“The word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, salting, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt Thou give me? ... 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. And HE BELIEVED IN THE LORD; and he COUNTED IT TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 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. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And He said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years Old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto Him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away."—GEN. 15:1-111After 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. 2And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? 3And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4And, 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. 5And 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. 6And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. 7And 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. 8And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? 9And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. 10And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. 11And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away. (Genesis 15:1‑11).
"If Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”
ROMANS. 4 is the Divine comment on Gen. 15—"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." He believed God. Now there is not one person who has not thought at some time in his or her history, that he or she had something to do to be saved. Christian, did not you think so? "Yes," you answer; "I always thought I had something to do, until I saw that Christ had died, and done everything for me." Yes, He has died and done everything, and therefore if the Word of the Lord comes to me and tells me the work is finished, I have nothing to do but to believe it. When God's Word appeals to you—addresses you—be like Abraham; believe it.
God first says to Abraham, "Fear not." And why? Because, He says, "I am thy Shield." Is it not a blessed thing to have God for your shield? The soul that has God for its shield is securely sheltered; though Satan let fly his most fiery darts, they fall harmless to the ground—they cannot touch it.
God is coming to Abraham in grace, in this chapter, and Abraham is before God in need; and if you, dear unsaved one, are to get blessing you must take the place of a sinner in need. And what do you need? You need pardon, you need salvation, you need grace, you need to be washed from your sins, you need just what God has got for you. And God is ready to GIVE you just what you need. God Himself is the Fountain, the Source of the supply; the Gospel comes out from the heart of the Eternal God. Peace is preached unto you, but where does that healing stream rise which sweetly soothes the troubled conscience? It rises in the bosom of the Eternal God.
Well wrote the poet:—
"The Father's boundless love we sing,
The fountain! whence our blessings spring;
How great the depth, how high it flows,
No saint can tell, no angel knows.
Its length and breadth no eye can trace,
No thought explore the bounds of grace;
The love that saved our souls from hell
Transcends the creature's power to tell.”
"Fear not," is the word which He loves to speak to the heart of the empty, troubled one.
Do you ask, "What will He say to me?" "Fear not." "But I am afraid." "Fear not." "But I am unfit for God." He knows it well. “Fear not.” He seems to say,"I will throw my sheltering wing over you." And oh! what can give the sense of protection like that? The moment you know God is on your side, though the devil may accuse you and man may upbraid you, and your own conscience may convict you, you can go to God, and say, like Abraham,"Lord God, what wilt Thou GIVE me?”
Abraham takes his true place, that of a needy soul before God. It is the picture of a thoroughly upright soul who takes the place of nothingness, and goes to God with its need. Then the Word of the Lord came to him again, and God brings out Abraham, and there towards the starry firmament He points, and says: "LOOK NOW TOWARD HEAVEN, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.... So shall thy seed be. AND HE BELIEVED IN THE LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness." And what, dear friend, does your soul stand in need of? And where are you bid to look for all the blessings you need? Toward heaven. Is it Look within? No, Toward heaven. "Look unto me," He says, and faith, sweetly responsive, pierces the cloud; yes, faith unfolds her wings, soars aloft, and never droops her pinions till at the feet of Jesus she calmly rests. Faith says Jesus has died for me. He has done it all, and I trust Him. Oh, dear one, "LOOK NOW." God never says, "Look to-morrow." To-morrow is not thine; to-morrow may find thee no longer on earth, but thy guilty soul plunged forever in an everlasting hell.
"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness," and if you believe God you will get the blessing too. "If we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead," blessing is ours. God calls you now to believe, to look, not as Abraham to the stars—you are to look beyond the stars. God bids you look at that precious Savior once on the Cross for sins, but now alive and in the glory, to look to Him and be saved. His heart lingers over thee in love now. He will bless thee now if thou wilt take thy true place, a ruined, wretched sinner at the feet of the Lord. If a soul takes its true place in need, God comes out in grace, calling on it to "believe on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification.”
Abraham was called on to believe what God was going to do. You and I are called on to believe what God has done. Abraham believed God. Everything was against him, but he believed God, and I think there are not three finer words in Scripture recorded of any soul than these three. There was Abraham in his littleness, and God in His greatness, but there was an indissoluble link formed that day between Abraham and God—a link that could never, never after be snapped asunder.
Another thing comes out then in this 15th of Genesis—not merely blessing, but inheritance. "The stars" tell of heavenly blessings. When I know that Christ bore my sins in His own body on the tree I can look up and see Him by faith at God’s right hand, and enjoy all that I possess in Him.
"Abraham believed God," do you? The great point of the first part of Rom. 4 is that you count God worthy of being believed—you credit what He says, and you stand before God, linked with God, and justified by Him. He espouses your cause, because you trust Him. First, I get unfeigned confidence in what God says, then God enables me to know why I am so sure of blessing. It was the grace of God that gave Abraham the blessing, and it is the grace of God that gives you pardon to your soul. Then Abraham gets the perfect knowledge of the ground of the blessing. Sacrifice. Why do I draw near to God? Because of the sacrifice. How are my sins put away? By the sacrifice. A sacrifice that you have made? No! but which God has provided. God's Word is what reaches my soul first of all. Then I want to know by what right I can know my sins are forgiven. And He says: "Take Me an heifer," &,c, i.e. because of the sacrifice. Peace springs from the work of Jesus. He "made peace by the blood of His Cross." The WORD of God, and the WORK of Christ are the pillars of my peace. The work was completely done by the blessed Jesus, and with His dying breath the last word for us He left on earth was "Finished." But rising from the dead, what was His first word? "Peace." His last word was "Finished," His first word, returning to bless, was "Peace." What a solid foundation for faith to repose on!
But Abraham inquires, "Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And He said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove and a young pigeon." You ask, Why the five; would not one have been sufficient as a sacrifice? I believe it would; but that these express the difference in the grasp souls get of the value of the work of Christ. I look back at the cross of Jesus and I may have a very feeble view of Christ; that would be the pigeon: but I might get by the side of a saint who has a stupendous grasp of the value of the work of Christ, that would be like the heifer. Which is the safest, the cleanest? the one who has the feeble grasp of Christ and His work, or the one who has the mighty grasp of it? You reply, I should think the one that has the largest grasp of Christ. Then you think perfectly wrong, because it is Christ the soul has hold of; however feeble your faith may be, one look at Christ links your soul with Him and that link can never be broken. Heaven may be shaken, and earth shall be shaken, but you shall never be shaken who have put your trust in Christ. Heaven and earth may pass away, but His word shall not pass away; “he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.”
But most likely you will answer, I have such doubts and fears. Listen then, "And when the fowls came down upon the carcases Abram drove them away." The fowls are figures of Satan, and Satan’s powers, and he will always try to disturb your view of Christ. "Abram drove them away," and that is what you must do. Do not allow Satan’s suggestions a place for a moment; his one object is to prevent your eye being fixed on Christ. Rest simply on what God has said, and Christ has done, and what is the result? Peace, peace about the past because Christ's work is so perfect that I cannot add to it. God has accepted that work for me and I will rest in it, and the Savior that did it, and I have peace with God; and more, I am a justified soul. If I look at the past it is peace. Peace about my sins because they are canceled by Christ, and I believe it, and my soul has a link with God; the sins that used to come between God and me have been borne by Christ, and now God has nothing at all against me. "Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace (or favor) wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Think of it I pray you, how beautiful to know you stand in the favor of God. You stand according to the acceptance of Christ. You have a right to the presence of God; the blood of Christ gives you that right. God's favor rests upon you, because you trust Christ, and you "rejoice in hope of the glory of God." Hope never means uncertainty in Scripture. We are not uncertain as to whether we will get it or not, we know the glory belongs to us, because the gift of God has made it ours. Oh! believe now—listen to His own words:—"The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." It is a gift. How do I know that I shall be in the glory by and bye? Because it is my Savior's gift to me. How do I know my sins are washed away? Because my Savior died for me. How do I know God’s favor rests on me? Because I stand accepted in Christ. The moment you come to Jesus, His blood cleanses you from all sin and that moment you are as fit for the glory of God, as the blood of Christ can make you. I get peace, deep peace about the past, grace for the present,—I know His love for me and rejoice in it—and glory for the future, my Savior’s gift to me.
Beloved reader, let me beseech you to decide to be the Lord’s now. If you still persist in unbelief, never expect to hear the Gospel again. Why? If you are cut off in your sins and damned for eternity, will you not deserve it? Oh! look to Him now—believe on Him now, and do not be ashamed to confess Him, and to own to all that He is your Savior.
This year you began and have continued in unbelief, oh let it not so depart. Is not God worthy of being believed? Surely. Is not the Lord Jesus worthy of you heart's affections? Most surely. Shall He not have both your confidence and affection? Would to God that I could hear you respond again, Surely, most surely; "I believe God." W. T. P. W.