Holding On To My Faith Part 1 Series

Intro: These last few verses of chapter four teach us the truth that we cannot depend on keeping the Law to save us. We cannot depend on our good works to save us. We cannot depend on anything external to save our souls. Paul's point here, as it has been throughout this chapter is that salvation is produced solely by faith!

In an effort to teach us how faith works, Paul is going to recall one of the greatest miracles in the entire Bible. I am referring to the birth of Isaac. You may ask what makes his birth so special? Well, his daddy was 100 and his mother was 90 when he was born. I read where there have been several woman giving birth past the age of 50 and some older than that if it was done artificially. However, compared to Sarah, these women still look like teenagers – and there was not artificial methods back then!

All through this chapter, Paul has been appealing to the faith of Abraham to prove his point that we are saved by faith. So now, he is going to tell us what kind of faith Abraham had. It came down to faith in God that brought salvation to Abraham. It was simply faith in what God had said. It was faith in the promises of God.

There are lessons that we can learn from this story concerning Abraham. Therefore, as we look at this fourth chapter of Romans this evening let's spend some time talking about holding on to my faith.

I. In verses 18-20 we see that ABRAHAM'S FAITH WAS WELL PLACED

B. V. 18 Your Faith Must Have Duration - So what was promised to Abraham anyway? Well to answer that, we need to turn back to the book of Genesis. On your own time, you should read Genesis chapters 12 - 18. When you read the story of Abraham in Genesis, you learn the incredible truth that God supernaturally blessed Abraham and Sarah to have a son named Isaac in their old age. Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born. But before that could happen, Abraham’s faith had to be focused in the right direction. He had to direct his faith toward God, even when it seemed that what He had been promised was totally impossible!

When the promise was first given to Abraham in Genesis 12, he was 75 years old. Even then, that promise must have seemed impossible. However, when the promise was last confirmed in chapter 17, Abraham was 99 years old. That’s 24 years later. If it looked impossible at 75, you know it must have really looked impossible at 99! Yet, the bible says his faith did not waver!

The Bible tells us that Abraham "believed" God. This word “believe” is in a tense that suggests that he believed God when he received the promise and he kept on believing until the promise was fulfilled. You see that’s the kind of faith that sees mountains moved!

Sometimes we get weary in waiting for God promises to materialize, but let me just encourage you to keep on believing. When Abraham was 75 God told him his offspring would be like the dust of the earth. And then some years later, while Abraham was still childless, God had to revive Abrahams faith and remind him again that his offspring would be like the stars in the sky. He had to let Abraham know that He had not forgotten about him.

Let me just pause right here to encourage some of you who have been waiting on the Lord to move in your life. I need to let you know that He hasn't forgotten about you! (let your neighbor know that He hasn’t forgotten about them)

If the Lord has made you a promise, then you can count on that promise being fulfilled in His time. Don't give up, don't despair, but just keep on believing, keep on trusting in the Lord and He will bring it to pass!

A. V. 20 Your Faith Must Have the Right Direction - Verse 20 tells us clearly that Abraham "staggered not at the promise of God." This simply means that Abraham did not waver! He did not hesitate about any of the promises of God.

The reason Paul says He did not stagger or hesitate was because Abraham believed that the person Who gave the promise could not lie. He believed that with God all things are possible. He believed, without reservation, in God's ability to keep His Word!

And so the point for you and me is this. What do you believe about your God? When we allow unbelief to come in, that’s when we stagger at the promises of God. We don’t give up totally, we just begin to waver a little bit. We either think that what He has promises is too great for us or we just simply doubt His promises because we can’t see beyond our situation.