Sunday Morning - February 1, 1998
Scripture Reading: Genesis 15:8-21
Text: Genesis 15:5-6 "And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6.And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness."
SEED AS THE STARS AND SAND
Genesis 22:17 "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;"
TWO SONS
Galatians 4:22 "For it is written, that Abraham had two sons [Ishmael – Old Testament; Isaac – New Testament], the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman."
TWO COVENANT
Galatians 4:24 "Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai [law], which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar."
SAND – LAW: The Jerusalem on earth – Ishmael
STARS – GRACE: The Jerusalem in heaven – Isaac
ALL IN HEBREWS 11
Hebrews 11:39-40 "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40. God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect."
MANY CALLED
Hebrews 11:18 "Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:" Unto His kingdom and glory
Hebrews 11:12 "... so many as the stars of the sky in multitude [bundle, Acts 28:3], and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable."
ALL DIED IN FAITH
Hebrews 11:13 "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
DESIRE OF AN HEAVENLY COUNTRY
Hebrews 11:16 "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city."
THEY WERE OVERCOMERS
Revelation 21:7 "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God [not ashamed to be called their God, Heb. 11:16], and he shall be my son."
PURPOSE AND GRACE
2 Timothy 1:9 "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"
HIS PURPOSE NOW MADE KNOWN
2 Timothy 1:10 "But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished [rendered helpless] death, and hath brought life [for the age] and immortality [incorruption, Rom. 2:6,7] to light through the gospel:"
THE CALLING UNTO GLORY
1 Thessalonians 2:12 "That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory."
HOPE OF GLORY - THE HONEY
Colossians 1:27 "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"
CHRIST IN YOU AGAIN
Galatians 4:19 "My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,"
Philippians 2:5 "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"
THE GLORY IS IN THE MILK AND HONEY
Ezekiel 20:6 "In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:"
BUTTER IS THE MEAT
Isaiah 7:15 "Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good."
EVERY ONE IN THE LAND
Isaiah 7:22 "...for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land." WEST OF JORDAN
STRONG MEAT
Hebrews 5:14 "But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
CHURN THE MILK
Proverbs 30:33 "Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, ..."
HONEY AND GLORY
Proverbs 25:27 "It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory."
THE STARS OF ABRAHAM
Hebrews 6:12 "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."
PROMISE TO ABRAHAM
Hebrews 6:13-14 "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14. Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee."
CONFIRMED IT BY AN OATH
Hebrews 6:16-17 "For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18. That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, .... "
HE OBTAINED THE PROMISE
Hebrews 6:15 "And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained [James 4:2, got it through enduring] the promise."
STRONG EXHORTATION
Hebrews 6:18 "That ..., we might have a strong consolation [exhortation], who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:"
HOPE THE ANCHOR
Hebrews 6:19 "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;"
JESUS, OUR HIGH PRIEST
Hebrews 6:20 "Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."
PRIEST OF GOOD THINGS TO COME
Hebrews 9:11 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle [in the heaven], not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building [Temple in Jerusalem];"