Abraham’s Belief - 8/19/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

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Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North

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Now, let's join Pastor Charlie Branch

with a word from God.

>> Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter number 15 tonight.

And uh

another message in our series on the

life of Abraham. And uh

We looked at verses 1 and 2 uh in our

last Wednesday night study here in the

life of Abraham. And we're going to look

at verses 3 down through verse number 6

uh in this text tonight and uh try to be

a

help and a blessing to you this evening.

Looking at Abraham's belief tonight. And

uh there'll be a two parts to this. This

will be Abraham's belief concerning his

seed. And we'll talk about that a little

bit this evening. And so, let's look

verse number Let's begin reading verse

number 1.

Bible says, "After these things, the

word of the Lord came unto Abram in a

vision saying, 'Fear not, Abram. I'm thy

shield and thy exceeding great reward.'"

And Abram said, "Lord God, what will

thou give me saying I go child seeing I

go childless? And the steward of my

house is this Eliezer of Damascus." And

Abram said, "Behold, to me thou hast

given no seed. And lo, one born in 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."

And he brought him forth abroad and

said, "Look now toward heaven and tell

the stars if thou'll be able to number

them.

And he said unto him, so shall thy seed

be.

And that famous verse, 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 Ur of the Chaldees

to give thee this land to inherit it.

Father, I ask once more tonight that you

would help your servant. God, as we've

gathered to study this portion of

scripture, I pray that you would give us

wisdom. I pray that you would speak to

our heart tonight. God, we are nothing

without you. Lord, we have nothing to

say, God, and nothing will be said here

without you. And Lord, we ask you, God,

that you would speak to us and through

us tonight. Get glory unto yourself. And

God, I pray you'd help us to strengthen

our faith and trust you. I pray

strengthen my faith in these days. And

God, just to go forward and do right and

be right with you, Lord, and trust in

you. God, I ask you bless our church.

God, I appreciate these faithful people.

I love them and thank you for them. And

I ask you to bless them tonight for

their attendance, Lord, here and to

their attendance to the word of God.

Help us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

Genesis chapter

number 15, again, is the record here

really where Abraham's faith is first

expressed deeply upon the pages of

scripture. Now, we could say that his

exit out of Ur of the Chaldees expressed

his faith and it did, but it is recorded

in this chapter. And when I look at this

chapter, naturally, I see three

divisions here and and all of these

divisions are described as a gift that

God gives Abraham. Number one, I would

say tonight in this chapter eight, God

gives Abraham a shield for his fear. And

we talked about that shield in verse

number one of chapter 15 when God said,

"Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and

thy exceeding great reward." And we

dealt with the fact that Abraham was

troubled concerning his future due to

the fact that he had really in in some

sense of the word it still stirred up a

hornet's nest there in his land, but God

had a word for his fear. And I'm

thankful that God has a word for our

fear. Amen. And so God gives Abram a

shield for his fear in this chapter. But

what we're going to look at tonight is

that God gives Abram a seed for his

faith. And you notice that is mentioned

in verse number five. And God here in

the text in verse number one, he says,

"I am thy shield and thy exceeding great

reward." And I thought about this,

before God can ever give us what he

wants to give us, God has to be who he

is supposed to be in our life. Many of

us are providentially hindered uh from

getting to the place where we're

supposed to be because God is not in his

rightful place in our life. And so, it

was not until that Abram here in the

text took God for who he was that God

began to bless him. So, he gives him a

shield for his fear in verse one. He

gives him a seed for his faith in verse

number five. And Lord willing on the

next uh study, we'll look at the soul

that God gives Abram for his family in

verse number seven. We read that in the

text. But concerning this thought

tonight here about the seed, we noticed

it's mentioned in verse number two.

Abram questions here. He says, "Lord

God, what will thou give me seeing I go

childless and the steward of my house is

this Eliezer of Damascus." So, there is

the servant here that's present in

Abram's house and this is his servant

labeled beside Hagar, which would be the

handmaid of Sarai in the text. And so,

this is the steward. Evidently, this

steward Eliezer had a child. And we

notice that the reality is set upon

Abram in verse number three. Notice your

verse. The Bible said that Abram said,

"Behold, to me thou hast given no seed."

So, reality has set in on Abram in this

text. Abram is getting up in years at

this point in time. And I want to say

this, it's good to live in reality.

Amen. And the truth is tonight when God

works, he works in the realm of what's

real.

Amen. And I think there's a lot of

people, a lot of churches in this day

and time that try to check out of

reality when they come to church. But

I'm going to tell you this, you're not

going to get any help just checking out

of reality.

You need help for your reality.

And the first thing you can do is

realize your reality. Amen. That's the

first thing. And Abram says in the text,

"Behold, to me thou shalt given no

seed." Now, that's discouraging in in in

its in itself when you look at it, but

you notice the continued statement is

mentioned in verse number three. He

says, "Thou shalt given me no seed and

lo one born in mine house is mine heir."

So, there is the reality in verse three,

but then there is a reception in verse

three. Now, I don't want you to miss

this, all right? Abram says, "Lo one

born in my house." Notice this, "is mine

heir." Now, this heir that he's speaking

of in verse number three is this

servant, this servant's child of Eleazar

here in the text. Now, what's

interesting here to me is is that Abram

is so is so solid in the fact that God

is going to give him a seed. He knew

that God would take care of what he

said. He was just looking to the place

where it could be found. And Abram is

contented to so much to say that if

Eleazar or his child, I'm not really

sure which one it is. He may be Eleazar

in the text, but he is so contented with

the plan of God to say that, "Lord, if

this is the seed that you are given to

me, with that I'm satisfied."

I want to say this tonight, contentment

in in our life is the way that we must

approach God.

He comes here. He He speaks the word

reality is present. Behold, thou to me

thou shalt given no seed and lo one born

in mine house is mine heir. He receives

what he has and God can only work in

your life and mine when we first receive

what we have already. And we notice what

God says to him in this text and we can

take that a lot of different ways. We

could say that Abram's trying to find

another way, but I just simply think

that Abram here in the text is trying to

realize that yes, God has given him this

heir in his house, but that's not what

the Lord tells him in verse number four.

Notice what's said, there's a rebuke,

and behold, the word of the Lord came

unto him saying, "This shall not be

thine heir." So, God corrects him in the

text. Though Abram was willing to

receive this servant as his heir in

verse number three, God rebukes him.

Notice that in verse four, and then he

gives him a reminder. Notice what he

says, "This shall not be thine heir, but

he that shall come forth out of thine

own bowels shall be thine heir." I want

to say this tonight, in the same sense

that you are to be content with what you

have at the present moment, you also

should not settle for less than the

promise of God.

All right. If God has promised you

something, when I say promised you

something, I'm not saying that you have

a, you know, he's he's, you know, you've

got scripture, you know, you've claimed

a scripture for something, and you say,

"Well, God's going to do that for me."

Well, I'll be honest with you tonight,

personally, there are things that we can

say God does for us, but be careful

about the name and claim and stuff.

All right. We we don't operate that way.

We operate by what? We operate by the

will of God.

We say, "If the Lord will." Amen. That's

what the Bible says. James there talks

about, he said, "All such boasting is

evil." He said, "Be better if you say,

'If the Lord will, we will do this or do

that.'" And so, but I want to remind you

tonight, do not settle for less than

what God has promised you. You say,

"Preacher, well, what does that look

like for me?" Well, don't settle for

less than victory over sin.

All right. If you got sin in your life,

don't don't say, "Well, this is as far

as I'm going to get

with that." No, you need to take that

thing to the foot of the cross and say,

"God, you promised me victory." His word

promises you victory, amen. John said it

this way, "You are of God, little

children, and have overcome them,

because greater is he that's in you than

he that's in the world." And so, you you

shouldn't settle for less than the

promise of God when it comes to your

sin, but you should not settle for less

than the promise of God when it comes to

your assurance, because John said in the

same way, he said, "I've written these

things unto you that you may know."

There's assurance that you can have.

There's victory that you can have. You

should not settle for less than the

promise of God when he has given you a

clear promise upon the pages of

scripture. And so, God gives him the

reminder. He said, "Look, I've done told

you once." The sad thing is, God tells

us over and over and over again, yet we

still don't receive it.

Amen.

Sometimes reminder's what we need.

Matter of fact, really reminder's what

we need every day. Somebody say amen

right there.

He said, "He that shall come forth out

of thine own bowels shall be thine

heir." Why does he remind Abram this?

Because God has already told him that,

"Look, you're going to bear a son. I'm

promising you that." And the Bible has

promised him that, God reminds him of

that promise again. Two things tonight,

and I will be done this evening. Verse

number five, I want you to notice first

of all

tonight, the revelation of this seed.

Notice verse number five. And he brought

him forth abroad and said, "Look now

toward heaven, and tell the stars if

thou be able to number them." And he

said unto him, "So shall thy seed be."

So, here in the text, he is going to go

further in the revelation of his son, of

his seed in this text than he has gone

at all in the past. Now, we can look

back there to chapter number 12, and we

can find what he says there in verse

number two. He says that I will make

thee a great nation. I will bless thee

and make thy name great. Thou shalt be a

blessing. I will bless them that bless

thee and curse him that curseth thee,

and in thee shall all families of the

earth be blessed." And so, he is giving

Abram a further revelation here in the

text of what he is going to do for him

in this seed. Now, you notice first in

this revelation, you notice the

awareness that he calls for in verse

five. And he brought him forth abroad,

notice this, and said, "Look now toward

heaven." Now, what's interesting, we we

we talked about this in this chapter. We

talked about that God gave Abram a

shield for his fear. He gives him a seed

a seed for his faith. He's going to give

him a soul for his family. And in all

three of these places, there is darkness

that's described.

I want to say this tonight. We talked

about we preached on Sunday about

victory in the valley couple Sundays

ago, however many it was, I don't

remember. But anyway, we talked about

having victory in the valley. All three

of these things that God has given to

Abram in this chapter came in darkness.

Say, "How is that?" Well, it says, "Fear

not." Abram was in the darkness of fear

in verse number one of this chapter. He

was fearing for his life. Well, in this

text, he says, "Look now broad toward

heaven and tell the stars." And so, what

is he doing? Well, he's brought him to a

place of darkness so he can look up.

Now, the truth is in your life and mine,

many of us are going to have to arrive

at that place of darkness before we ever

choose to turn our eyes upward.

Amen. And that's what's going to happen

in this chapter. You say, "Well, what

does that have to do with his family?"

Well, I'll give you this and we'll move

on tonight. Notice verse 12

of this chapter. And when the sun was

going down, a deep sleep fell upon

Abram, notice this, and lo and horror of

great darkness fell upon him. Abram in

all three of these instances that God is

presenting him with a gift, he is

walking into darkness. I submit to you,

child of God, the darkness is the place

where God is going to teach you and he's

going to try you that he might bring you

forth in the light as something that

will shine and reflect his glory and

honor unto himself. And so, there is the

awareness of the revelation. Look now

toward heaven. But then there's the

amount. Notice what the Bible says. Look

now toward heaven and tell the stars.

Now, that word tell means to count. And

so he is calling on Abram in this text

just to to look up toward heaven

obviously in the darkness and then he is

telling him to declare. Notice that.

Tell the stars. If you're able to count

them, Abram, you count them to me.

Now, I thought about this, all right? I

like numbers, okay?

It is said by modern science, I don't

know how valid how credible this is, but

I think it's interesting nonetheless.

It's said that there are one septillion

stars

in the universe.

And if you need a number reference for

that, that is 10 to the 24th power.

10 with 24 zeros behind it. It's the

pretty much the largest number known to

man other than if you were to consider

how many atoms were in the universe, but

there's no way to measure that. So, let

let's look at this, all right? I thought

about a few numbers that was look

interesting to me. All right, so if we

were to count, all right? One septillion

stars. If we were to count the number

one septillion and were and you were to

count a number every second,

this it would take you 31.7 trillion

years to count to a septillion.

31.7 trillion years to count if that

that is counting every second a number.

31.7

trillion years equals one septillion

in numerics, all right?

The earth is said to have 7.5

quintillion grains of sand.

That means that is 10 to the 18th power.

Seven I think it's seven and a half to

the 18th power times 10 to the 18th

power. So, 18 zeros. Well, there's 10 10

to the 24th power of stars in the sky.

It's said that there are some 4 to 5,000

stars that are visible to the human eye,

and that's with modern technology, okay?

And so I was thinking about this when I

read this. Abraham has none of that.

He has He don't have telescopes. He

don't have modern technology. He doesn't

have any of that, all right? If he looks

out and sees the stars, if he was to try

to count them, this would be my problem.

If I go out there, I would be looking

and say, "Wait, did I already count that

one?"

You know what I'm saying? So,

anyway, all right, what's the image

here? Well, he's calling upon Abraham

here representing this revelation. He is

He is showing him the mount, all right?

If you can number them. You say,

"Preacher, what does that represent?"

Sure, what represents his seed would be

an innumerable multitude.

>> Right.

>> That's what that That's what that means.

Cuz in reality, modern science, they can

say what they want to, and that is a big

number, but they are not able to count

that and be accurate. Now, I'll say

this, God knows exactly how many there

are. Amen.

And so that that segues to my next point

here in the text. So, there is the

awareness, then there is the amount.

Look now toward heaven and tell the

stars, and then there's the ability and

the awareness. And this is where God is

wanting to get Abraham to in the text.

He said, "Tell the stars." What's that

next word?

If.

If thou be able to

number them.

He said, "All right, Abraham. Abraham,

you come out here and look up.

All right, you tell me how many stars is

up there if you can count them."

And what is this doing? Well, remember,

God has just told Abraham in this text

to fear not, right? "I'm thy shield and

thy exceeding great reward." And what

does God want us to turn over to him in

every part of our life? To recognize

that we do not have any ability in of

ourselves.

>> That's right.

>> And when God says to Abraham, "If thou

be able." Notice that. "If thou be able

to number them." You know what God is

trying to show to Abraham. Look, man,

if you think that you can even count a

handful of them

and get it right without doubling them

over. He said, "You're worried about me

giving you a child in your old age, and

I know exactly how many there are."

He says, "I know exactly how many there

are." And this is what he's expressing

to Abraham. "I'm aware of all of them. I

know exactly where they're at, how big

they are. I I know all the details about

all of them. And you're worried about me

giving you your seed."

>> Right.

>> That's where God wants to get all of us

to. And the place he does that is in the

darkness.

When we can't see anything other than

what God shows to us. You say, "How is

that?" Well, in the darkness, all he

could see was the stars.

And God points them out and says, "All

right, if you're able to number them."

He's pointing out his ability.

Notice what he says in verse number

five. There is the ability. And until

you relinquish the rights of your own

ability, until you take

the fact that you can do nothing and

place it on the altar and say, "Lord, I

know that I'm not able."

But Lord, I know you're able.

>> Amen.

>> And Lord, I trust you.

It's then

that it business will pick up. Notice

what happens in the text.

Getting ahead of myself a little bit

there, but listen to this. There's not

only the awareness, the amount, the

ability, and the announcement in this

text, but there's all the ability, but

there's the announcement. Look what he

said. And he said unto him, "So shall

thy seed be. If you can number them. If

you can count how many's up there, as

many as there in the sky, that's how

many how many children, how much of thy

seed is going to be." And so, we notice

the revelation of his seed. But notice

verse number six. Notice the

righteousness of the servant. Simple

outline tonight, verse number six.

And the Bible says, "And he," that's

Abraham, "believed in the Lord, and he

counted it to him for

righteousness."

Now, I I thought about several things

here in verse number six. That phrase is

mentioned verse six, that famous phrase,

"And he believed

in the Lord." This is the This is the

reference of faith in the Bible. Romans

4 reveals to us that reference of faith.

Romans Paul talks about Abraham's faith.

He staggered not at the promise of God

through unbelief, the Bible says, but he

was strong in faith, not wavering. Amen.

He didn't consider his own body now dead

nor yet the deadness of Sarah's womb,

the Bible says, and he was strong in

faith believing that which the Lord had

promised he was able also to perform.

And I thought about that word believe.

When we When we think about the word

believe, we break it down. What does

that What does that really mean? Well,

the Bible definition is that faith

definition in Hebrews chapter 11 verse

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

number one, faith is the substance of

things hoped for, the evidence of things

not seen. And so this believe here in

the text, it is that very same thing.

Abraham does not have a seed yet.

And this is what is his his desire. God

placed this desire in him

to have a seed. And so it is the

substance of things hoped for, that

desire that he had, but he said it's the

evidence of things not seen. And so as

of yet Abraham has no seed, but it is

his faith that evidences that God's

promise will come through. I want to say

this tonight, Jesus has not come back

yet in the rapture.

But my faith says he is.

Amen. You say, "Preacher, how is it your

faith?" Well, the Bible says it's his

faith.

And you know what? He's put his faith in

me.

I'm coming, child.

We rest in that promise. But what does

that mean? Well, I thought about this.

Number one, I would say there's a

recognition that comes with this. He

believed in the Lord. What did he do? He

recognized the word of God.

And he had confidence in that. That

recognition, what is that? Well, that he

recognized the sovereignty of God that

he is in control. Notice that, he

believed in the Lord, the Lord, capital

L, capital O, capital R, capital D. That

is the sovereign all-sufficient God.

There is complete recognition of who God

is for there to be faith. Before you

believe anything else about what Jesus

did, you got to believe that God is God.

Amen. And then you have to believe that

Jesus is God's son.

All right? Amen. There's the recognition

of his belief. But then I noticed there

is not only the recognition, but there

is reliance in verse six. So, what do

you mean? He believed in the Lord. I'm

working this backwards for a reason, all

right? That word in implies that there

is a a reliance. He is He is

establishing his faith. What does that

do? He is establishing it upon the Lord,

he is establishing it upon the word of

the Lord. Now, what does that represent?

Well, God is sovereign, he recognizes

that, but his reliance shows that God is

not only sovereign and in control, but

God to Abraham is sufficient.

>> Right.

>> Here's what I'll say to you tonight.

Your faith will never work in your life

until, first of all, you believe that

God is sovereign, he's in control. But

you also must believe that God is

sufficient.

You say, "What do you mean?" That

whatever he does is going to be right.

God tells Abraham later on this chapter,

"Shall not" or later on in this story of

Abraham's life, "Shall not the judge of

all the earth do right?" It is his

sufficiency, that he is enough.

Until God himself is enough for you,

nothing will ever be enough.

>> Right.

>> His reliance, he believed in the Lord.

But then you notice this.

There's not only recognition and

reliance, but there's rest in this.

He believed. Do you know what believing

is?

It's just banking on the truth.

It's just placing your rest. You say,

"What is that?" Well, that is

satisfaction. Abram believed that God

was sovereign. He was in control. He

believed that God was sufficient, that

he could rely upon him. He's already

TOLD HIM, "FEAR NOT, ABRAM. I am thy

shield." He can trust him. But, I want

to say this, after he is sovereign and

sufficient, that is when he becomes

satisfied to you.

Here's the problem, all right? The

reason

the times in our life that we are not

satisfied with God is because we have

not allowed him to be sufficient for us.

>> Right.

>> He's enough.

And then, and only then, will you be

able to rest.

You say, "Preacher, what does that

mean?" Well, Hebrews talks about a rest

that he's promised to us. And what

proceeds out of this in the text, verse

number six, "And he believed in the

Lord." Notice this, "And he," that's

God, "counted it to him

for righteousness." You see the

recognition of who God is in the text,

the reliance upon what God has promised,

and the rest in the text of the fact

that God will carry out what he said he

would brought about the reckoning in

verse six. And he counted it.

That word count means to reckon or to

impart.

That means that God chalked up

righteousness on Abram's account because

of his belief. Now,

in our life tonight, and I said this I

said this already in the message, we

cannot settle for less

than the promise of God.

And the seed that's going to come forth

in our life is only going to come forth

when we operate in faith. You say, "That

seed is Abram's." Now, I understand that

that's literal, okay? But, the truth is

tonight in the application sense, in

verse number verse number five, he has

given him a promise. He said, "So shall

thy seed be." And so, there is the seed

that he promises, and then there will be

the soul, the land that he promises to

him. In the latter part of this chapter,

we think about all the promises that God

has made to us in salvation. He has

promised us deliverance, but he also has

promised us a place of dwelling in

heaven, and he tells us in the text the

key to holding that is having

righteousness put to our account.

Put to our account.

Cuz you know what that brings us back

to? That brings us back to the fact that

we have no ability to gain stability in

our life apart from God.

There is no resting place

for somebody apart from Jesus Christ.

There is nothing that we can truly rely

upon. And let me ask you something, if

we don't recognize God, what else could

we recognize?

Do you realize that we're made in His

image? I don't truly understand you if I

don't understand Him.

The thing is, when we behold His face,

this what put every puts everything else

in place.

And when I look at this text tonight,

I'm reminded of the fact that

righteousness does not come by our

works. Now, you say, "Preacher, that's

that's elementary tonight." Well, let me

ask you something. Why do you come to

church?

Is it a check off a box?

Why do you read your Bible? Why do you

pray?

Why do you do all those things? You say,

"Preacher, I know it's not by works of

righteousness." Well, let me ask you,

why do you do those things?

Are you doing those things to ease your

conscience?

You know what that that's that's a work.

You know why we do those things? We do

those things so we can have a

relationship.

So we can have fellowship.

It's not so that we can be satisfied

with our self.

Cuz the truth is, you do all of that and

you're going to find that you're going

to come up empty because your motive was

wrong.

But when our desire, when He is

sufficient,

then and only then will we be satisfied.

He believed in the Lord and God counted

it to him for righteousness. I say it

again, do not settle for less

than the promise of God. Father, thank

you for this time tonight. Thank you for

your word.

God, I know simple and short, but I

think it's what I need more than

anything else. Lord, I just need to

trust you.

Lord, I need to recognize who you are.

Need to rely upon what you've said, and

I need to rest in that you will carry

out what you've promised. And Lord, I

pray that you would help us all. Help

none of us, Lord, to settle for less

than the promise that you've made to us.

God, I thank you for the promises that

you kept. Lord, I have so many things.

Lord, my mind tonight I can testify,

Lord, and say thank you, Father, for the

promises that you made, Lord, when I

asked

and you fulfilled those. And uh Lord, I

thank you, God, for the promises, Lord,

that I know you've made to me that I've

not yet seen fulfilled.

God, I know they will be. And I rejoice

in that. Lord, I ask you, God, you would

bless this church.

Continue to give us strength as we go

forward and uh bless each soul that's

here. I love them and I appreciate them.

Hope they have a great rest of their

week. Bless our choir workshop. Lord, I

pray that you would please touch that

and have your hand upon it. And uh Lord,

we'll be sure to give you thanks for

what you do cuz we ask it in Jesus'

name. And God's children said,

amen.

>> Thank you for joining our service today.

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 Road in Walnut Cove, North

Carolina.

Our service times are Sunday school at

10:00 a.m., Sunday morning worship at

11:00 a.m., Sunday evening worship at

6:00 p.m., and Wednesday evening Bible

study at 7:00 p.m.

For more information, visit us at

meadows baptistchurch.com.

Thanks again for tuning in.