Open your Bibles please to the book of Genesis chapter number 15. Genesis chapter number 15 this morning. What a joy to be here. It is. I come to know and love many of you people. I even love the pastor and that's the grace of God. Amen. But anyway, I'm thrilled to be here and I'm so glad you're here today. I trust you'll pray for the services and come back for the afternoon Today, of course, is Freedom Day. You're celebrating freedom. Freedom really is found in a person, and the person is Jesus Christ. The Bible says, if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Freedom from fear, freedom from death, freedom from eternity, it's all found not in a thing, is found in a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. This morning, I want us to look at a man named Abraham. See how Abraham found this great freedom in Jesus Christ. Look in your Bible, please. Genesis chapter 15, verse number 6, referring to Abraham, it says, he believed in the Lord, and he counted to Him for righteousness. He said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of earth the Chaldeans to give thee this land to inherit it. He said, Lord God, whereby shall I know I shall inherit it? He said unto him, take me a heifer of three years old, a sheep goat of three years old, a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. Took him unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, laid each piece one against another, but the birds divided he not. When the fowls came down upon the Caucasus, Abram drove them away. When the sun was going down, A deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great darkness fell upon him. Look down, please, at verse 17. It came to pass that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between the pieces. When I was a boy growing up, the great social event every week was this. Every Saturday afternoon at the movies, they had what they call a kid's matinee. Today, personally, I would not go to the movies because of the character, the content, and the crowd, but that was different. Every Saturday afternoon, they had a kid's movie. Abbott and Costello, the Three Stooges. No reference to the Deacons, by the way, but Abbott and Costello and the Three Stooges. Most of the time, however, it was a Western. Now, here's how it worked when I was young. For five cents, you got in a movie. Another nickel, you got a bushel of popcorn and a gallon of pop. Now, after you watched a few hundred Westerns, there are certain phrases that click in your mind. Sometime during the movie, the good guy tells the bad guy, I want you out of town by sundown. I can tell you right then how that movie is going to end. The last scene is the main street entirely empty. Around this corner comes a good guy wearing a white hat. I go on his hip. Around this corner comes a bad guy wearing a black hat. I go on his hip. They face each other. Somebody makes a move, and two shots ring out. Every once in a while, the camera pans in on the bad guy. He's standing there smiling, holding a gun. All of a sudden, he would crash. He would fall. We would holler, wowee! That's Don Baptist for amen, okay? We'd holler, wowee, we'd throw our popcorn, spill our pop, had the movie in, it ended with a showdown at. Sundown. God comes and speaks to Abraham when the sun is going down. This is Abraham's showdown at sundown, the greatest trial in his life. What an interesting story this is. Number one, first of all, I want you to see this morning, very simply, the despondency of Abraham. Abraham is despondent. He's discouraged. Look in your Bible at verse number one. After these things, the word of the Lord come unto Abraham in a vision saying, fear not Abraham. Abraham is fearful. Now wait a minute, first of all, my friend, we read Abraham is fearful, we're surprised. Of all people, why would Abraham be fearful? Number one, first of all, he just had a fantastic military victory. Handful of light troops, he defeated a great correlation of many nations together, he was a national hero. Number two, Abraham was very wealthy. With all of his assets, he was probably the wealthiest man on the face of the earth. The Bill Gates, the Warren Buffet of Bible times. Number three, Abraham was extremely popular. To this day, that part of the country, they find pieces of butchered, broken pottery. It reads like this, Abram, the great man of the East. Abraham was a very popular man. Number four, Abraham was married. The probably most beautiful woman ever lived, except for your wife, her name was Sarah. Now, when Sarah was 90 years old, men still looked at her and desired to have her. Now put that together, friend. Here is Abraham, a great military hero, all kinds of money, a popular married wife, and yet the Bible says Abraham was fearful. My friend, we've seen here, first of all, that the surprise, why would Abraham be fearful? Number two, may I surmise, Number one, first of all, Abraham is fearful because of the futility of life. Abraham had everything life could give. What else could he want? What else could he acquire? He had everything. And yet, down inside, he is miserable. He is miserable until one day he found Christ. The Bible, Jesus said, Abraham saw my day and was glad, until he looked down from time to time and saw Christ. He was miserable. He was wretched. There was something missing in Abraham's life. Dear friend, I want to emphasize something. You may exist. without Jesus Christ. The truth is, you cannot really live until you know Jesus Christ. And I emphasize something, Bible Christianity is just not for the cemetery and intensive care. Bible Christianity is something we live by, we walk with the King, we rejoice in our salvation. Bible salvation is for living. Jesus said, I've come, you might have life, not death, you might have life, you might have it more abundantly. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Real life is found not in things, it's found in a relationship with the person, and that person is Jesus Christ, God's son. I was preaching up in Wisconsin some years ago, And on Tuesday, a young lady brought her boss. The man had three earned doctor's degrees. He worked for a large thing up there that worked with lumber. And the man came and sat in the service. I preached that night. The man listened intently. Give the invitation. If you want to get saved, come to Christ. Come and tell the preacher. We sing a hymn. Many folk come to get saved. That man did not. The young lady afterward brought him down, and I talked to him for a minute. Then she went back and introduced him to her pastor. And the pastor saw the pastor and that man go in to study. Pretty soon, they came out. The man walked up to me, said, Sir, in the pastor's study tonight, I accepted Christ as my Savior. Now, that man came back to Revival every single night. One night, he brought five co-workers. Three of them come down the aisle to receive Christ. I quote a great Revival there. We had about 50 people saved and a church running 200. Out of town, about two months later, I met the pastor to play golf, and we're talking. Hey, I said, how's the guy doing that got saved? He said, you won't believe it. So that guy has read the Bible through four times already. He said every week he brings somebody from work. Brother Mark, he said, so me and I after revival, I didn't preach. We had testimonies. That man stood up and said, a dear friend brought me to this revival. He said, I sat there, heard a man preach. God spoke to my heart. He said, afterward, I went to the pastor to study. He said, honestly, sincerely, I received Christ as my savior. So this week down at the shop, I don't know what to think of me. One guy come up and said, boy, you sure are happy. You must've got a big raise. Another guy come up and said, you can tell me. You're smiling all the time. Are you in love? I told him this. I am in love. I'm in love with Jesus Christ. Ladies and gentlemen, he said, I'm a scientist, but I can tell you something. Jesus Christ is real. He's alive. And he changed my life. Good news. He can change your life. God's no respecter of persons. What that man found, not in money or fame, he found in Christ, my friend. You can find the same thing in the Son of God. First of all, it could have been the futility of life that affected Abraham. Number two, it could have been, my friend, the fatality of death. Abraham thought, you know, one time I pulled it off. By trick maneuver, I defeated great armies of thousands. He said, boy, if they come back, You could well be the, and thank God, Abraham thought about death. The Bible says, point at a man once to die, don't put a period there, and after that, the judgment. You understand that? Someday, my friend, not somebody else, not someone else's obituary, something that will be your obituary that you are dead. Now, the thing is, are you ready to die? The Bible says, prepare, get ready, prepare to meet thy God. How do we prepare? by trusting Jesus Christ. And until we prepare, the Bible says we're already condemned. And I got saved, a man preached on this verse. He that believeth on him is not condemned. He that believeth not is condemned all Ready that night, lying flat on my back in bed, 16 years old, I realized I was morally good, I was a church member, I was baptized, I realized I had never accepted Christ, and to go to hell, there was not one thing I had to do. I was already condemned, but thank God that night in bed, flat on my back, a teenager's favorite position, I invited Christ into my heart, and I became a Christian. A child of God. Friend, have you made preparation? You say, I made preparation for retirement and for buying a home. Have you made preparation for eternity, my friend? Because sooner or later, you will be there. I was preaching in Homo Sasa Springs, Florida. I preached there one night and I had a thought I never had before. While I was preaching, I said, some of you folks said, hey, I'm going to Florida. I don't wanna retire. I'm gonna go down there and live. I said, friend, you come to Florida to die. You're gonna die here, be embalmed here, have a funeral here, be buried here, or on Judgment Day, you'll rise to stand before God from here. I said, sir, you come to Florida to die. Closed the service, a 92-year-old man walked down the aisle. Walked straight as an arrow, walked right down. Told the pastor, I come to get saved tonight. Afterward, he come up to me and said, sir, I accepted Christ. I said, I'm happy, I'm thrilled. He said, you hit it on the nose. I'm gonna die here. He said, but thank God tonight I made preparation and I'm ready to meet God. Have you made that preparation? To go to hell, nothing you have to do, you're already connected. Hey, but thank God if you'll come to Christ, he'll save you. and he'll change you. Number one, first of all, we find the despondency of Abraham. Number two, the dependency of Abraham. How did Abraham become a Christian? Look in your Bible at verse number six. He believed, what's the next word, in the Lord, and he counted to him for righteousness. You say, preacher, Abraham's in heaven because he was a great saint, he rarely sinned, he lived a great life, therefore, because he had a good life, when he died, he went to heaven, excuse me, You're totally wrong. Number one, Abraham is guilty of adultery. He has an affair with a maid, he's an adulterer. Number two, this is hard to believe, he abandons his own child, kicks out the woman, the warrior's child, kicks out the child. My, how awful, how awful. Number three, Abraham and his wife were heading off somewhere. And Abraham turns to his wife and said, honey, now we're going down to Egypt. These Egyptians have an eye for good looking women and you're beautiful. We get down there, they might kill me to have you. Honey, we get down there, let's just tell them that you're my sister. How low can a man go? Willing to sacrifice the virtue, the character of his own wife to save his neck. And number four, my friend, there's something else. God said, do not go here, adamant disobedience. Abraham said, God, I don't care what you say, that's exactly where I'm going. Understand that. Abraham, an adulterer, abandons the child, abandons the mother, abuses his own wife. See, he wasn't a good man. Sorry, neither are you. The Bible says emphatically, there is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God. They're all going out of the way, altogether become unprofitable. Then God repeats it. There is none righteous, no, not one. Eight times who is God, truth says this. Everybody is a sinner. The Bible says, if we say we have no sin, we lie and do not the truth. My friend, Abraham is not in heaven because he was a good, moral, upright person. Why is he in heaven? Look in your Bible again, please. Verse six, he believed in the Lord. That word in implies trust. The Bible illustration, God comes to Noah, says, Noah, I'm gonna send a flood, build an ark. Noah builds an ark. God comes to Noah and said, take your family, get in the ark, now wait. Noah could have stayed outside and said, Lord, I'm not getting in the ark. You realize how many animals are in there? He probably didn't say this, but you realize there's a spell in there with all the animals. Anyway, he said, God, I'm not getting in that ark. He said, God, let me tell you something. I built it. I know all about it. I know the square footage, the lineal foot. He said, it's got one door, one window. I know every dimension in that ark. God, I know all about the ark. I'm not going in. It starts to rain. Nora gargles water and drowns. Doing all about the ark, he perishes. Friend, will you please hear me? You can know every fact, every figure, every character in this book, and you'll be the most knowledgeable person in hell unless you personally make that decision to accept Jesus Christ. Hear the Bible, please. As many as receive a decision you make, as many as received him, to them gave he authority to become the sons of God. It is not believing about Christ that saves. It's not believing the Bible that saves. Paul preached to a king and told the king, believe us now the scripture. Yea, I know thou believest. But this Sunday morning, the king is not in heaven. Bible salvation is a decision you make, only you can make. Realizing you're a sinner, you receive Jesus Christ. I was preaching in Tower Hill, Illinois, and one night a man said, preacher, tomorrow night I'm gonna have a coworker come, pray for him, he's never received Christ. The service started, and I met a man at the door coming in, it was not his friend that came in, another man, I talked to him, we talked around, he said, yes, he said, I went to Moody Bible Institute and graduated, I went also to Mary Matthew Baptist College for two years, he said, I know all about the Bible, I said, well, I'm glad you're here. He sat with his friend over here. The man the friend was waiting for had come in late, and the crowd was so great, no one wanted to sit over here, so the friend had to sit over here. I preached that night, gave the invitation. On the first note, the friend walked down the aisle and told Pastor Randy, sir, I really need to accept Christ. And over here on this side, the man who invited that man took the man that was sitting beside him and said, hey, will you let me out? I want to go talk to my friend. He said, no. He said, well, you don't understand. The guy that comes to get saved is my coworker. I want to show him how to get saved. Will you let me out? He said, no, I want you to talk to me. I said, OK. I went in the room and closed the door. They sat down. The guy said, I'll tell you. I graduated from Moody Bible Institute, went two years to Maranatha Baptist College. I'm a baptized church member. But as that man preached tonight, I realized I dealt with a Bible college. I dealt with the church, but I never dealt with Christ. I have never received Christ, but I'm ready right here, right now. That is salvation. Between you and Christ, have you received Him? Forget the it, have you received Him? That, my friend, is Bible salvation. Number three, and I'm through. This great moment of Abraham's life, we find there is disruption. There's disturbance. Look in your Bible, please, at verse number 11. When the fowls came down upon the Caucasus, Abram drove them away. Now, here it is. These animals are a prophecy of the coming Christ. Bible calls in the New Testament a lamb. Christ was to die for our sin. That's the prophecy. It's pictured right here in this. These animals were dying that Abraham might have a picture of what it is to go to heaven by receiving the future Messiah. Here it is. Everything is ready. The sacrifice has been made. The God's word has been heard. What happens? Here comes all these animals. The Bible calls these birds, watch it, unclean birds. Birds. Why are they unclean? Because they're not fit to eat. Here they come. This great moment. Here come all these animals swooping in to disturb, interfere, intervene what God's trying to... Hear me. The same thing happens today. When the Bible's preached, the Bible says this, then cometh the devil immediately. He'll show up this morning if you're unsaved. He'll tell you, don't walk the aisle. What's somebody gonna say? He'll tell you, you're not such a bad guy. He'll tell you, wait, yeah, you should be saved, but do it later. The devil comes to every church service where the Bible's preached. And friend, I'm not proud of this. Believe me, I've been studying here this morning. In 44 years, I can think of scores of service people come to a service like this, heard the gospel, said, boy, I need to get saved. Maybe even raised a hand for prayer. The sad truth is right now, they're in the one place they never wanted to be, the one place they never expected to be, they're in the habitant of the halls of hell. Why? They put off being saved one second too early. If you ever intend to get saved, God tells you when. Behold, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. The Bible says it is time to seek the Lord. Dear friend, if you're unsaved today, if you have to, drive away the files of hell, drive away public opinion, and say I'm coming this morning to receive Jesus Christ. I never knew my father. He was a career military man. He died in the service, I never knew him. Raised by my mother and my grandfather right next door. When I was in the fourth grade, a man moved in our house. Wicked, godless, vile, filthy, a bartender. Every area he made life miserable. Used to beat my mom. Life was just horrible. I know one time, he was supposed to be attending bar one night. Mother and I went to a movie. We got home. He was waiting for us. He come up, asked my mother where she'd been, said, you've been out with another man. She said, no, I haven't. She told the truth. She wasn't. Grabbed me, slammed me against the refrigerator, got a knife, put it right there, said, tell me who she was with or I'll slit your throat for him. You don't have to tell me about sin, I've been there, I've been there, I know all about it. I'll tell you something though, I didn't find something better, I found someone better when I found Jesus Christ. But old life was miserable. And pretty soon, it was our house, mom kicked him out. Pretty soon he came calling back, and mom took him back. Things were better. Then he quit tending bar, got a job as a mechanic. And things were a lot better, but he still wasn't saved. From Bible college, I'd write him letters about salvation, never heard. And time went on. I was going to seminary in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Thanksgiving, my wife and I came back from Chattanooga to Bloomington, where her parents live. And by then, my mother had married that man. They came from Macomb. We had a decent time together. And pretty soon after the meal, he turned to my mother, said, you know, the sun's starting to set. It's about sundown. We better head home. She said, OK. He said, I'll go out and start the car. I followed him out. He was sitting behind the wheel. The wind is down. I said, I've been praying for you. He said, I want you to pray I get a better job. I said, that's not what I'm praying for. I'm praying you get saved. He just broke down and started crying. He said, I'm going to. I said, what? He said, I'm going to. I said, oh, wonderful. Let me show you how. He said, no, no, not now, not now. He said, son, I want to get saved, but not now. I said, the Bible says get saved now. He said, there's some things I got to take care of. I said, no, I got good news. Jesus Christ took care of everything on Calvary. All you need to do is accept him. He said, son, I'm not lying to you. I know I've treated you horrible, your mom horrible, and I feel awful about it. I'm not lying to you. I'm going to get saved, but not now. The wind is down. I reached in. I hugged his head to my chest. I kissed him on top of the head. I said, won't you please, please get saved now? And he's weeping and crying. He said, son, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it, but not now. Mother came out and got in the car. They headed for Macomb, Illinois. Three weeks later, I'm working for Sears in Chattanooga selling sporting goods. The phone rings, I pick it up. It was my aunt in Macomb. We talked a while, she said, your stepdad had a heart attack and died. She said that was like a motion picture camera. I could see him sitting there saying, I'm gonna get saved, but not now. I'm not lying to you, son. I'm gonna get saved, but not now. I'm gonna become a Christian, but not now. For him, it was a showdown at sundown, hear me! every person in hell right now, there was one last opportunity they had to get saved and said, no, old friend, please don't you make that mistake. If you're not a Christian, you flee to Christ today and he'll save you and he'll change you. Will you bow your head for prayer? Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed. I have two questions. Number one, oh, heed it, hear it. The most important question you'll ever hear in your existence. Here it is. If you were to die today, do you know you'd go to heaven? Now you thought about that question. Sure you have. You went down to the funeral home, looked in the coffin of a friend, a coworker, a classmate. That little thought surfaced. Someday my body will be there, but of course my soul gonna be driving down the road one day. You came on a horrible car wreck as you slowed down and drove by. You had to struggle for that next breath because you saw a sheet over a body. You thought about the question, that's not the issue. Have you acted on it? Not by baptism, not by church membership, not by turning over a new leaf, no. Have you acted on it by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior?