So last week we preached about goboki.
Today we're going to preach about Passover.
The arse faller in English. Beware of the asphalt.
This exact translation. So we're looking at Genesis,
we're looking at Abraham, and we're looking at Abraham the
friend of God and looking at some things of friendship.
And one of the amazing thing that the book of John says in
John chapter 2, it says many people trusted Jesus, but he did
not trust them because he knew what was in the heart of a man.
So we can actually trust Jesus and Jesus doesn't trust us.
So the Bible says. And then in John 15, he says, I
no longer call you disciples, but now I call you my friends
for the things that my father has taught me, I have taught
you. And so one of the ways you know
that somebody is a friend of God is that you'll hear things
coming out of their mouth that you've never heard from anybody
else, not contrary to the Scripture, always in line with
the Scripture. But you'll hear little snippets
of truth or little secrets that God has shared with them in
their quiet time. Just little values and little
ways they treat their wives and ways they bring up their kids
and. Think wow.
God has actually trusted them with some amazing things.
So let's look to Genesis 15, and I really want to do a sermon
called Be Careful of the Vultures, chapter 15, and we'll
go a little bit about what we went last week after this, say
after this, say after this. So many people say it's because
of the war that he had fought. I think it's because he had just
tired. So you're just tired.
You'd stepped out, you'd given 10% and actually became scared.
Money and God and situations and circumstances are very scary
things. So don't worry, we're not going
to take up an offering. Later the word of the Lord came
to Abraham in a vision. Do not be afraid of Abraham.
I'm your shield, your protection, your very great
reward, your provision. But Abraham said, O sovereign
Lord, what can you give me since I remained childless?
And the one who will inherit my state is Eliezer of Damascus.
And Abraham said, you have given me no children, so a servant in
my household will be my heir. And the word of the Lord came to
him. This man will not be your heir,
but a sun coming from your own body will be your heir.
He's 100 years old, eh? Look at your body.
Some of us, it's more scarier than others, eh?
Look at it. He's 100 years old.
His wife is 90. They lived in the desert.
Can you imagine what she looked like?
You go to King's Meet, you'll probably find what she looked
like. I mean a licker drawn piece of
drew, a horse made harder. So like this, you, Abraham and
that cheeky wiki of yours are going to have a baby.
My baby. He took him outside and he said,
look up at the heavens and count the stars, and I hope you've
been doing that this week. If indeed you can't count them.
Then he said to him, so shall your offspring be.
Abraham believed the Lord. Abraham believed the Lord.
Say that Abraham believe the Lord.
How do we become friends with God?
We believe him. How do we become friends with
each other? We believe each other.
Abraham believed the Lord and he credited it to him as
righteousness. Say credited to him.
Keep please close your eyes. I want to read Romans 4 over
you. You can go and read it a bit
later. Close your eyes everybody.
This is Romans 4 verse 8. It's not going on the screen.
Just close your eyes against all hope, against all hope.
After this, after what? After 2025, after your divorce,
after the loss of your child, against all hope.
Abraham in hope believed. Keep your eyes closed.
I've just spoken to a lady in this church.
Four years ago, she dug the ground of a dream, and that
dream died a long, slow, painful death.
But against all hope in hope she believed.
And this week she moves in to her new property.
Against all hope. And hope believed.
Why are you sitting here? Just to remind you that against
all hope in hope believed. And so became the father of many
nations. Just as it had been said of him,
so shall your offspring be. Without weakening his faith, he
faced the fact that his body was as good as dead.
So knees, so ankles, so back, so shoulders, so system, so
everything. Without weakening in his faith,
he faced the fact that his body was as good as this since he was
about 100 years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 90
years old. Menopause. 40 years before dead,
Her womb was dead. No more periods, no more living
organisms inside of her, no more cells dead.
Yet He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promises
of God, but was strengthened in his faith.
And he gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had
power to do what He had promised.
I'm not sure why you're here, but I want to tell you this.
I am fully persuaded that God is able to do what He has promised.
This is why. This is why it was credited.
Say credited, eyes closed, credited.
The way we build friendship is by giving each other credits.
It was credited to Him as righteousness.
The words it was credited to Him were written not for him alone,
but also for us to whom God will credit righteousness, for us who
believe in Him who raised Jesus. Our Lord.
From the dead, say this, I am credited.
Good morning, let's keep reading.
He also said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of the
air of the Chaldeans. He also said to him, I am the
Lord who bought you. I say bought you out.
Keep the scripture up there. Every about four times a year
I'll meet with the legends of the city.
There's a man who decided that he wanted to honor the fathers
of the city. So men like Dirkie Funder Spay,
who was from interim Arletta, and Neville Norden from Lebanon
Worth. And a very beautiful man called
Doctor Isaac Burger, who was the head of the AFM, the Archaeus.
When I was a 28 year old pastor going through a really tough
time, I was at a conference with a whole lot of just all these
hotshot guys. I think I was the youngest guy.
I was sitting at a table and Doctor Issaq Bridgar came and
sat next to me and said, are you all right young man?
I said, hey doctor, it's tough. And I remember him grabbing my
arm and praying for me in Afrikaans.
Here, Mulsa father, here, Mulsa father.
I'd breakfast to them this week. Amazing just to sit to these men
and they talk about what God has done in Pretoria.
But I met a man called Martin Smith from a church called Ibaka
this week. They baptized 650 people.
Let's thank God I'm the only English out there.
He said if he had Rory, what's Muttala 8 fights.
Muttala inset was one of eight fights.
And I Muttala inset and I said don't fight Martin.
He said don't steer. Look at that.
I am the Lord who brought you out.
Say I'm the Lord who brought you out.
What friendship does it brings us out of anything that
captivates us or kept holds us captive to anything.
The first thing God does, he brings us out out of sin, out of
religion, out of bad habits, out of our disqualification.
And he. Takes us into that which he has
for us. And what we go into is it's just
as important as what we come out of because there's no point in
coming out of sin and going into a religious system that keeps
you captive. I was sitting recently in a
church with people and we were talking and there's a Deacon who
lives about an hour away. And the pastor said, I said, how
you doing and how do you get there?
I said, sometimes it takes me an hour and 20 minutes.
And the pastor said, I wish you would come to more Sunday
services. I said, why don't you just leave
him? Because not his attendance at
Sunday services, it's actually his heart commitment to the
things of God. And I'm sure he'll get there
when he wants to. Because you can't come to church
because somebody's expecting you to come to church, or somebody's
ticking off a box to come to church or so.
Because you can't come out of a system that's holding you
captive into another system that's holding you captive.
That's not friendship. You come out of a system into
freedom. And in that freedom you start to
learn to obey God. But it's not obedience that gets
us the pleasure with God. It's the finished work of
Christ. Does that make sense to you,
friends? So come out.
Come out of your staff, come out of your religious practices.
That's all. When people call me pastor said
don't come out of that stuff. It's a system.
I'm Rory, come out of your stuff and let's operate in complete
freedom. So God knows I'm the Lord who
brought you out of I'm the Lord who brought you out of.
Close your eyes and say, what does God need to bring you out
of habits, traditions, sin. I am the Lord who brought you
out of out of. If we are true friends, we would
bring each other out of anything that stops us from fulfilling
the call of God in our lives or living in the fullness of what
God has designed us for. We've got to pull people out of.
We've got to rescue people. Some of you know this story, but
I have a watch, gold watch that my dad gave me that was given to
him by a man called Ian Duggan. There was a flood in in in East
London and and Mr. Duggan, who my dad worked for his wife got
stuck on the top of a roof of a double story house with a river
raging through people getting washed down.
People got washed out to sea. And this woman was stuck on a
double story roof. And my dad and his friend went
in a canoe 1 kilometer upriver and they went in and they got
washed down by this flood, got to his house, put his wife in
the boat and brought her out there.
I thought if that my dad can get her out of that mess.
Can you imagine what my heavenly Father can do and every now and
again I just hold that watch in my hand.
It's a bit outdated now, but and the backer says to Ian love the
Duggan family. Thank you and I think he just
got it out of must remember this God gets us out of anything that
stops his. Purpose on our lives.
Particularly the habits. Of sin.
I was looking at 1 John chapter 3.
If you walk with God, you cannot keep.
On sinning. You cannot, it's impossible, for
then you have neither seen him. Or know him.
But Abraham said, O sovereign Lord.
How? Can I know?
O Sovereign Lord, how can I know?
We're talking about Christmas. We're talking about how can you
know that God is going to do everything that he?
Said he's. Going to do.
For you. How can you know?
How can you honestly sit here with deep assurance in your
heart while all the people are outside there?
Can you imagine the atheist at Christmas time?
Who do they say thank you to? They feel so thankful, but who
do they thank? How do you know that I will gain
possession of it? So the Lord said to him, bring
me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with
a dove and a young pigeon. Abraham bought all of these to
him, cut them in two and arranged the horse opposite each
other. The birds IEB did not cut in
two. Can you imagine, friends, what a
mess that is? I mean, let's just read it.
Ah, that sounds awesome. Have you ever seen an animal get
cut? Ever said the sheep get cut?
The cutter. That's when you cut its neck in
heart. When you cut it in two.
Can you imagine that? Didn't have chainsaws just with
a saw. I wonder when you stopped at the
top or the bottom. I know if you started the head
or the BEP. Imagine that.
Blood spurting everywhere. We're about to enter covenant.
We're about to go into covenant. I was at a wedding the other
day. Beautiful virgin bride,
beautiful white dress, beautiful white cake.
I looked at it and thought if God did this, he would just cut
the cough in half. Can you imagine that?
Then it goes one of the worst things of my life.
I've given money to the Anton Fonvo Trust.
I know some of you are Voki's, so sorry about that, but the
Anton front row trust have a fundraiser every year.
It's like you're gonna buffle quip a kind of glutter buffle
quip. May buffle is crutter as yo
buffle and next song near Batal for may buffle as Jason Batal
for yo buffle buffle. But I'm standing there, the only
English oak for about 100. Miles.
And they bring a sheep head that's been.
Split in half. And they give me a knife and I
look at that, I think, yeah, what must I do with that?
So you want? Them yet which part?
The eye, the tongue, the brain, and can you?
Imagine he cuts this thing in half.
And there's just guts and brains and.
Eyes. And tongue, tongue.
You actually eat tongue. You're Afrikaner smoked tongue.
Calm down my Hastings Hunbiki Tong.
Yet it's like, goodness gracious me, I cannot taste anything that
can taste me back. Can you?
Can you possibly, can you possibly imagine as it's going
down, it's like and I think it's sitting in my tummy and it's
sort of licking the inside. But he's saying I'm going to
enter a covenant and it's going to be a covenant of blood and be
a covenant of blood. And what you should actually do
is take the groom and the bride and actually walk them amongst
the entrails and the guts and the blood in that beautiful
white. Dress.
So when they walk in the car, they will realize that not only
in covenant with each other, but they're in covenant with God,
splattered with the blood of the sacrifice.
And sometimes we whiten everything down to a little
sheet of paper to say actually, we're going to enter a covenant
and and actually just please hold on because the past.
Is going to sign the covenant and the two people are going to
sign the covenant. Becomes a very clean thing.
It wasn't. That clean in the Old Testament,
it was quite. Gory.
It was quite. Sacrificial, but but Abraham
understood it. It's very open.
Then birds of prey. He put that picture up.
Ricks. Then birds of prey came.
Down to the carcasses. But Sophie asked Will.
Because the moment. You enter into covenant.
The vultures will come and take away that which is vital.
To your well-being, you put it up.
It's quite hectic. Then birds of prey came down on
the Caucasus, but Abraham drove them away.
Who's the father of our faith? What did he get happened?
He got credited with righteousness.
You and I have been credited with righteousness.
But what happens after credited with righteousness?
The vultures come down. The vultures.
Circle in December. The Voltzer Circle in December.
Just waiting. For a little gap when we take
the eye off the ball so they. Can come down.
You see, Stephen and I are in covenant.
Inside of that covenant is Lovejoy, peace, patience,
kindness, gentleness. Self-control.
And if we just take our eye off the ball for a little bit and
the Vulture comes and takes patience away, just takes
patience away, sits in the tree and eats the liver of patience
or the kidney of patience, our friendship is fine as long as
there's love and peace. And joy.
But when you need to exercise patience and that piece of the
sacrifice is. Gone.
You've got to be. Very careful.
December is when things go funny.
After this, after this busy year, you must know we are in
covenant and covenant will protect us.
But be careful because the vultures are circulating.
The vultures are circulating, but Abraham drove them away.
As the sun was setting, Abraham fell into a deep sleep and a
thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
The Lord said to him, know for certain, how must I know?
Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in
a country not their own and they will be enslaved and mistreated
400 years. But I will punish the nation
they serve as slaves. And afterwards say afterwards,
didn't doesn't it start with after this, starts with after
this, and it says afterwards. But actually the sacrifice
happens before they go into Egypt.
So you think, is that afterwards or was it before?
Well, if we understand friendship, it's afterwards and
before. So before they go into Egypt,
the sacrifice has taken place and afterwards they put the door
on the posts, the blood on the posts.
So we are absolutely locked in the covenant of God.
Let me explain it to you like this without taking up an
offering. You think that I've been in the
church for 30-4 years, that the biggest month financing in the
church should be December because that's when everybody
gets bonuses. But it's the worst.
It's the worst month. Why?
Christmas? Busyness, Presents.
Not all sorts of things. School.
Fees, all sorts of things. But this is how it goes.
Before December, we are in covenant.
After December, we are in covenant.
If you don't tithe, you're still in covenant.
You're still in covenant because our covenant is not dependent on
our obedience. Our obedience is dependent on
the covenant. You understand that, friends?
And when January starts, before January starts, we are in
covenant. And after January ends, we are
still in covenant. And So what happens, Rory, if I
miss two months of tithing? You're still in covenant.
No one's checking, but be careful the vultures, because
they can steal with you what's absolutely important to live in
fullness. You understand I'm free, but
there's also robbery. Understand that.
And in that. Place we find.
Unbelievable freedom. You are able to go to your
father's in peace and be buried at a good old age in the 4th
generation. Your descendants will come back
here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached
this full measure when the sun had set and.
Darkness had fallen. A smoking fire pot with a
blazing torch. Appeared and passed.
Between the pieces on that day the Lord made a covenant and
said to your descendants, I'll give this land from the river of
Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates, the land of the
Kenneth Skinnerzides, Cadmanites, Hittites,
Pirozzites, Riphites, Amorites, Canonites, Gigazites, Jebusites
and Stillbiites. You know how God cut the?
Covenant. He put Abraham to sleep.
You and I have got absolutely no role.
In the covenant. It's made by him and it's kept
by him even when we don't keep it and he.
Says I'm going to give. You a piece of land from here to
here to here to here. And no.
One can steal that land. Away from you.
Said What happens if I'm sleeping, Lord?
He said I'm going to do it. While you're sleeping and what
he's basically saying how covenant works is if I don't
keep my end, I'll end up like these animals dead and people
enter covenant in marriage and I think when the pressure.
Gets tough. They just say cheers guys.
I'm out of here. That little piece of white
paper, No, friends. That little piece of white paper
is actually. Animals cut in half and
eventually. Because it becomes very.
Dark. It's fast.
Asleep eventually, God says in order to implement.
This. Now I'm going to have to do this
in the New Testament. I'm going to have to make
everything dark and I'm going to have to cut my son.
The blood of the new Covenant, The blood of the.
New Covenant. You see, friends, we we enter
into Covenant very quickly. Say what they do in the gangs,
they cut here, they cut here and they say.
We Blood Brothers. And then you've got to keep the
covenant. But God said, I tell you what,
I'm going to cut my son. And that blood is going to.
Be enough after. This.
And before this. And after this.
And before this. And after this and before this
and after this, and before this and after this and before this
and after this and before this
and after this and before this. And you're saying, what about if
I mess up December and January? Then may the brackets of the
credited covenant of God cover you.
But remember. Be careful, the vultures.
Thank you.