10.29.17 Romans 4:16-25

Today is what many Protestant Christians call ‘Reformation Sunday’. It is the Sunday when we remember the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. And today is a unique ‘Reformation Sunday’ because it is the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Today is what many Protestant Christians call ‘Reformation Sunday’. It is the Sunday when we remember the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. And today is a unique ‘Reformation Sunday’ because it is the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

It was 500 years ago this week that a Catholic monk put some questions he wanted to discuss on a discussion board in a little place in Germany called Wittenburg. What he did has come to be known as his nailing his 95 theses to the castle door in Wittenburg, but that makes it sound a little more dramatic than it probably was. To nail some ideas to the castle door was simply, in those days, the way you started a discussion. In some ways it was like Luther put some discussion ideas up on the facebook of his day and before he knew it, he had changed the world.

Now it is important to note here that Martin Luther, and men like John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, William Tyndale, and John Knox did not start a new religion. These reformers did not start a new religion, No, they reformed an old religion. The religion of Jesus Christ dates back to the first day of creation when Jesus made the world. The religion of Jesus Christ has it’s roots in the centuries old religion of the Jews where Jesus was promised, and prophesied. The religion of Jesus goes back 2000 year to when Jesus lived, and died, and rose again for the salvation of all who believe. The religion of Jesus then spread like wild fire for hundreds of years even in the midst of great persecution, the religion of Jesus’ central doctrines were developed and written down in creeds over the first centuries of the Church, but over the centuries the religion of Jesus became deformed. The Bible stopped being given the central place it deserved. The gospel of justification by faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone got lost under a pile of Church tradition, Church addition, and general confusion about what the gospel really was.

When Martin Luther nailed his discussion topics to the castle door in Wittenburg he had not recovered everything that had been lost, but he was on the right track, he was asking the questions that would lead to the recovery of the gospel. He had begun the protest that would lead to what we now call the Protestant Reformation.

As Baptists we celebrate the Protestant Reformation not because we think men like Martin Luther or John Calvin are somewhere in the same class as Jesus Christ. No, Martin Luther and John Calvin both taught views of the Church that have led to baptists (or at least people like them) being persecuted. We celebrate the Reformation not because it was led by perfect men, or because it led to a perfect Church, it did not, we celebrate the reformation because it leads us back to the perfect man, the God man, our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. Reformers of the 16th century rediscovered the truths written down in the Bible in 1st century. They reformed the Church around the central and glorious truths that salvation is revealed in the scriptures alone, through Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, to the glory of God alone.

As a Church we must resolve to never again allow a time where the gospel is hidden by our additions, our traditions, our subtractions, or our confusions. We must labor with all of our might to make sure this city, the world, and the next generation to whom we pass the baton all receive the pure unadulterated gospel. So the celebration of Reformation Sunday is not just a celebration but a responsibility, we have a calling to pass on this life saving gospel.

This is what we have been trying to do is as we have been studying through this book of Romans. Of course the book of Romans and the book of Galatians played a massive role in the Protestant Reformation, since these two books work so hard to show that salvation is not by works but by faith in Christ, it is not surprising that these two books were used in a special way to reform the Church in Luther’s day!

As we have gone through the book of Romans we have seen that salvation is necessary because all people are unrighteous, whatever bits of truth whether large or small we cover up so we can live in our sin. The book of Romans clearly shows that we are dead in sin, corrupt in sin, condemned for our sin, and that is precisely why we need to be saved by Christ alone, through faith alone, to the glory of God alone. We are too sinful to do anything to save ourselves. If salvation is about Jesus and us then we cannot do our part. This is why it is so wonderful that Scriptures alone make it so clear that salvation is by grace alone. We bring nothing to the table, Christ has done it all and we must simply believe in Him. The truths of the reformation simply ensure that what we are preaching is actually a gospel not just sort of a life and death Bible self help.

Today as we look at the gospel we are looking at what it means to be saved by faith alone. In fact this morning we are getting the chance to do a little spiritual dissection to actually look into the heart of a man who believed God and to see what it looked like on the inside. Or in the words of R Kent Hughes about , “It is as if Paul was able to unfasten the wing nuts holding down the top of Abraham’s head and give us an intimate look at the inner workings of this great man of faith.” That is what we want to do this morning. We want to look at faith. Now someone, especially someone who is a little spiritually sensitive, might say, “Wait we should not look at faith, faith does not save, Christ saves, and we should not be so introspective, we should not navel gaze at our faith. We should look at Christ.” Well there is actually a lot of wisdom there, we should look Christ. We are not saved by faith as if faith were a Savior, we are saved by faith because faith connects us to the Savior. It has been said many times, that faith is the empty hand that reaches out spiritually to grab hold of Christ, but Christ is the one who saves. None the less we should never be more spiritual than the Bible and if the Bible directs us to look at what true faith is we should look at it.

And of course I think just a moments thought would helps us to realize that it is important to look at faith. There is after all so much confusion in our day about faith. The word of Faith TV preachers talk as if faith was a force. Their view of faith has been more informed by Star Wars than the Bible and they speak of faith as a force which you must manipulate and use by speaking positive affirmations. Like a Jedi learns to feel the force to control their light saber we must affirm the right things and move the powerful force of faith towards the health, wealth, and highly favored lifestyle we want. In the Spirit of Martin Luther I will tell you that that view of faith is worth about as much as the stuff you’ll find at the bottom of a porta-potty. It’s garbage. Faith is not a force. Biblical faith is trusting the person with all the power in the universe, it is about trusting in Jesus, not about trusting in the power of faith.

So what is true faith? It will tell you it is a naked trust in the Word and the Character of God! I say, naked because true faith is always alone, it is not about working and believing, doing your best, trying, and believing in God, no the kind of faith that saves alone, and it trust the Word of God and the Character of God.

In verse 16 at the end it speak of Abraham who “is the father of us all, “as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations.” - in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”

Notice that twice in this passage Paul quotes the Bible. First he quotes where God promises Abraham that even though he and his wife can’t have children so far, he will be the father of many nations. Then Paul quotes that wonderful time in where God took Abraham out into the night sky, in the days before electric lights and mega cities and tells him, see all those stars, “so shall your offspring be.” That is what Abraham believed. He believed what God said to him. He believed God’s word alone. This is the character of true faith. True faith, does not, as Oprah tells us, ‘just believe’. It does not, as so many coaches tell us, “believe in yourself.” True faith is focused on the Word of God Alone. I love this little line in verse 18, he believed, he hoped, “as he had been told.” That is true faith. It believes what it has been told.

Now, of course for those words to mean anything, the character of the one saying them had to be considered. If some sketchy guy named Vinnie had told Abraham hey “your going to be the father of nations.” That would have been foolish to believe. If Abraham had met some guy in the deserts of Israel selling essential oils that were guaranteed to solve infertility issues, if that guy had said, hey your offspring will be like the stars, that would have made Abraham a fool, but the one who made the promise, the one in whose presence Abraham was in was the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the maker of the Universe. He was the God who gives life to the dead, and who calls into existence the things that do not exist. Without this God the promises of God do not make sense, none of them, not just the ones made to Abraham. How could a virgin give birth, well because God is the God who calls into existence the things that do not exist. How could Abraham who we are told in verse 19 was as good as dead have a son, because a God who gives life from the dead was promising it to him, and Sarah whose womb could not create anything how could she give birth, well the God can create something out of nothing was promising.

Beloved when we take God at His Word, we are taking in and believing the whole character of God. This is why faith is so radical. The unbelief or the world first rejects who God is and then laughs at the things he says. The belief of the Christian sees who God is through His word and takes Him at His word. True faith is faith that believes the Word and the Character of God.

Let me ask you this, is your faith in the Word of God. Do you trust whatever He says? This is important. When you are assessing your faith the first question many of us ask is not actually the most important question. We ask is my faith weak or strong, but as R. Kent Hughes points out this is actually not that important. He writes with a warning and with great comfort, “Some have had strong faith in thin ice but did not live to tell about it. They actually died by faith. Or to use another example, I may leave church next Sunday with the utmost faith that my car will get me home because it looks OK. However, if someone removes my hubcaps and lug bolts, then replaces the hubcaps, my faith will be to no avail—the wheels will fall off! On the other hand, if I have little faith in my car and drive it with trepidation, but no one has fooled with it, I’m perfectly safe despite my weak faith, because the object of my faith is strong.Hughes, R. K. (1991). Romans: righteousness from heaven (p. 98). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Some have had strong faith in thin ice but did not live to tell about it. They actually died by faith. Or to use another example, I may leave church next Sunday with the utmost faith that my car will get me home because it looks OK. However, if someone removes my hubcaps and lug bolts, then replaces the hubcaps, my faith will be to no avail—the wheels will fall off! On the other hand, if I have little faith in my car and drive it with trepidation, but no one has fooled with it, I’m perfectly safe despite my weak faith, because the object of my faith is strong.

Beloved we need to see that true Biblical and saving faith is faith in the Word of God and the Character of God.

Hughes, R. K. (1991). Romans: righteousness from heaven (p. 98). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

The second thing we must see is that true faith is not deterred by circumstances. Now please notice that I did not say, true faith is oblivious to circumstances. True faith is aware of what is going on, it is not ostrich faith which sticks it’s head in the sand. Believers are not people who cannot deal with the cold facts of life so they chose the warm blanket of religion. No, believers see the noses on their faces, they see the facts of the matter, they take it all in, but they allow the Word of God to dominate their thinking, they see what all men see but they see more because the Word of God is the light for their path and the lamp for their feet.

Look at Abraham. “He did weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was a good as dead (since he was about a hundred year old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. Did you see that word considered? Did you see it there twice. He did not put his head in the sand. He looked at how impossible the facts of the matter were. If you have not had a child by 100 it is not happening. And not just because Abraham was too old for all that, but because his wife was barren. Modern Medicine generally diagnoses a couple as infertile after a year of seeking to pregnant without any success. Sarah had been infertile for somewhere in the neighborhood of 70 years. Abraham considered this. He took the Word of God and the facts of life, the realities in front of him and the trusted in God. “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that that God was able to do what he had promised.”

If you are here this morning and you are exploring Christianity. You may have trouble believing Christianity because you have been told that in order to believe you need to turn your brain off and you need to believe that virgins conceive, dead men rise from the dead, seas can be parted by God’s Word. Well it’s true Christians believe in a virgin birth, a resurrection from the dead, and a God who controls the seas. But we do not believe in these because we checked our brains at the door. No, believe that a God or order has created a world where normally one man and one woman are used to produce a child. The dead stay dead in this world, and seas stay put unless you build a damn up river from them. We believe that God has ordered the world with such precision and order that we can discern what are sometimes called the laws of nature. We believe all that, it’s just that we believe that God who wrote those laws into the fabric of the universe is so powerful that he can work beyond those laws. He can make the baby without the sperm, he can raise the dead in this life, and he can part the sea without a damn. We do not deny the normal, reasonable, scientifically observable patterns all around us. We believe them. In fact our belief in God is one of the reasons why Christians have been so active in the sciences. When you believe in a God of order who upholds the world you can study his ways and delight to find out how he has put things together. What is actually a mystery is how atheists find such an interest in science. I mean if there is no God, no faithful God upholding the universe and ordering everything with wisdom and power how do you know that we can expect the world to be be predictable. Just because an experiment worked one way yesterday does not mean it will work that way tomorrow. I mean if what is controlling the world is just chance then there is no reason to think that things will be the same tomorrow as they were today. But if there is a God of order, who normally works a certain way then we have all kinds of reasons to study the world to invent technologies, to find cures, and to look for new advances in medicine and the flourishing of human life. The Christian world view does not make us closed to the facts of life, but it makes us embrace the ultimate fact of life, the powerful, ruling, creating, promising Word of God.

While we, and Abraham know that normally God makes babies through two fertile people, we also know that nothing is impossible with God. Abraham knew that. Abraham knew that God’s normal work in creation did not trump his exceptional, miraculous work of creating something out of nothing and raising the dead. Oh I can’t quite here, Abraham actually knew that everything had been made out of nothing. The secular man believes everything came from nothing, or that some something always was and then it exploded and now we are here. The secular man believes a fairy tale, but the Christian man believes God made the world out of nothing, and the God who made the world out of nothing and move in the world he made to make something out of nothing again.

The lesson we should take away from this as Christians is marvelous. We should take a lesson about salvation away from this. That is after all the context of Romans. We are learning about salvation. Abraham is being used as an example of how we are to believe in order to be saved. So what lesson can we take away. I would say it is this. Perhaps you have seen that your soul is barren. It cannot bear fruit for God. You are dead in trespasses and sin. You are only able to create unrighteousness. You are under sin, dead in sin, under the power of sin, when you consider yourself there is no way you can be saved, but look to the God who raises the dead, who makes something out of nothing. He can raise you from the dead. He can make you a new creation. He has raised his Son from the dead. Where there was no man he made the God man and where there was no righteousness to give you, Jesus was created to live and to love and to merit a perfect righteousness for you. So consider your sin, yes consider but no not let it make you waver concerning the promises of God. Trust his word and he can save you.

There is a lesson here for our sanctification. Now remember, Romans at this stage is about our Justification, our being declared righteous before God. It is teaching us that we must be saved by faith and faith alone and not by works. But once we are justified we want to grow, not to earn salvation but to live it out, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We want to grow in grace. How will we do that, well a big part of it is about trusting the word of God above all other earthly circumstances. The world screams that men and women are equal, men and women are equal and of course as Christians there is a great sense in which we agree, yes, they are! Equally made in the image of God. But we affirm that they are different too, one made to display God through leadership and another through helping submission. Not all of us will do this in marriage, but in our daily lives and ministries we are all seeking to live out the fact that men and women were made differently. How will we seek to do this in a world that screams at us that any differences between men and women are just a social construct, they are oppressive. How will we cultivate lives of godly masculinity and femininity in a world that hates those categories, we do it by faith. We will believe God was good when he made men as leaders and women as helpers. We will look for ways to live this out in singleness, marriage, widowhood, and in the Church. We will delight in the word of God thought the world, says haven’t you considered that IQ tests show we are equal, and sociological studies show there is abuse. We see all of that but we see the Word of God as well, ruling and reigning all over the world we do not waver in our trust that the insights of this world pale in comparison to the eternal truth of God’s Word. This is how we look at money, modesty, marriage, Church, everything must be seen in the light of God’s Word and not dominated by any other considerations!

There is a lesson here for our sufferings. It is impossible for me as a preacher to mention the infertility of Abraham and Sarah and to not be aware of those suffering with infertility in our midst. There are many here. Young couples who have realized early they cannot have children. Singles who are not able to find a spouse and so they are forever two steps away from being able to have children. There are older couples for whom infertility has been a companion for years and now the reality that grandkids are not coming home each Christmas is a sad reality. What are we to learn from Abraham and Sarah’s infertility. Well three things. First, there is a treasure greater than children and that is the treasure of being right with God, of standing in his grace, of being his child, and of being his heir. Though he may deny you children Abraham and Sarah remind us you can be his child by grace. Oh pray until your treasures are in proportion, let not the loss of childlessness blind you from the treasure of being his child. Second, God is able. He can do miracles. I have prayed for them and seen them come to pass. John and Christy Randolf had there first son Cole after years of infertility and then the elders prayed and God opened the womb. If God will allow Kristen Brewer to carry her little one to term it will be a miracle that comes after years of infertility and then miracle believing prayer. God is able. If Abraham and Sarah do not remind us that God can do miracles then what do they teach us. Finally, a third lesson, not a lesson from this passage, but a lesson from the scriptures. The lesson is simple, painful, and joyfully liberating, “no good thing does he withold from those who walk uprightly.” If you are walking with Him, not perfectly, not steadily with the confession of your sins then he is not witholding anything good from you. No, he is giving you your very best. He is working all things together for your good. Your sorrows are his sanctuary, his pain will be the place where he meets with you his presence. The trials of suffering do not automatically make a person holy, but they are the place where he will give you more of himself which is the gift he gives which allows him to say, “no good thing does he withold from those who walk uprightly.” Do not allow suffering to lie to you about the love of God. The same God who can move heaven and earth to give a baby can more heaven and earth to close the womb. He is active in the giving as in the not giving. And he is as loving in them both. Cling to this fact when he calls for your tears, “He who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not now also with him graciously give us all things.” He will give you all you need to delight your soul and after it all he will call you to glory.

Sufferings

The third thing we must see is that true faith goes beyond what Abraham saw.

Paul now does something interesting. He tells us something we should expect by now, Abraham’s faith justified Him. But he tells us something more. This believing that Abraham did, this accounting of righteousness that God did, were not just for Him. They were for us. The words, “it was counted to him” refer to how righteousness was counted to him when he believed and these words were actually for us. They will be counted to us if we believe, but then he does not tell us to believe the same words Abraham believed. Oh to be sure we are to believe the same Word, the words of God, but we are to believe different words from the same trustworthy mouth of God. We are to believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Why are we given different words than Abraham to believe. We are both saved, we both believe, we both will be counted righteous, why are we given different content to our faith.

To understand this we must understand that the Bible is full of what we call progressive revelation. God does not reveal all of his truth, all his plans, all of his salvation all at once. He reveals it little by little.

To Abraham he revealed that he would be blessed, that he would be the forfather to a King, that he would be the forefather of a great nation. Then as time went on God revealed that the greatest blessing he gives is not gold or silver it is righteousness that justifies. The King he would bring would not merely be a descendent of Abraham like David, it would be the King of Kings the Lord Jesus Christ. And the great nation that Abraham would be the forefather of would be a nation of born again people from every nation, every tribe, and every tongue. God has progressively revealed this throughout the Bible.

Abraham was responsible for believing what God had revealed in his day. We are responsible for revealing all he has revealed in our day. Abraham knew alot. The book of Hebrews tells us he knew that the nation he was being promised would ultimately be fulfilled in a heavenly city. When he was asked to sacrifice his son in he reasoned that since God had promised so many things through this son he would have to raise his son from the dead if Abraham sacrificed him. Abraham we are told in the gospel of John looked forward to Jesus day. So Abraham knew something about a Savior, a resurrection, and a new heavens and a new earth. He knew alot and he believed all he knew. There were limits to what Abraham knew. Peter talks about those limits in 1 Peter when he says, “10Concerning this salvation, the prophets (Ab called a prophet in ) who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11inquiring what person or timea the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

So Abraham knew a thing or two about the day of Christ. He knew alot but not everything, certainly not the name Jesus Christ, but we do, “ 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,

We believe God’s fullest revelation has come. Jesus has died for our tresspasses, and he has been raised to say, “Yes I accept that sacrifice.” He has done all to save us!!

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

So go ahead and consider your sin, look at it, look how barren your soul is without Jesus. Look how dead you are. Look at the hopelessness, feel it, consider it well, but do not let it leave you hopeless. In fact in the face of all your sin let your faith grow, let it thrive, be fully convinced that there is a truth bigger than your sin. Your sin says, look at all the ways you have not given glory to God, yes that is true but stop the mouth of your sin and say, “I can give glory to God by believing God’s Word.” This is the gift of the reformation, the ability of sinners to hear a word from the Bible, the word from the Bible and to say there is a way for me to glorify God. I can glorify Him by believing Him. I have sinned but he has sent his son to die for me so I can believe in Him. He has raised his son from the dead to say, yes I accept this sacrifice and so if I believe in Him I am doing all I was created to do, I am glorifying him.

Oh and I can do more than glorify Him. I can glorify Him for his grace. I passed over verse 16 earlier, let me give it a little visit here. It reminds us that being an heir of God depends of faith, but why, why do we have to believe to belong to God to receive his heaven, his forgiveness, we must believe so that the promise may rest of grace. We do not earn our way to God’s promise. We do not work our way out of our barren, lifeless souls, it cannot be done. We simply believe and that insures that we are saved by grace and grace alone.

And one last word, this fact that we only believe, simply faith, it makes our whole salvation rest on grace, but it does one more thing. It makes our salvation guaranteed. Oh if salvation was from our works. If we had to work our way out of deadness and barreness well there would be no guarantee we could. But if must simply believe then it is guaranteed. It has all been done, we believe and our sins are paid for, our justification is given, grace reigns, there are no works to do, there are no variables, no contingencies, no unmet demands, all of this is done, done, done, and so our salvation is guaranteed. Do you hear that? It is a great gift of the reformation! We are can have a salvation with assurance, a guarantee.

Oh beloved. Here is the gospel given to us in promises thousands of years ago. Here is the gospel won for us 2000 years ago on the Cross, here is the gospel reformed from it’s deformity 500 years ago, here is the gospel with the power to save today. A gospel that says all he need is a word from the scriptures alone, a word of Christ alone his death his resurrection, a gospel we receive by faith alone, given to us without any works but by grace alone, a gospel that gives all the glory to God and God alone.

Happy Reformation Day!

It is based solely on God’s Word!

It is not deterred by circumstances!

It is focused on the finished work of Christ!

It is the foundation of grace!

It is why salvation is guaranteed!

R Kent Hughes

The object of Abraham’s Faith, the obstacles of his faith, the objectives of his faith.

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven The Faith of Abraham ( Romans 4:17-25 )

It is as if Paul was able to unfasten the wing nuts holding down the top of Abraham’s head and give us an intimate look at the inner workings of this great man of faith.

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Abraham’s Perception: the Object of Faith (v. 17)

Some have had strong faith in thin ice but did not live to tell about it. They

My friend Brad - and the illustration of a sincere engineer who can kill others who are sincerely wrong

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Abraham’s Perception: the Object of Faith (v. 17)

Or to use another example, I may leave church next Sunday with the utmost faith that my car will get me home because it looks OK. However, if someone removes my hubcaps and lug bolts, then replaces the hubcaps, my faith will be to no avail—the wheels will fall off! On the other hand, if I have little faith in my car and drive it with trepidation, but no one has fooled with it, I’m perfectly safe despite my weak faith, because the object of my faith is strong.

Big Godder’s

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Abraham’s Perception: the Obstacles to Faith (vv. 18-20)

Birthdays came and went—eighty-seven, ninety-two, ninety-five, ninety-nine, and year after year another candle was placed on his baklava

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Abraham’s Perception: the Obstacles to Faith (vv. 18-20)

In hope, against all human hope,

Self-desperate, I believe; . . .

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,

And looks to that alone;

Laughs at impossibilities,

And cries: It shall be done!

It is based solely on God’s Word!

It is not deterred by circumstances!

It is focused on the finished work of Christ!

It is the foundation of grace!

It is why salvation is guaranteed!

R Kent Hughes

The object of Abraham’s Faith, the obstacles of his faith, the objectives of his faith.

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven The Faith of Abraham ( Romans 4:17-25 )

It is as if Paul was able to unfasten the wing nuts holding down the top of Abraham’s head and give us an intimate look at the inner workings of this great man of faith.

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven The Faith of Abraham ( Romans 4:17-25 )

It is as if Paul was able to unfasten the wing nuts holding down the top of Abraham’s head and give us an intimate look at the inner workings of this great man of faith.

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Abraham’s Perception: the Object of Faith (v. 17)

Some have had strong faith in thin ice but did not live to tell about it. They

My friend Brad - and the illustration of a sincere engineer who can kill others who are sincerely wrong

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Abraham’s Perception: the Object of Faith (v. 17)

Or to use another example, I may leave church next Sunday with the utmost faith that my car will get me home because it looks OK. However, if someone removes my hubcaps and lug bolts, then replaces the hubcaps, my faith will be to no avail—the wheels will fall off! On the other hand, if I have little faith in my car and drive it with trepidation, but no one has fooled with it, I’m perfectly safe despite my weak faith, because the object of my faith is strong.

Big Godder’s

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Abraham’s Perception: the Obstacles to Faith (vv. 18-20)

Birthdays came and went—eighty-seven, ninety-two, ninety-five, ninety-nine, and year after year another candle was placed on his baklava

Preaching the Word: Romans—Righteousness From Heaven Abraham’s Perception: the Obstacles to Faith (vv. 18-20)

In hope, against all human hope,

Self-desperate, I believe; . . .

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,

And looks to that alone;

Laughs at impossibilities,

And cries: It shall be done!