{"id":20338,"date":"2022-01-29T12:30:53","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T18:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/sermon\/20338\/"},"modified":"2022-02-22T13:30:29","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T19:30:29","slug":"genesis-068-greater-clarity","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/genesis-068-greater-clarity\/","title":{"rendered":"Genesis 068 – Greater Clarity"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[12],"series_event":[511],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-20338","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-genesis","series_event-genesis","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Genesis 068 - Greater Clarity","sermon_date":"20220130","sermon_month":"01","sermon_year":"2022","sermon_notes":20336,"sermon_slides":20337,"sermon_mp3":20341,"sermon_id":"130221450415215","series_or_event":511,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":12,"chapter_and_verse":"16:15\u201217:8","sermon_transcript":"Well, good morning everybody! If we could, take our Bibles and open them to the book of Genesis chapter 16. Genesis, 16, verse 15 (Gen 16:15). The title of our message this morning is \u201cGreater Clarity\u201d, greater clarity.\r\n\r\nWe continue our verse by verse study through the book of Genesis having already completed Genesis, 1 through 11 (part one of the book) which deals with four events: Creation, fall, flood, national dispersion, where a prophecy is being traced. There\u2019s a Messiah coming, of course, that Messiah is Jesus Christ who will set things right and then we moved into chapters 12 through 50 (Gen 12-50) where now the issue is which nation will God use to bring forth this Messiah? God cannot use one of the existing nations and so He creates His own and that\u2019s the significance of chapters 12 through 36 (Gen 12-36) as God deals now with three patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and then how He supernaturally protects that nation through the life of Joseph, chapters 37 through 50 (Gen 37-50). God is creating a nation here; and the character that God chose to create this nation, the nation of Israel from is this man Abram, whose name is about to be changed to Abraham. And so we have been tracking with great specificity, the early life and journeys of Abraham and we are almost finished with chapter 16\u2026\r\n\r\nwhere chapter 16, verses 1 through 6 (Gen 16:1-6), Abram and Sarai got tired of waiting on the Lord. Have you ever been there? I mean, God promised us innumerable descendants, Abraham\u00a0 says, through my body and so they came up with a human plan to help God, cause God is just taking too long; and from that union comes Hagar. Hagar becomes pregnant and she is about to give birth to Ishmael and that union caused consequences, which is what sin does\u2026 caused consequences which are still reverberating to this very day for the nation of Israel. It is a costly thing to not wait on the Lord and to take matters into one\u2019s hands and to do things one\u2019s own way and now, very end of chapter 16, we have the birth of this son. This son named Ishmael who comes not by waiting on God but he comes through the Abraham-Hagar-Ishmael line and that birth takes place in verses 15 and 16 (Gen 16:15-16) and you\u2019ll notice first of all, there\u2019s the birth of a son verse 15. 3:51\r\n\r\nNotice verse 15 (Gen 16:15): So Hagar bore Abram a son\u2026 Now, that\u2019s exactly what God said would happen. God back in verse 11 (Gen 16:11) named the gender of the child as the angel of the Lord dealt with Hagar, you remember? Says: \u2026You will bear a son\u2026 It\u2019s interesting that everything God says will happen, happens; and the name of this particular son, second part of verse 15 (Gen 16:15) is Ishmael, the child born of works and it says: So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael\u2026 Now, God also earlier revealed the name of the son to Sarai and so it\u2019s interesting here that Abram does the naming, not Sarai. So Abram must have believed the story given to her by the angel of the Lord earlier on this chapter; and then the chapter sort of concludes, verse 16 (Gen 16:16) with Abram\u2019s age and of course, it\u2019s verses like this we just rush over but, as I\u2019ll show you in a minute, these type of chronological indicators are very important.\r\n\r\nLook at verse 16 (Gen 16:16), it says: Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him\u2026 So Abram is the ripe old age of eighty six years old. We know that his wife Sarai is seventy-six years old, how do we know that? Because Genesis, 17, the next chapter, verse 17 (Gen 17:17) puts ten years between the two; and it\u2019s going to be another fourteen years, which is a long time when you think about it. When God is going to make good on his promise through the birth of Isaac. So this is an example of people just sort of getting impatient with the Lord, trying to hurry God along. The reality of the situation is, when you walk with the Lord, His timing is perfect. His timing is everything and so many times we get tired of waiting on God because we want our plans to be executed and we jump the gun and we experience all kinds of consequences which are going to come into the life of Israel because of this poor decision and yet, what we\u2019re going to discover is all of this effort that they put forth to do things their own way was a waste of time, cause God is right on time all of the time. It's just going to happen in an additional fourteen years. 6:50\r\n\r\nThis is why there\u2019s so much in the Bible about waiting upon the Lord. I, to be frank with you, hate waiting upon the Lord. I hate it when the Lord puts something in my heart and then He says, trust me for its outcome and part of the problem is the world system I\u2019ve been reared in which teaches that you can be rewarded for effort. You want the highest grade in the class, then study the most. You want to get ahead on the job, then put forth the most effort. We\u2019re living in a society that rewards energy and effort and what you discover with God, is He doesn\u2019t work according to the way the world works. Have you noticed that in your life? And He says, I want you to wait. That\u2019s when I feel like praying that prayer, Lord give me patience and give it to me right now, sort of thing; and they\u2019re getting a tremendous lesson here on waiting on the Lord and the mess that they can make of things and we could make of things when we fail to wait on the Lord, and so that\u2019s the end of chapter 16 and you say, well good we\u2019re finished then, right? No, not quite.\r\n\r\nAs we move now into chapter 17, which deals with circumcision, which is the token of the Covenant that God had given to Abram. The Covenant is secured, now we\u2019re learning about a ritual which is a token of the Covenant. It\u2019s interesting how God many times will give a symbol of a token of a Covenant that He's just made. Noah of course was given the sign of the rainbow for the Noahic Covenant. We in the church age as we participate in the New Covenant are given a sign. That sign is the ritual of communion which by the way, we\u2019re going to be taking it at this church next week. We do it on a monthly basis here; and the sign or the token of the Abrahamic Covenant is something called circumcision and the religionist confuses the token with the Covenant. They do it all the time. People do this with baptism. What is water baptism? It\u2019s an outward symbol of an inward reality. Water baptism doesn\u2019t save anyone. It is a token or a ritual that we go through in the church age as a testimony to our salvation and what people all the time do is they want to make baptism some sort of condition for salvation. The Pharisees were doing this kind of thing with Paul, where they were trying to take circumcision and actually make it some sort of condition for the Abrahamic Covenant and you\u2019re rescued from that by studying the Bible in order. That\u2019s why we teach the Bible here verse by verse in the order God gave it, because when you see the order, you see very clearly that the covenant is entered into Genesis, 15, and as that covenant is already established, we have Genesis, 17, 17 comes after 15, can I get an amen on that? So therefore what\u2019s happening in 17 has nothing to do with the creation of the Covenant that already existed. Well, why do we have this chapter of circumcision? It\u2019s a token or a ritual or a testimony to the Covenant but it is not the Covenant itself. 10:46\r\n\r\nSo as we venture into chapter 17, we can divide it into these parts: The covenant that God gave Abram is restated verse 1 through 8 (Gen 17:1-8). Then you have the covenant token of circumcision verse 9 through 14 (Gen 17:9-14) and then, God changes Sarai\u2019s name to Sarah verses 15 through 21 (Gen 17:15-21 just as like He will change Abram\u2019s name to Abraham chapter 17, verses 1 through 8 (Gen 17:1-8) and then the whole chapter ends, verses 22 through 27 (Gen 17:22-27) with Abram, now Abraham, being obedient to what God told him to do which is always a very good move, amen? So notice here verses 1 through 8 (Gen 17:1-8) where the covenant is restated and we probably won\u2019t even get through verses 1 through 8 today but at least you just kind of see the lay of the land.\r\n\r\nWe have timing, we have a divine disclosure, we have a response from Abram and then, what God does, is He takes the promises given to Abram and He amplifies them. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve entitled this message \u201cGreater Clarity\u201d. What God has spoken already in the Covenant terms become more detailed. The details don\u2019t subtract from the original promise but they certainly add greater clarity to the original promise. 12:31\r\n\r\nSo notice first of all, the timing and that\u2019s why the ages of these individuals are so interesting and are given. Notice if you will Genesis, 17 and notice if you will verse 1 (Gen 17:1): Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old\u2026 That\u2019s pretty old, that means Sarah was how old? Eighty-nine years old, that means there have been twenty four years since God originally made the promises to Abram going back to Genesis, 12. So given that length of time, it\u2019s no wonder they got impatient, it\u2019s no wonder they got tired of waiting upon the Lord, it\u2019s no wonder that they took matters into their own hands. That\u2019s how human nature is and there probably are thirteen years between the end of chapter 16, the birth of Ishmael and the unfolding of this chapter here; and we move on from there to a divine disclosure and you see that second half of verse 1 into verse 2. Notice what it says there, Genesis, 17 verse 1 (Gen 17:1): \u2026the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless\u2026 So, this is an actual appearance by God to Abram, this occurs seven times in the book of Genesis. Abram was one of the most blessed people that have ever lived and one of the reasons he was blessed was not only because of the promises but because of the fact that the Lord personally appeared to him seven times. If my count is right, this is the fifth appearance that God has made to this man Abram and it\u2019s been twenty three years since the last appearance, Genesis, 15. So we read through this and we\u2019re tempted to think God was talking all of the time but that\u2019s not true. There were large increments of time in between these disclosures and so if you\u2019re in a season in your life where, you know, you haven\u2019t really felt the nudging of God or somehow God hasn\u2019t really put anything on your heart or God hasn\u2019t changed your circumstances and a length of time is passed, don\u2019t automatically conclude from that that, Oh, I\u2019ve must be outside of God\u2019s will, because when you pay attention to these numbers you see that God is not always communicating to Abram over and over again. It reads that way, but that\u2019s why those numbers are given, to show us the lapses in between. There have been many times in my life where God has done from what I can tell, absolutely nothing and I was stuck in the same spot with no new insights about anything, just waiting upon the Lord and that\u2019s when we get frustrated and we try to take things into our own hands and God says, no, you have to learn the discipline of waiting on me; and so now, God after He appears to Abram gives him two commands.\r\n\r\nHe says there, end of verse 1 and into verse 2 (Gen 17:1-2): the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty\u2026 Command number one\u2026 Walk before Me\u2026 Command number two\u2026 be blameless\u2026 First command, walk before Me. Now, don\u2019t skip over too fast, this title that God gives to Himself \u201cGod Almighty\u201d. The Hebrew for God Almighty is \u201cEl Shaddai\u201d, that\u2019s the first time as far as I know that that name has ever been used of God thus far in the book of Genesis. It\u2019s going to be used many, many times as you go through the book of Genesis, but this is the first usage. El Shaddai refers to God\u2019s power. God has many names and typically he will showcase, if I can use that expression, the name based on the circumstances of the people that they were under at the time. He reveals something about His nature to people in specific circumstances who needed to understand that attribute of God and in this case, Abram and Sarai really needed to know about God\u2019s power, because God had made them a promise which looked impossible. In fact, it looked so impossible that they tried to work around it and find a human way to fulfill it and they need to be reminded of the fact that God is El Shaddai, He is all powerful. Genesis, 18, is going to tell us, is there anything too hard for the Lord? The answer is: Nothing is too hard for the Lord, because of His name. His name is El Shaddai. He therefore, is the God of all strength, He is the God of all power and because He is that way He has the ability to supply strength, because we in the Christian life can get very fatigued and very tired and we need to be reminded who God is exactly. He is El Shaddai. He will give you the exact strength that you need for whatever predicament or for whatever circumstance you\u2019re in and if He\u2019s laid something on your heart that hasn\u2019t materialized yet, you just have to rest in the fact that He is in fact El Shaddai, all powerful. He will execute what He said He would do. We forget that because His timing is not ours and we start to think, well maybe God isn\u2019t big enough to pull this off. Oh yes He is, because of this very name El Shaddai and so we have a couple of commands, walk before Me and be perfect and it\u2019s important that we don\u2019t misread this. This is why we go slowly, chronologically through books of the Bible because many people will just start with Genesis, 17, and they\u2019ll make it sound as if Abram had to do A and B to get the Covenant, but that obviously isn\u2019t true because the Covenant, Genesis, 15, has already been given. In fact, as we\u2019ve studied that section very carefully, I think we spend maybe five weeks in Genesis, 15, we learned that Abram was asleep when God entered into the Covenant. This has nothing to do with the performance of Abram. This has nothing to do with Abram, you\u2019d better do A and B and if you don\u2019t execute, you don\u2019t get the Covenant. That\u2019s an impossible interpretation when you understand that chapter 15 comes before chapter 17. 19:58\r\n\r\nBy the way, when Paul in Romans, 4, was talking about people that thought they were saved by works, circumcision, the Pharisees, the religionists, Paul argued the exact same way in Romans, 14. He said: Abram\u2019s salvation (chapter 15) came before he was circumcised (chapter 17) and what he is saying is, you need to go back and you need to read the Bible in order. If you read the Bible in order, you\u2019re saved from so much works oriented nonsense; and that\u2019s why we emphasize these kinds of things here. So this Covenant is not conditional. The Covenant is already established. All God is saying in these two commands is, look here\u2019s how you\u2019re to live as the recipient of My Covenant. Here\u2019s how you are to act. He is not saying, if you fail you don\u2019t get the Covenant anymore. He couldn\u2019t be saying that cause Abram just failed, did he not? In Genesis 16? Did that break the Covenant? All God is saying is, because you are the Covenant people, that should change the way you live, why? Because your identity is different. It works the same way in salvation. We receive Christ as personal savior. We are made new creations in Christ and you start to read in the Bible of all of the things that are now different about your position, you are Holy in God\u2019s eyes. Well, if that\u2019s true maybe my lifestyle should better mirror holiness. Well, if it doesn\u2019t mirror holiness, does that mean God snatched the carpet out from under me and I\u2019m no longer saved? That\u2019s not what it means. What it means is, you\u2019re living outside of your identity. You are living outside of your purpose and you can\u2019t be fulfilled as a Christian, living outside of your purpose; and this is the point that God is making with Abram. Look at who you are, look at what you have received, look at this unconditional Covenant that I have given you in chapter 15, it\u2019s eternally yours, I\u2019m not going to rip the carpet out from under you but the knowledge of what you have should change the way you think about yourself, it should change the way you live. Not that we\u2019re sinless but we ought to sin less, when we understand who we are in Christ. It\u2019s a very different way of Christian education, I\u2019ll tell you that much, because what most people are hearing today in their churches is, you\u2019d better be good or maybe you weren\u2019t a Christian to begin with, or maybe you lost your salvation. 23:05\r\n\r\nNotice how Paul the Apostle sets up the book Ephesians chapters 1 through 3, without giving a single command in the book, in that section I should say. No commands, chapters 1 through 3. It\u2019s just an explanation of who you are in Christ. Then you get to chapters 4 through 6, and it has the word \u201ctherefore\u201d chapter 4, verse 1 (Eph 4:1) and when you see the word \u201ctherefore\u201d in the Bible, you ask yourself what is the word \u201ctherefore\u201d there for; and now that he has established our identity in Christ, now he says, Okay, here\u2019s your position. Now, here\u2019s how it should influence your behavior and in that second section he gives thirty eight commands. Not a single command in chapter 1 through 3, thirty eight in chapters 4 through 6, only after the proper doctrinal foundation has been laid and people understand who they are in Christ Jesus. Paul the apostle sets up the book of Romans in the exact same way. In Romans chapter 12 and verse 1 (Rom 12:1), he says: Therefore I urge you, brethren\u2026 Speaking to Christians\u2026 by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice to God, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship of service\u2026 Presenting your body to God as a Christian is only logical, it\u2019s only reasonable if you understand this in light of these mercies. What mercies? Chapters 1 through 11, because it\u2019s in chapters 1 through 11 that he tells us that we have been purchased from the slave market of sin, chapters 1 through 3. We have been justified, end of chapter 3 through chapter 5. We have the power for sanctification and growth within us, chapters 6 through 8. God always keeps His word, chapters 9 through 11. So in light of all of these mercies, offer your body as a living sacrifice. Christian education doesn\u2019t function this way today very sadly. It\u2019s a list of what you ought to do and what you shouldn\u2019t do and that\u2019s never the way the Bible explains holiness in daily life. It becomes an exercise first of understanding what you have received from God\u2026 Upon reflecting upon that, then that ought to change how we live. This is exactly what He\u2019s doing with Abram. Abram back in chapter 16, you really weren\u2019t walking before me in perfection and holiness at all and you\u2019re really not acting like a guy that has received the Abrahamic Covenant; and that's how to understand these commands. So since you have received this Covenant, walk before Me, in what? In service and devotion as unto the king, a king, because you have one now and then He says, second part of verse 1, not only does He say walk before Me, but be blameless. The Hebrew here for blameless is the same word that\u2019s used in Exodus, 12, verse 5 (Exo 12:5) to describe the unblemished nature of the Passover lamb: Your lamb shall be unblemished\u2026 That\u2019s our word here for blameless. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s saying perfection, cause that\u2019s not possible this side of eternity, but it is saying that\u2019s the direction that we should be moving in as Christians. Why not behave that way? Cause after all, look at what God has said about us. We are blameless and holy in the beloved. God looks upon me as if I\u2019m just as pure as Jesus Christ, that\u2019s my position; and if that\u2019s what God said about me, goodness! Maybe laughing at the dirty joke, looking a little too long at the racy movie, maybe those things should be curtailed because they\u2019re outside of who I am, they\u2019re outside of my calling, they\u2019re outside of my position; and after making an appearance to Abram, El Shaddai, after giving him these commands He makes him some promises and it's not like these promises are brand new but as you start to move through these promises, God is giving clarity to what He already said earlier in the book. 28:08\r\n\r\nTwo promises, the promise of\u00a0 establishing a covenant, not making the covenant, establishing it, executing it and then there is the promise of multiplied seed, which we\u2019ve seen before.\r\n\r\nLook at verse 2 (Gen 17:2): I will establish My covenant between Me and you\u2026 The Covenant is everything to God. In fact, the word covenant, the Hebrew word Beriyth, is used in this chapter alone thirteen times. Why is the Covenant such a big deal to God? It\u2019s a big deal to God and it should be a big deal to us and it should be a big deal to the Bible reader because now God has to move His hand into history to keep His obligations. If you understand the Covenant, you\u2019ll understand exactly what God is doing in the rest of the Bible and even in modern times concerning Israel, making good on what He says He would do. You\u2019ll notice that He doesn\u2019t say, verse 2 (Gen 17:2) I will create My Covenant. Why doesn\u2019t He say that? Cause the Covenant has already been created. I\u2019m going to establish it. I\u2019m going to execute it and that\u2019s why this Covenant keeps getting reaffirmed over and over again in the book of Genesis. In fact, this is the fourth time that this Covenant has been reaffirmed; and you might also find this interesting, God here, just in these verses 1 through 8 (Gen 17:1-8), says seven times: I will. Kind of reminds us of the devil, doesn\u2019t it? Have you ever read Isaiah 14:12 through 15 (Isa 14:12-15)? These are the thoughts that were going through Satan\u2019s mind prior to his fall. Satan himself, in Isaiah 14:12 through 15 (Isa 14:12-15) said five times I will. This is the first time a creature has asserted its own will against God.\r\n\r\nI will\u2026 number one, I will ascend to heaven. I will\u2026 number two, I\u2019ll raise my throne above the stars of God, stars being angels. I\u2019ll run the angelic kingdom, not you God. I\u2019ll do it. Number three, I\u2019m going to sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, that\u2019s where Jesus is going to sit in the millennial kingdom, he\u2019s asserting his authority over the kingdom one day. Number four, I will ascend above the tops of the clouds, clouds refer to God\u2019s glory. He wanted to eclipse the glory of God and then the clincher there is I will\u2026 number five, I will make myself like the most high and that\u2019s where sin entered God\u2019s universe for the very first time. 31:18\r\n\r\nOne of the most frightening things that we have as image bearers of God is a will, which means I can make decisions, God has given me this freedom to make decisions contrary to what He wants. God said, I will seven times\u2026 Satan says, I will five times. I have the exact same power and if I\u2019m going to exercise my will above and beyond God\u2019s, there\u2019s always consequences, but you know what? God will respect the choice. God in the end will win, it\u2019s not a good choice, but the choice will be respected. If God didn\u2019t respect the choice, He wouldn\u2019t be respecting the way that we are created as image bearers. This is the problem with many theological systems that make it sound as if man is just sort of a puppet on a string and God controls everything where we don\u2019t even have volition. God\u2019s providence is so great that even when we execute our volition contrary to God, we\u2019re carrying out His purposes. Ask me to explain that one, I can\u2019t, but at the end of the time and the end of the ages, we\u2019re just going to praise God for how He was able to execute a perfect plan in the midst of free will creatures that were in rebellion against Him. Only God can pull that off. You know, Judas made the decision to betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver and the moment He made that decision, he was actually fulfilling a prophecy written in the book of Zechariah five hundred years in advance. He was fulfilling a Psalm, Psalm, 41, and I guarantee you that Judas wasn\u2019t thinking those ways at all. That his rebellion was executing God\u2019s will. So if a human being wants to reject God and go to hell forever, yes God will convict, yes God will agitate but at the end, God will say, you can have your way, you don\u2019t want a relationship with me, you don\u2019t want eternity with me, you can go ahead and have what you want, which is one of the most frightening things that could ever happen to a person, when God gives us what we want and turns us over to our own devices. Not the most spiritual song in the world but that country western song that I heard on the radio the other day, not KHCB of course, (laughs) something to the effect of thank God for unanswered prayers where I was wanting this or wanting that and you look back in life and you say, Gosh! Lord, I'm glad you didn\u2019t grant that one; and one of the most frightening things that can happen to a person is they get what they want. The smartest thing a human being can do with their will, it\u2019s the smartest thing, is to give that will back to who? Back to God. Did not Jesus emulate that when He said in the Garden of Gethsemane, not my will be done by Thy will be done. The antichrist\u2019s coming is very different. Daniel, 11, tells us: \u2026who will execute his own will\u2026 Jesus, God in human flesh took His will and surrendered it to God the father, that\u2019s the way to handle this monster, if I can put it that way. This potential for evil that\u2019s in your lap called free will. Every decision you make, you just say, well the Lord, what\u2019s the Lord\u2019s will? And you make choices consistent with what God wants and that\u2019s the pathway to growth. You see God saying seven times in this chapter, I will. 35:38\r\n\r\nSo He promises that He is going to execute His Covenant and then He promises also, end of verse 2 (Gen 17:2), that He is going to execute His promise of seed or descendants from Abram. He says, verse 2: I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly\u2026 Now, we\u2019ve already had promises of descendants. Earlier we learned that they will be as the sand of the sea shore, the dust of the earth, the stars of the sky innumerable and now God clarifies it further and says, you\u2019re going to have descendants and not just descendants but descendants exceedingly; and what can Abram do at this point? As the Covenant is being restated after not hearing from God for what did we say? Twenty three years? He doesn\u2019t know what else to do other than to praise the Lord. Look at verse 3 (Gen 17:3): Abram fell on his face.\r\n\r\nThere is a lot of traffic today and there\u2019s a lot of noise in modern day evangelical Christianity about worship. Worship styles, worship wars, generational conflict within the church because one generation wants worship one way, the other generation wants worship a different way and man, you can start a civil war in any church over this subject and if you ask all of the combatants in this civil war: What is worship? Most of them can\u2019t even give you a definition. They can talk about style, they can\u2019t even define what worship is. I\u2019ll define what worship is right now. I got this definition from my professor J. Dwight Pentecost. He got it from the Bible obviously. What is worship? Worship is a response to truth. That\u2019s what it is. You hear the truth of God, you\u2019re so in your heart overwhelmed by what you just read or what you just heard, the only thing you can do is try to respond to God someway. The response doesn\u2019t give you the truth, it\u2019s a reaction to the truth. I mean, you might respond to God with an organ, you might respond to God with a guitar, you might respond to God with no musical accompaniment at all and it might be, you know, acapella. Is that how you say that? You can tell I have a lot of experience with these things, I can\u2019t even get the words pronounced right. You might make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Yeah, but that church over there, I don\u2019t like their style and that church over there, I don\u2019t like their style either. Are you kidding me? Do you don\u2019t understand what God has just said to you? That He is your creator and He is your redeemer and you can\u2019t wait to get into the presence of God\u2019s people and explode into praise of God. Style? Do you want to argue style? When you don\u2019t even understand what worship is? I understand that the songs need to reflect a Biblical basis, I get it, but so much of this back and forth today to me is becoming self-centered, it\u2019s becoming narcissistic where the focus is us and our preferences. You\u2019ll say, Oh no! Sugar Land Bible Church is getting ready for a big change in style of worship. No, we are not. If that\u2019s what you're afraid of? There\u2019s no fear there. What I\u2019m just saying is, let\u2019s get a grip a little bit here. Let\u2019s calm down, let\u2019s take a few deep breaths and let\u2019s step back for thirty seconds and ask ourselves what worship is before we start arguing about it and fighting about it. What you\u2019re seeing here with this man Abram is true worship. I don\u2019t even think music and tunes and notes is even mentioned here, is it? He just falls on his face before the Lord cause that\u2019s all he knows to do because of what he just heard from God; and we move on from verse 3 (a) and into the second part of verse 3 (Gen 17:3) into verse 8 (Gen 17:8), where God starts to now take the Covenant promises and add detail, add clarity. 40:45\r\n\r\nThe clarifications don\u2019t change the original promise, that\u2019s very important to understand. The progress of revelation is such that latter revelation will never undo what the former revelation says. If that could happen, then God is a liar. There are many theological systems today that will tell you that you interpret the Old Testament through the lens of Christ and somehow Christ, with a different grid is undoing what He said formerly. That is a false doctrine. If that doctrine were true, then everything that God said in Old Testament times is a lie and it\u2019s impossible for God to lie. Yes but Pastor, should we interpret the Old Testament by what is said in the New Testament? Many groups today argue that. It\u2019s called Supersessionism, Replacement Theology, this is one of the tactics that they use to rewrite the Old Testament and make it sound like God is not going to keep His promises to Israel. We do not interpret the Old Testament by some sort of change that Christ supposedly introduced in the New Testament, rather it\u2019s the exact opposite. You interpret the New Testament by what has already been disclosed in the Old Testament. That\u2019s why the Old Testament came before the New Testament. There are a lot of churches that will never touch the Old Testament. Why not? Because of their method of interpretation. Jesus ushered in some sort of change. No, Jesus did not usher in a change. Jesus came to fulfill what is spoken of in the Law and the prophets, not to change what was originally said. I was talking to a gentleman not long ago and found out that he was a Christian and I asked him what book of the Bible he was studying and I said, well what do you think about Genesis? He said, well I\u2019m a New Testament Christian. So, everything God said in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament we just got rid of because of some interpretation you come up with concerning Jesus. That is a doctrine of abrogation which you do not find in the Bible. Do you know where you find it? You find it in Islam, because the Muslims, and I\u2019ve said this before, when they are in the minority, quote one set of Quranic texts about peacemakers and love and once they get the majority in a host country, they start quoting the exact opposite texts of blood and war; and you say, what happened to the peace texts ten years ago? Oh, those have been abrogated. That\u2019s the word they use. This idea that the New Testament throws out the Old, throws out Israel\u2019s promises is not consistent with the God of the Bible who cannot lie. It\u2019s more in common with the doctrines of Islam and this doctrine of abrogation. 44:23\r\n\r\nSo what is happening at the end of verse 3 into verse 8 (Gen 17:3-8) is clarification of what God originally said. Here is sort of the big picture, now let\u2019s have some more details. Not a cancellation; and so, what is being amplified here?\r\n\r\nWell, we have God\u2019s disclosure, we have the Covenant reaffirmed, we have the seed promises reaffirmed and we have the land promises reaffirmed just with more details. You\u2019ll notice there God\u2019s disclosure, end of verse 3 (Gen 17:3): After Abram fell on his face\u2026 What does it say? ...and God talked with him\u2026 Wow, no wonder Abram was blessed.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis is the first of seven times that Abraham receives a direct revelation from God. In 12:1\u20133 is God\u2019s initial call to Abram outside the Land of Canaan; in 12:7 is the first appearance to Abraham in the Land; in 13:14\u201317, Abraham encounters God after the separation of Lot; in 15:1\u201321, God signs and seals the Abrahamic Covenant; in 17:1\u201321, Abraham receives the token of the covenant; in 18:1\u201333, God speaks to him in conjunction with the destruction of Sodom; and in 22:1\u20132 and 22:11\u201318, God directs Abraham to offer Isaac.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe actually had a conversation with God. I would love to have conversations with God. I would love a situation where I could hear God\u2019s audible voice, that has never happened in my life. So my conversations work this way: God speaks to me through His word and I speak to Him through prayer and many times as I\u2019m going through the week, God will bring to remembrance things I\u2019ve studied in His word, that\u2019s how He talks to me and then I talk to Him through prayer. Abram, without a completed canon of Scripture, obviously, the book of Genesis was just being compiled, is actually having visible, audible conversations with God Himself. In fact, if you go back to verse 1, it says: \u2026the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him\u2026 This is why Abram is blessed. This actually, these disclosures that Abram had, actually happened\u2026. actually happened about seven times in the book of Genesis as we\u2019ve said earlier and what does God do? He reaffirms the existing Covenant. Look at verse 4 (Gen 17:4): As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you\u2026 The Covenant is not being made here, the Covenant has already been made in Genesis, 15, as we\u2019ve carefully studied. What\u2019s being said here is don\u2019t forget about the Covenant because I\u2019m going to execute it. I\u2019m going to establish it. I\u2019m going to work in human history so that every single detail of that Covenant is fulfilled and let me give you a little reminder of what I\u2019ve told you in that Covenant with some more details added. 47:12\r\n\r\nFirst of all, let\u2019s talk about the seed. Second part of verse 4 (Gen 17:4) into verse 7 (Gen 17:4). Look at what it says, second part of verse 4: \u2026And you will be the father of a multitude of nations\u2026 The seed promise hasn\u2019t been canceled. Is just being crystallized.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s not Abram, that you\u2019re going to be the father of a nation, the nation of Israel, you are going to be the father of nations, plural; and it is interesting that the nation of Israel was divided into two. Two is plural.\r\n\r\nThe northern kingdom and the southern kingdom and remembered what happened in chapter 16? How through the Abram-Hagar-Ishmael line would come the Arabic people groups of the earth and so through that line, Abram is the father of those nations as well. Well, Lord, what can you give me to reflect this new reality that I\u2019m learning? Here\u2019s what I\u2019m going to do, I\u2019m going to change your name. The name change is given right there in verse 5 (Gen 17:5): No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham\u2026 To reflect this new status that you\u2019re learning about. I mean, it\u2019s really not a new status. The generic promise of seed was given but now let\u2019s amplify it to include nations. I'm going to change your name so that it means \u201cthe father of many nations\u201d. Abram\u2019s current name before it was changed, simply means \u201cExalted father\u201d but now his name is changed to reflect this new reality where Abram is called the father of many nations. \u201cAb\u201d father, \u201craham\u201d multitudes. God gave Abram a new name to reflect this new spiritual clarification that he has just received from God. You know, it\u2019s a fascinating study, God does this all the time with people. Old Testament, New Testament, book of Revelation talks about it,\u00a0 I\u2019ll give you a new name, you\u2019ll find in the book of Revelation. It\u2019s what He did with Simon Peter. Peter had three names, Simon Hebrew name, Petros Greek name, Cephas Aramaic name and before Peter\u2019s name was changed God said to Simon: I also say to you that you are Peter\u2026 Which means, little stone; and upon this rock, that means big stone, that\u2019s not referring to Peter, that\u2019s something different contrary to Roman Catholic Theology that tries to make Peter the first Pope\u2026 I say to you that you are Petros and upon this Petra I will build my church; and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it\u2026 Why did Jesus change Peter\u2019s name here? Because Peter gave the right answer concerning who Jesus was. Who do men say that I am? You are the Christ, the son of the living God; and Jesus right then and there changed his name; and this is so encouraging to me because He changed it not according to what Peter was at the moment but according to what Peter would become, because the very name itself means stone, rock, stability and I guarantee you, this guy, Simon was not a stable guy. In fact, he is about to open his mouth. I call him the Apostle with foot shaped mouth, that\u2019s why I identify with him so well I guess. He\u2019s about to open his mouth and try to talk Jesus out of the cross and Jesus a split second later\u2026 says Get behind me Satan\u2026 This guy is not stable at all. In fact, this is the guy that\u2019s going to deny the Lord three times, this is the guy that would walk out on the water and I don\u2019t want to be too critical of him because at least he tried, the rest of them didn\u2019t even try. Jesus summons Peter out into the water, he\u2019s walking out in the water, his eyes get off the Lord, he sees the wind and the waves and he starts to sink. This man is not a profile of stability. He\u2019s unstable and Jesus says, here\u2019s your new name, rock, stability. I\u2019m not naming you based on what you are, I\u2019m naming you on what you\u2019re going to become and did he ever\u2026? You go through Acts, 1 through 10 and there\u2019s no more important person to the life of the early church than the Apostle Peter. This is the man who opened his mouth and three thousand people were saved on the day of Pentecost. This is a man who according to tradition, if this tradition is accurate, was crucified upside down so as to glorify the Lord. He became what his name change meant. He became stability. God does that with you too. He gives you a new name. He gives you a new identity and the identity is not based on what you are, it\u2019s based on what you're going to be. 53:24\r\n\r\nAbram had one child at this point through a wrong liaison. Ishmael hasn\u2019t even been born yet and God changes his name based on Covenantal promise to \u201cfather of many nations\u201d. It\u2019s interesting here that in verse 5, Genesis, 17 (Gen 17:5) that the name for nations is \u201cGoyim\u201d meaning, not just the Jewish nation which was divided north and south but Abram is the father of Gentile nations as well, Goyim. Why is that? Because of what just happened with Abram-Hagar-Ishmael line. From that line is going to come a whole bunch of people groups and Abram is the father of them as well. The father of many nations. He goes on in verse 6 (Gen 17:6) and He says, kings are going to come from you. Now, that doesn't change the original promise but it adds more clarity. Look at verse 6 (Gen 17:6), end of verse 5 (Gen 17:5): \u2026For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations\u2026 That\u2019s Goyim, verse 6 (Gen 17:6):\u00a0 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you\u2026 We know that much so far, we just had to talk there on nations and then he added something else\u2026 and kings will come forth from you\u2026 The seed promise has just been amplified into nations, plural and also kings. Kings are going to come from him. Did that happen? Gosh, last time I checked there\u2019s a book in our Old Testament called the book of 1st and 2nd Kings. Why is it called that? All these kings. The nation was divided after Solomon left the throne. We have the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. The northern kingdom has nineteen kings and interestingly, not a single one of them was good. That\u2019s 0 in 19, that\u2019s not a great season. Southern kingdom wasn\u2019t much better. They had twenty kings, eight of them were good. There\u2019s always a little bit more grace for the southern kingdom than the northern kingdom because a special Messiah is going to come from which tribe? Judah, that\u2019s why there\u2019s probably a few more good kings than bad kings when you compare the south to the north. The southern kingdom lasted a little bit longer than the northern kingdom, but kings and kings and kings and kings and kings\u2026 In fact, you read through the book of 1st Kings and 2nd Kings and then you move from there into 1st Kings\u2026 1st Chronicles and 2nd Chronicles and your head is just spinning. King after king after king after king, this one\u2019s good, this one\u2019s bad, this one\u2019s bad, this one\u2019s good. It\u2019s like being one of those little silver balls there on a ping pong machine, you\u2019re just being bounced everywhere. Why all these kings? Cause that\u2019s what God said. That\u2019s what verse 6 says. That\u2019s what verse 7 says; and it\u2019s not just Hebrew kings, it\u2019s all of the kings that\u2019s going to come forth from the Abram-Hagar-Ishmael line. The Goyim, Arabic kings as well. 57:16\r\n\r\nYou go to verse 7 (Gen 17:7) and God says: I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you\u2026 So, we have a Covenant with Abram and his seed which is transgenerational. This is not just something for Abram. This is transgenerational. Did you catch the word everlasting? Olam. This is concerning the covenant with Israel, Olam, forever. Essentially what that means is it has to be unconditional.\r\n\r\nA forever Covenant can only rest on the shoulders of a forever God. If this wasn\u2019t unconditional but conditional it would have been vitiated in the last chapter through the disobedience of Abram and if all that weren\u2019t enough, now He amplifies the land.\r\n\r\nWe\u2019ll end with this, verse 8 (Gen 17:8): I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession\u2026 The land is for you Abram. Now, here\u2019s what\u2019s interesting. Abram, when he died, didn\u2019t possess any of it, except the burial plot in Hebron for his wife Sarah. Which means, if God means what He says and says what He means, Abram must be resurrected to receive this promise. That\u2019s an implied statement there of the future bodily resurrection for Abram, it\u2019s for you and your descendants after you, it\u2019s the land of your sojournings. Remember Abram took the first Holy Land tour? Oh, Holy Land tours, that\u2019s not a biblical thing to do. Are you kidding me? That\u2019s what God did with Abram. He said, walk around. Take a Holy Land Tour. Arise, Genesis 13:17, Arise, walk about in the land through its length and width; for I will give it to you\u2026 That\u2019s why it mentions here the land of your sojournings. Did you catch this here, verse 8 (Gen 17:8)? All the land of Canaan. Folks, Israel has only received historically a small sliver of what it\u2019s promised.\r\n\r\nOh, and did you catch this word here at the end? Everlasting? That\u2019s Olam again. You\u2019re going to possess this forever. Which means that there has to be a time in history where this is realized, called the millennial kingdom. 1:00:35\r\n\r\n\u201c\u2026Abraham owned almost nothing of the Promised Land. While his seed has possessed much more of the Promised Land, they have not as yet in Jewish history possessed all the Promised Land. However, the promise here is clear: to have all the land of Canaan, all the Promised Land. This is yet future, to be fulfilled in the Messianic Kingdom<\/u><\/strong>.\u201d\r\n\r\nArnold Fruchtenbaum writes: Abraham owned almost nothing of the Promised Land. While his seed has possessed much more of the Promised Land, they have not as yet in Jewish history possessed all the Promised Land. However, the promise here is clear: to have all the land of Canaan, all the Promised Land. This is yet future and it\u2019s to be fulfilled in the Messianic Kingdom\u2026 Arnold, I love you for that. The doctrine of the millennial kingdom is starting right here in the book of Genesis. See, a lot of people go to Revelation and they want to find the doctrine of the millennial kingdom over there, in Revelation, 20, are you kidding me? Revelation, 20, is just kind of a summary. The real details of the millennial kingdom is right here in the book of Genesis and don\u2019t forget this last line here: \u2026I will be their God\u2026 That\u2019s speaking of a nation that\u2019s converted in their land that Jesus will rule through, the entire planet and by the way, when He says I will be their God, that\u2019s the seventh \u201cI will\u201d. I haven\u2019t been noting them but there are seven I will here, I will, I will, I will, seven times. This is the final one.\r\n\r\nSo, you might be wondering well, how can God be my God? God says, I\u2019ll be their God. How can God be my God? And that\u2019s very simple, it\u2019s the Gospel. Gospel means \u201cGood news\u201d. It\u2019s good news because Jesus stepped out of eternity into time to bridge a gap which men could not bridge on his own. Our condition in Adam\u2019s sin is so far gone, we can\u2019t fix ourselves. Jesus says, I\u2019ll fix it. So He stepped out of eternity into time and He absorbed the wrath of God the Father in our place. He rose from the dead, which proves that He was who He claimed to be and He asks Adam\u2019s fallen race to fulfill one condition which is to trust in what Jesus did. Becoming a Christian is not a five step process or a twelve step program. It\u2019s a matter of privacy between a person and the Lord, where the Lord puts them under conviction and they respond in their heart of hearts by trusting in what Jesus did. The Lord persuades them that they can\u2019t fix themselves, and once you understand that, that becomes the impetus for trusting in something outside of yourself. Why is it the Gospel? Cause Jesus did it all, we receive it as a gift. So we always like to conclude our services by inviting people, even where they are seated, to trust in the person of Jesus Christ. For God doesn\u2019t want to just be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He wants to be your God too and you can have your own relationship with Him. You can trust Christ now even as I\u2019m speaking. 1:04:07\r\n\r\nIf it\u2019s something that you need more explanation on, I\u2019m available after the service to talk. Shall we pray? Father, we are grateful for this historical record of this work that you did in the life of this man Abram. We are encouraged\u00a0 that even though he was an ordinary person, you executed great things through him. You even gave him a new identity and maybe you\u2019re not going to work exactly the same in our lives but it will be very similar. You want us to have a relationship with you and you want to do great things through us as we learn to trust in you and walk with you. Help us to do that this week, we pray. We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name and God\u2019s people said, Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t