(Read Gen. 20 and Rom. 4)
THERE are many serious persons today who have not peace with God. They wish they had it, but they have it not. They would like to have the assurance of forgiveness, but they have not got it. They would like to be able to read their title clear to mansions in the sky, but they cannot do it yet, and what is the reason? It is twofold: they have not been brought through grace to believe implicitly, first of all, the Word of God; and secondly, to rest on the work of Christ. Now these two things, in the history of our souls, must be, if there is to be peace, and the happy knowledge of God. You will have to listen to God, and to believe God.
I sometimes hear people say: “I cannot believe the gospel; it is too good to be true.” Then you cannot believe God. They reply: “I cannot believe’ the gospel you preach. It is too good to be true. You tell me I am a sinner in my sins, and yet say I can be saved without doing anything for myself.” That is just what God’s gospel says. The law told me the things I ought to do, but which I could not. The law told us what we ought to do, and what we ought to be, and we neither did what it commanded us to do, nor were what we should be. The only effect of the law, therefore, is this―it puts a man in distress. If you understand what the law is―applied spiritually―it will put you into deep distress of conscience, because you get the sense―I am not fit for God. The law says, “Be ye holy,” and I am not holy. The law says I must be righteous, and I am not righteous. The law says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself” (Luke 10: 27); and I know perfectly well that I have not done thus. There are penalties attached to a broken law, and we are put into deep distress as a consequence.
But what is the gospel? It is the revelation of what God is. The law was the declaration of what you ought to be, and you know perfectly you are not what it says you should be. I know perfectly well I am not. No man is. The law was the revelation of what the creature ought to be, in his walk here on earth, but he is not it. The gospel is the revelation of what God is in the absolute goodness, love, holiness, and righteousness of His nature, made known in the Person of His Son, and through the work of His Son; and the result of its reception is blessed indeed. By the gospel you learn that you are free to enjoy God; ‘to believe Him, to trust Him, to delight in Him. In fact, the company of the Lord is the sweetest thing to your soul, and what brings you to that? The gospel. It shows us what God is in His own nature, and how He has acted in Christ; and, that in righteousness, He has brought blessing and pardon to us just where, and as we are, sinners in our sins. That is grace, and the knowledge of it is what the gospel brings to us.
This fifteenth chapter of Genesis is very interesting, as showing that there is progress in the soul, for I do not doubt that there is progress in Abraham’s soul here. He had heard the call of God before―I quite admit―in the twelfth chapter, and he came out from Ur of the Chaldees. He obeyed the Lord. He was called to go forth, and he did so; but still he never learned what it was to be a justified man before God. Now the gospel not only calls you out of the world to God, and not only forgives you, but it meets you fully as to your state, and you learn by it what it is to be justified before God―that is, that you stand before God as though there could be no possibility of anything being laid to your charge―nay, more, that you are before Him in a state and condition that suits Him―that suits His own heart, and His own nature. That is exactly where the gospel leads us now.
Possibly you may say to me: “How can I, a sinner, stand before God? How can I come in before God in a condition suitable to His heart, and nature, and throne?” There is only one answer. It is this― There is a Man in the presence of God, perfectly suitable to God, and that is the One, who, first of all went into death, that He might discharge the liability that lay upon you and me, and deliver us from the state in which we were. You see you need justification, and justification in Scripture is connected with a risen Christ―not merely a living Christ, nor a dying Christ, but a risen Christ―raised from the dead by the power of God. That is what the fourth of Romans so beautifully brings out, and no soul has peace until it sees that; nor can it have peace, because you have to learn this, that everything is wrapped up in Christ. When you learn what Christ is, who He is, what He has done, and where He now is, I think your soul will rest in peace with God. You will have the sweet sense that Christ is living for you before God, as He was once for you in death, when He was upon the cross.
Abraham, in the scene before us, learned what justification was, and it is very beautiful to notice how he learned it. He had been exposed to a great temptation in the previous chapter. The king of Sodom a man of the world had offered to patronize him; and very few of us, let me tell you, are above being patronized by the world. It is only the man, of faith that will refuse to be patronized by the king, for the king wanted to make him rich. But Abraham says: “I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich” (14:22, 23). He would not even take a string. What a nice state he is in. He has done with the world. He will get on. If you break with the world, my friend, you will get on spiritually.
What is the result of this refusal of reward from the world? Let us see. “After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (15:1). What a lovely word to encourage a man! The Lord draws near to you. You have had a great temptation, and you have resisted it. You will receive a blessing. You have met some temptation―for the devil always strews the path with temptations: all along the road he drops them, and sets traps for you―and you have been able to say, No! You will find that the Lord will give you a blessing. He says here, “Fear not, Abram.” Beautiful words! Are you troubled? Fear not! Are you anxious? Fear not! Are you in distress of soul? God says, “Fear not.”
These two lovely words you will find strewed like diamonds throughout the pages of inspiration. You cannot go far through God’s Book without finding the Lord drawing near to some trembling, timid soul, with these words― “Fear not!” You and I were afraid of God once; we shunned Him―we feared Him. I do not mean in the right sense. We shunned Him, and got as far away from Him as we possibly could, but He comes near and says― “Fear not: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Did Abraham lose anything by saying “No” to the king of the world? Not he. “I am thy shield,” says God, and if you get God as your shield, the devil can throw as many of his darts as he likes, but they will have no effect. My friend, if you have God for the shield of your soul, you are very safe.
Elsewhere we are told to “take the shield of faith”; but this is not the thought here. If you have moral courage enough to say “No” to the world, God says―I will put myself between you and what is antagonistic to you―I am thy shield, and more―I am “thy exceeding great reward.” If God be your shield you are protected, If He be your reward, you are well off Abraham refused the world, and what did he get instead? The Lord for his portion.
People sometimes think it would be a sorrowful thing to give up the world. Abraham may teach you differently. He got far more than he gave up. Young people usually think it would be a great mistake to give up the world. Abraham would not take as much as a shoe-latchet from it, and he was an immense gainer thereby. He had done with the world. It could not satisfy him; and it can never satisfy you.
The moment he has taken this decided step of “refusing,” and “choosing” (see Heb. 11:24, 2524By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; (Hebrews 11:24‑25)) ― God says to him― “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” Now see how Abraham advances. He catches the mind of the Lord immediately. He is going to bless me, lie thinks, and be says to the Lord― “Lord God, what wilt thou give me?” He takes his right place. God had drawn near to him, in the richness of grace, and Abraham takes his right place before God―in the fullness of need and faith. “Lord God, what wilt thou give me?” is always the language of faith. Some of us thought we had need of something to bring to God. There are some reading this who have thought till this hour that they must bring something to God in order to get God’s blessing, and secure salvation, and the knowledge of life and peace. They have been struggling for long to bring Him something, and have never managed it. Do what Abraham did. He is “the father of all them that believe” (Rom. 4:1111And he received the 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: (Romans 4:11)). He is the leader of the host of the saved. He is the first man whose conversion is related in Scripture. He is a typical man―a representative man as regards conversion. You had better do what he did. What was that? When the Lord drew near to him in grace, and goodness, and with purposes of blessing in His heart, he took the place of being ready for blessing, and said: “Lord God, what wilt thou give me?” He took his right place.
Are you willing to be blessed by God, or do you think that you must bring something to the Lord? Are you to be a receiver or a giver? Do as Abraham did. Now note the next step here. “And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him.” Observe that. I press that greatly. It is listening to God. You will never get clear in your soul till you listen to God, and God only, and hear what He says. “And the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir” (ver. 4). God promised him an heir. He was to have a son. He had heard about him before. The son had been intimated in days gone by (Gen. 12:2, 32And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:2‑3)), but now he gets the divine assurance that the son shall come. God takes him outside, and directs him to look toward heaven. The shades of evening had fallen, the earth was quiet, so to speak, when the Lord brings this man forth, who had great desires in his heart for a son and heir, and he hears from the Lord that he is to have a son. He knew he was an old man, and that his body was “now dead, when he was about an hundred years old” (Rom. 4:1414For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: (Romans 4:14)), and that his wife, Sarah, was only ten years his junior. It must have struck him with great force, when God led him forth 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” (ver. 5).
Picture the darkness of that Eastern night, relieved by the brightness and clearness of light shed by those millions of silvery, twinkling worlds overhead. Abraham looks north, south, east, and west, and with amazement scans the glittering firmament as God says: “Tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.” Of course he could not number them. Who could? Obeying his orders, he looks, and the next thing he hears is: “So shall thy seed be.” That was a stupendous statement. And what do I read now? “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness” (ver. 6). It says in the fourth of Romans, regarding this circumstance, that “Abraham believed God” (ver. 3). In the historical account we find Abraham “believed in the Lord.” In the same chapter of the Romans we read that we shall be justified if we believe “on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead” (ver. 25). Is there a difference? Yes. You believe God, you believe in Him, and you believe on Him. All three are found in Scripture, and you say― What is the difference? When I believe God, I believe what He says, i.e., His Word. If I believe in Him, I believe what He is in Himself; I trust him; I can rely on Him. If I believe on Him, I believe what He does. That is very simple.
God is to be believed. I hear people say sometimes, I cannot believe. It is not a question what you believe, but whom, you believe. The point is, Can you believe God? Alas! when God speaks to you about His blessed Son, and says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,” you cannot believe Him. When God tells you, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” you say, I do not think He could mean me. Is it not strange? You can believe anybody but God. Are you convicted of the gravity of your unbelief? I hope so. Now, “Abraham believed God.” May you do so too. If you have been convicted of unbelief in days gone by, may your heart from this hour be able to say, I will be like Abraham.
God said to him, “So shall thy seed be,” and “he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Now what was that? Abraham had no righteousness of his own. Neither have you nor I, and if you think you have anything to fit you for the presence of God, it is an immense mistake. Did you never read the scripture: “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isa. 64:66But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. (Isaiah 64:6)). There is not one who would come here, let alone come to God, in filthy rags. I have heard many poor men say they could not go to a gospel meeting because their clothes were not fit. That was an excuse, but not a good one. But observe that it is our righteousness, not our sins which are as filthy rags. That is what God labels them. Your nicest thoughts, sweetest ways, best actions, aye, the very finest you ever did, are as “filthy rags.” If you think they will clothe you before God, sin is attached to all of them.
If a command comes to you to appear before Her Majesty Queen Victoria, you know you must obey, and the first thing you say is, I must get a Court dress; I must have a dress that suits the presence of the one into whose august audience I am called. There is a regulation as to what the dress must be, and you would of necessity pay heed to it. Friend, God wants you in His presence. He wants to have you forever and ever. Mark this, if you are to be there, you must have a dress that will suit Him. Your righteousness will not do, for it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Again: “There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10, 1210As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (Romans 3:10)
12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3:12)). Then you may turn to me, and say, If that be the case, are all men lost? Yes, all men are lost. Every man is lost till Christ saves him.
But, I hear you saying, surely every man should do good deeds. Good deeds! My dear friend, the Holy Ghost says, “There is none that doeth good.” You may be moral, benevolent, and charitable, all of which is very well among men, but when you have to do with God you must have a nature, a life, and a righteousness which suit God. There has only been one man in this world whose heart, and life, and ways have been suitable to God, and that is the One who now sits on His throne today, the Lord Jesus, blessed be His name. Before He went yonder, to adorn that throne as the ascended Man in glory, He went into death, that He might atone for the sin of the man who could not put away his own sin. He went into death, in infinite grace, and God in righteousness has taken Him out of death and put Him yonder, where He becomes the righteousness of everyone who believes in Him.
How did Abraham become righteous? By faith. How can you become righteous? By faith. Did Abraham acquire righteousness by works? Listen to these words in the fourth of Romans: “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” He had no righteousness. What God said he believed. He took God at His word. He gave God credit for doing as He said He would, and as a result God said, You are a righteous man, Abraham. And is that the way you and I are justified? In principle exactly so. We are “justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:2424Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:24)). Listen: “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:2020Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)). What does the law give? The knowledge of sin. What does grace give? Justification through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. From the law there comes a sentence of condemnation. What the gospel gives you is a present and eternal salvation. I prefer the gospel. Do you cling to the law still? You will rue it. Listen again: “What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:1919Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19)). Has your mouth been stopped yet? You surely cannot talk about what you do, and what you are. If “all the world” is “become guilty before God,” you are guilty. Perhaps you have never yet pleaded “guilty.” You will have to after a while. I pleaded guilty long ago, and God has justified me.
But probably you will say, Must I not do something towards salvation? Well, do you think you ought to do something? Listen: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” If you work, it is not grace to get payment for your work. If I work for a man, I do not think it any grace that he should pay me for it. It the one for whom you usually work knows that you need money, and sends it to you, though, through illness or accident, you do no work for it, that is grace. Carefully note the principle of the passage: “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:4, 54Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:4‑5)). Thank God, Abraham and I stand upon the same ground. Abraham! how did you get justified? God told me what He was going to do, and I believed Him. And you might say to me, How did you get justified? By faith, just the same as Abraham. God told me what He had done; that His Son had gone into death for my sins, and that He had raised Him from the dead, and I believed Him. We are justified by faith.
Every believer is on the same ground before God. Notice that, for it has ever been true that “to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” In proof of that, the scripture before us turns us to David’s history: “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 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” (vers. 6-8). The gospel goes further than merely giving pardon, for it says that the Lord will not impute sin to you―that is, He will not reckon sin against those who have believed. He might forgive you, and you might not have the sense of being justified before God. But when you learn that through faith in Jesus, and by virtue of association with Him you now stand before God in Him, and as He is, at the right hand of God, you occupy new ground altogether. You learn that righteousness is imputed to you if you believe on Him that raised up Jesus from the dead, and, therefore, being justified by faith, you have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“No works of merit now I plead,
But Jesus take for all my need;
No righteousness in me is found,
Except upon redemption ground.
Come, weary soul, and here find rest;
Accept redemption, and be blest:
The Christ who died, by God is crowned
To pardon on redemption ground.”
W. T. P. W.