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Well, again, good morning. Please turn in your Bibles to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. I'll be looking at verses 7 to 9 this morning. Galatians chapter 3, verses 7 to 9. It's good to be with you. It's good to be back. It's hard to believe that a month has gone by since we've been in this text.

And so I pray that it will bless you and refresh you today. Galatians chapter 3, verse 7. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed in you.

So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham the believer. As you can tell just by reading of this passage, that two things come into focus. Number one, God's blessing and faith, the necessary means to come under it. Blessing And the means to come under it, which really brings us to a question that I want to ask you today: Are you under God's blessing?

If there's anything that's valuable, if you're reading the Old Testament, one of the very first things in Genesis, you realize how important the blessing of God is. Are you under God's blessing? I venture today, I venture to say today that some of you may know that you are not.

Some of you here today may know for sure I am not under God's blessing. Well, you can be. Pay attention. Some of you may be here today and you know for sure that you are under God's blessing. I want to encourage you today just to see how great and mighty that blessing is.

I also venture to say there are many of you who are right in the middle of all of that. You're not sure. Maybe some of you think that you were under God's blessing at one time, but somehow you no longer are. You see, the problem with many of us here today is that we're inclined to listen more to our feelings rather than truth, gospel truth.

You see, many of you all have embraced a gospel of performance rather than a gospel of grace. Even though you may have been schooled in the gospel and have grown up in the church, some of you have taken and embraced a gospel of performance to some kind of standard.

And when you don't meet up to that standard, it brings you down and low. And then all of a sudden, you start listening to your feelings. But the good news is that God has given us the gospel to shape the way we see ourselves, to shape our understanding of reality, and that's good news.

The gospel is to shape how you see yourself. Oh, that's good news right there. We can stop. Nothing else defines who you are. The gospel does. And that's good news. It's not a gospel of performance, but a gospel of grace. And we've been looking at this gospel of grace in our study through the book of Galatians.

We've learned that there's only one gospel of grace, that that gospel came from the mind of God. It doesn't come from the mind of man. It proclaims that people, like you and me, can be right with God on the basis of Christ crucified. Resurrected and Christ exalted, and such is the gospel that Paul preached to Galatia.

And as we step into Galatians chapter 3, he is defending that gospel, the gospel of grace. But the gospel of grace requires something of you. And you know what that is? Faith. Belief. Look, you'll never be able to come under God's blessing if you don't believe him. If you don't believe God is holy and there is a standard and God wants you to be in relationship with him in celebration of that standard and celebration of who he is.

If you don't believe that, you never will come under that blessing. The gospel requires something of you, faith. And that's because the gospel guarantees something to you. And you know what that is? Blessing. Blessing. And if you don't believe him, you will never come under his blessing. Oh.

But for you here who do believe him, his blessings are of unfathomable proportions. And they are yours. And I want to help you see that today. Well, before Christmas, the last time we met, we were looking up at the night sky, if you will remember. You remember, God came to Abraham in chapter 15 of Genesis, and he meets him in the tent, and he takes him outside.

He says, Now look up into the stars. Look up. And he says this in Genesis 15:5. Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them. And he said to him, So shall your descendants be. Picture that scene. Night sky filled with stars.

And all the beauty of that night sky. And there's God telling Abraham, so shall your descendants be. And then, and he goes on in the very next verse in Genesis 15:6, which is also the very same verse in Galatians 3, 6. Look at Galatians 3, 6. Even so, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

And then he goes right into what we just. To our text this morning. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. Keep this night sky image in your mind, and we'll, as we go through this message, I will refer back to it because it's so fundamental to what's happening in this text.

Have faith in the gospel. Have faith in the gospel, and you will come under God's blessing. See, the problem that was happening in Galatia is people had lost faith in the gospel. They were turning to a gospel of performance that somehow they needed more to do something else, which Paul says that's not a gospel at all, and it isn't.

If all of a sudden your performance becomes the focal point to any kind of standard that God has given, you will fail miserably. But it's not about the God, it's not about us, but it's about the God who can bring us into his righteousness and raise us to his standard.

Many had lost faith in the gospel. In Paul's day. And they were turning away. Many have lost faith in the gospel in our day. Somehow, the gospel isn't enough. It's just not enough for people today. We need something else. And so we start looking to secular sources to somehow pump us up, to affirm us, to treat us.

But all that is indicative of a generation that is losing faith in the gospel. Why do we have so many denominations that have left faith alone? Because they don't think the gospel is enough. That's the problem. And what Paul is impressing upon these Galatians is: have faith in the gospel.

Have faith in the message that was proclaimed to you. Have faith in that. Trust in that. Don't trust in this gospel of self-performance. That is no gospel at all. And so, what he does is he sets before them in these three verses three elements of the gospel that you can be sure of.

Three elements of the gospel that you can be sure of. You can't be sure of technology all the time, but you can be sure, or maybe be less sure of my use of technology, is probably. But the very first element of the gospel that you need to be sure of involves you.

God wants you to have the same kind of faith as Abraham. Be sure of that. Look at verse 7. Therefore, therefore, in light of what's just been said, verse 6, Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.

Be sure. It's a present. Make sure you are being sure. Make sure that this is always true of you. Make sure you ascertain this from what's just been said. Make sure you get it. What are you to get? Look back. That it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.

These ones, literally, these ones, the ones of faith, looking back to Abraham, these ones are the sons of Abraham. The ones who have faith. Those who are out of faith. That's literally the idea of those who come out of faith are the ones who are children of Abraham.

Out of. You can either be born out of faith or born out of law. That's what's going on. Here. What Paul is wanting them and us to be so sure of is that it is only those who are of faith are the children of Abraham. Are you one of the children of Abraham?

How could Paul be so sure? Look, Paul was there defending this truth. Even Barnabas and Peter, confounded by these Judaizers who are coming in with this gospel of performance, and Paul is so sure. How can we be so sure when so many Christian denominations repudiate this notion of justification by faith alone?

How can we be so sure? Paul is saying, you be sure and you make sure you're sure and continue to be sure. How? Well, one reason, we've already looked at it in the past, there was no law and there was no circumcision at the time when Abraham was declared righteous.

We're in Genesis 15. That's what Paul's citing. Long before there was a law, long before there was Isaac, long before there was Jacob, long before any of that, long before he. Even gave him the covenant of circumcision or the right of circumcision, he's declared righteousness. He's declared righteous.

There is a righteousness on planet Earth that was independent of the law, independent of circumcision, independent of the nation Israel. Be sure that it was through faith alone that Abraham obtained his righteous status before God. And that's what Paul is saying. You can be sure. You must be sure of this.

You see, if you let Scripture teach you, you can be sure of one of the most basic truths of Scripture. That the kind of righteousness that God wants in you, the kind that he is looking for in you, is that kind of righteousness that comes by faith and faith alone, the very same faith that Abraham exhibited.

You see, and look, who are they? They are sons of Abraham, children of Abraham. Be sure that it is those who are out of faith, who exercise faith. They are the ones who are the sons of Abraham. So it's very clear that Paul doesn't have physical progeny in mind, but spiritual.

Progeny, spiritual children. These are the ones who have the same spiritual DNA as Abraham, descendants of the same kind of faith. That's what he wants. He wants you and I to be a descendant of Abraham. That is, exhibiting the same kind of faith as Abraham did way back.

Genesis 15. And by the way, it's not only Paul that makes this distinction. Jesus himself makes this distinction. You remember when he was feuding with the chief priests and Pharisees in John chapter 8? A lengthy dispute. And it goes back to Abraham. And they were saying, We are children of Abraham, physical descendants.

We've never been enslaved to anyone. I'll just pick up a little bit of this conversation in John 8, verse 39. This is what they said to Jesus: Abraham is our father, i.e., we are physically descended from Abraham. And Jesus said to them, If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.

But as it is, you are seeking to kill me. A man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God, this Abraham did not do. You're not at all like Abraham. Abraham, because you are not his children. Now, he's not disputing the fact that they are physically descended from Abraham.

But he's saying you're not at all like him. In fact, he goes on in verse 44 and he says, You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. You see, if you serve your flesh, if you do what you want to do with no regard to God, and you live out those desires, you are of your father, the devil.

That's what he does. He lives for his desires. Then he goes on to verse 47. Jesus says this in John 8: He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear them because you are not of God. Jesus got spiritual children here in mind.

Let me tell you who is born of God? The one who is listening to God. And then they go on. Verse 53, surely you are not greater than our father Abraham, who died. The prophets died too. Who do you make yourself out to be? And then Jesus goes on in verse 56 and says, Your father Abraham.

Rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, You are not yet 50 years old, and you have seen Abraham. And Jesus said to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. He goes, oh, yeah, I've seen him.

I'm the God of Abraham. Abraham saw me, and he rejoiced to see me. But as it is, and as he's confronting this generation, he's saying, Look, Abraham didn't want to kill me. He rejoiced to see my day. You're not at all. Abraham's not your father. Oh, you may have been descended from him in a fleshly kind of way.

But the question is: how in the world did Abraham see Christ's day? Well, the answer is very clear. The same way he saw many of his offspring to come by believing God. God told him in his seed all the nations would be blessed. Think about the sacrifice there in Genesis 22.

At the mount, the Lord will provide. Don't worry, Isaac. God himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice. He saw his day. He looked up at the night sky and he saw this constellation of beautiful stars. And God tells him, so your offspring shall be. And then he tells him, and in you all the nations will be blessed.

You see, God promised Abraham many offspring. Physical offspring? Yes. Spiritual offspring? Yes. And one offspring, Christ, the one through whom all the others would be blessed. You see, Abraham rejoiced in the promise of Jesus. When you believe God's promises, you see. You see? You see. When you believe God's promises, you see.

That's what happened to Abraham. He believed God's promises, and then he could see. And he could rejoice in this one to come who would be the source of the richest blessings to all mankind. You see, the blessed of the earth have the same spiritual disposition of Abraham. That's who the blessed of the earth are.

You see, God is excited about those who have the same faith of Abraham, and that's why he's calling you here today to that very same kind of faith. Not a faith based on your performance, but a faith based on his goodness and his supply to bring about what he wants in your life.

You see, the physical descendants of Abraham who do not have faith are not a delight to him. Remember Ishmael. You remember Esau. Such the Bible condemns because they did not have faith. Physical descendants who do not have faith are nothing more than fallen man persisting in rebellion on their way to judgment.

That's what separates humanity is faith, the faith of Abraham. This is the way Martin Luther says about it. People, physical descendants of Abraham who do not have faith, they are people that are no more than just. Wrapped in sin, without faith, and therefore condemned. You see, God is interested in faith.

Hebrews 11:6 will say, without faith it is impossible to please him. For he who comes to him must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of those who seek him. You see, without faith, you cannot possibly please God. But the good news is, that's what he wants you to do.

He wants you to have the same kind of faith as Abraham. See, God is interested in you having that kind of faith. Do you rejoice in Christ as Abraham did? Well, be sure. Look back at verse 7. Be sure that it is those who are of faith who are the sons of Abraham.

And be sure that that is the kind of faith that God wants you to have right now. And why is that? Because he intends to bless all the nations through faith. He wants you to have that kind of faith because he intends to bless you. Bless all the nations through that kind of faith.

Look back at verse 8. The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed in you. Did you pick that up? The gospel's been preached. When Paul showed up in Galatia, the gospel had already been preached long before, long before the nation Israel even comes into existence.

The gospel had been preached. So when Paul is preaching, he's not preaching something new. Oh, he's giving more details for sure, filling in some details. But the Scripture has been preaching the gospel from the beginning. Isn't that interesting? God's Word is a preacher. The Scripture has been preaching.

I love it. God's Word preaches. But you can be sure. But look at this word: the gospel beforehand. The gospel, the scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand. The gospel in advance. Literally, the good news in advance. You see, the first reason you can be sure that justification is by faith alone is because there was no law of Moses, and there was no right of circumcision, and yet Abraham is declared righteous.

But there's a second reason, a very explicit reason in our text this morning, and that's because of the gospel beforehand. The gospel and what it proclaimed beforehand. Before what? Well, before the law, before circumcision, before the nation of Israel, before any of that comes about, the gospel's been proclaimed, the gospel in advance.

You can be sure that justification is by faith alone is because that and that alone accords with the gospel that was proclaimed beforehand. This is one that's already been preached. There's three observations I want us to make, or make sure you catch sight of about this gospel beforehand.

I mean, there it is, the gospel beforehand. It's preached right there, way back. The first thing I want you to notice is the occasion for the gospel. What gave rise to this gospel being proclaimed beforehand? Look back at verse 8. The scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith.

There's the occasion. The scripture is seeing, the word of God is seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith. And by the way, the tense of the verb there is a present. It's not a future. Most translations put it that God is going to justify. No, it is that.

God is justifying the nations by faith. That is more literal. The scripture is foreseeing. It is looking ahead. It understands. It sees something in advance. What is it seeing? It is seeing that God is justifying. He is causing about righteousness to come up in all of the nations.

You see that? The Gentiles. The Gentiles. And what does the Gentiles refer to? Well, certainly those that Paul is preaching to, to us, to all the nations other than Israel, that God is justifying the nations by faith. Not on a doctrine of performance to a standard, but on faith in the one who is righteous and gives us his righteousness.

Don't misunderstand for a second. Righteousness has a standard way beyond our ability to comply. And faith in God is the means by which God brings about that righteousness in his people and then transforms his people into the perfect righteousness. In conduct. He makes us righteous judicially. But it's through that same gospel that He transforms us and will complete that work.

And that's something that we can't ever live up to and bring about by our own performance. But it is something that God is doing. And that's why you have to have faith in Him. There's a second observation about this gospel beforehand. Notice the recipient of this gospel. Look back.

Who is it? I'll give you a second to answer the question in your own mind. Who is preaching the scripture? Who is this gospel preached to? To Abraham. You see it. God is going to honor his word to Abraham. Don't you love that? God is going to honor his word to Abraham.

The gospel preached to Abraham. Third observation. I want you to see about this gospel beforehand deals with its content. Notice the content of this gospel beforehand. Look at verse 8. And this is what he is saying. All the nations will be blessed in you. The nations will be blessed in you.

He says that in, remember Genesis 12, 3, as early on this gospel is being proclaimed. Genesis 12, 3, God says, and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse. And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

We see a similar statement in Genesis 22 after Abraham took Isaac up to offer him as a sacrifice. And God stops him. And then he says in verse 16 of chapter 22, By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you.

I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of heaven. And then he says in verse 18, and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. There's the gospel beforehand. In you, all the families of the earth, all the nations, and all the families of the earth are going to be blessed.

You see, that day, God made a promise to Abraham. But notice that promise wasn't just to Abraham. He made a promise to Abraham and to his seed. But it wasn't just to Abraham and his seed, his physical descendants, or his one seed, Christ. God made a promise to Abraham.

He made a promise to Christ that day. And he also made a promise to all the families and nations of the earth. Do you see that? That is the gospel beforehand. All the nations will be blessed in you. So there are three core elements of this content. I'm going to take you to another level here and go down a little bit deeper.

There's three core elements of this content. The first core element of this gospel is that it involves something for all nations. Look, all the nations. All. Now, just previously he talked about the Gentiles. But here it's all. And guess what that includes? Jews. Jews and Gentiles. All the nations will be blessed in you.

That encompasses them all. And this is before Jacob even comes on the scene. This is before Isaac comes on the scene. All the nations. You see, the gospel is not just good news for Israel and bad news for everyone else. It's good news for all. And Paul dials into this.

And he's proclaiming this in Galatia. Because there are those who wanted to make the gospel just good news for the Jews only and make conformity to Judaism, their version of it, binding on all. But no, it's and Peter and recognize this in James, in Acts 15, in the council.

Remember the Jerusalem Council, and Peter stands up. Look, we need to be saved by faith as well. It's not that the Gentiles need to be saved like us, it's we need to be saved like them through faith. It's one way to God's standard of righteousness, and that is through faith.

It's always been that way. That's been the gospel preached beforehand, before all the law even comes into being. So it involves something for all nations, all the nations. And what is that something? That something is God's blessing. All the nations will be blessed. Look, God's blessing, this is the good news.

God's blessing will extend to all nations and all families of the earth. And that is really good news in light of where we are in Scripture in Genesis 15 and Genesis 12. What's happened? We've just witnessed Noah's flood, and we've just witnessed the Tower of Babel. Where direction is humanity?

Going. Is humanity just going to be this entity that God creates, lets them flourish for a while, and then brings disaster on them in judgment? Is that just what, is that what life on earth is going to be? Is just one continual disaster after another, judgment after the other?

No. Good news. God is going to insert Himself into humanity, and He is going to cause righteousness to spring up, a righteousness that He can bless, so that the future of humanity is one of glory, one of goodness, one of great joy, something that's just one big grand display of God's goodness.

That's going to be the story of humanity when all is said and done. Let's bring this to us today. I've got good news for you. God has more than judgment in mind for you. Do you believe that? Maybe you feel like you're not under God's blessing, but I've got good news for you.

God has a lot more than judgment in store for you. And if you are in Christ today, I can echo that loudly. God does not have judgment. In mind for you, you can rejoice. This is God. This is who He is. This is how He sees you. Rejoice in Him.

He knows how to bring about good things in you. There's a third core element of this gospel, of this content of this gospel, and that is that this blessing is in Abraham. Look at all the nations will be blessed in you. All the nations will come under God's blessing, and that blessing is in Abraham, in you.

And what does that in you refer to? Well, there's two options: either the faith of Abraham or the seed, the individual single seed, Christ. Which is it? Well, it's true about both of them. They are both in Abraham. So I don't think we have to separate the two.

Both are biblically true. Both the object of faith, the seed, it's going to come from Abraham. And the kind of faith is also in Abraham. Abraham's faith was not in his ability to perform and say, okay, God, you want offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven. Let me get to work.

I'll get it figured out here. I'll get my wife. I know she's. But we'll get it figured out somehow. No, he simply trusts. He trusted in God's ability to bring about what he promised. Look, and you don't have to understand how all this works. And I love this.

I love this about the gospel. You don't have to understand how it all pencils out or how it all works. But this much is very simple. Accepting God's testimony about Christ changes your heart. And when you do, you come to Him. And when you come to Him, you follow Him.

And by simply just accepting God's testimony about who Christ is and simply following Him, God will take care of your transformation. He'll take care of everything. All we have to do is follow Christ. That is our law. He is our teacher. We follow Him. And He'll take care of the rest.

Isn't that great? Follow Christ. You see, we need something really simple. And I love that about the gospel. It's simple. Even if you don't understand all of its complicated nuances, you're going to get this. Jesus Christ came for you, suffered in your place, raised again. He has been exalted.

God expects you to listen to him and to pay attention to everything he says, and God will take care of the rest. Simple. Be a follower of Christ. Because what God intends to do is, he is blessing the nations through faith. So, God wants you to have the same kind of faith as Abraham because he intends to bless all nations through that faith, including you.

You're one of the nations, you're one example. Don't you want to be one of those people that comes under his blessing? Accept his testimony of Jesus Christ. Now, third element of this gospel that Paul wants us to be sure of is that God wants you to have the same kind of faith as Abraham because he intends to bless all nations through faith as an expression of his goodness to all and his faithfulness to his word.

It's an expression of who he is. And at the core aspect elements of who God is, God is good and God is faithful, reliable. Look back at verse 9. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. So, Paul, just with the scriptural authority that he has just relayed from Genesis chapter 15 and Genesis chapter 22, based upon this scripture.

Authority, Paul restates what he wants the Galatians churches and all of us to be sure of. And what is that? So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham. In other words, they are already blessed. That's what Paul is communicating to the Galatian churches. Look, you don't need what the Judaizers are saying.

You are already blessed through faith. You are already blessed with Him. Faith in the gospel, not in your ability to obey the law, has brought about a righteousness and a blessed standing with God. That's the basis of it. Paul says you already have this. Don't lose the gospel.

But notice, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham the believer. Now, really, the word believer is in the place of emphasis. Let me read it that way. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with the believer, Abraham. You see the difference? Abraham is a subcategory of the believing category.

But it's the same the way. You see, by believing, you become. A believer. And notice, are blessed with Abraham, with, together with Abraham. In addition to Abraham, with Abraham, in addition to, you see, those who are of faith are put in the same category as Abraham. What were some of the blessings upon Abraham?

Well, if you survey his life, there was material wealth, which he had to leave behind, by the way, a great name, something that probably served him well, his earth. There was God's protection even when he did dumb things. There was God's instructions, all of that, temporal, earthly things that God gave him.

But then there were some things that were transcendent. Relationship with God. God's sworn promises. Yeah, you can take something with you when you die, and that's God's promises. You believe them. And I believe that we will share in all of these blessings that Abraham enjoyed at some place, some time.

Because the same God who was kindly disposed to Abraham is the same God who is kindly disposed to us. But there is an emphasis of blessing in this verse. It's justification. Is the blessing that is in view. Look back at verse 6. Even so, Abraham believed God and he got a corvette.

Even so, Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. There's the blessing: righteousness, justification. You see, this is the blessing, and without this blessing, none others are possible. If there is no right standing with God, there is no other ones. All this, do you see God's goodness in this?

He wants you to have faith so that you'll be a testament to the nations of his goodness to all the nations. And I think we've got people from a whole lot of different nations in here. Do you see God's faithfulness even in the assembly right here? Do you see his faithfulness to Abraham?

A promise made to Abraham? Do you see his faithfulness to Abraham's seed, Christ? Do you see his faithfulness being displayed to all the nations just by looking around this room? Behold, God's faithfulness. It's here. See it. You remember, God made a promise to Abraham that his descendants would be in.

Slavery for 400 years. And he says, but I'm going to deliver them. That's what the book of Exodus is all about. One big testimony of God's faithfulness to the promise he made to Abraham. And then when God made a promise to Abraham that all the nations will be blessed in him, guess what?

He didn't forget it. The Great Commission is a testament to God's faithfulness. The gospel that Paul preached to the Galatians was God being faithful to the gospel he had proclaimed beforehand. All the nations are going to be blessed, so all the nations are going to have to hear.

And the gospel being preached here today is a testimony to God's faithfulness to Abraham, to Christ, and to the nations. Do you see? We're part of something so much bigger than what you might imagine. God's faithfulness is on display to you here today. God is reliable. Everything he says, you can trust.

Think about it. For just a moment, you being part of the promise made to Abraham. It's here. You are in Scripture. God is mindful of you. One of the stars in the night sky. Look, Abraham. Look at your children. So they shall be. And here we are. Part of that great firmament of believers.

All nations of the earth will be blessed through faith in Christ. Don't let the gospel go. Three elements of the gospel you are to be sure of. Number one, God wants you to have the same kind of faith as Abraham because He intends to bless all the nations through faith.

He intends to bless you through faith as an expression of his great goodness, so you will learn how good God is and as an expression of his faithfulness that you can rely on him here, now, and forever. Be sure of those things. Don't let anybody take the gospel and put you under a yoke of performance to some standard.

So back to the night sky. You see, oftentimes the Bible speaks of Abraham's physical descendants, and other times his spiritual descendants, and sometimes the one descendant, Christ. But in our text this morning, Paul is without doubt stressing that blessing which is upon the spiritual descendants of Abraham, those who have the same faith like Abraham.

God set a promise before Abraham and asked him to believe, expected him to believe, took him before the night stars. Abraham, so your offspring shall be. Abraham walks out. It says, Okay, God, I don't know how it's going to work, but you say so. I believe it. What is the promise that God has set before your eyes today?

I'll tell you what that promise is. Jesus Christ is that promise. Jesus Christ is God's promise to you. He is a flesh and blood promise that God has made to you. And he is a promise, not with ink and paper, but flesh and blood. Think about this. What are some of the promises in Christ?

I'll tell you. Who is Jesus Christ? Someone who will receive you just as you are. Promise. Jesus Christ is someone who will forgive all your wrongdoings. Promise. That's Jesus Christ. Someone who will remove from you that which is killing you, your sin. He will remove your sin. Promise.

He will remove your sin and he will transform you into a godly masterpiece. Promise. Promise. He is somebody who will take care of you. Somebody who will lead you. Somebody who wants to be king over you, protector. Somebody who's mindful of you. Somebody who will be responsible for your transformation before the heavenly Father.

Promise. That's Jesus Christ, flesh and blood. Someone who will share your concerns. Someone who will love those who you love more than you do. Someone who will remove sin from the whole world and make all things right. Promise. The Lamb who takes away the sin of the world at the cross and in judgment.

It's gone. He wants an environment for his people. Promise. He will remove sin, make all things right. He is somebody who will elevate mankind to its full potential. Promise. He was somebody who will bring about God's full blessing on you and upon the world you live in. Promise.

That's Jesus Christ. He is the source of blessing. He's the source of God's blessing to one, the one through whom all blessings to every family, every nation. And every individual will come. That's him. Is that crazy? No, it's a promise. Jesus is the flesh and blood promise. And just like he set that night sky before Abraham, he sets before you, and he sets before the world Jesus Christ.

Do you believe? Be like Abraham. Have faith. Okay, God, I don't know if I understand it all, but I believe. I don't know how you can take this sinful man and you can transform him into a work of glory and beauty. I don't know how you can make all the things right in this world, but God, you said it, and you know what?

I'm going with it. God has set Jesus before your eyes and expects you to believe. Is Jesus large in your life? Have you believed God's testimony concerning Jesus? Christ crucified, Christ resurrected, Christ exalted, Christ returning. And be sure that the blessed children of Abraham are the ones who believe.

Romans 8:19 says, For the anxious longing of the creator. Waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. The good news is that righteousness is going to spring from the earth and from every nation and every family in that nation. You know, this image of the night sky, it wasn't just given to Abraham, it was also given to Daniel.

And Daniel makes it clear that the shining stars in the skies are not just about number, but they're about personal beauty and glory. Listen to what words spoken to Daniel in 12:3. Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.

Step out with me one more time into that night sky. Think about that constellation of believers above the earth. Abraham is just one of them. And so are you, if you are a believer. Wow. And if you are not a believer today, you're invited to be a believer.

Put your faith, accept what Jesus has done. May we grow in awe of this reality. And let us have faith in the gospel. Have faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and you will come under God's blessing. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the truth. We thank you for this great Saint Paul who you drew out.

of his sinful pursuits. You transformed him. You made him a monument to your grace. And then you made him a missionary of your grace. We thank you for the goodness that this says about you and your love for the nations. It gives us hope for the future of planet Earth.

We also see your faithfulness revealed, and we can rejoice in your goodness. We can rejoice in your faithfulness. Father, that you are mindful of everyone here today and that you desire us to believe. You call us to believe. Help us. Help our unbelief, Father. To the praise that you would be glorified and honored in our lives as you should be.

Give us this faith of Abraham. In Christ's name. Amen.