An Heir And An Estate

Genesis 15:7-21 NKJV  Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”  (8)  And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”  (9)  So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”  (10)  Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.  (11)  And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.  (12)  Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.  (13)  Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.  (14)  And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.  (15)  Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.  (16)  But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”  (17)  And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.  (18)  On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—  (19)  the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites,  (20)  the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,  (21)  the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”

• Welcome back to Genesis 15!
  • This morning we continue on the vision of God and the conversation therein that Abram is having with God.
    • If you remember, the last chapter ended with Abram talking with two kings, the King of Salem, Melchizedek, and the King of Sodom.
    • But in this chapter we see God talking to the King of Kings!
    • I love what Matthew Henry has to say about this juxtaposition:

In the former chapter we had Abram in the field with Kings; here we find him in the mount with God; and, though there he looked great, yet, methinks, here he looks much greater: that honour have the great men of the world, but “this honour have all the saints.”
   -Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Genesis 15.

• In other words, in the last chapter how great did Abram look, talking with these two kings after his victory in battle, but in this chapter doesn’t Abram look greater… isn’t it better to be on the mountain top with God than in the valley with the kings?
  • And get this, Matthew Henry says, only the greatest men in history have the honor of spending time with kings in the valley… but ALL THE SAINTS have the honor of spending time with God on the Mountain!
    • THANK YOU JESUS FOR MAKING A WAY FOR US TO BE WITH GOD!
    • Man that is a sermon in and of itself… you and I get to be with God!
      • You know I have sat down one on one with senators.
      • I had lunch with governors.
      • I have had breakfast with presidents.
        • But none of that compares to what you and I have with God. I have conversations with God daily, I eat in His house, I am corrected by His instructions, I am encouraged by His Promises, I am encouraged by His word… and sometimes, when I am hurting, feeling scared and alone in my bed… I lay down and fall asleep to His lullaby as He gently sings over me…

Zephaniah 3:17 NKJV  The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

• Oh thank you Lord!
  • Hey, let’s pray before we get into it this morning…

• So Abram is having this conversation with God, in it God says “I will be your exceedingly great reward” and Abram argues and says “BUT HOW? I have no child! That is the desire of my heart”.
  • And God gives him a promise of a miracle, that even in his old age he will have a child.
  • And Abram believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness… that is what we covered last week, one simple step to righteousness… believe God.
    • Then the conversation with God continues… and that is what we have in our key text this morning… God continues to bless and make promises to Abram, in this Covenant for Abram and his offspring.

Genesis 15:7 NKJV  Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

• So in last weeks sermon God promised Abram an Heir… and this week God promises an Estate…
  • And just so we are all on the same page here… an Heir is someone who inherits everything you have when you die… generally your children are your heirs…
  • And an estate is all of your stuff, your money, your homes, your land… all of your things that you leave behind.
  • So when you die your heir inherits your estate.
• So again, last week God promises Abram and Heir, someone from his own body, his own child! And this week God promises an estate, a great possession, the promised land.

• An Heir and an Estate. That is the title and theme of today’s message. AN heir and an Estate.
  • Someone to go after you to inherit your land… and land for that someone to inherit.
    • See if you have an heir but no estate… what is the point, you have given your heir nothing to inherit…
    • And if you have an estate but no heir, what is the point? Your estate is given away to someone you don’t know or taken away by the government.
  • For generational inheritance and generational blessings to work, you need both an heir and an estate.
    • And the good news this morning is that God promises Abram both! An Heir, and an Estate, because God is not a God of half promises.
• That is our first point this morning, God is not a God of half promises.

Point One – God is Not a God of Half Promises

Genesis 15:5-7 NKJV  Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”  (6)  And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.  (7)  Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

• God is not a God of half promises… do you see here how God gives the heir and the estate?
  • God did not simply promise that Abram would have generations to come… heirs that number as many as the stars…
    • But God promises that those heirs would have a mighty estate, a promised land to live in, to inherit…
• You know I study before I write each sermon, and I have a few different commentaries that I read, one of my favorites is Matthew Henry, I have already quoted him once this sermon…
  • As I prepared this message I felt so strongly in my spirit to lean on the wisdom of Matthew Henry over these verses… so much of this sermon is inspired by his commentary of these verses…
    • If you don’t know who Matthew Henrey is, he was a great theologian from Wales who lived in the late 1600’s and early 1700’s. He wrote a massive commentary on Scripture and it is mostly on point.
      • In fact John Wesley, one of the greatest saints of our time, is quoted as saying “There are only two books a Christian need read. The Bible and Matthew Henry’s commentary”.
      • But I do know I respect Wesley a great deal, and as such I respect Henry a great deal.
        • But I need to make a disclaimer… because we had people leave the church over this…
      • Just because I quote someone and study their commentary does NOT mean that I agree with everything they say.
      • I agree with everything the BIBLE says. The Bible is the only Infallible book.
        • I don’t quote theologians because I think they are perfect, I quote them as the Holy Spirit directs me to them because I never want to be accused of plagiarism.
• That said, I am going to quote Matthew Henry again. Because it inspired this point, that God is not a God of half promises.
  • God has promised Abram an heir and an estate because God is a good of full promises.

Either an estate without an heir, or an heir without an estate, would have been but a half comfort to Abram. But God ensures both to him. -Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Genesis 15.

• I believe through the leading of the Holy Spirit that there are people in this church who a living a life of half promises. And that these people need to be encouraged.
  • If you are living a life of half promises this morning, let me encourage you. GOD IS NOT A GOD OF HALF PROMISES.
    • God won’t give you food with no way to eat it.
    • God won’t give you a field with no seeds to plant in it.
    • God won’t give you an estate with no heir to inherit it.
    • And God won’t give you an heir with no estate for the heir to inherit.
• Now I know some of your guys lives… I know the unfulfilled desires of your heart and have prayed alongside you as you live out half a promise of God…
  • Others of you I don’t know… but the God we both serve knows your situation.
    • Some of you were promised a family and you received a spouse but no children.
      • Others have children but no spouse.
    • Some were promised a calling, and you received a good church, but no ministry.
      • Others of you are serving diligently in the ministry of the church, but are still waiting on your calling.
    • Some of you have been promised freedom, and you have broken addictions but still struggle with depression.
      • Others have been promised healing, and have been healed of one aliment only to find yourself burdened with another.
• Whatever your situation… if you have been living a life of half promise… An heir without an estate or an estate without an heir, I just want to encourage you… God is NOT a God of half promises.

Matthew 25:29a NKJV  ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance;

• If He has given you a family, He will give you more.
• If He has given you freedom, He will give you more.
• If He has given you provision, He will give you more.
  • God is not a God of Half Promises.

Philippians 1:6 NKJV  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

• If He started a calling in you, He will bring that calling to fulfilment.
• If He started a healing in you, He will complete that healing.
  • GOD IS NOT A GOD OF HALF PROMISES.

Numbers 23:19 NKJV  “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

• Has He said it? THEN WON’T HE DO IT.
  • Listen Siants… God has not forgotten His promises over your life.
  • You may have forgotten… you have moved on… but God has not forgotten.
  • God hasen’t changed His mind about the promises of your life… And he certainly wasn’t lying about it. GOD IS NOT A GOD OF HALF PROMISES.
• If you have only seen the fulfilment of half a promise… then do what Abram did… ask for clarification… ask for signs… maybe even ask “Do I need to do something different Lord, am I missing it?

Genesis 15:7-8 NKJV  Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”  (8)  And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”

• Lord how shall I know that you are going to finish this promise? What is it going to look like? Can you give me vision, direction, and wisdom?
  • Father AM I missing it? Has it been here all along? What do I need to change? How can I walk in the fullness of your promise?
  • FATHER I AM HERE, Speak to me, guide me, and lead me… because I know that you are a God of your word… if you said it, no matter how bleak things look… if you said, then I believe it!
• Now that brings me squarely to point two this morning… If Christ is Ours, Heaven is Ours.

Point Two – If Christ is Ours, Heaven is Ours

• Genesis 15:7-10 NKJV  Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”  (8)  And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?”  (9)  So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”  (10)  Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two.
• God is entering into a covenant with Abram… His promise is more than a promise, it is a covenant, a binding agreement.
  • If you remember from months and months back we talked about covenants… and what a covenant means…
    • It is a promise, yes, but it is more than a promise.
    • It is a contract, yes, but it is more than a contract.
    • The best modern phrase to describe covenant is “blood pact”.
      • It is a binding of two families, through one promise, contractually obliged to one another, bound by the blood of sacrifice.
  • Traditionally covenants were sealed when two men would cut the top of their wrists and put them together sharing blood and forming a permanent scar as a sign of the covenant.
    • And thus here, God makes a covenant with Abram, through the shedding of the blood of sacrificed animals.
      • And this covenant promises an heir and an estate.
        • A son and a promised land.
• You and I church have been promised a Son and a Promised Land…
  • We have been given Jesus, through the blood of His sacrifice…
    • And since God is not a God of half promises, we know that God has not just given us a Son… but we know that God has given us a promised land.
      • And Heir and an Estate.
• Let me now read the full quote from Matthew Henrey on todays key verses…

Either an estate without an heir, or an heir without an estate, would have been but a half comfort to Abram. But God ensures both to him; and God who made these two, the promised seed and the promised land, comforts us believers indeed. Why? Because they were both a type of those two invaluable blessings to us, Christ and heaven; -Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Genesis 15 (slightly modernized).

• Here is a question for you… why does God remind Abram that He took Abram out of the land of Ur of the Chaldeans?

Genesis 15:7 NKJV  Then He said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.”

• Why does God start with that reminder? That He was brought out of the land of the Chaldeans?
  • I think it was to say “Hey, I started this good work, and I am going to finish it!”
    • You see the Chaldeans were fire worshipers, they were idolaters.
    • Ancient Jewish tradition says that at one point the Chaldeans throw Abram into a fiery furnace to kill him, but God delivered him.
    • Many commentators say that it was the culture that Abram lived in to worship false idols and that God delivered him from Idolatry.
      • Either way, be it deliverance from idolatry or persecution, Abram was delivered!
        • And God is saying to Abram “Do you think I pulled you out of the pit for nothing? Do you think I redeemed your life from destruction for nothing? NO! I AM NOT A GOD OF HALF PROMISES. I brought you out of destruction into life, and now I am going to give you life and life more abundantly!”

John 10:10 ESV  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

• Dear ones, God shed blood to make His covenant with Abram… and God shed blood to make His covenant with us.
  • Do you think Christ redeemed your life from the pit for nothing?
  • Do you think Christ saved you for nothing?
  • Did Jesus lay down his life so you could continue to suffer in this cold cruel world…
    • Or is there more to the promise?
      • Is there an end to the suffering?
      • Is there an eternal rest?
      • Is there joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and self control?
      • Is there freedom from temptation?
      • Is there mercies everlasting?
• Listen saints, if Christ is yours then Heaven is yours.
  • How do I know? Because God is not a God of half promises. And God is not a man that He should lie.

John 14:1-3 NKJV  “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  (2)  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  (3)  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

• Dear ones, no one in this church should ever fear death.
  • To the contrary we should look forward to it… moving day… I finally get to move into my mansion.
    • If you have a fear of death, a fear of the afterlife… you need to deal with that…
      • Are you truly born again, do you have a relationship with Christ.
      • Have you seen the fruit of the Spirit in your life?
      • Have you seen miracles.
      • Do you talk to Him, does He talk to you?
      • Do you have the Holy Spirit living and working inside of you?
      • When you sin does the Spirit bring you to repentance?
      • Is Jesus your Lord, your King, your Master?
      • Do you believe His Word and strive to obey it, not out of legalism but out of faith?
        • If your answer to all these questions is YES… then what do you have to fear?
      • If you are born again, truly born again… and you still fear death, and you still fear judgment day, and you still fear hell… YOU NEED TO DEAL WITH THOSE LIES.
        • GOD DID NOT PULL YOUR LIFE OUT OF THE PIT ONLY TO SEND YOU TO DESTRUCTION.
  • Not only that… but start living a Kingdom life now… a life of resting in his presence… a life of joy and peace… no matter what…
    • I am reading a book, Evidence not seen, about a missionary from the 40’s who was captured by the Japanese… she was in the worst conditions possible… worms crawling out of her nose… anemic… weak… surrounded by death…
      • But she had joy.
    • On the day she learned her husband had died in a different internment camp, she was called into the wicked Camp commanders office, a Japanese officer who had murdered people in these camps out of rage…
      • He called her in to make sure the news of the death would not turn her into a rebellious prisoner… then wondered why there were no tears in her eyes… wondered how she could still have joy despite it all…
      • Then, on the day SHE LEARNED OF HER HUSBANDS DEATH, she preached the Gospel to her captive and told him he too could have joy.
• I don’t know how bad your situation is, but it is not as bad as hers… and she was living a life of joy and peace… tears yes, many tears came latter that night… but still a life of joy and peace…
  • Because she knew that Jesus was hers… and if Jesus was hers then heaven was hers… and the things of heaven don’t wait for us to die to enter our hearts… amen?
    • We have an heir, church, and we have an estate.
      • Jesus is ours and Heaven is ours.
      • God is not a God of Half Promises….
• Now I want to conclude with this: God loves you and there is nothing you, or anyone else, can do about it.

Conclusion – God Loves You and There is Nothing You, or anyone else, can Do About it.

Genesis 15:12-18 NKJV  Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.  (13)  Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.  (14)  And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.  (15)  Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.  (16)  But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”  (17)  And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces.  (18)  On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—

• In the midst of it all, God prophesies that there will be generations of slavery coming… but not to give up hope… because after the decades of slavery, will come the time of the promised land.
  • No matter how wicked the Egyptians were to Abrams offspring… no matter how they were defiled by their captors… God still loved them and the promise remained true… THEY WOULD ENTER THE PROMISED LAND.
    • I want to speak tenderly to some of you this morning.
      • Some of you have been hurt, abused, and misused.
      • You have been hurt by people you trust…
        • Family members, church leaders, close friends…
      • And sometimes the hurt, or the abuse, or the attack can be so severe that you wonder “Does God even love me any more?”
    • Others of you have been not the victim, but the offender…
      • You have done horrible things.
      • Things you are ashamed of… things you don’t want anyone to know.
      • But God knows… and you wonder “Am I even worthy of love? Have I forfeited the right to be loved by God?
• But I want everyone in this church to know that God loves you, and there is nothing you or anyone else can do about it.
  • When God made His covenant with Abrahm it was a one way covenant. What SHOULD have happened is that Abram and God would both pass through the sacrificed animal… both entering into covenant…
    • But that is not what happened. Abram was put to sleep and God alone made the blood pact. Thus God alone controls the covenant.
      • Abram couldn’t break it if he tried… He had no right to, for he was asleep when the covenant was entered into.
    • Christ alone shed His blood for you. It was not your blood on the cross that saved you, but His.
      • You can’t stop that from happening… it already happened… His love was already poured out for you.
        • No matter your past, no matter your hurt, not matter your sin, no matter your brokenness… Christ’s sacrifice remains…
        • His love for you remains.

Romans 8:38-39 NKJV  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  (39)  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• Now that doesn’t mean once saved always saved… I have seen people walk away from their salvation… but that was their choice, and God honors it… but He never stops loving them… He never stops caring for them, desiring them to come to repentance… to return to Him like the prodigal son.

2 Peter 3:9 ESV  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

• God doesn’t want anyone to perish, God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell… for God so loved the WORLD… the broken world, the hurt world, the dying world.
  • For God so loved the WOLRD.
    • The evil world, the sinful world, the awful, disgusting, and dark world…

John 3:16 NKJV  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Join us this Sunday at either 8:30AM or 10:30AM for worship followed by this message from the Word of God. Christian Life Church of Cedar Rapids. 2808 Schaeffer DR SW, Cedar Rapids, IA   52404. www.CedarRapidsChurch.com