THROUGH THE BIBLE: Genesis 1..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Genesis chapter 18. This morning we continue as we always do by the grace that God extends to us every Sunday, every Lord's Day.

We continue with the reading of scripture cooperatively, meditating upon each one of these chapters and see how the story of the history of redemption is developed by the means of this special revelation that God has given us through the prophets. We're going to be reading chapter 18, and then we're going to be praying corporately, so let's put much of our attention to this chapter, to each one of the words that the Triune God has given us here in chapter 18. I'm going to be reading from the English Standard Version of the Bible, and this is the word of our God. And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Manre, and he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him.

When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought and wash your feet and rest yourself under the tree while I bring a morsel of bread that you may refresh yourselves and after that you may pass on since you have come to your servant." So they said, Do as you have said. And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, Quick, three seeds of fine flour, kneaded and made cakes. And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man who prepared it quickly.

Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, Where is Sarah, your wife? And he said, she is in the tent. The Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, shall have a son.

And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now, Abraham and Sarah were old, advancing years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, after I am worn out and my Lord is old, shall I have pleasure? The Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh and say, shall I indeed bear a child now that I am old?

Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son. But Sarah denied it, saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. He said, no, but you did laugh. Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.

The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him that he might commend his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. Then the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know. Verse 22, so the men turned from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.

Then Abraham drew near and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked. Far be it from you, shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just?

26 And the Lord said, If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered and said, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. I who am but dust and ashes. Suppose 50, five of the 50 righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?

And he said, I will not destroy it if I find 45 there. Again, he spoke to him and said, suppose 40 are found there. He answered, for the sake of 40, I will not do it. Then he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose 30 are found there.

He answered, I will not do it. If I find 30 there, he said, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 are found there. He answered, for the sake of 20, I will not destroy it. Then he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again, but this once.

Suppose ten are found there. He answered, For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. Amen. This is the word of God, beloved.

Let me just give you a little bit of a summary of the things that we've done, that we've said, and that we have done from chapter 12 to chapter 17, which was that which we started last week. So I can present to you what I think the Spirit has for us here in chapter 18. Beloved, we have spoken and we have started this promise that the Lord, that the triune God is given to Abraham. We've said that this promise has been given at least please pay attention to this, at least in two levels to Abraham. The Lord has said to Abraham that he will make of Abraham a great nations and that all the nations of the world or the earth will be blessed in Abraham.

That's the promise that was given to him in chapter 12, that was confirmed in chapter 13, that was ratified by God himself with the shedding of blood in chapter 15. And then last week, when we came together by the grace of God, We study the giving of circumcision as a sign of that promise that was given to Abraham. So what I want you to see in this Abrahamic covenant is at least two levels. One that corresponds to a promise that was given to Abraham in chapter 12, confirmed in 13, and ratified in chapter 15. A promise that said, I will make you a great nation.

There's nothing that you have to do. I will do it. That's why when he was ratifying that promise, Abram was asleep and then the Lord is the one who actually walked towards the animals that were divided into pieces. The Lord ratified that aspect of that promise. I want you to see the Abrahamic covenant in these two levels.

The promise that was given to him that is totally of God. And then in chapter 17, the Lord is going to add, is going to give another layer to this Abrahamic covenant, which is circumcision. In circumcision, we see obedience because now the Lord says to Abraham, you shall be circumcised by being circumcised. Everyone in your house, you shall keep my covenant. So this Abrahamic covenant is very special because it has two levels, one of the promise and another one that goes on top that it is of obedience.

Now, beloved, this is very important for us to understand, because these two levels of this covenant are going to foreshadow, or they are going to point to realities that are coming in the New Testament. The promise given to Abraham of, I'm going to make you a great nation, is the salvation that will be in Jesus Christ. It's a foreshadow of that. And then circumcision, the obedience, is a shadow initially of the law that was given to Moses, all the commandments that were given to Moses, because in substance is not promise, in substance is obedience. And then disobedience is the one that Jesus Christ keeps, fulfills on behalf of the church, and then removes.

So if we see the Abrahamic covenant in those two levels, we will understand what a covenant member is and a covenant keeper. A covenant member of the Abrahamic covenant will be those who apply circumcision, those who receive circumcision. But a covenant keeper will be not only a person who is a member of the covenant, but also that keeps the promise that was given in that same covenant. So now I'm going to take you to Paul, because I really want you to read it, so we understand the relationship between faith, which is this lower level of the Abrahamic Covenant, and then obedience, which is picture in circumcision. So go to Romans, please.

Romans chapter 4. We're going to read quickly that, so then we will understand what we have here in chapter 18. Go to Romans chapter 4, and I'm going to be reading from verse 9 to 12. Romans chapter 4 verse 9 to 12. Now here the Apostle is speaking of the righteousness that is given to new covenant members by faith.

And he's going to give us insight into the relationship between faith, which is of the promise, this lower level, and then obedience, which belongs to the higher level of the Abrahamic covenant. Verse 9, it says, is this blessing, the one that is righteousness by faith, then only for the circumcised? or also for the uncircumcised. So the apostle is saying, is this righteousness only for the people of Israel, the covenant people of Israel, or also for Gentiles, those who are not in that covenant of circumcision? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.

How then was it counted to him? Now pay attention. Was it before or after he had been circumcised? He's going to answer, it was not after but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.

The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that the righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of faith. that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Beloved this is very important because the apostle Paul now has given us the difference between being a covenant member and then being a covenant keeper. Now Abraham was both a covenant member by circumcision this was given to him in chapter 17 you have to be circumcised each male and every male in your house you will be circumcised and you shall keep my covenant they are covenant members of obedience but in order to be covenant members and recipients and keepers of the promise they needed faith and this is what Paul is saying Abraham was not only a covenant member of the Abrahamic covenant but also a covenant keeper because before circumcision was given to him he had believed And when he believed, this was counted to him as righteousness. And this happened when the promise was given to him and ratified by the blood.

Now, beloved, this is very important because then this Abrahamic covenant that has these two levels of a promise and then of obedience will move through history. And when the new covenant arrives, Christ will bring the fullness of the promise and then he will fulfill the section of obedience, and then he will remove that obedience. That obedience, which is circumcision, was pointing, as they say eschatologically, of foreshadowing a reality that is a circumcision of the heart. Why? Because the heart and the core of the Abrahamic covenant was always, I promise, to be received by faith.

This is what the same apostle will say a chapter or two chapters before. Just go please to chapter 2 in Romans and then I will make my point for Genesis chapter 18. Romans chapter 2 in verse 25. Just please pay attention to this because this is very important that we understand this Abrahamic covenant. For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law.

But if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then He who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. Now pay attention to verse 28. For no one is a Jew that is a covenant member of the old covenant.

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly. This is what I'm trying to present to you. These two levels of this covenant. One that is inwardly and one that is of obedience. Nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the spirit, not by the letter, that is not by the law.

His praise is not from men, but from God. From the time that the promise was given to Abraham, those who will be covenant members of the substance of the promise will not only have to be circumcised, but they also will have to have faith Circumcision is a seal of obedience to a spiritual reality. This carries on to the New Testament. Those who receive the sign of obedience are only the ones who have the spiritual reality in and of themselves. So when a person believes, they receive the sign of obedience under the new covenant, and it's baptism.

So baptism is given for those who are covenant, not only members, but keepers in Christ Jesus. because it's Christ who fulfills the law on behalf of those who are recipients of the promise and then he is covenant member or covenant giver and covenant keeper. This is very important beloved because in Genesis 18 The Lord is going to appear to Abraham, not only as a covenant member, but also as a covenant keeper. He had faith in Genesis 15 verse 6. He had faith and was accounted to him as righteousness.

This is the lower level of the promise. And then in Genesis 17, he fulfilled the requirement of obedience by being circumcised. So then, when we see this appearing of the Lord, we'll see that it's very different to the appearing of the Lord in Genesis 17. In Genesis 17, the appearing of the Lord was for a confirmation of a covenant that was going to be given, or the promise that was going to be given. But here, in Genesis 18, the Lord is appearing to Abraham, beloved, and you gotta love this.

is presented to him as a covenant member and keeper. And what we see the difference between the previous appearance is something that I will just summarize it in one word, intimacy. a relationship of an intimate relationship with a covenant member and with a covenant keeper and then you can see in Genesis 18 two sections of this chapter one that is going to be a covenantal meal which the Lord himself Jehovah or Yahweh as the text says He comes with two other men, and he appears to Abraham, and he is going to have a covenantal meal with Abraham. And the second one is that Abraham, the second section of the chapter, is that Abraham will intercede for the unrighteous. Two things that only covenant members and keepers will be able to do.

But let's just go to the first one. the Lord comes with two other men and he is going to have this intimate covenantal meal with Abraham in which he is going to give a reconfirmation of the birth of the son of the promise to Sarah and Sarah laughs and we read what happened there in the story but the important thing here is that the triune God now in the Lord who is Jehovah or Yahweh you know they call a Theophany or a Christophany appearing himself to Abraham He has this covenantal intimate meal with Him. important this level of intimacy because now Abraham was not only a covenant member but also a covenant keeper and then these two men they go and then Abraham is going to do something that corresponds to his prophetic ministry. In chapter 20 we will see that the Lord says of Abraham that he is a prophet and that he intercedes for those but not to receive destruction in the story of Abraham and Abimelech. The Lord says that Abraham is a prophet.

Now remember what I said to you in the Bible study. A prophet is someone who has been appointed or chosen by God, who receives a message and who gives a message. Abraham was appointed and chosen insofar as he was both in the covenant of obedience of circumcision and a covenant keeper of the promise that was given to him. Nobody, beloved, Nobody can enter in a covenantal relationship of intimacy and friendship with the Triune God who has given this covenant other than covenant members and keepers. And beloved, this relationship of Abraham with God intimate relationship of partaking of this covenantal meal and then doing this intercession before the Lord.

If you read how Abraham speaks to the Lord, sometimes it sounds a little bit difficult to read how he comes before him with boldness and says, please, Lord, if there are 50, if there are 45 or 30 or 20, and he keeps insisting and being consistent in his prayer, this is the boldness that he has to approach the Lord who has given him the covenant, the promise, and then he knows that he has already received that by faith. Beloved, this is very important because then the New Testament will speak of Abraham by being accounted as righteous and then doing the works of the law. James 2.13 or 23 will say that Abraham is now the friend of God. An intimate relationship of Abraham with the Triune God because of the keeping of that covenant.

Beloved, and the Lord Jesus Christ makes us the church when he keeps the obedience requirement of the law. He keeps everything that we could not keep. He fulfills all of those requirements for us and then by grace through faith he inserted us into the promise. He makes us friends of God. And just in the same way that Abram could have this intimate covenantal meal with him, or this intimate covenantal relationship approaching God himself, and even come with boldness to intercede before this God, the God of the universe, who can judge everyone according to his will, because everyone is unrighteous, we have the same rights in Jesus Christ.

Listen to what the Lord Jesus Christ says in John 15. He says, This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants.

No longer do I call you members of a covenant of obedience. No longer I call you slaves of the law, because those who are under the law are slaves of the law, and they are required to keep the requirements of the law. He does not call us longer servants, for servants does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my father I have made known to you. It is in Jesus Christ, beloved, that by grace, through faith, we are inserted into the spiritual level of the Abrahamic covenant, which is a promise.

And then obedience is fulfilled by Christ, and obedience only becomes a seal of a spiritual reality. Now, I want you to also notice here the Lord Jesus Christ says, and I have made known the things that I know from the Father to you, in John 15. When the Lord came and had this covenantal, intimate meeting with Abraham, He revealed His omissions to Sarah and to Abraham, because they did not have the Bible. They did not have everything that we have in our hands. But by saying, I know what you said, or I know that you laughed, and then she laughed in the private place.

He was showing to them that He was omniscient, that this powerful and mighty God who gave them the promise through a ratified covenant and in circumcision was a God that knew everything, mighty that He will bring to completion or He will bring to happen the promise that He was given to them. What a glorious reality, beloved! Because Abraham was not resting upon a promise only for the land, or only for people. He was resting upon a promise of redemption. The redemption of his soul.

A promise of redemption that was given in Genesis 3.15. That the offspring of the woman Jesus Christ will crush the offspring of the serpent of evil. A promise of redemption. He was not seeing something that was physical but he was seeing something that was spiritual and his only beloved in Christ Jesus that we are not only children of God, but we are friends of the triune God of heaven.

Now think about this, because we were not only enemies, we were haters of God. And He made the way not only to forgive us, but also to give us acceptance as His friends. And if we are friends, we receive all that He has in Him for those who are close to Him. We are children of God and heirs with Christ. Amen?