I Am Thy Shield

If you don't have a Bible with you, just grab that Bible out of the pew row in front of you.

It's going to be real easy. It's not going to be hard to find.

We're going to go to Genesis, which is the first book of the Bible.

And we're going to go to Genesis chapter 14.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

And we're going to start reading there in verse 11.

One thing I want you to know is that I wouldn't be up here talking about what we're going to talk about today

if it wasn't God who was working on my own heart first about these things.

Genesis chapter 14, and we're going to start in verse 11.

Genesis 14 · chapter mention

And just a little bit of context here to sort of find out where we are in Scripture here.

God has called Abraham to a land which was foreign to him.

He went there with Lot, his relative, close relative.

The two families essentially became too large, the Bible says, for the land to keep them together.

Any of you who are familiar with cattle and people and farming and all of those kind of things

understand that it takes space.

And so following a number of disputes between their workers,

they said, look, you know, to save our relationship, let's split up here a little bit.

And so Lot decided to go one way and Abraham went the other way.

And God is beginning at this point in Scripture to show us how he is building, creating his nation Israel through Abraham.

Abraham. And in the course of this time, there is a number of peoples in the area, a number of kings and their kingdoms.

And they go to war against each other.

There seemed to be sort of a main king that kind of subdued these other ones in history.

And they were all kind of under his control.

But there's this rebellion that occurs.

And a group of kings fight this other king and a group of kings.

And so there's this war going on.

And in the midst of this war, kings of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Lot resides, get pulled into this war.

And Lot and his family and all he has gets taken away as plunder, as capture.

And so Abraham hears about this.

And so we're going to sort of start in this place here in verse 11.

And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their victuals and went their way.

And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom and his goods and departed.

And there came one that escaped and told Abram.

This is before God changes his name to Abraham.

Told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol, the brother of Aner.

And these were confederate with Abram.

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house,

three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them and pursued them unto Chobah,

which is on the left hand of Damascus.

And he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother Lot and his goods,

and the women also and the people.

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlorum.

I'm not very good with the names, so let's just roll with it here.

And the kings that were with him in the valley of Shaven, which is the king's dale.

And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God,

and blessed him, and said,

Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth,

and blessed be the Most High God, which delivered thine enemies into thy hand.

And he gave him tithes of all.

And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods of thyself.

And Abram said to the king, I have lifted up mine hands unto the Lord, the Most High God,

the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even a shoe latchet,

and I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou should say, I have made Abram rich,

save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which were with me,

Aner, Eshtal, and Mamre.

Let them take their portion.

After these things, we're into chapter 15 here now.

After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying,

Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless,

and the steward of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?

And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born of my house is mine heir.

And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir,

but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

I was reading this a couple weeks ago, and there was this statement that I saw in here

that really caught a hold of me.

And it is found in verse 1 of chapter 15, when God says to Abram,

I am thy shield.

I am thy shield, God says.

And so my head began to just go in a tailspin,

and to think about all the times in my own life

where I could say that that was true of God,

that he was my shield.

And then I thought, knowing that this day was coming,

that I thought, is this maybe what the Lord would have me speak about?

And again, I wouldn't be speaking to you about it today

unless I felt that the Lord had worked on my heart about it.

But first and foremost, what I want to make sure that everybody understands about a shield

is a shield is only good if you choose to be behind it.

If you choose to partake of the shelter and the protection that a shield gives.

Most of you know my profession,

and if I choose not to put on the shielding that I am given,

very bad things can happen.

If you choose not to put on the shield of a seatbelt in a car

and you get into a car wreck,

very bad things can happen.

So I thought it was very profound that God says,

I am thy shield,

because a shield is a perfect example of what God has done for us

in that it is there,

it is available,

but it is also up to you to decide if you want to partake of it.

Partake of the protection of God's shield.

The first thing that came to my mind

is God's shield of salvation.

The Bible clearly states that all of us are in need of salvation.

All of us are in need of forgiveness of our sins,

of being counted as righteous and holy,

so that we might one day be able to be accepted

into the presence of God for all eternity.

Romans 3 says two very profound things.

Romans 3 says,

as it is written,

there is none righteous,

no, not one.

So,

unless somehow you feel like you are

excused from that count,

there is none of us

that are righteous and holy

before a righteous and holy God.

Romans 3 also says that

all have sinned,

and all have come short of the glory of God.

And God says,

because of my love,

I have a shield for that.

I have offered a shield of protection for that.

the second verse I read,

that for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Thank goodness,

praise the Lord,

that it doesn't end there.

It says,

being justified freely by his grace

through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

You see,

God knows that

we are in need

of his shield of salvation.

And so he has provided it

through Christ Jesus.

Now,

you may be listening here today,

or maybe later,

if this is posted on the internet,

you may think that by chance

your,

what we call works,

your behavior,

your conduct in this life

is going to be enough

of a shield for you

to be

shielded from God's judgment.

The problem with that

is where is your gauge?

How do you know enough good works?

How do you know enough good behavior?

How do you know enough charity?

And enough love for your fellow mankind?

How do you know when is enough?

And how do you gauge that versus your sin?

How do you know when the scales are balanced?

Ephesians chapter 2 says,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

For grace are ye saved,

through faith,

and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift,

God's shield.

It is the gift of God,

not of works,

lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship,

created in Christ Jesus,

unto good works,

which God hath before

ordained that we should walk in them.

That means that

all of your good works,

all of the good things

that you might be doing,

count for nothing

unless you know Jesus.

And it is only when you know Jesus

as your Lord and Savior,

that we become this new creation

in Christ Jesus,

unto good works.

It is only then

when our good works

in the name of Jesus

count for something.

Perhaps you're listening today

and

you are caught up

in what this world has to offer.

You're caught up in the TikToks

and the Instagrams.

You're caught up into the world of celebrity

or the world of wealth

and business and life.

And

there's a story

about a young man

that comes to Jesus.

They call him

the rich young ruler.

It's from Mark 10.

It says,

And when he was gone forth

into the way,

this is Jesus,

there came one running

and kneeled to him

and asked,

Good master,

what shall I do

that I might inherit

eternal life?

And Jesus said unto him,

Why callest thou me good?

There is none good

but one that is God.

Thou knowest the commandments,

do not commit adultery,

do not kill,

do not steal,

do not bear false witness,

defraud not,

honor thy father

and thy mother.

And he answered him,

the young man,

Master,

all of these I have observed.

I've done all of this

since my youth.

Then Jesus,

beholding him,

loved him

and said unto him,

one thing thou lackest.

Go thy way,

sell whatever,

whatsoever thou hast

and give to the poor

and thou shalt have treasure

in heaven

and come,

take up thy cross

and follow me.

And he was sad

at that saying,

the young man,

and went away grieved

for he had great possessions.

I want you to understand

that although God

is talking about here

in his word,

the interaction between Jesus

and this man

that had much,

this is not specifically

talking about

a wealth

or a poverty

faith in Christ.

Christ.

The reality

of what is being shown here

by this interaction

is this man

loved the things

of this world

more

than Christ.

He was so caught up

with the things

in front of him,

in his case,

it was his possessions,

the life he had created,

the life he was given,

he was so blinded

by what was right

in front of him

that he was not able

to see

what could be

in eternity.

Jesus is not saying

that a life in Christ

is earthly poverty,

but a life

with godly perspective

on what this earth

has to offer.

this is not a prosperity gospel

as some people

like to call it.

This is not saying

you get saved

and you get rich,

but it's also not saying

you get saved

and follow Jesus

that you will be

in poverty.

It's saying that

whether you are

in poverty

as far as this world

considers,

or whether you are

wealthy as far

as this world

considers,

that a life

in Christ

is a perspective

on both of those.

It's a perspective

that when you have

much

or when you have

little,

it means nothing

if you have not Christ.

I'm going to steal

this line

from a poem

of C.T. Studd.

I think I've used it before

and I think pastors

used it before

and I like to add

my other little line

to it,

so I'm going to

kind of hack job

this poem,

but the reality is

there is a statement

in there

and I added to it

this is what I've

come up with

from this poem here.

Everything that's done

in life will pass,

but only what's done

for Christ

will last.

Unfortunately,

this is not even

just a warning

for those

who are unsaved,

but the reality is

this is a reality

for Christians.

How tied up

are we

of the things

of this world?

How much

of our focus

is on earthly

things

as opposed

to eternal

things?

I recently

was having

a conversation

with an unsaved

relative

and they

had purchased

a seasonal

property,

let me just say,

and it was

a place

where they

were hoping

to find rest

and relaxation.

they had purchased

this property

from an individual

estate

who had just

passed

and as they

were going

through this

property

they found

things that

this individual

had left

behind.

And sort of

one night

as we were

discussing it

and he was

talking about

the things

and could see

sort of this

man who had

passed,

he could see

his life

in the things

that he had

in this property

and this

unsaved

relative

said to me,

you never

really own,

do you?

You're always

renting.

We have,

we continue

to pray

for this

relative

of ours.

and

thankful

that he's

starting to

get some

perspective

on this

life

and this

world.

You never

really own,

do you?

You're

always renting.

Don't be

blinded

by this

world

and its

pleasures.

Yes,

God has

given many

of it

for us

to enjoy

and partake

of.

But the

devil has

chosen

the good

things

that God

may have

given us

in this

life

to sometimes

blind us

to the

reality

of

eternity.

Satan

may be

so blinding

you into

securing what

this life

has to

offer

that you

spend

no time

securing

what God

has to

offer

in Jesus

for

eternity.

Hebrews

9 gives

us a

very,

very

sobering

reminder.

It is

appointed

once for

man to

die

and after

that

judgment.

Week

after week

you can

see in

even our

local

newspaper

a new

name in

the

obituaries.

you don't

even have

to wait

every week

every night

every hour

it seems

you can

go to

any kind

of

online

media

outlet

and you

can see

how many

people

how many

precious

souls

are leaving

this world

and entering

into

eternity

minute

after minute

hour

after hour

when is

your

appointment

with

eternity

and

judgment?

It is

appointed

unto man

once to

die.

If you

knew when

that appointment

was I'm

sure you

might be

living a

little

differently

but you

don't

know.

Maybe

perhaps

you

feel

like

your

faith

and

your

religion

and your

belief

in God

somehow

is

your

osmosis

to being

behind

God's

shield

of

salvation.

Well you

know what

the Bible

tells us

that even

the devil

and his

angels

believe in

God.

Believing

in God

is not

simply

enough.

the majority

of this

world's

population

which some

people say

is around

8 billion

believe in

some type

of God.

Believing

in God

is not

enough.

Going to

church

regularly

is not

enough.

Going

to Sunday

school when

you were

younger

is not

enough.

Why are

you here

today?

Are you

here

out of

some

sort

of

obligation?

Some

sort

of

well this

is what

we've

always

done

this

is how

I

was

raised.

Faith

in God

in a

religious

format

is not

enough.

It

simply

is not

enough.

John

14

tells

us

Jesus

talking

to his

disciples

here.

Let your

heart not

be

troubled.

You

believe in

God.

Let me

just stop

there.

The

disciples

are having

this

moment

of trying

to wrap

their heads

around

Father,

Son,

and Holy

Ghost.

And if

you're

God,

how is

he God

in putting

this all

together?

Jesus is

trying to

tell them

here,

let not

your heart

be

troubled.

You

believe in

God,

believe also

in me.

So he's

saying,

you were

believing in

God before

for the

reasons you

were taught

and understood,

God's

God.

I

want you to

understand that

I am the

fulfillment of

God's promise to

man.

So he's saying

here,

if you are,

if you're

already there

and you

believe in

God and

you have a

religious

attitude about

things,

if you're

already there

that you

want to

try and

live a

religious

God-pleasing

life,

then it

really shouldn't

be that

big of an

understanding,

a big of a

jump to

gap to

understand

that Jesus

is the

fulfillment of

all of

God's

promises to

man.

You

believe in

God,

believe also

in me.

In my

Father's

house are

many

mansions.

If it

were not

so,

I would

have told

you,

I go to

prepare a

place for

you.

And if I

go to

prepare a

place for

you,

I will

come again

and receive

you unto

myself.

That where

I am,

ye may be

also,

and whether

I go,

ye know,

you know,

you know

where I'm

going,

is what

Jesus is

saying,

and the

way you

know.

So the

reality is,

if you are

a person

that's been

in a

Bible-believing,

Bible-preaching

church,

you might

even say

that you

believe God.

The reality

is,

is that

Jesus is

saying,

you already

know what

the reality

of the

gospel is.

Thomas said

to him,

we know

whether thou

goest,

and how

can we

know the

way?

Jesus said

unto him,

I am

the way.

I am

the truth,

I am

the life,

and here

it is.

Here's the

difference

between those

who believe

in God

simply because

they've

gone to

Sunday

school,

or they

go to

church

every

holiday.

Jesus

says,

no man

cometh unto

the Father

but by

me.

This is

the difference

between those

who may be

here listening

or listening

later and

believe that

simply because

they believe

in God,

simply because

they go to

church,

that that

is going to

be enough

of a

shield

from God's

judgment.

It's not.

It's

absolutely

not.

And the

devil has

convinced you

that it

might be.

Jesus

saith again,

I am

the way,

the truth,

and the

life.

No man

cometh to

the Father

but by

me.

If he

had known

me,

you should

know my

father

also.

For

from

henceforth

you know

him and

have seen

him.

You

cannot

really know

God

unless you

know

Jesus.

Now,

some of

you might

be saying

here,

well,

Nathan,

you kind

of just

read this

passage in

Genesis and

you kind

of pulled

this phrase

out of

there and

you kind

of just

said,

oh,

let's

just use

this,

coin this

phrase and

we'll just

run with

this.

I want

to show

you here

from God's

own word

how

the things

that happened

in the Old

Testament

tie into

what God

has said

about his

plan for

Jesus,

his son,

and for

us as

New

Testament

Christians.

There is

a central

point in

human

history.

The central

point in

human history

is the

virgin birth

of Jesus

Christ,

his

ministry,

his dying

on the

cross and

shedding his

blood for

our sins,

his

resurrection

after three

days in

the grave.

And so I

believe the

Bible teaches

us that

everyone

before

Christ

would

follow

by faith

in God's

promise

that a

Messiah

would

come.

They are

looking

forward

to

Christ on

the cross

even though

they may

not know

the full

details

thereof.

And anybody

since that

glorious moment

when Christ

conquered death

and conquered

sin is now

looking back

in faith

at the cross.

in Galatians

three it

says,

know ye

therefore

that which

are in

faith

the same

are the

children

of Abraham.

Does anybody

remember that

Sunday school

song,

Father Abraham,

the many

sons?

It's kind

of a funny

pokey song

because everybody

gets up and

you start doing

dance movements

and you're

moving your

arms and

you're spinning

around and

everything else.

Galatians

three.

Galatians

three.

know ye

therefore

that they

which are

in faith

the same

are the

children

of Abraham.

And the

scripture

foreseeing

that God

okay,

this is

God's word

foreseeing

that God

would justify

the heathen

through faith

preacheth

before the

gospel

unto Abraham

saying

in thee

all of the

nations

shall all

the nations

be blessed.

So then

they which

are in faith

are blessed

in faithful

Abraham

for as

many are

as of the

works of

the law

are under

the curse

for as

is written

cursed

is everyone

that continueth

not in all

the things

written in the

book of the

law for them

to do

but that

no man

justified

the law

in the

sight of

God

it is

evident

for the

just

shall live

by faith

and the

law

is not

of faith

but the

man

that doeth

them

shall live

in them

Christ

hath

redeemed

us

from the

curse

of the

law

being made

a curse

for us

for it is

written

cursed is

everyone

that hangeth

on a

tree

that the

blessing

of Abraham

might come

unto the

Gentiles

through

Jesus

Christ

and that

we might

receive the

promise

of the

spirit

through

faith

so you

see

we are

connected

from the

beginning

of scripture

to the

end of

scripture

by the

cross

and by

faith

they

followed

as best

as humanly

possible

the law

that God

had given

them

trusting

that God

would

ultimately

bring

Jesus

Christ

to earth

to make

up for

what they

could not

do

and that

was be

holy

and righteous

God

was calling

separating

apart

for himself

a people

who lived

by these

laws

the commandments

that we read

earlier

and even

some of the

other

Levitical

laws

sort of

the

lifestyle

laws

that they

lived

by

and it

was by

faith

in God's

promise

through

Abraham

that Jesus

would come

it is the

same faith

that we

have

looking

back

believing

that Jesus

did come

and he did

accomplish on

the cross

that which he

was sent

for

in Romans

4

it says

that

Abraham's

faith

was counted

to him

as

righteousness

as further

evidence

of what

I believe

the Bible

teaches

us here

even the

people in

the Old

Testament

it wasn't

just

believing

in God

it was

believing

in God's

promise

that a

Messiah

would

come

a

Savior

would

come

it was

believing

that a

perfect

and holy

sacrifice

without

blemish

and without

sin

would become

sin for

us

so that

we would

have an

opportunity

to stand

behind God's

shield of

salvation

protection

again

that is a

shield that

you have

to choose

to get

behind

that is a

shield that

you have

to

accept

and choose

to partake

of its

protection

I wonder

if you're

not saved

here today

I wonder

what's your

shield

what are you

hiding behind

are you

hiding behind

some

lame

excuse

of

your stuff

or your

good works

or

are you

just blinded

to the fact

that at some

point you're

going to have

to meet God

face to

face

Philippians 2

says let

this mind

be in you

which is

also in

Christ Jesus

who being

in the

form of

God

thought it

not robbery

to be

equal with

God

but made

himself

of no

reputation

and took

upon him

the form

of a

servant

and was

made in

the likeness

of men

and being

found in

the fashion

as a

man

he humbled

himself

became

obedient

unto

death

even

death

on the

cross

wherefore

God

also

hath

highly

exalted

him

and

given

him

the

name

which

is

above

every

name

and

at

the

name

of

Jesus

every

knee

should

bow

of

things

of

heaven

and

things

of

earth

and

things

under

earth

and

that

every

tongue

should

confess

that

Jesus

Christ

is

Lord

a

number

of

years

ago

I

excuse

me

I

was

asked

to

say

a

few

words

at

my

great

aunt's

funeral

I

don't

know

how I

got

picked

for

that

job

but

nevertheless

it

seemed

pretty

evident

to

us

that

my

great

aunt

was

not

saved

she

never

at

one

point

in

her

life

put

her

faith

and

trust

in

the

finished

work

of

Jesus

Christ

this

was

my

grandfather's

sister

my

grandfather

after

leaving

the

military

became

a

pastor

or

left

the

military

to

become

a

pastor

and

having

pretty

much

retired

from

that

by

the

time

his

sister

had

passed

I

said

to

him

what

am

I

supposed

to

say

what

am

I

supposed

to

say

at

an

unsaved

person's

funeral

what

do

you

say

there

is

no

hope

like

the

reality

is

is

that

I

could

lie

and

make

it

sound

all

nice

and

cushy

or

I

could

tell

the

truth

and

my

grandfather

said

to

me

he

said

I've

been

asked

to

do

funerals

before

people

who

we

believed

did

not

know

the

Lord

Jesus

and

he

said

one

thing

that

I've

always

said

is

this

you

can

be

sure

without

a

shadow

of a

doubt

now

they

know

now

they

know

and

so

my

plea

to

you

here

today

if

you

are

not

saved

is

simply

this

2nd

Corinthians

verse 6

says

we

then

as

workers

together

with

him

beseech

you

also

that

you

receive

not

the

grace

of

God

in

vain

if

you

are

listening

to

this

you

are

at

the

point

where

you

can

receive

God's

grace

grace

I

am

sharing

with

you

God's

grace

is

it

going

to

be

in

vain

verse

2

says

for

he

saith

I

have

heard

thee

in

an

accepted

time

and

in

the

day

of

salvation

have

I

succored

thee

behold

now

is

the

accepted

time

behold

now

is

the

day

of

salvation

if

I

could

promise

you

that

you

have

this

afternoon

if

I

could

promise

you

that

you

have

next

week

or

next

year

then

you

could

maybe

somehow

rationally

think

that

I'll

accept

Christ

later

but

I

cannot

promise

you

more

over

there's

a

favorite

hymn

that

talks

about

this

that

I

that

I

like

this

is

for

you

who

might

be

listening

today

who's

outside

of

Christ

and

you've

been

beaten

up

by

this

world

it

says

oh

soul

are

you

weary

troubled

there's

no

light

in

the

darkness

you

see

there's

light

for

look

at

the

Savior

and

life

more

abundant

and

free

turn

your

eyes

upon

Jesus

look

full

in

his

wonderful

face

and

the

things

of

this

world

will

grow

strangely

dim

in

the

light

of

his

glory

and

grace

God

is

our

shield

and

salvation

for

those

of

you

who

are

saved

here

today

I

didn't

get

off

the

hook

when

I

read

this

so

neither

are

you

when

I

have

this

think

about

this

idea

of

a

shield

that's

my