GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES, YOU CAN COUNT ON IT
Gen 15:1-6, 12-18
V:1. "After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."
A. The Lord has a special way of communicating with us.
1. He reveals his Word to us in our minds.
2. When the Lord calls us we have nothing to fear.
a. Whatever work the Lord has for us , He will protect us in it.
b. The Lord will shield us from hurt and danger as we labor to do His will
B. There is a reward for those who follow God's commands and do His will.
1. There is a reward on earth
a. There is comfort walking in fellowship with Lord.
b. There is the assurance of God's provision and protection.
c. There is the assurance of God's guidance and direction.
2. There is a reward in heaven
1. The things we do for God stores up treasures in heaven.
2. Our faith in God makes a way for our children.
V:15:2. "And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and
the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?"
A. No matter how much God has done, there is a "want" for more.
1. Abram was a rich man. God had blessed him with a wife, live stock and servants
and everything he needed.
2. Although God had given him a promised of a son, he didn't have a son.
3. Abram had a complaint with the Lord.
4. We need to be careful to be grateful for what we have before we complain for
"more".
B. Abram asked the "age old" question; "God, what's taking you so long to answer my
prayer?"
1. Man's reasoning may not discover God's plan or God's timing.
2. You told me awhile back that I was going to have a child. It has not happen.
a. There is a time span between Gen 12, when promise was first given and Gen 15.
3. Maybe you meant that somebody in my household would have a child for me.
4. Or maybe you meant that I would claim one of my stewards as my child.
5. Lord, I am trying to understand the meaning of your Word.
a. How does your Word apply to my particular situation?
C. It is ok to go to God in prayer seeking an understanding of His Word.
1. There are times when you want understand what God is doing in your life.
2. There are times when you will have to accept what He is doing as part of
His Divine will.
3. There are times when you will have to accept what is and pray for patience to
understand in time.
D. We know God can make a way.
1. The question is, can we accept His way?
2. The question is, can we commit ourselves to trust His way?
V.5:3. "And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my
house is mine heir."
A. Abram was trying to determine how God was going to fulfill His promise.
1. Abram was sure of the promise of God.
2. He was confused on the way God would fulfill the promise.
a. Abram suggests that according to the law, if he didn't have a son , the offspring
of his steward would be his heir.
b. We must remember, that our thoughts are not God's thoughts, Isa 55:10
3. We must be careful not to limit God's blessings to our way of thinking.
V.15:4. "And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be
thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir."
A. From time to time God reassures us that His promises are true.
1. God corrects Abrams misguided thoughts with simple language regarding the birth
of his promise child.
2. We must keep our focus on the promises of God.
a. We can easily get side tracked when we use our reasoning to determine God's
plan.
B. Because there is no evidence to you, that God is working, don't mean that He not
working.
1. God's plan is not on our schedule.
a. We fit into God's plan. God does not fit into our plan.
2. God times the fulfillment of His promises so that He gets full glory.
V. 15:5. "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."
A. God can do exceeding abundantly more than we can ask or conceive.
1. Abram was worried about one son, but God showed him a nation of sons.
2. If we rely on God, He will blessed us and our descendants.
3. What we do for God affect others long after we are gone.
B. Abram blesses us twice; spiritually and naturally. Naturally he is the seed of the
nation of Israel. Spiritually He is the seed of the church.
1. He was born in the flesh as we all are
2. From the seed of Abram was born Jesus Christ.
V.15:6 "And he believed in the LORD; He counted it to him for righteousness."
A. Believed =aman=build upon, support, nurse, to render firm, to rest one's faith upon
1. He believed in the promises of God.
a. Abram believed that he would have a seed.
b. Abram believed that his seed would have many descendants.
c. Abram believed a Messiah would spring from his seed.(all the nations of the
earth would be blessed).
B. Righteousness= tsedaqah=justice, morally, right
1. Notice, being counted righteousness does not include;
a. Works
b. Merit on the part of the receiver.
2. Being counted righteous is;
a. An act of God's divine will
b. An act of God's love
c. The grace of God.
3. The only requirement to be counted righteous by the Lord is belief in God's Word.
a. Being counted righteous meant Abram was accepted by God and forgiven.
b. What we should desire is an active righteousness of complete conformity to the
Divine Will (Pulpit Comm).
V.15:7. "And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the
Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it."
A. As long as we live the blessing of the Lord continue to flow.
1. Abram had a complaint, but God had a blessing.
2. Abram was sure of God promise, but he was confused by the "How" and the
"When".
3. No matter what our situation is, It is best to be patience and wait on the Lord.
B. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of what God has already done.
1. God brought us out of the world and placed us in the body of Christ.
2. The grace of God covered us in our sin.
3. The love of God gave us a measure of faith to know Him.
C. When we consider what God has done it ought to give us assurance in the
fulfillment of His promises.
1. Even if God does not answer our prayers the way we want, we must know that
He is able.
2. God's answer is the best answer weather we understand it or not.
3. God's way is the best way weather we agree with it or not.
V.15:8. "And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"
A. How do we know what we think we heard from God is from God?
1. When we are seeking God for an answer, the flesh in us can make suggestions
that are agreeable.
2. We have to be careful that we are not hearing only what we want to hear.
B. Asking God to confirm His promise to us in a way we can receive is wise.
1. Satan can use this as an opportunity to deceive or cast doubt on the Word of
God.
2. The time between the asking and the answering of a prayer is the time for
faith building.
C. God can confirm His Word by His Word.
1. God can use others to confirm His Word.
2. God can confirm His Word in a dream.
3. God can confirm His Word by what He continues to do.
4. God can confirm His Word by doors that He opens for you.
5. God can confirm His Word by doors He closes.
V.15:12."And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an
horror of great darkness fell upon him."
A. God reveals His message to us from time to time in dreams and visions.
1. We sleep most often at night, therefore we dream at night.
2. Dreams are often related to that which we are concerns about.
B. It is the Lord that is the cause of our rest at night.
1. When we are at peace with the Lord we can sleep peacefully.
2. When we are at peace with the Lord, He can reveal His message to us.
V.15:13. "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a
land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred
years."
A. God knows the end from the beginning.
1. Life is full of good news and bad news.
2. God is in control of all life's activities.
B. God uses the good and the bad to bless His people. Both are part of His divine plan.
1. The good news is the seed of Abram.
2. The bad news is 400 years of slavery.
3. The good news is the great nation promised by God from the seed of Abram.
C. You must ask the question; why would God plan 400 years of slavery for His People?
1. At this time the nation only exist in the mind of God.
2. The people have not been born, yet God knows their misery beforehand.
3. God knows from the beginning all the activities of our lives.
4. It is the good and the bad experiences that prepare us to serve God.
V.15:14. "And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall
they come out with great substance."
A. God used Egypt to grow Israel into a nation in slavery.
1. God punished Egypt for the slavery of Israel.
2. God allows bad for the benefit of His people.
3. God holds us accountable for the evil we do.
B. Not only does God allow Israel to grow into a nation in one place, but He equips
them with resources to survive.
1. Throughout our life time, God provides and equips us with what we need to serve
Him.
V.15:15. "And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old
age."
A. In God's divine plan for the ages is our birth and our death.
1. Neither is our birth or death a surprise to God.
2. God knows the length of our life.
3. God knows the time and the place of our death.
B. God knows what our condition will be at the time of our death.
1. Abram would die in his old age in peace.
2. God is intimate with us to know every detail of our life from birth to death.
V.15:16. "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the
Amorites is not yet full."
A. In God's plan for the ages is all the people and circumstances of our lives.
1. Israel would spend 400 years in captivity.
2. When they were delivered from captivity, the Amorites inhabited the promise land.
3. The Amorites were evil hearted people and were punished by God.
4. God knows what we are going to face before we face it.
B. Since only God knows the plan of our lives, it would be wise to trust Him completely.
1. It is to our benefit to seek God for guidance and direction.
V.15:17. "And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a
smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces."
A. God prepared the conditions for a sacrifice to ratify a covenant with Abram.
1. The smoking furnace may represent the severe trials Israel faced as a nation.
a. The burning lamp may represent their many joyful deliverances.
b. The lamp also represents God as their guiding light.
2. Passing through the pieces was the confirming of the covenant God made.
3. The pieces were consumed completely testifying that sacrifice was acceptable to
God.
4. This indicates two concepts.
a. God's covenants with man are made by sacrifice. Christ is the great sacrifice.
b. God's acceptance of our spiritual sacrifices is a token of good, and earnest favors
in the future.
' 5. The covenant is unconditional because God ratified the covenant with Himself.
Abram is sleep during this activities.
V.15:18. "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy
seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river
Euphrates".
A. The covenant with Abram includes the promise land which is permanently given
to Israel.
B. God set's the boundary of promise land.
1. This land was given to Israel as a token of His love for his people who had not yet
been born.
2. What God has for you is yours.
a. God prepares blessing for us before we are born.
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