We're dealing with a subject of highlights of redemptive history. This is the second in a series on this subject. In our previous message on highlights in redemptive history, we examined the third chapter of Genesis, the seed plot of the Bible, Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen. Of course, we used that as a jump off place from the Old Testament. But when we came to the New Testament with which we really started, we were in Galatians chapter four and verse four. For when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son made of a woman made under law to redeem them that were under law that we might receive the adoption of sons. And we dwelt on the subject when the fullness of the time was come. Who determined the fullness of time? It wasn't man, it was God. And the God who determined the fullness of time is the one who determined to redeem. It was He who announced to the serpent in Genesis chapter three in verse fifteen that the seed of the woman would crush his head. And we noted a number of things concerning the promise there in Genesis chapter three. We're turning to Genesis chapter nine, verse twenty-six, where we read, And he said, This is God. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. And Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah, were nine hundred fifty years and he died. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. O God, our Father, as we bond our holy presence, we thank you for your spokesperson, Noah, as he announced your purpose and your plan and that your plan of redemption included one of his sons. And we praise you, our God, for these insights. And we're are amazed at the way in which you're pleased to reveal these things, what they contain. And we rejoice in this, and it gives us confidence in proclaiming the message of redemption through Jesus Christ the Lord. To this end, our God, we ask you to bless the word tonight. Encourage us as a people of God as we examine thy word together. And we'll thank you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The focal point of redemptive history is the person and work of the Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. The last time we saw how God, after man sinned, predicted the coming of the one who would crush the head of the serpent. Why get excited about redemptive history? And I must confess, I am. Why get excited about it? Because it gives us confidence. And confidence is something that we really need. Around us, day by day, we see people getting older and then sometimes we have to attend their funerals. If all we have is in this life. If this is all that consists of life, we're a miserable lot. Because a person like C.R. Bird, who rose to be the president of a great corporation, a corporation worth quite a bit, Do you know how much that man left? He left it all. He left everything. If everything you have is connected with this life, I don't care who you are, I don't care what you accumulate, you're going to leave it all. And a study of redemptive history shows that God has a purpose, He has a plan, And he's working all things in accordance with that plan. And because he has a purpose and because he has a plan, we can say there was a time when the fullness of time arrived. And God moved. And he sent the focal point and the focal person of redemptive history, our Lord Jesus Christ. What confidence a study of redemptive history gives us. For to understand what God is doing in history is to have the confirmation within that God is God. And what a confirmation that gives us. The God we worship, the God we sing to when we sing, O worship the King, all glorious above, and gratefully sing his power and his love. God is God, and God is able to bring every purpose to pass. He is able to do what He purposes. Now, when God revealed His purpose in Genesis chapter three and verse fifteen, let me just say this very quickly. quickly. You may say, well, what does that mean to me? I'll tell you who it means a lot to. It means a lot to the devil. It means a lot to him. He studies Bible prophecy. You may think it's a waste of time, but he doesn't. For he knows that God is going to accomplish his purpose. Someone says to me, well, I'm a believer. All I can tell you is so is the devil. And if you say I'm a believer and it doesn't change your life, it doesn't mean a thing. It doesn't mean a thing. The scripture says the demons believe and tremble. The devils believe and tremble. We read in the book of James. So God reaffirms his purpose here in Genesis chapter nine in verses twenty six and twenty seven. After the flood of Noah, when all the mankind had corrupted its way before the Lord, and God sent the deluge. He sent what we call the universal flood. And I believe that the universal flood is one of the most important events that ever took place on planet Earth. One of the most important. I believe that the geography of the earth changed at the time of the flood. And things that geologists today would try to say are a few billion years old, I believe can only go back to the days of Noah and the time of the universal flood. And I think Second Peter, chapter three, would remind us of that truth. God, in Genesis chapter nine, he makes a covenant with Noah and those who survived the flood. When I add those who survived the flood, I have reference to the animal creation. God makes a covenant with him, and that covenant is so important. Notice verses nine through seventeen of Genesis nine. And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you. with your seed after you. In other words, there's a verse that tells you that the human race is going to be ongoing, thy seed after you. This covenant is not only with you, it's with those who are going to come forth out of you. And we read in verse ten, and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you, from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you. Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood. Neither shall there be any more. Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is a token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a token of a covenant between me and the earth, and it shall come to pass when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you, and every living creature of all flesh, and the water shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud. And I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, this is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. And of course, after Noah's drunken activity, which follows in the chapter, and his son Canaan seemed to get a lot of joy out of seeing his father. In that awful condition, Noah pronounced a curse upon Canaan, but upon the other two boys who went backward and covered their father, God had something good to say concerning them. And in verse twenty-six, he says, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. Now, this is most important, that expression. For the first time in Scripture, God is said to be the God of an individual. He's said to be the God of an individual. And that individual is Shem. And the blessing even goes further. God says he will dwell in the tents of Shem. That means that God will have a special relationship with Shem and with the descendants that come forth from him. And when you study the Old Testament, you learn that from the descendants of Shem came a man by the name of Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham. And in Romans chapter nine and verse four, We have something special to say concerning the people that come forth from Abraham. But before Abraham, God says that he is the God of Shem. He's a God of an individual. Romans chapter nine and verse four, we read this expression. Who are Israelites? And the answer is given. to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all. God blessed forevermore. Amen. The answer to that question, who are they? Why is it so important? Remember our Lord one day recorded in John's Gospel chapter four. He was on his way to Galilee and the short route to Galilee was through Samaria. He must needs go through Samaria. And there's a woman met him at midday at Jacob's well. And our Lord revealed himself to her. And in the midst of the conversation between them both, our Lord said to that woman, Salvation is of the Jews. So when God said that He's a God of Shem and that someone is going to dwell in His tents and God is going to dwell in the tents of Shem, that special relationship is going to focus on a person and that person is none other than Israel's Messiah, the Lord of Glory. And it's He who could say to the woman, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. For the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. As a Shemite our Lord Jesus came in and through his redemptive act at Calvary he brought deliverance for all who will ever believe on him. And as Ricky said tonight, our Lord is a deliverer. He's a redeemer. He's a savior. He's a friend. Then God commanded that this gospel of his son, after our Lord died and rose again, he commanded that this gospel of his son be given to the descendants of Shem first. Romans one, sixteen. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile, to the Greek. So we move on to Genesis chapter twelve, which I believe is one of the greatest events in the Old Testament. Genesis twelve verse one. Now the Lord has said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation. And I will bless thee, and make thy name great. And thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee. And in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. If you watch the program of the devil in the book of Genesis, this is a most amazing passage in relation to the program of the devil. Previously I mentioned that Satan takes God's word seriously. After Genesis chapter three and God announced that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. What did Satan begin to do? He began to corrupt the human race. And at the time of Noah, the whole human race was corrupt except for one family, the family of Noah. And God brought the flood. Then God said, this must have been confusing to the devil. I make a covenant with you. There's never going to be another flood. Oh, I'm sure that Satan enjoyed that. And he figured out a way. God said to Noah when he came out of the ark, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. How far did they go? They went to the land of Shinar and they said, we're not going to be spread abroad. We're going to stay here. We're going to build our own. We're going to make a name for ourselves. That's what he said in Genesis chapter eleven. We're going to make a name for ourselves. And as David said one Sunday evening here, they built a tower to reach into heaven and God had to come down to see it. Boy, what a statement. God had to come down to see what man was doing. He thought it was so great, and God had to come down to see it. When you read the hundred and thirteen psalm, God humbles himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and to think that man gets an idea that he can do something great. But man says we're going to make a name for ourselves. And God says he chooses one man, and he says, I'm going to make your name great. I'm going to make your name great. And when God determines to make a man's name great, I'll tell you something. He's going to do it. And the call of Abraham becomes one of the most important events in the history of redemption. This is indeed a highlight in relation to the person of Christ. And when you take the promise that God makes here in Genesis twelve, He repeats it in chapter thirteen, verses fourteen through sixteen. We're not going to read it. It's for you to read. He repeats it again in chapter fifteen. That portion that Brother Ted this morning at the Lord's Supper certainly blessed our hearts over. That great Abrahamic covenant that is revealed there in Genesis fifteen and which The epistle to the Galatians spends a lot of time in establishing as a covenant of grace that could never be undone by the covenant of law given at Mount Sinai. Then it's reaffirmed in chapter seventeen, and then again it's reaffirmed in chapter twenty-two, verses sixteen through eighteen. But we've just read the beginning of it, Genesis twelve. And I want to say a few things about Genesis twelve. First of all, God promises Abraham a family. He's of the family of Shem, as we noted previously. But then he makes a promise to him of an heir, seed. He speaks of seed. More than that. He not only speaks of seed, he speaks of an inheritance. He speaks of a land, the land of promise. More than that, he speaks of a heritage. He's going to be the means of bringing blessing to the world. How long ago did God do that? About four thousand or more years ago, He made that promise to Abraham. When the fullness of the time has come, the first verse of the New Testament was written. Everybody together on the first verse of the New Testament. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham, when the fullness of the time has come, God sent forth his son. Like Eve. When God made that promise to the serpent in Genesis three-fifteen, Eve had a look ahead to a later descendant. That's going to be the fulfillment of the promise. And to Abraham, he also has to look ahead. And of course, the son born to Abraham, Isaac, was a child of promise. He was born miraculously, but he too had to look ahead. For God reconfirmed the covenant to Isaac. And then Isaac's son, Jacob. He had twelve sons. And his son, Judah, he could say of him in Genesis forty-nine, verse ten, the scepter shall not depart from Judah. And he also had to look ahead to the coming and the fulfillment of the promise. And the promise was that one was coming who would be the heir of the world. And we read that in Romans chapter four. The heir of the world. Now mixed with this glorious promise mentioning the earth, there is the expectation that God would not only redeem men's souls, but that He would accomplish some kind of redemption for the earth itself. That's in that same promise. When you read that grand eighth chapter of Romans, we find that the whole of creation is waiting for the redemption of the bodies of God's people, for then in the consummation the earth itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Oh, the promises of God. When God created Adam, he put him at the head of creation. And Adam fell. And if you want to know how far Adam fell, you look at man and take a good look at him. Take a good look at him. Man plants a weed in his garden. He calls it tobacco. I'm just using this as an illustration. I have no other intent by it, but he plants a weed in his garden. We call it tobacco. And then he dries that weed. And then he does some other things to it. He rolls a little paper around it and then he puts a match to the end on it. and then he starts puffing it. And it isn't long before who is ruling who? Man is ruled by a weed. Isn't that something? Think it over. The vegetable kingdom is ruling above the kingdom of the animals. It's ruling the kingdom of man. The one whom God put at the head of creation is being ruled. by a weed. Isn't that amazing? It is amazing. Oh, thank God for the glorious promise. Thank God for the liberty of the sons of God. That God has brought us into this blessed place of freedom through his redemptive work. And God says to Abraham, I will bless thee and you're going to be a blessing. The blessing of the world is connected with this man Abraham. In fact, he says, Indeed, shall all families of the earth be blessed. And when you come to the book of Revelation, chapter five, we find that a vast multitude there before the throne, verse nine, they sing a new song, worthy is the land that was slain. And that number that sing in that song are from every tribe and tongue. and kindred and people and nation. Every family of the earth is blessed in Abraham. God keeps his word, beloved. He keeps his word. Furthermore, the Lord Jesus said, or God said to Abram, he said, I will make nations of thee and kings shall come out of thee. That you find in Genesis chapter seventeen and verse six. I won't Kings are going to come out of thee. Nations are going to come out of thee. And when you think of that, has God kept his word? He has kept his word to this day. For remember, Abraham is also the father of the Arabs. And the Hashemite kingdom has a king today. King Hussein of Jordan. God keeps his word. I don't know if you're into technical reading or not on the Scriptures, but one of the books that really set me on fire a number of years ago was volume number one of the doorway papers by Arthur Custon's. And he wrote a book called Noah's Three Sons. And it's a technical book, but you know one thing. When he wrote, he had done his homework. You violently disagree with the book in the beginning. I know I did. That was my reaction. But you violently agree with him when you get to the end. You know that he did his homework. And one of the things he does, he takes the table of the nations of Genesis chapter ten. And he shows that that table of the nations in Genesis ten is valid today. I was walking through Moody Bible Institute's book room, bookstore, and I saw a book by Arthur Custis, not a part of the doorway papers. It was on the doctrine of grace. I thought, oh, this man agrees with me somewhere else, too. And it was, I had my little knife in my pocket. And it was one of those books that had cellophane all over it. Do you know what I did? I took my knife out and I cut the cellophane off. And I started reading it. Then I bought the book. I would have anyway, having cut that cellophane. But I bought, I couldn't, I couldn't depart from that book. I couldn't let it depart from me. Do you know how he learned the doctrines of grace, the doctrines that you and I hear through the mouth of David and I've been preaching them for years? Do you know where he learned them? He learned them in a cabin in Canada, Western Canada, on his knees in a bitter cold winter in the cold when he didn't have much food and he didn't have much heat in his cabin. but he had a Bible and he was on his knees before the Lord and God opened up to him the purposes of grace. Oh, what a book. What a thrill to see how God works and how God keeps his word. But we have a lot to say yet. We only have eleven more minutes. What this does, this promise that God made to Abraham, that kings will come out of him, it leaves Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with something. A hope for a dynasty that belongs to God. What did Paul say to Felix in Acts chapter twenty-five? I'm bound for the hope of Israel. What is the hope of Israel? The hope of Israel is in the person of Christ who was born a king and who's going to restore that dynasty of David as he promised in II Samuel chapter seven. And now that brings us to where Teddy was this morning in the worship service. The covenant God made with Abraham in Genesis chapter fifteen is interpreted for us by the Holy Spirit in one of the great three sixteenths of the Bible. Let's turn to that three sixteenth, shall we? Oh, it's Galatians. Galatians three sixteenth. Here we have the Spirit of God interpreting for us. It's one of the most important verses in the Bible. to understand the Abrahamic covenant and what the premise of God and the grace of God manifested in the Abrahamic covenant means. Abraham, not only was the father of Isaac, but he was the father of Ishmael. Then he had a number of sons through Ketura as well. The seed of Abraham. The Spirit of God narrows it down. Now watch. So when he was saying, in thy seed, in Genesis fifteen, in the great Abrahamic covenant, in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Verse sixteen, not the Abraham and his seed were the promises made. And you know seed can be taken singular or it can be taken plural. The Spirit of God was wise enough to know that. And what is he said? He saith not, and to seeds, don't take it plural, as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Now go a step further. Go to the last verse of the third chapter. And we read, And if you be Christ, if ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. And because we who have been redeemed by the precious part of Christ, we are Christ's, but we're also part of that redemptive history, promised in Genesis three-fifteen, promised in Genesis chapter nine, and it meets in Christ, and because we are Christ's, we are a partaker of the whole history of the person of Christ. Grace first contrived the way to save rebellious man and all the steps that lead to heaven, which drew the wondrous plan. You see, the promise stated in the covenant cannot be broken. And that's the thrust of Genesis chapter three, the law, which these Judaizers wanted to hold on to. Couldn't be a blessing. The blessing is through the promise. It's not through what man does in keeping the law. It's through, oh, laying hold of the promise. And God has given to us the privilege of laying hold of the promise that was made in Christ Jesus. Do you know what that promise is to us? Believe me. Believe my son. He that believeth is not condemned. He that believeth hath everlasting life. That's the promise. That was a promise to Abraham. And that's a promise to us. And by believing, we become a partaker of it. If we're Christ, then we're Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Now, that brings me to an application. Only have one tonight. Aren't you glad I don't have five? Application number one, Abraham's seed. How important is this expression? Now, to answer that question and to answer it scripturally, you will see why the call of Abraham and the blessing of Abraham is so important. and such a highlight in redemptive history. Romans chapter four, verse eleven tells us something. It tells us that Abraham is the father of all that believe. God so constituted Abraham. Abram, who changed his name to, God changed his name to Abraham. He so constituted things that this man is recognized because it's to him that the covenant of redemption was made in Genesis chapter fifteen. This man is recognized as the father of all that believe. Romans four eleven. Now that's an important expression. Why? What is to Abraham that the promise and the promises of redemption are made? But more than that, I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews chapter two. We want to see this. Verses sixteen and seventeen. And my statement is this. Our Lord Jesus is the seed of Abraham that he became surety for when he died on the cross. He became surety for the seed of Abraham. Verse sixteen, it tells us, For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. If ye be Christ, then are ye Abraham's seed we read, and heirs according to the promise. He took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest, and things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of his people. Now it's only as we related to Christ that we can say that we're Abraham's seed. And I want to prove that to you from another passage. Turn to the Gospel by Luke chapter nineteen. Now you all know the story. We'll sing about it. This will be my solo for the day. There once was a man, a wee little man, who climbed up in a tree. You know the sycamore tree of Luke chapter nineteen. Zacchaeus. He climbed up in the sycamore tree. But when you get to verse nine, you remember our Lord came. He was trying to hide up there, but our Lord knew where he was. Why? He's a child of Abraham. He was one of Abraham's seed. Our Lord said, Zacchaeus, come on down. I'm going to make my way. I'm going to stay today in your house. In that day, Zacchaeus believed. And in verse nine, Oh, I'm in chapter twenty, it's chapter nineteen, verse nine. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. Christ took upon him the seed of Abraham. He became surety for those And if we're Christ, then are we Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So that leads us with one question. Are you in Christ? Are you in Christ? You see how important this is? How important is it to be saved and to know it and to have confidence in this salvation that we talk about? The more you study the word, the more you become confident of the matchless grace of God and the manifold glory of the gospel. Oh, I trust this is a very real thing with you. And that you can be excited over the fact that you're in Christ and you're linked to that promise. Because it's that promise. For in the blessing of the world is found, is found in that promise. It's fulfilled in the person of Christ. And to be joined to Christ by faith is to be an heir to Abraham. What a privilege. Let's pray together. We ask you now, our Father, that you will take this word, blessed to every heart. Deliver us from anything that would hinder us from knowing that we're in Christ and we're part of that grand redemption that has been provided in and through the person of the grand Redeemer, thy beloved Son. Go with us to our respective homes. Continue to remember... Those for whom we pray, we think especially of Esther tonight. And Mr. Hill, we ask you the needs are different, but, O God, you are able to meet them all. And we thank you in Jesus' name.