23:19sufficient, that is when he becomes
- 23:21satisfied to you.
- 23:24Here's the problem, all right? The
- 23:25reason
- 23:26the times in our life that we are not
- 23:28satisfied with God is because we have
- 23:30not allowed him to be sufficient for us.
- 23:33>> Right.
- 23:34>> He's enough.
- 23:36And then, and only then, will you be
- 23:38able to rest.
- 23:40You say, "Preacher, what does that
- 23:41mean?" Well, Hebrews talks about a rest
- 23:43that he's promised to us. And what
- 23:44proceeds out of this in the text, verse
- 23:46number six, "And he believed in the
- 23:48Lord." Notice this, "And he," that's
- 23:50God, "counted it to him
- 23:53for righteousness." You see the
- 23:55recognition of who God is in the text,
- 23:57the reliance upon what God has promised,
- 24:00and the rest in the text of the fact
- 24:01that God will carry out what he said he
- 24:04would brought about the reckoning in
- 24:06verse six. And he counted it.
- 24:09That word count means to reckon or to
- 24:11impart.
- 24:12That means that God chalked up
- 24:14righteousness on Abram's account because
- 24:17of his belief. Now,
- 24:21in our life tonight, and I said this I
- 24:23said this already in the message, we
- 24:25cannot settle for less
- 24:27than the promise of God.
- 24:29And the seed that's going to come forth
- 24:31in our life is only going to come forth
- 24:33when we operate in faith. You say, "That
- 24:37seed is Abram's." Now, I understand that
- 24:39that's literal, okay? But, the truth is
- 24:41tonight in the application sense, in
- 24:43verse number verse number five, he has
- 24:45given him a promise. He said, "So shall
- 24:48thy seed be." And so, there is the seed
- 24:50that he promises, and then there will be
- 24:52the soul, the land that he promises to
- 24:54him. In the latter part of this chapter,
- 24:56we think about all the promises that God
- 24:58has made to us in salvation. He has
- 25:00promised us deliverance, but he also has
- 25:02promised us a place of dwelling in
- 25:04heaven, and he tells us in the text the
- 25:07key to holding that is having
- 25:09righteousness put to our account.
- 25:13Put to our account.
- 25:15Cuz you know what that brings us back
- 25:16to? That brings us back to the fact that
- 25:18we have no ability to gain stability in
- 25:21our life apart from God.
- 25:24There is no resting place
- 25:26for somebody apart from Jesus Christ.
- 25:29There is nothing that we can truly rely
- 25:31upon. And let me ask you something, if
- 25:33we don't recognize God, what else could
- 25:34we recognize?
- 25:36Do you realize that we're made in His
- 25:37image? I don't truly understand you if I
- 25:40don't understand Him.
- 25:42The thing is, when we behold His face,
- 25:44this what put every puts everything else
- 25:46in place.
- 25:48And when I look at this text tonight,
- 25:49I'm reminded of the fact that
- 25:51righteousness does not come by our
- 25:53works. Now, you say, "Preacher, that's
- 25:55that's elementary tonight." Well, let me
- 25:57ask you something. Why do you come to
- 25:59church?
- 26:01Is it a check off a box?
- 26:04Why do you read your Bible? Why do you
- 26:05pray?
- 26:07Why do you do all those things? You say,
- 26:09"Preacher, I know it's not by works of
- 26:10righteousness." Well, let me ask you,
- 26:12why do you do those things?
- 26:14Are you doing those things to ease your
- 26:15conscience?
- 26:17You know what that that's that's a work.
- 26:19You know why we do those things? We do
- 26:21those things so we can have a
- 26:22relationship.
- 26:24So we can have fellowship.
- 26:26It's not so that we can be satisfied
- 26:29with our self.
- 26:30Cuz the truth is, you do all of that and
- 26:32you're going to find that you're going
- 26:33to come up empty because your motive was
- 26:35wrong.
- 26:37But when our desire, when He is
- 26:39sufficient,
- 26:41then and only then will we be satisfied.
- 26:44He believed in the Lord and God counted
- 26:46it to him for righteousness. I say it
- 26:48again, do not settle for less
- 26:51than the promise of God. Father, thank
- 26:53you for this time tonight. Thank you for
- 26:55your word.
- 26:56God, I know simple and short, but I
- 26:58think it's what I need more than
- 26:59anything else. Lord, I just need to
- 27:01trust you.
- 27:02Lord, I need to recognize who you are.
- 27:05Need to rely upon what you've said, and
- 27:07I need to rest in that you will carry
- 27:09out what you've promised. And Lord, I
- 27:12pray that you would help us all. Help
- 27:13none of us, Lord, to settle for less
- 27:16than the promise that you've made to us.
- 27:17God, I thank you for the promises that
- 27:19you kept. Lord, I have so many things.
- 27:21Lord, my mind tonight I can testify,
- 27:24Lord, and say thank you, Father, for the
- 27:25promises that you made, Lord, when I
- 27:27asked
- 27:29and you fulfilled those. And uh Lord, I
- 27:31thank you, God, for the promises, Lord,
- 27:33that I know you've made to me that I've
- 27:34not yet seen fulfilled.
- 27:36God, I know they will be. And I rejoice
- 27:38in that. Lord, I ask you, God, you would
- 27:40bless this church.
- 27:42Continue to give us strength as we go
- 27:44forward and uh bless each soul that's
- 27:46here. I love them and I appreciate them.
- 27:47Hope they have a great rest of their
- 27:48week. Bless our choir workshop. Lord, I
- 27:50pray that you would please touch that
- 27:52and have your hand upon it. And uh Lord,
- 27:54we'll be sure to give you thanks for
- 27:55what you do cuz we ask it in Jesus'
- 27:57name. And God's children said,
- 27:59amen.
- 28:00>> Thank you for joining our service today.
- 28:03We'd love it if you'd join us in person
- 28:05the next time you are able at Meadows
- 28:07Baptist Church.
- 28:09Our physical address is 2988
- 28:11Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North
- 28:14Carolina.
- 28:15Our service times are Sunday school at
- 28:1710:00 a.m., Sunday morning worship at
- 28:2011:00 a.m., Sunday evening worship at
- 28:226:00 p.m., and Wednesday evening Bible
- 28:25study at 7:00 p.m.
- 28:27For more information, visit us at
- 28:29meadows baptistchurch.com.
- 28:31Thanks again for tuning in.