FBC Eternal Issues Bible Conference

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Guest Speaker: Aaron Hoak Pastor, Grace Baptist Church Warsaw, Indiana

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Well, good evening. Welcome back to the last session of our
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Bible conference in the book of Genesis. Some good good messages.
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Genesis 1 -1, Genesis 3, Genesis 5.
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Tonight we'll be in chapter 15, so it's gonna be quite a jump.
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So, but we're gonna begin tonight with number 458 in your hymnal. Now I belong to Jesus is the hymn, and we'll stand together as we sing.
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458 🎶
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You know, wonderful theological truth about that last word, not for time alone, but for eternity, is when you realize that those who are
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Christ were chosen in him before the foundation of the world, that is from eternity past.
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Try to figure that, wrap your head around that. So there's a sense in which you belong to the
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Father who gave you to the Son, and then the
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Son took possession of you in the new birth. What a amazing, amazing grace.
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Well, let's open in prayer tonight. Our Father, we are so grateful this evening that we can be called your children.
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We're thankful that we belong to Jesus, and we're thankful that he belongs to us, that we are in him.
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When we are in Christ Jesus, we have come to faith in Christ and called upon him to save us.
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We therefore have that confidence that we are in Christ. We belong in the family, and we thank you for that work of Christ that has made all of that possible.
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We thank you tonight for this time of meetings, a series of meetings. Thank you for Pastor Holk and his good messages, the challenges to us, the encouragement from your word, and we thank you for our time together this evening, and the truth of Scripture that we will be hearing tonight that will also be a great blessing to those who belong to Jesus.
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So bless the service, we pray. Meet with us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated.
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A couple things. Continue to pray for Michael, Harold's son,
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Michael. He has shown some improvement today, but he's under really kind of constant watch.
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Moved to a regular room, still up in Rockford in the hospital, so pray for him.
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And remind you about the arrangements for Priscilla, that those visitation is
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Friday, May 5th. It's not this Friday. It's a week from Friday at McDonald and Sterling from 5 to 7, and then the funeral here at the church the next day.
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All of those details in the bulletin Sunday, but, you know, Friday's two days away, and you hear visitation
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Friday, and you know, it could be easy to go to the funeral home Friday evening and say, where is this?
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And you'd be a week early. Didn't want you to do that. Genesis 15 for our reading tonight.
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Genesis 15, the reading and the message will come from this passage. Read the whole chapter.
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Seems a little darker up here. I turned on that spotlight up there that helps us read better at the pulpit, and it just went poof.
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So, I told Pastor Hoke, you're in the dark tonight. He said, well, make me all dark so you can't see me.
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Okay. Genesis 15 verse 1 says, after these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,
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Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said,
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Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eleazar of Damascus?
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Then Abram said, look, you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir.
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And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.
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Then he brought him outside and said, look now toward heaven and count the stars, if you're able to number them.
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And he said to him, so shall your descendants be. And he believed in the
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Lord, and he accounted it to him for righteousness. Then he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the
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Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, how shall
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I know that I will inherit it? So he said to him, bring me a three -year -old heifer, a three -year -old female goat, a three -year -old ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
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Then he brought all these to him and cut them in two, down in the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other.
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But he did not cut the birds in two. And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
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Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
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Then he said to Abram, know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
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And also the nation whom they serve, I will judge. Afterward, they shall come out with great possessions. Now, as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace.
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You shall be buried at a good old age. But in the fourth generation, they shall return here, for the iniquity of the
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Amorites is not yet complete. And it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.
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On the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying to your descendants, I have given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river
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Euphrates, the Kenites and the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the
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Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the
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Jebusites. Now, may the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his word. So in this chapter, and I'm sure
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Pastor Hoke will bring this out, there is great promise. So I want to sing in your supplement book, number 22, about every promise in the song.
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We too are blessed with abundant promises, upon which we can count just as much as Abram and all his descendants could count on, every promise.
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When I stumble and I sin, condemnation pressing in,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words.
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When I lose due innocence restored, you remember sins no more, so I'll stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words.
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Through this dark and troubled land, you will guide me, as I stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words.
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As I stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life,
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I will stand on every promise of your words of life, I that we saw yesterday, to the days of Abraham.
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Now, I'm going to call him Abram tonight, if I remember. Because that's where...
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See, I'm further than this in our series in Genesis back at our church, and he's
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Abraham in our series back home. But he's still Abram tonight in Genesis 15.
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So I'm going to try to call him what he's called here, which is Abram. But if Abraham comes out every now and then, oh well, that's okay.
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You know who I'm talking about. We've jumped ahead though from the time of the flood down to the time of Abram.
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And in between, Moses, the author of Genesis, has traced for us the descendants of Noah.
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There were more genealogies. We could have done another genealogy. I thought maybe one in the week was enough. But there's been more genealogy since then.
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And Moses has traced for us the descendants from Noah down to a man named
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Abram from the east. He's shown us how God called Abram out. Brought him to a land
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He's promised to give to His descendants. And it's from this man, Abram, that God will grow
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His particular chosen people into the nation of Israel. The people that God is dealing with all throughout the
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Old Testament. They descend from this man, Abram. And God has said this to Abram.
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Look here in chapter 12 verses 1 -3 Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
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I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
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And then look down at verse 7. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring
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I will give this land. So God has promised things to Abraham.
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See, I just called him Abraham. He's promised things to Abram. But the fulfillment of those promises is slow in coming.
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As we sometimes find the promises of God ourselves, they don't always fit our desired timetable.
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God promised you this, and we want it right now. And the fulfillment may be a ways out yet.
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Well that was true for Abram. God promised things. He's gonna, you're gonna have this land, you're gonna have descendants, you're gonna be blessed, and you all the nations of the world will be blessed.
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And Abraham, just roll with it, okay? Abraham, Abram. Abram doesn't see almost any of that fulfilled in his lifetime.
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He's got a burial plot in the land by the time he dies. That's it. He's got a son.
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But he sees very little of the promises of God. And so God comes to Abraham more than once to reiterate and confirm these promises over the course of his life.
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And we wanna consider one of those occasions this evening. We've seen the promises made here in verse 12.
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He appears to Abram various times, and then we come to the appearance here in chapter 15.
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So you can turn over to chapter 15 that Pastor Bice read for us a few moments ago.
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I have received real help in studying and looking into Genesis 15.
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Particularly tonight, we're gonna look at the first six verses, but I wanted us to see something of the context.
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But I pray that tonight I can relate to you something of the comfort and help and encouragement that is found in these verses for the people of God as we conclude our time together this week.
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I pray God comforts, encourages, challenges, and speaks peace to your heart today as he has to my own in looking at these verses together.
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There are some reminders in this passage which should nourish the souls of all of God's people today.
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There are things to challenge us here as well, I trust we'll see, but this is rich. May the Holy Spirit help us to come together and see it tonight.
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Now, just before we dig in to some of these promises that God makes to Abram, these profound blessings and promises are only for God's children.
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They are for those who are the, as we saw, the seed of the woman, those who are in the ark, those who are in Christ, those who are trusting in him, those who are descendants of Abraham by faith.
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And if that's not you tonight, if you're not trusting in Christ, then the rich blessings that we're going to dig into here,
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God helping us, are not for you. They're only for the people of God.
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And so my prayer for you is that you would see something of the sweetness of what is held out here for God's people and find joy and peace in coming to Christ in faith yourself and receiving these blessings and then getting to live out these challenges with us as we walk the road that leads to glory with our
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Savior Christ. And so let's look at these things, the first six verses of Genesis 15.
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I'm not gonna reread them, we'll read some of them as we go here. And here's what we wanna see,
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I don't expect you to remember all this, we'll repeat them as we go. There's a word from God, there's a call or a command, there's a promise, there's a question or a complaint, there's a promise with a picture, and then a response.
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Now some of these things are from God to Abram and some are from Abram to God, and I trust we'll make that clear as we go.
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But the first thing is a word from God here in verse one. After these things, the word of the
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Lord came to Abram in a vision. Now God has already spoken to Abram previously, we just saw some of that in Genesis chapter 12, you could look back at chapter 13 and see another word from God to Abram, this is
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Genesis 13 verses 14 through 16. The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, lift up your eyes and look from a place where you are northward and southward and eastward and westward for all the land that you see,
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I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted.
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So God has spoken to Abram at various points reminding him of the different promises that he's making to him.
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Those were covenant promises, that word covenant wasn't used before chapter 15, but here in chapter 15 that word is used, look down at verse 18 again.
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So we're back in chapter 15 verse 18, on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying to your offspring,
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I give this land and he starts to define the boundaries of it and the inhabitants of the land as it was then.
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So this chapter is focusing on God's covenant promises, two of them in particular about offspring for Abraham and the land.
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His offspring and the land, and the people and a place. I think maybe I heard Pastor Bice saying recently.
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Is that your two? People, place, and then, or posterity? Posterity, place, and purpose.
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Yeah, so I don't alliterate as well as he does. So yeah, here's two of the promises, posterity and a place.
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And we're not going to focus on the place promise, that comes in the second part of the chapter. We're going to focus on the promise of offspring and descendants in verses one through six.
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How does God communicate that promise? Well, God speaks here to Abram by way of a vision in verse one.
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God has a word for him, and so what's communicated in the vision is the word of the
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Lord to Abram. So there is a word from the Lord here. Now, before we get to the content of that word that God has for Abram, just be encouraged by this.
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And we saw this back in Genesis 1 .1 that God is a God who reveals himself.
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He has not stayed silent, he has spoken. And that should encourage us. We don't have to figure out this life on our own with no direction from the one who made us and put us here.
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No, he communicates exactly who he is, who we are, what he expects of us, what he provides for us, and it's so kind and gracious and good of him to do that.
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Now, I suspect that most of you in this room have probably always had a copy of God's word, a copy of the
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Bible in your hands, in your home. It's commonplace for us. It's ordinary.
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I can't remember a moment in my life when I've not had access to the word of God.
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But don't let that make you take it for granted. So easy to take it for granted.
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Instead, we should thank God every time we pick this up to read it, hear it read, hear it preached.
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Thank you, Lord, that you have spoken. That there's a word from God that we're not in the dark.
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So God has spoken. But what does he say to Abraham? Well, it's deeply comforting.
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So we come second. So there's a word from God. That's the first thing. Second, there's a call or a command.
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Fear not, Abram. Fear not. Why does he tell Abram not to be afraid?
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Maybe some troubling circumstance that Abram is facing? Sometimes that just comes with the appearance of an angel, comes the reassurance, don't be afraid.
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You read all the appearances of the angel surrounding the birth of Christ. And in every one of them,
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I think, it says, don't be afraid. Because the appearance of an angel is, it's a fearful thing.
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Some of our ideas of angels are kind of cuddly and not really fearful.
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They're just bright and shiny and nice. And when an angel appears in scripts, you sort of take a step or two back.
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Maybe you fall on your face. And they say, don't be afraid. Maybe that's what's going on here.
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God appears to Abram in a vision. Fear not, Abram. Maybe, given the dialogue that follows here, maybe
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Abram is fearing the reality that he doesn't have any offspring. And he doesn't have any land.
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He's still a sojourner. Even though God has promised those things, maybe that has Abram somewhat afraid.
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Whatever the source of his fear, how gracious of God to meet him with this challenge, this call, this encouragement, this command, fear not.
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Some ways I want to spend the rest of the night here. Fear not. It's my understanding that fear not, do not be afraid, don't be anxious, don't worry.
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Some variation of that is the most frequent command in all of Scripture.
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It depends on how you count. I'm not going to give you a number tonight, but man, it is in there a lot. And even when it's not directly a command or an encouragement to not be afraid, you've got things like Psalm 56 .3.
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When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. The Bible has lots to say about our fear.
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That's encouraging to someone like me. You all have gotten to know me a little bit this week.
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I'll just tell you. I do battle daily with anxiety and fear, hate it.
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And I love though that God reminds me again and again and again and again.
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You start watching for it as you read, you'll see it. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, don't be afraid.
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Now, should that make us feel guilty or should it make us feel hopeful?
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It is a command. And we, or at least I, fall so short.
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We fear when we should not. We fear the wrong things. We're afraid of men when we should fear
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God. And so we're reminded here when we're commanded to not be afraid that we do need to repent and grow in faith as we see
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Abram, I think, do before our very eyes in this passage. But I think that this is as much an encouragement as it is a command.
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God gives us a steady drumbeat of fear not, fear not, fear not,
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I think to lift us up, not to beat us down. What a kind Heavenly Father.
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He knows our nature, he knows our fearful nature that he knew that I was gonna need to be reminded again and again and again.
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And we could keep going for all the fear nots in Scripture. And God is kind to come and remind us.
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Why do I think that? Well, the command to not fear is often accompanied by a reason that is designed to stir us to strong faith.
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Watch for that too as you read. Just listen to some of the reasons God gives us not to be afraid.
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The ones in this passage are powerful reasons. I'm your shield, your reward is great. I wanna get there in a moment. But just listen to some of the other ones that if you read through, you're gonna see it says fear not for, because, and then there's a reason that, and it's almost always centered on God.
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Fear not for I, the Lord your God am with you wherever you go. Listen to some of these promises that are attached in Scripture to the command to fear not.
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Sometimes they're before the command, don't be afraid. Sometimes after, watch for that as you read. So here's some of the promises that are attached to don't be afraid.
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Fear not, I am with you and will bless you. See the salvation of the
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Lord. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go. The Lord will be your confidence.
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I am the one who helps you. I love Isaiah 41, three. For I, the
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Lord your God, hold your right hand. It is I who say to you, fear not.
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I am the one who helps you. You see how that sounds more to me? It's a command, fear not.
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But how God uses that to encourage us, it's I who say to you, you don't need to be afraid.
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There's more, I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. Fear not, your prayer has been heard.
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Fear not, you've found favor with God. Fear not, this is Jesus. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
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Fear not, behold, your king is coming. Don't be afraid, I am the first and the last.
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Those reasons all have God at the root. Fear not, why not? God, that's why not.
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Because he is and he is with us. You notice God isn't saying we don't have reasons for fear.
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We do, that's why we need the constant reminders. But we have greater reasons not to fear. God is greater than your greatest fear.
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Before we zoom in on the promises he gives here that he attaches to it here, we should note that there is absolutely reason to be afraid if God is not your trust, the one in whom your hope lies.
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The people in Noah's day, they needed to be afraid of the coming wrath. If you're not trusting
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Christ to forgive your sin and your rebellion against God, you should be afraid.
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Now, what reasons does God give us here for Abram to not be afraid? Thirdly, we've got a promise, right?
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A word from God, a call, or a command, and now a promise. It continues in verse one.
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Fear not, Abram, I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great.
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Your translation may be a little different, hang on. So he's a shield to Abram, and either, like the
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ESV has here, his reward will be very great, or the Lord Himself is
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Abram's very great reward. There's no verbs in that phrase in Hebrew, and so you kind of got to supply them, and so it's kind of tricky to, let me just read it without the verbs.
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This is kind of a literal translation here. Do not fear, Abram. And here's where the verbs disappear.
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I shield to you your reward powerfully great.
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So it's either I am a shield and your reward, or I'm your shield and your reward is great.
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And I think it could go either way. And either way, God is the source of his great reward.
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Either it's God Himself, or God is providing it to him. Let's think about the shield part for a moment.
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Shield is exactly what you would expect. In Scripture, a literal shield is used in battle to protect the one who wields it against sword, arrow, or it's used of God as the shield of his people, a vivid picture of protection.
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In Genesis, we're not working our way through all of it, so we haven't covered chapter 14 here, but Abram has just returned from a battle where he likely would have seen shields, maybe he had wielded one himself.
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And God says, I'm your shield. Oh, that's vivid imagery.
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Because he had probably just been protected by a shield in the battle that he had just been involved in.
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God repeats it later for his people. Psalm 28 and verse seven. The Lord is my strength and my shield.
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In him my heart trusts and I am helped. Second Samuel 22, 31. This God, his way is perfect.
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The word of the Lord proves true. He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
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What a comfort to Abram. And brothers and sisters, for all of us, these promises are not just for him, but I believe for all of Abram's children by faith.
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That's you and me. Read Romans four, Galatians three. It's inescapable that the children of Abraham are not just physical descendants of Abraham.
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The true children of Abraham are those who have the faith of Abraham. And so if you have faith in Christ like Abram did, then these promises are for you, for God's children.
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The children of Abraham by faith. And so, and then, of course, God's repeated them. We just read from the
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Psalms and from Second Samuel. That he is the shield for his people.
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Brothers and sisters in Christ, he is your shield. When life threatens to overwhelm you, the
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Lord is your shield. When a court case threatens your religious liberty, the
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Lord is your shield. When you are cheated, he is your shield.
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When you're falsely accused, the Lord is your shield. When you are abused, the
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Lord will be your shield. When a friend or loved one or family member betrays or hurts you deeply, you can find shelter.
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In the Lord, he is your shield. Some of those are pretty heavy.
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Here's one that's a little bit lighter in the middle of some of the heavy ones. When there is no coffee, the
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Lord is your shield. It's true. When you endure another sleepless night, he is your shield.
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When the bill comes and there is no money to pay it, he is your shield. When the medical diagnosis comes and there is no hope, he is your shield.
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When just sort of the normal, ordinary pressures of life become big and not so ordinary because they've all piled up, the
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Lord is your shield and your reward.
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God is or will provide your very great reward. What a comfort again to Abram who has not yet seen the fulfillment of God's promises to him.
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Like, where's the offspring? Where's the land? I'm your reward, Abraham. Your reward will be great.
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Don't worry. Don't be afraid. Your reward will be great, powerfully great.
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And you, friend, may be missing out on the wealth and pleasure of this world, maybe legitimate things in this world or illegitimate ones.
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God's got your reward. Your inheritance is secure in him. And that's where you want to be looking for satisfaction and fulfillment.
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You don't need that sinful pleasure. You have him. And when you don't get what you could legitimately deserve or have that's not necessarily sinful, and you don't have that, he is or will provide your very great reward.
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When life is deeply unsatisfying and miserable, he is or will provide your very great reward.
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When sickness robs you of health and vitality and energy and strength, he is or will provide your very great reward.
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When you're frustrated by the hard and the bitterness of life, he is or will provide your very great reward.
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Don't be afraid. When it seems his promises are not coming true, he is or he will provide your very great reward.
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Drew a comfort in this passage. There's some challenge here too, I think, for us. Where are your joy and your satisfaction?
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I am convinced there is a direct link between our fear and how attached we are to earthly comforts and protections.
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I wish I lived like I believe it. Let me say it again.
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I think there's a direct link between our fear and how attached we are to earthly comforts and protections.
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The more taken we are with the pleasures, even legitimate ones, not necessarily sinful ones, of this life, the less peace and more fear we will have.
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How are you if you don't get your coffee? How are you if you can't have your music playing?
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How frustrated are you when you find your earbuds aren't charged and you can't have your music or your podcast or whatever you like to listen to going?
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How are you doing? How are you if your team doesn't win? I don't know.
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We've got some sports fans in our church. Maybe there aren't any here. It can be a thing. I'm one.
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How are you if a certain person doesn't affirm you? How are you if dinner isn't ready on time?
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When we seek satisfaction apart from God and his reward, that will leave us unsatisfied and anxious.
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The more dependent we are on other things, the security offered by healthcare and IRAs and bank accounts and budgets, the less peace we will have.
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Listen, I have all of those things, okay? I'm not saying we shouldn't. But how are you when the stock market is down?
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How are you when you have to visit the doctor because you just can't get better? How are you when there's more money that needs to go out than you can see coming in?
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The more we're resting on God, our shield and reward, the greater our peace will be. The more we are resting on those, again, legitimate earthly comforts.
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Enjoy that cup of coffee. The more we depend on earthly comforts and security, the greater our anxiety will be because those things are all uncertain.
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God is shield and great reward. That is certain, can't be moved. So if you put your trust on things that are uncertain, you can be afraid.
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Put it on things that are certain, no need for fear. The other things are a false foundation for confidence and peace, but God is never a false foundation.
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He cannot be moved. He may not move at the pace we would like, but he will move according to his plan in his time for our good and for his glory, period.
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And so if your faith is in the things of the world and not in Christ, no peace and great fear.
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That's further reason for you to flee to Christ if your hope is not in him tonight, as we've been seeing all week.
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So God tells Abram, fear not, Abram, and the next word out of his mouth is I. He is the answer to your fear and to mine.
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If you're looking to feed your joy and alleviate your fear, some other way, something else, you're looking in the wrong place.
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And so what a comfort that should be to us as God's people. I want you to feel the challenge of it tonight.
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We've got our security in the wrong place. We need to more and more be shifting that security into God and to Christ, but I want you to feel the comfort as well.
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God is your shield and great reward, even when, listen, it's true, even when our weak faith doesn't change the nature of God.
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So he's your shield, a great reward, whether you're at peace with that reality or not, and that should comfort you.
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He's got you the whole way, and he's not gonna leave you or forsake you.
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Don't be afraid. I, the Lord your God, am with you. Always true, whether we believe it in that moment or not.
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Take heart, people of God. Abram has a question now. And so a word from God, a call.
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Or a command, a promise. And now a question or a complaint from Abram. God's words, prompts, maybe a sort of surprising reply from Abram here.
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I think it's an honest one, though, and I think it's instructive for us. Speaking of reward,
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Lord, what about the one that you promised? Here are verses two and three. But Abram said, oh,
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Lord God, what will you give me? For I continue childless. In the air of my house is Eleazar of Damascus, and Abram said, behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.
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And later, he's gonna ask him about the land. They say, verse eight, he said, oh,
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Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it? He's got questions. God's made the promise.
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You ever had questions about God's promises because they haven't been fulfilled yet? Abram does.
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He knows the promise, that he would be a great nation, that he would give the land to his offspring, that his offspring would be like the dust of the earth we saw in chapter 13.
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But he has no son yet, no heir. One from his household, probably one of his servants, is gonna have to be adopted by Abram to be like his son, to be an heir.
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As things stand now for Abram. So God, what will you give me? Where is this reward? It seems like God's promises are not and will not be fulfilled.
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That's what it seems like to Abram. What's up? I love
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Matthew Henry here. He says, true believers. Abram's a true believer. True believers sometimes find it hard to reconcile
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God's promises and his providences when they seem to disagree.
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You ever been there? God's promise says this, and everything in my life says, no.
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Sometimes it's hard to reconcile. It's okay to admit that. So Abram brings this question or complaint to God.
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For Abram, the lack of offspring directly challenges the truth of God's promise that he would have offspring.
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But he goes to the right place with this question. God has come to him in a vision. So he asks him, what do you do when you doubt?
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We've questioned God's promises before. If not out loud, then perhaps inwardly. And before we see
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God's response to this, I just want you to be encouraged to come to God with your question, and yes, even your complaint, rightly understood.
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A whole bunch of the Psalms are given to, Psalms, they're called laments. And at the heart of lament is a complaint.
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There's something that doesn't match between God's promises and his providence. And so the psalmist is like, why have you hidden your face from me?
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Take that to God. God already knows what you're thinking.
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You're not gonna tell him, he's not gonna be surprised. Like, oh, oh, you're doubting? Oh, we got a problem.
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He knows. Tell him. Talk to him about it. Tell him, bring his promise to him.
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Say, Lord, you promised this. This is what my life looks like, and I don't know how to make sense of that. Bring it to him.
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God welcomes Abram. He welcomes the psalmist's laments.
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Jeremiah's laments. And he welcomes yours.
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Better by far to take it to him and talk to him about it like Abram does here. Now, I don't mean like angry, like, you're getting this wrong,
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Lord. No, no, not like, I know better. And so, what gives? Not that, but like,
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Lord, Lord, I don't understand. It's okay to say that to God.
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Go to him. Abram says, well, I'm gonna be a great nation.
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I don't have one kid. Heir of my house is a servant. And I love
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God's response. It's, fifthly now, a promise and a picture. God has an answer for Abram, and it's sweet.
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A promise and a picture. So, a word from God, a call, or a command. A promise, a complaint, or a question.
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And now, a promise and a picture together. God doesn't put
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Abram in his place and say, you should not question me. I promised it, believe it. Don't ask me that again.
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It's not what God says. There's not even a rebuke. Sometimes we need a rebuke.
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Jesus rebukes his disciples at some point. Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? Sometimes we need that. It's not what
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God does here. Look at what he does in verse four. And behold, the word of the
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Lord came to him. He speaks again. He doesn't clam up, he's like, oop, Abram's questioned me, I'm not gonna talk to him anymore.
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No, he speaks again. The word of the Lord came to him. This man shall not be your heir. Your very own son shall be your heir.
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A little more literal here, the New King James was closer. One who comes from your own inward parts, from your bowels.
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He's gonna be your biological son. Your seed, Abram, is going to be your heir.
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Nothing, there's nothing wrong with adoption. And this passage shouldn't be used to argue against adoption.
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But that wasn't God's path for Abram. And so God reveals that to him.
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And God doubles down on his promise here. You don't need a shortcut, Abram, as you advance. Listen, still 24 years away from the birth of Isaac at this point.
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There's still 20. We wait long for some of our promises to be fulfilled. There's still, and there's been years before this, before the first promise was made.
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So 24 years still to go. And so listen, Abram. You're gonna get older.
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And the likelihood of this promise being fulfilled biologically is gonna get smaller and smaller as you get older and older.
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But it's gonna be your biological son that will be your heir. My promise about your seed will literally be fulfilled.
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But then God doesn't stop there. He's so kind. Look at verse five. And he brought him outside and said, look toward heaven and number the stars if you are able to number them.
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And he said to him, so shall your offspring be. Takes Abram outside, has him look to the heaven and count the stars.
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You ever tried to count the stars? Go out on a clear night sometime. Get out in the country.
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Away from the city, away from the lights, and try to count the stars. And you get frustrated pretty quick.
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You'll be like, I can't even get, I can't even count all the ones like right in that little section of the sky there. And then there's the whole of the sky.
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And you're not even seeing all the stars that there are. That, Abram, that's what your offspring will be like.
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It's like the example of the dust in chapter 13. I love that God created his world full of illustrations and examples that help us to understand his word and his promise.
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That's no accident, by the way. When God created the stars, one of the reasons he created the stars was so that he could use them as an illustration for Abram.
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He didn't just later go, oh, I've got the stars. I could use that to encourage him. Like God is sovereign over everything, everything.
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Even the things that he uses as illustrations. The dust, the stars, all of that's part of God's plan.
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To use it to encourage here, Abram. What condescension that is.
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Could God have rebuked Abram here? Sure. Could he have given sort of a terse answer with no explanation? Nope, you're gonna have a son.
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Yes, but that's not what he does. He gives him the promise again. And a picture. And that's what you should remember when you look at God's creation, including the stars and the heavens.
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Nothing is too hard for him. Not even a multitude of descendants coming from an old man who has no children.
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And by the way, again, we're his offspring by faith. You see it.
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Romans 4, Galatians 3. We don't have time to do that tonight. And it's certainly not original to me.
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I don't remember where I first heard it. But you know what Abram was looking at when he was looking at the stars? He was looking at you.
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And me. He said, your descendants are gonna be like that. You're right here in Genesis chapter 15.
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If you're a child of God. Abram was looking at you. Looking at me. This is your
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God, brothers and sisters, and he stoops to your need. Come with your questions. He's got answers and encouragements.
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I love how Jesus says very similar things to what we see here. Should we be surprised he's
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God? But listen to Jesus. Matthew 6, from the Sermon on the Mount. Therefore I tell you.
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Here's three of those instances of the repeated command. Encouragement.
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Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. What you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on is not life more than food and the body more than clothing.
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Look at the birds of the air. Don't be anxious.
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If you're not, look. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and your heavenly
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Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Therefore do not be anxious, saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?
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I'm skipping through the verses here, but therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.
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Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Fear not, plus reasons for not fearing, plus some illustrations and examples to remind us, to encourage us.
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Is God good? What do you do when you doubt?
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I hope you go to God. You see how he receives his people, a promise and a picture are held out to you.
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May we find comfort in this and may we then lastly respond like Abram did. So the last thing here in these first six verses a response, verse six, and he believed the
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Lord and he counted it to him as righteousness. A word from God, a call or command, a promise, a question, another promise with a picture and now a response from Abram.
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He believed. I mentioned this. Jesus did rebuke his disciples in their doubt.
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Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? But they did have faith, even if it was little faith and so did
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Abram whose faith, even after this, waxes and wanes. Again, still 24 years or so before Isaac is gonna be born to Abram and Sarah, but there is faith here and if you keep reading in Genesis, there are gonna be times where you just kind of want to go.
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Come on, man. Kind of like us.
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Strong face sometimes, weaker other times. Do some really boneheaded things.
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Have to repent, find forgiveness. So Abram's faith is gonna wax and wane, but it's there.
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He has faith by God's grace. Do you? Do we believe?
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Say, yes, I believe. Not like we should? Yes. Ask God for greater faith.
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Tell him about your weak faith. Our walk through the Christian life is a journey from fear to faith with a lot of ups and downs in between.
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May God deepen our faith day by day. Here's the encouraging thing. Even that small faith lays hold of the great promises of God.
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Again, the measure of your faith doesn't change who God is. Even small faith, weak faith, stumbling faith, doubting faith, lays hold of the promises of God.
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And God credits it to him as righteousness. He acknowledges Abram's faith. Paul's gonna use this verse in the
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New Testament, part of his case for justification, by faith and not by works. You can read it in Romans 4,
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Galatians 3. That's how Paul interprets this, and it fits with what we know of Abram's faith later. It's not such amazing faith that saves
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Abram. It's that his faith lays hold of an amazing God, even though his faith is fickle and flawed.
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What an amazing reality that we who do not deserve any good, any promises fulfilled, any deliverance from our sin against God, God comes to us so completely and utterly undeserving with forgiveness freely offered.
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What a promise. And he calls us to believe. He calls you tonight to believe.
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That forgiveness is offered to you today. May we believe unto salvation.
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May our faith grow then as we walk with him day by day until he returns. Remember, the very nature of faith is that it looks away from ourselves.
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We don't get credit for receiving a gift, and that's what faith does. It receives the gift and promise of God.
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That's what Abram's faith did. And even that faith is a gift that we don't get to take credit for.
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No faith tonight. You're here, you know you're not trusting in Jesus. Beg God to grant it.
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Jesus says, repent and believe. Turn from your sin and turn to Christ. Put your faith in him. See that there's something far better than the fear that you're living in, if you're honest.
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Maybe you're able to bury that fear sometimes, but in the moment when it is quiet, when you try to put your head on your pillow and go to sleep, be honest, and you'll see that you're afraid with good reason.
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Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved from your sin, and you too will be a recipient of these sweet promises of God.
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Brothers and sisters, the road from fear to faith is only traversed in the power of God.
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It's because of his power and promise and trustworthiness and kind condescension that we are not still wallowing in fear and doubt and sin.
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Still doing battle with it, but God has pulled us out of that and set us on the path that leads to life, and it's his work from first to last.
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Receive by faith. And having received it, as long as we are in this life, we've said it, that faith will not be perfect.
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There's room for it to grow. I pray almost daily,
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Lord, I believe, help my humble. There's still too much of fear in us and not enough of faith, but even as Abram's faith waxes and wanes, so does ours.
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He's not justified by his works, and neither are we, but his faith did have fruit, and so will ours by God's grace, increasing all the more until we're glorified, when we die or when
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Jesus returns, until then. I believe, help my unbelief.
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Where are you resting? I pray it's in the power of God by faith, not fearing, because of him, who is our shield and is and provides our very great reward.
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These truly are eternal realities, and I pray God gives us grace to embrace his truth, regarding them and comfort us with them.
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Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for stooping down to strengthen our weak faith.
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Thank you for receiving our questions and our complaints. Thank you for answering us with your word.
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We pray that our joy and satisfaction and hope and confidence would be found in you, you who are our shield.
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Thank you for the great reward that's coming. Move us more and more from fear to faith. We pray that you would move some to faith for the first time tonight, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
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Number 31 in your supplement kept coming to my mind as Pastor Hoke was speaking.
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He will hold me fast. When I fear, my faith will fail.
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Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail, he will hold me fast.
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I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path, fearful path.
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My love is often cold. He must hold me fast. That second stanza, in the middle of the stanza, he'll not let my soul be lost.
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His promises shall last. Let's stand together as we sing, shall we?
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Number 31, your blue book. He will hold me fast. When I fear, my faith will fail.
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He will hold me fast.
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He must hold me fast.
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When the tempter would prevail, he will hold me fast.
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I could never keep my hold For your life
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He bled and died, and He will hold you fast. Are you trusting in Him? As Pastor Hoke exhorted you, if not, trust
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Him tonight. In Christ justice has been satisfied, and in Him you're raised to endless life.
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And He will hold you fast till that faith is turned to sight when He comes.
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One of His promises is, I shall come quickly. On the last.
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For my life, Christ will hold me fast.
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Justice has been satisfied. He will hold me fast till that faith is turned to sight.
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When He comes at last, He will hold me fast.
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Even though my
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Savior loves me so. Thank you,
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Pastor Hoke, for breaking away from your church. I know that's a hard thing to do, and get away for a few days and come someplace else to preach.
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New faces, new people, strange situation. We've appreciated the ministry greatly.
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Thank you for coming. Our Father and our God, we do thank you for the great promises that are ours in Christ Jesus.
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And we thank you that your promises hold firm, even when our faith is weak.
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We thank you that our Savior's hold of us is much stronger than our hold of ourselves.
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Thank you that He will hold us fast. Thank you for the rich promises that you have given to your people, even expressed through your servant, to your servant,
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Abram. So Father, bless these thoughts to our hearts tonight. Bless the messages we've heard.
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May they linger in our minds, in our remembrance. And may you continue to grow us in grace and knowledge of Christ.
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And Father, if there would be one here, one listening even on livestream, that is outside of Christ, that has not yet come to Him, oh may they come even tonight, even before they close their eyes and sleep tonight.
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Give them no rest, give them no sleep, until they call out to you, turn from sin, call upon Jesus to save them even tonight.
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And He shall. So dismiss us now with your blessing. We ask it in Jesus' name and for His sake.