So the chapter, obviously you recall, you know this, that this is continuous flow. This is not a hard break in the narrative. This is just for referencing pieces. So what's meant by after these things is what's happened immediately following what we've just finished in the 14th chapter. And that is where there has been wars between the kingdoms Abram and Lot have divided. They've settled in different locations. Lot's family has been taken captive. They've gone far to the north. They were down just in the Sodom region during this battle. Lot and his household is kidnapped and removed far from here. Abram rallies up his herdsmen, and they go to war, and he's successful in this battle. And on his way back, he meets with the priest of the Lord. And also he's met by the king of Sodom. So, one, he's met by the king of Salem, which is the priest Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High, where Abram partners with him in the financial expenses of the ministry before the Lord. And then also, if you recall, in that 14th chapter, the king of Sodom will essentially want to take credit for the victory. He'll want to take some of the spoil. He'll want to, in some degree, pay off or bribe Abram. And Abram refuses to have anything to do with this negotiated peace. fully invested in the worship of the Almighty, the Most High, and he refuses to be named among those who the kings of men will make him rich. So that's what's previously happened here. So that's why in the 15th chapter, in the first verse, it says, after these things, so after this has happened, the Word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. What God will do here is he will assure Abram that he will be his shield and his reward. So once we have this encounter, so Abram has been in battle, the Lord was his shield. Abram has been victorious, the Lord will be his reward. We see that in this first verse, don't we? When God speaks to Abram, he says to him, do not fear, Abram. I am a shield to you. Your reward will be very great. So keep this in mind as we progress through the text here. We have God describing to us that He's appeared to Abram in a vision. Now, there's a couple of things we need to be careful about when we read the Bible. One, sometimes we say, I wish I had more information. And then we must stop before we finish that thought and think, what are we saying to God when we say we wish he had given us more information? We're saying, God, I don't know that I can trust you. If there's more that would help me understand this, why not tell me more? Well, rather than saying, dear God, thank you for revealing to me what you have revealed, and we thank you for that. And there's a lot revealed here. And then sometimes we'll even be tempted to think, I wish God would speak to me like this. Again, I would say to us, we must be careful to want more than what God has done for us. Before we're done here today, we will be hearing God speaking to Abraham, I am your shield and I am your great reward. And if I'm that for you, why do you want more? Well, sometimes because We might be best to stop and think, well, what have we thought about God? How have we treated God? What have we made of God in our own life? So the cautions certainly sit there. But we also must realize that when we hear this kind of language, that we must not relate this to the same kind of way that others make claims of having visions from God. Think about church history. Think about world history, for that matter. And how many people have made claims of having visions from God? Many, many have. And quite frankly, when you stop and examine it, it might be better suited for us to rather believe that they've had a vision from a demon rather than from God. So we must be really careful. We do not have the authority to speak of scriptural authority. To say, God told me this, or I had a vision from God. Understand here something. We are stepping outside of the authority of scripture to make claim that I have had a Does God speak to us personally? Yes, I believe He does. Audibly, I don't think I'm making any biblical argument that that's happening. And I'm not going to argue with you that He has or that He hasn't. I'm just going to say I'm going to be really careful with that. Because what I have here in the Bible is authoritative text. What I have here that is not from here is not holy authority. It might be a personal experience, But I'm not going to base my faith upon my personal experience. I'm going to base my faith on the God of the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Now, there will be personal experiences. I have no doubt of that. I have had many personal experiences with God that you might say, come on, Paul, I don't know. I don't know. I just don't know. Well, OK, I'll give you that. You weren't with me. You didn't experience it. But I'm not going to let that be me being an authoritative voice on what God has done. So we must be careful there. So think about, in world history, others who have misused this kind of language. They've had a vision from God. How many religions have been birthed under this kind of of idea, that they've had a vision from God. Well, you don't even have to think real hard about this. Nearly every one of them have. Only one of them is a real religion. Only one of them comes with authority from heaven. So whenever you hear Joseph Smith speak historically of having a vision from God, we must be really careful. When you hear of a Mohammed, speaking of having a vision from an angel. We must really guard what kind of authority we're going to give to those who are speaking outside of the authority of Scripture. You'll hear a prophetess of the Seventh-day Adventists make claims of having a word from God and a vision. We must guard that. We must say, listen, if it's here, I believe it. If it's from this holy writ script of God that's been delivered to man and preserved by God, by the Holy Spirit, for man to study, to examine, and to hold as an example or as an authoritative voice in our lives, there I'm with you. But the moment you step over here, outside of that which I can compare to the Holy Word of God, I'm not there with you any longer. I'm only here with the Word of God. And that doesn't settle every disagreement among Christians either, does it? Because we have many interpretations of things, but how careful we must guard our hearts. And so we're not going to wish for more than what God has revealed to us. We're not going to wish God would speak to us like He did to Adam and Eve in the garden, or the way He spoke to Noah at the building of the ark, or the way here where He speaks to Abram. We're going to say, bless the Lord He spoke to them. And bless the Lord it's preserved and recorded for me, that I would know this is what they talked of. So what else should we think about this when we think of a vision? The language here supposes that Abram was awake. So this is not a dream. And so, by the way, perhaps it is possible. I don't want to say God doesn't speak through dreams or visions because we have a Bible that gives evidence that he has done that before. I'm not going to say that he can't do it or that he wouldn't do it again, but I will say this, I'm not going to base a word from God on a dream. I have had some of the most bizarre dreams, and I don't know how to interpret some of them. And I don't want to go onto the authoritative language that is equal to Scripture to say, God spoke to me. Now, I'm not going to say I've had more bizarre dreams than you've had, But you've had some really weird dreams before, haven't you? And that's mostly due to the pizza you ate the night before, or the spaghetti and meatballs, or the salami sandwich, or whatever. I don't know what initiates the weird dreams for you. But here's what we should do. Because the language here, what we have is really a dialogue conversation. The word vision could include, it could mean someone has fallen asleep, but we have no indication of that. As a matter of fact, the language of falling asleep comes after the vision in this text, in this 15th chapter. It comes later. Abram falls into a deep sleep later. And there he's struck by fear of God. He has fear of God here because God will tell him, fear not, Abram. So what else? We should also not believe that this vision is some kind of a... So it's not a dream, it's not something that he's fallen asleep in. He's not in some kind of a trance. This vision is not a psychotic trance or a comatose paralysis. of Abram. He's actually engaged in a conversation. There's walking, there's talking, there's dialogue. And so that's just what we're going to do here. What do we do with the word vision? It brings with it this idea, this supposed position that this is a dialoguing conversation and that Abram is active and present in it. Now I'll give room that perhaps you see that differently. But let's hear how this conversation goes. So in the first verse, the first thing that God says to Abram must be a response to what he sees or notices about Abram. Because he instructs him, do not fear. So in a real conversation, if Abram were in a psychotic trance, there would be no visual evidence that he's in fear, that he's been struck by fear. If he were in a dream, he would be asleep and he might have some wrenching upon his face in the dream, but there would be no real evidence that God would need to tell Abram to not fear. So he's responding. God is responding to Abram. He's present before him and he tells him, he instructs him, do not fear. So perhaps this conversation is much like the conversation God has with Noah, much like those few encounters that we see in the garden before the fall. And even that which God is when he searches for Adam and Eve in the garden, where there's real dialogue, there's movement, there's relationship in it. I think that this is a very similar kind of an experience that Abram has had right here. and that's preserved for us in the scripture in this manner. So we should note here that it is more important that we hear this conversation than for us to be settled on exactly what is meant by the word vision. So where I've made somewhat of a big deal about it, at the moment I just want to say let's not make a bigger deal of it now. Let's hear this conversation. There's a couple of things one could notice. This is a personal conversation. This carries an encouraging word from God to Abram. And we also see that God is describing His work and what He's going to do for Abram. So, God called Abram by name. Notice that in the first verse. Do not fear, Abram. And then this encouraging word, this personal word, I am a shield to you. It's real personal, isn't it? Your reward shall be very great. So think of this in what was just said prior to this, in the first words of chapter 15. After these things, after what things? Abram has just been to war. And what does he have with him in war? But he has weapons of war. He has shields. He has reward that he brings home with him. He has offering that he gives to Melchizedek. And there's that peculiar conversation between the king of Sodom and Abram where Abram refuses to let the king of Sodom have any credit for Abram's wealth. And so when God says, do not fear Abram, I am your shield. What must have Abram still been thinking about? He's been in war. He's coming home from battle. What happens whenever you poke the bear? I mean, I'm not talking literally. If you poke a bear, you are in trouble, right? What happens when you make an enemy mad? What happens when you defeat an enemy? Well, be sure of this, your enemy has friends. And whenever you poke an enemy, there would be reason for you to think, what will my enemy's friends want to do in retaliation? Is that part of what God has seen in Abram? I know I'm supposing a few things, but I'm supposing it from the language. The God saying, I am your shield. I am a shield to you. I am a protector for you. I'm a protector of you. I will do this for you. And then there is this supposed faux reward that the king of Sodom wants to entice Abram with. What does God do? Immediately following this, Abram, you haven't lost out. You haven't lost a thing, by the way. A king of Sodom? This is because we have the whole of Scripture. God's not telling Abram here, don't worry about it, Abram, because I'm about to destroy Sodom. We're a few chapters away from that. And we know that because we have the whole of Scripture. But God is essentially telling Abram, I am your reward. Don't look back upon this reward that the king of Sodom enticed you with and think somehow, you know what, maybe I should have taken him up on that deal. There's an expense down the road that if I had taken that king up on, I would be able to pay that debt or I'd be able to pay this off. God is assuring Abram, no, don't worry about this, Abram. I am your reward. So in the second verse, again, more reason why I'm saying this is not some kind of a trance vision. It's not a dream vision. This is a conversation between Abram and God. And it does seem fitting that it would be described in the likings of a vision because Abram would not be allowed to see the holiness of God at this point. Just like Moses, who's telling this narrative to the children of Israel on their way home from Egypt. Moses could not bear to stand in the presence of Almighty God. He wanted to, but God said, no, Moses, if you do, no man can do this. Only that who essentially has the blood covering, the deposited righteousness that I possess and that you do not, unless you have that, you cannot stand in My presence. So it makes sense that it would be described in a different kind of a way here. So Abram says back to God in verse 2, O Lord God, what will You give me since I am childless and the heir of my house is from Damascus." This is indeed a great concern for Abram, isn't it? So we should note that it is important for us to hear all of what's being said here. When God says, I am your shield and I am your great reward. I am your exceeding great reward. So what will I have since I have no child? This is because Abram has already had this conversation with God while Abram's house will be as numerous as the sands of the sea or the stars of the heavens. And we'll even see in the 15th chapter that God will remind Abram of this when He tells him at night before he goes to sleep to count the stars. And if you can get a total of them, that's how many descendants You'll have. And Abram is doing a right thing here to say, I hear this about You, God. I hear that You have a great reward for me. But as it stands at this moment, I am an airless man. I have no child. that I could give this to. The only one that I can give this to in a legal sense would be to the man who is born of a man that I have in my household from Damascus. This would be a worker, a servant, a slave. We shouldn't be afraid to see these things or acknowledge these. This would be a normal action of a man progressing through Ur of the Chaldeans down eventually into Egypt and back into the promised land, that along the way there are some that Abram comes across that want to join him, and there are some we've just seen he's come out of battle. Some of them will join him because he's been successful in the battle. Don't let the modern weak man convince you that the Bible is filled with wrongful slavery. That's a topic for another day. But what we have here is a man in Abram's household from another nationality or from another region. And how is he there? But this is a child of my slave, Eleazar of Damascus. So Abram's making this case. Since you've not given me an offspring, you told me I would. You told me my ancestors would be as numerous as the stars of the heaven. And as it stands right now, Abram is a very old man. I mean, very, very old. I mean, he's not old like Noah was old. He's old like you and I would be old. He's in his 90s. That's old, right? And he's childless. Well, that's a problem. It's not a problem for God. But it's a problem in Abram's mind. I don't know how this is going to happen. So Abram, when he says this, I have no offspring, no one born in my house as an heir. Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This man will not be your heir, but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir. In other words, he'll be from him. Abram's supplying this of his own DNA for the offspring, for his heir. So God took him, verse 5, he took him outside and said, so there's movement in this. So again, another reason why I'm persuaded here. This is a actual conversation going on. Abram is cognitively, consciously aware. He's moving. They're dialoguing. So God took him outside and said, now look toward the heavens. Now, Abram's already had this conversation with God previously, but God tells him, look toward the heavens and count the stars. If you're able to count them, and he said to him, so shall your descendants be. Then, verse six, then Abram believed. Notice this. Abram's belief did not come when he had offspring. Abram's belief came before he had offspring. Galatians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul will tell us that this belief that Abram is expressing here is credited to him as righteousness. It's not that Abram believed that he would have an heir, it's that Abram believed God. Abram was already in dialogue. He's already a worshipper of the Most High God. But here at this point, he believes God. In that sixth verse, he believed in the Lord. He didn't believe the Lord would give him an offspring. He believed in the Lord. And he reckoned it to him as righteousness. This is where the Apostle Paul will make that connection. So think of this. There is much to rejoice about here. God is telling to Abram, I am your shield, your exceeding great reward. So fear not, Abram. Fear not the revenge of the nations that you've just defeated. Fear not their allies. Fear not the normal response of man toward you. Let the wicked fear, not the sons of God. Now we'd be talking about a different kind of fear here. Let the wicked fear the judgment of God. Let the man of God respect or revere, fear God because of who God is. And God has just revealed to Abram who he is. Perhaps rather mysteriously to you and I, but nonetheless, Abram believes. Abram is not just believing in a general God either. He's believing in the Lord Jesus Christ here. He's believing in the Savior, the Lord Jesus Himself. So in just a moment, we'll come to the Lord's table that we have set before us every time we gather. And the reason we do that is that we would remember, that we would never forget that we should be on a perpetual proclamation of the death and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The hope fixed in us through what God did for us, just like what God did for Abram, God did for you and I. The question would be for you before we come to the table is, does your heart leap for joy to come to this table? Or is this just a moment where, oh look, we're really close to finish today. We're about to be out of here at record breaking speed. You don't know how many more pages of notes I've got here. I'm just saying, do you leap for joy that now's the moment when we're going to come together and in doing so we are going to make proclamation of the death of our Savior. The reminder to our own souls, to our own selves of the hope that we have that Christ is our shield. Do you treat Christ as your shield? Do you hide behind Him? Do you go into battle each day with Christ as your shield? Are you looking for temporal rewards? Are you pursuing that which will burn up hay, wood, and stubble? Or are you pleased for Christ to be your reward? I get it in this temporal day, it's required that we have means in which to buy food at the marketplace. It's important that we understand the relationship, the proper relationship that we have with monetary rewards for a good day's work. But we must not replace that with what Christ has done for us. In Galatians chapter 3, this is the place where the Apostle Paul points toward Abram's belief, the righteousness that saves him. In verses 1-9 the Apostle says this, to the churches in the Galatian region, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Verse 2, this is the only thing that I want to find out from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit and you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? So then, verse 5, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you do it by works of the law or by the hearing with faith? Here it is, even so Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed of you. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. That means we should be interpreting Genesis chapter 15 as God preaching the Gospel to Abram. And Abram believing, and Abram being blessed of God, that God would be his shield, and that God would be his exceeding great reward. And so now, let me ask it again, does your heart leap for joy to come to this table set before you? How this news must come to Abram's heart, so too must it be to us. We stand before God in dire need, don't we? Or didn't we? It's not like you've been rushed to the hospital for life-saving measures. That's dire. That's serious. What's going to be the end of the day? That's serious, isn't it? That would be dire. But there is a stage of direness that is of a greater degree than a trip on life flight to the hospital pad. And that is you've just been rolled into the morgue. Your lifeless, cold body. There's no breath at all in it. This means no ordinary Savior will do here today. You're not just in the doghouse with your beloved spouse. You've just been laid in the grave by the undertaker. That's your spiritual condition before God. And here comes God. Do not fear. For I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. Today you have a table set before you. And it is set by the resurrected Redeemer. He's given you bread. And He's given you wine. You don't give that to dead people. You give this to those who are spiritually alive. And we spiritually are nourished at the Lord's table when we come and we approach. We come near to the table of the Lord this morning, so let's consider again how the Apostle Paul exhorts us to examine ourselves. It's right that we would pause and do this before we rush to the table. The desire is here with joy. Let's get there as quick as we can. And let's remember the Lord's death and the life that we now have in Christ. Now, we also must take this seriously. The Apostle Paul tells the church in Corinth, you must be really serious about this matter. It's important that you examine your hearts. This is not for everybody. Perhaps it's not for everybody in this room even. This would be for the professor. This will be for the believer. This will be for the one who's chasing after God because God has spoke to him from the morgue to rise and to walk. He's rescued you. He's redeemed you. He's saved you. And what has He done? He's brought you to a table with bread and with wine. And so what should we do? We should commune with God. We should say, blessed be the name of the Lord. We should respond like Abram here. I believe. And we're not talking here this morning for everyone in the room of a new believing faith. For the vast majority of us, this will be a renewal of that covenant with God. But perhaps some this morning will come as a first-time professing follower of the Lord Jesus Christ believing. Like Abram, now you, a descendant, a spiritual descendant of Abram, whom God has saved and rescued and has counted among those whom Abram could he have. It's possible to count all the stars, but it would take a lifetime to count them all. That the saints of the living God, the Gentile and the Jew, the free man and the slave, the man and the woman, the boy and the girl, The barbarian and the civilized alike. What do they do? They come to the same table. Why? Because they're saved by the same Savior, Jesus the Christ. So we'll take just a few moments and we'll ready our hearts and we'll prepare ourselves for the Lord's table. So let's do that even now.