(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Alright, so you're there in Romans chapter 4, so obviously we've already gone through Romans 1, 2, and 3. This is actually one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. If you couldn't tell from the sermons that I've preached already, I feel like I've already preached this whole chapter. Not all at once, but I've been pulling stuff out of this chapter to destroy dispensationalism, talk about eternal security, talk about the gospel, and so this chapter is packed, and I love this chapter, and so we're just going to be going verse by verse through here and just going through what it's talking about, and so in the beginning of the chapter there, what we see is just a perfect picture of the fact that there's this everlasting gospel. There's this salvation that's been from the beginning, that it's always been by faith, it's never been by works, and this is something that is propagated throughout Baptist churches nowadays. There's a lot of Ruckmanites. I don't know if you've ever heard of Peter Ruckman, but Peter Ruckman, he's dead now, but he taught a whole bunch of dispensationalism. He had a lot of weird views, but one of the big things is just different gospels for different time periods, and so the first thing that this chapter does is destroys that, because we see here that Abraham was justified by faith, David was justified by faith, and at the end of the chapter it says that it wasn't to him alone, but for us also. So all this is intertwined, that everybody's been justified the same way. We were never justified by works. They were never justified by works, and so we see from the beginning here in verse one it says, What shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found? Or if Abraham were justified by works, he hath wear of the glory, but not before God? So it's saying here that they're asking about Abraham. They're saying, what does he have as pertaining to the flesh, or what has he found? And it's saying that if he were justified by works, he can glory, but not before God, meaning that the works will never allow you to be glorified before God or to justify yourself in the sight of God. For by the law there shall no flesh be justified in this sight. It is evident, for the just shall live by faith. And so we know through many scriptures that it's just by faith alone, because it says in verse three, it says, For what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. This is quoted, and we'll go back to the place where it's actually at in Genesis 15, but this is quoted three times in the New Testament. Three times, once here, once in Galatians, in Galatians chapter three, and then once in Galatians chapter two. The just shall live by faith, that's what I was thinking of. The just shall live by faith is in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. I was like, it's not in Hebrews, it doesn't say that. So James chapter two, it says that the scripture might be fulfilled that Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Galatians chapter three says that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and it goes on about the same exact stuff. So if you want a parallel passage to this, Galatians chapter three. So we're going to be going to Galatians chapter three a lot to kind of just get a little more information and see what it's talking about here. But Galatians, Galatians in general with Romans are two parallel epistles. Now Romans obviously is a lot bigger, but Galatians really hits these same exact points. And so go to Genesis chapter 15, Genesis chapter 15, I just want you to see where this is at because this is quoting, it says, as it is written, or the scripture saith. So Genesis 15 verse six is where this comes from. Genesis 15, six. There's a lot I'd like to get into when it comes to Abraham, but it's really a whole sermon in itself and I don't want to keep you here all night. So there's a lot of stuff when you look into Abraham and just all the correlations that you can look into. But in Genesis 15 verse six it says, and he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness. So notice what it's saying right before that though, it says in verse five, 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. That's also quoted later on in this chapter. And so the seed, we're going to be talking about that. What's the seed? Who is the seed? And what's the gospel? The gospel has been from the beginning, from the foundation of the world, but this is something that dispensationalists are really stuck on. And I think it stems from the fact that they don't understand the difference between Old Testament and New Testament. They don't understand the difference between the covenants that God has made with people as far as cardinal ordinances and being purified according to the flesh from salvation, from the gospel. The gospel is separated from that, and the gospel has always been by faith. And notice it says in verse four, it says, now the him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. But the him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. So anybody that tries to tell you that work is involved in salvation, it says, but the him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. This is saying, this is a guy that doesn't work at all, but he believes on Jesus. This person is saved, they're justified, they have God's righteousness on them. And that's the only way someone can be saved. This isn't just some extreme example where this person doesn't work at all, but God still covers them. No, this is the only way. The only way for you to be saved is that you don't work at all and you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Romans chapter 11, verse 6, Romans chapter 11, verse 6, and so this shows you that salvation is completely apart from works. And we covered that last week in chapter 3, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. We know that it's not by the deeds of the law at all. Romans chapter 11, verse 6, notice what it says, and it says, and if by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. So we have both the sides to it, it repeats it, because if it's grace, there's no works attached to it at all, or it's not grace anymore. And if it's work, there's no grace attached to it, or it's not work anymore. So you can't have the mixture, and that's what everybody's trying to do with salvation is they're trying to mix those two. And the Bible very clearly says, but the hymn that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the young God, that his faith is kind of for righteousness. I don't know how many times the Bible, or how many different ways the Bible can put this to where people finally get it. And these heretics out there that are preaching a work salvation, they're going to be, they're going to have a hot hell waiting for them because there were so many scriptures just pointing them in the face that says it's not by works. Jesus says it in so many different ways, front ways, back ways, you know, from past tense to future tense, the present tense, that you're saved, that's past tense. He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is past from death unto life. We see later on that blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, future tense. So the Lord is not being confusing when it comes to salvation. The Bible's not confusing when it comes to how someone's saved. It's clear, and Jesus says it in so many different ways, being saved, having an eternal life, never dying, never perishing, will not go into condemnation, all these different ways that he's trying to say, you will have eternal life if you believe on me without works, meaning that it can't be by anything that you do, you can't be trusting in yourself at all. And it says, even as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God impudeth righteousness without works. So was David saved by his works? He was in the Old Testament. Doesn't look like it here. This is a man after God's own heart, and it says that he was justified and he had the righteousness of God without works. Now what it's going to quote here, we're going to actually go to it in Psalms, it says, saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Go to Psalm chapter 32, or Psalm 32, and we'll look at those first two verses there. Psalm 32. So what's great about this passage, as we were talking about in our Old Testament versus the New Testament, that Abraham wasn't in the Old Testament. Abraham was before the Old Testament. The Old Testament started with Moses and the Levites and the children of Israel. Well, with Abraham, they weren't born yet. They were yet in his loins, and he was under the order of Melchizedek. And so Abraham was saved by what faith before the Old Testament. David was saved by what faith in the Old Testament. I can show you hundreds of verses of what people are saved by in the New Testament. And we know that the New Testament is an everlasting covenant that never ends. So has salvation been different in the past? No, it's always been by faith. Will it ever be different in the future? No. It will never be different because this will never change. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. That will never change, therefore the gospel, if it changes, they're not going to make it. So the only way that this can work is by grace. And so this chapter just destroys this dispensational garbage about how people are saved differently in different time periods. And so in Psalm 32, verse 1, it says, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord impudeth not iniquity. And notice this last little portion here, and in whose spirit is no guile. Now notice the present tense there. This isn't just talking about the New Testament. This is saying, David is saying, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that whosoever saved and sins are covered, in whose spirit there is no guile. Now this is compatible with the New Testament teaching that whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God, in 1 John 3, 9. And so what that means is that your soul is perfect. Your soul doesn't sin. Your soul, once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new, but not the flesh. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. You know that's chapter 1, 1 John chapter 1. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. But then it goes on and says, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. And we know that we are of God in the whole world life, and it says, he that is born of God sinneth not. So what that means, though, is that your spirit has no guile, your spirit is saved. You know when Nathaniel came up to him, go to John chapter 1, John chapter 1, I know I talked about this, but I really want you to see this. So keep in mind, in whose spirit is no guile, keep in mind that, in whose spirit is no guile, and then go to John chapter 1, and we're going to go down to the end of the chapter there. This is where Jesus is basically, the disciples are leaving John, John the Baptist, and coming to Jesus. And Philip is calling Nathaniel, and Andrew is getting Peter, and so they're basically telling each other, we found the Messiah, we found the Christ. And notice in verse 45, it says, Philip findeth Nathaniel and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth, Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, and saith of him, notice this, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathaniel saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Notice Nathaniel's response, Nathaniel answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the son of God, thou art the king of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believeth thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. So notice Nathaniel, what does Jesus say to him when he's coming to him? He says, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Now we haven't got to that in Romans where we're talking about what the true Israel is. An Israelite indeed, meaning a true Israelite, not someone that's just the physical nation of Israel. An Israelite is someone that is saved. And he's saying he has no guile. Does that mean that Nathaniel never sinned before? Does that mean that Nathaniel's a sinless man walking around there? Spiritually, yes. Because I believe Nathaniel is saved. Because notice, Jesus just said to him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. That's all he said to him. That wasn't the most profound statement in the world. I mean, anybody could see someone sitting under a fig tree, but he basically just heard the shepherd's voice, and he says, Thou art, Rabbi, what's Rabbi? I mean, Master. He says, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. That's all it took for him, because he was already saved. He knew the shepherd's voice, and my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. And the thing is that a saved person is going to know the shepherd's voice. When I run into people, and let's say they're a little mixed up on salvation, like as far as they don't have the right answers, but I start showing them verses, and it's just like, yeah, that makes perfect sense, you know, a Christian knows that shepherd's voice, and sometimes you'll be like, you'll know, hey, that person was probably already saved. They were just a little confused. They were bewitched like the Galatians, but that's a nice little show there that, hey, in the Old Testament, with David, those that were saved, their spirits were perfect. You know what that means? They went to heaven. You know what that means is that their sins were already taken care of, meaning before Jesus died on the cross, because Jesus was foreordained before the foundation of the world. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Therefore, they didn't go to some chamber down in the middle of the earth called Paradise that's in hell, some weird doctrine that people have made up. No, they went to heaven just like Elijah went up in the whirlwind, because their soul was perfect. They didn't have sin on their soul. Their spirit had no guile, and so this is something from Old Testament, New Testament, from before the Old Testament, that it's always been by faith. Every believer was cleansed spiritually. There's definitely things in the New Testament dealing with the Holy Ghost that's a lot better than the Old Testament, but we're talking about salvation here. This completely destroys dispensationalism. The everlasting gospel, we covered that in Revelation chapter 14, that the angels brought down the everlasting gospel. Here's the thing, if that gospel's different than the gospel that's preached in the New Testament, then what did Paul say about an angel preaching another gospel? Let him be accursed. So that wouldn't make any sense at all, that if that gospel that's coming down in Revelation 14 is a different gospel, because it says, though we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed. So any man, any angel, that means that that everlasting gospel better be the same gospel that Jesus preached, it better be the same gospel that Paul preached, it better be the same gospel that they preached to him in the wilderness, and guess what it was? Because it says that for the gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us, but the word preached did not profit them, not be a mix of faith in them that heard it. So there's so many scriptures to show that the gospel's always been the same, it was preached to the people that were in the wilderness, and it was preached to us, and so there's a lot of scripture on that. So let's keep going here though. So I know I've been beating that horse, that dispensational horse when it comes to this, but this is something that needs to be preached because there's a lot of that going around these days, like the Andrew Sluters and the Peter Ruckmanites and all these different people, and especially in the Philippines, I've been talking to Brother Richard Simes, who's out there tearing it up and winning a whole bunch of people to Christ, and all these preachers out there are stuck on this dispensational garbage. They probably got it from the Schofield Bible or they were getting it from some false teacher like Peter Ruckman that taught that people were saved in different ages and different times and different ways. It's just not scriptural, and there's nothing that would teach anything like that. So let's keep going here, it says in Romans 4 verse 9, so we're going to get into Abraham a little more, it says, cometh his blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also, for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision or not in circumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. So we see that Abraham believed before he was circumcised. You notice we read that in Genesis 15, Genesis 17 is where he's circumcised, and so that's clear that he was circumcised way before that. Let's keep reading here and then I'm going to get into about Abraham and when he got saved or when I believe he got saved. So in verse 11 there, it says, and he received a sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. So this is very clear, very clear that he already had the faith before he was circumcised, he already had the righteousness imputed unto him before he was circumcised, and that this didn't just apply to people that were circumcised. Even in his day, because he was uncircumcised and saved. Circumcision didn't start until Abraham, the physical circumcision, right? We already went through the fact that this represents spiritual circumcision and how, we kind of covered that a lot on last Sunday night, on how it's a circumcision of the heart and the spirit and not in the flesh. He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit, whose praise is not of men but of God. So we know that being a Jew or being circumcised is talking about being saved, it's talking about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Circumcision was a seal of that. Circumcision, just like baptism is a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection, it's not the very image of it, but it's just a picture of it. But Abraham, I believe, got saved about 24 to 25 years before he got circumcised. So when we look at what the gospel is, go to Genesis 12, go to Genesis 12 at the very beginning of the chapter. This is where I believe the gospel was preached unto Abraham. In Hebrews, it says by faith he left his country, so God's going to preach this to him and he's going to leave and depart out of his country, and it's going to actually tell us how old he was when he did that. So Genesis chapter 12 verse 1, so this whole chapter is really about Abraham, it's really just honing in on Abraham and who he was, and so that's why I want you to see these passages in Genesis, and it's really mostly dealing with up to when Isaac was born. And what Isaac represents, obviously, is the Lord Jesus Christ, that seed that was promised. But Genesis chapter 12 verse 1, it says, Now the Lord hath 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 shew 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 them that curse thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. Now to prove that this is the Gospel that I believe that God was preaching unto him is because if you go to Galatians chapter 3, you go to Galatians chapter 3 and you'll see the same language, but notice what it says about it. So when you look at Genesis 15 where we're reading how he believed in the Lord and it was imputed unto him for righteousness, I believe that's just restating his faith, restating that he's believed because this is what he was preached. And then in chapter 15, it's restating that he believed that. You know, it would just be like if someone said, Today, Jason believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and it's imputed unto him for righteousness. It's not a lie, but did I just believe today? No, it's just restating a fact, it's restating the fact that I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and I'm saved. And so I believe he actually got saved, that faith was when he heard this Gospel here. In Galatians chapter 3 and verse 6, Even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. So we see a lot here, remember in this chapter it's talking about how Abraham is the father of us all. Abraham is the father of many nations because it's about faith, it's whoever believes. And it says that in the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, notice what it says, Preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all the nations be blessed. What's the Gospel? That in Abraham and his seed were all the nations be blessed. And we'll see what that seed is and how that was going to bless the nations. Now this promise that he promised Abraham was the Gospel, this seed. Now this seed goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 with the fall of man and how he's going to put enmity between thy seed, Satan's, and her seed. And her seed was going to bruise his head, Satan's head, and Satan was going to bruise his heel. So this seed was promised as soon as Adam fell, but it was actually promised before the foundation of the world because he knew that Adam was going to fall. So this is the Gospel, but what this is, this is the Gospel, this is the process of it, right? This seed that was coming down the line from Adam and Abraham was in that line and this promise was that through Abraham Christ was going to come. Does that make sense? And that same promise was made to David that through David that that's who Christ was going to come from, the son of David. That was the big prophecy after that. But this promise was also confirmed by an oath. Go to Genesis 22. So we saw in Genesis 12 the Gospel was preached to Abraham. He believed it, so it says in Hebrews that by faith he left his own country and sojourned in a land that was strangers and I'm just paraphrasing that, but basically that's what it says. It says by faith he left his own country and so he departed in verse 4 of chapter 12. But Genesis chapter 22, what happens here is that Abraham's faith is tested and God is testing him. How faithful is Abraham going to be? And this is something we covered in James chapter 2 with the fact that, and it was written or the scripture was fulfilled which said Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God. Why was he called the friend of God? Because Jesus said, you are my friends if you do whatever I command you. Because he perfected his faith. That's not what saved him, but that's being the friend of God is on top of being saved. You're actually doing the works. And so when he did that, God confirmed it by an oath. Does that mean that God wouldn't have done it anyway? No, obviously God can't break his word, but we see that he actually, he said that he was going to do it and now he's going to confirm it by an oath. And so in Genesis 22 and verse 15, it says an angel of the Lord, so this is right after he offered up Isaac and obviously God didn't allow Abraham to kill him, and it says an angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, by myself have I sworn, said the Lord, for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. Sound familiar? And thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Why? Because of his seed. Go back to Galatians. We were kind of going all over the place. Galatians chapter 3. So just keep your hand in Galatians. Just put a bookmark there because Galatians 3 is something that we're going to be going back and forth here. But in Hebrews, as you're turning there, I'm going to read something to you in Hebrews chapter 6 because now with that in mind, remember that he preached the Gospel to Abraham and he believed it in Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 22, he says it again and it says that he swore, it says, by myself I have sworn. Now notice, think about that as I read this. This is in Hebrews chapter 6 but you're going to Galatians chapter 3. So I don't want you to go crazy and get a paper cut. But it says in verse 13 of Hebrews chapter 6 it says, for when God made promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself saying, sure he blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee and so after he had patiently and dirty obtained the promise, for men barely swear by the greater and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife, wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast and which enters into that within the veil. So all that to say is that he promised it, right, it's impossible for God to lie but he also swore an oath to himself because he could swear by no greater, right? Most men, they swear by God, right? And you know, you do that, you better do it, you know, swear not at all, let your yea be yea and your nay nay but here's the thing, God, he could swear by no greater, therefore he swore by himself saying I will bless thee. So he confirms it by an oath. So by two immutable things, you might have a strong consolation, right? We know God was going to do it anyway but he swore by an oath that it was going to happen and so we see the gospel there but you're in Galatians chapter 3, go to verse 15, Galatians 3 and verse 15. It says, Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man's dissonance are added thereto. Notice what it says, now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. Now this is where a lot of people, you know, that don't read this chapter and when they say blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee, you know, I will bless them that bless thee and I will curse them that curse thee. This is the singular, that's why the King James is so important because it shows you that he's talking to Abraham specifically and this is where people get this false doctrine that we're supposed to bless Israel, the people that are just the physical Jews, no matter what they do. Now the Bible never says that and it actually particularly says that that seed that he was talking to was not talking about all the people of Israel. Notice what it says in here, it says now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made, he saith not into seeds as of many but as of one and to thy seed which is Christ. You know every little jot and tittle was important in your Bible, that little s makes a big difference. Notice that Paul's writing this under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost but he's very confident that hey, the Scriptures don't say seeds, it does not say seeds, it is not plural in the Old Testament. In Genesis it is seed singular because that seed is Christ. Now you may say well, all these blessings are upon the seed. Well yeah because if you go to the end of that chapter there and I don't want to misquote it but in Galatians 3 at the very end of the chapter it explains that. It says and if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. You know you're a part of that seed if you're in Christ. You're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus it says right before that. So how do you become that seed? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. How did Abraham become that? Abraham was a part of that. Everybody that believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is a part of that seed. And so the Gospel was preached to Abraham, it was confirmed by an oath meaning that this promise of the seed that would come. So what did Abraham believe on? Christ. What did Moses believe on? Or who did Moses believe on? Christ. It says that he counted the sufferings of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in heaven. So we know that Christ was the rock in the wilderness. So this whole idea that Christ just came about and no one knew about who. How did they know that he was going to be the son of David? How did they know that when he said I'm the son of God that that was blasphemy? Did they ever say, God doesn't have a son. Do you remember them ever saying that? Because God who at sundry times in a diverse manner spake and time passed unto the fathers by the prophets, but hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. There's a lot that people in the Old Testament and before the Old Testament knew about God that was by the prophets, that was spoken by prophets. And that's why you'll see in the New Testament a lot of places where it says as spoken by Jeremiah or Jeremy the prophet or as spoken by the prophets and you won't find it written in the Old Testament. That's why Enoch prophesied that the Lord cometh with ten thousandths of his saints but you won't find that written until you get to Jude. You won't find that Enoch prophesied that until Jude because there's a lot of things that were prophesied that were spoken. And I'm sure the prophets and a lot of these prophets spoke the same thing because it talks about the thirty pieces of silver and it says as spoken by Jeremiah, but you won't find that in Jeremiah, you'll find it in Zechariah. Because the prophets were all preaching all the same things and to not be repetitive I'm sure God didn't put it in every single, every single book has the same exact things being talked about because God's all knowing and knows how to lay out his word. But all I have to say is that this gospel, you may look in the Old Testament and be like, oh I don't see it, well yeah, the Old Testament has a veil over it but that's why there was prophets to preach that to them. That's why the New Testament's so much better because now you need not that any man teach you but as the same anointing which abideth in you teaches you of all things and is truth and is no lie and even as it hath taught you shall abide in him. That's why the New Testament's great. We have the more sure word of prophecy and so I'm getting ahead of myself with my sermon on Sunday night so I need to stop. So we have Genesis chapter 12. He was 75 years old when he left his country. Do you know how old he was when he was circumcised? Trivia question. For some reason, every time I did a Bible trivia I knew this answer. I knew, what is it? Yeah, 99 years old. Do you know how old Ishmael was? 13. Yeah. Random, I don't know why I always remember that. It's because I got it wrong in a trivia, in a Bible trivia game and I stuck to that. I knew when Abraham was circumcised. There's some knowledge you need to know right there is what year, how old Abraham was when he got circumcised. Anyway, so he's 99 years old and we see that from Genesis chapter 17 and you don't have to turn it over. Genesis 17, 24 says Abraham was 90 years old and nine when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. We know that's 24 years, that's 24 years of him being saved and that's just to say I believe he got saved at that point. He could have been saved before that. I'm just saying that I believe at that point that's when the gospel, that was clearly the gospel preached to him and by faith he left so obviously he had to be saved at that point. At least 24 years of him being saved before circumcision, so circumcision had nothing to do with salvation in the Old Testament, has nothing to do with salvation in the New Testament and actually it availed nothing in the New Testament. As we go on here, Romans chapter 13, and so I know we kind of covered that when we were talking about circumcision but I kind of wanted to get into that a little more about Abraham and just that progression and the gospel. I think that's very interesting about the gospel and how you can prove that the gospel is everlasting because of what it is, what it represents, that seed that was to come that was promised before the world began. In Romans 13, we'll keep reading here, it says, for the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law. So notice that promise wasn't through the law and the law wasn't given yet as far as the law of Moses but through the righteousness of faith. So this promise was by faith not by the law. It says for if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of none effect because the law worketh wrath for where no law is there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace. Now was Abraham, this whole idea, and I know I'm getting on this topic and I'm beating this horse, but this whole idea that we're in the age of grace is so ludicrous. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. It says right here that therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, and this is talking about Abraham. So this age of grace is just a made up, damnable heresy that if people just read Romans they would understand this. It says to the end, the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all. So what's that saying? It's basically saying that it's not just to the Jews that had the law that the oracles of God were given to or to the Israelites that the oracles of God were given to. This is to anybody that would believe. This is back in Abraham's time, this is today, that it's always been by faith and that he's the father of us all because he's the example. He's the example of faith. And so it talks about the same thing with Sarah. You know, you are the daughters of Sarah if you do well or not afraid with any amazement. And it talks about, it's not necessarily like you're not physically their daughter, you're not physically, right? This is all spiritual. And it's kind of like if I have a son in the faith, he's not my physical son, but he's my son in the fact that I want him to Christ and he's like my, you know, I'm joined with Christ in that bringing forth, you know, salvation. And so I'm kind of like a father figure to him in that aspect. Does that make sense? Where you're a father figure in the fact that you are what they look up to. So we're looking up to Abraham in his faith. And so all believers should look to him and see what he did. And also the fact that he had perfect faith, you know, he had faith that was perfected and he became the friend of God. That's something we should all be striving for. And in Galatians chapter three, it talks about this as well. So we see that faith is made void and the promise made of none effect if it's by the law. So Galatians chapter three, I know I told you to keep a thumb there, but I'll give you a second just in case you lost your place there. Galatians three, Romans four and Galatians three are two of my favorite chapters. And if you're ever going to memorize a book, Galatians. But all the books that I've memorized and chapters that I've memorized and especially for soul winning because it's just packed, but it has so much in there. It's just got such hitting power, especially Galatians three. I love how it starts off, Oh, foolish Galatians who have bewitched you, you know, and it goes on. Are you so foolish having begun in the spirit, you're now made perfect by the flesh. You know, like just the language that Paul has is fantastic. So in verse 17 there, I digress. So verse 17, it says, in this I say that the covenant that was confirmed before God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after cannot this and all that it should make the promise of none effect. Now what this is talking about, and this is kind of a side note, the 430 years after, remember they were in Egypt for how long? 430 years. It says that to the day when they came up out of Egypt, it says to the day, the day that they left was 430 years, exactly. Now the theologians and scholars out there, what they, what they say here is that that can't be right because Abraham died before that, right? Well, the thing that they're missing is that the covenant was confirmed to Isaac and Jacob, and it was confirmed right when Jacob was going in to Egypt. So that's what this is talking about. This promise was confirmed to Isaac, then it was confirmed to Jacob, right when he was going into Egypt, and that's why you have 430 years from when they were sojourning in Egypt. That's a little nugget for another day. So I don't want to get into that, but you can prove that by going to, I believe it's First Chronicles 17, it's also in a psalm, it's a parallel passage, but if you have questions about that, ask me later. But anyway, all I have to say is that that's accurate, the 430 years, you don't need to explain that away. So what that's saying, though, is that this promise was 430 years before the law, even to Jacob, and so the promise was already promised before the law was ever there, as far as the law of Moses. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more a promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Sound familiar? It's of none effect if it's by the law, because the law bringeth forth wrath. The law can never save you. The law is the knowledge of sin. The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. And so the law can never save you. Wherefore then serveth the law. It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid, for if there had been a law given which could have given life verily, righteousness should have been by the law. So we know that it was never by the law, and if there was a law given, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But there was no law given to give life. All the law does is condemn. It can't save anybody. And so the law is our schoolmaster, it goes on with this. But it was ordained by angels. And we saw that an angel was talking to Abraham, and so throughout the Old Testament you'll see angels kind of giving the word of God. The angels would proclaim certain scriptures. I'm going to be preaching on Daniel at this prophecy conference, and a lot of this stuff was given to him by angels. They were interpreting it by angels, and they were even saying, we're going to show you the truth, that which is written in the scripture of truth. And so it was ordained by angels, meaning that God used angels to speak to prophets and to speak to people. The angel in the burning bush, that's how God spoke to Abraham. And so I don't want to belabor that, but if you want to look at something later, it talks about in Hebrews chapter 2, it says, for if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just, recompressive reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? So Hebrews chapter 2 talks about that same exact thing, how it was spoken by angels back before. Remember God in diverse manners, it says, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. God used a lot of different ways, right? He spoke out of a still small voice. There's different ways that God spoke to people, but in the New Testament with Jesus, when Jesus came on the scene, we have a more sure word of prophecy, we have the word of God, and we have the Holy Ghost inside of us. So I don't want to belabor that point with that or get too deep with that. So notice in verse 17. Now this is a really interesting verse, really interesting verse. So in Romans 4 and verse 17 it says, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations before him whom he believed, even God who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Underline that. He calleth those things which be not as though they were. So I'm going to go back to Genesis 17. This is where this was quoted, Genesis 17 verse 4 says, as for me, behold, my covenant is with thee and thou shalt be a father of many nations. So it sounds like future, right? Next verse. Neither shall thy name anymore be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. So Abraham in Genesis chapter 17 says that he has made him a father of many nations, calling those things which be not as though they were. God, it was as if he had already done it, right? That's why salvation, that's why people will say, well, how can people go to heaven when Jesus hadn't died on the cross? Because he calls those things which be not as though they were. Because he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Because he is before ordained but was manifest in these last times for you. God is eternal. God never fails and it was as if he had already done it when he spoke it from the foundation of the world. So he calls those things which be not as though they were. When you read Isaiah 53, next time you read that, notice the different tenses that are used. There is past, present, and future tense and all that and it's all talking about Jesus dying on the cross. When you see these prophecies, a lot of times you'll see it in past tense and it's something that's going to happen in the future. You'll see it in the present tense or something that's already happened. What you've got to understand is that God, when he makes a prophecy, it will happen. His word will not return void. And so when he made the promise that he was going to be the savior of the whole world, that he was going to give all those that believe eternal life, which was from the foundation of the world, that promise was written in stone. That's why your names are written in the Lamb's book of life, written in the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world and it also calls the book of life, it talks about the Lamb's book of life from the foundation of the world. God already knew from the foundation of the world who would believe and he's predestinated those that believe to be conformed to his image. Because he knew who would believe. He didn't predestinate people to believe because that would be a wicked God. We're not Calvinists. But he knew, he foreknew whom he did foreknow, then he predestinated to be conformed to his image. Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, and so it goes on. And so here's the thing. He already knew what was going to happen and he calls those things which be not as though they were. And that's why he says to him, I have made thee a father of many nations hundreds, thousands of years before Jesus died on the cross. And so the promise is sure. By two immutable things, he confirmed it by an oath and it was going to happen. And it did happen. And so I just wanted you to see that. I think that really kind of gives you a grasp on salvation on how, yes, in the Old Testament it hadn't happened yet, but it was as if it did. He called those things which be not as though they were, meaning that it was as if Christ had already died on the cross. His blood had already been shed on the cross. And that's why it likens him to the cornerstone that was laid at the foundation of the earth, that the sons of God shouted for joy because he's the chief cornerstone, he is the rock of our salvation, and he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So not to get on that big topic, but I want you, that's a good verse to show you on the fact that people were saved even before Christ physically died on the cross in the time that we're in. Remember, God's eternal. And in God's eyes, it had already been done. And so as we go on here, we'll finish off this chapter here. And so in verse 18, this is a great passage for eternal security right here. So 18, it says, who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations. According to that which was spoken, so shall I see be. So we already saw that, that was the gospel, that the seed would come through him. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body, now dead, when he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Now what we got to understand here is that when this was promised to him, and when it was confirmed to him, and all this stuff, you got to understand he was old. Sarah laughed when God said that he was going to, that she was going to have a child. And so, but he didn't stagger in unbelief, meaning that he believed it, even though he knew that, hey, this is an impossible, this is something that seems impossible to happen. But he still believed it, and here's the thing, that's the truth today, we're believing in something we can't see, something that we would think would maybe be impossible, but it's that faith. Now notice what it says here, and this is why we go into eternal security when we preach the gospel to people, they need to understand they can't lose their salvation. If they believe they can lose their salvation, they're not saved because they're trusting in their work somehow. They're trusting in something other than Christ because they're not fully persuaded that he's going to perform that which he promised. Now notice what it says here in verse 21, it says, in being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Notice that that faith that he had, that faith that didn't stagger, that faith that Abraham had meant that he was persuaded that what he was promising, he was able to perform it. And what does the Bible say that God promises us? Eternal life. And this is the promise that he had promised us, even eternal life. It says in 1 John chapter 2, in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised what? Before the world began. See how this all fits together? See how he's speaking of those things which be not as though they were, and how that someone that they don't believe the promise, if they're not fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform, they're not saved. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him alive, because he believed not the record that God gave his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. If someone doesn't believe that record, if someone's not fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform, that righteousness is not imputed unto them. Because they're not trusting in him alone. Because it's not, but him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is encountered for righteousness because he's adding works to salvation. Because if someone can lose their salvation, there's some work they're trusting in. Something they have to do in order to lose that salvation. Has to be. There has to be something to lose it, or they wouldn't be able to lose it. And so I think this is a great passage. This whole chapter is the greatest, I don't want to say greatest, I love this chapter. As you can tell, I love this chapter because this chapter destroys this dispensationalism. It teaches that salvation's always been the same. It teaches that Abraham, Abraham believed the gospel, it shows you what that gospel was. What was that gospel? Christ. Christ has always been the gospel. Christ, being the savior of the world, has always been the gospel. And that in order to be saved, you have to be fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform. Meaning that you have to understand that it's only him. You have to understand that his eternal life, if you do not believe that, if you don't believe the record, then it's not imputed unto you for righteousness. Notice verse 23 says, now to him, now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Notice the lengths there. Abraham, it was imputed unto him, but it wasn't written for him alone, it was written for us also. Meaning that this is the same gospel. This is the same gospel that was preached in the wilderness, that was preached unto them and it was preached unto us. It's the same gospel that Abraham believed and it was imputed unto him for righteousness that we would believe and that it would be imputed unto us. Notice it explains exactly who that seed is. Jesus Christ. Christ is that seed. Christ is what that promise was and Christ is eternal life. This is the true God and eternal life. So if you don't believe it's eternal, then you're not believing in Christ. You're not trusting in that savior, not trusting in that eternal life, which is Christ. And so this is a great chapter for soul winning. I use this all the time. If anybody's ever been out soul winning with me, I'm usually quoting the beginning of Romans chapter four. And sometimes if people are struggling with eternal security, I usually go to first John chapter five, but if it's really getting hard for them to understand it, I'll take him here and say, you need to be fully persuaded that what he had promised, he's able also to perform. And we're usually explaining that to him, but this clearly states that. This clearly states that if someone doesn't believe it's eternal, if someone thinks that he's not able to perform that, that's what they're saying, right? They're saying that he's not able to save them from all their sins. It's just some of them. And so this is a great passage. I love this chapter. And so I know we've already kind of hit on all these points throughout the sermons that we've been preaching so far, so it's definitely been a little bit of a rehash, but hopefully all that kind of helps you to see a timeline of Abraham, and this really is just going into Abraham and just really explaining all this stuff. And again, when you're reading Romans, couple that with Galatians, and so those two will kind of help you understand some things, and so great chapter. And then when we get into chapter five, chapter five, there's some tricky things in there, so chapter five is going to be a little more, hopefully I can help you out with that as far as just talking about different things in chapter five. And so there's a lot of doctrines coming up here soon as we get into chapter six, seven, and eight, talking about the old man, new man. When we get into nine, 10, and 11, we're going to be really hitting the Zionism, and we're going to be hitting all this stuff that people don't understand. And even in, I mean, you look at chapter 13, how that's taken out of context with how we're supposed to just obey the authorities no matter what. We're going to get on that and what that's talking about. Chapter 14, there's a bunch of stuff as far as holidays and observing things, and so there's just a lot in Romans, a lot of good doctrines, and I'm excited to get into it, but these chapters here, chapter three, chapter four, they're powerhouses when it comes to soul winning. You could literally just stick right there and just preach that, and the Romans' robe can work, and so it's just a powerful, powerful chapter. So let's end with a word of prayer. I do how in the Father and the Lord we thank you for today, thank you for everybody that came out, and Lord, we just pray that you'd be with us as we go home, but Lord, we just pray that you'd help us to know your word, and Lord, just thank you for that promise, and by two immutable things, he confirmed it by an oath, and Lord, that you did perform it, and Lord, that Christ did come and die on the cross for our sins and gave us that belief, eternal life, and Lord, just thank you for this passage, and Lord, just pray that you'd be with us as we go home tonight, and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So let's sing.