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Romans 4:18-25
As we know, Paul has finished almost 3 chapters of teaching that man is a sinner.
He proved that everyone is a sinner before God.
the moral man is a sinner
The religious man is a sinner
the Jews were sinners just like the Gentiles.
And he showed them that man cannot be justified by works, but only through faith in Jesus Christ.
He then began showing us through illustrations the truth of what he taught in chapter 3.
Within chapter four, Paul uses five arguments to refute the commonly held view that Abraham was justified by good works:
vs. 1-5 - Theological - where he picks apart theological ideas
vs. 6-8 - Hermeneutical - dealing with the interpretation of OT scripture.
We looked at those two last week.
vs. 9-12 - Historical - Looking at historical facts to illustrate his point.
vs. 13-17 - Logical - Logically applied the same faith that Abraham, how would that not be the same to those who would be his heirs?
vs. 18-25 - Experiential - Paul pointed to the experiences of Abraham and faith, and then Paul’s own experiences.
This fifth and final Illustration is what we look at tonight.
Today we are look at the fifth and final Illustration - the Experiential illustration.
Verse 18 begins with, “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to what was spoken, So shall thy seed be.”
There was no hope that Abraham and Sarah would give birth to a child that would in turn father many nations.
There was no reason to believe…there was no hope.
And yet, against all hope, he believed in hope!
When there was no hope…he still believed.
He had faith!
verse 20 says, “He staggered not [did not waver] at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.”
Abraham’s faith glorified God.
We too have the ability to glorify God through our faith.
However, there are some characteristics of this faith...
A Faith That Glorifies God ...
I. Believes God’s Word
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
When God something in Scripture we need to believe it!
If God said it…I believe it.
I know this world does not understand that!
But how can we, who have been changed by the power of God, We who know the presence and power of God in our lives, How can we not believe what that God has revealed to us.
Far too many Christians have a unbelieving spirit like, “Oh I know God said _____, but I just don’t know.”
How many times are we so surprised when God answers our prayer?
Oh, my friend, believe the promises of God’s Word
against hope believe in hope!
God will Love us forever
God will never leave you!
God will comfort you
God will help you
God is always faithful
that word in truth, is the same word translated faithfulness.
God keeps his promises
God’s Word can be believed!
It is trustworthy!
A faith that glorifies God, believes God’s Word.
Secondly, A Faith that Glorifies God...
II.
Is Not weak
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
A faith that glorifies God is not a weak faith!
Abraham’s body was week - being over a hundred years old, and Sara’s womb being dead.
Their bodies were weak.
But his faith was not.
We often think of strong faith to mean great, huge, gigantic faith.
In the gospel of Matthew 17, a man came to Jesus kneeling down before him and said,
Jesus asked him to bring him to him, he rebuked the devil and it departed from the boy.
The disciples came to Jesus after everyone left and they had gone into a house, “Why could not we cast him out?”
They had cast out demons, they had healed people in Jesus name, why not this one?
Jesus said, because of your unbelief...
WE don’t know for sure, but perhaps the disciples saw this young boy, and the great power that this demon had over him.
This devil would slam the young boy down into hte ground to hurt him, he would throw him into the fire to destroy him.
I’ll be honest, if I were confronted by this kind of evil, this kind of power, I would very well might have some doubts!
I maybe would begin to struggle in my faith!
He said, it’s not the size of your faith, it is the quality of your faith.
It’s not a mountain of faith to move the mustard seed
It is a mustard seed of faith to move the mountain.
In Abraham’s case, here in Romans 4 and in verse 20, the Bible says he was strong in faith, and it gave glory to God.
A faith that glorifies God believes God’s Word.
A faith that glorifies God is Not Weak.
Thirdly I want you to see that a faith that glorifies God...
III.
Is Not Staggering
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
This word staggered means, “To be in strife with oneself, i.e., to doubt, hesitate, waver”
In the gospel of Mark, the story of the man with the demon possessed son is told from another perspective.
Mark remembers something that perhaps Matthew forgot...
The man telling Jesus of his condition tells Jesus...
If you can do anything, then help us with this.
Basically he is saying, what do you mean …if I can do something?
The Father heart breaks immediately, and says, “I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
He confessed he didn’t have perfect faith, and he went to the source of faith.
Ephesians 2:8 tells us
Although we often attribute the gift of God to salvation…and it is a gift.
Or perhaps we attribute the gift of God to Grace…and it is a gift.
However the context of this verse tells us that the gift is the faith through which we receive the grace of God and the salvation of God.
We cannot even lay claim to having faith on our own, because even our faith comes from God.
These words from Jesus gave this man faith enough to ask for help with his unbelief.
And Jesus rebuked the demon, and took the boy by the hand and lifted him to his feet.
There are times in our lives that our faith wavers.
We have in this story two types of people.
First we have Those whose faith wavered but they didn’t ask Jesus for help with their lack of faith.
Instead they just trusted in what they had done before…their own experiences.
Mark 9:14 shows us that Jesus went to the disciples, the disciples didn’t go find Jesus
A couple of chapters before Jesus had given them the power over spirits.
But they wavered, and didn’t go back to the source of that power.
The Second Type of person we see here - still has trouble with their faith - but Comes to God for help.
“I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
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