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alma 98 him are a psalm calling us to praise God for His salvation Psalm 98 I'll begin reading in verse 1 a psalm Oh sing to the Lord a new song for he has done marvelous things his right hand and his holy arm have gained him the victory the Lord has made known his salvation his righteousness he has revealed in the sight of the nation's he has remembered his mercy and his faithfulness to the house of Israel all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God shout joyfully to the Lord all the earth break forth and song rejoice and sing praises sing to the Lord with the harp with the harp and the sound of a psalm with trumpets in the sound of a horn shout joyfully before the Lord the king let the sea roar and all its fullness the world and those who dwell in it let the rivers clap their hands let the hills be joyful together before the Lord for he is coming to judge the earth with righteousness he shall judge the world and the people's with equity Amen well please turn in your Trinity hymnal to him number 12 hymn number 12 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Our Blessed God and Holy Father we gathered together to worship you to come to the Father through the son in the power of the Holy Spirit we confess that you are from everlasting to everlasting we confess that you are God Most High the one who has displayed the divine perfections through the created order and through your Providence we see those perfections as well revealed primarily at the cross how we thank you and how we praise you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him we thank you for the gospel of our salvation that gospel that binds us together as the people of God worshiping the God who has been merciful and kind and gracious to forgive us and to give us that righteousness of Jesus Christ we would pray now that your Holy Spirit would enable us and aid us and grant us the ability to approach you in a manner that is consistent with Scripture for God you are a God who is to be feared a God who is to be glorified and revered and honored and a God who is to be rejoiced in for what you have accomplished on behalf of your people we would pray this morning that your Holy Spirit would help us not only as we sing and as we pray but as well as we receive the word of the Living God we thank you that in this world darkened with sin and wickedness you have not left us as orphans you have given the spirit and you have given that Holy Word and we confess that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and that it's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness and we would pray that you would thoroughly furnish each and every one of us unto good works we pray as well that the Holy Spirit would work to convict sinners of their of their lawlessness and rebellion against a holy God and we pray that the Spirit would set forth the beauty and the glory and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ as that one in whom alone there is forgiveness god we pray that here and other churches in Chilliwack and throughout this nation and to the uttermost parts of the world we pray that your word would run swiftly and be glorified that it would return unto you having accomplished the purpose for which you sent it even the strengthening of your people and the salvation of sinners do this for your glory sake do this for the good of those who are presently dead in their trespasses and sins we ask that you would forgive us now as we gather together before you for God you are holy as the psalmist says your coming to judge and we know Lord God that we have transgressed even as believers we have that remaining corruption we are prone to wander prone to leave the god that we love and so we confess those sins now asking for cleansing and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ praising praising you that there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared and we would pray Lord God that it would have that effect upon our hearts that gratitude that reverence before you and that joy in the Holy Spirit Lord God may these things be true in each and every one of our hearts and may you be glorified in this meeting today we ask that you would look with favor upon the various needs in our congregation we thank you that you are a prayer hearing god that you not only tend to the inner man but to the outer man as well we ask this morning that you watch over Linda we thank you for the treatment that she has received thus far we thank you for its blessed success we don't know this ultimately to medicine but to the god of absolute and comprehensive sovereignty and we pray that in the Proceedings to come the other aspects of treatment she would just bless her and undertake on her behalf we pray for our brother dawn that you would look with favor upon him give him relief from the pains that so often affect and plague him and we pray that he would be renewed in the inner man strengthened in the inner man even though the otter man decays day by day and God we do rejoice at your goodness to the salute leg family we rejoice two answers to prayer we rejoice in your kindness and in your mercy and in your love certainly you are a God who is most gracious and most glorious and most kind to his people and we pray that they would indeed be a family that seeks to honor and to glorify the living in the true God and that you would just bless each and every one of them look with favor upon other churches again in our community we pray for those who are preaching the gospel those who are faithful we pray that they would be prospered by a sovereign God not prospered materially or physically but in terms of growth and grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ as well to see places in Chilliwack be places where sinners can come and hear the gospel and be saved we know that our community is in fact a needy one and so we pray that that need that greatest of needs even salvation from a sovereign God would be ministered today through the proclamation of truth be with the church in Surrey we thank you from Pastor Mike and pray that you don't the preaching there and bless and encourage that congregation be with the Saints and Vernon as well we thank you that they are being ministered unto today and pray that your Holy Spirit would be at work in that in that place and that you would eventually provide for them a man of your own choosing that would take up that work we also ask that you would bless the persecuted Church God we are uniquely reminded each and every week of the sufferings that our brothers in Christ undergo for the cause of God and truth we know those who live under oppressive governments and those under oppressive religious regimes we just commit them to you into the word of your grace and pray then in the midst of trial and affliction and hardship they would persevere that the Lord God Almighty would uphold them and that you would even use their testimony and their faithfulness and ultimately that word that they speak for the salvation of those who would oppress those who would be aggressors to the Christian Church and we pray that true religion would indeed go forth in these places and God have mercy upon this nation it sickens us to see the sorts of things that go on unchecked unbounded it sickens us to see abortion on demand to see euthanasia to see all manner of lawlessness and wickedness and we can only cry out to you that in your wrath you would remember mercy she would put the fear of God in the hearts of those in high places of government that they would do what's right because it's right and because God most high commands it we would pray that you and pity would bless the churches and use the Ministry of the word to save sinners and to extend the kingdom of God on earth through these means and may you indeed receive glory and praise and adoration from your your people in this nation and do bless and help us now as we continue in worship give us grace not to have wandering thoughts but to take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ our Lord and it's in his most blessed name that we pray amen well please turn in your Trinity Psalter that's the red book the Trinity Psalter to Psalm 89 Psalm 89 will sing the first sixteen verses to a very familiar tune and will stand and sing together [Music] they could turn in your Bibles to the Gospel according to John we're in John chapter 8 in our consecutive scripture reading of the New Testament John chapter 8 will read the first 20 verses beginning in verse 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives now early in the morning he came again into the temple and all the people came to him and he sat down and taught them then the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery and when they had set her in the midst they said to him teacher this woman was caught in adultery in the very act now Moses in the law commanded us that shut such should be stoned but what do you say this they said testing him that they might have something of which to accuse him but Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear so when they continued asking him he raised himself up and said to them he who is without sin among you let him throw a stone at her first and again he stooped down and wrote on the ground then those who heard it being convicted by their conscience went out one by one beginning with the oldest even to the last and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst when Jesus had raised himself up and saw no one but the woman he said to her woman where are those accusers of yours has no one condemned you she said no one Lord and jesus said to her neither do i condemn you go and sin no more then Jesus spoke to them again saying I am the light of the world he who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of Life the Pharisees therefore said to him you bear witness of yourself your witness is not true jesus answered and said to them even if I bear witness of myself my witness is true for I know where I came from and where I am going but you do not know where I come from and where I am going you judge according to the flesh I judge no one and yet if I do judge my judgment is true for I am NOT alone but I with the father who sent me it is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true I am the one or I am one who bears witness of myself and the father who sent me bears witness of me then they said to him where is your father jesus answered you know neither me nor my father if you had known me you would have known my father also these words Jesus spoke in the Treasury as he taught in the temple and no one laid hands on him for his hour had not yet come amen well throughout the gospel record you see this constant sort of friction with Jesus and the religious leaders Jesus was opposed by them they certainly despised him and they ultimately want to deliver him up to the cross and see him executed and we see that very vividly displayed in this passage concerning a woman caught in adultery notice specifically the setting of the scene in verse 4 they said to Jesus teacher this woman was caught in adultery in the very act and essentially what they are trying to do is pit Jesus against Moses they want him to make a declaration or a statement that is contrary to Moses because if they can do that they can show him to be a fraud and a charlatan and somebody that is discredited but John tells us or John highlights the real motivation in their hearts notice in verse 5 now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned but what do you say now verse 6 tells us this they said testing him that they might have something of which to accuse him they're not interested in justice they're not interested in Moses they're not interested in the law for if they would they would not only have brought the woman caught in adultery but they would have brought the man as well could not be the case that she was caught in the very act without a man they don't bring the man they're not concerned about the law of Moses they simply want to show Jesus as a fake and a fraud and they asked Jesus something that's outside of his jurisdiction he's not a church or ecclesiastical official and he's not a civil official we know him to be the Messiah he is the prophet priest and King the second person of the Trinity all of that to be sure but in this context and in this setting he had no public office he did not have jurisdiction he could not make a pronouncement on whether or not to stone this particular woman but Jesus nevertheless goes to them and highlights the law of Moses he tells them to pony up the witnesses you had to have witnesses in a capital offense you had to have witnesses that would pick up the stones and cast them first so Jesus demands observance of the law of Moses now all of these people are convicted all of these people are guilty of the same sort of crime the same sort of sin and so they dissipate they leave they don't have the authority they don't have the power within them to be able to execute according to the law of Moses so he deals with that but then conversely are not conversely additionally he exercises mercy he exercises kindness he shows forgiveness and compassion to this particular woman it's a beautiful thing and this is the Christ whom we serve he says in verse 10 woman where are the others accusers of yours has no one condemned you she said no one Lord and jesus said to her neither do i condemn you go and sin no more probably he means going don't commit this particular sin any more Jesus does not teach sinless perfection on this side of heaven he means no longer continuing patterns of adultery but look at what he says to an adulteress caught in the very act he forgives her I think there's this mindset among sinners that thinks at times they're too sinful to ever be in favor with God that's the glory of the Christian gospel because we are so sinful because we are so wicked because we are so vile God sent forth his son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law so that those who are guilty of the sin of adultery those are guilty of the sin of murder those who are guilty of the sin of idolatry those who are guilty of the sin of whatever it is can find forgiveness in Jesus that's what makes it good news gospel literally means good news and the good news is is that God sent his son save a wretched people from their sins now brothers and sisters in Christ we never ought to forget that it is an indictment of the people of God from time to time that we conduct ourselves as holier than thou or that we conduct ourselves as self righteous well if we have a proper understanding of the Christian gospel we will be the loudest testifiers that our place in heaven is not secured by our obedience by our performance or by our righteousness but it's only owing to the Lord Jesus Christ to that one who lived in obedience to the law and that one who died on Calvary or died on the cross at Calvary as a sacrifice and a substitute so if you're guilty sinner this morning the the answer has never run from Jesus if you're a guilty sinner the answer has always run to Jesus because he says the one who comes to me I will in no wise I will certainly not cast out well let us pray our Father we thank you for Jesus we thank you for the forgiveness given to this adulterous woman and we thank you for the forgiveness given to wretches like us we pray this gospel would be proclaimed from from sea to sea we pray that Christ would exercise that Dominion and the salvation of sinners and we pray that from every tribe tongue people and nation more and more people would come unto the blessed Christ who is able to save to the uttermost all who draw near to God through him and we pray this in Jesus name Amen well let us turn in our Trinity hymnals again to him number 32 him number 32 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] [Music] we could turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Acts where in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 7 remember this is Stephens defense before the Sanhedrin or the religious council in the way that he calculates or orchestrates this defense is by giving a history a redemptive history of the nation of Israel he focuses on several of the main players the key men involved in that history and this morning we'll look at the section dealing with Abraham so I'll begin reading in chapter 7 at verse 1 then the high priest said are these things so and he said brethren and fathers listen the god of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran and said to him get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you and he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran and from there when his father was dead he moved him to this land in which you now dwell and God gave him no inheritance in it not even enough to set his foot on but even when Abraham had no child he promised to give it to him for possession and to his descendants after him but God spoke in this way that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them for hundred years and the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge said God and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place then he gave him the Covenant of circumcision and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs amen let us pray father in heaven we thank you for the written word we thank you for this history of Israel we thank you God that you have given us not only the New Testament the Old Testament as well and all of that scripture testifies to the same glorious God Father Son and Holy Spirit and we pray now for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit as we survey this section of Scripture again forgive us for our sins and it's darkening influence in our minds and hearts and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen now remember the high priest presides over this town all over this Sanhedrin and so it comes now the formal charges have been laid hinging on false witnesses and now the high priest said are these things so and what he means are the charges laid against you so and the two charges in essence are that he has spoken blasphemous words against Moses and the law and that he has spoken blasphemous words against the temple of God last week we looked at an overview and tried to show how Stephens response as a whole answers those charges now this morning as I said we're going to focus on Abraham and this material comes obviously out of the book of Genesis it's not typical that our Wednesday night sort of jives with what we're doing on Sunday morning but we are in Genesis in our Wednesday night Bible study just having finished chapter through 13 so some of the material that we cover this morning will also be reminiscent of what we've covered thus far in Genesis so I want to look at three things this morning with reference to these verses first the call of Abraham in verses 1 to 4 secondly the promise made to Abraham in verses 5 to 7 and then finally the covenant with Abraham in verse 8 but notice Stephens response to the high priests question verse 2 he says brethren and fathers remember he's going to end the sermon by calling them stiff-necked and uncircumcised of heart he's going to tell them that they always resist the Holy Spirit that they are similar to their fathers those father's who executed the prophets they have fallen lockstep with but initially as he starts the sermon he says brethren and fathers he appeals to them as equals they share the same history and he's showing respect for the fathers those men that make up this 71 member Sanhedrin or religious council and then notice he refers to our father Abraham he says the god of glory appeared to our father Abraham notice he's been accused of speaking blasphemous words against God he starts his address by highlighting the god of glory he starts his address by highlighting the reality that this God they profess this God that they claim is in fact a God of glory and he presented himself or appeared to our father Abraham again shared history they've taken radically different approaches when it came to the Messiah the revelation of Jesus Christ but they share in common Abraham and he appeals to them at this particular level he is not a blasphemer he is rather one who extolled the God of heaven and earth and in the language of one commentator he says Abraham is the topic in verses 2 to 8 but the key to israel's history is not ultimately Abraham but the god of glory and that's what he is suggesting Matthew Poole says by this and what follows Saint Stephen would show that he honored the true God and thought respectfully of the law the temple and the patriarchs whom he was accused to condemn and disgrace so he recognizes Stephens defense throughout is about defending himself in terms of those charges that he spoke blasphemous words against the law of Moses and against the temple of God and Abraham is his first exhibit Exhibit A in terms of Israel's history now note the call of Abram or Abraham in verse 2 it says that the god of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he dwelt in Haran and said to him get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you now there are two calls I believe God called Abraham twice when he was in urn of the Chaldeans that's when Abraham and his father Terah went to the land of Haran and from Haran after the death of his father Terah Abraham is then called to go into the land of promise the land of Canaan that place that God had promised to give to his people so the text here jives with what we read in Genesis we need to assume as just about everybody in the church ever has and those outside the church that there were two calls one in her of the Chaldeans and then again inherent but then notice with reference to the specifics of the call of Abram verse 3 God said to him get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that I will show you turn back to Genesis chapter 12 Genesis chapter 12 where we see that call of Abram or Abraham to come out of the land of mesopotamia and to enter into the promised land canaan the first thing I would direct our attention to in Chapter 12 at verse 1 is the now the Lord had said to Abram we considered this at the Wednesday night Bible study and marveled at the grace of God here we marveled at the grace of God because prior to this point in the book of Genesis you have the fall of man you have the murder of Abel by Cain you have the flood that came and was designed to purge the earth of the corruption and the wickedness that was then on the earth and then post flood what do you have you have these tower builders at Babel trying to make a name for themselves they are throwing off the very constraint of God and trying to raise up into heaven on their own it's a it's a vile and it's a foul sort of rebellious act against the living in the true God and God easily dismisses them by confounding their lip by giving them different languages it causes them to disperse man can no longer engage in this humanistic utopian Enterprise where he's going to bring heaven on earth it's simply not going to happen so after that act of judgment by God in Genesis chapter 12 at verse 1 we read now the Lord had said to Abram and what God says to Abram has in mind Redemption it hasn't mind the expression of grace it has in mind the rest of the Bible specifically concerning the Lord Jesus Christ this is amazing grace and I think it's very similar to what we see in Ephesians 2:1 to 4 in Ephesians two one two three you have this description of what man is apart from God's saving grace he's wretched he's vile he's lifeless he's helpless he's hopeless he's Christ less and then in verse four we read but God who is rich in mercy because of the great love wherewith he loved us he saved us by His grace and for his glory I think this now the Lord had said to Abram functions in a similar capacity this is the divine response to the human Mass created in Genesis chapters three to eleven the call of Abram is significant the call of Abram concerns the Lord Jesus Christ the call of Abram concerns us men from every tribe tongue people a nation were the nation that God said to Abram I'm gonna make out of you but then notice not only grace but the demand with the call look at what God tells Abraham in verse 2 or in verse 1 now the Lord had said to Abram get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you now notice what Abraham's being asked to give up this it's pretty common today you know you share the gospel with somebody you tell them about Jesus and that person says well do you mean that if I come to Jesus I I can no longer have five girlfriends if I come to Jesus I can no longer you know get drunk every weekend if I come to Jesus are these the sorts of things that I have to give up that's the way people often assume Christianity is now obviously when somebody is converted by God's grace they don't want to have five girlfriends anymore they don't want to get drunk every weekend they don't want to do the sorts of things that God condemns in his word the Brethren look at what God is telling Abram get out of your country from your family from your father's house remember his father was an idolaters we learned that in Shechem in joshua 24:2 at a covenant ratification ceremony he refers to Terah as having been in idolatry I would assume that Abraham was an idolater as well as the father goes so does the son so Abraham is told to forsake his gods forsake his father forsake his family forsake everything that is near and dear to you and calm again we hear that and we say oh wow that's a lot that's a big demand but what's on the other side what is it that we gain what is it that we get we get Jesus Christ who is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand later in Genesis chapter 15 God says to Abraham I am your shield your exceedingly great reward brethren we don't preach Christ as the one you have to give up all the stuff you really like so that you can come to him we preach Christ as the altogether lovely as the one who is most blessed most glorious most excellent that one who is able to restore us to God that one who brings us into heaven that one who gives us all things necessary for life and salvation and blessedness we don't preach Christ or something oh it's gonna be tedious it's gonna be a it's gonna be a real hassle it's gonna be a real hardship in your life no people should want to give up everything for Jesus he really is the pearl of great price he really is the altogether lovely he really is the chief and the darling of heaven he is what heaven is all about and so Abram is told here to get rid of all those things to turn his back on everything near and dear to him and to embrace the living and the true God this answers to or is consistent with our Lord's words in Matthew 10 he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me he who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for my sake will find it and we're not saved because we forsake we're not saved because we get rid of we are saved and then by God's grace we gladly forsake by God's grace we no longer want to be in those relationships by God's grace we no longer want the things that wait that wants allure dusted and captivated us no by God's grace when we come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior we willingly happily follow him this idea out there and I think it's often in the hearts of the Christian people as well it's a miserable thing to follow Jesus really it's the most blessed thing in the world if you're not a saint this morning and by Saint I don't mean somebody that's really awesome I mean somebody that's a believer in Jesus if you're not a believer in Jesus this morning I want you to know that he's worth everything he is worth following he is most excellent he is most glorious he is the one that is to be desired more than any other thing and that is precisely what God says to Abram you need to get out now notice Abram does that verse 4 tells us so Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him and lot went with him that obedience of Abraham is displayed there in verse four God said leave everything he left everything but the Apostle in the book of Hebrews tells us that disobedience to God was a consequence of his faith now I want to try to make this very plain you're not going to be saved this morning by obeying God and then gaining salvation as a reward that's not the emphasis in the gospel the gospel is not in the first place a command to do something get better reform yourself don't have five girlfriends don't have five boyfriends don't have crack cocaine don't engage in embezzlement of your company that's not the good news the good news obviously is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ but it's believe on the one who never had five girlfriends who never engaged in crack cocaine who didn't embezzle from his employer he did everything according to the law and this idea that if I obey God will reward me with salvation that's Roman Catholic it's Pelagian it's humanistic but it's not the gospel the gospel is Christ obeyed and everybody by grace looking to him in faith will have everlasting life so you see Abraham's obedience to leave his land comes as a result of the faith that he had in God abraham believed God and it was accounted on damp for righteousness hebrews 11:8 says by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going Matthew Poole says Abraham had as great a love to his kindred and native country as others have I like that Paul recognizes Patriot patriotism now I know we are citizens of heaven and we are simply you know living as colonists on this earth but there's a sense where people do like their countries there's a lot to like in our particular country we've been blessed tremendously and we ought to appreciate God in that persons who hail from America are often patriotic persons that hail from Britain are often patriotic and pools argument is is that Abram there was everything in him to like herb the Chaldeans there's everything - like Heron there's everything in him - like those sort of attachments that one forms on earth so he says Abraham had as great a love - his kindred and native country as others have but he had greater faith which made him yield to God's call in command and follow from place to place the will of God you may not understand all that I'm trying to tell you but this much I want you to know this morning if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ the way of salvation is not by your obedience the way of salvation is by faith in Jesus and then your obedience will come it's the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord every other system out there tells you do and then you'll be rewarded Christianity says I'm gonna save you now go out and do not because you're earning it not because you're gaining it not because you are acquiring it through your own efforts or merits but no I've saved you freely by migrates therefore go now and live in light of that salvation and do the will of God that's what we see in Abraham he believes God and then in consequence to that he obeys God and follows his command to go into the land of Canaan now going back to the book of Acts we ought to appreciate secondly the promise made to Abraham notice in chapter chapter 7 verse 5 says God gave him no inheritance in it not even enough to set his foot on but even when Abraham had no child he promised to give it to him for a possession and to his descendants after him the land of Canaan Israel this land in which you dwell is the land that stephen is talking about and notice that he says abraham got no inheritance what does that mean god gave it to him God promised it to him it's sort of like with David remember when David is initially anointed as the king of Israel that happens in first kid for Samuel chapter 16 but he doesn't actually occupy the throne until Saul is dead he's given it by right but not in practice and Abraham remained a resident alien within the confines of Canaan later on in the the section the next section is going to talk about this tomb Abraham bought so he did own a piece of property within Canaan itself it was a burial ground and he purchased it it's a conspicuous transaction he pays for it so as far as Abraham is concerned he didn't actually own the land as far as Abraham is concerned he doesn't actually have the title to it in terms of actuality in terms of living in it having his own mansion having his own you know servants having all that stuff he doesn't have it and this is one of the emphases of Steven Steven he is highlighting that God comes to Abram outside of Israel God comes to Abram again within Israel but it's not even the case that he owns property in that particular land and then notice what Stephen goes on to highlight he speaks of this lack of inheritance and then he speaks of this possession given to his descendants this is incredible verse 5 God gave him no inheritance in it not even enough to set foot on but even when Abraham had no child he promised to give it to him for possession and to his descendants after him so we have in this particular instance this lack of inherit in era tense but this promise that this land would be occupied by his descendants now I often assume that everybody's read these narratives they understand what's happening in Genesis but remember Abraham Abraham didn't have a son at this particular point imagine a few 18 years old your parents said ok I I'm gonna give you this for you and you know the many descendants that you're gonna have you probably kind of raise your eyebrow and say well I'm not sure how do you know that I'm gonna have this number of descendants how do you know that I'm going to be that Pro creatively active how do you know that I'm gonna do that part in terms of you know being fruitful and multiply how do you know these things well your parents ultimately don't know they might have wishful thinking hopeful thinking whatever the case but when God tells Abraham you're gonna have a great number of descendants Abraham always operates in trusting God but nevertheless there are these challenges to his faith along the way just before that call narrative in Genesis chapter 12 we read that Allah that Sarah his wife is barren and now God is saying I'm gonna give you this land and your descendants are going to fill this land Abraham is asked to believe God in some things that aren't always the easiest to believe we often look at the trial of Abraham in Genesis chapter 22 that's when God tells him to take Isaac his son his only son the son that he loves up to Mount Moriah and offer him up as a sacrifice to God we see that as a test to Abraham's faith the very outset of Abraham's call is a test to Abraham's faith you're going to inherit this land but you're not going to have it you can have all these descendants but you're barren at this particular juncture you're going to have all these good things Abraham but but the physical eye isn't able to see it do you see what it said in Hebrews chapter 11 he didn't even know where he was going now God doesn't typically do that sort of a call for us we are called to come to Christ to believe on Him and to have everlasting life God doesn't typically say well if you're a Canadian you need to move you need to get out of your country if you're somebody that likes land you need to forsake your home if you're somebody that that wants a bunch of descendants you just need to believe that I'm gonna get these are hard demands that are placed upon Abraham and I don't know that we always reconcile with that we come into this new covenant setting and we say boy I can't believe I'm having these trials I can't believe I'm having these difficulties I can't believe I'm having these challenges to my faith the challenge of not knowing where he was going that's a big thing isn't it sometimes in our own lives I don't want to moralize I don't want to psychologize I don't want to get all you know sorry Co analytic on us but there is that sense right we there's there's that unknown that sort of freaks us out a little bit we're gonna make a step in our lives we got to do something that's out of the ordinary we got to leave a place for perhaps of security that we've known and loved and we got a venture out in faith we just think wow this is this is very tough yet is tough and it was tough for Abraham as well but as well this this reality I'm going to take you to this land but you're really going to just live as a resident alien there that's going to be tough as well right you receive this promise that this land is being given to you and your descendants but but for you Abraham you really can't get too tied down to it it's gonna like Moses has got to go up to Pisgah and he got to see the promised land but Moses never entered into the Promised Land I mean that's the mysterious ways of God Almighty isn't it Moses that man who led this rabble out of Egypt now it was God ultimately the power in the exodus but Moses was the second cause the human agency the intermediary that had to deal with the whining and the grumbling and the complaining and he didn't even get to enter the land sometimes brethren as Christians life doesn't always work out the way that you and I want it to and what do we do we whine we grumble we complain we never comfort ourselves we Chapter five of our second London confession of faith it says everything falls out according to the will of God for the good of his people we cite Romans 8:28 when a brother or sister is going through some hardships and trials and we like to pontificate and tell them you know God's gonna work this out for good in your life and yet when bad things happen to us six months later it seems we've forgotten Romans 8:28 brethren if you want to ever be encouraged about the life of faith and the trials and the challenges and the difficulties Abraham is your man it's not just Genesis chapter 22 that's a challenge to his faith it is every step of the way every step of the way he receives this land according to Genesis 12:1 to 9 what's the next thing we read in verse 10 in Genesis 12 there's a famine in the land so he has to go to Egypt and then you go to Egypt with Abraham and you'll see that he's not perfect I'm not saying we should be encouraged by that but we should be encouraged by that he's not a perfect man it's not the case that to come to Jesus Christ means you're going to be perfect that has never happened in the history of the church no one's ever come to Jesus Christ and become perfect Abraham struggled Abraham had trial Abraham didn't always respond positively when he gets into Egypt he tells his beloved bride tell them you're my sister so they don't kill me what are you doing Abraham you're compromising your beloved bride don't do that you see brethren the life of faith isn't one of blue birds and rose petals it's not a Disney movie it's not a fairy tale it's not a singing our way into the the heavenly Jerusalem it is marked by trial and hardship and difficulty and affliction but the reality of the scripture is is that God is to be trusted even in the midst of it like Abraham don't claim to be of Abraham and be a whiner when it comes to affliction don't claim to be of Abraham and then be a sniveling and a complainer when it comes to affliction man-up my wife likes to say put on your big-boy pants or your big-girl pants and deal this is a tough world in this world you will have tribulation the master promised but be of good cheer I've overcome the world if you're not a believer here you might think man this guy's not making a very good case as to why I should come to Jesus he's really making it the thought of coming to Jesus come on as I said earlier there's nothing better there's nothing more glorious there's nothing more wondrous than to be able to say with David in the 23rd psalm yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil why for though art with me never consider what a confession or what a testimony of David's faith that is I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death I'm not gonna get mired down in there I'm not gonna live in there forever but the confidence that he has is in the reality of Christ is with them your rod your staff they comfort me that's what the Christian has that's what Abraham had and that's why he is the father of the faithful he had the challenge of a barren wife we could have a great number of descendants my wife is old my wife is barren and you know the narrative 199 they weren't spring chickens when Isaac came along there was all these times along the way what does Moses or Abraham says he says can it be Ishmael can't he be the son of promise and God said no you're gonna have an Isaac he didn't tell him the name before but that was the emphasis and back to our text the challenge in the land he's given this land and as we're working our way through that section in Genesis right now what happens there's famine chapter 12 verse 10 he goes back to the in Chapter 13 and what happens Lots men and Abraham's men are starting to fight and argue because there's not enough land to sustain their livestock and so Abraham the conciliatory Abraham the wise Abraham the older Abraham the more christ-like figure says qalaat you go ahead and pick whatever it is if you go left I'll go right you go right I'll go left he gives him that blessed opportunity a lot of course chooses the most lush in terms of the lay of the land but it's also filled with wicked people and then in chapter 14 lot gets abducted lot gets gets a capture and what happens Moses or Abraham has to go after him and liberate him so the Lord when he gets to the land it's not like you can just put your feet up and relax every step of the way was a challenge in Abraham's life and he's our example here in Acts chapter 7 notice with reference to the promise of land and descendants 5b he promised to give it to him that's the land and to his descendants after him Abraham had no child at that particular time but God's promise to him was that he would have a lot of children a great multitude and I won't sort of replicate the material from Wednesday night but if you look at the the narratives concerning Abraham several times along the way God promises in land several times along the way God promises in descendants and God uses metaphor to tell him how many his descendants will be it will be like the dust it's a lot of descendants he tells him that'll be like the stars of the heavens it's a lot of descendants he tells them it's going to be like this the sand on the seashore that's a lot of descendants so a lot of emphasis by God concerning this land and concerning the amount of descendants that you're gonna have and again along the way there were those times where Abraham questioned there were those times when Abraham said you know I I just don't know that this is gonna happen the time where Sarah actually laughs about it there's no way shall I find pleasure and my old age Sarai sighs is this really going to happen for us so while they believe they still had those struggles Paul tells us in Romans chapter four that that Abraham contrary to hope in believe the promises of God it's truly an amazing story concerning this father of the faithful but notice as well what Stephen announces in this owing to the particular point in his defense notice in verses 6 & 7 Stephen says but God spoke in this way that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them for hundred years that is the reference to the Exile this is Genesis chapter 15 it's another place where God makes these land promises and seed promises to Abraham and he also tells Abraham that there's going to be a time in the future of your posterity where they're going to go into a foreign land they are going to be in exile they're going to go to Egypt there's this promise of restoration from Egypt so what God is doing with reference to Abraham is announcing to him the future of his people and that's the emphasis that Stephen draws out now so that he can illustrate something in service of his defense notice in verse 7 and the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge said God and after that they shall come out and serve me in this place they shall come out and serve me in this place this is a reference to Genesis 1514 this reference to they shall serve me in this place is Exodus 3:12 in Exodus 312 we read so he said I will certainly be with you and this shall be assigned to you that I have sent you this is Moses when you have brought the people out of Egypt you shall serve God on this mountain now with Stephen he says instead of this mountain he says this place what's the point in Stephens defense here the point is simply this God appeared to Abraham outside of the land outside of the temple he's not confined to land he's not confined to temple but as well God's purpose with reference to the exodus was this place this land that you now occupy and this temple these aren't bad things stephen is not anti temple stephen is not anti moses stephen is not anti law stephen says however that the they've approached the temple is sin they have turned it into an idol but in the program of God this place was always the purpose for God to meet with his people but when his people reject him you cannot suggest that somehow the temple by itself is magic and you also have to consider something in terms of the exodus again I'm assuming that you know what that means the exodus is that gran deliverance of the people of God out of Egypt into the Promised Land they go into bondage the way God says in Genesis 15 they go into Egypt they're there for a period of 400 430 years and then God uses Moses to bring them out and to bring them back into the land of Canaan why for worship something I don't think we value as we ought but this is the purpose why the Exodus so that the people of God can worship the God that has redeemed them have you ever looked at the book of Genesis and thought boy the longest part deals with the building of the tabernacle you've got demand or rather you've got deliverance initially you've got from genitor Exodus 1 to about 19 you've got the deliverance from the land of Egypt and then you have demand from chapters 20 to 24 that's God's word on how they're supposed to function now that they've been liberated from Egypt and they've come back into the land of promise but then from 25 to 40 get this detailed legislation on how to build the tabernacle now most New Covenant Christians read that and they raise their eyebrows and say boy oh boy this is boring learning about the construction of this tabernacle boy oh boy I'd rather watch a home show and see the construction of some mansion on a lake somehow that's ok but not this detailed destruction structure concerning the tabernacle but what is the what is the emphasis in the passage suggesting it's all about worship it's all about adoration it's all about praise yeah God vindicated God liberated God delivered and in response to that the people of God obey chapters 20 to 24 but in response - that they express the gratitude revealed in their worship in other words this whole thing occurs such that God brings them out of Egypt back into the land of Canaan so that they can be his people and he will be their God and they can worship Him again I think this serves Stephens point in terms of his defense it's where God or what God had purpose with reference to the nation of Israel now that the nation of Israel had sacrificed that had rejected that had refused the one to whom the temple pointed even the Lord Jesus Christ don't hold on to this earthly temple thinking that somehow this is what is what it's all about so this is Stevens point here with reference to the whole Exodus worship now I wouldn't ask anybody to do this but I would like to know it you to ask yourself if you ever read through those latter parts of the book of Exodus and felt it a bit tedious oh the first part of the Book of Leviticus I think I've shared before I saw in a catalog one somebody actually wrote a book how to make it through the boring parts of the Bible who would go into print with a title like that it just seems completely insane to me how to get through the boring parts of the Bible that what a terrible thing to say what a horrible thing to say but perhaps in the hearts of God's people there might be a well how do you how do we make it through first Chronicles 1 to 9 how do we make it through those laws of sacrifice and Leviticus 1 to 9 how do we make it in Exodus 25 to 40 in terms of this detailed description of the tabernacle and the furnishings and the Holy of Holies in the holy place and all these sorts of things the emphasis there brethren is Sun worship this is God's point in liberating you from the bondage of Egypt it's so that you'll worship it it's so that you'll praise him it's so that you'll honor him it's so that you'll glorify Him so what Peter says that God calls us out of marvelous light it calls us out of darkness into marvelous light to do what to proclaim his Excellency's well it's Paul's point after summarizing and expounding and explaining the Christian gospel in Rome chapters 1 to 11 with chapter 12 he says therefore my beloved brethren by the mercies of God I beseech you I beseech you to worship God to present your lives as living sacrifices which is your your acceptable irrational or reasonable service unto God the grand purpose behind the exodus was not to show us for subsequent ages how slaves should deal with their masters it's rather to show us how God liberated his people so they could come into the land of promise and bow before him in worship and then notice finally this reference to the Covenant of circumcision Steven here is saying I don't have a problem with the law of Moses I don't have a problem with the law of Moses because it's the law of Moses that enshrouded this covenant of circumcision that was given to our father Abraham you see Steven knows where these things point Steven knows where these things go the Jews in his audience did not they saw the temple as the end in itself they saw circumcision as the end in itself they saw these things as the the badge of their identity Steven said no these were for a time until the time of reformation the coming of the Lord Jesus these things pointed to him now that he's here we don't have need for those things so he is defending his his case with reference to these charges but in terms of this covenant with Abraham notice in verse 9 or at verse 8 it says then he gave him the Covenant of circumcision and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day and Isaac begat Jacob and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs now there's a lot obviously that can be said about this covenant of circumcision in Genesis 17 and the Lord willing will say that when we get there on our Wednesday night Bible studies but I just wanted to direct your thoughts to two particular instances of covenant with Abraham now there's this covenant in verse 8 that refers to Genesis 17 it's called the covenant of circumcision the parties involved in the covenant God and Abraham and then of course Abraham's descendants the particular promises with reference to that covenant land and sea land seed blessing stipulations connected to that covenant or conditions you have to be circumcised all the males that are born in Israel have to go through that particular right this wasn't something only done in Israel this was done among peoples of the ancient Near Eastern world but it has religious significance with reference to babies in Israel but then there's this this this stiff sanction or threat anybody who does not get circumcised in the flesh is going to be cut off in other words he's not part of the covenant people because he didn't subscribe to the covenant condition why it's difficult to maintain that the Abrahamic covenant is the covenant of grace no it isn't the Abrahamic covenant operates at two particular levels again when we get there in our studies on Wednesday night I hope to clarify but there's this other covenant that we see if I would have turned you to Genesis 15 I didn't because of the sake of time but in Genesis 15 that's where God says that they're going to go into Egypt they're going to be oppressed they're gonna go into this foreign land but ultimately they're gonna return that's in the context of a covenant God made with Abraham and in the context Abraham questions God Abraham says to God how do I know that the things you are saying are going to come true notice what God doesn't do how dare you Abraham to ask me the living and true God something like that get out he doesn't do that he doesn't do that for a moment I'm not suggesting like some of the psychologists and some of the weird Christian preachers I get mad with God get angry with God ask all you know don't do that don't do that God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases our task is to be humble before him our task is to be reverent toward him our task is to honor and glorify Him but in terms of this historical redemptive condition or situation Abraham hears the promises of God yet again and he says how do I know this is going to have so what does God do he answers by covenant not the covenant of circumcision but again something that he does in Genesis 15 that's truly remarkable basically what happens in the covenant ceremony that you see there in Genesis chapter 15 is that you gather up a whole bunch of animals and when you gather up those whole bunch of animals you cut them in half and then you take the halves of the animals and you put them on either side so you'd have the cow head here and you'd have the Kaldur end over here and you line them up and the parties to the Covenant walk through the pieces together now the significance behind this is that when they get to the end it is testified by their action that if one of us renege on our covenantal obligations then what happened to these animals may it happen to us that makes sense it's kind of like signing the dotted line if you don't make the payment we're going to take the car you don't make the payment you default on the loan there's there's a condition attached right there's a there's a penalty involved and so when these two parties in the Covenant walk between the pieces of animals it was a tacit admission that if I fail on my side to hold up my part of the Covenant then may I be cut in half the way these animals were John Gill explains it it being usual this is why the language in the covenants very often how does the Old Testament tell us you make a covenant you cut a covenant you cut a covenant and probably behind that is this ceremony he said it being usual in making covenants for the Covenant errs to pass between the parts of a creature slain signifying that should they break the covenant made they deserve to be cut asunder as that creature was now the very interesting thing about this maybe you're saying boy that's pretty interesting I didn't know that I never knew that it's always nice to learn something new isn't it but the really amazing thing about that particular ceremony in Genesis chapter 15 is that only one party passed through and it wasn't Abraham it was God you see what God does God takes upon himself the obligations for covenant keeping not only on his part but on our part this is the significance of Galatians 3:17 or 13 Christ became a curse for us we couldn't fulfill the obligations we couldn't comply with the law we couldn't render perfect obedience so Christ as our surety Christ as our substitute Christ as our sacrifice stands in our place he takes the punishment and the penalties affixed to covenant breaking upon himself it really is an amazing testimony concerning how gracious and how glorious our God is in the ratification ceremony with Abraham Genesis 1517 says and it came to pass when the Sun went down and it was dark to behold there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces that was an emblem of the divine presence that was an emblem of God Most High that was an emblem of the reality that the promise made to Abraham was sure not because of Abraham but because of God so in conclusion I think that this defense or this section on Abraham serves Stephens defense by highlighting that he is not anti Temple he recognizes that God has not confined the temple or to land rather he appeared to Abraham in the land of Mesopotamia as well he's not anti law he's not anti Moses he recognizes the lawful place of circumcision as having been given to Abraham but he realizes but that was both circumcision and temple they have a terminus they have a Telos they have a purpose and it's Jesus Christ and now that Jesus Christ has come it's not Stephen who is inconsistent with the prophetic word before him but it's these religious leaders it's the Sanhedrin it's these lawless men the in concert with the fathers who murdered the prophets before them it's a masterful defense that Stephen launches using their own shared history to show how it inevitably led to the Lord Jesus Christ and that Steven following Christ was following Abraham Stephen following Christ was following the patriarchs Stephen following Christ was following Moses and David and Solomon he was following all that they said that they held near and dear he's showing that it's not me that's got the problem it's you that's got the problem secondly we ought to appreciate the grace of God in the call of Abraham it is the divine response to the human tragedy of Genesis 1 2 1 2 11 what's man do left to himself he builds towers trying to make a name for himself trying to climb up into the very heavens if he can he finds that that that camaraderie among man in rebellion against God she see in Genesis chapter 11 is the the socialistic dream and the humanistic dream that's being preached to us in politics today there's no way man will develop utopia on earth because man is sinful man is wretched man is in rebellion against the living and true God do you realize all it took for God to stop this rebellion was to confound their language to confuse their lip to strike them in that particular vantage point and that caused the dispersal you see brethren God and grace calls Abraham God and grace calls sinners out of darkness into marvelous light we need to appreciate thirdly the faith of Abraham I think I've you know touched on that in several places but I just want to bring it home one more time he had faith wasn't obedience that brought him to heaven it was faith and it wasn't faith in some nebulous undefined Messiah in the future what's Jesus say to the Jews in John chapter 8 he says Abraham rejoiced to see what to see my day and he saw it and he rejoiced he said well how did Abraham know that well Genesis fifteen announced a seed that would crush the serpent Genesis 22 Abraham learned about substitutionary atonement didn't he he was told to take Isaac your son the only son of your love take him up to Moriah and sacrifice him Isaac's a pretty sharp get probably a late teenager and Isaac says we have the wood we have the fire but we don't have the sacrifice dad and what does Abraham say he says the Lord will provide see Abraham knew more than we give him credit for Abraham had the promises of God and Abraham held to those promises of God and such when Abraham is going to bury the knife in the son the son of his love his only son the angel of the Lord stops him and then they turn around what do they see they see a ram caught in the thicket there's your substitution there's your pointer the Lord Jesus Christ you see it wasn't nebulous it wasn't undefined Stephen I think in essence is saying the very one that Abraham announced on that trip to Mount Moriah is the one that you crucified the one that you betrayed the one that by lawless hands you murdered Stephen knows their history a thousand times better than they know it and Stephen is proving his point with his reffering referencing Abraham and then finally if you're not a believer here this morning a lot of this may have confused you if you have questions and you want to email you want to call you want to tax you want to set up a time to talk about these sorts of things I'm happy and and willing to do that I'm happy to meet with you afterwards because there's nothing more important than this question how do I come to know Abraham's God how do I come to know this God that that this man Stephen is preaching in act 7 how do I go from the place of guilty vile helpless how do I go to that from the place of rightly being liable to the judgment and the wrath and the condemnation of curse of God how do i how do I go how do I move how do i how do I get or escape this this horrible condition it's by grace through faith in Christ so when Abraham is told seed it ultimately hinges upon the person in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ it's because of Christ and the various descendants that Abraham's gonna have yeah there'll be a lot to people Israel there'd be a lot to live in that promise land of Canaan but he's really speaking about what we sang in that hymn just prior to the sermon where Abraham's seed were the people of God were heaven bound not because of our goodness not because of our righteousness but because of the God of Abraham who sent his song the Lord Jesus Christ to do what you and I could never do and the gospel says believe on him and you shall be saved again if you want to talk call write text carrier pigeon fax do whatever let's communicate the glorious truth of gospel grace because apart from it you will suffer the very wrath and fury and judgment of God Almighty these Jews knew that they understood the implications of Stephens sermon that's why at the end they stopped their ears they Nash in him with the teeth and they drive him out of the city and they kill him because they couldn't get to God they are gonna take care of Stephen his servant this is the reality that you and I face there is a heaven there is a hell and the only way to heaven is through the Lord Jesus Christ well let us pray our Father we thank you so very much for this section in the book of Acts we thank you for the book of Genesis and what it tells us yes about Abraham but even more importantly about the god of glory we ask father that you would help us to see these things to see how these Old Covenant shadows and types pointed forward to the Lord Jesus Christ and that in him all the promises of God are you a man we thank you for that we thank you for salvation for redemption we thank you for the forgiveness of sins and our desire is is that a multitude of others would come today to confess him as Lord and Savior and we pray this in Jesus name Amen well let's take our Trinity hymnals and close our service by singing the doxology you can find it on page Roman numeral 16 the very front of the book will sing in praise to God [Music] [Music] and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all amen father go with your church now go with your people help us to sanctify the day help us to enjoy fellowship in the saints and help us God to return tonight to bring glory and praise to you in corporate worship and to receive from your ever gracious hand the supper that you provide for weary pilgrims in this world go with us now we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen you may be seated for a brief time of meditation