The Fantastic Blessings of Faith in God
The Book of Romans
Romans 4:1-25; Hebrews 11:1
(Initial reading: Romans 4:1-8)
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - May 1, 2016
(Revised October 23, 2020)
BACKGROUND:
*Please open your Bibles to Romans 4. In the last chapter, God's Word clearly established the truth that, other than Jesus Christ, everyone on earth is guilty of sin. Everyone on earth deserves the righteous wrath of Almighty God.
*In order to prove this truth, Paul compiled verses from several places in the Old Testament, like Psalm 14, Psalm 53, and Isaiah 59.
*In Romans 3:10, Paul summed it up by saying, "There is none righteous, no, not one." Then in Romans 3:19-20, Paul said:
19. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
20. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
*On some level, all of us are guilty of sin. But thank God! Before the end of chapter 3, God's Word takes us from our guilt to His amazing grace, and it all centers on the cross of Christ. God's total forgiveness, righteousness and everlasting life are freely available to everyone who will believe in, have faith in our crucified and risen Lord and Savior.
*Here in Romans 4, Paul continued to discuss the fantastic blessings of having faith in Jesus Christ. And tonight's Scripture shows us some of the greatest things that faith can do. Let's begin by reading vs. 1-8.
MESSAGE:
*One of the hymns I grew up singing was:
"Faith of our fathers, living still,
In spite of dungeon, fire and sword;
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whenever we hear that glorious Word!
Faith of our fathers, holy faith!
We will be true to Thee till death." (1)
*That's the kind of biblical faith God wants us to have, but what is biblical faith? Hebrews 11:1 defines faith for us and says "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
*"Faith is the substance of things hoped for. . ." The original word for "substance" has the idea of something strong under us, something strong enough for us to stand on it. Faith is a firm foundation. And faith in Jesus Christ is the only firm foundation for our lives.
*"Faith is the substance of things hoped for." What are you hoping for tonight? I hope you haven't given up on your hopes and dreams, because life would be terrible without hope.
*There's probably only one thing worse, and that is a life based on false hope. But when we have faith in Jesus Christ, we have a rock-solid foundation for all of our hopes. We have something solid to build our lives on, something solid to build our future on for all eternity.
*You see, real, biblical faith is not just positive thinking or having a positive attitude. Faith is not "The Little Engine that Could" trying to get up that hill: "I think I can. I think I can! I think I can!"
*Biblical "faith IS the substance of things hoped for." This means that right now, our faith in Jesus Christ is like a rock-solid foundation under our godly hopes and dreams. Our faith in God is the only substance that can give us the spiritual assurance and support we need in life.
*But faith is also evidence. It's the "evidence of things not seen." In other words: biblical faith gives us proof of the spiritual things we can't see with our eyes.
*It shouldn't surprise us that there is an unseen spiritual world around us, because there are also many physical things we can't see. We can't see the future. We can't see the past. And our eyes can only see a small portion of the total spectrum that includes light.
*There are many unseen things around us. But Hebrews 11:1 tells us that faith is "the evidence of things not seen." Biblical faith gives us a revelation of the unseen world.
*James Merritt explained that: "Faith sees what the physical eyes cannot see. Faith sees the invisible, touches the intangible, hears the inaudible, and attempts the impossible. Our vision may be 20/20, but the eyes of faith can see farther, deeper, clearer, and better than our physical eyes will ever see." (2)
*"Faith is the evidence of things not seen." Faith opens us up to a whole new dimension in life. Faith opens us up to the most important things in life, because the most important things cannot be seen with our eyes.
*This is true in the physical world. We can't see air, but we can't live without it. I've never seen my heart, my kidneys or my liver, and I don't want to see them! But I sure am glad they are in here, doing their important work behind the scenes.
*The most important things in life cannot be seen with our eyes. This is also true of the love, joy and peace in our hearts. And this is especially true when it comes to the things of God. We can't see God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Heaven, angels and more. We can't see any of these things right now with our physical eyes. But faith opens our spiritual eyes and we can see.
*This kind of faith, Bible-based faith in God will always make a difference in our lives. And tonight's Scripture shows us some of the greatest things faith can do.
1. FIRST: FAITH GIVES US THE GOODNESS OF GOD.
*Faith literally puts the goodness of God into our spiritual accounts. Think about that. We say that God is good, and He surely is. Psalm 107:8-9 makes this plea: "Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness."
*God is good, no doubt. But how good is He? To get an idea, let's go back to one of the key verses in the last chapter. It's Romans 3:23 which says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
*When we hear this verse, we usually focus on the fact that all of us sin, and we surely do. But how far do we fall short? The answer is: we "fall short of the glory of God." How far is that?
*Well, the Old Testament word picture for the "glory" of God is something very, very heavy, and God's glory is heavy indeed. John Piper defined God's glory as "the beauty and excellence of His boundless perfection." (3)
*And we need to get a sense of the overwhelming power of God's glory. In Exodus 24, Moses went up on Mount Sinai to meet with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights. And the Word of God says:
16. Now the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
17. The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a raging, consuming, devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.
*Then, in Exodus 33, Moses made one of the bravest requests that have ever been made to God.
18. (Moses) said, "Please, show me Your glory.''
20. But (God) said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.''
21. And the Lord said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock.
22. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by.
23. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.''
*That's just a little about the glory of God. And the more we know about God's glory, the more we see how far we really do fall short. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
*It astounded me when I began to really think about this truth. The glory of God?!? That’s the standard? The unlimited, indescribable, perfect glory of God? The glory that He must shield us from, or we would melt like a snowflake in the hot desert?
*Could we ever measure up to the glory of God? Could a goldfish climb Mount Everest? Could a mosquito learn how to fly a jet plane? Could a germ graduate from LSU with perfect grades? Of course not! It's never going to happen. It never could happen. And we could never measure up to the glory of God!
*So, the big question is: How are we going to be righteous before God? How are we going to measure up to God's infinite goodness? -- Because that is the standard for getting into Heaven.
*God's Word shows us in 1-8:
1. What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?
2. For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something of which to boast, but not before God.
3. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.''
4. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
6. just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7. "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;
8. blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.''
*How are we going to be righteous before God? By our own good works? No, because we could never meet God's glorious standard of perfection. And even if we could be perfect every moment of every day from now on, we could never go back and undo the past. So, we cannot be saved by keeping God's law.
*This is one reason why Paul went into great detail to show that Abraham was not saved by keeping God's command to be circumcised, or by keeping any other law. Please listen in vs. 9-16:
9. Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.
11. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
12. and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
13. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
15. because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
*In Ephesians 2:8, the Bible tells us that we can only be saved by God's grace through faith, and that is the summary of what Paul said here in Romans 4.
*For example, again in vs. 3-5:
3. . . What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.''
4. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
*Abraham believed God. But how in the world could God justify the ungodly? Today we know that there was only one way, and that was through the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
*That's why Romans 3:24-26 tells believers that we are:
24. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25. whom God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,
26. to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
*Abraham believed God. And we also have to believe on Him who justifies the ungodly, because all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All have sinned, so all need a Savior. And Jesus will be your Savior, if you believe in Him.
*But believing in Jesus Christ means much more than just believing with your mind. It means believing with your heart, believing with your life. It means trusting in the Lord enough to receive the risen Savior into your life. Believing in Jesus Christ also means having a real relationship with the Lord, seeking to follow His ways and allowing Him to lead your life.
*When we trust in the Lord like that, we see Him do two things in this Scripture:
[1] FIRST, GOD COVERS OUR SINS.
*That's why in vs. 6-7, Paul said:
6. just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7. "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, AND WHOSE SINS ARE COVERED.
*Christians: We know that our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus Christ! When we place our faith in Jesus, He covers all of our sins, but that's not all.
[2] GOD ALSO PUTS HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS INTO OUR ACCOUNT.
*This truth is so important that God mentions it ten different times in this chapter! Our English words "counted," "accounted," "imputed," and "reckoned" all come from the same Greek word. And that word means "to count" or "calculate."
*For example: In vs. 3, "Abraham believed God, and it was ACCOUNTED to him for righteousness.''
-In vs. 5, "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is ACCOUNTED for righteousness."
-In vs. 6, "Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God IMPUTES righteousness apart from works."
-And in vs. 8, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not IMPUTE sin.''
*When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, God covers our sins, and He puts His own righteousness into our account! So, we don't ever have to worry about our salvation, because faith gives us the goodness of God.
2. FAITH ALSO GIVES US AMAZING ANSWERS TO OUR PRAYERS.
*Faith gives amazing answers to our prayers, and here God gives us the example of Abraham. Please focus on Abraham's faith, as I read vs. 16-22.
*Verse 16 is talking about the promise of being heirs of God, and it says:
16. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
17. (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations'') in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
18. who, contrary to hope, in hope believed. . .
*The KJV says "Who against hope believed in hope. . ." That means Abraham and Sarah were beyond human hope of having the promised baby. But they were never beyond heavenly hope! And Abraham believed this truth.
*Verses 18-21 tell us that Abraham:
18. . . contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be.''
19. And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb.
20. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21. and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
*Church: There was no earthly way Abraham and Sarah could ever have that baby. But they did! By Abraham's faith, they had baby Isaac, because with God, all things are possible! And because God is always true to His Word.
*Today we can have the same kind of faith that Abraham had, because all things are still possible with God, and because God will always be true to His Word. Let's look at Abraham to see how biblical faith works.
[1] FIRST: FAITH TAKES OUR FOCUS OFF OUR SITUATION AND PUTS IT ON OUR SAVIOR.
*In vs. 19, Abraham "did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb." Abraham did not consider his own situation. That doesn't mean he pretended it wasn't so. Abraham full well knew their situation, but by faith, he kept his mind fixed on our Savior.
[2] FAITH TAKES OUR FOCUS OFF OUR SITUATION AND PUTS IT ON OUR SAVIOR. -- BUT FAITH ALSO PUTS OUR FOCUS ON THE SCRIPTURE.
*So in vs. 20-21, Abraham:
20. . . did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21. and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
*Like Abraham, we must keep our focus on the Scriptures. We must keep our focus on the promises of God. And this makes sense, because Romans 10:17 tells us that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
*If we keep the right focus, we will have the same kind of faith that Abraham had. We will also see amazing answers to our prayers because all things are possible with God! And He is always true to His Word.
*One of the most well-known preachers of the 20th century was Peter Marshall. Years ago, they made a movie about his life, and something very special happened while they were filming that movie. It was a scene where the actor playing Peter Marshall was preaching a sermon on faith.
*When the scene was over the cameras kept rolling. Many actors in the pretend church got up to congratulate the actor for a great performance. One of those cast members was a lady named Marjorie Rambeau.
*As Marjorie walked down the aisle, you could see that she was very emotional. The reason why is because Marjorie was walking, even though she had not been able to walk!
*Marjorie had been injured in a car wreck, and for over a year she had not been able to take a single step. But as she listened to those words of faith, God worked a miracle in her body. Marjorie got up and walked. And she kept on walking. (4)
*Now a doubter would say that Marjorie just got caught up in the emotion of the moment. But faith opens our spiritual eyes to see the Hand of God at work, even through an actor preaching God's Word. Faith gives us amazing answers to our prayers.
3. AND FAITH GIVES US A HOME IN HEAVEN.
*Verse 17 reminds us that we have an eternal home in Heaven, because it tells us God "quickens the dead." In other words, God gives life to the dead.
*Then down in vs. 23-25, we read:
23. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; (In other words: It was not written for Abraham's sake alone, that God's righteousness was imputed to him.)
24. But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25. Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
*After Jesus died on the cross for our sins, He was raised again for our justification. How could Heaven be a happy place if Jesus wasn't there? And how could we be forgiven if our sins kept Jesus in the grave?
*But Jesus was raised again, because He never deserved to die in the first place. And He was raised again for our justification. Therefore Christians: We will live together with Him forever in Heaven! But this can only happen through faith.
CONCLUSION:
*Having Bible-believing faith is the most fantastic thing that can ever happen to anyone. Faith puts God's infinite goodness in our account. And faith gives us amazing answers to our prayers, not everything we ask for, but everything God has promised. Best of all: By faith we will live forever with God in Heaven.
*Give God the glory, as we go back to Him in prayer.
(1) Words: Frederick W. Faber, Jesus and Mary (London: 1849); refrain by James G. Walton, 1874 - Music: St. Catherine, arranged by James G. Walton in Crown of Jesus Music, by Henri F. Hemy (London: 1864) - www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/f/a/faithoof.htm
(2) Adapted from Sermons.com sermon "You've Gotta Believe" by James Merritt - Hebrews 11:1-40
(3) SermonCentral sermon "God Created Us for His Glory" by John Piper - Isaiah 43:1-7 - July 27, 1980
(4) From SEE YOU AT THE TOP by Zig Ziglar, Pelican Publishing Company, p. 18
