Preach Apr 13 2008
Enniscorthy Christian Fellowship – 13th April 2008
The Reasons for Faith Romans 4v17-25
The African Impala can jump to a height of over 3 meters and cover a distance greater than 10 meters with every jump. And yet, these magnificent creatures can be kept imprisoned in an enclosure in any zoo with only a 1 meter wall.
The reason such a low wall will keep these animals penned in is that they won’t jump if they can’t see where their feet will fall. A 1 meter wall is not high enough to take away their potential and opportunity to get free. But it is just high enough to stop them seeing where they will land – and so these animals never take that opportunity for freedom.
We’re often like this animal. We’re often prevented from enjoying the life of freedom and fullness that we were created for, by barriers that should not be insurmountable. Our hesitation to jump where we can’t see, keeps us from living this life to the full.
In Romans, we’ve seen that even the best of us are sinners. And our sin, our unrighteousness is a very real barrier to being right with God. In our own ability, we cannot overcome this barrier. Even if we put all our effort into good works, religious rituals, or keeping God’s law – we still cannot be right with God!
But God has provided a way for us to overcome this barrier. “A righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known.” Romans 3:21. Jesus has provided this way by his death on the cross – by paying for our freedom, by turning away God’s wrath, by fully satisfying the justice of God.
Jesus has done everything so that no matter who we are or what we’ve done, we can be declared right with God. All we need to do is to take a step of faith: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” Romans 3:22
And yet so many hesitate to accept this life of freedom and fullness because they struggle to trust what they cannot see. To completely depend on someone else they cannot see. It seems too much like a leap in the dark!
Many of us here have made that initial step of saving faith, but we are called to go on taking steps of faith. “We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7. To have faith in Jesus and live in the joy and security of knowing that we’re forgiven! To have faith in God’s presence, provision, protection, his power to transform our lives, to step out in radical obedience to his purpose for our lives.
And yet often we hesitate to live this life of faith. We remain where we are, held back by our fear of what we cannot see.
There were many things that could have prevented Abraham from being a man of faith. And yet as we saw last week, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness.” v3 So this morning we’re asking, why did Abraham have faith? What were his reasons for faith. Read Romans 4:17-25
1) The Challenges to Faith
In our lives there will always be huge challenges to faith. Conditions that make it difficult to take a step of faith. Abraham faced such a challenging situation. He received the promise that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars of the sky (Genesis 15:5): “So shall your offspring be.” v18 However Abraham’s situation did not encourage faith. Instead, his situation looked hopeless. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.”v18
i) Impossible Situations
Abraham and Sarah were caught up in the heartbreak of childlessness. Genesis 11:30 states that “Sarai was barren; she had no children.” How could Abraham become the father of many nations, when he did not have even one child? Humanly speaking it was an impossible situation.
And yet Abraham in hope believed! Hudson Taylor the pioneer missionary to China said this: “I have found there are three stages to every great work of God: first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”
ii) Indefinite Waits v19
And Abraham also had faced an indefinite wait. When he was 75 years old, God told him he would be the father of a great nation (Genesis 12:4). But there was no evidence of this promise being fulfilled for another 25 years (Genesis 21:5). By then: “His body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.” v19
We face similar challenges to faith. Impossible situations. Problems that seem hopeless. Our own sinfulness. An addiction in our life. Poor health. Our family situation, a relationship difficulty? The impossibility of being the man or woman of God we long to be?
Or maybe it is time that has challenged our faith. We’ve been waiting so long to know God, to serve God, to see that person you love come to Christ, that now we struggle to believe it will happen!
iii) Believing with Our Eyes Open!
But faith can cope with these challenges. Paul writes of Abraham that “Without weakening in his faith he faced the fact” v19. Abraham did not hide from the reality of his situation. He faced it. Faith is not about closing your eyes and hoping for the best. It is about believing with our eyes open to the reality of our situation.
Faith is not a kind of escapism. It does not ask us to stick our head in the sand. The
gospel faces up to the reality of our true sinful nature. The life of faith faces up to the pain and suffering in the world. It faces the delays and disappointments. It faces the unanswerable questions, the horrendous problems in this world of world poverty, Aids, climate change, war and terrorism, natural disasters. But faith goes further. Yes we need to face the reality of our lives. But there is another reality we need to face. That is the reality of who our faith is in!
2) The Object of our Faith
i) Who is our Faith in?
We often focus on the need for a stronger faith or more faith, but there is a more important issue. Some people have great faith in another person. They accept completely what that person says - a parent, a friend, a scientist, philosopher! Some have faith in their church! Others refuse to put their faith in anyone but themselves. They rely on their own goodness, morality, intelligence. They believe whatever makes sense to them! All these people have faith, but their faith is misplaced.
ii) Faith in God!
Abraham’s faith was not in other people or their religion. He was called to “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household.” Genesis 12:1 His faith was not in himself, in his own understanding and abilities to fulfill his destiny. “By faith Abraham… went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews11:8
Abraham’s faith was in God. v17 “He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed.” He was depending on God! This is what we saw last week, “Abraham believed God.” v3 Abraham lived an amazing life. But this is not so much evidence that Abraham was a great man. It is evidence that Abraham had faith in a great God!
iii) Faith in the one who died and rose again
Saving faith is faith in God! Paul says that those whom God will credit righteousness are those “who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” v24 We are called to have faith in God. In the God who is revealed to us in Abraham’s life, but even more clearly revealed to us in the life of Jesus Christ! The one who loved us and gave himself for us! The one who rose again from the dead.
Jesus said in John 14:1: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” This is why saving faith is not just a blind leap, because it is not faith in a system, or a program, or a set of beliefs. It is faith in a person we can know. It is faith in God who has revealed himself to us and shown that we can trust him.
iv) Small faith in a Great God!
So our problem might not be how much faith we have – but who our faith is in. One day the disciples said to the Lord: “Increase our faith!” Luke 17:5 In reply, Jesus said this: “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” Luke 17:6
Mustard seeds are well known to be a tiny seed. The roots of a mulberry tree were spread out which made this tree very difficult to uproot. And so the most difficult of problems can be dealt with the smallest of faith – if that faith is placed in the right person. It was the missionary Hudson Taylor who said, “You don’t need a great faith, but a faith in a great God”
3) The Foundations of Our Faith
So our faith depends not on our ability to suspend our doubts and conquer our own fears, but rather on our understanding of the trustworthiness of God. The trustworthiness of the gospel stands or falls on the trustworthiness of God! This is the foundations of our faith.
i) The Word of God
Sometimes faith is nothing more than wishful thinking or an empty superstition. Believing something will happen because we want it to happen!
In 2006, preacher Franck Kabele, from Gabon, West Africa told his congregation he could repeat Jesus' miracle of walking on water. One eyewitness said: “He told churchgoers he'd had a revelation that if he had enough faith, he could walk on water like Jesus. He took his congregation to the beach saying he would walk across the Komo estuary, which takes 20 minutes by boat. He walked into the water, which soon passed over his head and he never came back.”
Of course this is not great faith. Faith in God is not believing that God will do what we said! It is more about believing that God will do what he said! The foundation of faith is the word of God.
Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” v21 Abraham faith was not based on his own ideas. It was firmly based on the promises that God gave him: “So shall your offspring be.” v18 His faith was simply an acceptance that God would do what he had promised.
Children are great at trying to get their own way. If they want their parents to do something, they can try the polite method with please. They might try the lovey dovey method of hugs and “I love you” Or they can look sad and shed a few tears. Or if they fail, then they can shout and scream and throw a tantrum. But after a while most parents learn to resist those attempts of manipulation.
But there is one way a child will nearly works to get what they ask. That is “But, dad, you promised!” When kids base their requests on the word of their parents, then it is a strong foundation. “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17 True faith is not based on what we want. It is based on what God has said.
This is why the Bible is essential faith food. A Dr Everek Storms has written that that he counted 7,487 promises from God in the Bible. And faith is essentially believing these promises! Accepting God’s word for it and standing simply on this.
The Bible says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31. Faith responds by accepting this promise and rejoices in salvation.
“God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 Faith accepts that promise and is comforted by the presence of God!
The Bible says, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 And so faith confidently looks forward to the future!
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
And looks to that alone;
Laughs at life’s impossibilities,
And cries, It shall be done!
ii) The Power of God
But faith not only is based on what God says. It is also based on God’s ability to carry it out. Abraham was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” v21. Yes the reality of Abraham’s situation seemed hopeless. And yet the reality of God’s power meant it was not hopeless. God had the power to do what he promised.
(I) Expressed in Creation
Abraham faced the fact that his wife was childless, but he still had faith because he believed in the God who creates things out of nothing. He believed in “the God who… calls things that are not as though they were.” v17
Look around. We can see the power of God expressing in creation: “Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17
(II) Expressed in Resurrection
Abraham also faced the fact that “His body was as good as dead” but still he had faith in God because he believed in “the God who gives life to the dead.” v17 He believed in the God of the resurrection.
Abraham showed this later when he was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac. Hebrews says that “Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead,” Hebrews 11:19
Today we have the evidence of the power of God in the resurrection of Jesus. Paul says that, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” v25 Jesus died to pay for our sins. But he rose again to prove that our
justification has been fully paid for by his blood. To show that God has the power to save us, the power over sin, death and hell!
And this resurrection power is available to us today! “His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead.” Ephesians 1:19-20
God always has the power to do what he has promised. As the Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 18:13: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”
iii) The Faithfulness of God
But true faith is not only believing God can keep his promises, but that he will. It is not only based on the power of God, but also his faithfulness. “By faith Abraham… was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise. Hebrews 11:11
God never makes promises that he won’t keep!
“God is not a man, that he should lie,
nor a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfil?” Numbers 23:19
The life, death and resurrection of Jesus demonstrates this. God has kept all his promises in his word. He is faithful to his promise, even to the cross! “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24
iv) Is Our God too Small??
So if we are struggling in our faith: then perhaps it is not that our faith is too small or that our problems are too big. Perhaps our God is too small! We need to put our faith in the one who speaks and has the power and commitment to fulfil every promise?
4) The Reward of Faith!
When we do put our faith in God, we will receive what God promised. Augustine said that: “Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” Abraham “became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him,” v18 He received the son, and the nation that he was promised.
i) Unbelievable Blessing
But, he received far more than he understood at that time. Through that faith, “it was credited to him as righteousness” v22 and so Abraham received the unbelievable blessing of becoming “the father of us all” v16 who are saved through faith.
Today, if we have faith, we will receive the blessings that God has promised.
God has promised that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 10:13 We can accept this as fact.
But we will also receive far more than we can imagine. He is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20
The reward of faith in Jesus is not only instant forgiveness and acceptance into God’s family, but a lifetime of God’s presence, provision, purpose, protection and power in our lives, and an eternity beyond our imagination!
Conclusion
During the second world war bombing raids in London, a father ran from a building that had been struck by a bomb. With him was his small son whom he held by the hand. In the front yard was a shell hole. Seeking shelter as soon as possible, the father jumped into the hole and held up his arms for his son to follow. Looking into the blackness of that shell hole, the boy was terrified. “I can’t see you!” he cried.
The father, looking up against the sky tinted red by the burning buildings called to the silhouette of his son, “But I can see you. Jump!.”
Faith may feel like a leap in the dark. It may feel daunting and intimidating. And yet there are reasons why we can jump with confidence. Faith is simply taking God at his word! It is believing that God has the power to keep his promises, and that because he is faithful, he will keep his promises. Faith is simply jumping into our Father’s arms!
Are your ready to take that jump of faith? Maybe to take that first step of faith in Jesus? To let go of self-condemnation or self-righteousness. Stop depending on yourself and you own ability to make yourself right with God and instead just put your faith in Jesus and his death and resurrection? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31
Or maybe you’re ready to take another step of faith? To live in the joy of our sins forgiven. To live out God’s purpose for our lives, handing over our lives into his hands. To depend on God’s grace. To experience God’s power. To step out of mediocrity and live a life of radical discipleship. Jesus is saying to us: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” John 14:1
Perhaps today this morning, before we rush into the rest of the day we need to just take time right now to deal with God today! Pray