The scripture reading this evening is Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15. And there we read God's holy word. After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and a steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abraham said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir. But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 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 them, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another. But the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, and lo, and horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abraham, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come out with great substance, and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And 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 those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. The Canaanites and the Canaanites and the Kadmonites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaims and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites. The text for the sermon is found in Genesis chapter 15, and is formed by verse 17. Verse 17. There we read the words of our text. And 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 those pieces. We find here in our text how Abraham is at a climax in his life. It's a depth in which he is in. He is very much cast down. And the question is, why is Abraham here in Genesis 15 cast down? You see, in the previous chapter, you can read that at home, There, Abraham has just gained a victory over Kedolah Omer. It was a splendid victory. It was a huge army, a powerful army, that was able to assault various kings there in Palestine and overcome them. And Abraham, with his hired servants, was able to, by God's grace, to catch up with Kedolah Omer and take him by surprise. And the Lord gave a rich blessing, a rich victory. And Abraham came back with much loot that he didn't want to keep himself, but divided amongst others. It was a splendid victory, and then immediately after that, in verse 1 of chapter 15, we read that Abraham is fearing. The man is afraid. He is concerned. He is cast down. Because the Lord tells him, Fear not, Abraham. I am thy shield, and I am thy exceeding great reward. But why was Abraham then fearing what is going on? Well, you see, Abraham has now been for years in the promised land. And he knew why he had to go to the promised land. Because the Lord would give him a child. But so far, the child has not come. And his wife, Sari, is very old. She is barren. She cannot have children. And humanly speaking, the time has passed in which it would have ever been possible. And that's why Abraham is cast down. But you see, it's not just that Abraham is cast down because he doesn't have a baby. He doesn't have a son. No, there's more behind it. There are more people who have no children, who are fully able to resign that to the Lord and take up the task and the calling the Lord gives them. And Abraham could have done that as well. But you know, there's something else here. Because Abraham was the man of faith. Abraham knew that the Savior had to come. He longed to see the day of Christ. And the Lord Jesus later on would say that Abraham looked from the distance, and he saw My day, the Lord Jesus said. You see, Abraham is not just concerned about a child. He is concerned about salvation. Because he knows of the promise given to Adam and Eve. that was passed on through the lines, through Noah, through the lines of the godly ones. That promise was known that the Saviour would come. And the Lord had revealed to Aban that out of Him the Saviour would come. But now He has no child. So the Saviour cannot come. And that means He cannot be saved. And that means the head of Satan will not be crushed. And there will be no life, no salvation, no new heaven and new earth. And how can he be reconciled to God? You see, Abraham was a man of faith who lived and waited for the city that had foundations. He lived for the better life that was to come. But he realizes that light will never come because I have no child. And that's why Abraham was fearing the Savior would come forth from him. And then the Lord says unto Abraham, Abraham, fear not. I am thy shield, I am thy exceeding great reward. And the Lord says to Abraham, come outside, Abraham, and look now toward heaven. It's at night, and try to count the stars. And Abraham starts to count, but he doesn't get far. So many stars, and the Lord says, That is how many your children shall be. And you will receive a child from your own body, your own personal, natural, biological son from you and Sarah. And then Abraham is still wondering, how can that be? And he believes God. Yes, he trusts in the Lord. He was a man of faith, but he asked if the Lord could give him something that could support him in his faith. And that's why Abraham says in verse 8, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? That was not a question of unbelief, like later Zacharias would say in the temple to the angel Gabriel, but this was It's a question of faith. The Lord honors that. The Lord would never honor unbelief. But the Lord will assist faith that is struggling to believe. And that's how it is here with Abraham. And then the Lord tells Abraham to perform a ritual that's very unfamiliar to us. then has to prepare animals, he has to slaughter them. And that's what we want to meditate on, as we consider that God will pass through the pieces, and that this was a divine command, a one-sided love, and also it is a most serious matter. So, what we find here is that the Lord says to Abraham, you have to perform a very specific ritual. You have to take a few animals. You have to take a heifer, that's a young cow, which has not yet had a calf. And also you must take a goat and a ram. These animals had to be three years old. That means they were mature, strong animals. fully grown, and those animals had to be slaughtered, and they had to be cut right through the middle, and the two halves would then be laid opposite of each other in a row, and also a pigeon and a turtle dove. Those two birds were killed and just laid also opposite each other, so that you would have an imaginary path between these row of slaughtered dead animals. A path that someone could go through. Now that is a ceremony that we do not know at all. But it's a ceremony that was not so strange to Abraham. Because in those days, this was the way how an agreement would be made between people. If you would enter into a deal with someone, a business deal or a very specific agreement with someone that you had to trust that the other would keep his word, then you would, so to speak, you would cut a covenant. That's exactly the Hebrew expression. In Hebrew you don't say we're going to make a covenant. In Hebrew you say we will cut a covenant. And that's taken from this ritual, that they would cut animals in between and lay them opposite of each other. And the idea is that these two parties would then individually go walk in between, solemnly in between, they would walk between those rows of dead animals. And thereby they would declare, if I break my part of this agreement, God may make me to be like one of these animals. So they would inflict upon themselves a curse if they would depart and break the covenant. And you find another reference to that in Jeremiah 34, verse 18, where the Lord criticizes and rebukes the people of Israel, the men that transgressed my covenant who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof." And this is especially against the princes and the priests of Judah. They had first gone through a divided calf in between. They had said, we will serve the Lord and we will abide with His commandments and His laws That's how solemnly they declared that. But then they broke their covenant. And the Lord was going to make them as that slain calf. And that also happened. Terrible judgments came when the Babylonians overthrew the city Jerusalem. So this was a way of establishing a covenant that both parties solemnly declared under oath that they would keep their part of the covenant. Now, that's the covenant now that God is telling Abraham to prepare. Abraham must have been staggering when he heard this, that the Lord God Himself tells him that he is going to enter into such a covenant with Abraham. just to let Abram know for sure that the Lord would never forsake the promise given to Abram. So Abram does so. He obeys. He takes the cow, the female goat, the ram, prepares them, takes the two birds, neatly lays them opposite over against each other, and then all things are ready. And then Abram waits. He waits for the Lord to come. He doesn't know what to expect. The Lord just told him, cut these animals, prepare them, and that's it. Abram doesn't ask, but Lord, how will that be, and how shall thou come down? Abram obeys. There are times in life you don't understand certain things. But thus saith the Lord, you obey his word. Sometimes the Lord can ask things that seems as if it makes no sense. But we obey what the Lord tells us to do. And so Abraham obeys. He's waiting. He does not know what he's actually waiting for. He knows God will manifest himself. But he's waiting. And waiting. And in the meantime, birds of prey are circling above the dead bodies of these animals. Vultures, hawks, the keen eyes, they see the food. And they swoop down, they want to snatch away the carcasses. But Abraham gets up and he chases them away, one after the other. And they come back, but Abraham waves. with his staff and his stick, and he chases them away. He keeps on doing that. They may not touch the dead animals. These birds were unclean birds. And they wanted to take away the symbols and devour the symbols of this covenant. Now, why would this be recorded there in Scripture? Why is it? Because there were more things that Abraham did. He had to choose an animal. He had to slaughter the animal. He had to prepare that. There are more details that are not shown to us. But this detail, is there recorded there in Scripture? That when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. Why is it recorded in Scripture? Is it just a fact to show us how Abram was guarding these dead bodies of these animals? No, there's something else behind it. is also a spiritual comparison can be made. Because there are powers of darkness who oppose the signs of God's covenant. They are powers of darkness who assault the people of God. They want to destroy God's dealings with His people. They are powers of darkness wanting to destroy your blessing that you would otherwise have received in church. And the evil one comes, the Lord, to snatch away the blessing. And the Lord speaks of fowls of the heavens, that come down right after the worship service, after the Word has been scattered, and they try to pick away the seed of the Gospel. That's the same thing. The evil one is always at work trying to snatch away God's promises, to try to snatch away the Word of God. He puts question marks behind the Word of God. He wants to seed doubt in your heart. And when you're in great need and the devil maximizes your need and tells you that you are beyond hope, that there's no help for you, that you are in an impossible situation, that there never was a sinner so bad as you are. That's what the devil does. But when the Lord does give deliverance, then the devil turns around and then he minimizes your distress and says, well, it wasn't really that severe after all. An outcome would have come anyway. And then so the devil is at work. Just like those vultures to try to snatch away. The signs of God's dealings with you. Those animals were the signs that God was going to have dealings with Abram. And so the devil also tries to scoop up and cast away the blessing that you receive. And Abram, what did he do? He kept on chasing those animals. He chased them away, those birds, one after the other. And you know, that's what your calling is too. When those birds of prey are exalting you, when the birds of their heavens come to try to snatch away the seed of the gospel, then you are also called to do the same, to put away those evil thoughts, and to put down every thought unto subjection unto the Lord Jesus Christ. And you must continue on doing that. Abraham keeps on doing that. Every thought must be led captive to the Lord Jesus Christ. And how are things then in spiritual life? Don't you have those interruptions when you are seeking to pray? When you are seeking communion with the Lord? Don't you have interruptions of awful thoughts? Of sinful thoughts? And here we see Abraham fighting off these terrible interruptions when he is preparing to most solemnly approach God. And maybe you recognize that in your own life as well. How often do cares intrude, and sinful thoughts intrude, like unclean birds, and trying to seize the time that you have devoted to seek the Lord, and trying to spoil the affections, happy. You are, if you by prayer and watchfulness can drive them away, by God's grace and help, to worship without distraction. Oh yes, the evil one is really tangibly at work, can start already on Saturday evening, what you are doing, what you are filling your mind with, How we spend our Saturday evenings will determine what happens on the Lord's Day. On a Saturday evening, there needs to be a preparation for the coming Lord's Day. That's why we shouldn't go to bed too late, so that we will be sleepy in God's house. We should not give ourselves over to all kinds of foolish and empty matters. The afterthoughts of that will distract us in church. Or maybe these birds swoop down upon you before you go to church. Something happens with the children or in the family. And all of a sudden, a bird swoops down and tries to distract you. And the birds can be in church as well, trying to spoil your attention. And therefore, with Abraham, let us be alert. In God's strength to chase away those birds, I have set before me still the Lord whom I have proved. He is good, and my meditation of Him must be sweet. O Lord, deliver me from all evil. Abram chases away those birds of prey. But then Abram becomes sleepy. And that sleep was not a normal sleep. It was a means to receive divine explanation. The Lord is going to reveal matters to him. It's a very deep sleep, it says. It's a very deep sleep that Abraham had, it says in verse 12, when the sun was going down. It was not down yet. It was close to sunset. A deep sleep. fell upon Abraham in verse 12. And there was a sleep that God gave him, because God was going to reveal him certain matters that would happen to the children of Abraham. So it's not just, Abraham, you will receive children. No, the Lord is now going to show Abraham what shall happen to your children in the future. And that's the revelation that God is going to give, going to explain of what shall happen to Israel and Egypt later on. But then it says there that Abraham became very afraid. Then in verse 12, and lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. Why? What's going on? Abraham had been obedient. Abraham had prepared these carcasses the signs of a covenant that God was going to make with Abraham. And he kept guard over them, and he chased away those animals, those birds. And then a deep sleep from God came upon Abraham, and then a horror of great darkness fell upon him. What does this mean? Well, this means that God himself coming very close to Abraham. And the Lord God is a consuming fire, because the Lord God is holy. Tremble! Who shall not tremble? The Lord has spoken. Amos would later on say, The lion has roared. Who shall not fear? For the Lord has spoken. Who shall not fear? Abram is now brought in the awful presence of God. And we see that more often. God did not come down to hurt Abram. No. God came down to relieve Abram. But because of the fact that the Lord came with His awful majesty, then Abram was terrified. God came. And that's more often in Scripture. When the Lord Jesus, glorified in heaven, appears before the Apostle John on Patmos. John, who was the beloved Apostle. And the Lord Jesus loved John from everlasting till everlasting. With an unfailing love and would support his Apostle and would show him beautiful things and difficult things. That the book of comfort could be written, but although the Lord Jesus loved John, what happened when John saw the presence of the Lord Jesus in His exultant majesty? John fell down as dead at His feet. Because who can stand before the almighty presence of God? And we think of the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt. They were at the Mount Sinai, and the Lord came down and spoke to the people. And the whole mountain shook and trembled, and they were afraid to have God speak to them. He was struck with awe. You think of Isaiah standing in the temple. Lo, oh woe is me! I have seen the Lord of hosts. It must be something most terrifying when God in His awesome, holy majesty comes down. Then the mountains themselves shake and quake. And when the Lord Jesus shall return, then all the proud men Now, who scorn upon Christianity, and who are such big men in their own estimation, they will cry out to the rocks and the mountains, fall upon us. For who can stand before the Lord, holy, mighty in majesty? You see, God is holy. And one day we will all be brought before Him. We will all see Him. How can that be? Unless we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. Unless we have a righteousness that exceeds that of scribes and Pharisees. God is holy. Tremble before Him. Honor Him. Reverence Him. In the way we come to church, reverence Him. In our families, reverence Him. He is holy. majestic. And here Abraham, the friend of God, is in a horror of great darkness because he's shocked God is coming to him. But the Lord strengthens Abraham because he receives visions and in a dream he sees what's going to happen. That his descendants will be in Egypt. They will be oppressed for 400 years. The Lord would lead them out with a strong arm, would bring them into the land of Canaan, and you, Abraham, will die in a ripe old age and be blessed. You see, the Lord is kind to Abraham, although he reveals his majesty. But then after that, this whole matter of establishing a covenant is God's initiative. That's what we see here. Because the sun has now set, Abraham is awake again. Night has fallen. It's dark. And Abraham is still waiting. Waiting. He does not know what to expect. He knows something will happen. And then all of a sudden it happens. Abraham sees then a fiery oven. What is that? It's a fire. A burning fire. And it smokes. And it flames. It's a symbol of the presence of God. And Abraham holds his breath. Reimagine. He was stunned. He was filled with awe, watching what God was going to do. And then he saw that fiery oven all of a sudden appearing, burning, hovering at the entrance of that imaginatory path. Fire is a symbol of the presence of God. At Mount Sinai, the Lord came down with fire. And the people of Israel were led through the wilderness at night by a pillar of fire. And we read in Psalm 97 verse 3, a fire goeth before Him and burneth up His enemies round about. And Hebrews 12 says that our God is a consuming fire. Fire is the symbol of His holiness and purity, His majesty and power. And Abraham was filled with deep awe as he sees the manifestation of God Himself. God was present in that fiery oven. And what love that God condescends and comes down so low, and that He is willing to enter into a covenant with Abraham. What a one-sided love, what a concern, what a care does God demonstrate for his child, Abraham, to support him in his struggle of faith, what mercy and what blessed matter. But you know, God also entered into a covenant with us. With you and me. And Calvin says the Lord speaks to us, not through an audible voice from heaven, because then we would be terrified We would hear an audible voice speak to us in church. But the Lord speaks to us, Calvin says, through the living voice of human beings. The ministers who have been called by God to proclaim His Word. And the Lord comes to us not with a sign of fire, but the Lord comes to us with a sign of water. The Lord has established a covenant with us. And that's what God is going to do now with Abraham. What mercy. What grace. You see, men enter into an agreement, into a deal with each other, because they want to be sure of each other. That's why they make up an agreement. And now it's with all kinds of lawyers. They make up all kinds of deeds and contracts. But in those days, it was by means of this ritual. I may become as that slaughtered animal if I break the covenant. And the holy God himself was willing to enter into such a covenant with Abram. God was willing to display such love that he humbled himself He condescended so low that He wanted to be a partaker of a human institution as if God would ever break His Word. As if the Word of God alone would not be sufficient. But God is so condescending to Abraham and to you and me. He has given us His Word full of promises. But you and I have such a hard time to take God at His Word that the Lord gives us baptism as a covenant, as a sign that we would see and realize that God is faithful and true. And so God enters into a covenant with Abraham by means of this awful sign of those dead animals. And then the unthinkable thing happens. The holy, majestic God enters in that path. The fiery oven moves slowly through that path, right in between those dead animals. God the Holy One declares that He may become as those dead animals if He would break this covenant. It is astounding. It is staggering that God has done so much to deliver Abraham and us from unbelief. And that we would take God as an honest man. That's how the Lord means that. The Lord declares to Abraham that He will keep His covenant. It's a seal upon this covenant. The Lord seals His promises by going right in the middle, in between these pieces. It's one-sided love. What mercy! What goodness! What grace! And what blessedness that the Lord entered into a covenant with you and me Because this covenant that the Lord made with Abram, it has special elements relating to the people of Israel, and that they would receive Palestine as their land, and that those nations would be given up to them. That's true. But behind this all, what is the purpose of this covenant? It is salvation. It is that the head of Satan would be crushed. It is that sinners would be saved. And so the covenant that you and I receive of the Lord, sealed by baptism, that is a continuation of this same covenant. It's a covenant of grace, a manifestation of His mercy, an offer of His promises, and of life. And what a mercy! And especially here, because listen, what's happening? God goes in between the pieces, but not Abraham. We don't read that Abraham went in between the pieces. God did it. It's not that the Lord says, well, I will now go first and then Abraham, you must follow me. No. God does it alone. Abram is just standing there and watching. Normally the two parties would go in between, but here it's God who goes through the pieces alone. Because the covenant is a one-sided covenant. There are duties and obligations laid upon us, but it is the Lord who fulfills His covenant. He did it alone. God initiates the covenant. God stipulates the conditions and the promises of the covenant. It's all God's work. You see, Abraham cannot even keep the covenant. We break the covenant so often, so soon. And what a blessing that the Lord did not demand of Abraham to go in between those pieces. Because then very soon, Abraham would have again broken something. And then Abraham would have to be killed. Imagine if Abraham would have to be accountable for all his breaches. Imagine you and me would have to be accountable for all our unfaithfulness. Where would we then be? But God initiates the covenant. He established the covenant. with us and our children. And what did the Lord say in that covenant that He established with us? That God the Father adopts us to be His children. And God the Son declares that He washes us in His blood. That He sets us apart. And that God the Holy Spirit declares that He is willing to apply all that we have in Christ Apply that to our heart. You see, objectively, the Lord lays rich blessings upon us in the promise. But that must be subjectively applied in our lives through the working of the Holy Spirit. And therefore, we need regeneration. But God is willing to give that blessing of regeneration because He has declared it already. I am the Lord your God. And we may open our mouths and expect all things from God. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. In all your struggles, in all your concerns, in all the hardships of life, in your struggle to receive a new heart, to be converted, to be right with God, you may trust And you may flee to this promising God. And you may ask of Him mercy, grace, O Lord. And you may do that pleading the covenant. And you may do that with anticipation and with hope after this event. You never read that Abraham doubted anymore. It was done. And when you understand your baptism, There need be no doubt anymore. Or you will fall many a time and stumble many a time, and our sins are accusing us. But it's always that we would be driven out to God who is most faithful. And just as Abraham could plead on this covenant later on, Thou hast promised, so you also may plead this covenant. Lord, what Thou hast promised, Thou shalt give. Lord, what Thou dost demand with one hand, Thou dost give with the other. Thou dost demand faith and repentance, but faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. And the Lord Jesus in Acts 5 is shown as the one who is seated at the right-hand side of the Father to give repentance and to give remission of sins. Everything God demands, God is willing to give. That's the secret of a child of God, that there's an all-supplying God, most faithful. And that's what Abraham was seeing here under these signs. And Abraham would know for sure that God would keep His covenant. He went in between the pieces. And that's a call that you and I may lean with our whole weight upon God, upon a promising God. Lord, turn me and I shall be turned. Lord, convert me for Thy name's sake. For thy promises' sake, for thy covenant's sake, for thy honor's sake, O what wilt thou do with thy great name?" What a blessing to rest and to lean upon a promising God. What love, what one-sided love He demonstrated. But as we look at this whole procedure, it's a very serious matter. Because there's death on both sides. And the Holy God, the Prince of Life, goes right in between the pieces of death. You see, the Lord God had promised deliverance for His people. He promised life. He promised salvation. But the only way that God would work this and could work this was that He would take the sins and the transgressions of His people upon Himself. And that He would be under their curse. That He would take their sins and their death and their transgressions upon Himself. And that was the implication of this covenant. That God would take their sin and guilt, and God would give them His salvation. That the Lord Jesus would come as the Lamb of God to bear their iniquities. And when later Israel has broken the covenant, and when the disciples have all forsaken Him, and when you and I have so often forgotten the Lord, when we deserve to be punished, to be cast out, to be cursed forevermore, then we see the Lord Jesus standing in the midst of those dead animals, and He says, smite me, O God, lo, here I am. In the roll of the book it is written of me. Because the Lord Jesus was smitten with the breaking of the covenant that we have done. Our covenant unfaithfulness rests upon Him. The Lord went in between these pieces. But if you draw the line further, then the astoundable matter happened. that He became as those dead pieces. He accepted the punishment and the curse of death that is upon us. He not only walked in between the pieces, but He became like those dead animals. He was slain for the iniquity of His people. Surely, He hath borne our grief. and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions. See Him before Pontius Pilate. See Him there bleeding. See Him there in Gethsemane, filled with terror. because he saw the wrath of God to be unleashed against him. See him there on Calvary in three hours of great darkness. He was bearing the curse of his people. And the chastisement of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes we are healed. and all the waves of God's wrath came upon him, and he underwent these punishments, the Lamb of God, slaughtered, slain. He came to take away the sins of the world, and that was all because God went here in between the pieces. It's a prefiguration of the sufferings of Christ. Like the bullocks and the lambs slaughtered in the temple were a prefiguration of Christ. He descended into outer darkness because you and I have forsaken God. God bears the wrath and the punishment connected to His own covenant. The punishment that man should have suffered. And He did this to pay for the guilt of His people. What a staggering truth. It's beyond us. There's no human-made religion that teaches this. Perverted Christianity does not teach this anymore. They teach righteousness by works. That's as far as we narrow-minded people can get. But God declares and proves His love that while we were yet sinners, He gave Himself, His Son, to die. To go in between the pieces. To become like those pieces. And now there needs to be no impediment between you and God. He established His covenant with you. He extends such rich promises. He pays for the debt. His blood is a fully sufficient payment. He went into death so that you would never have to enter into death. That death would be you, for you an entrance, an opening of life everlasting. He went into outer darkness so that you could walk in the light. He suffered fears and terrors far more worse than Abraham ever had. For Christ, there was no comforting word when He was in outer darkness. Fear not. But for Him, it was fear, fear extensively, because He fell in the hands of an angry God. He suffered. And now, there is an open way for you to God. He earned everlasting life for you. He earned a quickening spirit for you. There need be no impediment between you and Christ. There need be no impediment between you and a godly life. Because He has conquered every enemy. There is life for you in abundance. There is mercy. There is a fruitful existence through the Spirit of God. With Christ, you can do all things. Because He is the surety of the covenant. And He says, even if you have transgressed all My commandments, Even if you have forsaken me all the years of your life till now, hear my word. The Lord says, turn to me. My son will be your payment. Even if your sins were as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, and I will lead you into heavenly Canaan. It is sealed because God went in between the pieces. What more must God have done? What more tangible evidence must God have done? It's sealed in the blood of Calvary. And God swears He is most faithful. When you seek Him, you will find Him. When you seek Him now in the time of grace, with your whole heart you will find Him. God had aligned Himself with Abraham to be a God unto him and to his seed. And God does the same with you. It's most serious, most blessed, but most serious. Don't stay away from Him. Don't turn away from Him. It's so easy to be in church and not to be committed. What the Lord wants of your and my life is to have a fully committed resignation to Him. But if we draw back from that, Because we know it's getting too personal now. That means you do not want Him. And then it means that you will die in your sins. God wants everything or nothing. Your heart. Your total existence. It's most serious. If we turn away from such salvation, you will sink away under the wrath of God upon your sin. And you will be consumed by God's wrath. Because of your sins, but on top of that, because you despised the blood of His precious Son. And you will be worse than these dead animals. You will be forever in perdition. But there's no need for that. No need for that. Because He went through the pieces. And He cries out to all men everywhere, repent! Be ye saved. Look unto me, O ye ends of the earth. I am the way. I will lead you on my way. I am the truth. I will fill your life with truth. I am life. I will blow new life into you. Your fruit is found of Me. I am the first. I am the last. Oh, what a blessed, all-sufficing God, who is faithful to His Word. He is a covenant-keeping God. Oh, let us flee to Him. Amen.