You Can Count on God!
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Me - DMV experience I needed to be to the DMV at 12:10. I arrived 15 minuted early just to be sure I didn’t miss my appointment...
We - We have all had this kind of experience. Not just with the DMV, but with contractors who promise to be at your home at a certain time and they never show up. Or, when Sears says, we will be there between 8am and noon. So you take the morning off to wait for them to deliver your new appliance only to have them call at 11:59 to reschedule for no later than 5pm! Argh!
Not dependable! You just can’t count on them!!
We all struggle with our faith in people. Why? Because people will let us down. We all fail one another at different points in our lives...
But do we struggle in our faith with God? Has God ever let you down?
God - I will tell you this, the less you know and understand God the less you will trust Him. The more you know and understand God, the more you will trust Him. You can always count on God! He will ALWAYS do what He promises to do. God is a God of His Word because He is the God of truth!
in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began
so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
And Jesus, who is God, said of himself...
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
This is our God, friends. The truth-filled, incapable of lying God!
And this truth-filled, incapable of lying God wrote a book - and it stands to reason that this book, because it was written by the God who cannot lie, is the truth!!
So, I have some good news for you this morning, some very, very good news for you.
In a day when you can’t count on much...
(The Bottom Line…) You Can Count on God to Deliver on His Promise!
And to prove this point, Paul again uses Abraham as a powerful example to the church at Rome - comprised of Jewish and non-Jewish believers!
1. Abraham Counted on God (vs. 18-21)
Abraham is a significant character in the Old Testament. He is found in the first book of the Bible.
I would encourage you to take the time to review his life in Genesis 12-25. This is a significant portion of scripture dedicated to this man.
And the one thing you will learn as you observe his life is that he was a man of faith. Like, he really believed God!
Check out what Paul has to say about this man...
He was a man who hoped in God!
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.”
Hope against hope is an idiom that means, from a human perspective, things looked hopeless, yet Abraham still hoped!
Have you ever been in a situation where you thought, there is no way this is going to work out they way I want it to? I have too. Did you lose hope?
Abraham did not lose hope. He continued to believe God...
He was a man whose Faith was greater than his reality!
If anyone had reason to doubt the Word of God, it was Abraham. First of all, God was not speedy in His answer, and that can be cause enough to doubt.
But there was another, more practical reason for him to doubt 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 the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.
The dude was a hundred years old. He knew his body wasn’t capable of reproduction - that ship had sailed!
Can you imagine him and Sarah going to the doctor telling the doc that they were waiting on the Lord for their first born! The doc would have called them crazy!
It was crazy! But not too crazy for God to handle.
Remember, our God can create out of nothing!
Paul tells us that Abraham Abraham’s hope didn’t weaken.
Sarah - not so much. Sarah actually laughed at the thought of her having a child...
Sarah - lack of faith is no laughing matter… (Remember, she had never been able to conceive and now she was 90 years old)
They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
While Abraham was not perfect, he did have a strong faith in His God. And that strong faith had a tremendous impact. In fact, I’d say, it is still having an impact today.
Abraham’s strong faith made God famous...
No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
He did not waver!
Waver = Doubt
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
If you look back in verse 19, Pauls says Abraham’s faith didn’t weaken. Now Paul says that “he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.”
Now think about that for a minute. As time went on Abraham grew stronger in his belief that God would deliver on his promise to him. It seems counterintuitive. However, for the Christian here this morning, isn’t this true of you as well.
What is God’s promise to you?
John 14 sums it up well.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The older I get the stronger I get in this knowledge. Things that used to get me all stressed out no longer matter - Why? Because Jesus has promised to prepare a place for me. And He will come and bring me to that place. Have I had seasons of doubt? Yes, but over the course of my life my faith has strengthens, not weakened. Even though I cannot and do not understand everything about God, my faith strengthens as I grow to know and love Him more. This is true for every believer that is following Jesus.
And do you know what growing strong in one’s faith does for God? It brings Him glory! “he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.”
Consider this. Abraham’s FAITH has inspired millions over the centuries regarding the amazing grace of God. God has received much glory because of this one man.
Your public faith brings God glory as well.
Paul goes on to use some very strong language regarding the faith of Abraham...
Abraham was FULLY convinced in his God
fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 31.45 πληροφορέομαι; πληροφορία, ας
πληροφορέομαι; πληροφορία, ας f: to be completely certain of the truth of something—‘to be absolutely sure, to be certain, complete certainty.’
The Bible Knowledge Commentary 4:20–21
What confidence in God this spiritual forefather possessed! He “in hope believed” (Rom. 4:18); he was not weak in faith despite insuperable odds (v. 19); he was not divided in his thinking by unbelief (v. 20a); he was empowered by faith (v. 20b); and he was fully persuaded God has the ability to do what He had said (v. 21).
Abraham Counted on God at every turn! Even when he was asked by God to do the unthinkable...
Illustrate - When God told Abraham to sacrifice his long awaited son, Issac (Gen 22)
Abraham told his servant...
We will go
We will worship
We will return
Abraham counted on God to deliver him and his son from this test - Yet again Abraham believed God.
Apply - This passage has been particularly convicting to me. I like to be in control. I like to count on me first. How about you?
Are you FULLY CONVINCED that God is able to do what He promised?
Review - You Can Count on God to Deliver on His Promise!
Abraham Counted on God
2. Abraham Was Counted Righteous by God (vs. 22)
The word “counted” is a crucial word in this letter that we must understand. Because as you read verse 22, it has everything to do with His position with God!
That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”
Abraham had a personal faith
Notice what the text says, “That is why his faith...”
Abraham had a personal faith in Yahweh. He had a relationship with him. In fact, the scriptures call Abraham a “friend of God.”
and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God.
This is very important for all of us to understand. Your faith in God is a personal faith. You cannot get into heaven and have a right relationship with God by someone else’s faith. It is between you and God.
My mother-in-law is amazing. A faith-filled lady for sure. But her faith in Christ is sufficient for her alone. Her children and grandchildren cannot slide into glory hanging onto her faith.
Do you have a personal faith in our Lord? Does he know your name? Are you a friend of God?
The next part of the verse tells us the profound reality for those who do have a personal faith in Christ.
Abraham’s personal faith had a significant result
His faith was “Counted to him as righteousness?” What does this mean?
As I said earlier, the word “Counted” is very important.
λογίζομαι logízomai - To reckon, impute, number. To be credited - The Complete Word Study Dictionary
That’s right - to get credit for something.
Like when you took a test in school, you were given credit for completing the test.
In this case, however, the person has been given credit for something someone else has done!
Jesus died for the sins you have committed throughout your life. Jesus was buried - He experience real and certain death (no question that he was dead). And He rose again from the grave beating death and giving you an avenue to Heaven. By the way, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15 is clear about the necessity of the resurrection. No resurrection from the dead, no hope of eternal life.
So, simply stated, the infinite value of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection was credited to you.
You got credit for what He did.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
And again, just to be clear - it wasn’t because Abraham was special. It wasn’t because he impressed God by his work or his attitude. It wasn’t because of ANYTHING that Abraham was or had done.
It was because of God’s grace and by Abraham’s faith that righteousness was credited to Abraham.
What is “Righteousness”?
The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament 1343. δικαιοσύνη dikaiosúnē
righteousness, in general, is God’s uprightness or standard, without reference to any particular form of its embodiment, to which man is expected to conform.
Righteousness is to be “right” - perfectly right exactly like God is perfectly right.
You, my friends are not perfectly right like God is perfectly right.
But the one who is perfectly right can count you as right based on His righteousness.
How it works isn’t as important as knowing that it does work - that is where the faith comes in...
God can make you right with Him through Christ.
The question for you this morning is do you have faith to believe that He can and will make you righteous like Him?
Abraham was counted righteous before God by His personal faith in God.
Do you have a personal faith in Christ? If you do, then rest assured you are right with Him and He has reserved a place for you in Heaven with HIm.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
Abraham’s salvation was kept in heaven for him. God prepared a place for this man of faith.
Abraham was not righteous. Not at all. Abraham was a sinner in desperate need of redemption.
This wasn’t just Abraham’s problem, it is ours as well.
The bible is clear over and over - “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
God characterizes all of us as sinners - people who are lawbreakers.
“What is wrong with the world today?” a Times newspaper editorial once asked. G. K. Chesterton wrote in reply, “Dear sirs, I am. Yours faithfully, G.K. Chesterton.”
Chesterton viewed himself as the problem. Which was correct but insufficient. He and the rest of mankind is the problem.
And the problem needs a solution. Listen to Andy Crouch’s perspective on this...
“As for Christians, well, we really have just one thing going for us. We have publicly declared… that we are desperately in need of Another to give us his righteousness, to complete us, to live in us. We have publicly and flagrantly abandoned the project of self-justification that is at the heart of every person’s compulsion to manage perceptions…
This means telling the world-before the world does its own investigative journalism—that we’re not as bad as they think sometimes. We’re worse…If we’re being honest about our own beauty and brokenness, the beautiful broken One will make himself known to our neighbors.”
Andy Crouch, Afterword, in unChristian (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), p.230.
“The beautiful broken One will make himself known to our neighbors.”
This is why Christ came? To offer his life up as a ransom for many because we need to be ransomed.
Abraham believed God’s promise to him that he would be the father of many nations - all peoples actually
Apply - Abraham wasn’t a good guy that God carefully chose from a batch of bad people. No, he was just as lost, just as in need of redemption as the next person. Abraham was in desperate need and God saved him by His amazing Grace.
Abraham believed God and because of his faith, He experienced God’s grace.
That can be true for you as well. And we will focus on this next...
Review - You Can Count on God to Deliver on His Promise!
Abraham Counted on God
Abraham Was Counted Righteous by God
3. You Can Be Counted Righteous Too! (vs. 23-25)
I hate to break it to you friend, but you ain’t righteous. And unless you are righteous, you not only will not go to heaven, you will spend eternity in Hell… You becoming righteous is crucial for eternal life. That’s the very bad news you face. However, there is some really good news in the next verses.
Look at verses 23 and the begining of verse 24...
Abraham was never just about Abraham
Romans 4:23–24 (ESV)
But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also...
Abraham was used by God for many things. He started the nation of Israel. Through Abraham the Messiah, Jesus came. And, God used him for us as the perfect example of faith. Abraham shows us what faith looks like!
It was never just about Abraham and his faith.
It is also about you and your faith.
The beautiful truth about these verses is this...
God will count you in as well
Romans 4:24–25 (ESV)
...It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
How will He count you in? BELIEF
You must BELIEVE in God
“believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus or Lord...”
You must BELIEVE in the substitutionary atonement
“who was delivered up for our trespasses...”
God the Father put to death God the Son because of your sin.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Jesus was the sacrificial lamb used to pay the “redemptive price” your sins cost.
and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
If you respond in faith, God is free to forgive you of your sins and grant you everlasting life!
You must BELIEVE in the resurrection
“and raised for our justification” - “The resurrection provided proof that God had accepted the sacrifice of His Son and would be able to be just and yet justify the ungodly.” - John MacArthur Jr., ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1997), 1700.
What is Justification? It is the instantaneous declaration of your innocence based on the righteousness of Christ.
He was raised from the dead so you could be fully declared righteous in Christ!
__________________, you are righteous in Christ! Do you believe?
__________________, you are righteous in Christ! Do you believe?
__________________, you are righteous in Christ! Do you believe?
You must believe in God
You must believe in the substitutionary atonement
You must believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ
Do you?
Illustrate - We must believe the voice of our Heavenly Father and what He has said in his Holy Word...
A BLIND girl, one day, was caught in a fire on the tenth floor of a building. She could make her way to a window, but she couldn’t see anything. She felt the heat and smelled the smoke of the fire. Then she heard a fireman yell, “Jump, jump!”She said, “I’m scared to jump. I can’t see.”The fireman said, “If you don’t jump, you’re going to die. Take the risk, and jump.”It’s bad enough to jump from ten stories high, but to jump when you can’t see where you’re jumping—that’s terror. In the midst of the chaos and confusion, she heard another voice, “Darling, jump, I’ve got you.” She smiled and said, “Okay, Daddy, I’ll jump.”Jesus Christ is inviting us to jump. He knows we’re nervous, but just jump. He knows you’re scared, but just jump. Remember, we’re talking about your Daddy. We’re talking about Somebody you know. You’ve seen what He can do.
Tony Evans Book of Illustrations: Stories, Quotes, and Anecdotes from More Than 30 Years of Preaching and Public Speaking (Faith, Acting In) 276
Apply -
So, do you have this kind of faith? The bible actually calls this a saving faith. A faith that rests solely and wholly on the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only hope we have to be rescued from a world that is destined to be condemned to Hell.
This is a terrible reality we face. However, you can be rescued from this terrible situation by one way - Faith in Christ.
Review - You Can Count on God to Deliver on His Promise!
Abraham Counted on God
Abraham Was Counted Righteous by God
You Can Be Counted Righteous Too!
You - My friend. You can count on God to deliver on his promise to save you and give you eternal life. You can!
What do you have to lose?
Better yet, what do you have to gain?
Tremendous faith brings tremendous reward!
We - As a church of believers what are we to do with this information? Sit on it? Have our intellect stimulated by it? Or should it move us off dead center and do two things.
It should cause us to worship our God with fervor and passion - I’m sorry, friends, but the church is lacking in this area. We must shake off the cold stoicism that we are so comfortable with in West Michigan and begin to have our affections aroused for the God who not only loves us, but who has demonstrated that love through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Friends - if you are in Christ, you have been rescued from the wrath of God. You have been given a new address. You have been made a child of the King! You can COUNT on that!! Stop living like it might happen and start living like has already happened.
Tell your neighbor who is going to hell that they can count on God if they but repent and place their faith in Christ.
God expects you to engage in this activity
God gets a ton of glory when you do
God uses this to move people to the right.
Connection Group Reflection Questions
1. What do these verses teach me about our character?
2. What do these verses teach me about God and his character?
3. Because these words are from God, they are TRUTH! What truth is he asking me to believe?
4. What do I need to do to obey him?
5. With whom can I share these truths?