{"id":3137,"date":"2017-07-30T12:47:57","date_gmt":"2017-07-30T16:47:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=3137"},"modified":"2017-08-06T16:50:45","modified_gmt":"2017-08-06T20:50:45","slug":"covenant-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/?p=3137","title":{"rendered":"COVENANT OF GRACE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sermon by Rev. Richard Jones<\/strong><\/h3>\n

rec0730-112250<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Sermon Series: <\/strong>The Story of Abraham<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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COVENANT OF GRACE<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Genesis, Chapter 15<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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COUNTING THE STARS<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Genesis 15:1-6 (ESV)
\n<\/strong>1 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: \u201cFear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.\u201d
\n2 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0But Abram said, \u201cO Lord GOD, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?\u201d
\n3 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And Abram said, \u201cBehold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.\u201d
\n4 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: \u201cThis man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.\u201d
\n5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he brought him outside and said, \u201cLook toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.\u201d Then he said to him, \u201cSo shall your offspring be.\u201d
\n6 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. <\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 4:1-8 (ESV)
\n<\/strong>1 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?
\n2 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
\n3 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0For what does the Scripture say? \u201cAbraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.\u201d
\n4 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
\n5 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
\n6 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
\n7 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0\u201cBlessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;<\/span>
\n8 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Three Points:<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

1. Everyone who has ever been saved has been saved by faith.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

2. All people who have ever been saved have been saved by the blood of Jesus.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

3. Christians are not only forgiven by the blood of Jesus but are justified by the righteousness of Jesus.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

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2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)
\n<\/strong>21 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.<\/p>\n

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CUTTING THE ANIMALS<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Genesis 15:7-11 (ESV)
\n<\/strong>7 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he said to him, \u201cI am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.\u201d
\n8 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0But he said, \u201cO Lord GOD, how am I to know that I shall possess it?\u201d
\n9 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0He said to him, \u201cBring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.\u201d
\n10 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
\n11 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0CONFIRMING THE FUTURE<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Genesis 15:12-16 (ESV)
\n<\/strong>12 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
\n13 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0Then the LORD said to Abram, \u201cKnow for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.
\n14 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
\n15 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.
\n16 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

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CRAFTING THE COVENANT<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Genesis 15:17-21 (ESV)
\n<\/strong>17 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
\n18 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, \u201cTo your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
\n19 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites,
\n20 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
\n21 <\/span><\/sup>\u00a0the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sermon Application:<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

1. Our covenant is also unconditional.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

2. God is still honored when we trust Him.<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon by Rev. Richard Jones rec0730-112250 Sermon Series: The Story of Abraham   COVENANT OF GRACE Genesis, Chapter 15   COUNTING THE STARS Genesis 15:1-6 (ESV) 1 \u00a0After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,24,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-messages","category-sermon-series","category-sermons-by-rev-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3137"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3163,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137\/revisions\/3163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crossroadchristianfellowship.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}