Abraham’s Belief Part 2 - 8/26/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

Welcome to [music] the podcast of

Meadows Baptist Church of Walnut Cove,

North Carolina. We're so glad [music]

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friends. Now, let's join Pastor [music]

Charlie Branch with a word from God.

Genesis chapter 15. Lord willing, try to

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

finish the chapter up tonight and uh be

done with this and uh

you pray for us that the Lord will help

us tonight.

Genesis 15 verse number 7.

Let's read verse number six. And he

believed in the Lord and he counted it

to him for righteousness. And he said

unto him, I am the Lord that brought

thee out of earth the Caldes to give

thee this land to inherit it. And he

said, Lord God, whereby shall I know

that I shall inherit it? And he said

unto him, take me and heer of three

years old, and a she goat of three years

old, and a ram of three years old, and a

turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he

took unto him all these, and divided

them in the midst, and laid each piece

one against another. But the birds

divided he not. When the fowls came down

upon the carcasses, Abram drove them

away. When the sun was going down, a

deep sleep fell upon Abram,

and lo, and horror of great darkness

fell upon him. And he said unto Abram,

"Know of assurityity that thy seed shall

be a stranger in a land that is not

theirs, and shall serve them. They shall

afflict them 400 years, and also that

nation whom they shall serve will I

judge, and afterward shall they come out

with great substance. Thou shalt go to

thy fathers in peace. Thou shalt be

buried in a good old age, but in the

fourth generation they they shall come

hither again, for the iniquity of the

Amorites is not yet full. And it came to

pass that when the sun went down and it

was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and

a burning lamp that passed between those

pieces. In the same day, the Lord made a

covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy

seed have I given this land from the

river of Egypt under the great river,

the river Euphrates, the Kennites, and

the Kennesites, the Cabonites, and the

Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the

Raphaims, and the Amorites, and the

Canaanites, and the Gegosites, and the

Jebusites. Father, I ask Lord humbly

tonight that you would help me. God, I'm

very weak in body, but Lord, I ask you,

God, that you would give me strength

this evening. touch my voice, touch my

throat. And God, I ask you that you

would speak to us tonight. Thank you for

your word. And Lord, the burning fire uh

that you put in my bosom, uh Lord, those

years ago when you called me and Lord,

you placed me in the ministry. God, I

thank you that you counted me faithful.

Lord, as the Apostle Paul said, you put

me in the ministry. And Lord, I thank

you, God, that you've allowed me to

serve in this church. And Lord, to serve

these precious people. And Lord, I sure

love them. God, I pray you bless them

tonight for their attendance to the

house of God and to the word of God. And

I ask you, God, that you would help us

all be better Christians as a result of

this message tonight and for what you

do. We'll thank you for it because we

ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Genesis

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15. And I know I sound a little

different tonight, but it'll be okay.

And I'm going to try to give you the

same truth I always do. The Bible's

still the Bible. Somebody say, "Amen."

And uh I want us to begin tonight by

reviewing the ch the chapter. We we

noted last time the divisions of the

chapter. We talked about um the faith

that is mentioned in the text. We talked

or we talked about the shield in verse

number one. We talked about the seed uh

that is given in verse number five. And

then we mention this soul. If you need

another outline for that, I like to

outline things several different ways

sometimes so that I can help remember

that there is the Lord that is mentioned

in verse number one when he says, "I am

thy shield and thy exceeding great

reward." It is the Lord who is the

shield and reward of Abram in the text.

And then there is the lineage that is

mentioned in verse number four. This

shall not be thine heir, but he that he

he that shall come forth out of thine

own boughs shall be thine heir. And so

there is the Lord and then there is the

lineage and then there is the land in

verse number seven. And that's where

we'll look tonight as the Bible says he

said unto him, I am the Lord that

brought thee out of earth the cowes to

give thee this lamb to inherit it. Now

this has been the instru this this has

been the instruction of the Lord all the

way back to the time that he first

called Abram in Genesis 12 from the

Caldes to go unto a land that I will

show thee. Now Abram at that time did

not know that it was this land. But I'm

thankful that God in his mind he knew

exactly where he wanted Abram to be. And

I want to say this because God just

because God does not reveal to you in

the moment where all you're going to go

does not mean that he does not know

where you're going. That's

>> right.

>> And the thing is your destination is is

settled. You do know where you're

headed. We know that we are headed to

heaven. This world is not our home. We

know not the path that we shall walk on

the way there, but we do know that we'll

make it there. And this text reveals us

to us the land that is promised unto

Abraham. This is the covenant. We talked

last time about the belief of Abraham

concerning his seed or the lineage. And

tonight we're going to talk about the

belief of Abraham concerning the land or

the soul in the text. And it's mentioned

in verse number seven. I want you to

notice a few things by way of

introduction. There is the deliverance

that the Lord points out in verse 7. He

said unto him, I am the Lord that

brought thee out of the Ces to give thee

this land to inherit it. So there is

deliverance that's mentioned. He brought

thee out. Now it is emphasized in this

text as well as when we think about

Israel, when we look in the book of

Deuteronomy, it is told us that God told

the nation of Israel through his man

Moses, he said, "I brought you out that

I might bring you in." And the emphasis

is that God never saves anybody to sit.

He doesn't save you just to get you out,

but he saves you to bring you in. God

didn't save you just so you could get

out of hell, but he saved you so that

you could serve him. And he brought you

out that he might bring you in. And so

this deliverance, he said, I brought

thee out of the Caldes. That in it

signifies the burning that paganism, the

heathenism that is pointed out in the

caes. It's mentioned the Tower of Babel

was built there and their worship that

is in in uh described there. It's

described in the book of Joshua that

they worshiped heathen gods. And so God

has delivered him from idol worship to

salvation to be the father of the nation

of Israel. And so he is delivered in

verse 7. He brought thee out of earth

the cities to give thee this land to

inherit it. And so we see the

deliverance in verse number seven. But

notice the desire in verse number eight.

And he said, 'Lord God, whereby shall I

know that I shall inherit it? And so

when we look at this, Abram expresses

his desire here. And I want to emphasize

this. All right, verse number eight is

not doubt. Okay, if it's if it was

doubt, it would be worded in in another

way. But it's worded there, whereby

shall I know that I shall inherit it?

And also, it's not doubt because of

God's response unto him in the text.

Anytime you see an individual doubting,

we can go to the New Testament and look

at an instance. Let's actually do that

tonight. Luke chapter number one. I

think this would be a good time to deal

with this. Luke chapter number one.

There's always God has a different

response when someone is doubting. Luke

chapter number one, we are given the

story of a man by the name of Zacharias.

You know this story. He would be the

father

of what would be John the Baptist of who

would be John the Baptist. Verse number

verse number 12 Zachcharias when there

verse number 11 there appeared unto him.

Zachcharias an angel of the Lord

standing on the right side of the altar

of incense. When Zacharias saw him he

was troubled and fear fell upon him.

Verse 13. But the angel said unto him,

"Fear not Zacharias, for thy prayer is

heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear

thee a son, and thou shalt call his name

John." And then the prophecy is given

all the way down to verse number 18,

where Zacharias responds. Listen to what

he says. And Zachariah said unto the

angel, "Whereby shall I know this? For I

am an old man and my wife stricken in

years." Notice the response of the

angel. He says, "I am Gabriel, verse 19,

that stand in the presence of God, and

am sent to speak unto thee, and to show

thee these glad tidings. Behold, thou

shalt be dumb and not able to speak

until the day that these things shall be

performed, because thou believest not my

words, which shall be fulfilled in thy

season." Now, what's interesting to me

is is the terminology that's used in

verse number 18. Zechariah said unto the

angel, "Whereby shall I know this?" Now

listen to what Abram said in Genesis

Genesis 15:8

15:8.

And he said, "Lord God, whereby shall I

know that I shall inherit it?" Now the

difference is in this text is is that we

already have a defined faith from Abram.

You say, "What do you mean?" Well,

notice verse six. What's it say? And he

believed in the Lord and it was counted

unto him for righteousness. And so

Abram's faith has already been defined

in the text. And so what Abram is

desiring here in the text is not doubt.

He is desiring a further revelation of

what God wants to do. Now you say,

"Preacher, isn't that what God is doing

for him in all these chapters?" That's

exactly it. And here's the thing about

it. The further you go along with God,

you ought to be able to trace his next

step. You say, "What do you mean?" Well,

the thing is, the closer we get to God,

the more we should know about him, the

more we should understand how he works.

Now, we don't always understand the way

that he works. But the truth is, we

should know more about him today than we

did a year ago.

>> That's right.

>> Amen. And so, he's desiring to know. He

said, "Whereby shall I know that I shall

inherit it?" So, notice not only the

deliverance in verse 7, and the desire

in verse eight, but notice the demand in

verse number nine. And he said unto him,

take me and heer of three years old, a

she goat of three years old, and a ram

of three years old, and a turtle dove,

and a young pigeon. So I want to give

you four things in the message tonight

and all of these have to do with this

covenant. All right. The covenant is

described in verse number 18. But it is

this entire entire text verse number

nine all the way through verse 21 that

talks about this covenant. So if you're

taking notes you I'll give you these

four headings this evening. There is the

covenant sacrifice that is described in

verses 9 down through verse number 11 in

the text. The covenant sacrifice verse

number 9 through verse 11. And then in

verse 12 there is the covenant

subsequence. That is in verse number 12

down through verse number 16. The

covenant subsequence.

Not only there is the sacrifice and the

subsequence, but then there is the

covenant seal in verse 17 of this

chapter. The covenant seal in verse 17

and then in verse 18 down through verse

21 there is the covenant scripture here

in this chapter. All right. So let's

look tonight first of all at the

covenant sacrifice. Now it is described

here in the text the Lord requests of

him in verse number nine take and heer

three years old a shegoat a ram a turtle

dove and a young pigeon. So he is

requesting a sacrifice here in the text.

Now in this day and time when you study

history dating back to this time there

was no such thing as a legal binding. It

was not such a thing for men to enter

into an agreement on written word. And

so they would not um there was no

written agreements. And I find that

interesting. Even in this day, even in

this day and time, the written agreement

um doesn't mean very much. I mean, we

have to sign all kinds of things um in

order to make agreements, but it really

doesn't mean anything. But this

agreement in this text, what this text

is here, this this covenant that is a

covenant that men would make between

each other. Now, this is a scriptural

thing. I'm going to show you a verse

about that in just a minute. But you

notice here verse number you you see

first of all the animals. There is the

hepher, the shegoat, the ram, the turtle

dove, and a young pigeon. And what is

special about all of these animals is

their age in verse 9. They're three

years old. All of them are three years

old. It's a reference to the completion

of their maturity. So they are of full

age. When you look at an animal that's

three years old, they are pretty much as

grown as they are going to be. And so

there is the animals, there's their age,

then there is the arrangement. Verse

number 10. And he took unto unto him all

these and divided them in the midst and

laid each piece one against another, but

the birds divided he not. So he took

these animals and he would cut them in

half. That is the imagery here. The word

covenant when you look up its

translation in the Hebrew it literally

translates to a cut. You think about the

the Indians and they would make the the

blood brothers. What they would do is

they would take those cuts and they

would join themselves in a covenant. So

what these this covenant represents here

is that there is a dividing of these

animals. And what they would do is is

they would set these animals up in a

line. They would cut them in half and

leave a path just right through the

middle of them. And for the agreement to

be given, what would happen is is that

both parties making the agreement would

pass through the center of those

animals, thus sealing their covenant.

Notice with me Jeremiah chapter 34.

Jeremiah 34 · chapter mention

Jeremiah chapter 34.

Jeremiah 34 · chapter mention

Listen to what the Lord says. Jeremiah

chapter number 34

18

and 19.

Verse number 18, Jeremiah 34. Put in

your margin. And I will give the men

that have transgressed my covenant,

which have not performed the words of

the covenant which they had made before

me, when they cut the calf and twain,

and pass between the parts thereof, the

princes of Judah, and the princes of

Jerusalem, the Unix, and the priests,

and all the people of the land, which

pass between the parts of the calf. I

will even give them into the hand of

their enemies and into the hand of them

that seek their life and their dead

bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls

of the heaven and to the beast of the

earth. And so the Lord is simply

describing in the text the

unfaithfulness

of the children of Israel, the priests,

the prophets, the kings to be faithful

to their end of the covenant. Now you

notice here in the text the animals, the

age, the arrangement in this covenant

sacrifice. But notice the attention in

verse number 11 of our text, Genesis 15.

And when the fowls came down upon the

carcasses, Abram drove them away. Now,

there's a illustration here. I don't

want you to miss this. There's an

illustration here of Christ. Now, what

is the covenant? We we think our

salvation. There is the it is called

described in one place as the blood of

the new covenant. That is the covenant

that Christ has made with us through the

deliverance of God the father. He is God

the father has delivered his son. For

God so loved the world that he gave he

sent his son into the world to die for

sinners. And the covenant that is made

between sinful man and between God. What

is that? There is one God and one

mediator between God and man. And that

is the man Christ Jesus. And there is

the attention that is laid in this text.

Notice that he when the fowls came down

upon the carcasses, Abram drove them

away. And so Abram was making sure that

this covenant could not be destroyed. If

the sacrifice would was defiled, the

covenant would be destroyed. Let me say

this. If Jesus had been defiled, the

covenant would be destroyed. Amen.

>> If Jesus

sinned, if Jesus could have sinned, if

Jesus in any shape, form, or fashion had

any sin in him,

>> he's defiled. Therefore, the covenant is

null and void. But aren't you thankful

that Jesus did no sin. In him is no sin.

He was made in the likeness of sinful

flesh. He became sin who knew no sin.

But aren't you thankful he didn't stay

that way? Amen.

>> And so there is the attention and uh

there's also an illustration here and

dad was talking to me about this this

afternoon. He said the illustration here

of purity this this dividing in the text

is also a great image of marriage that

those two parts are divided and when

there is the passing through Abram was

protecting this union that would be when

the Lord would pass through that and so

there is the protecting of the

sacrifice. Some say this, your marriage,

that's what it is to the Lord. It's a

sacrifice of favor unto God and those

two become one. And that joining that is

to be protected. Somebody say amen. So

we see the covenant sacrifice verses 9

through verse number 11. Notice not only

the sacrifice, but let's consider the

subsequence in the text. So Abram here

in the text has laid his attention on

the offering. And I'll say this tonight,

God here in the text has brought Abram.

He is standing against defilement in

verse number 11 that these fowls would

try to destroy these carcasses. One

writer literally said these these uh

sacrifices represented the nation of

Israel and that Abram was protecting

them from defilement in the text. And we

notice that he is standing against

defilement in verse 11. But notice verse

12, he is standing in darkness. I

mentioned that on last week and I'm

going to say it again tonight. Notice

what your Bible says. When the sun was

going down, a deep sleep fell upon

Abram. Lo and horror of great darkness

fell upon him. Notice the terminology

that's used in verse 12. The sun is

going down. So there is darkness again

in this text. So evidently a day has

passed because verse number five, he

says, "Look now toward heaven and tell

the stars." Now I I believe it would it

would have been darkness. He was looking

up at the night sky. And so a day has

evidently passed and God is speaking to

him concerning the covenant of this

land. The sun is going down on the next

day. And it says a deep sleep fell upon

Abram. One writer literally said that

this is this not a a sleep that Abram

has fell into, but the text literally

says it fell upon Abram. And he compared

this sleep to the sleep of Adam in the

book of Genesis when Adam was put to

sleep so that God could remove a rib and

make his wife in that dark moment of

darkness. And let me say this, God does

his best work in the darkness. Amen. You

say, "What do you mean?" Well, you think

about creation. Where did creation

begin? Began in darkness, didn't we? We

think about Calvary. When what happened?

When did the sacrifice of the cross,

what did it take place in? It took place

in darkness. The Bible says the earth

was black from the 6th to the 9inth

hour. The middle of the day, from 12 to

3:00, the brightest hours of the day,

the earth went dark. And so the darkness

brings about the glory of the Lord. And

a deep sleep falls upon Abram in verse

12. Lo, a horror of great darkness fell

upon him. And so he is also in the

darkness in verse number 12. But I I

think this is interesting as well. God

is also delayed. Now I thought about

this. When you look at the text, why is

it that when Abram lays these pieces

out, why is it that God just doesn't

immediately come and uh walk through the

midst of these? Well, I think that he is

testing Abram's devotion in this text. I

think it's the same illustration of

Christ. Why is it that Christ couldn't

some have said Christ should he could

have just been born and been perfect and

died as a little child and been the

sacrifice for sin? Well, it was his life

that proved his perfection. Amen. And so

it proved his devotion unto the Lord and

he was made perfect through suffering,

the writer of Hebrews said. And so his

sacrifice was proved effective by his

sinless life. So let's notice the

subsequence here. This horror of great

darkness comes upon him. And then notice

the vision. Verse 13. And he said unto

Abram, "Know of assurityity that thy

seed shall be a stranger in a land that

is not theirs, and shall serve them.

They shall afflict them 400 years. Now,

somebody tell me who that is.

That's Egypt, right?

This is the nation of Egypt. God is

prophesying of the bondage that the

children of Israel would be in. Now, we

know that Joseph would be sold. He would

end up there because he would be sold by

his brothers. He would be sold uh to

Potterer. And from Potterer's house, he

would end up at the prison. And then God

through his providence would use Joseph

to spare their family down in Egypt. And

they will serve in that land for 400

years. Verse 13. And this bondage will

be, notice that, that thy seed shall be

a stranger in a land that is not theirs,

and shall serve them, and they shall

afflict them 400 years. And so this is

the beginning of this bondage that is

described in verse 13. And then there is

their blessing in verse 14. Now these

are all subsequent truths to the

covenant. God is promising Abraham this

land. But before they are going to get

that land, they must first go through

bondage. And so out of that bondage,

they will leave with a blessing. In

verse 14, and also that nation whom they

shall serve will I judge, and afterward

shall they come out with great

substance. So that's talking about

Pharaoh, those 10 plagues that Moses,

God would use Moses to bring upon the

children of Egypt and he would bring

them out in victory. They will come out

with great substance in verse 14. And

it's in the midst of this that God takes

a moment to speak to Abram directly in

verse 15. And thou shalt go to thy

fathers in peace. Thou shalt be buried

in a good old age. And so Abram has

promised a life of blessing. In verse

number 15, because of his obedience, he

said, "Thou shalt go to thy fathers in

peace." He's promised that his death

will be peaceful and that he also will

live a long life. And I would say that's

a blessing of faith. And I think it's

interesting that this is before the days

of you think about the commandment God

gave those ten commandments. Honor thy

father and thy mother. That first

commandment with promise. What is it?

That thy days may be prolonged upon the

earth. And this is before that God is

promising Abram here a long life. You

say, "Preacher, how is that?" It doesn't

mention his parents. Well, we think

about Abram. If you look back the last

few chapters, it did mentions his

parents. God Abram took care of his

daddy. But I want to say this. It was

more important that Abram was attendant

to his heavenly father. I want to say

this. How attendant you are to your

heavenly father will determine how

attendant you are to your earthly

parents. Notice this. All right, I'm

moving. We'll get done. And I know this

is hard for y'all to listen to me like

this, okay? But uh this subsequence

there is the bondage, the blessing, the

burial in verse number 15. Verse 16,

[cough]

there is the bringing of the children of

Israel back into the land. Notice verse

16, but in the fourth generation they

they shall come hither again, for the

iniquity of the Amorites is not yet

full. And so this is the description of

the time when the children of Israel

would journey into the land of Canaan.

Abram is presently living there as a

stranger and pilgrim dwelling in tents.

He does not have a home of his own, but

he is dwelling there and they again he

says in a time will come. The fourth

generation they'll come hither again.

And he says for the iniquity of the

Amorites is not yet full. He is saying

that God is saying to them, I'm going to

give the nations of this land grace to

see how long they're going to go and not

serve me. And then when their iniquity

is full, then the nations will be br

then the children of Israel will be

brought back into this land. And those

nations, the Amorites will be pushed out

of the land. All right. A lot more I

could say about this, but it's not

preaching here tonight. So let's look

thirdly at the covenant seal in verse

17. Beautiful image. Verse 17. And it

came to pass that when the sun went

down, so it's now darkness and it was

dark, beholding a smoke, behold a

smoking furnace and a burning lamp that

passed between those pieces. So the

covenant seal here is seen. Abram has

laid out these sacrifices. He has put

the hepher. He has put the shegoat and

the ram in the text. He has cut them in

half. He has placed them for this

covenant. This is the desire that this

is what God has told him to do. Verse

number nine, God said unto him, take me

and heer of three years old. So this is

what God asked Abram to do. And so it

came to pass that when the sun went down

and it was dark. So remind you this,

it's still dark. The period of time this

is in the midst of darkness. And God is

going to give an image, a type here of

Christ and his sacrifice on the cross in

this text to represent the covenant

between him and the nation of Israel

concerning this land. I want to say this

before I go any further tonight. I don't

care what anybody in this world does or

says about the land of Israel and Gaza

and Iran and all of that. I don't care

what anybody says about that. There's

coming a day when Israel is going to

inherit that land. And there ain't

nothing a government. There ain't

nothing a king, a president, or anybody

else can do about. They're going to

inherit that land. All right? And notice

what's said. This period is mentioned.

It's it's the darkness that's seen.

There is the punishment that's

mentioned. You say, "How do you see

punishment?" Well, notice the image

that's described. And it was dark.

Behold, a smoking furnace. Now, you say,

"What is that?" Well, there is this

judgment that is described. This is a

smoking furnace. Now, turn over with me

just a couple of chapters

to chapter number

19.

Genesis 19 verse 28.

Genesis 19:28

The Bible says, "And he looked toward

Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the

land of the plain and beheld, and lo,

what?

The smoke of the country went up as the

smoke of what?"

>> Of a furnace. This is a description of

judgment. Now, this illustration that's

given or this this picture that is seen

verse 17, Abram is seeing this

literally. But the picture that is

described here is first of all that

there is judgment that passes. It was

dark. Behold, a smoking furnace and a

burning lamp. So, there is not only

judgment, but there is illumination.

That burning lamp literally translates

to the same image of when the children

of Israel, you remember when the

children of Israel were walking uh in

the wilderness and Pharaoh was after

them. You remember the Bible says they

had that pillar of cloud and that pillar

of fire that was leading them and it

separated them from the Egyptians, but

it also led them. And so this

illustration is the presence of God was

with them. And it says, "Behold, a

smoking furnace and a burning lamp that

passed between those pieces." That that

passing. I want you I want to emphasize

that. You say, "What do you mean that

passing?" Well, I want to say this. That

passing is singular. You say, "What do

you mean?" Well, Abram doesn't pass

through those pieces.

You said, "Why? Why is that?" Well, you

can look all through this text and

you're not going to see anywhere where

Abram walks through those pieces in this

text. And you say, "Why is that?"

Because this this promise that God made

in the text was not to Abram. This was a

promise God was making to himself. You

say, "How is that?" Well, it's an

unconditional covenant. If God makes a

promise to us, that means it's a

conditions on us.

I know y'all looking at me like I'm

crazy. All right.

Your salvation's really not yours.

>> Your salvation's Jesus's.

>> That's right.

>> And so when you got saved, you got

Jesus's salvation. God made a covenant

with himself. Let me give you a

scripture. All right. Now, I know that

may sound a little bit off, all right?

But but it's it's true. Okay. Listen to

what Hebrews chapter 6.

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

Courage you put this in your margin.

talking about the same text.

Hebrews chapter number 6

and verse number 13.

Hebrews 6 verse number 13 verse 12. That

you be not slothful but followers of

them who through faith and patience

inherit the promises.

For when God made promise to Abraham,

verse 13, because he could swear by no

greater, he swore by himself, saying,

"Surely, blessing, I will bless thee,

and multiplying I will multiply thee."

And so, after he had patiently endured,

he obtained the promise. So, the way I

worded that before, maybe not the best

way to word that. He did make the

promise to Abraham, but the promise, the

terms of the promise were not upon

Abraham. The terms of the promise were

upon God. Abram could not walk through

the center of that

sacrifice because Abram was not capable

of completing this covenant. You say,

"What are you trying to emphasize?"

Well, there was only one person that

could go to Calvary,

>> to put it in simple terms. And only one

person could promise a land. And you

think about it, it's been some 6,000

years throughout history. And Israel has

never, not a single time in history,

inherited the entirety of the land that

God has promised to them. Not a single

time, they've never inherited all of it.

When they inherited the most of it, when

they were under Solomon's kingship, but

they've never inherited all of it. And

that promise still stands. Why is that?

Because God made that promise. And the

terms are on God's terms, not Abram or

the children of Israel's terms. Why?

because their unrighteousness would

hinder them from ever fulfill ever

seeing the fulfillment of that covenant.

Abram did not go through this covenant

with Abram is unconditional because it

is apart from merit. It is a covenant of

grace just like the covenant of our

salvation. And so I see this and I'll be

done tonight. I I don't have enough

voice left to finish this. Verse 18. In

the same day, the Lord made a covenant

with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed have

I given this land from the river of

Egypt unto the great river, the river

Euphrates." So, we see the seal, verse

17. A lot more I could say about that.

The smoking furnace and the burning lamp

represents Calvary. That's the covenant

that God has made with his people, the

land he has promised to them. In the

same way with us, the covenant that God

has made with us, the salvation that he

has promised to us. Verse number 18, in

the same day the Lord made a covenant

with Abram, saying, "Unto thy seed have

I given this land." I think about verse

17, it represents the sacrifice. It is

the satisfaction, the propitiation.

Jesus was the propitiation for our sins,

but not for ours only, but also for the

sins of the whole world. But the

sacrifice did not stop at Calvary.

Because if Jesus only had died, the

sacrifice would have been incomplete.

>> That's right.

>> But he had to get up again. And that

same day, notice it in the text, verse

18, in the same day, the Lord made a

covenant. You know, when salvation was

sealed, it was not sealed when Jesus

died. All right? He said, "It's

finished." All right? The sacrifice was

done. But when Jesus died on Calvary,

what did he have to do after he rose

again? He had to take that blood and not

only be the sacrifice, but be the high

priest. Amen. Remember what he told

Mary? He said, "Touch me not because

I've not yet ascended to my father."

Amen. And so, you know what he was

talking about? He was talking about

sealing the deal.

>> And you know what? When Jesus got back

to heaven, you know what he did? He

sealed the deal.

>> The sacrifice was made. The seal was

given. The same day the Lord made a

covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy

seed have I given this land." So what's

beautiful about this is that there was

no writing agreement that was given

there. There was not a dotted line for

Abram to sign on and God to sign on.

There was no written agreement, but

there was this this this agreement

between Abram and God. And God did what

he said he was going to do. He requested

Abram to make these sacrifices. And God

walked through the middle of them. And

this covenant is made between him and

Abram with himself in the text. But it's

also recorded in verse number 18. He

said, "Unto thy seed have I given this

land." And we still have this covenant

to this day. Do you realize that verse

number 18 of your Bible is the written

covenant

between God and the nation of Israel?

more important than the document of the

Declaration of Independence,

more more important than our succession

from the European Union, more important

than any document in history when you

think about national documents is verse

18 in this chapter. God has promised the

land to the children of Israel and they

will have it. You say, "Preacher, why is

that so important?" Because if there's

ever been a a a written illustration of

gra God-giving grace to a nation, it's

right there. Israel has done absolutely

nothing to deserve that land. Absolutely

nothing.

Before you look down your nose at him,

you ain't done a thing to deserve

anything you got.

>> Amen. We just as sorry as they are in

our flesh. I want to say this. When I

look at this text, it it describes the

grace of God. You say, "How is that?"

Well, the same day the Lord made a

covenant with Abram. The fact that God

would enter into a covenant

with Abram in this text is a description

of his grace. The fact that God would

call a man out of the Caldes with with

with no desire to serve God, not even

knowing who God is, but God would call

him out and put his grace in his life

and make a covenant with him that God

would give him, notice that in verse 18,

this gift under thy seed have I given

this land. He's not even asked for

anything in return. He's placed it in

his lap and given it to him. And this

gift is described. God has sworn by

himself because he could swear by no

greater that he has promised this land.

You see the description of the nations.

Verse number 18, verse number 19 down

through verse 21. All of those nations

that are described. And I want to say it

again. And I want to say it loud and

clear cuz I don't think it's going to be

very long till we see it start

unfolding. I think that we're getting

out of here very pretty soon as the

church. I just don't think it's going to

be much longer. But for those of you

that's lost, just just listen to me. All

right? If you're here for it, you just

know that they're going to get every bit

of that.

You say, "What does all that land

represent?" Well, I could go through and

tell you all these different what they

represent in modern day, but I want to

say this. It takes up a lot of Iran, a

lot of Iraq, and a lot of the

surrounding nations of Israel, and

they're going to get every bit of that.

You say, "Well, what does that have to

do with me?" It means this. It means

that God's words will come to pass.

>> Amen.

>> Amen. And before that ever happens, he's

going to come get us.

>> Because there was a covenant one day on

a hill far away

>> that he made with me. Amen. And the

Bible says that when the sun went down

and it was dark, I'm thankful the light

was still shining on Calvary. Let me say

this, the light of the world when he

died on Calvar's cross, he said it's

finished and all of it was said and done

and the light has come to you and I

tonight so that we could be saved. And

the fact that we're not in hell,

>> the fact that we're not there burning

now, the fact that God has allowed us to

know him and to enter into a covenant

with him, we ought to rejoice tonight.

He has preserved us and his word is

true. He'll not fail his children. Amen.

Father, thank you for helping us

tonight. And Lord, I thank you for your

word. I pray you forgive my feeble

efforts tonight. Pray you would take it

and use it for your glory and your

honor. And God, I ask you would help our

church, touch our church, and bless,

God, as we go forward. We want to serve

you, Lord. We want to do more for you

than we've ever done. God, I pray you'd

help us to do so. Lord, I ask you, God,

if there's one here tonight that does

not know you, I pray they'd be saved

tonight before they leave this place.

Lord, I sure love you. Thank you for

loving us. Thank you for being so good

to us. We ask all this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

[music]

We'd love it if you'd join us in person

the next time you are able at Meadows

Baptist Church. Our physical address is

2988 Stewart [music] Road in Walnut

Cove, North Carolina. Our service times

are Sunday school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday

morning worship [music] at 11:00 a.m.,

Sunday evening worship at 6:00 p.m., and

Wednesday evening [music] Bible study at

700 p.m. For more information, visit us

at meadowsbaptisturch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.

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