WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.840 Good morning, everyone. 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:13.759 The readings are Romans chapter 4, verse 13 to 25, page 1131. 00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:18.280 ! 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:39.859 Faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath, and where there is no law, there is no transgression. 00:00:40.939 --> 00:00:48.980 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring, 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:54.179 not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. 00:00:55.260 --> 00:00:56.840 He is the father of us all. 00:00:56.840 --> 00:01:01.420 As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations. 00:01:02.040 --> 00:01:10.540 He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead, and calls into being things that were not. 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:19.340 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed, and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 00:01:19.640 --> 00:01:21.420 so shall your offspring be. 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:26.780 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead. 00:01:26.840 --> 00:01:32.359 Since he was about 100 years old, and that Sarah's womb was also dead. 00:01:33.299 --> 00:01:40.520 Yet he did not waver through unbelief, regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:46.040 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:49.640 This is why it was credited to him as righteousness. 00:01:50.440 --> 00:01:58.520 The words, it was credited to him, were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness. 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:04.000 For us who believe in him, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:11.000 He was delivered over to death for our sins, and was raised to life for our justification. 00:02:12.120 --> 00:02:13.979 May the Lord speak to us through his word. 00:02:15.259 --> 00:02:18.360 Thank you, Niva. Let's pray together as we come to God's word. Let's pray. 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:30.780 Heavenly Father, we are very conscious of our need of your help this morning. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:39.160 We're aware not only of the distractions from the outside, but also the distractions in our own hearts. 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:46.780 We come with minds full of different things going on in our lives, and worries and concerns that we have. 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:54.400 And yet our plea this morning is that you might speak to us from your word, through the chaos and the noise. 00:02:55.219 --> 00:02:59.000 Might we, through your word, by your spirit, hear clearly your voice speaking to us, 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:05.340 that we might live for you, trust you, love you, live lives that please and honor you. 00:03:05.340 --> 00:03:11.000 Do this work for our good, but for your glory and not ours, we pray. 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:14.659 In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:25.400 I think Romans 4 probably carries the clearest Bible definition of two really important words for Christians. 00:03:26.420 --> 00:03:29.400 The first is the word justification. 00:03:30.199 --> 00:03:34.920 And if you were with us last week, we were looking at the opening verses of Romans chapter 4, 00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:38.659 which carry this really clear definition of the word justification. 00:03:38.659 --> 00:03:40.479 Chapter 4, verse 5. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:45.379 To the one who does not work, but who trusts God, who justifies the ungodly, 00:03:45.959 --> 00:03:49.159 their faith is credited as righteousness. 00:03:49.359 --> 00:03:50.699 That is justification. 00:03:51.079 --> 00:03:52.959 That's what the word justification means. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:58.060 The other really important word to Christians, which is defined by Romans chapter 4, 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:00.179 is the word faith. 00:04:00.180 --> 00:04:00.300 Faith. 00:04:00.819 --> 00:04:01.260 Faith. 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:06.400 And that's defined, really, I think in part, but mostly by verse 18. 00:04:07.140 --> 00:04:14.060 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed, and so became the father of many nations. 00:04:14.740 --> 00:04:18.500 Just as it had been said to him, so shall your offspring be. 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:24.319 Now, I think it's really important for us, if you call yourself a Christian this morning, 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.279 or even if you're not a Christian and you're just thinking about it, 00:04:27.620 --> 00:04:31.800 it is really important for us to have clear definitions of those words. 00:04:32.459 --> 00:04:34.540 Justification and faith. 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:40.360 And it's important because I think actually lots of misunderstandings about what it is to be a Christian 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:43.899 come from misunderstandings about those words. 00:04:43.899 --> 00:04:51.699 So, before we deal with what is saving faith, I want to just talk about a couple of misunderstandings of saving faith. 00:04:52.259 --> 00:04:56.979 My plan in doing that is not to point the finger at anybody in the room, that that's no good, 00:04:57.039 --> 00:04:59.219 that's not a way of being a good preacher or a pastor. 00:04:59.359 --> 00:05:04.079 I am sure I have been guilty of these misunderstandings myself at various different points. 00:05:04.479 --> 00:05:10.199 But I want us just to recognize that sometimes our instincts, when it comes to understanding these words, 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:11.599 are not quite right. 00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:14.560 And so we want to be clear on what's being said here. 00:05:15.340 --> 00:05:19.680 I think the first mistake is that we reduce saving faith down. 00:05:20.640 --> 00:05:28.340 We make saving faith simply the intellectual understanding of or assent to the truth of the gospel. 00:05:29.320 --> 00:05:30.439 Perhaps you know the illustration. 00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:32.060 I'm sure I have used it with friends. 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:36.760 When your non-Christian friend says, oh, it's okay for you because you have faith. 00:05:37.140 --> 00:05:38.160 I don't have faith. 00:05:38.580 --> 00:05:39.820 I'm not that kind of person. 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:43.379 And you answer by going, oh, no, you do have faith. 00:05:43.459 --> 00:05:44.300 We all have faith. 00:05:44.379 --> 00:05:46.639 You have faith in the chair that you're sitting on right now. 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:48.659 Faith that it will hold up your weight. 00:05:50.180 --> 00:05:51.680 We all live by faith. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:54.199 Now, in a sense, that is right. 00:05:54.279 --> 00:05:57.339 But that is not a good definition of what the Bible means by saving faith. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:00.719 Because it has reduced faith down. 00:06:00.819 --> 00:06:03.659 It's drained the spiritual element of saving faith. 00:06:03.939 --> 00:06:05.719 And made it all about information. 00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:08.940 It's just belief in a set of propositions. 00:06:08.939 --> 00:06:17.360 Now, what happens if you reduce faith like that is you become robbed of your assurance. 00:06:17.860 --> 00:06:23.439 Because all of your assurance is based on your intellectual understanding of the gospel. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.980 You sort of get lost, don't you, in the algorithm of online apologetics. 00:06:27.980 --> 00:06:36.020 And ironically, you end up putting your confidence not in Christ, but in your intellectual ability to perceive him. 00:06:36.019 --> 00:06:39.879 And actually, the truth is, your intellect cannot save you. 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:40.859 Only Jesus can. 00:06:41.979 --> 00:06:46.120 I think you also become, or tend to become, a little bit of a bully to your non-Christian friends. 00:06:46.159 --> 00:06:51.839 Because you assume, don't you, if only I could impart the information that is in my head into your head, 00:06:51.979 --> 00:06:54.479 then I'll have done a sufficient job and you'll be a Christian. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:07:01.100 I think probably young men are particularly tempted to get lost here. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:05.240 But we need to be aware because saving faith is more than just information. 00:07:06.680 --> 00:07:11.259 The other way, though, I think that we can go wrong with this is that we sort of expand faith. 00:07:11.780 --> 00:07:17.600 The sort of expansion of faith to be something magical that faith sort of accomplishes the end itself. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:21.480 This is, I think, particularly popular in our modern culture. 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:27.819 In 2024, the Cambridge Dictionary made manifesting the word of the year. 00:07:28.020 --> 00:07:28.660 Did you know that? 00:07:29.379 --> 00:07:31.240 And it defined manifesting as this. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:39.960 The act of picturing something in your mind and repeating positive phrases to help you imagine achieving something that you want. 00:07:40.259 --> 00:07:40.939 Here's the key bit. 00:07:41.379 --> 00:07:46.340 In the belief that doing so will make it more likely to happen. 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:48.319 So perhaps you've tried it. 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:50.819 Imagining yourself in a great job. 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:52.840 In a big flat. 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:54.379 With a big car. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:55.960 With a full head of hair. 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:57.300 All those glorious things. 00:07:58.300 --> 00:08:03.220 In the belief that just somehow thinking like that will make it happen. 00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:08.100 That then is an overinflation of faith. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.759 It is the expectation that faith itself is what delivers the magic. 00:08:13.460 --> 00:08:15.120 As if faith is achieving the ends. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:19.620 Now when Christians import that kind of thinking into saving faith. 00:08:19.879 --> 00:08:23.939 What they end up doing is they are not so much focused on Christ. 00:08:24.139 --> 00:08:26.699 But on how they feel about Christ. 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:35.580 It's as if almost how I feel about him and not him himself is the thing that achieves the goals of Christianity. 00:08:35.580 --> 00:08:38.220 Basically it's emotionalism isn't it? 00:08:38.860 --> 00:08:41.200 Where church services are designed to hype you up. 00:08:41.820 --> 00:08:44.500 You know you sing kind of Jesus is my boyfriend type songs. 00:08:44.700 --> 00:08:52.100 Because it's this sort of weird twisted idea that it is my feeling of faith that means I'm saved. 00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:54.200 Of course that's nonsense isn't it? 00:08:54.220 --> 00:08:57.240 Because emotions and feelings are not unimportant. 00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:59.040 They are important and significant. 00:08:59.500 --> 00:09:01.580 We should feel the truth of the gospel. 00:09:02.120 --> 00:09:04.300 But it is true that you can be saved. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:06.480 But at times feel lost. 00:09:07.560 --> 00:09:08.920 It's not ideal but it's possible. 00:09:09.779 --> 00:09:12.360 Feeling faith is not what saves. 00:09:13.220 --> 00:09:14.620 Now if that's what faith is not. 00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:15.420 What is faith? 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.120 Well that's what our passage answers this morning. 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:19.920 By focusing on the character Abraham. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:20.039 Abraham. 00:09:20.659 --> 00:09:24.000 Paul if you might remember is using this great Old Testament hero. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.059 As an example of what he's been teaching. 00:09:26.419 --> 00:09:28.240 About justification by faith. 00:09:28.379 --> 00:09:29.919 From Romans chapter 3. 00:09:30.500 --> 00:09:32.059 So just walk through the verses with me. 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:33.319 Just look down at your Bibles. 00:09:33.419 --> 00:09:35.179 And we'll walk through the first few verses. 00:09:35.839 --> 00:09:37.159 We are told in verse 13. 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:40.439 That Abraham was the recipient of the promise. 00:09:40.839 --> 00:09:43.579 The promise that he would be the heir of the world. 00:09:44.219 --> 00:09:46.959 And that promise we're told came not by law. 00:09:46.959 --> 00:09:48.659 But end of verse 13. 00:09:48.659 --> 00:09:50.659 By the righteousness or justification. 00:09:51.019 --> 00:09:52.159 Same word as we've been thinking. 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:54.740 That comes by faith. 00:09:55.719 --> 00:09:59.059 Verse 14 and 15 then explain why it's faith and not law. 00:09:59.659 --> 00:10:01.399 Law diagnoses sin. 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:03.179 It can't deliver you from sin. 00:10:03.659 --> 00:10:04.719 Remember if you were with us. 00:10:04.860 --> 00:10:06.639 That law is like the x-ray machine. 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:07.600 That shows the problem. 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:08.839 But doesn't solve the problem. 00:10:09.620 --> 00:10:11.459 And verse 16 then sums it up by saying. 00:10:11.539 --> 00:10:13.480 The promise comes by faith. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:15.519 A faith that verse 16 says. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:17.039 That we also can have. 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:19.799 A faith which joins us to Abraham's family. 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:21.419 Not by becoming Jews. 00:10:21.539 --> 00:10:23.279 But by becoming children of faith. 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:25.699 He is then the father of many nations. 00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:27.000 Verse 17. 00:10:27.740 --> 00:10:28.699 And then verse 18. 00:10:28.819 --> 00:10:29.740 The definition of faith. 00:10:29.879 --> 00:10:31.019 Against all hope. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:33.059 Abraham in hope believed. 00:10:33.460 --> 00:10:35.460 And so he became the father of many nations. 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:37.740 Just as it had been said to him. 00:10:37.860 --> 00:10:39.179 So shall your offspring be. 00:10:39.179 --> 00:10:42.359 Now we don't have loads of time this morning. 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:44.899 So I only want to show you five things. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:45.899 That was a kind of joke. 00:10:46.219 --> 00:10:50.019 We're going to show you five things about faith from those verses. 00:10:50.319 --> 00:10:51.500 So let's try and see them together. 00:10:51.599 --> 00:10:53.039 The first is faith is supernatural. 00:10:53.699 --> 00:10:54.539 Faith is supernatural. 00:10:54.919 --> 00:10:56.259 Look at how verse 18 starts. 00:10:56.739 --> 00:10:57.819 Against all hope. 00:10:57.939 --> 00:10:58.579 In hope. 00:10:58.919 --> 00:10:59.899 Abraham believed. 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:02.339 Verse 19 expands on it doesn't it. 00:11:02.340 --> 00:11:04.040 He faced the fact. 00:11:04.700 --> 00:11:06.399 That his body was as good as dead. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:08.080 Since he was about 100 years old. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.340 And that Sarah's womb was also dead. 00:11:11.300 --> 00:11:12.120 In other words. 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:13.139 Here's the key to it isn't it. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:15.440 That Abraham's faith was not a belief. 00:11:15.560 --> 00:11:17.240 That what appeared to be likely. 00:11:17.720 --> 00:11:18.840 Was going to happen. 00:11:19.680 --> 00:11:20.240 In that sense. 00:11:20.360 --> 00:11:22.360 His faith was not rational. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:23.360 Or natural. 00:11:23.920 --> 00:11:25.340 Instead Abraham's faith. 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:27.340 Was belief in something impossible. 00:11:28.620 --> 00:11:29.100 Irrational. 00:11:29.780 --> 00:11:30.259 Unnatural. 00:11:30.259 --> 00:11:31.759 It was a belief in something. 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:33.220 That he could not see. 00:11:33.679 --> 00:11:35.600 And could not naturally expect. 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:36.860 To happen. 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:38.500 That he and Sarah. 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:39.659 Would have a child. 00:11:39.779 --> 00:11:41.559 And thereby become the parents of the nations. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:43.960 Now maybe you're thinking. 00:11:44.100 --> 00:11:44.240 Hey. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:46.120 I've met people like this Steve. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:46.559 Right. 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:47.980 These are the nutters. 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:48.960 Who believe against hope. 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:50.139 That they're going to win the lottery. 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:51.379 Or marry Brad Pitt. 00:11:51.460 --> 00:11:52.379 Or fly to the moon. 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:54.639 Why is belief in something. 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:55.899 That is unlikely. 00:11:56.139 --> 00:11:57.039 Or impossible. 00:11:57.200 --> 00:11:58.259 A good definition of faith. 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:00.080 Don't tell me saving faith. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:01.000 Is against hope. 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:02.620 Tell me faith is real. 00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:03.399 Or rational. 00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:04.860 Well don't worry. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.059 Abraham has not lost the plot. 00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:07.419 Because Abraham believes. 00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:08.899 That he and Sarah will have a child. 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.559 Because God has promised it. 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:12.960 That's the whole point here. 00:12:12.980 --> 00:12:13.220 Isn't it? 00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:14.799 Abraham believes the promise. 00:12:14.919 --> 00:12:17.080 Even when it's humanly impossible. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:18.940 Because of who God is. 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:20.759 Verse 17b. 00:12:20.840 --> 00:12:22.019 As we were looking at with the kids. 00:12:22.139 --> 00:12:23.620 That God who gives life to the dead. 00:12:23.700 --> 00:12:25.799 And calls into being the things that were not. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:28.339 That's the God who's made the promise. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:29.740 In other words. 00:12:29.939 --> 00:12:32.539 Abraham's faith is not an assessment of his circumstances. 00:12:32.539 --> 00:12:32.959 That goes. 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:33.139 Oh. 00:12:33.459 --> 00:12:35.299 What's most likely to happen here. 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:36.740 With me and my hundred year old wife. 00:12:36.740 --> 00:12:38.139 Is that we're going to have lots of children. 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:39.479 That's not his assessment. 00:12:39.959 --> 00:12:40.159 No. 00:12:40.240 --> 00:12:40.599 He goes. 00:12:40.959 --> 00:12:42.699 God who promised it to me. 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:45.240 Is the God who can make life from the dead. 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:47.600 And so Abraham concludes. 00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:49.259 That my deadness does not matter to him. 00:12:49.299 --> 00:12:50.340 It's no barrier to him. 00:12:52.680 --> 00:12:55.000 One of my favorite things to watch on YouTube. 00:12:55.180 --> 00:12:57.759 Is a guy who lives near the Nürburgring in Germany. 00:12:57.940 --> 00:12:59.299 I don't know whether you know the Nürburgring right. 00:12:59.680 --> 00:13:02.879 But it's this section of private road in Germany. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:03.980 Where you're allowed to race. 00:13:04.139 --> 00:13:06.080 Basically it's like a kind of pay as you go racetrack. 00:13:06.139 --> 00:13:06.680 You pay your money. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:07.700 They lift the barrier. 00:13:08.019 --> 00:13:09.639 You can drive as fast as you like around it. 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:10.159 Okay. 00:13:10.259 --> 00:13:12.980 And then as long as you pay for any damage to your own car. 00:13:13.680 --> 00:13:15.039 Someone else's car or the crash barriers. 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:15.980 You're good. 00:13:16.659 --> 00:13:18.440 Now this guy called Misha. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:19.480 Lives near the circuit. 00:13:19.620 --> 00:13:21.980 And has driven around it probably thousands of times. 00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:23.519 And what he does. 00:13:23.580 --> 00:13:25.840 Is he takes people's fancy sports cars. 00:13:25.940 --> 00:13:27.539 That they've driven very gingerly. 00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:28.539 To the Nürburgring. 00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:30.799 And he thrashes them around the Nürburgring. 00:13:30.799 --> 00:13:31.940 With them as the passenger. 00:13:32.399 --> 00:13:34.440 And he films the expression on their faces. 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:35.419 As they're going around. 00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:37.240 And what happens. 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:38.960 Is that people imagine. 00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:40.379 As they are coming into a corner. 00:13:40.860 --> 00:13:42.100 At hundreds of miles an hour. 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:42.480 They are. 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:44.740 There's no way we're getting around here. 00:13:45.139 --> 00:13:46.600 And so it's written all over their face. 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:48.159 We're going to crash. 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:49.440 We're going to die. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:51.840 He's going to ruin my beautiful sports car. 00:13:51.980 --> 00:13:52.120 Right. 00:13:52.659 --> 00:13:53.639 But then every now and again. 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:55.560 He films someone who knows him. 00:13:56.620 --> 00:13:59.080 And they've obviously sat there before with Misha. 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:00.100 Or maybe they've seen the videos. 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:02.519 And so they sit in the car with just a face of calm. 00:14:03.340 --> 00:14:04.759 As they're driving around these corners. 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:07.100 Not because they're taking them anymore. 00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:08.680 Like securely. 00:14:09.060 --> 00:14:09.720 Or slowly. 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:12.700 But because they know the one who's got the steering wheel. 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:14.860 Can drive that fast around that circuit. 00:14:15.820 --> 00:14:17.040 Now in a sense. 00:14:17.159 --> 00:14:18.120 That's Abraham here. 00:14:18.220 --> 00:14:19.100 Not around the Nürburgring. 00:14:19.899 --> 00:14:22.440 But he knows the one who's in charge. 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:25.379 It's the God who makes life from the dead. 00:14:25.800 --> 00:14:28.279 It's the one who calls into being the things that are not. 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:31.439 So of course my deadness is no barrier to him. 00:14:32.299 --> 00:14:33.779 And so his faith is supernatural. 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:37.179 Because he believes in a God who goes beyond the natural. 00:14:37.819 --> 00:14:39.100 And does what cannot be done. 00:14:40.459 --> 00:14:42.379 Now of course the promises that comes down to us. 00:14:42.439 --> 00:14:44.480 Is not that you and I will have a miracle baby. 00:14:45.179 --> 00:14:47.779 The miracle baby to fulfill Abraham's promise. 00:14:47.879 --> 00:14:49.319 Has come in the person of the Lord Jesus. 00:14:49.939 --> 00:14:50.779 God the Son. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:52.860 United to human flesh. 00:14:53.059 --> 00:14:53.879 Born of a virgin. 00:14:53.879 --> 00:15:01.120 So faith for us is not so much the call to believe things that are at first physically unlikely. 00:15:02.299 --> 00:15:04.659 Rather faith for us in the context of Romans. 00:15:04.860 --> 00:15:08.019 Is the promise that God the Holy God can take people like you and me. 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:10.340 Who are dead in our sin. 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:12.399 And make us alive. 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:14.799 Faith is persuaded. 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:15.919 Christian faith. 00:15:16.039 --> 00:15:17.460 Saving faith is persuaded. 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:18.879 That our personal immorality. 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:20.480 And our wickedness. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:21.700 And our deadness in our sin. 00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:24.899 Is no barrier to God saving us. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:27.019 Not because it looks at itself and goes. 00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:29.139 Well actually my wickedness is probably not that bad. 00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:30.620 So God will be okay with me. 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:34.740 No rather it stares the wickedness of the human heart in the face. 00:15:34.860 --> 00:15:39.519 And goes my God can save people like me. 00:15:40.399 --> 00:15:42.100 People who are dead in their sins. 00:15:42.639 --> 00:15:45.580 Jesus through the cross can justify sinners like me. 00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:50.639 You know faith is not the natural assessment is it. 00:15:50.700 --> 00:15:53.759 That our moral state means that we're probably all right for God. 00:15:55.560 --> 00:15:55.900 You know that. 00:15:56.280 --> 00:15:58.840 People like Abraham looking at himself and his elderly wife and thinking. 00:15:58.920 --> 00:16:00.180 Yeah we can probably make babies. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:01.139 That's probably going to happen. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:03.400 You know if you naturally think. 00:16:03.460 --> 00:16:03.759 Do you know what. 00:16:03.980 --> 00:16:05.580 God's probably okay with me. 00:16:06.540 --> 00:16:08.620 I'm probably all right with God. 00:16:08.780 --> 00:16:09.800 If that's what you think. 00:16:09.820 --> 00:16:11.200 You don't have saving faith. 00:16:11.200 --> 00:16:11.280 Faith. 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:13.800 Because saving faith by definition. 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:16.400 Recognizes the impossibility of salvation. 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:18.820 And knows that God alone can save. 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:20.600 That's what saving faith is. 00:16:21.620 --> 00:16:22.340 Secondly though. 00:16:22.420 --> 00:16:23.320 Faith is certain. 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:24.900 You might say faith is sure. 00:16:25.980 --> 00:16:27.280 Faith knows beyond doubt. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.000 This comes over and over. 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:30.379 Look down at verse 19. 00:16:30.660 --> 00:16:31.020 Abraham. 00:16:31.640 --> 00:16:33.620 Without weakening in his faith. 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:35.680 Faced the fact that his body was as good as dead. 00:16:36.460 --> 00:16:36.879 In other words. 00:16:37.140 --> 00:16:39.220 We've been thinking he was not blind to his state. 00:16:39.220 --> 00:16:41.580 But also his faith never weakened. 00:16:41.779 --> 00:16:43.379 Even as he got older and older. 00:16:44.060 --> 00:16:45.840 Verse 20 says very much the same thing. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:49.879 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God. 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:51.399 Verse 21. 00:16:51.540 --> 00:16:52.200 If you look down at that. 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:54.300 Calls it being fully persuaded. 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:55.639 You know. 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:57.019 Saving faith is not a gamble. 00:16:57.540 --> 00:16:58.080 It's not a. 00:16:58.360 --> 00:16:58.700 Do you know what. 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:00.139 On the balance of probabilities. 00:17:00.820 --> 00:17:02.800 I think it's probably best to trust in God. 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:05.059 That's not saving faith in the Bible. 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:07.460 Saving faith is full confidence. 00:17:07.460 --> 00:17:10.220 Confidence that God is able to save. 00:17:10.819 --> 00:17:11.799 The writer of the Hebrews. 00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:13.100 In Hebrews 11 verse 1. 00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:14.019 Puts it like this. 00:17:14.579 --> 00:17:15.960 Now faith is confidence. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:17.579 In what we hope for. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:18.900 And assurance. 00:17:19.059 --> 00:17:19.740 Or certainty. 00:17:19.880 --> 00:17:21.100 About what we do not see. 00:17:21.860 --> 00:17:22.559 That's it here. 00:17:23.120 --> 00:17:24.059 Full confidence. 00:17:24.539 --> 00:17:25.340 Total assurance. 00:17:26.620 --> 00:17:28.579 Now I don't suppose I can read your mind. 00:17:28.660 --> 00:17:29.680 But when I hear that. 00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:30.039 I think. 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:30.519 Do you know what. 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:33.559 That's not how I always experience being a Christian. 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:36.200 I have lots of doubts. 00:17:37.019 --> 00:17:37.700 I waver. 00:17:37.779 --> 00:17:38.180 I struggle. 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:40.319 Are you telling me that Abraham was never like that. 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:41.660 Did Abraham never waver. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:43.279 Well no. 00:17:43.339 --> 00:17:43.559 That's. 00:17:43.740 --> 00:17:44.720 That's not what we're saying. 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:46.440 Doubt and struggle are part of the Christian life. 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:48.220 You don't have to read much of the Bible to see that. 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:51.359 It seems that even the great heroes of the Bible have their own battles. 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:53.259 But Paul's point here. 00:17:53.619 --> 00:17:58.159 Is that we need to understand that doubt is not a weakness or a problem in faith. 00:17:58.539 --> 00:18:01.519 It's an attack from the outside on faith. 00:18:02.199 --> 00:18:04.779 Faith is by definition solid and certain. 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:07.419 Doubt if you like is an unwelcome addition. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:08.199 An assault. 00:18:09.379 --> 00:18:10.599 Now why is that the case? 00:18:11.439 --> 00:18:15.859 Why is faith so sure that God gives life to the dead? 00:18:15.939 --> 00:18:20.479 Why is faith certain that God can call into existence the things that are not? 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:23.599 Well this is the key to all this right? 00:18:24.500 --> 00:18:27.660 It's because that's exactly where faith has come from. 00:18:29.420 --> 00:18:32.599 Faith is the expression of this new life. 00:18:33.460 --> 00:18:35.480 Faith is the result of God making us alive. 00:18:36.660 --> 00:18:36.799 You know. 00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:42.579 Faith is not the action of someone who is spiritually dead in order to save themselves. 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:44.920 Spiritually dead people take no action. 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:51.840 Instead faith is the cry of a newborn Christian who has received new life from God. 00:18:52.180 --> 00:18:54.800 Faith knows that God gives life to the dead. 00:18:55.100 --> 00:19:00.279 Because faith is by definition a new life that's being given to it by God. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:05.740 Now I wanted to ask her permission before using this illustration. 00:19:05.880 --> 00:19:07.320 But I'm going to ask for forgiveness instead. 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:13.700 I don't know whether you know that the island of Montserrat exists. 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:14.460 Sorry. 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:17.659 Do you know the island of Montserrat exists? 00:19:18.220 --> 00:19:19.399 Or maybe you've seen on a map. 00:19:20.159 --> 00:19:20.799 But come on really. 00:19:21.319 --> 00:19:21.799 Are you really. 00:19:21.819 --> 00:19:22.960 It's such a small island. 00:19:23.859 --> 00:19:25.119 Are you really sure? 00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:26.740 There are only. 00:19:26.879 --> 00:19:29.399 I think actually less than 5,000 people live in Montserrat. 00:19:30.140 --> 00:19:31.640 They could all be making it up. 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:32.019 Couldn't they? 00:19:32.560 --> 00:19:33.220 I mean 5,000. 00:19:33.280 --> 00:19:35.420 You could make a hoax up with 5,000 people for sure. 00:19:35.560 --> 00:19:36.620 Could just be an elaborate hoax. 00:19:36.680 --> 00:19:40.120 It's an attempt to con us into thinking that the island of Montserrat is real. 00:19:40.320 --> 00:19:40.960 It's just a joke. 00:19:41.519 --> 00:19:41.700 Yeah. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:42.940 We can't be sure. 00:19:43.740 --> 00:19:44.240 Our faith. 00:19:44.340 --> 00:19:44.540 If you. 00:19:44.660 --> 00:19:45.480 If you want to call it faith. 00:19:45.840 --> 00:19:47.440 Our faith that Montserrat is real. 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:48.920 It's not certain faith. 00:19:49.100 --> 00:19:50.040 It's not sure faith. 00:19:50.140 --> 00:19:51.360 It's just based on the probabilities. 00:19:51.460 --> 00:19:51.700 Isn't it? 00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:52.280 We've seen a map. 00:19:52.360 --> 00:19:52.900 We think it's probably. 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:54.100 Probably there. 00:19:54.099 --> 00:19:56.339 Now. 00:19:57.339 --> 00:19:58.419 Yvonne's faith. 00:19:58.699 --> 00:19:59.740 That Montserrat is real. 00:19:59.879 --> 00:20:00.980 Is very different to that. 00:20:01.419 --> 00:20:02.559 Why is it different to that? 00:20:03.259 --> 00:20:05.859 Because that is where she is from. 00:20:06.500 --> 00:20:06.639 Right? 00:20:07.419 --> 00:20:09.219 She knows for certain. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:11.019 That Montserrat is real. 00:20:11.719 --> 00:20:11.899 You know. 00:20:11.939 --> 00:20:13.899 Her faith in the reality of Montserrat. 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:15.579 May face certain attacks. 00:20:15.719 --> 00:20:15.879 You know. 00:20:15.959 --> 00:20:17.459 We might come at it with certain doubts. 00:20:18.019 --> 00:20:18.859 But fundamentally. 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:21.599 That faith comes from the reality of her own existence. 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:23.000 You know. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:24.819 If Montserrat is not real. 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:26.599 Yvonne is not real. 00:20:26.959 --> 00:20:27.119 Right? 00:20:27.199 --> 00:20:28.899 Because they're from that same place. 00:20:28.959 --> 00:20:29.759 She is from there. 00:20:30.539 --> 00:20:32.119 And so it is with saving faith. 00:20:32.740 --> 00:20:35.419 Saving faith is certain that God raises the dead. 00:20:36.419 --> 00:20:37.939 Saving faith is certain. 00:20:38.339 --> 00:20:40.899 That God can call into being things that are not. 00:20:41.299 --> 00:20:41.500 Why? 00:20:42.319 --> 00:20:44.619 Because that is where it's from. 00:20:45.459 --> 00:20:45.539 Right? 00:20:46.459 --> 00:20:49.459 Yet faith is the heart cry of the risen. 00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:50.919 Yes. 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:51.580 Lord I believe. 00:20:52.259 --> 00:20:53.759 I'm sorry for my sin. 00:20:54.360 --> 00:20:58.340 Those are the first words of someone who has been given new life by God. 00:20:59.019 --> 00:21:00.640 It's the I trust you Lord. 00:21:00.700 --> 00:21:02.200 Coming from the person who was dead. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:03.019 But is now alive. 00:21:04.300 --> 00:21:06.120 This is really really important. 00:21:06.940 --> 00:21:09.019 If you're trusting in Christ this morning. 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:10.620 And longing for his salvation. 00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:12.580 You know that you're doing that. 00:21:12.660 --> 00:21:14.620 Not because you're better than most people. 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:15.039 Right? 00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:17.220 You believe in Jesus. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:19.360 And you trust in him alone for salvation. 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:22.079 Not because you're wiser than most people that you've met. 00:21:22.339 --> 00:21:24.039 It might well be that you're not. 00:21:24.679 --> 00:21:27.159 You might not be the most intelligent person in this room. 00:21:27.159 --> 00:21:29.339 Or in other rooms that you are in all week. 00:21:30.019 --> 00:21:33.419 Your faith in Jesus Christ has been given to you. 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:34.560 By God. 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:35.660 From him. 00:21:36.300 --> 00:21:37.920 And it is certain. 00:21:38.560 --> 00:21:39.220 And solid. 00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:41.140 You know. 00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:42.960 Our faith might be weak. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:44.480 And we'll talk about that in a moment. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.920 But it is certain. 00:21:46.500 --> 00:21:48.060 It might be under attack. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:49.680 But it's not wavering. 00:21:50.200 --> 00:21:53.920 It might be that your old nature is lured back into trusting other things. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:57.400 But your saving faith is fully sold on Jesus. 00:21:57.940 --> 00:21:58.880 Because faith. 00:21:59.100 --> 00:21:59.700 Saving faith. 00:21:59.820 --> 00:22:00.320 Is certain. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:02.960 It's from the new life that God gives. 00:22:03.779 --> 00:22:04.440 Thirdly then. 00:22:04.580 --> 00:22:06.060 Faith is hearing. 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:08.100 Perhaps you want to say faith listens. 00:22:08.779 --> 00:22:10.279 Specifically listens to God's word. 00:22:10.380 --> 00:22:11.660 Take a look at verse 18 again. 00:22:11.900 --> 00:22:13.360 Against all hope. 00:22:13.500 --> 00:22:14.820 Abraham in hope believed. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.660 And so became the father of many nations. 00:22:17.180 --> 00:22:20.060 Just as it had been said to him. 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:21.759 So shall your offspring be. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:24.879 Notice here that faith rests in. 00:22:24.980 --> 00:22:25.720 Or even if you like. 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:28.680 Comes from the word of God has been spoken. 00:22:29.140 --> 00:22:30.640 So shall your offspring be. 00:22:31.240 --> 00:22:31.859 In other words. 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.599 Faith is the I believe response to the word that God has spoken. 00:22:36.420 --> 00:22:38.440 Now ultimately this so shall your offspring be. 00:22:38.559 --> 00:22:40.420 Is fulfilled in Jesus Christ isn't it? 00:22:40.759 --> 00:22:44.180 The one who John's gospel introduces to us as the word of God. 00:22:44.539 --> 00:22:46.799 The word that was with God in the beginning. 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:49.660 He has now spoken in the arrival of the son. 00:22:49.660 --> 00:22:54.040 The son who verse 24 and 25 tell us was delivered over to death. 00:22:54.140 --> 00:22:55.360 And is now risen again. 00:22:55.620 --> 00:22:59.140 It's a message that we hear every time we open the pages of a Bible. 00:23:00.220 --> 00:23:03.680 Now faith as we saw at the beginning is more than having information. 00:23:04.320 --> 00:23:06.360 But it isn't less than having information. 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:09.000 And actually this happens. 00:23:09.160 --> 00:23:11.519 This faith comes as we hear the message. 00:23:12.080 --> 00:23:17.100 God brings new life to his people as they hear the word of God. 00:23:17.099 --> 00:23:19.819 That's how Romans 10 talks about it. 00:23:19.919 --> 00:23:21.539 In Romans 10 verse 17. 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:25.379 We read that faith comes from hearing the message. 00:23:26.139 --> 00:23:29.039 It means if you're investigating Christianity this morning. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:30.819 I'm so glad you're here if you are. 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:32.500 So thankful. 00:23:33.399 --> 00:23:36.319 But you don't need to go on a pilgrimage to investigate Christianity. 00:23:36.980 --> 00:23:39.799 You don't need to go digging inside your own heart to look for it. 00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:41.899 Because it's not firstly an emotional experience. 00:23:41.900 --> 00:23:46.120 Rather what you need to do to investigate Christianity is open a Bible. 00:23:47.080 --> 00:23:47.940 Read it. 00:23:48.320 --> 00:23:49.400 Listen to what it says. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:51.900 Listen to someone who's going to teach it to you. 00:23:52.180 --> 00:23:53.420 Ask your questions here. 00:23:53.560 --> 00:23:54.620 Reflect on what's being said. 00:23:55.000 --> 00:23:56.280 Make sure that you understand. 00:23:56.700 --> 00:23:59.480 That's how God brings to birth faith. 00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:02.380 And if you're a Christian this morning. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:08.480 Opening the Bible is like sort of returning to the place you were born, isn't it? 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:10.559 It's like the trip to Montserrat. 00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:11.779 If you can put it like that way. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:14.680 Oh, this is the street on which I was born. 00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:16.200 That's where I went to school. 00:24:17.019 --> 00:24:18.200 This is my family home. 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:22.160 It's the ongoing hearing of God's word that affirms your faith. 00:24:22.799 --> 00:24:23.920 Let me just rub this in a bit. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:27.819 Look down at verse 20 and see that Abraham grew in strength. 00:24:27.819 --> 00:24:29.159 Verse 20. 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:32.319 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God. 00:24:32.419 --> 00:24:35.460 But was strengthened in his faith. 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:36.879 And gave glory to God. 00:24:37.740 --> 00:24:40.919 Notice there's no contradiction in the Bible between certain faith. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:42.819 And faith that has room to grow. 00:24:43.779 --> 00:24:45.899 Weak faith is still certain faith. 00:24:45.980 --> 00:24:48.059 But it needs to grow in strength and courage. 00:24:48.439 --> 00:24:50.460 It needs feeding like a child needs feeding. 00:24:50.759 --> 00:24:52.779 And the food that it needs is the word of God. 00:24:53.939 --> 00:24:55.319 And that's all of us, isn't it, this morning? 00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:58.159 You know, our faith is hungry. 00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:00.139 So we must eat. 00:25:00.659 --> 00:25:01.899 Our faith is under attack. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:03.279 Our sinful nature hates it. 00:25:03.500 --> 00:25:04.879 The world seeks to undermine it. 00:25:04.919 --> 00:25:06.519 The devil throws all his arrows at it. 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:08.059 So we come to God's word. 00:25:09.159 --> 00:25:11.200 Please, Lord, feed me from your word. 00:25:11.579 --> 00:25:12.700 Please speak to me. 00:25:13.740 --> 00:25:16.099 We want to make the most out of the preaching ministry on a Sunday. 00:25:16.579 --> 00:25:18.740 We want to make the most out of sharing the Lord's Supper, 00:25:18.859 --> 00:25:21.159 which essentially are visible words of God, aren't they? 00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:25.040 You know, if you're a Christian and you haven't been baptized, get baptized, 00:25:25.140 --> 00:25:30.240 because these are the visible words of the gospel given to you to strengthen your faith in him. 00:25:30.820 --> 00:25:33.900 If you're not in the habit of reading your Bible on your own, start that habit. 00:25:34.259 --> 00:25:38.100 If you're not in the habit of coming to church twice on Sunday, may I give that a thorough recommendation? 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:39.980 Do you only eat once a day? 00:25:42.380 --> 00:25:45.740 Faith is hearing and hearing the word of God. 00:25:46.580 --> 00:25:48.000 Fourthly, faith is desiring. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:55.059 Look back at verse 18, which I hope by the end of our sermon, which we're nearly at, will be familiar to us. 00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:56.359 So verse 18 says, 00:25:56.519 --> 00:26:01.700 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed, and so became the father of many nations, 00:26:02.160 --> 00:26:04.859 just as it had been said to him, so shall your offspring be. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:08.279 Now, notice something very pedestrian from those verses. 00:26:08.619 --> 00:26:11.599 Faith is hope in those verses, right? 00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:16.240 Hope, not just because it doesn't yet have what it will have one day. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:18.880 Hope is not just the absence of something, is it? 00:26:19.539 --> 00:26:22.220 Hope implies the desire for something that is absent. 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:24.420 Hope is a longing word. 00:26:25.460 --> 00:26:31.579 So faith, by definition, does not yet possess all that it will, but it desires all that is promised. 00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:38.559 And it is, more than that, it is willing to go without now because of the beauty of what is promised then. 00:26:38.559 --> 00:26:42.440 That is why this chapter is full of the resurrection. 00:26:43.460 --> 00:26:49.079 And why, when you get to see that promise to Abraham, it's not fulfilled in his day, 00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:53.079 but it's fulfilled in eternity when he becomes the father of the nations. 00:26:54.619 --> 00:26:57.679 That's, again, the writer of the Hebrews point in Hebrews chapter 11. 00:26:58.159 --> 00:27:02.779 In Hebrews 11, you don't need to turn to it, but he lists all the heroes, great heroes of Old Testament faith. 00:27:02.819 --> 00:27:05.220 Well, not all of them, but the ones that he wants to. 00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:07.700 And then in verse 39, he says this, 00:27:08.059 --> 00:27:15.100 These were all commended for their faith, yet, he says, none of them received what had been promised, 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:21.880 since God had planned something better for us, so that only together with us would they be made perfect. 00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:24.400 And so it is with us. 00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:29.480 Faith is the desiring longing for what God has promised, but it does not yet have. 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:36.579 We are promised life with him, eternity with God, our father and our maker. 00:27:37.380 --> 00:27:42.140 And so faith goes without now in the present because it longs for that future. 00:27:43.799 --> 00:27:45.819 Again, let me try and land that for us really practically. 00:27:47.120 --> 00:27:50.960 There is a teaching, isn't there, that says something like this, 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:55.819 If only you have enough faith, you will always have what you desire. 00:27:56.840 --> 00:27:56.980 Right? 00:27:57.360 --> 00:28:01.460 If only you have enough faith, you will always receive the healing that you want. 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:05.880 If only you have enough faith, your family will be safe, no tragedy will be for you. 00:28:06.819 --> 00:28:10.920 But notice that's the very opposite of how Paul is defining faith here. 00:28:11.980 --> 00:28:14.200 Faith is the absence of what is hopeful. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:16.000 It's the longing. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:22.259 You know, faith sees the mess, the pain, the suffering, the cost of taking up our cross and following Jesus and says, 00:28:22.900 --> 00:28:24.460 Yes, this is worth it. 00:28:25.059 --> 00:28:29.359 Because what I long for is not here and now, but there and there. 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:33.440 And I will set my hope and my desire on that. 00:28:34.740 --> 00:28:38.799 And so let me say to you this morning, especially if your life is particularly difficult, 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:44.900 let me say to you, your present suffering is not an indication of a defect in your faith. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:49.720 Faith is certain in the hope that it has. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:57.220 Your present suffering is an indication that you are not yet in full possession of all that has been promised to you. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:59.559 But you will be one day. 00:29:00.220 --> 00:29:01.519 You will be one day. 00:29:01.940 --> 00:29:03.940 And so we live by faith and not by sight. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:05.900 Final one. 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:07.420 Faith is receiving. 00:29:07.420 --> 00:29:11.580 Now, I need to be careful here that I don't contradict what I've already said. 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:17.860 But listen, faith doesn't receive all that it hopes for, but it does receive something. 00:29:18.539 --> 00:29:20.320 And the something is justification. 00:29:21.519 --> 00:29:22.940 So notice this as we close. 00:29:23.100 --> 00:29:23.759 Verse 13. 00:29:24.480 --> 00:29:29.340 Righteousness or justification that comes by faith. 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:30.880 Verse 22. 00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:36.360 This is why it, that is faith, was credited to him as righteousness. 00:29:36.700 --> 00:29:37.420 Verse 23. 00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:45.260 The words, it was credited to him, were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness. 00:29:45.620 --> 00:29:49.600 For us who believe in him, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 00:29:50.540 --> 00:29:51.460 Here it is then. 00:29:51.460 --> 00:29:56.880 This supernatural confidence that God can do what is obviously impossible. 00:29:57.539 --> 00:30:00.519 This certain desire that he's planted in us by the word of God. 00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:04.440 That faith receives justification. 00:30:05.620 --> 00:30:09.299 It receives the declaration from God that we're in the right with him. 00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:11.500 That we're holy in Christ. 00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:12.420 That we're safe. 00:30:13.079 --> 00:30:17.380 You know, as we were thinking last week, it receives this verdict of judgment day ahead of that day. 00:30:18.140 --> 00:30:19.920 That's what faith possesses. 00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:22.560 And it's what faith alone can possess. 00:30:23.820 --> 00:30:25.480 Let me try and finish with an illustration. 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:27.960 Imagine you go to the supermarket. 00:30:28.740 --> 00:30:35.700 And you buy the biggest, the most succulent joint of beef that they have for sale in the supermarkets. 00:30:35.960 --> 00:30:37.400 It's huge, right? 00:30:38.300 --> 00:30:40.500 And you go and buy it. 00:30:40.700 --> 00:30:42.800 But you have no bag to carry it. 00:30:44.300 --> 00:30:46.400 And so, as you go to the checkout, 00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:51.060 a friend offers you one of those little paper bags that you get your packed lunch in. 00:30:51.860 --> 00:30:52.780 He says, here, put it in there. 00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:54.220 You go, well, no. 00:30:54.340 --> 00:30:56.320 No, I can't possibly put it in there. 00:30:56.880 --> 00:30:58.320 Can't you see the size of this joint? 00:30:58.380 --> 00:30:59.240 It's never going to fit in there. 00:30:59.880 --> 00:31:00.660 It's huge. 00:31:00.800 --> 00:31:01.600 It's never going to fit. 00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:02.860 Can't carry it in that. 00:31:02.859 --> 00:31:04.359 And they go, oh, no, I can see a point. 00:31:05.279 --> 00:31:06.619 And so they hand you their rucksack. 00:31:07.659 --> 00:31:09.119 But it's got a giant hole in the bottom. 00:31:09.979 --> 00:31:10.719 I don't want to put it in there. 00:31:10.779 --> 00:31:11.500 It'll fall out. 00:31:11.939 --> 00:31:12.759 This is so pressure. 00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:13.899 I don't want to lose this on the way. 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:16.259 This is a giant, giant joint of beef. 00:31:16.359 --> 00:31:17.399 I'm going to eat this. 00:31:17.439 --> 00:31:18.859 I'm going to delight in this. 00:31:19.759 --> 00:31:21.699 I don't want it to fall on the road on the way home. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:23.559 Have you got anything else? 00:31:24.459 --> 00:31:27.199 And then they hand you a bag for life, right? 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:28.199 It's big. 00:31:28.639 --> 00:31:29.319 It's solid. 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:32.019 And it can hold the joint of beef. 00:31:32.219 --> 00:31:33.500 So you put it in there and you carry it home. 00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:37.500 And then you enjoy the feast that is roast beef. 00:31:39.759 --> 00:31:42.039 In a way, that's what's going on here. 00:31:42.979 --> 00:31:45.639 Faith is the only thing that can hold justification. 00:31:45.640 --> 00:31:48.920 If you don't have faith, you can't have justification. 00:31:50.580 --> 00:31:56.600 If all you've got is works, you've got a little paper bag that's trying to hold a giant joint of beef. 00:31:57.320 --> 00:31:59.580 There's no way your good works can take hold of justification. 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:01.060 Can your good works take hold of? 00:32:01.080 --> 00:32:01.980 Of course they can't. 00:32:02.540 --> 00:32:03.840 There's no room for them. 00:32:04.460 --> 00:32:05.560 It won't fit in there. 00:32:06.380 --> 00:32:13.140 If you're trusting your religion or your morality or your attendance at church to hold justification for you ahead of judgment day, 00:32:13.140 --> 00:32:17.360 so that you can get to God and say, you know, look, I'm justified. 00:32:17.520 --> 00:32:18.700 I'm right in your sight. 00:32:19.100 --> 00:32:20.020 What will you find? 00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:22.820 Well, you've lost it along the way somewhere. 00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:23.860 Fell out. 00:32:24.420 --> 00:32:27.640 Because your morality and your church attendance can never hold justification. 00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:30.160 Faith. 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:32.580 Saving faith. 00:32:32.820 --> 00:32:36.560 Faith that is supernatural and certain, that has heard the word of God, 00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:43.179 that doesn't yet have all that it longs for, is the only thing that is capable of receiving justification from God. 00:32:43.259 --> 00:32:50.399 It's the empty hand that receives this promise of justification that we hold on to now, 00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:55.099 the verdict of judgment day ahead of that day, and we can only receive it by faith. 00:32:56.059 --> 00:32:58.039 Let me pray for us as we claim. 00:32:58.039 --> 00:33:07.920 We're going to have a few moments just of quiet as we reflect on what God has said to us from his words. 00:33:09.799 --> 00:33:11.259 You pray in your own heart. 00:33:12.899 --> 00:33:14.339 And then I'll close for us. 00:33:14.339 --> 00:33:14.339 00:33:28.039 --> 00:33:56.059 Heavenly Father, how we thank you that we are certain that Jesus was risen from the dead. 00:33:56.059 --> 00:34:02.839 We are certain that you are the God who raises the dead and calls into being the things that we're not. 00:34:04.700 --> 00:34:08.420 We're certain of those things, not just because we've been persuaded by the evidence, 00:34:09.239 --> 00:34:11.840 but because that is what you've done for us. 00:34:12.860 --> 00:34:14.659 You've made us alive when we were dead. 00:34:15.480 --> 00:34:19.519 You've made us love you, when by our very nature we run from you. 00:34:20.299 --> 00:34:24.820 You've made us want to live for your glory, when by our very nature we want to live for our own glory. 00:34:26.059 --> 00:34:31.500 You've made us sorry for our sin, when by our very nature we delighted in it. 00:34:32.460 --> 00:34:34.960 Lord, we thank you for what you've done for us in Jesus. 00:34:35.860 --> 00:34:40.639 We thank you for this faith that is ours, that has come from his great action. 00:34:41.500 --> 00:34:45.659 And we pray, please, strengthen our faith. 00:34:46.519 --> 00:34:47.519 Grow our faith. 00:34:48.139 --> 00:34:50.279 Grow our joy in our faith. 00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:52.240 Grow our desire for glory. 00:34:53.019 --> 00:34:56.100 That we might live to the praise of your glorious name. 00:34:56.820 --> 00:34:57.780 In Jesus' name. 00:34:58.360 --> 00:34:58.680 Amen. 00:34:58.680 --> 00:34:58.860 Amen. 00:34:58.860 --> 00:34:59.559 Amen. 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:34:59.559 00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:00.519 Amen. 00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:30.500 Thank you.