Intro:
1. Ira D. Sankey, the composer, relates the following incident regarding the birth of this hymn:
Simply trusting every day, trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus—that is all.
Singing if my way is clear, praying if the path be drear;
If in danger, for Him call, trusting Jesus—that is all.
2. All of our problems are really only imaginary, reminds me of an article by a medical doctor who told of examining an increasing number of patients with various alleged symptoms, and of how he finally had to coin a new word when determining a diagnosis - "in-cop-ability."
These were people who had no apparent physical problems but somehow were just unable to cope with the pace, pressures, and problems of contemporary life.
Tragically this "in-cop-ability," in turn, often triggers a whole chain reaction of physical, emotional, and spiritual responses which can be devastating to our lives.
How important, that we simple trust in the Person and Promises of God - trusting Jesus no matter what our senses tell us, that is all!
3. The Appointed Seed Must Succeed.
Trans:Gen. 4:25-26
Wiersbe, "The only ray of hope in that dark day was God's promise that a Redeemer would one day be born of the woman and conquer the serpent (3:15).
But Abel was dead, so he couldn't beget a child [to continue the seed line]; Would God's promise be fulfilled? How could it be fulfilled?
God is sovereign in all things and His plans aren't frustrated by the foolish and sinful ways of mankind. Because He is the sovereign God, He "works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Eph. 1:11, nkjv).
The Lord enabled Eve to conceive and bear a son whom she named Seth ("granted") because God had appointed him to replace Abel."
I. FIRST, THE PREDICTION OF A COMING SEED.
"And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." Genesis 3:15 (NASB)
"This is a glorious promise: some descendent of the woman was to destroy the serpent. The serpent would strike the descendent's heel and bruise him, but the descendent would strike the final and fatal blow. The descendent would crush the serpent's head. This is definitely a promise of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Note: this is the first promise of the Savior in the Bible, and the promise is unconditional: the Savior would come and He would destroy the serpent (tempter) in order to reconcile man with God." [Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible]
They are Certain— "Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant." 1 Kings 8:56 (NASB)
They are Completed by God's ability—in Christ:
"and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform." Romans 4:21
"For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us." 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NASB)
They should be Cherished and Claimed— "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." 2 Peter 1:4 (NASB)
There are approximately 8,810 promises in the entire Bible. In the Old Testament there are 7,706 and in the New Testament there are 1,104 wonderful promises...
When Christian and Hopeful lay helpless prisoners in Doubting Castle, the property of Giant Despair, Christian said, `What a fool I am, thus to be in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty! I have a key in my bosom, called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.' Then he pulled it out of his bosom and began to try at the dungeon door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back, and the door flew open with ease, and Christian and Hopeful both came out.
Then he went to the outward door that leads into the castle yard, and with his key opened that door also. After that he went to the iron gate, for that must be opened too, but that went desperately hard; yet the key did open it.
Escaping from By-path meadow, they went over the stile, where they erected a pillar with this notice: 'Over this stile is the way to Doubting Castle, which is kept by Giant Despair, who despiseth the King of the Celestial country and seeks to destroy his holy pilgrims.'
Then they sang:
`Out of the way we went, and then we found
What it was to tread upon forbidden ground.
And let them that come after have a care
Lest they, for trespassing, his prisoners are,
Whose castle's Doubting and whose name's Despair.'—John Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress
II. FURTHERMORE, THE PREDICTION OF THE SEED-LINE.
Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, "God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel... - 25a
Only God have preserved the seed line from Seth to our Lord...
We can trace it through the scriptures - Gen. 5:6-32; 11:10-26; 21:3; 25:26; 29:35; 38:29; 46:12/ 1 Chron. 29:9-15...Mt. 1:17.
Sailhamer, "Chapter 5, shows just how seriously the author takes the promise 3:15. The focus is on the "seed," and the One will crush the head of the snake. A pattern is established in chapter 4 that will remain the thematic center of the book. The one, through whom the promised seed will come, is not the heir apparent, that is, the eldest son, but the one who God chooses, Able the younger of the two sons, received God's favor; Seth, still the younger son, replaced Abel."
IF just one those men had DIED WITH CHILDREN or IF all they had were girls - the seed-line would have ceased and the promised proven to be false...
III. NEXT, THE PERSECUTION OF THE SEED-LINE.
A. He tried to destroy the Seed-line.
whom Cain killed - What would you if you were the Devil? Try and break the seed-line! Who inspired Cain to kill Abel?
8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12 not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. 1 John 3:8-12 (NASB)
Satan thought - if I kill Abel, the seed of the woman will not come - but Adam was still alive, and another seed was to be born to replace Able.
"1 When Ath-a-li-ah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death. 3 So he was hidden with her in the house of the LORD six years, while Athaliah was reigning over the land. 2 Kings 11:1-3 (NASB)
J. Vernon McGree, "She [Ath-ah-LIE-ah, the queen mother] tries to exterminate the line of David. This was another attempt of Satan to destroy the line, that is leading to the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan attempted to wipe out the line of David, so that, the Savior would not be born. Down through the ages, the devil has tried, to eliminate the Jews.
In Egypt, the Lord preserved Moses, and the Jews were not slain, but allowed to leave Egypt. Haman in the book of Esther, attempted to exterminate the Jew, but was foiled. Satan was behind, each of these attempts. And now, here this woman is attempting, to exterminate the line of David."
Jer. 22:24-30 - Jehoiachin [Coniah, Jeconiah] was king of Judah, who did evil in the sight of the Lord, remember sin and Satan go hand in hand! Satan was delighted with God refused to let any of his descendants sit on the throne of Judah...looked like he ended the seed-line!
Ryrie, "childless. Although Coniah had seven sons (perhaps adopted; cf. 1 Chron. 3:17), none occupied the throne. So, as far as a continuing dynasty was concerned, Coniah was to be considered "childless."
Although his line of descendants retained the legal throne rights, no physical descendant (no man of his descendants) would ever prosperously reign on the Davidic throne.
The genealogy of Matthew traces the descent of Jesus through Solomon and Jeconiah (Heb., Coniah; Matthew 1:12); this is the genealogy of Jesus' legal father, Joseph. Luke traces Jesus' physical descent back through Mary and Nathan to David, bypassing Jeconiah's line and showing accurately the fulfillment of this prophecy of Jeremiah.
If Jesus had been born only in the line of Joseph (and thus of Jeconiah), He would not have been qualified to reign on the throne of David in the Millennium."
Satan cannot stop God's Plan for our lives!
From a great chess player of Cincinnati, we learn that in the early part of the last century an artist who was also a great chess player painted a picture of a chess game. The players were a young man and Satan.
The young man manipulated the white pieces; Satan the black pieces. The issue of the game was this: should the young man win, he was to be forever free from the power of evil; should the devil win, the young man was to be his slave forever. The artist evidently believed in the supreme power of evil, for his picture presented the devil as victor.
In the conception of the artist, the devil had just moved his queen and had announced a checkmate in four moves. The young man's hand hovered over his rook; his face paled with amazement—there was no hope. The devil wins! He was to be a slave forever.
For years, this picture hung in a great art gallery. Chess players from all over the world viewed the picture. They acquiesced in the thought of the artist. The devil wins! After several years a chess doubter arose; he studied the picture and became convinced that there was but one chess player upon the earth who could give him assurance that the artist of this picture was right in his conception of the winner.
The chess player was the aged Paul Morphy, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana. Morphy was a supreme master of chess in his day, an undefeated champion. A scheme was arranged through which Morphy was brought to Cincinnati to view the chess picture.
Morphy stood before the picture, five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes. He was all concentration; he lifted and lowered his hands as, in imagination, he made and eliminated moves. Suddenly, his hand paused, his eyes burned with the vision of an unthought-of combination. Suddenly, he shouted, "Young man, make that move. That's the move!"
To the amazement of all, the old master, the supreme chess personality, has discovered a combination that the creating artist had not considered. The young man defeated the Devil.
B. He also tried to Destroy the Seed itself.
"Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi." Matthew 2:16 (NASB)
Many many times they tried to stone Jesus; throw him off a cliff; etc. As God's Word promised Jesus made it to the cross and crushed Satan head!
Lucas Sibanda, a South African was walking along a remote path, minding his own business when a python slithered out from behind some shrubs. Sibanda froze. Within a few seconds the snake had wrapped itself around him and began constricting.
Pythons, are large snakes that suffocate its victims before swallowing them whole.
Sibanda was trapped. He didn't know how he would escape. "I decided the only way to save myself from this monster was to bite it just below the head," Sibanda told the Star newspaper. He bit, he kicked and he punched the snake until it released him. Sibanda killed the reptile with a stick, took it home and skinned it.
Satan wraped his death grip on Christ at the cross - but Jesus rose from the dead and now we are released from Satan terrible grip!
Trans:In spite of Satan's fierce persecution, God preserved the seed-line and the seed.
Charles Stanley, "God's Word stands. The evil king Jehoiakim of Judah proves that while someone may physically destory the pages of the Bible:
"When Jehudi had read three or four columns, the king cut it with a scribe's knife and threw it into the fire that was in the brazier, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was in the brazier." Jeremiah 36:23 (NASB)
But no one may prevent the fulfillment of even a single work spoken by the mouth of God. His Word stands, regardless of what men [or Satan] may do. God always keeps His promises, whether for blessing or judgment."
IV. FOURTHLY, THE PERSUATION OF THE SEED-LINE.
To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD -
A. First, the Prostration.
Enosh - Boice, "Seth names his son, Enosh meaning "frail one" or "mortal." Instead of boastful about himself, as Lamech did, Seth confessed his need of God. If God is up, then man is inevitably down."
B. Furthermore, the Persuasion - to be God centered.
1. The Difficulty of the message.
Men began to call on - the problem is the word "began" - did not Adam and Eve and Able call upon the Lord before this?
(1) First, we are not exactly sure what the word "called upon" means. One thing for sure, this word is not used before - either by Adam, Eve, or Able.
(2) It is liking speaking of Public Worship which is not mentioned before.
on the LORD - seems to contradict Ex. 6:3 which declares, "By My name LORD I was not known to them." How can Moses say this, when in our passage it says they "called upon the name of the LORD?"
Morris, "This problem is easily resolved by inserting a question mark after the declaration. "By the name LORD I was not known to them?" Thus becoming a rehtorical question, whose obvious answer is yes. Since Hebrew sentences were not puctuated directly, the proper emphasis and divisions must be supplied by the context; and this seems quite appropriate in this case."
(3) The Possibility of the meaning - call on?
Net, "This expresson refers to worshipping the LORD through prayer and sacrifice."
Nelson Study Bible note, "These words can hardly mean that, only now, did people begin to pray to God. Rather, the verb call means "to make proclamation." That is, this is the beginning of preaching, of witnessing, and testifying in the name of the LORD."
V. FINALLY THE PRESENTATON OF THE SEED. Lu.3:23-38
The point is - this is proof that Jesus was the Messiah - a proof that can not be provided after 70 AD
Hal, "After 70 AD when the temple was destroyed, all the birth-records were lost at that time. If someone had tried to make the claim of being the Messiah, the Son of David [the promised seed], after 70AD, there was no way he could prove it. Whoever Messiah was, he had to come, before 70 AD."
Carroll Roberson, "The promise of Gen. 49:10, that the Sceptre [rule] will not depart Judah, till He comes. The Sceptre departed in 70 AD, when the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world. So this person must come before 70 A.D.
He came just as God Promised, and He will come again just as God promised also...
Stanley, "We trust God to accomplish what He promised us in His Word. But the real battle of faith comes when He appears not to respond to our trust.
What should we do when God appears to have ignored our request? Will we continue to rely upon Him, despite the disappointment? Or will we turn away from the Lord in discouragement? Do we have confidence in Him regardless of the circumstances? Do we cling to God and His Word despite the silence." Num. 23:19
Con:
1. The Appointed Seed Must Succeed.
2. Life is simpler then we think - trusting God's Person and Promises - that is all!
3. I use rope a lot - to tie down the dog; to pull things up to the shop; to tie a tire to a tree branch, so the kids can play on it; I have a long, strong rope - the problem is, it keep getting shorter! It kept unraveling at one end.
One day I simple tied a knot and solved the problem, it does not unravel anymore.
I tell you simple placing all of your trust in God and His promises will stop you life from unraveling - that is all!
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
