SERMON GM16-079
SERIES: Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel
Defined, Explained, and Applied
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM (April 10th, 2016)
SUMMARY:
How to Be Right with
God (Part 10)
Romans 4:17-22
Translation
"…even as it has been written, I
have appointed you the father of many nations before God whom he believed the (one) making the dead live and calling the things that are not being as
being, who beyond hope believed on hope for him becoming the Father of many
nations according to what had been written, so shall your seed be. And not
weakening in faith, he did not consider his body to have died, being about 100
years old, and the death of Sarah’s womb. Not hesitated at the promise of God
by unbelief but was empowered (by)
faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that he is able to do
that he promised. Therefore, it was counted to him for righteousness.”
Central Proposition of
the Text (CPT)
Theme: The nature of Abraham’s faith
Thrust: the promise was fulfilled through
faith
Abraham
did not waver in his faith
God
is able to perform in spite of circumstances
faith
was rewarded
Full Statement: Abraham’s faith produced fulfillment of the promise since he
did not waver due to believing God was able to perform what He promised in
spite of impossible circumstances which resulted in his declaration of
righteousness.
Outline
2A The Illustration of Righteousness (Vss.
4:1-22)
1B Faith
and Chores (Vss. 1-8)
2B Faith
and Circumcision (Vss. 9-12)
3B Faith
and Commandments (Vss. 13-22)
1C Because the promise is only obtainable by grace (13)
2C Because faith would be emptied and promise would be voided (14)
3C Because the law can only produce wrath (15)
4C Because it opens the promise to all of Abraham’s seed (16)
5C Because the faith is greater than the commandments (17-22)
1D The Focus of Abraham’s Faith (17-18)
2D The Force of Abraham’s Faith (19-20)
3D The Foundation of Abraham’s Faith (21)
1E The Veracity of God
2E The Vigor of God
4D The Fruit of Abraham’s Faith (22)
The Purpose of the Sermon
(CPS)
Please open your Bibles to Romans
4:17-22
How to Be Right with God - Part 10
Today’s Truth is:
Abraham’s faith produced fulfillment since he did not waver
due to believing God was able to perform in spite of impossible circumstances
which resulted in his declaration of righteousness.
Our gracious Father, help us as we
hear your holy Word read and taught to truly understand; and with our understanding,
that we might believe and believing, we might be in all things faithful and
obedient.
So Father we ask you, through your
Holy Spirit to open our hearts and our minds for the sake, the honor, and the
glory of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that as the Scriptures are read
and your Word explained, we may hear with joy what you say to us today.
We ask you Father to show us all
that Christ is and what He has done for us by His atoning work on the cross of
Calvary.
Father, will you enable me to
clearly communicate the word of God to your people, I ask you for power and
unction to preach your word. Amen.
Our text for today is Romans
4:17-22
Henry Ford came up with a
revolutionary plan for a new kind of engine.
Ford was very eager to get his great new idea into production. He had
some men draw up the plans, and he presented them to his engineers. As the
engineers studied the drawings, one by one they came to the same exact conclusion.
Their visionary boss did not know much about the fundamental principles of
engineering. They had to find the right way to tell him—that his dream was
impossible. This engine could not be built and made to work. Ford said, Ford
told them, “Produce it anyway.”
They said, “It’s impossible.” “Go
ahead,” Ford ordered them, “and stay on the job until you succeed, no matter
how much time is required.”
For six months they struggled with
drawing after drawing and design after design. They came up with nothing. Then
another six months went by. Still nothing! At the end of the year Ford checked
with his engineers and once again they told him that what he wanted was
impossible. Ford told them to keep going. So they did.
And in the face of the impossible, they discovered how to build what we know as the
V-8 engine.
Abraham believed the impossible
This
morning I want to speak to you about genuine belief or faith – or more
specifically, Abraham believed God in spite of the seemingly impossible
circumstances. Abraham believed God’s promise even though it was humanly
impossible to fulfill the promise that God had made. Abraham was 99 years old.
Typically a man, if he is still alive at that age loses his ability to produce
children. Not only was Abraham nearly 99 years old Sarah was well past
child-bearing years. As a matter of fact her womb was spoken as “dead.” The
natural thing for both of them would be to do as Sarah did, laugh. Having a
baby at 99 years old and well past menopause under most circumstances would be
impossible.
Physical
and biological factors normally would shut down any type of faith when these
type of impossible circumstances were present. In our culture, we tend to want
to see the end from the beginning and to know going in that the end result will
come about. We have the tendency to concentrate on what we know, what we can
see, or what we can or cannot do. We have the tendency to live our lives by
sight and in the daylight rather than to live by faith and in the “dark.”
It is
true that living by faith can be scary. I guess that is why so few do it. The
ultimate question that you must face is whether you will trust God or believe
God even when the circumstances seem to impossible.
There
are times in our life when we are brought up against situations where there
does not seem to be any answer, provision, or solution in sight. I have come to
call those times, “He Can or He Can’t.” Our culture would shout loudly, “He
Can’t, or He Won’t, or He Don’t” – the world believes or has faith in what they
can see, touch, feel, verify, and etc.
Unfortunately
even genuine believers have also encountered the “Can he or Can’t He” times and
failed to trust God. They have tried to work through, solve, eradicate, or fix
impossible situations or scenarios when they encountered them. I know I have.
And in those cases, though God’s grace never vanished, they missed out on
intended blessings.
There
is no dispute from Scripture that Abraham believed God. This belief or faith
resulted in God declaring Abraham to be just and God imputing righteousness to
Abraham. You must remember, however, that He believed God in the face of the
impossible. But, Abraham believed God.
We
need to always keep in mind that God can do the impossible. God’s promises and
provisions are often a matter of faith or absolute trust. Whatever you face today,
or tomorrow, or in the future, God expects and requires you to have absolute
faith, trust, and dependence upon God even if the circumstances seem virtuously
impossible.
But
like Thomas, an intimate disciple of Jesus who saw the impossible frequently
conquered, we often falter or stumble in the face of impossible situations.
Let me
suggest two (2) areas where we falter or stumble with lack of faith in the face
of impossible situations.
Faith against the impossible 1: Giving or Living. There is no question that believers are
encouraged to give to God. There are at least three (3) qualifiers to our
giving; we are told to give cheerfully, sacrificially, and in relationship to
our income. First, let me say that I know and am aware of the false,
unbiblical, and even stupid teaching that exists in some of our churches today
about giving. All most all of what is taught is not defendable by Scripture. We
are to give in accordance with our income, we are to give sacrificially, and we
are to give cheerfully. The Scripture teaches that we will be blessed by our
faith in God demonstrated in our giving. But many believers are afraid to give,
especially sacrificially. Believers can be financial hoarders. Many believers
do not trust God to meet there needs. They believe that if they don’t take care
of themselves no one will.
Philippians
4:19 says, "God will meet all your needs according to His glorious
riches in Christ Jesus." This verse is so chalk full of
good stuff! I want you to notice several words.
First
it says, "God will..." It doesn't say,
"He might meet your needs" it says "He will." It's a
fact. He's staking his character and his reputation on it. "I
will meet your needs."
Then
it says, "God will meet all..." It
doesn't say "I'll meet some of your needs" He says all. Our
basic needs are food, clothing, and shelter.
It
doesn't say "I'll meet all your greeds." There's a difference between
needs and wants. God's not going to give you everything you want; you'd be
spoiled to death. But it says, "I will meet all your needs" according
to his wealth, his riches. It's not based on your assets. It's based on
what God has and he doesn't run out of resources.
Abraham believed God in
the face of the impossible
Faith against the Impossible 2: God’s power in this dark and wicked world. Again, there is
no question that this world is wicked, evil, and full of darkness. There seems,
especially today to very little “light.” Many believers do not see God working.
Even pastors get discouraged because God does not seem to be working – it seems
impossible for God to do anything today. So, many believers excuse their lack
of commitment or obedience. They excuse their worldliness their love of this
world because they are not seeing God work, move, or bless in this wicked
world.
Faith
honors God and God honors faith!
Missionaries
Robert and Mary Moffat are a good illustration of our point. For 10 years they worked
faithfully in Bechuanaland (now called Botswana) without one ray of
encouragement to brighten their way. They could not report a single convert.
Finally the directors of their mission board began to question the wisdom of
continuing the work.
The
thought of leaving their post, however, brought great grief to this devoted
couple, for they felt sure that God was in their labors, and that they would
see people turn to Christ in due season. They stayed; and for a year or two
longer, darkness prevailed.
Then one day a friend in England sent word to
the Moffats that she wanted to mail them a gift and asked what they would like.
Trusting that in time the Lord would bless their work, Mrs. Moffat replied,
"Send us a communion set; I am sure it will soon be needed." God
honored that dear woman's faith. The Holy Spirit moved upon the hearts of the
villagers, and soon a little group of six converts was united to form the first
Christian church in that land. The communion set from England was delayed in
the mail; but on the very day before the first commemoration of the Lord's
super in Bechuanaland, the set arrived.
You
might be like most believers, we believe God for the “little” or simple things.
But when the impossible presents itself, many believers falter or stumble. We
say we trust God and that God is trustworthy, but being human, we often fall to
the temptation of becoming afraid and uncertain that God can really do what He has
said He would or can do.
Abraham believed God in
the face of the impossible
If you
are tempted by your flesh or the enemy to stumble at God’s promises – take hope,
do not fear, God is able to everything that He has said and promised to do
regardless of our hopeless or impossible the situation looks.
Before
we dive into our text let me give you an illustration where I had to believe
God in the face of the impossible.
In my
first year of Bible College Irene, our two older daughters and I had moved into
a one car garage that had been converted into a one bedroom studio apartment.
We moved in with the understanding by the landlord that my VA Benefits had not
yet arrived and that the job I had lined up fell through. He would get his get
in fees as soon as I received my VA check. Long story short, for some reason
the check was delayed longer than a month and the landlord evicted us. We had
never been evicted. Not only were we facing homelessness but my pride had taken
quite a hit.
As the
time approached for us to be out of this garage/studio, I was getting very
nervous and frightened. I was depressed, scared, and very worried. I didn’t
know how we would survive, where we would live, or what we would do. Even my
prayers gave me no help or comfort.
One
day, while walking down the street I saw a obviously handi-capped man painting
a small duplex. As normal people do we exchanged hellos. He saw something on my
face or in my posture because he asked me, ‘What was the matter?” I really didn’t
want to tell him and the question just made me more sick, depressed, and angry.
But for whatever reason I told him about me being in bible college, having
moved into the little garage, my VA benefits being delayed and the job falling
through, and our eviction. I told him I didn’t know what God was doing and what
I was going to do, especially for Irene and the girls.
He
simply said, “Why don’t you move in here?” I responded, “We’re being evicted,
we don’t have any money right now, and I don’t know when I am going to get any
money.” He said I have rented to other Christians who go to your school and
they pay their rent on time and don’t destroy my property. Move in and pay me
when you can.”
We did
move in. We didn’t pay him a dime. And for a couple of months it seems we didn’t
pay him a dime. But when my VA check came we paid him in full and lived there for
quite some time. God kept his promise to provide our basic need of housing in
the face of the impossible.
Abraham believed God in
the face of the impossible
My purpose today
is to proof that God can
be trusted to fulfill His word and all his promises regardless of how
impossible the circumstances are.
I refer you this
morning to Paul’s assertion that Abraham believed God in spite of the
impossible circumstances in Romans 4. As you may remember we are dealing
looking at Paul’s Illustration of Righteousness which is found in chapter 4,
vss. 13-22. We have seen that Paul has illustrated this righteousness by
contrast. We have already looked at three (3) ways that Paul has contrasted
Abraham’s righteousness.
The question that our passage today addresses
is what happened when Abraham believed God in spite of impossible circumstances?
As you know this
passage depicts the fact that Abraham believed God and God kept His promise completely.
Great things happen when we believe God and let God be God.
Today’s passage is
full of hope and encouragement for every believer. Let’s see just how much hope
we can garner by seeing that God has the ability or power to keep His word and
promises.
Review
We have already seen that Paul
illustrates the Provision of Righteousness through several contrasts.
FAITH AND CHORES (vss. 1-8)
Abraham believed God. What happened when Abraham believed
God? The Scripture says, “…it was accounted to him for
righteousness.”
FAITH AND CIRCUMCISION (VSS. 9-12)
“…but who also walk in the steps of the faith
which our Father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.”
FAITH AND COMMANDMENTS (Vss. 13-22)
Paul will developed the principle that
salvation is built on the foundation of divine grace that is freely given by
God and it is not given due to any human effort, including keeping the law.
Thus far we saw four (4) reasons for this:
Because the promise is
only obtainable by faith (Vs. 13)
“For not through the law the promise
to Abraham or his seed to be the heir of the world, but through righteousness
of faith.” (GDM
Translation)
Because faith would be
empty and the promise would be voided (Vs. 14)
“For if the heirs (are) of Law, faith has been rendered
ineffective and the promise has been destroyed.” (GDM translation from
Byzantine/Majority Text)
Faith would be empty or ineffective and the
promise would be destroyed
Because
the law produces wrath - it cannot secure an inheritance or blessing (15)
“For the law works out wrath,
therefore the law is neither transgression…”
Because
it is only given through the righteousness through faith (Vs. 16)
“Therefore it is of faith that it might be
according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only
to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham,
who is the father of us all.”
TRUTH
FOR TODAY
Our
theme today is – Abraham
believed God in face of the impossible
Proposition - Abraham’s faith produced fulfillment of the promise since he
did not waver due to believing God was able to perform what He promised in
spite of impossible circumstances which resulted in his declaration of
righteousness.
5C Because faith is greater than the commandments (17-22)
As we examine this section of Paul’s argument, we are
able to see four (4) elements of Abraham’s faith, the focus of Abraham’s faith, the force of Abraham’s faith, the
foundation of Abraham’s faith, and the
fruit of Abraham’s faith.
1D The
Focus of Abraham’s Faith (17-18)
(kaqws
gegraptai oti Ptera pollwn eqnwn teqeika
se katenanti ou episteuse qeou tou
zwopoiountos
tous nekrous kai kalountos ta mh onta
ws onta.
Os
par elpida ep elpidi episteusev eis to genesqai
auton patera pollwn eqnwn, kata to
eirhmenon,
outws estai to sperma sou.
“(even as it has been written, I have appointed you
the Father of many nations) before God, whom he believed, the (One) who gives life to the dead and
calls those things which are not as though they were, who contrary to hope, on
hope believed so that he should become a father of many nations, according to
what was spoken, ‘So shall your descendants be.’”
What or who did Abraham put his faith in? Our text
actually supplies the answer because the actual answer is not in the Greek
Text. Abraham put his faith in “The One”
Who is this one? It is…
·
The one who gives life to those who are dead
·
The one who calls those things which are not as being
Faith or
trust must always be focused in a person. A genuine believer’s faith always is
focused in or upon a divine person.
It is the
very presence of God that draws out our faith, verifies our faith and guarantees
our faith.
When our
faith is totally focused on God doubts, fears, and uncertainties from our
faith.
·
People will let us down
·
Pastors will let us down
·
Fellow believers will let us down
·
Organizations will let us down
Someone
once mentioned to a pastor, “It is do hard sometimes to believe.” The pastor
shot back, “To believe whom?”
Faith is
real, it is concrete, it is definite – faith must be focused on God. Especially
in the face of the impossible.
The
emphasis and focus of your faith must always be on God and not on faith or the
act of believing.
Not only was the focus a crucial
element of Abraham’s faith, we see secondly
2D The
Force of Abraham’s Faith (19-20)
kai mh
asqenhsas th pistei, ou katenohse to eautu swma hdh
nenekrwmenov ekatontaeths pou uparcwn kai thn nekrwsin ths
mhtros earras eis de thn epaggelian
tou qeou u diekriqn apistia
alla enedunamwqh th pistei, doxan tw
qew
“And not
being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he
was about a hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not
waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith,
giving glory to God.”
Abraham’s
faith was strong. It had great force.
Keep in mind there was the impossibility attached to
his age. Not only that, but remember, Sarah was well past child bearing age.
But this didn’t seem to face Abraham in the least. Our
text tells us that Abraham did not let the fact that he was about 100 years old
and Sarah was well past her abilities to have a child was not considered a
problem. Most men would have
The Revised Standard Bible just might have gotten
this aspect a little more accurate. The RSB reads, He considered his own body as
dead.
IOW, Abraham looked at the facts, he didn’t ignore
them, he faced the problem head on, gave the problem careful attention but in
spite of the circumstances the force of his faith in God was so strong it
actually encouraged him and made the force of his faith even stronger. Can you
believe that?
The force of Abraham’s faith was so strong that it encouraged
him. When was the last time that your faith was actually encouraged when you
faced what seemed like impossible circumstances?
O, to have a faith like Abraham’s!
Regardless of what translation is correct, we see
the magnificent force of his trust and faith against all impossible
circumstances.
Abraham rested, trusted, and believed God.
The
focus and the force of our faith is what God expects, what God gives, and what
God rewards.
There
is a third element of Abraham’s faith and that is…
3D The
Foundation of Abraham’s Faith (21)
kai
plhroforhqeis oti o ephggeltai dunatos esti
kai poihsai
“And being
fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.”
We don’t
have to spend a lot of time here, it is so clear as to what the foundation of
Abraham’s faith was. The reason that Abraham was so convinced that He would
receive the promise of God was he believed God. But he actually built his faith
on the foundation of two critical elements.
1E The
Veracity of God
“…what
He had promised…”
Abraham
believed God to be a “truth-teller.” He did not believe God would lie or at
best mislead Him. He knew and he believed because God had promised it. God had
said so!
Convinced
or persuaded gives us the idea that Abraham was completely won over. The truth
of God, the veracity of God had prevailed upon Abraham – Abraham believed that
if God said it, God would do it.
The
foundation of his faith was the truthfulness of God.
The
question we all have to answer is, do we believe in the truthfulness of God. It
is one thing to believe God, but deep down do we really believe in the
truthfulness of God?
So, Abraham built his faith on the
foundation of the truthfulness of God. Secondly Abraham built his faith on the
foundation of…
2E The
Vigor of God
“…He was also able to perform.”
It is one
thing to believe what someone tells you or promises you, but it is another
thing if they are able to do what they tell you or promise you.
Abraham had
incredible faith in God, but it wasn’t blind or unfounded faith. Abraham
believed that God could do what He said He would do, no matter how impossible
the circumstances were.
Abraham did
not question God’s ability.
In all
fairness there was a time when Abraham’s faith took a left turn. Abraham
believed the promise and power of God, but when he saw the impossibilities he
tried to help God out and produced Ishmael.
God came to
Abraham’s rescue, God strengthened the faith of Abraham, and enabled him to
trust in God completely, even in the face of the impossible.
Now and
then our faith will falter or stumble. We will look at impossible circumstances
and say, “But God…” And we will then try and help God out.
Thank God
he will forgive us, come to our rescue, strengthen our faith and do what He
said He would do.
As a side note here, faith finds
its strength and strengthening power not mystically or mysteriously, but in the
Word of God. Faith can only grow and be made strong by daily, regular, and deep
intake of the Bible.
Weak, faltering, or shallow faith
is the result of a lack of a steady diet of God’s word. Not just read – but meditated
on.
But bottom line, the truth is seen
in this quote by someone who once said, “God’s
ability is the foundation of faith’s stability.” If your faith is weak or
needs to be made stronger, the only means is get in the word.
Well, we have seen the focus of
Abraham’s faith – God; we have seen the force of Abraham’s faith – strong, did
not waver; we have seen the foundation of Abraham’s faith – God’s truthfulness
and God’s power or ability.
4D The
Fruit of Abraham’s Faith (22)
Dio kai
elogisqh autw eis dikaiosunhn
“…and therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
This is the
heart of our passage and the heart of the entire chapter.
Therefore
indicates that Paul is going to draw or make a conclusion from what he has
written in vss. 13-21. By doing so Paul believes he has explained Abraham’s
means of justification satisfactory to be that of faith, and not chores,
circumcision, or commandments (the Law.)
Genuine faith holds onto God’s
promises despite the circumstances and is rewarded by God.
This was the way in which God
rewarded Abraham’s faith. God honored Abraham by reckoning, considering,
imputing Abraham as righteous.
Faith does not merit salvation or
justification, but faith accepts salvation from God’s gracious hand. This is
the means by which Abraham, you and me, and all genuine believers are justified.
God imputed or considered Abraham
to be righteous, not by the law, nor by any works, but because Abraham believed
God.
Keep in mind that Abraham’s faith
did not deny the impossible circumstances, but genuine faith evaluates them in
light of God’s word and power and still believes.
No trust or faith in chores or
works, or in circumcision or ceremonies, or in keeping the Law will result in
justification.
Listen, Abraham was not perfect. He
stumbled – God picked him up and kept his promise to him. You may have or you
will stumble. God will pick you up and keep his promises to you.
A. R. Habershom once said, “When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.”
[CONCLUSION]
Let me conclude with this statement from Wilber
Wilberforce – “Accustom yourself to look
first to the dreadful consequences of failure; then fix your eye on the
glorious prize which is before you; and when your strength begins to fail, and
your spirits are well-nigh exhausted, let the animating view rekindle your resolution,
and call forth in renewed vigor the fainting energies of your soul.” ― William
Wilberforce
Amen.
Let’s pray! J
2 comments:
As always a wonderful Sunday uplift. Thanks Gregg.
Yvonne.
awesome
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