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The River ChurchSermons

Righteousness

Righteousness Illustrated, Pt. 2

Chuck Lindsey · Sunday, 15 June 2025 · Romans 4:13-25 · 57:01 · 9,763 words

Romans S8 · 4:13-25 Grand Blanc

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

Romans 4 is examined to show that Abraham was saved by believing God’s promise, not by any human effort or keeping the law. The sermon explains that righteousness is a gift given to those who admit they are undeserving and trust in God’s mercy. It challenges listeners to stop relying on their own goodness and instead look past their troubles, giving glory to God. The message calls everyone to turn to the Lord, believing that Jesus died for their offenses and rose again, and to ask Him for grace.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

sure 46 example 39 save 87 abraham 39 effort 18 charge 16 held 15 law 50 anything 26 trouble 15 shaken 6 religion 14

Topics

Salvation 19 The Law 8 Faith 8 Abraham 7 Prayer 3 Grace 2 Hope 2 Suffering 2 Righteousness 2 Justification 1 Israel 1 The Weaker Brother 1

Scripture referenced 26

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 4 0:46 Romans 4:13 0:55 Romans 4 0:58 Romans 4 6:29 Romans 4:13 6:29 Genesis 17 6:41 Romans 4 9:13 Romans 4:13 9:20 Romans 4:13 10:37 Romans 4:14 11:48 Romans 4:14 12:41 Romans 4:14 15:07 Romans 4:15 16:26 Romans 4:15 23:47 Romans 4:16 24:04 Romans 4:16 24:04 Romans 4:16 31:58 Romans 4:16 32:26 Genesis 17 32:35 Genesis 17:17 32:35 Genesis 17:5 32:35 Romans 4:17 33:04 Romans 4:18 38:41 Romans 4:19 41:36 Romans 4:19 44:15 Romans 8 46:22

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 9 lines, 0:44. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

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All right, Romans chapter 4.

We've been making our way through this incredible book.

I want to welcome all of you joining us online as well today.

And we come to verse 13.

We will finish out Romans 4 this morning.

And just some incredible stuff.

I pray this book has been a blessing to you.

It has, I love it so much.

I love the book of Romans.

And the number of times I've told my wife, I can't wait.

I can't wait for Sunday.

She's like, why this time?

You know, I've said it so many times.

So, but let's do this.

Let's pray.

Let's prepare our hearts.

So important as we come to God's word, we prepare our hearts and ask him to speak.

Okay, so I'll do the same.

And let's ask him to speak.

Lord, we just come to you admitting our need today, Lord.

We are in tremendous need.

And Lord, we don't even know what we need, but you do.

And I pray today that you would shepherd us.

I pray that you, the good shepherd, would speak.

I pray that, Lord, you, the writer of this word, would speak.

I pray, God, that we would see you and we would hear you.

And you would encourage today as only you can.

Thank you, Lord, so much for being our great father.

We love you.

We give this time to you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Well, let me ask you a question.

How sure are you about anything anymore?

What are you sure about?

It's been said that there are only two guarantees in life.

They say death and taxes.

If that's true, if those are the only two things we can be sure of, that is tragically sad.

Right?

And that might be true for someone that does not know the Lord.

Many people, I thought about this this morning as I just was praying.

I thought, you know, man, there are so many people.

There are so many people who just tragically live in this place of uncertainty.

They have no certainty, no guarantee of anything in life.

Everything's up in the air.

Everything's consequential.

Everything is at stake.

You know, everything going on around the world.

Who knows what's going to happen?

That kind of thing.

But for us who know the Lord, man, there are so many things we can be sure of and should be sure of.

So let me ask you.

Let me ask you a few questions here.

Okay.

Are you sure that there is a God that he is real, that he loves you?

Do you realize if you are sure of that, do you realize where that puts you in life in terms of just the average person in life?

Like where it puts you to know, to really know that there is a God that he loves you, that he's really there.

How about this?

Are you sure that heaven is real and is waiting for every person who knows and loves him?

Are you sure about this?

Oh, man, if you're unsure about this, I can understand how when you look at the world, it's chaos, it's craziness.

It brings so much fear.

But to even have these first two questions settled, there is a God.

He loves me.

There is a heaven.

I'm headed there because I know him.

Just to have those two things settled would bring such stability in the midst of chaos.

And it really does.

I don't think it's arrogance to say I'm not shaken by what's happening in this world because of the Lord, because of who he is.

I don't think it's arrogance to say I'm not shaken by what's happening in this world because of the Lord, because of who he is.

I don't think it's arrogance to say I'm not shaken by what's happening in this world because of who he is.

Let me ask you, are you sure that you will enter heaven when you die?

Are you sure about this?

If you are, it solves everything.

It solves everything.

It solves every possible thing for you to know.

There is a God.

He loves you.

There is a heaven.

And you will actually enter it when you take your last breath.

How about this?

Are you sure that this is true?

That every word of this can be completely relied upon?

Oh, that's like having it.

having

a compass in life, having an anchor in life. I mean, to be sure of this is game changer in life.

Where do you even find truth anymore? Right here. Here it is, right? Are you sure of these things?

Are you sure that God is in complete control in life? Are you sure of this? If you are not sure

of it and you think it's up to you and your control, oh my gosh, good luck. Good luck, man.

If you're sure it's such stability, are you sure that he's in control when trouble comes,

when difficulty? Are you sure? Are you sure that you can trust him when fearful things come,

when uncertain things come, when painful things come, when disappointments come in life? Are you

sure? What I'm asking is, are you sure of him? That's the question. Everything in life, really

everything in eternal life, all of heaven depends on your answer to these things. Are you sure

of him? Well, that's what we're talking about this morning. As we look at Abraham, as we look at this

man's life, we're looking at somebody who was sure of God, but he's not a super person. He's not more

than you are. He's not better than you are. Abraham is held up as an example of somebody who is sure

about God, but there's a reason for it. And I'm going to try to show it to you. Take a look.

Romans chapter four, verse 13. Look what it says. It says that the promise,

this promise that came from God, that he would be the heir of the world. Pause for one second.

Genesis 17, God himself comes to Abraham, to this man and makes a promise to him. Abraham and his

wife, you know this, right? If you know the story, nearly a hundred years old, have not had children.

God comes and says, I am not only going to give you a son, but I am going to bring an entire race

of people from you. You are an entire race. New race of people is going to come from you. Not just

a son, but a whole nation. They are the Jewish people who, by the way, the Bible tells you to

pray for. If you are not, you should be. Bible tells you to pray for the peace of Israel. I would

encourage you to do so. But God now he, he takes in and we're told here, he takes Abraham and he

is not just the father of the Jewish people. God now holds him up as an example, not as an example

of somebody who's better than everybody else. God holds him up as the example of how to be saved.

Forever. And it's a really big deal. And it's clear in his name that he's not just the father

of the Jewish nation. In fact, his name was Abram and God changed his name to Abraham, which means

father of many nations. So he is now held up as the example to everybody, to all nations, to all

people, to people, you know, 4,000 years ago and people today. He is held up as the example, not as

an example, but as an example of Abraham's moral conduct, follow Abraham's example in belief, in

believing. And this is how he is the father or the example to many nations or to all people. You see,

we showed it last week. Abraham did not do anything. He did not do anything to achieve

salvation. He wasn't baptized. He didn't go to church. He didn't take communion. Uh, by the way,

he didn't even keep the law. The law would not be given for another 400 years. And so,

and 30 years, Abraham was not saved by being a Jew. There were no Jewish people. He's the first

one. Anything you think that would make Abraham saved by being, you know, by some human ability

or some human effort is gone. It's all off the table because of who he is. That's why he's held

up as the example. He simply believed. And the Bible says God gave him eternal salvation. And

does what Abraham did and believe. This is the point of Romans chapter four. So eternal life

is a gift. It is given to Abraham, not because of anything he did. Look what it says. Verse 13

for the promise that he would be the air or the example to the entire world was not to Abraham or

to his seed through the law. And we said it, um, we said it for a few weeks. You can take the law

and you can replace it with human effort. So what, what this is saying is,

Abraham is not held up as the example because he, he did it through human effort. He's not held up

the law again, not given for 430 years from this point. He was not a law keeper. He's not been

being held up as an example, like, hey, look at Abraham. Look how good he was. Look how smart he

was. Look how pure he was. No, no, Abraham was no different than you are. He's no different than I

am. Abraham was an unsaved man. He was a lost man. He was not born again. He did not have

righteousness. He wasn't headed to heaven until this moment when God came to him and he believed.

Then Abraham was saved. So it says there, he's held up as the example, not by human effort,

that's not the example, verse 13, but it's really instead he's held up because of the righteousness

that comes through faith. Let me just tell you something. The only way you'll ever go to heaven

is if you are made righteous. You can't do it. You can't make yourself righteous. Coming to church

can't make you righteous. Sorry if you thought today would make you righteous. It doesn't do

that. It can't do that.

We can't baptize you and make you righteous. You can't take communion and become righteous.

You can't give money to people and become righteous. You can't serve and be right.

Nothing you do can make you righteous. You cannot scrub the inside of you clean. Impossible.

You have to be given righteousness. And the only way you will be given righteousness,

it says here, he is held up as the example. He believed and so righteousness was given to him

because of belief. The end, period. That's it. He believed. And so he's held up as the example

for the righteousness of God. He's held up as the example for the righteousness of God. He's held up

as the example for you and I to know how to be saved. What do I got to do? Do I got to like clean

myself up? Do I got to figure it out? Do I got to be good? Do I got to, what do I got to do? Look at

the life of Abraham. He's held up as the example. Now here's the problem. If you try to approach

God, if you think salvation is by your effort, you have a problem. Look at verse 14. Here's the

problem. For if those who are of the law are heirs. So hear that. If the law keepers are the only

people that will be saved, I'm in trouble. Why?

Because I'm a lawbreaker. You're like, Oh, you're a lawbreaker to stop it. Right? Really? And I'm

like, Hey, look, you got three fingers are pointing right back at you. Right? You're a lawbreaker. We

all are. Have you kept the 10 commandments? Go ahead. Lift your hand. If you've kept the 10

commandments perfectly. Oh, you're smart. You know, you know not to do that because then you

would have lied, right? You put your hand up. You lied. Okay. So we are law breakers, but, but here

it says if salvation was only for the law,

law keepers, well, you've got a problem. Verse 14 says, then faith is made void. It means believing

now is nothing. And what this means is it's trying to show you there is no middle ground.

It is either, please hear me. Salvation is either entirely by our effort and has nothing to do with

belief or salvation is entirely by belief and has nothing to do with our effort. It's one or the

other. And according to the Bible, it is only by belief.

And not by effort that a person is saved. And you go, well, that, that doesn't seem fair. I know

that's grace. And that doesn't seem right. No, it is right. And that doesn't seem true. No, it is

true. God gives righteousness to every person that knows they don't deserve it, but comes to him

for it. What you believe means nothing. If you think that salvation is by your work for God,

by your effort, it means nothing because now it's all about what you do.

To achieve it. Please hear this. One of the other major problems in all of this,

if salvation is by your works, uh, there's another problem. And that's this, you will never be sure

if you are actually saved or not. And the reason for this is, is because it's based. If it's based

on your goodness, on your effort, on your works, how can you know if you've ever done enough? How

would you ever be able to know if you have done enough? And this is the problem with all religion.

is not religion. Jesus Christ. This is not religion. Folks. Jesus Christ came to this

earth. God came to this earth and died in our place for relationship with you. Religion says

conform. Religion says, get it together, get it right. We push on the outside. We're going to make

you be something we're going to make you do that's religion. And it kills everybody. Relationship

says, come to me and I will make you my own and I will transform you. And I will change you. You

will be a different person inward out rather than outward in. Does this make sense? And so here's the

problem is if salvation is by what you do, you could never know if you are actually safe. You

could never know. You'd never know if you've done enough. And so verse 14 says, not only is faith

made nothing if salvation is by works, but notice what it says, the promise is made of no effect.

So this promise that God made that if you believe you will be saved, it becomes nothing. It becomes

nothing if it's by your effort, if it's by your works. And so being saved then is really only all

about what you do, not by what you are, not by what you believe, not by what God says, not by

what God did. It's all on you. And as I said, this is the message of all other religion,

all religion. My grandmother was, I've told many of you this, my grandmother was a Mormon for over

40 years. She tried to be as good of a Mormon as she possibly could, but the Mormon tradition

cannot save anybody. And that is because it is all works-based righteousness, which is what all

other religion is. All other religion says, do this and live. Christianity is the only one that

says, I have done this so that you'll live. It's the only thing, Christ. And so all religion,

the promise becomes of no effect. It means nothing because it's all about what you do.

So verse 15 says this, it is the law that brings about wrath. For where there is no

law, there is no transgression. Do you realize the purpose of the 10 commandments? This might

surprise you. The purpose of the law was not to make law keepers. It was to prove that we are not

law keepers. It was to prove that we are law breakers. That's why the Bible says that the law

was a schoolmaster. It was a teacher saying, look, you haven't even kept the 10 commandments.

We just said it a moment ago. You haven't even kept the 10 commandments, let alone the 613 laws

that would come after that. Let alone the 10 commandments that would come after that. Let alone

the volumes and volumes and volumes of divisions of those laws that followed from that point

forward. No, no, no. The law did not create law keepers. It showed that we are law breakers. And

the point of this was not just to make everybody miserable. The point of it was to show us we are

in need. It is to make us guilty. You see, the law demanded perfection. Do you realize this? Many

people don't know this. The law demanded perfection. And if you could have kept the law perfectly, you

would have been saved by your own righteousness. But the problem is, nobody has ever kept the law

perfectly. It's not even close to possible. I mean, you broke the law this morning, right? Coming here,

right? I mean, in some way, shape, or form, we are constantly breaking the laws of God. There's

nobody. But you think about it, you know, it would only take one law, one broken law, and you would

be in trouble. Let's say you made it 80 years, right? And you're on your deathbed. And you've

never broken the law of God. You've never broken the law of God. You've never broken the law of God.

You've never told a lie. You've never coveted anything. You've never dishonored your parents.

You've never looked on anyone with lust. You've never done any of these things, right? You've

never had another God that you've supposedly worshipped, right? And so you are, like, good by

your own righteousness. And then your family comes to see you in those final moments. And somebody

goes, and they step on your air hose. And you're like, get off me. I'm gonna kill you, right? And

now, and you just blew it, right? You just blew it. You just, you just messed up. And now, 80 years is

erased. You are a law breaker. Some of you will have no idea the rest of this sermon, anything.

That's what you'll go home remembering. Remember that part where you're talking about the air hose,

you know? Yeah, right? The law of God demanded perfection in order to be saved. Never failing,

not even once. And that's, of course, impossible. But that makes everybody wrong. It makes everybody

guilty. And I am amazed at people, at our ability as people to try not to be wrong. It's amazing. I

will blame you for every possible thing I have ever done so that I'm not wrong. I will tell you

how you are the reason I have done all the wrong in my life. I will make it so that it's all you.

I will go to extreme lengths to not be wrong. That is human, that is human nature. We will go to

extreme lengths so that I don't have to own the responsibility myself. I will make it so that it

is all on you. We go to such great lengths, but man, the Bible tells us as we own these things,

we come to repentance and then

God brings healing as we come to him in repentance. So the purpose of the law is to make you guilty.

It's to reveal, it's to pull the cover off of your eyes

and go, I am guilty, I am condemned.

The point of this is to save you,

not just to make you miserable.

And so the law requires perfection

and you don't get a pass if you try to keep it and fail.

Perfection is what is required

and this is meant to make you in desperation,

go to the Lord for salvation.

And that is the moment he saves.

Do you realize if you try to come to God

by your own goodness, you will be rejected.

You will.

In fact, there's this really interesting story

that Jesus told about people who are in heaven

standing before him and they actually begin

as they are standing before him,

they actually begin to tell him what they have done.

And it's like the most impossible circumstance

I could ever imagine.

They said, Lord, we did this and Lord, we did that

and we did this.

Can you imagine this?

I can't even imagine standing before the Lord

trying to tell him what I have done for him.

Lord, did you see how many times I went to church?

He's like, really?

Did you see my service to you?

Lord, do you know how much I gave?

Do you know how much I serve?

Lord, do you know what I didn't do?

And the Lord just looks at him,

looks at these people and says, depart from me.

I've never known you.

I don't know you.

I have no relationship with you.

I don't know you.

I can't imagine standing before God saying what I've done.

I'm going to be like, I don't know why I'm here.

You rescued me.

You died.

You offered salvation to me.

That's the only reason.

I mean, I get it.

If you want to renege and like send me off somewhere else,

I get it.

But otherwise, the only reason I'm here is because of you.

I can't imagine pointing to one thing I've done.

But here is where the Bible says, right?

We go to God knowing we've done nothing to deserve it.

And we say, God, I need mercy.

And that's exactly what he gives.

He gives mercy.

Well, when this happens, the law has done its job.

The schoolmaster has brought you to the place you're supposed to come to.

You're not good enough.

You're not enough.

You're not strong enough.

You're not capable.

You need to be saved.

Every single person must be saved.

Well, it goes on and it says, where there is no law, there is no transgression.

What does this mean?

Well, if there isn't a law against it, you can't break it.

So here's an example, right?

If you're standing on the grass somewhere, you're just standing there.

And then the business owner comes out and hammers into the ground next to you a sign

that says, keep off the grass.

Now you've got a choice.

Before the sign was there, you were fine just standing there.

You weren't breaking any rules.

But now, now you know they don't want you on the grass.

And so if you just keep standing there, you're breaking the command that you are now aware

of.

But if you get off the lawn, then you are obeying, right?

So this is the point of the law.

The law was written so that we understand we are breaking it, right?

So you go, oh man, you know, if I guess if it's not posted, right?

If it's not posted, I can do whatever I want.

Well, there's no.

There's no sign saying I can't steal that car.

So I guess I'll go steal that car.

No, no.

Before you do anything like that, realize this is why the Bible says that the law of

God has been written on every single person's heart.

God has written his law on your heart so that inside of you, you know, you are either obeying

or you are breaking the law of God all the time.

And the purpose of this, again, is to save you.

This is the point.

This is the purpose.

And so verse 15, it says,

where there is no law, if you didn't have a law, you wouldn't know.

But now you do.

It's written inside of you where there is no law.

There is no transgression.

But when there is one, then, you know, you are guilty.

And so all of this makes it clear that we need to be saved.

So verse 16 says, instead of it being by our effort, look at this verse 16.

Therefore, instead is the idea.

It is of faith.

It is a faith so that it might be according to grace instead of salvation being

based on your being good.

It is based on God being good.

It is based on faith.

It is based on belief.

It is based on him and his work.

And because of this salvation, according, it says is according to grace,

which means it is a gift.

It's a gift.

We said it last week, not earned, not deserved, not paid for by you,

paid for by God.

It is a gift that is given by God to you, to people who know they don't

Don't deserve it.

To people who know they are guilty.

To people who do not deserve God to be kind to them.

Do you believe this?

God does not owe me anything except judgment.

I do not deserve God's kindness.

I haven't done anything that he should look at and say,

I will rescue you because you've got it together.

Because you did what was right.

There is nothing.

And if you feel the same way, good news.

Because this is how God saves people.

Not by your effort.

Not by being religious.

Not by being good.

But by understanding you are not and coming to God for mercy.

God, I am not good.

I do not deserve.

I am not enough.

I don't have it.

I'm not strong.

I need salvation.

The person that does that, that comes to God, God says, perfect.

I've been waiting.

I've been waiting for you to come to the reality instead of this, you know,

pseudo reality you have of you're enough and you've got this

and all the stupid cat posters that tell you,

to double down on your worth and good and good efforts, you know,

hang in there.

Don't turn to the Lord in, in admitting your need.

Listen, people that know they're guilty.

They run to the Lord.

People that know they don't deserve it.

They run to the Lord.

They go, I don't know where to go, but to you,

people that know they deserve judgment.

They're going to stand before God.

They go, God, I can't do this.

I don't have this.

I'm not enough.

God says, perfect.

I've been waiting.

Here it is.

It's a gift.

Salvation given to you.

Well, listen, the result of grace, watch this.

The result of grace is that you can be sure you are saved.

This is what it says.

It says it's of faith so that it might be according to grace or a gift.

So that watch this so that the promise of salvation might be sure or,

or certain to all the seed.

And so to everybody,

that does what Abraham did,

you can be sure that you are saved.

This is what we're talking about.

Are you sure you are saved?

I don't know if you've ever been around anybody who is in religion,

but I have many,

many people I know that have been in religion and they never know if they're

Again, my Mormon grandma never knew if she was saved.

We have family and Jehovah's witness.

Of course, they never know that they're saved or,

or whether they're saved.

We have, you know, people we know in,

in Catholicism,

they don't know if they're saved.

you Islam,

they don't know if they're saved.

Nobody knows if they're saved because those are all works based salvation

That's all it is.

Anything but Christ,

please hear me.

Anything but Christ is works based righteousness and cannot be accomplished.

One of the massive blessings of,

of salvation being by belief and not our effort is that salvation can be

something you are certain of.

again,

I don't think it's,

I don't think it's arrogant to say it.

I am sure I am saved,

not because I have done anything,

not because I'm a pastor.

I get to preach or I got saved when I was 16 or whatever,

not because of any of that,

but because of him,

because of his promise,

because I know it's not up to me.

I would have forfeited it by now.

And so would you,

if it was by our effort,

the question would be,

have you done enough?

Have I done enough?

No.

If it was by your goodness,

the question would be,

have you been good enough?

No.

If it was by being religious,

the question would be,

are you religious enough?

No.

Have you gone to church enough?

Have you given enough?

Have you served enough?

And who could even answer this for us?

I couldn't look at you and say,

yeah,

you've done enough.

And you couldn't look at me and say,

yeah,

you've done enough.

Who could answer this?

We could think I'm good,

I've done enough.

But what does God think?

What does God say?

We would have no assurance of salvation.

Anything other than belief.

There is zero certainty in salvation.

And here is where some of you might be living.

You are unsure if you are saved.

And the reason for this is you don't understand grace.

So when I first came to know the Lord,

I wanted to be saved,

right?

And so I gave my life to the Lord like 15 times a day for years.

I was like,

please save me.

Please save me.

He's like,

I've saved you,

but just save me.

Right?

And I'm like, please save me.

He's like, I have saved you, right?

Like, let me show you in my word, you are saved.

And I'm like, but Lord, save me.

And he's like, will you stop it?

I've saved you, okay?

But see, I didn't understand grace.

And so I thought, man, I messed up today, right?

There was some wicked thoughts going through my head.

And so, man, I need to be saved again.

Man, there was some, the way I responded to that, oh man, I need to be saved.

I mean, over and over and over, I asked God to save me.

I was not sure.

And the reason I wasn't is because I thought it was up to me.

It's like I had received Christ, but then I thought the rest of it was up to me.

Are you there?

You live in there?

That is a grind.

That's going to crush you.

But until you understand grace, grace goes, it's him.

It's his goodness.

It's his mercy.

It's his faithfulness.

It's his kindness.

And this doesn't make me go off the train and start doing stupid, crazy things.

This makes me say, Lord, I want to give my whole life to you.

I want to honor you with everything.

I'm amazed by your grace.

I'm overwhelmed by it.

In Christianity, in Christ, it is not based on what you do.

It is based on what he has done.

Not your faithfulness, his.

It's a gift given by him.

Because he wants to.

He wants to give it to you.

And that's it.

You receive it.

You say, well, does he want to give it to me?

Yeah, turn to him.

Turn to him right now.

He'll give it to you.

Come to him admitting.

He'll give it to you.

And so I would ask you just to pause.

Are you sure?

You are going to heaven.

Are you sure?

Because the promise is sure to all those who come to God in this same way.

Anyone who believes.

Look at verse 16.

He is not held up just as the example of those who are of the law,

but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham.

This is not the way some people are saved and others are saved differently.

No, no.

This is the way everybody is saved.

That's why we went all the way back to Abraham.

God's holding him up and saying, listen, every person must be saved the exact same way.

We believe in the Lord.

Our faith is in him and in what he has done.

He is the example.

And so verse 16 calls him the father.

Really, it's the example to us all.

The father of us all.

Literally because of his believing.

So verse 17 says, as it is written, which is Genesis chapter 17, verse five,

I have made you the father or example to many, many nations.

So he's not just the father of the Jewish people or the example of what it is to be a father.

He's the example of what it is to be a father.

He's the example of what it is to be a father.

He's the example of what it is to be a father.

He's the example of what it is to be a father.

He's the example of what it is to be a father.

He's the example of what it is to be a father.

He's the example of what it is to be a good Jew.

He is the father of how every person, the example of how every person is to be saved,

not by our effort, but by belief.

Now, the reason all of this, the reason you can be sure is because of who God is.

And that's what's in verse 17.

Look what it says.

He believed in the presence.

Look what it says.

In the presence of him whom he believed.

Who was Abraham believing in?

He was not believing in himself.

He was not trusting in his ability.

His ability to be right before God.

He was believing in the Lord.

He was believing in God.

And God is not like us.

He is above us.

He is beyond us.

He is beyond comprehension more than we are.

And Abraham believed God.

Watch this.

This is who God is.

He gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

Are you dead spiritually today?

You can be made alive because.

God is the only one who can make dead things alive.

He's the only one.

You cannot fix you.

You cannot change you.

You cannot save you.

There's a massive self-help section at Barnes and Noble that will do nothing for you.

Here you go.

You want to know how to change?

Right here.

You want to know who will do it?

Right there.

It's him and him alone.

We'll keep writing books.

You can't help yourself.

That's the only way we can do it.

And so look.

He gives life to the dead.

You can't fix you.

You can't save you.

Nobody here can do this.

It is God alone who gives life to the dead.

Now in the case of Abraham, this of course referred to his body, right?

A hundred year old people were told they were going to have a child.

Their bodies were destroyed.

essentially dead to being able to have children. That's what's being referred to here. They were

way past childbearing age at a hundred years old, but that's nothing to God. That's nothing to God.

God said, you'll have a child. It doesn't matter what age you are. It doesn't matter what your

body is capable of or not capable of. You will have a child. That's the end. Why? Because God

can give life to things that are dead. And also God can call, it says, those things which do not

exist as though they did. And so the way God talked to Abraham was as though he was going to

have a child. It's already going to happen. And then your descendants and your people and the

nation and all that God was talking to him. He didn't even have a child yet. God was talking

about things that had not even happened as though it was already a done deal. And by the way, the

Bible does this. God does this all the time. Did you know, this is going to blow your mind if you've

never heard this. Do you know, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, God does not talk about

your salvation as a possibility. He talks about it as a done deal. And I mean more than just that

you are saved. He talks about it as a done deal. And I mean more than just that you are saved.

He says you are justified in the same verse. You are justified past tense. That means all your

sin is forgiven. You are sanctified, which means you are perfect. Now I'm not perfect. Neither are

you. Nobody is this side of heaven. Nobody is perfect, but God speaks about it as though it's

already done. And then says you are glorified, which means you're standing before him in heaven.

It means you make it. And God speaks about you as though you are already standing before him

as a follower of Jesus Christ. You say, how can God do that? Because he's not like you.

He's not limited to time and space. He can see the end from the beginning. He knows you're

already there. You've already made it. So he speaks about glorified past tense, not, not he

will glorify, maybe glorified. You are justified. You are sanctified. You are glorified because

not anything you've done because you've trusted Jesus Christ for salvation. It's done. You say,

I don't know if I'm going to make it. God says you do because your faith is in Jesus Christ

and not in your own salvation. You say, I don't know if I'm going to make it. God says you do

because your faith is in Jesus Christ and not in your ability. Does this make sense? This is so,

it's a game changer because if you don't know this, you think that glorification is up to you.

You think sanctification is up to you and it is up to you to, to obey God and follow him and let

him sanctify you. Yeah. You're going to have to make good decisions and all of that. But do you

understand what God says? You make it because of his work, not because of yours. Well, can we pause

for just a second and realize who it is you believe in, who it is you are trusting in? You aren't

trusting in some person. He's the only one who gives life to dead things. Do you have a dead

marriage? You realize God gives life to dead marriages. You have dead relationships. You have

dead, a dead heart can't feel properly. God gives life to dead hopes and dead people. I mean,

you just keep going. He's the only one that does this. And he's the only one that can speak about

things that haven't even happened as though they are already a done deal for you.

It's already done. I have watched God for people. This is just a simple example,

but I have watched God for people who have been barren. They've had no children.

I have watched God promise them they would have children and then deliver them to have those

children. I mean, it's like, it makes no sense. They've tried for so long and then God just

gives them a child. We see it all through the scriptures. He is the same yesterday, today,

and forever. He does not change. It's amazing. This is who you believe in. Well, look at verse 18,

contrary to hope in hope believed so that he became the father of many or the example of many

nations, according to what was spoken. So shall your descendants be. Listen, from a physical

standpoint, there was no hope of them having children, but that, listen, please hear this.

The physical issue is not in charge. Please hear this. This is so important.

The physical is not in charge. The age of their bodies, that is not what was in charge.

God was in charge. Their age, their limitation. That is not what ruled. That is not what

controlled. God was in control. So let's apply it further. Cancer is not in charge. It's not in

charge. It doesn't matter what stage that means anything, nothing to God, nothing. Doctors aren't

they're not in charge. Your life is not in their hands. It's not in a broken system. They're not

in charge. Your boss is not in charge. Your enemies aren't in charge. The economy's not in

charge. Do you understand who it is that is in charge? The tiny little governments of men,

they are not in charge. They're not in charge. He is in charge. He is in control. And your hope

must be in the Lord and in him alone, or you will be shaken. You will be shaken.

If you think it's in anybody else's control, you will be shaken. And so this is what it is

to trust him. Abraham, it is often contrary to human hope. That's what he did. He looked at what

was, you know, human hope. And he said, this doesn't even make any sense. There's no way.

And so it went contrary to human hope, contrary to physical hope. And it was hope,

in the Lord. It was belief in him. Read it again. Contrary to any human hope, in hope,

he believed. What hope did he believe in? He believed in the Lord. It's going to say it.

But this is what Abraham did. And it's what you and I must do in the midst of our trouble. Look

at verse 19. And not being weak in faith. You ever been weak in faith? The word weak there means

it's hard, powerless. You ever been powerless to believe? To be weak in faith means,

you have a hard time believing. You ever been there? Ever felt like you know you should trust?

You know you should believe? You know what you're supposed to do, but you have a hard time with it?

Please, anybody? Okay, so I'm not alone. Great. We know what we should believe. We have a hard

time believing it. Do you ever counsel yourself? I do this. I stand in the mirror. I'm like,

get it together, man. Right? What's your problem? You know, maybe that's weird. I don't know.

But I'd encourage you, counsel yourself. What are you freaking out about?

What's wrong with you? You know his word. You know what he says. I've had this conversation

with myself this week. You know what he says. You know who he is. What are you worried about?

Lord, it's a mountain. It's a problem. It's too big. It's too much. You become weak. It's hard

to trust, Lord, because it seems so big. It's gone on too long. I'm disappointed. Nothing has

worked out the way I wanted it to.

You know, for me, the thing that always gets me is the what ifs. What if this happens? What if

that happens? What if this doesn't? All the what ifs just wreck me, and I can't go down those roads

because it just wrecks me. But fear will do that to you. Doubt will do that to you. Disappointment

will do that to you. It will cause you to become weak, where it's hard now to trust God because

of these things. That's the goal of fear and despair and doubt and disappointment is to make

it difficult for you now to trust the Lord.

You're still looking at the thing that you can't look away from it and trust the Lord, but that's

the very thing that is needed. Maybe you're in that spot today where faith has just been tough

for you. It's hard for you just to simply believe and trust completely the Lord because things are,

they seem so big, like a giant, like a mountain. Things are not changing. You've been waiting,

waiting, waiting, waiting, and things are so hard. And so it feels like it's all you can see. It's

consumed your horizon, and that's the problem. That's the problem.

I don't know how Abraham was not weak in faith. We're told in verse 19, look what it says. He did

not consider, watch this, his own body already dead since he was about a hundred years old and

the deadness of Sarah's womb. Here's what he did not do. He did not look at the circumstances of

his age and his physical limitations and conclude, he didn't look at this difficulty and then conclude

that God's promise was impossible. That's what he didn't do. You say, what did he do? Did he just

ignore that he was a hundred years old? He didn't look at the circumstances of his age and his physical

limitations and conclude, he didn't look at the circumstances of his age and his physical limitations

No, no, he didn't just ignore that he was a hundred years old. He didn't ignore that his wife was

almost a hundred years old. He didn't just go, nope, this is normal. We're a hundred having

children. That's not normal. That's not weird.

That's completely normal.

He didn't do that.

He didn't put his head in the sand.

He didn't have some stupid, you know, version of reality.

He saw it.

Here's what he did.

He did not let the reality of the situation overrule God's authority.

That's what he didn't let happen.

He didn't let the natural override the supernatural.

He didn't let the physical override who God is.

He let who God is override everything else.

And this is where you end up, isn't it?

Isn't this where you end up with anything that comes into your life

that you can't just easily handle?

You end up in this exact spot.

God, this is beyond us.

And we either focus on this and we start to lose or we focus on you.

That's what happens.

And so it says here, Abraham, he did not, I love it.

He did not consider.

It means to sit in it.

It means to stare at it.

It means to dwell in it.

He did not sit in the reality of his own body already dead

and the deadness of Sarah's womb.

He instead sat in, he considered,

he dwelt in the goodness and the faithfulness of God.

This is how Abraham was not weak in faith.

It's like Paul says in Romans chapter eight,

he uses the same word and says,

I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

That's Paul being realistic about life.

Oh, just go and raise your hand if you've had no trouble.

If you've had no suffering, just go ahead and put your hand up so we can.

No hands are up.

Yeah, that's because we all have trouble

and the Bible's realistic about this.

The Bible never presents a pain-free, trouble-free life.

You will have tribulation.

Be of good cheer.

Jesus said, I've overcome the world.

And Paul says there in Romans eight, he says, listen, I'm gonna,

here's what I, it's such a graphic picture.

Paul says, I'm gonna take all of my trouble in life.

There's a scale.

And I'm gonna put my trouble on one side.

And then I'm gonna take the goodness of God,

The promises of God.

And I'm gonna put it on the other side.

And Paul says, it slams down so hard that it's not even worth comparing it.

It'd be like me coming to you and saying, hey, let's see which one weighs more,

this feather or this gold brick.

Let's weigh them out.

You're like, that's dumb.

We don't even need to do that.

I know which one weighs more.

So here's what Paul is saying.

It's not even worth taking and pushing all my stuff onto that, onto that scale.

It's not even worth it because the glory of God, his faithfulness, his, his goodness is

going to outweigh whatever trouble I have ever gone through.

Listen, you are not going to be standing in heaven going, man, that was tough.

That life.

Lord, the bills, you know, you're not, you're gonna be standing there going, what, what

was it we were worried about?

Look, look at, look at this.

What, what is it we were worried about?

Paul is saying, I take all the promise of God.

I put it on that side.

And it's so far outweighs my trouble that it's not even worth mentioning.

It's not even worth trying to compare it.

And this makes sense, doesn't it?

To take something that is, you know, a few years of trouble and compare it to something

that is millions and billions and trillions times millions and billions and trillions

of years of God's goodness and faithfulness.

And even past that, I'm going to take my 10 years, my 20 years of trouble.

And I'm going to go, no, God, let's compare the two.

It doesn't even make sense.

Paul, that's why Paul calls all of his affliction and he suffered more than many of us ever

He called it momentary affliction, which feels rude, but it's true because he's letting the

Lord and eternity overrule the physical circumstance.

And so Abraham did the same.

He compared the promise of God with the physical problem and decided God is able.

Look at this verse 20.

He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving

glory to God and being fully convinced that what he had promised, he was also able to

perform the word waiver.

He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving

glory to God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God through unbelief,

and now replace it.

He did not do that.

He did not replace what God said and, and, and, and with, you know, whatever was going

on, but, but we do this.

And the way this happens is by looking at our trials.

trouble we look at it we keep staring at it and now we have ignored what God says that God is in

control that he loves us and we say no no I reject that God's not here God you don't see God you

don't love me you're not in control this this must be up to me it must be up to the doctors it must

be up to my boss it must be up to my circumstance it must be up to me and so we we reject this and

And so we waver at the promise of God

and we come over here and we just stare into this thing

and it just eats us alive.

And so this is what Abraham did not do.

Instead, he was strengthened in faith.

And here's what happens.

He let who God is override what he was facing.

And when you do this, when you say,

yeah, I know this doesn't make sense,

but I'm gonna trust the Lord.

Let me tell you what happens.

You give glory to God.

That's what it says.

He didn't consider it.

He didn't live in that.

He didn't waver in that.

Instead, he looked past the problem.

He looked to God.

He didn't dwell in the difficulty.

We should get shirts that say that, right?

Don't dwell in the difficulty.

Instead, he looked past it and he looked to God.

And in doing that, he gave glory to the Lord.

Do you wanna know how your suffering gives glory to God?

Not by burying your head like it's not even a thing.

It's by knowing it's a thing,

but looking to the Lord and trusting him.

You give glory to God in the midst

of your suffering.

As you look past it.

Oh, it's there.

But you look past it and you serve and you love

and you give and you help and you share

and you honor him and you trust him.

People look and they say,

that doesn't even make sense.

What is happening there?

It's because of who God is.

It testifies to who God is.

And so something happens as you do this.

As we finish up here,

look what it says, verse 21.

You become what Abraham was, fully convinced.

There it is, fully convinced

that what he has promised,

he is able to perform.

You and I, as we look to God in these circumstances,

we become more and more sure of him,

of him, his goodness, his ability, his love,

his control, his shepherding.

Please hear this.

The longer you look at your issues,

at your problems, at your troubles,

at your hurts or disappointments,

the longer you look at it,

the less sure of anything you are gonna be.

Just telling you, just telling you,

the less sure of anything you are gonna be.

The more you look at it, the less sure of anything you are gonna be.

The more you look at it, the less sure of anything you are gonna be.

The more you look at it, the less sure of anything you are gonna be.

The more you look at it, the less sure of anything you are gonna be.

The more you look at him,

the more sure you are gonna be of his goodness,

of his ability, of his control.

And so we know, Abraham was sure of God,

and verse 22 tells us,

therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.

So we said it last week,

Abraham was not a perfect man,

he was not a sinless man,

he was not better than anybody else,

he was in the same condition everybody that is unsaved is.

He simply became convinced that God is who God is.

He became convinced that,

he was lost and in need,

just as you must.

He became convinced of this,

and he was convinced that God would save sinners.

That God would give to undeserving people,

what they do not deserve.

God would give mercy,

and you and I must do the same thing.

You see, all of this is written,

not for Abraham,

it's written for you and I.

That's what verse 23 through 25 says.

It says, now all of this was not written for you,

for him,

wasn't written for his sake,

like some record.

It says that it was imputed to him,

or given to him,

but also for us.

It's written for you.

It shall be imputed to you,

who believe in him,

who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,

who was delivered up.

Why?

Why was Jesus crucified?

For my offense,

for your offenses,

and was raised for our justification.

This is what must be believed.

Abraham's life is set out as the example

of how a person is saved.

It is by belief,

and not by works,

not by effort.

But right here,

you're given some specifics.

Righteousness will be given freely to you,

who believe in him,

who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.

But why did Jesus come?

Well, we're told,

he came for my offenses,

he came for yours.

You must believe this.

God came and died for me,

for you.

You must believe this.

He defeated sin and death.

You must believe this.

Abraham did not have this information.

He didn't know anything about Jesus Christ.

Christ. He had just a small amount of information. You have so much more information that he has,

but he believed in his need. He believed in the goodness and kindness of God. And I would ask you

today, do you believe? Do you believe? It's that simple. I didn't ask if you were deserving because

we already know the answer. You're not. You're not good enough. You're not capable. You don't deserve

it. You can't buy it. You can't earn it. It's given by God to the person that knows they don't

deserve it and comes to him for mercy. Will you let Abraham be your example? Let's turn to him

now. Lord, thank you so much for your mercy and kindness and love towards us. Thank you for being

so good, Lord. We don't deserve anything good, but you have poured out mercy upon us. I pray,

Lord, for any person here today or watching that is finally admitting that they are in need. I know,

Lord, you are listening. I know you're here, and I know you are ready to save every person who will

come to you. I know you're here, and I know you are ready to save every person who will come to you.

I know you're here, and I know you are ready to save every person who will come to you in the same way Abraham did.

And so this morning, if your need is to be saved, turn to the Lord and ask him for mercy. Ask him

for grace. Admit that you don't deserve it, but ask him for mercy. It's the very thing he wants

to do. We love you, Lord. We look to you. We are only saved because of you. It's through you and

to you belong all things. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.